Ch.4Chapter 4 – Reincarnated into a Game World (4)

I would have been able to start a truly pleasant day if I had woken up to the sound of birds chirping outside the window.

“Guest! Wake up and come down for breakfast!”

Contrary to my wishes, I woke up to the voice of a woman who was shouting at the top of her lungs while knocking on my door.

“I’ll come down…”

Her voice was so loud that people staying in other rooms responded with, “I’m awake, so please stop knocking!” or “I’m up! I’m up!”

It seemed that because of the knocking on my door, other guests had also been jolted awake.

After gathering my belongings, I went downstairs to the first floor where other people were already seated at the table having breakfast.

“You must be the guest who came in late last night? Please have a seat. I’ll bring you your meal. I’m sorry about knocking on your door earlier. But in our village, if you miss breakfast time, there’s nowhere to buy food, so I hope you understand.”

As I came downstairs, a warm-looking middle-aged woman spoke to me.

I thought her voice sounded familiar—she was the owner of the voice that had woken everyone up earlier.

Anyway, judging by the fact that there was no place to buy food if you missed breakfast, this didn’t seem to be a particularly large village.

It had looked quite big from a distance, but apparently that wasn’t the case in reality.

Since I had arrived late at night when it was dark, I probably hadn’t gotten a proper look at the village landscape, which made sense now.

In any case, I sat down at an empty seat and waited quietly until a waitress who appeared to work here placed something on the table in front of me.

Looking closely at what she had set down, I saw something resembling a stew with lots of solid ingredients and a bread that looked hard and rough in texture.

“This is our inn’s pride, ‘Daily Stew,’ and the bread beside it is quite hard, so you should dip it in the stew before eating. Enjoy your meal.”

After the waitress’s introduction, I looked at the food placed on the table.

Daily Stew, huh? The name reminded me of the “Perpetual Stew” or “Eternal Stew” I’d once read about on an internet community.

The bread beside it was indeed hard, just as the waitress had described it.

When I actually touched the bread, it was extremely hard, like a baguette that had cooled and hardened.

Following her advice, I tried to dip the bread in the stew.

But the bread was so hard that it wouldn’t break easily.

It was so solid that I thought I could probably hammer a nail into wood with it.

‘No choice. I’ll have to smash it with a hammer.’

Since I couldn’t break the bread with my strength alone, I had no choice but to open my bag and take out a hammer.

Gripping the handle, I brought the hammer down on the hard bread to break it.

—Thud!

But was the bread just too hard? It wouldn’t break with just one strike of the hammer.

When I took out my hammer and struck the bread, nearby guests glanced at me before returning to their meals.

The fact that they weren’t looking at me like I was strange suggested that I wasn’t the only one who broke bread with a hammer.

I struck the bread with the hammer again.

—Thud!

This time I put a bit more strength into it.

The surface of the bread dented slightly, and I heard something starting to crack.

Just a little more, and the bread would break into pieces perfect for dipping in the stew.

I swung the hammer with full force one last time.

—Thud!

The moment the hammer made contact with the bread for the final time, a faint light began to envelop the hard bread.

‘What? This ability works on bread too?’

I thought my ability was limited to repairing tools and weapons.

But judging by what was happening before my eyes, it seemed my ability wasn’t limited to just repairing weapons and tools.

“What’s that?”

“What’s happening?”

“Did that person just use magic?”

“What? A magician?”

The people eating breakfast were startled by the light surrounding the bread after I had struck it three times with my hammer.

From what I could hear, they seemed to think I was some kind of magician.

Hey, I’m not a magician. I’m just an ability user with repair skills!

I didn’t know my ability would work on the bread I was trying to eat!

Meanwhile, I noticed that the light covering the bread in front of me had disappeared.

I immediately placed my hand on the bread to see what changes had occurred…

‘It’s warm… and soft…?’

The bread that had been so hard that even hammering it had no effect was now very warm and soft, like freshly baked bread.

Just to be sure, I gripped the bread with both hands and pulled, and the bread tore along the grain.

It didn’t break—it tore. A phenomenon only seen in freshly baked bread.

“The bread…?”

“It tore…? Along the grain?”

“Wow… that’s amazing.”

“Am I seeing things?”

The people eating nearby couldn’t hide their amazement as they watched the bread in my hands tear along the grain.

Hey everyone, I’m just as surprised as you are right now.

I brought one of the torn pieces of bread to my mouth.

As the rich aroma of well-baked bread entered my nostrils, my instincts screamed:

‘Bite it! Bite it! This is perfectly baked bread!’

‘Eat it! Don’t hesitate, devour it! Leave nothing behind!’

My instincts were telling me to devour the bread.

I immediately took a bite, and for the first time, I realized how nutty and melt-in-your-mouth delicious bread could be.

Steam was rising from the bitten bread, so I dipped it in the stew and brought it to my mouth.

“Mmmmm…”

As I chewed the stew-soaked bread, the nutty flavor of the bread combined with the savory taste of the stew, creating a storm of flavors in my mouth.

I had never eaten such delicious bread even when I lived on Earth.

‘My ability is seriously awesome! To think it works on food too!’

I was once again amazed by the greatness of my ability.

Thank you, Epitrina.

From now on, I’ll bow three times a day in your direction when I wake up.

As my infinite gratitude toward Epitrina ended, I struck the remaining piece of bread three times with my hammer.

That bread also transformed from dry and hard to warm and fragrant, like freshly baked bread.

Having turned both pieces of bread into delicious treats, I began what could only be described as a whirlwind of consumption.

Dipping the bread in the stew was just the beginning; I also topped the bread with chunks from the stew, and eventually, I even soaked the bread completely in the stew.

“Gulp.”

It didn’t take long for me to finish all the stew and bread.

I was looking down at the now-empty stew bowl.

I had eaten so cleanly that there wasn’t a trace of stew left in the bowl.

With a bit of exaggeration, it was clean enough to serve food in without washing.

The reason I was able to enjoy the food so much was probably due to my ability.

No, not probably—definitely because of my ability.

The “repair ability” that fixes everything seemed to have hidden secrets I wasn’t aware of.

Yesterday, I had experimented with “weapons,” “tools,” and “miscellaneous items.”

The dagger, frying pan, cast iron pot, silver coin, and old sword all had “metal” as a common element.

But the hard bread that triggered my ability today seemed far removed from “metal.”

But thinking about it again, weren’t the handles of the frying pan and cast iron pot made of wood?

Plus, the sword handle was also made of wood with leather wrapped around it.

‘What did they say in chemistry class back then?’

I couldn’t quite remember what my chemistry teacher had said.

But as I forced myself to recall, something similar came to mind.

‘Listen up. Metal is a representative inorganic substance, and carbohydrates are representative organic substances. This will be on the test, so those who get it wrong, be prepared.’

I think that’s what it was. Ah! I remember! In high school chemistry, the teacher really did put this on the test.

Of course, I got it wrong, and after the test, I was severely scolded by the chemistry teacher.

And then I received a lecture about the differences between inorganic and organic substances until my ears bled, I think?

‘How interesting. My ability applies not just to inorganic substances but to organic ones as well.’

To be honest, I don’t know much about inorganic and organic substances. After all, I majored in humanities in college.

Just then, several shadows fell over me from behind.

“Hey.”

“Huh?”

Three men approached me while I was pondering about inorganic and organic substances.

The three men had expressions that suggested they wanted something but were anxious about whether they could get it.

“What… can I do for you?”

“Well, you see…”

They trailed off and held something out to me.

What they offered were the hard, rough pieces of bread provided by the inn for breakfast.

“Why are you—oh!”

I seemed to understand why they were holding out their bread.

They probably wanted to ask if I could make their bread delicious too, just like mine.

“You want me to make your bread like mine, right?”

The three men nodded at my words.

Inwardly sighing with relief at their request, I took out my hammer and struck each of their pieces of bread three times, hoping they would become delicious.

The bread in the three men’s hands transformed into freshly baked bread just like mine, and the three thanked me, each placing a copper coin in my hand.

After the three men left, other people also stood up and approached me with desperate looks, offering a copper coin and their bread. I nodded and received a copper coin from each of them, making everyone’s bread delicious.

Thanks to this, everyone was able to enjoy a satisfying breakfast.

I also felt good knowing that people could have a satisfying meal because of my ability.

I thought that if I used this well, I might be able to leave a positive impression on the heroines.