Bread for Sale (2)

"Gah, is it because it's enhanced wheat? Even after mining five of them, there's still so much wheat coming out?"

It really seemed like it was made purely as a food source. 'Still… it drops so much, and you can duplicate it, so even twice would be more than enough profit.'

Thinking that to myself, I looked at the thirty wheat now in my inventory. Each enhanced wheat dropped six regular wheat. That was a huge amount. Ten seeds had come out too—all enhanced seeds. Of course, after this it would just be normal seeds, but even so, that was something.

"Beginner boost… yeah, it feels exactly like that."

With those words, I hurried over to the crafting table. I was going to make bread and sell it. Well, I wasn't planning to charge a fortune. I'd just take whatever the other person was willing to give. After all, I wasn't even sure if anyone would actually want the bread I made.

"…S-still… I hope they'll accept it."

The Jireongi's words once again lifted my self-esteem. Even though they were just text, they carried real weight. Knowing that someone beyond the screen was cheering me on made those words more than just cold letters. Precious, precious Jireongi comments. Gathering them up, I smiled softly.

"Th-thank you… always……."

They really were incredibly kind. In total, ten loaves of bread were finished. None of them were for me. I planned to give my bread to ten different people. There were about fifty players on the server right now, so one in five would receive bread from me. I wanted to name the bread too, but…

"Then I'd need an anvil…? H-how much iron does that take…?"

"Ah… I see. Well, it's a shame, but… yep."

I couldn't help feeling disappointed, but I still smiled brightly, gathered the bread and a sign, and headed for the village square.

"Hehe……."

"U-um… nope, not selling those, and wouldn't I get arrested for food safety violations or something?"

When I asked with a slightly suspicious look, the Jireongi went quiet. I let out a small laugh and, yawning, settled into place, blankly watching the people passing by.

"I-I don't have the courage to talk to them… so maybe I'll just stay like this."

I'd come out to sell bread and make friends, but… 'Scary…!' I couldn't bring myself to speak. It was terrifying. A wave of nervousness washed over me—not quite full-blown panic, just tension. Could I really talk to those people? Could I do well enough to make them buy my bread? Those thoughts raced through my mind. 'Is it even possible…!? It feels impossible!'

Just as that thought was dominating my head, the Jireongi pushed me forward.

They told me to shuffle around a bit in front of everyone. I really didn't want to, but since it had to be done anyway, I turned on my mic, picked up the bread, and called out to the passersby.

"B-bread for sale… bread for sale… f-f-fresh bread here……."

Once I reluctantly started acting like a proper merchant, the Jireongi finally seemed satisfied. I squeezed my eyes shut and kept standing up and sitting back down. Maybe my character's movements had drawn aggro.

"…Hic, hiccup."

The first customer tilted her head and repeated my words. The Jireongi exploded with reactions.

The Jireongi cheered me on. I almost teared up, but I took a deep breath and continued.

"H-hello… I-I'm selling b-bread… p-please buy some."

"Y-yeah… it's m-made from enhanced wheat, so it's good for you……."

The female streamer laughed while looking at me. Thinking she was mocking me, I shrank even smaller. Just when I figured the first sale was a bust, she said something unexpected.

"U-um… you can give however much you want."

She asked while looking at me with sparkling eyes. I lowered my head and answered.

"Y-you can… b-but then I'd feel a little sad……."

The chat window sped up noticeably. But my eyes were entirely focused on the woman in front of me.

"S-so… how much will you give…!"

When I looked at her with sparkling eyes, she chuckled and tossed me a diamond.

"Huk…!"

Two diamonds? She was giving two whole diamonds for my bread? I was so shocked it felt like I'd been jolted awake. Overjoyed, I froze for a moment, wondering if I was being scammed. But all I saw was the kind-looking woman and the Jireongi freaking out about YouTube content. It didn't seem like a scam after all.

"O… ooh… o…."

After standing there dazed for a while, she laughed amusedly and asked for the bread. Startled, I quickly handed it over.

"H-here you go…!"

She left with the kindest smile in the world. Grinning widely, I gathered my courage and started selling even more enthusiastically.

"This… I think I might actually sell them all… just like the Jireongi said, I really do need to promote myself."

Encouraged by the Jireongi, I stood in front of the sign and called out to people even more energetically.

"B-bread…! For sale…! It's fresh…! Super tasty… uh… anyway, please buy some!"

Like that, I spent a long time selling bread in the square.

* * *

Haram picked up her pickaxe, ready to mine as usual.

"Let's go…! Another refreshing start today!"

"Eh…? Something cute?"

She'd been planning to mine hard and earn money, but suddenly there was something cute in the square. Normally she would have ignored it—her viewers' attempts to avoid mining were a constant WWE match, after all. But today, for some reason, she felt like there really might be something cute.

"Should we go take a look?"

Haram smiled and turned toward the square. Not long after arriving, what she saw was—

"Hup…!!"

It was Snek Snek, dancing a super cute dance while trying to sell her last remaining bread.

'Unnie is way too cute…!'

Even though she was older than Haram, even though she was the one who had raised both her crush and her best friend—could someone really be this cute? The thought flashed through Haram's mind.