Dungeon Bakery Chapter 54

After leaving the office, Jeong Dongwon clutched his swollen, red face and headed for the waiting room.

“Ugh……”

“Hyung-nim! What happened to you……? Are you okay?”

Lee Rowoon, Phoenix’s star Hunter, turned pale at the sight of Jeong Dongwon entering the waiting room.

“Your face is burned……”

“Enough. Give me a potion.”

Lee Rowoon hurriedly took a healing potion out of his inventory. It was an A-rank potion, expensive enough that most people would hesitate to use one. For them, however, it was as common as dirt.

After all, they received all their potions from Dokjin Corporation.

“Ugh…… I feel a little better.”

Jeong Dongwon sighed as he poured the healing potion over his face. Damn it. Every time he came here, he never got to leave with his body in one piece. Jeong Dongwon muttered under his breath.

Hearing him, Lee Rowoon’s expression hardened.

“Hyung-nim. Isn’t this going a bit too far? I mean, even if he is a director at Dokjin Corporation……”

This guy. He’d come here with him for the first time in a while, and now he was saying something that could get him into serious trouble.

Jeong Dongwon glanced around before bringing his index finger to his lips.

“Shh. Keep your voice down. If you’re not careful, your head could roll before you even know what happened.”

“But……”

A hint of fear crossed Lee Rowoon’s face. However, he soon regained his resolute expression and clenched his fists.

“Even if Dokjin Corporation sponsors our Phoenix Guild, this seems like too much. Has it been like this every day?”

As one of Phoenix Guild’s founding members, Lee Rowoon had recently begun to feel that something was wrong with the guild. Phoenix Guild had originally been a small guild founded by a group of simple country boys.

When the young men who had been farming together happened to Awaken at the same time, they began working as Hunters alongside their farming.

That was Phoenix Guild’s past, which most people knew nothing about. People nowadays remembered only the guild’s immense wealth and the strength it had acquired through that wealth.

In truth, Dokjin Corporation was behind its rise to prominence. Without Dokjin Corporation, Phoenix Guild would have remained a small guild rotting away in the outskirts.

Jeong Dongwon waved his hand dismissively, silencing Lee Rowoon.

“More importantly, what happened to the Birdman?”

“Ah…… W-well, we received a report that someone saw a strange woman in Suwon. Her description is similar to that of Birdman.”

“Suwon?”

Jeong Dongwon’s eyes lit up. Thanks to the generous application of A-rank potions, his face, which had been red from the burns, was gradually returning to its normal pale complexion.

“Send the guys over there immediately. And you’re going, too.”

“Me? I’m going, too?”

“Yeah. The guild members will be more motivated if you go with them, won’t they? You’re one of our star Hunters, after all.”

Lee Rowoon scratched the back of his head, looking awkward. Jeong Dongwon continued.

“And that craftsman, Oh Juk-heon. You said we received information that he has a daughter, right? We need to dig a little deeper into that. I’ll handle it, so you take care of Birdman.”

“Understood.”

Jeong Dongwon, who had been repeatedly rubbing his now-restored face, casually asked,

“You still have ‘that thing,’ right?”

“Huh? Oh. The elix……”

“Shh! Watch your mouth, you idiot.”

Jeong Dongwon hurriedly stopped Lee Rowoon before he could blurt out the word. Then, after checking their surroundings, he whispered,

“We’re outside. Tell me if you use it, okay? I’ll let the director know and get you another one whenever you need it.”

“Hyung-nim. I’ve told you before, but I don’t need something like this.”

“Hey. You may be our guild’s star Hunter, but you’re still weaker than Baekho of Legend Guild. Isn’t that right?”

“T-that’s……”

When Lee Rowoon faltered, Jeong Dongwon chuckled.

“Don’t worry. As long as you have ‘that thing,’ you’ll be stronger than Baekho. You’ll jump up several places in the rankings in one go.”

Then, as if sharing a secret, he quickly whispered,

“The other guys are already making good use of it. Why are you being like this? Hurry up and go, you idiot.”

“……Understood.”

Lee Rowoon’s expression darkened slightly.

But he said nothing more and headed for Suwon, following Jeong Dongwon’s orders.

 

***

 

“Wow……”

Baek Seol’s mouth fell slightly open at the sight before her. Rows upon rows of trees laden with yellow lemons stretched as far as the eye could see.

Everything was yellow, no matter where she looked.

‘These are much bigger than the lemons I know.’

Thanks to Pal approaching the lemon trees, Baek Seol was able to examine them up close. She reached out and picked one.

Dungeon Lemon

A lemon that grows in the Dungeon of Beginnings. It’s big, sweet, and sour!

Baek Seol was curious about how the lemon tasted, but she couldn’t afford to waste time here, so she quickly put the lemons into her inventory.

Ten or so should be enough to make some for Ella, right?

Baek Seol rubbed her numb backside and spoke to Pal.

“Let’s go back, Pal.”

“Neigh!”

Thanks to Pal, gathering lemons had been much easier than she’d expected. Relieved, Baek Seol clung tightly to him as they made their way back. Then, at a sight she happened to catch out of the corner of her eye, her eyes widened.

“Huh?”

She’d been too distracted on the way there to notice, but now she could see a lake near their path. So there were lakes inside the dungeon, too.

‘Well, I suppose I haven’t explored very far.’

Hadn’t she only ever gone as far as the slime village and the sugarcane fields? She was in a hurry, but since they were passing right by it anyway, she decided to take a look.

“Why is the water that color?”

The lake was murky and dark, as though it had been polluted. There were even things floating on the surface that looked like black sludge made from what had once been plants.

“This one, too.”

It wasn’t just that lake. On a whim, she took a different route on the way back and spotted the sea in the distance. The sea was black, too.

Suddenly, she remembered something Lucy had said before.

“You said the dungeon was isolated, didn’t you?”

She also remembered the sugarcane that had been disappearing and the plants that had been dying.

It seemed the water inside the dungeon had developed a problem as well. All because of the prolonged isolation.

‘But I don’t have time to worry about that right now.’

She filed the matter away in the back of her mind and returned to where Yggdrasil stood.

Then, leaving Lucy by Ella’s side, she headed out of the dungeon.

“Lucy. Please look after Ella. Let me know if anything happens.”

“……All right, ppi.”

Ella’s condition was so poor that she needed someone to stay by her side. Baek Seol hurried back to the bakery and headed straight for the kitchen.

<System: Beginning Recipe Creation. Please select your ingredients.>

‘This should be about enough for the ingredients that go into cream bread……’

Baek Seol opened the ‘Creation’ tab and selected the ingredients she needed. She still had plenty of ingredients made from the milk she’d obtained from Pal.

‘That’s thanks to Seo Doha practically camping out in the bakery and running the machines nonstop.’

For some reason, Seo Doha had been spending more time at the bakery lately, and he’d been working hard. The only thing she needed to buy from the underground shop was Kkoko’s eggs.

‘Powder made from a young Yggdrasil’s fruit, milk from the Eight-Colored Unicorn, butter made from Eight-Colored Unicorn milk, dungeon sugar, Kkoko’s eggs, and…… dungeon lemons.’

After checking off the necessary ingredients, Baek Seol pursed her lips slightly, then relaxed them.

Fortunately, she could buy a large quantity of Kkoko’s eggs at a time, so she hadn’t run short yet.

‘If I end up making lemon cream bread often, I’ll probably have to find Kkoko’s eggs in the dungeon, too.’

She made a mental note about Kkoko’s eggs, then calmly selected the ingredients she needed and began creating the recipe.

‘I’ll worry about Kkoko’s eggs later. For now, I need to focus on what’s in front of me. The most important thing is to squeeze the lemon juice properly and make lemon curd.’

Before making the lemon cream bread, Baek Seol had looked through recipes other people had uploaded. Now, with slightly awkward movements, she began making the lemon curd.

She washed the lemons thoroughly and gently shaved off the outer peel to make lemon zest. Then she squeezed out the lemon juice……

‘Add Kkoko’s eggs and dungeon sugar, then mix well……’

She transferred the mixture to a saucepan, placed it over medium heat, and began stirring as it cooked. The heat must have been too high, because the surface suddenly splattered, startling her. But she quickly adjusted the heat and continued cooking and stirring.

Once the mixture gradually turned yellow and thickened, she added the butter and stirred until it had melted completely.

‘Now, strain it.’

She strained the lemon curd and put it straight into the refrigerator. All she had to do was let it cool properly.

“Then, shall I make the bread?”

Bread was easy since she’d made it so often by now. She whipped up the dough, popped it into the oven, and checked whether the lemon curd had cooled properly.

After checking it several times, she finally filled the finished bread with the lemon curd.

‘Finished……!’

She’d completed the lemon cream bread much faster than expected.

<System: Recipe Creation complete! You have discovered a new recipe.>

She quickly opened the recipe and checked the information for the lemon cream bread.

Fresh Lemon Cream Bread Filled with Warmth

Description: Cream bread made with fresh lemons. An appealing bread that is moderately sweet with a pleasantly tangy flavor.

Racial Compatibility: Birdmen ◎

Effect upon Consumption: Comforts those overcome by sadness.

**  (Warning: Has no effect on those who are not sad.)  **

Just like when she’d made the Sugar Cookie before, it had an added modifier. She checked what it meant.

Modifiers are added when special experiences and ingredients are incorporated during Recipe Creation.

-Filled with Warmth: The warmth contained within doubles its comforting effect.

-Fresh: The effects of freshly picked lemons stimulate the appetite, making the consumer want to eat more.

‘Stimulates the appetite? That’s exactly what she needs right now.’

Baek Seol’s face brightened as she read the modifiers. She wanted to bring the lemon cream bread to Ella right away. Without even thinking to wipe the lemon curd off her face, she hurried toward the dungeon.

“Huff…… huff……”

“Ppi? Why are you running over here in such a hurry, ppi?”

Lucy, who had been sitting beside Ella, sprang to his feet with a vigorous flap of his wings. He seemed startled by Baek Seol’s frantic arrival, as though something had happened.

“I finished making the lemon cream bread! How’s Ella doing?”

“She just opened her eyes, ppi. She’s still a little dazed, though, ppi……”

Just as Lucy said, Ella had only just regained consciousness. She still seemed to have enough strength to sit up. Leaning against Yggdrasil, Ella remained seated, but her eyes were still unfocused.

Even so, it had been a long time since Baek Seol had seen Ella awake like this.

Baek Seol promptly crouched in front of her and held out the lemon cream bread. In her haste, she hadn’t even had time to put it on a plate. The bread she’d brought with her gave off a sweet and tangy aroma.

“Here, Ella. Please try eating this.”

“……?”

Until now, Ella hadn’t reacted at all, no matter what food Baek Seol showed her. But the lemon cream bread was clearly different.

Ella’s eyes gradually focused. She wrinkled the tip of her nose slightly, as though trying to catch the scent. Then she looked directly at the lemon cream bread resting in Baek Seol’s hand.

“……”

Ella’s lips moved, but Baek Seol couldn’t hear what she was saying. It was the Birdman language, so Lucy translated for her.

“She said, ‘Lemur……’ ppi. It seems that ‘lemur’ means lemon in the Birdman language, ppi.”

‘I see.’

Baek Seol held the lemon cream bread a little closer to her.

“That’s right. Lemur. This bread is made with freshly picked, ripe lemur.”

“……”

Ella slowly blinked. Then, at last, she raised her hand and took hold of the lemon cream bread.

Perhaps it was because the lemon curd had slipped out of the bread, making it look even more appetizing.

Baek Seol noticed Ella’s throat bob.

There was no doubt about it. She’d just swallowed her saliva.