Dungeon Bakery Chapter 9

Seo Doha.

An EX-rank Hunter who was so overwhelmingly powerful that he could not be measured and was therefore classified outside the normal ranking system. The world was stunned when he appeared out of nowhere and single-handedly cleared an S-rank dungeon to perfection.

Countless prestigious guilds sent him offers, but he turned every one of them down. He was an utterly mysterious man. No one knew who his family was or what he had done before. Nothing about him was known.

Whenever an incident that drew the public’s attention occurred, he would inevitably appear, resolve the situation spectacularly, and then disappear without a trace. However, many of his methods of solving problems blurred the line between good and evil, so opinions about him were sharply divided.

One day, an angel. The next, a demon.

‘Was it the year before last……?’

That was when I first met Seo Doha.

The 25th year since the Great Cataclysm.

In the twenty-fifth year after the Great Cataclysm occurred, the third dungeon break on Earth took place. It happened while the Phoenix Guild was attempting to clear a newly discovered dungeon in Pyeongtaek.

I heard that its initial estimated rank had clearly been C-rank, but it was suddenly upgraded to S-rank in an instant. When the dungeon raid failed, the monsters inside escaped into the outside world.

Among them was the S-rank boss monster responsible for raising the dungeon’s rank to S-rank, and the Hunters struggled desperately against it.

‘They said it was even harder because that boss monster had a dark attribute.’

Dark attributes were extremely rare, and it was even rarer for a monster itself to possess a dark attribute. Dark-attribute attacks were completely ineffective against it, and only holy-attribute attacks worked. Unless there was a weapon imbued with a holy attribute or a high-rank Healer capable of imbuing attributes, no attack would have any effect whatsoever.

Because it had been a sudden dungeon break, only a handful of Hunters had been prepared, and naturally, the damage was enormous.

‘They said that if it hadn’t been for Seo Doha, Pyeongtaek would have been completely wiped out.’

Thanks to Seo Doha, who appeared out of nowhere at that time, they managed to defeat the boss monster, but Seo Doha himself was seriously injured. When he disappeared as though fleeing without accepting help from the other Hunters, strange rumors began to circulate.

The rumor was that the boss monster must have possessed some incredibly powerful artifact. And there was good reason for people to think so—the Phoenix Guild, which had been raiding that very dungeon, had suddenly put a bounty on him.

‘Those were good times.’

Although the dungeon break had caused quite a commotion for a while, graduate school had been peaceful. At least, until a man covered in blood appeared in my dorm room.

‘Hey! Baek Seol! I told you to come have a drink with us! They said the dungeon break is over!’

‘I’m sorry, Senior. I have an assignment. Let’s drink another time, okay?’

‘Seriously. Jung Senior told me to bring you along. You’re going to get yourself in trouble if you keep this up, you know?’

‘Hahaha……. I’m sorry.’

That was the day I had finally managed to shake off the obnoxious male seniors from another department who had been pestering me.

When Baek Seol returned to her dorm room, she was startled to see a man collapsed on the floor.

‘Gasp. A-Are you okay?’

‘Ugh…….’

The man was literally covered in blood. He was even gasping for breath as though he would die at any moment if left like this.

Baek Seol normally couldn’t stand the sight of blood, and the sea of red filling her vision made her feel faint. But the man in front of her looked so desperate that she somehow managed to pull herself together.

‘1…… 119, I need to call 119…….’

‘Don’t…….’

Grab.

The man, who had looked as though he might stop breathing at any moment, suddenly sprang to his feet and seized her sleeve.

Her hand began trembling violently. The murderous intent in the blood-covered man’s eyes felt as though it could tear her apart at any moment.

That was the first time in her life Baek Seol felt a fear so overwhelming that she thought she might actually die.

‘You…….’

‘……?’

‘Is this a dream……? Why are you here……?’

The murderous intent in the man’s eyes disappeared in an instant when he looked directly at her face. Baek Seol felt that all that remained in his eyes was shock.

Then, as though all his strength had left him, the man dropped to one knee and gasped for breath.

‘Just…… stay like this for a moment. Ugh.’

Still tightly holding her hand, the man passed out right there.

Baek Seol stood frozen like a statue as she checked on him. Once she confirmed that he had completely lost consciousness, she hurriedly tried to run away.

But she simply couldn’t bring herself to leave.

If she left him like this, she felt as though he would die at any moment.

‘Ugh, whatever. I don’t know.’

Baek Seol took out the first-aid kit Baekho had prepared for her in the past and administered emergency treatment.

Looking back, even if she hadn’t treated him at the time, Seo Doha probably would have survived just fine. His recovery ability was so astonishing that it was enough to leave anyone speechless.

At the time, however, she had no idea that he was a Hunter, so she did her absolute best to treat him.

All she could really do was disinfect his wounds, apply medicine, and…… stop the bleeding.

Regardless, while wiping the blood away to disinfect his wounds, Baek Seol ended up seeing the man’s bare face.

She immediately recognized him as Seo Doha.

Of course she did. His handsome face had been all over the news just moments earlier!

‘Oh my goodness. S-Seo Doha?’

His refined features looked as though they had stepped straight out of a masterpiece painted by a first-rate artist. It was no wonder a fan club had formed the moment his face became known to the public.

His incredibly handsome face was right in front of her.

And right then, she heard the anchor speaking from the TV screen she had left turned on.

[The S-rank boss monster has just been eliminated by Hunter Seo Doha. At present, Seo Doha, who was seriously injured, cannot be located. If anyone has seen him, please contact our broadcasting station…….]

She was shocked to discover that the man was Seo Doha, but saving a person’s life came first, so Baek Seol bit her lip and continued treating him diligently.

‘Huh……? Where did he go?’

However, when she returned after going out to buy more medicine because she had run out, Seo Doha was nowhere to be found.

Yes. That was Baek Seol’s short but intense first encounter with Seo Doha.

And even then, she had no intention of avoiding him.

But a few days later, she happened to witness him on the rooftop of her dormitory.

Seo Doha had appeared at her university again.

‘You’re going to get revenge on me?’

‘Y-Yeah! I’m going to expose what a horrible bastard the number-one Hunter is! I even recorded a video of you beating us up!’

‘Hmph. You violated the Hunter law prohibiting attacks on non-Awakened individuals. You’re going to prison now.’

‘How about we hand you over to the Phoenix Guild instead? Then we can collect the bounty, right?’

Several seniors from other departments were threatening Seo Doha behind the dormitory.

When Baek Seol saw them, she remembered.

They were the same people who had secretly entered the women’s dormitory on the day of the dungeon break and persistently tried to convince her to drink with them.

Then, the next day, they had all somehow ended up being taken to the hospital. Apparently, while she had been away, they must have gotten into a fight with Seo Doha.

Baek Seol had no idea why Seo Doha had returned here, but judging from what the seniors were saying, it seemed that he had indeed violated the Hunter law prohibiting attacks on non-Awakened individuals.

After all, every one of them had at least one arm or leg wrapped in bandages.

Seo Doha let out a small, amused laugh at their threats.

‘Really? Go ahead. Do whatever you want. If you can.’

What happened afterward was so horrifying that it was almost impossible to watch with one’s eyes open.

The seniors, beaten until they were covered in blood, trembled as they shouted.

‘W-Why the hell are you doing this to us?! We surrender, okay?! We surrender! We even deleted all the videos!’

Then Seo Doha took a pair of round glasses from inside his clothes and muttered.

They were glasses she would have to see far too many times from then on.

‘Looks like I’ll have to keep coming here from now on. No one can know who I am. Who I am, what I do. Nothing.’

‘Gasp!’

‘But you know who I am, don’t you? That makes things rather inconvenient.’

Baek Seol witnessed everything from the dormitory rooftop, right up until Seo Doha put on the round glasses and walked away, leaving the unconscious seniors behind.

And after those seniors suddenly filed for a leave of absence and disappeared without a trace, Baek Seol made a firm decision.

‘Hello. I’m Seo Doha. I’ve enrolled as a freshman this year. You’re Baek Seol…… Senior, right?’

‘H-Hic.’

‘Senior? Are you okay?’

She would pretend she knew absolutely nothing about Seo Doha, who had appeared in the guise of a freshman wearing those utterly ill-fitting round glasses.

An EX-rank Hunter with his whole future ahead of him had hidden his identity and enrolled in graduate school?

In a place filled with nothing but shades of gray like this?

There had to be some sort of reason Seo Doha was hiding his identity and attending graduate school.

And judging by the circumstances, it had to be an incredibly, unbelievably important reason.

Otherwise, why would he willingly lock himself inside the prison known as graduate school?

But then.

If she got caught knowing Seo Doha’s true identity……

She was certain she would end up just like those seniors.

‘Baek Seol Senior. How about lunch today?’

‘Pardon……? Oh, I already have plans.’

‘Then tomorrow?’

But Seo Doha was an EX-rank Hunter, after all.

Perhaps he had realized that she knew his true identity, because he began keeping an eye on her.

Even though she avoided him, he followed her around like a chick following its mother.

To everyone else, it seemed as though he was hitting on her.

But to her, it was nothing like that.

‘He definitely suspects me. Damn it. Is it because I hiccuped at that time?’

Simply putting on those round glasses was enough for everyone else to completely fail to recognize Seo Doha.

They were obviously an item designed for Awakened individuals.

But perhaps because she had witnessed Seo Doha putting them on that day, the item’s effect did not work on her.

‘He was badly injured back then, so maybe he doesn’t remember me……?’

Regardless, for the entire year afterward, Baek Seol desperately avoided him.

And now that she had taken a leave of absence, she had no reason to see him anymore.

“Well, now that I’m not at school anymore, he should be able to go about his business comfortably.”

If she quietly disappeared from the university without a trace, Seo Doha would also be relieved and able to accomplish whatever he had come here to do.

Thinking that, Baek Seol resumed her steps.

Back to the Dungeon Bakery, which had now become her home.

“……Huh? Lucy. Did you open the dungeon door?”

When she returned to the bakery, a scene she had never imagined was unfolding before her.

“Kyung…….”

“Th-That’s the thing, ppi.”

She had definitely left the door in the ‘closed’ state before going out.

Yet, somehow, the slime that came every day to buy white bread was lying flat on the bakery floor, looking unusually dejected.

Lucy hurriedly flapped his wings and made excuses as though he were completely innocent.

“This little guy kept banging on the door and making so much noise, ppi. How was I supposed to take a nap, ppi? So I opened the door just a little to let him know the owner wasn’t here, ppi…….”

In other words, the slime had barged straight into the bakery on its own.

Baek Seol thought that perhaps it was her fault for not telling Lucy from the beginning not to touch the dungeon door, and let out a small sigh.

“It’s fine. We’ll talk about that later. Since we have a customer, I should get some white bread out……”

“Kyung…….”

“Hm?”

Just as Baek Seol was heading toward the kitchen to bake some white bread, the slime bounced its body against the floor as though to say that wasn’t what it wanted.

Boing.

The slime bounced up slightly, but it didn’t stop there. It began vigorously waving its heart-shaped antenna from side to side.

Baek Seol realized that it had something to say to her.

“Um, customer. Aren’t you going to buy some white bread?”

The antenna hesitated for a moment before carefully swaying from side to side.

It was saying that yes, it had come to buy some.

Baek Seol blinked and asked again.

“You came to buy white bread, but is there something else you want?”

This time, the antenna quickly moved up and down.

It was saying that it had another request.

“What is it……?”

It was a little ridiculous to ask what it wanted when they could only communicate through body language, but there was no other way.

The slime’s antenna then began moving rapidly.

That movement was definitely……!

Baek Seol’s eyes sparkled.

‘What is it saying……!’

Naturally, she had no idea.

The intelligence that had shone in her eyes shriveled up in an instant.

Is there some artifact out there that lets people communicate with monsters? Someone, please make one.

Just as she was despairing over the situation—

Ta-da!

Along with a grand sound effect, a system window appeared in front of her.

<System: A new quest has been generated!>

There definitely hadn’t been a sound effect like this before.

For some reason, Baek Seol had the fleeting thought that the system was doing this on purpose.

Then the quest window appeared immediately afterward.

Quest: The First Bulk Order!

The regular customer, Slime No. 97, is about to place a bulk order. Successfully complete your first bulk order!

Condition: Personally deliver 20 loaves of white bread to the location indicated by Slime No. 97 (Status: Incomplete)

Reward: Dungeon Bakery Owner Lv. up!
** Acquire 30,000P**
** Slime’s Gratitude**

Before she could even finish reading the rewards, her eyes stopped at one particular word.

‘Del…… iver……?’

Delivery? As in delivery? Going directly to where the customer was?

“Oh. Your first bulk order comes with a delivery request, ppi. This is a chance to make some money, ppi! And you can level up, too, ppi!”

A delivery?

Did that mean she had to deliver it into the dungeon?

And the condition specifically said ‘personally.’

It felt as though the system was determined to shove her into the dungeon no matter what.

“But 20 loaves of white bread. Won’t we run out of ingredients, ppi?”

Exactly.

That was the first thing Baek Seol had thought of the moment she received the quest.

Baek Seol creakily turned her head toward Lucy.

Lucy tilted his head in confusion, then quickly scurried away from her.

“I can’t go this time, ppi! Threats won’t work on me, ppi! I can’t keep getting ingredients for you every time, ppi!”

Baek Seol was just about to figure out some way to sweet-talk him into going when another system window appeared.

<System: A prerequisite quest has been generated!>

What was this?

That ominous-looking prerequisite quest.

Quest: Let’s ‘Personally’ Gather the Ingredients!

Short on ingredients needed to complete your first bulk order? Don’t worry! Ingredients can be obtained from the dungeon!

Condition: Acquire enough ingredients to make 20 loaves of white bread (Status: Incomplete)

Reward: The ‘First Bulk Order!’ quest becomes available

“……”

“Kyung……?”

“Ppi…….”

Why are you doing this to me? You piece of crap system.

Baek Seol’s eyebrows drew together fiercely.

“……”

A brief silence fell among the three of them.

Baek Seol glanced at Lucy.

Lucy was humming to himself, looking oddly excited.

He seemed to naturally assume that she would be the one completing the quest.

But Baek Seol had no intention of doing that.

She stared firmly at the quest window floating before her and parted her lips.

“Reject.”