Dungeon Bakery Chapter 49

The sharp claws were getting closer, as though they were about to tear her apart at any moment. Just as Baek Seol was too stunned to even think about dodging—

“Dodge, ppi!”

A small figure came flying toward her at lightning speed and shoved Baek Seol’s body aside.

It was Lucy.

Lucy pushed Baek Seol with all his strength, hard enough to make her body, several times larger than his own, stagger. The recoil sent him tumbling to the ground with a startled “Ppi!”

Thanks to Lucy, Baek Seol managed to avoid the sharp claws. But she immediately worried about Lucy lying on the ground.

“Lucy! Are you okay?”

She barely dodged another attack from the woman and rolled across the ground. Then she quickly scooped up Lucy, who was lying facedown with his wings still folded awkwardly, and started running.

“Huff……. Huff……. What is that?”

She needed to get inside the bakery as quickly as possible.

Once she entered, her basic skill, [We Are All Neighbors], would activate, preventing that woman from attacking her.

“It’s a Birdman, ppi……. They’re not monsters you get to see easily, ppi.”

Lucy groaned and muttered from within Baek Seol’s arms. His voice trembled slightly, so perhaps he had injured himself when he slammed into her with all his strength earlier.

“A Birdman? Why is a monster outside? Did a Dungeon Break happen?”

Baek Seol muttered as she pushed off the ground with all her strength.

If it wasn’t a Dungeon Break, there was no way to explain why a monster was outside the dungeon……

Then Baekho’s words from yesterday suddenly flashed through her mind.

‘He said…… monsters had escaped from somewhere.’

That was why he had told her not to wander around outside for a while.

Could this monster be one of the escaped monsters?

No, wait.

‘This is right in front of my house!’

Baek Seol felt a little wronged by the situation.

She had merely come outside to clean the yard, only to run into a monster?

If she had encountered one while carelessly going somewhere for fun, at least she couldn’t complain.

They said that when you’re unlucky, you can fall backward and still break your nose.

“…….”

Remembering her abysmally low Luck stat, Baek Seol decided to be humble.

Then Lucy spoke in a puzzled voice.

“That’s strange, ppi. Birdmen have wings and should normally be able to fly, ppi. But it isn’t taking its wings out……. Still, be careful, ppi. They’re also very fast runners, ppi.”

“Ugh.”

Just as Lucy said, the Birdman was much faster than her.

It seemed to have injured itself somewhere, because it was limping, but the distance between them was steadily shrinking.

And it was moving much faster than she had expected.

“Argh! It’s going to catch me at this rate!”

There was still some distance to the bakery.

At this speed, there was no doubt it would catch her before she reached it.

What should she do?

What could she do?

Baek Seol bit her lip and racked her brain desperately.

Then Lucy shouted.

“Can’t be helped, ppi. Blow it, ppi……!”

“What?”

Blow it?

What was she supposed to blow?

“I mean the Whistle, ppi. Hasn’t it been a week already, ppi?”

“Ah…….”

Baek Seol realized he was talking about the Whistle skill, but she couldn’t help panicking.

The skill description clearly said……

[Whistle] Lv.1
‘Instantly summons one creature from the ‘Dungeon of Beginnings’ to the caster’s location. The summoned creature will obey the caster’s commands for 5 minutes. (Cooldown: 7 days)’

It didn’t say anything about restrictions on location or anything like that.

But summoning a creature from the Dungeon of Beginnings to here…… outside the dungeon?

Was that even possible?

Gulp.

Baek Seol swallowed hard.

“Hurry, ppi! It’s about to catch you, ppi!”

Who……?

Who should she summon?

Baek Seol frantically searched through her thoughts.

The Black Rabbit?

The Black Elephant?

Or Gu-chil?

Who was strong enough to deal with that monster……?

“Ugh, I don’t know! The biggest one must be the strongest, right?”

Baek Seol quickly recited the skill’s name in her head.

‘Use Whistle skill!’

A system window immediately appeared.

<System: The Whistle skill will now be used. What creature would you like to summon before you?>

Baek Seol hurriedly shouted.

“Pal! Summon the Eight-Colored Unicorn!”

Another system window appeared.

<System: Summoning the Traveler of the Earth, the Eight-Colored Unicorn.>

The moment the system window appeared, a clear, refreshing scent brushed against the tip of her nose.

It was unmistakably the scent of Pal.

At the same time, the space before her rippled like a hologram, and Pal emerged through the air.

“Pal!”

Seeing Pal appear in all his majestic and beautiful glory, Baek Seol felt tears welling up.

He had really appeared!

She cried out desperately.

“Pal, help us!”

“Neighhh!”

Pal shook his head as if to say he understood, then immediately ran past Baek Seol and charged toward the back.

Baek Seol turned around as she watched Pal flash past her in an instant.

Since she had absolutely no idea how strong Pal was, a moment of worry crossed her mind.

Even if the little horse had a bit of a nasty temper, could that puppy-like Pal really fight such a terrifying monster?

But all of those worries vanished when she saw what happened next.

“Kyaaah!”

“Prrr!”

Pal charged forward like he was flying, cut off the Birdman’s path, and raised one foreleg high.

Then he brought it crashing down on Birdman.

“KIEEEEEEEEE!”

A scream that sounded as though it would rupture her eardrums burst from the Birdman.

Pinned beneath Pal’s foreleg, the Birdman collapsed face-first onto the ground like a sheet of paper.

What followed was an overwhelming display of the difference in power between them.

The Birdman staggered to its feet and tried to attack Pal, but it didn’t even get the chance.

A headbutt from Pal sent it flying.

The Birdman landed pathetically on the ground and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“Ugh…….”

It was certainly fortunate that Pal had subdued the monster attacking her in an instant, but……

“Pal. Wait. Stop for a moment.”

“Neigh?”

The Birdman tried to get back up, but it seemed to have no strength left.

The hand it placed against the ground bent at an unnatural angle, and its body collapsed several times.

Even so, the eyes glaring at Baek Seol remained fierce.

Its will had not been broken.

And then, at the corner of those eyes, Baek Seol noticed something.

“Are you…… okay?”

A single tear was hanging there sorrowfully.

Seeing that tear suddenly reminded Baek Seol of the monsters in the Dungeon of Beginnings.

The Slime Queen shed sorrowful tears.

The Black Rabbit and Black Elephant licking each other’s wounds.

After remembering them, Baek Seol somehow couldn’t bring herself to let Pal attack any further.

“……Kyaa.”

Baek Seol gathered her courage and approached her.

The Birdman really did look remarkably similar to a human.

If she hadn’t looked closely, she might have believed it was a person.

“You look pretty badly hurt. Would you like to come over there with me?”

“…….”

The Birdman remained on guard, so Baek Seol earnestly pointed at her bakery with her index finger.

She did her best to communicate through body language.

“Let’s go over there and treat your injuries first. I don’t know why you were digging up the Dungeon of Beginnings here…… but our bakery is right next to it.”

“……!”

The moment Baek Seol mentioned the Dungeon of Beginnings, the Birdman, who had shown little reaction until then, flinched.

Then its lips moved as though it were trying to say something.

“……!!”

But strangely, no sound came out.

The Birdman placed both hands on the ground and struggled to stand.

Then it began staggering toward Baek Seol on unsteady legs.

“Neigh.”

Pal moved even closer to Baek Seol, seemingly nervous.

Lucy also made several cautious little noises, as if telling her to be careful.

But for some reason, Baek Seol was no longer afraid of Birdman.

Was it because she had just seen it cry?

Or perhaps because those eyes staring at her had changed into such gentle eyes?

“Ah……. Your eyes…….”

“Birdman looks different when they attack and when they’re in their normal state, ppi. It has released its combat form, ppi. Baek Seol, you still need to be careful, ppi.”

Earlier, its pupils had been slit like a reptile’s.

Now, they were slightly larger, dark, round pupils.

The teeth that had protruded between its lips had disappeared as well, and its slit eyes had softened.

Even the claws that had been sticking out were gone.

The Birdman staggered over and stopped in front of Baek Seol.

Then it slowly parted its dry, cracked lips.

“……Help me.”

“Ah……! A-Are you okay? Excuse me!”

This time, Baek Seol had definitely heard it.

After uttering those words asking for help, the Birdman collapsed into her arms.

Baek Seol hurriedly caught her.

Despite her thin body, she was surprisingly heavy, nearly making Baek Seol fall backward.

Fortunately, Pal supported her, preventing her from taking an embarrassing tumble.

“Did you hear that just now? This person—or rather, this Birdman—spoke?”

Even though Baek Seol’s knowledge of dungeons and monsters was limited, she knew that monsters capable of speech were extremely rare.

And this one had spoken perfect Korean.

“I…… heard it, ppi.”

Lucy muttered.

“Birdmen are an ancient race and monsters possessing superior intelligence, ppi. In the world where they originally established themselves, they were beings higher than humans, ppi. It seems this one secretly learned the language of this world, ppi.”

A race of beings that had been superior to humans?

And he had said “the world where they originally established themselves.”

Baek Seol stared at Lucy with wide eyes.

Did that mean this Birdman had come from another world?

A world where they were vastly superior to humans?

She suddenly had countless questions, but Lucy had clamped his beak shut and refused to say anything more.

Seeing the Birdman curl herself into a ball and begin trembling as though she were cold, Baek Seol grew anxious.

With Pal’s help, she carried her into the bakery.

And the next day, she learned through the news that the other members of the Birdman’s race who had clearly escaped alongside her had all been brutally eliminated.

She also learned where the Birdman had escaped from.

[An unexpected monster appeared in the heart of Seoul today, but it was immediately dealt with. It was initially believed to be a sudden Dungeon Break, but it was later revealed that the monsters were experimental subjects that had escaped from a research laboratory operated by Dokjin Corporation. Internet users are saying…….]

The news report was taking a favorable stance toward Dokjin Corporation.

[For the safety and prosperity of humanity, Dokjin Corporation has established and continues to operate a research laboratory specializing in monster research with government approval. Ha Jaemin, the director responsible for the research laboratory, issued a public apology today…….]

On the screen, a young man stood at a podium and bowed deeply.

He was famous enough that even Baek Seol knew him.

Ha Jaemin of Dokjin Corporation.

He was widely rumored to be the person who would take over as chairman after the fallen Ha Namsik.

Looking at the handsome, impeccably groomed man, Baek Seol felt an inexplicable chill run down her spine.

“……Huh? You’re awake?”

At that moment, the Birdman, who had been laid down on a chair at the table, opened her eyes.