Turtle Bread King
"Haa... that crazy bitch."
After receiving Kim Hyunah's report, Cha Eunwol snatched up her phone and roughly dialed Han Seorin's number.
The call connected after just a few rings.
"Hey, Eunwol. What's up? Coming to my cafe?"
Han Seorin's voice coming through the phone was way too nonchalant.
"Hey, you psycho bitch. Stop harassing the kid with that creepy shit right now."
"Harassing? I just gave her a pretty apron as a gift. You're being too harsh."
"Sending a package without a sender's name and dumping it secretly at someone else's door—that's a gift? You crazy bitch?"
Cha Eunwol was practically frothing at the mouth, yelling her head off, but Han Seorin just let out a small chuckle.
"So the kid didn't like it? I made it to fit her perfectly."
"It's not about whether Arang likes it or not! If you keep lurking around creepily and obsessing like that, the kid's gonna be scared of you!"
"......"
At Cha Eunwol's sharp rebuke, Han Seorin's breathing cut off abruptly on the other end.
The woman who'd been casually firing back went dead silent, like her mouth was glued shut.
"Hey. Han Seorin. You listening?"
A bizarre silence stretched on. After a moment, Han Seorin's voice came through, sounding like she was pondering something deeply.
"...Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why would she be scared? I'm not hurting her or anything—just giving gifts."
Does this crazy bitch skip out on every ethics class?
Cha Eunwol let out an incredulous snort.
"Obviously! She's just a kid age-wise. Getting clothes that fit her body perfectly from some unknown person? Of course it's creepy and scary! Are you seriously trying to get Arang to hate you?"
"......"
Another heavy silence descended. Han Seorin seemed utterly shocked, not saying a word. Cha Eunwol didn't miss the chance.
She had a gut feeling this was her only shot to rein her in.
"So cut that shit out right now. Don't scare the kid."
"......Got it."
"Huh?"
Cha Eunwol doubted her own ears.
This psycho bitch was just... accepting it like that?
"You, you're really not gonna do it anymore? You're not gonna pull some sneaky shit behind my back?"
"She's scared, right? Can't have the kid scared of me. Don't wanna be hated. Hanging up."
Click.
The call ended abruptly. Cha Eunwol stared blankly at the ended call screen on her phone.
"What the... did she actually give up...?"
She still had plenty of suspicions, but since the woman had straight-up declared she wouldn't do anything more, Cha Eunwol had no grounds to press further.
"Haa... I'm gonna die of anxiety here."
Cha Eunwol pressed her throbbing temples and let out a deep sigh.
"Ah... I'm so bored I'm gonna die."
I was sprawled out on the wide, cold stainless steel prep table.
My cheek squished flat against the table like dough.
The cool surface felt kinda nice, actually.
In the oven, my carefully colored turtle bread dough was baking away.
The fatal flaw of turtle bread was the baking time.
Unlike regular bread baked quick at high heat, it had to be slow-baked at ultra-low temps for a crazy long time to avoid browning on the surface.
That way, the beautiful green from spinach and matcha powder wouldn't burn brown and could keep that perfect turtle-shell shade.
That was fine for the bread, but for me waiting around, it was boring as hell.
"Still thirty minutes left."
With my cheek still smooshed, I fiddled with my smartphone.
Nothing else to do, so I opened the NewTube app and scrolled.
[Baekya Guild Newbies Conquer Mid-Tower Floors!]
[Cha Eunwol's Secret Weapon? Baekya Guild Member Interviews Summary!]
"Oh."
Thumbnails grabbing my eye scrolled by one after another.
All news clips and Hunter NewTubers analyzing Baekya Guild's recent raid speed.
I smirked and tapped one.
The NewTuber was hyping up how Baekya's newbies were smashing mid-floors in days.
"Hehe. That's all thanks to me."
My hidden tail burst out happily, swishing away.
Seeing the guild with Cha Eunwol and Kim Hyunah getting great results because of my bread? Felt damn good.
I grinned and scrolled the comments below.
"Huh?"
My eyes scrolling comments froze on one spot. Cheonroe Guild? Cheon Yura?
First time hearing those names.
But with the insane likes and replies on every comment, she seemed pretty famous in Hunter circles.
"Where's Cheonroe Guild at?"
Curiosity piqued, I opened a new tab and searched Cheonroe Guild and 'Cheon Yura'.
Clicked the top Seedwiki page, and a ton of info poured out.
Cheonroe Guild
One of Korea's top 10 mega-guilds. Led by Guild Leader Cheon Yura, packed with aggressive, belligerent Hunters.
Cheon Yura
Korea's S-rank Hunter. Awakened same time as Cha Eunwol; considered her equal by public opinion.
"Aha. So she's Guild Leader Cha Eunwol's rival."
Even skimming the text screamed hot-tempered and scary.
Especially the last line: In her newbie days, she personally killed her entire betraying party. Gave me chills.
Hunter-on-hunter kills inside the Tower barely got punished anyway.
I rubbed my goosebumped arms and turned off the screen.
"Whatever, got nothing to do with me."
I'm just baking bread. What trouble could I get into?
If they want my bread, I'll bake it. No reason not to, even if she's Cha Eunwol's rival.
I rubbed my cheek back on the table and flopped down again.
Long bake meant time dragged forever, and the drowsy air was making my eyelids heavy.
"Mmm... sleepy..."
Just as I was nodding off...
Ding-!
The oven's cheerful end tone echoed softly in the bakery room.
"It's done!"
I bolted upright. Sleepiness vanished.
Slipped on thick oven mitts and opened the door—hot air whooshed out with sweet, nutty bread aroma.
Carefully pulled the rack to the table.
"Whoa... jackpot."
On the rack sat cartoon-perfect turtle bread visuals.
Ultra-low long bake: flawless success.
Surface unburnt, crystalline vivid green from spinach-matcha intact.
Plus, the thin maltose glaze pre-bake kept it glossy, moist as hell.
"Looks just like in the comics."
My tail thrashed happily behind my head.
Nothing beat the rush of nailing a new baking technique as a baker.
This is life...
Transferred to a cooling rack and waited.
When nicely warm, I tore off a shell piece and popped it in.
"Nom..."
Eyes snapped wide the instant it hit my mouth.
Insanely good.
No bitterness from matcha, spinach, mugwort for color.
Instead, their subtle umami synergized perfectly with pistachio's rich nuttiness.
Slow low-temp bake made the crumb cloud-soft; maltose sweetness melded with moisture for godly texture.
"This is nuts. Sell it and it'd blow up."
I was mesmerized by my own bread when...
A translucent blue system window popped in mid-air with a cheery tone.
Ding.
Name: Turtle Bread King
Grade: B++
Creator: Baek Arang
"Huh? Grade and info this time?"
Strawberry cream donut didn't have a grade, right?
What's the criteria?
Stopped chewing to read the window. My eyes bugged out at the effects.
1. Mind-Clearing Water: Clears mind instantly on consumption; removes all mental status effects (confusion, fear, charm, etc.).
2. Sturdy Shell: Halves all debuff effects on user for 24 hours post-consumption.
"Holy shit..."
A curse nearly slipped out.
Instant mental status cleanse? Plus 24-hour debuff halving?
If this were a game cash item... I'd buy a building.
Unlike morning bread's fatigue cut or donut's speed boost, this was pure survival buff.
Debuffs and curses plagued Tower climbers; halving them for a full day? Game-changer.
"Kinda scared what'll pop next..."
But it tasted good, so.
I munched the rest, tail swishing happily.