Ch.7070. Divine Mandate

There was once a baker.

He wanted to make bread that would make people happy when they ate it.

His pure heart was rewarded.

A passing star granted his wish.

He gained the skill to create any flavor he desired.

The baker used this power to make many delicious breads.

Candies that melted in your mouth, sweets with the most perfect sweetness, bread that gave just the right feeling of fullness with a single bite.

People who ate his bread were very pleased.

But that didn’t last long.

The happiness of those who ate the bread didn’t endure.

They were happy in the moment of eating, but once they returned to reality, they suffered from the contrast and kept seeking more bread.

Contrary to the baker’s good intentions of making people happy, those who ate the bread once were never truly happy.

This fact troubled the baker.

But the baker didn’t give up.

He had a dream of spreading the taste of happiness to people.

He took out dough, put it in the oven, and made sweets and bread over and over again.

Day by day, his skills improved remarkably.

He reached a level where he could make bread so delicious it seemed otherworldly.

But he still couldn’t create the taste of happiness.

Bread that would allow people to maintain their happiness even after eating it.

The bread he made didn’t come close to that.

Then one day, he thought of a method to create the taste of happiness.

“That’s it! I forgot that happiness is different for each person!”

The baker changed his approach.

Instead of bread that would make everyone happy, he decided to make bread that would allow each person to feel their own happiness.

The baker knew the method.

“I’ll make bread that thinks itself happy!”

That is, making bread that considers itself happy.

If he made bread that looked exactly like the customer, and if that bread realized happiness, it could transfer that happiness directly to the customer.

So the baker began baking sweets that looked exactly like his customers.

That’s how “The Baker of Happiness” was born.

*

The bread was unhappy from birth.

Because it knew well that it was destined to be eaten.

The bread, made by an excellent baker to imitate humans, mimicked people so perfectly that even its emotions were identical.

They wanted to live like their originals.

But the baker who made the bread didn’t care about the pastries.

He was obsessed with creating the taste of happiness, and the bread’s feelings were not his concern.

This fact made the bread even more miserable.

The fact that death was predetermined from the moment of birth made the bread unhappy.

The bread wanted to be happy.

Then, the bread had a realization.

Before the original eats me, what if I eat the original? Wouldn’t that make me happy?

After all, no one can tell us apart, right?

The breads shared this thought through their dough.

And so they moved to find happiness.

That was how the “Unhappy Jam Bread People” came to be.

===========

Amon turned off the tablet after reading this far.

“I’ve read it well.”

Amon returned the tablet to the security chief of “Lloyd & Life.”

The security chief put the tablet in his coat pocket.

The two were walking side by side down the company corridor.

The company they were walking through was currently in complete lockdown.

Right after Amon cut the throat of the Jam Bread Person who was pretending to be a guide, the company immediately locked down everything.

Employees who didn’t know about the existence of the Jam Bread People were surprised, but since it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened, they complied without resistance.

And Amon, from being a guest to becoming a collaborator, was now hunting down the Jam Bread People.

The reason why Amon, an outsider, was allowed to move freely in a situation directly related to company security was simple.

“Since I can distinguish the Jam Bread People, just allow me to cooperate.”

“Why should we trust you?”

“I’ve already sliced through 20 Jam Bread People on my way to this office. If you still can’t trust me, I’ll just leave. It’s not my problem if this place becomes a dungeon.”

It was because he had directly negotiated with the president.

The company was the one in need, after all.

In the end, the president promised compensation to Requetio Corporation and commissioned Amon.

Only after accepting the president’s request did Amon breathe a sigh of relief.

‘Whew. What would I have done if he actually told me to leave?’

He had been acting confident in front of the president, but in reality, he had been praying not to be rejected.

To others, it seemed like Amon was helping out of pure goodwill.

But in reality, there was some ulterior motive.

Otherwise, why would Kathy have sent Amon in advance?

She must have sent him because there was some benefit to be gained here.

However, since even Amon himself didn’t know what it was, to others it would appear as pure goodwill.

So Amon went around cleaning up the company with the security chief.

The security chief, who had initially distrusted Amon, began to believe in him after the number of detected impostors exceeded 70.

As evidence, after cleaning up the server room, the security chief asked Amon while heading to the next department:

“Do you have any know-how for distinguishing these bread people?”

A question that could be asked because he believed in Amon’s method.

According to him, it was impossible to distinguish Jam Bread People by appearance.

Moreover, since they weren’t entities but objects made by entities, they barely emitted any Mystic Power.

There were two ways to distinguish them:

Check the CCTV, or check their blood.

However, even these two methods often missed them if the Jam Bread People had prepared deceptions in advance.

But Amon could just glance and identify them all, so it was natural for someone watching to want to know his secret.

The promise of generous compensation was just a bonus.

Unfortunately, Amon had no such know-how.

Amon smiled bitterly and replied:

“It’s not know-how, it’s an ability.”

Amon tapped the corner of his right eye.

The eye he now called ‘Saan.’

Through that eye, the Jam Bread People looked different from ordinary people.

Ordinary people had cracks, big or small.

The shorter their remaining lifespan, the larger the cracks in their body, or the more unstable their soul appeared.

The Jam Bread People had cracks just like humans.

But jam flowed from those cracks.

It was different from the “White Dawn” monsters that kept collapsing and reassembling.

Thanks to this, when he first saw the guide with this unfamiliar form, he was uncertain, but remembering Kathy’s advice, he could be sure.

Jam Bread People leak jam.

That was Amon’s secret for distinguishing them.

“My eyes are related to entities. They’re a bit special.”

The security chief stared at Amon’s eyes and then nodded.

It was an ability he’d never heard of, but in this world, there were more things the security chief didn’t know than things he did.

He could accept such an ability suddenly appearing from somewhere.

Afterwards, the security chief and Amon continued cleaning up various parts of the company.

Occasionally, when an entire department had been replaced by Jam Bread People, Amon would wield his sword directly.

After finishing a round with Amon, the security chief admired his skills.

“I heard you were sent from Requetio, are you perhaps the security chief there?”

“No?”

“Then a department head?”

“No. I’m… something like an external consultant.”

He had considered introducing himself as a mercenary, but since he was representing Requetio, he changed his answer.

It wasn’t far from the truth anyway.

Afterwards, the two of them, along with security team members behind them, went around the company cleaning up the Jam Bread People.

The company building was filled with the sweet smell of strawberry jam.

Grape jam and chocolate jam were occasional bonuses.

Before long, only Section 3, where the Jam Bread People’s escape had begun, remained.

“May I enter here?”

Amon asked the security chief.

As he asked, Section 3, where the baker was located, was a security area of the company.

He was asking if there might be various difficulties for him to enter.

But the security chief readily granted permission.

“It would be stupid not to trust you after all the help you’ve given.”

The security chief suggested that since Amon had come all this way, he might as well see the baker’s face.

Amon accepted his words with a slight smile.

They entered Section 3.

The chief asked Amon:

“How is it?”

Amon shrugged.

“There are no people here.”

All the people Amon saw were leaking jam.

As the place where the escape had started, it seemed to have already been conquered.

“Are you sure?”

Amon nodded to the security chief who was double-checking.

Having received Amon’s confirmation, the security chief immediately took out his weapon.

Click-clack. Click.

Mechanical sounds came from the left side of the security chief’s body.

A minigun hidden under his coat revealed itself.

“Then I’ll sweep them all away.”

Brrrrrrrr!

The minigun rotated and sprayed bullets.

Jam splattered everywhere, creating a dreamlike scene.

Amon quietly observed the spectacle.

‘Looks like I’m not needed here.’

All the Jam Bread People were handled at the security chief’s level.

After quickly clearing Section 3, they left the cleanup of the bodies… or rather, bread crumbs, to the team members and headed to the basement where the baker would be.

“Yum.”

While waiting for the elevator, the security chief picked up and ate one of the fallen pieces of bread.

Amon, who had been quietly watching, asked the security chief:

“Is it delicious?”

“It is. I don’t know if this is the taste of happiness, but it seems to be the most delicious bread I’ve ever eaten.”

“You seem quite familiar with this.”

“Entity escapes aren’t rare in this company. It’s not the first time the baker has escaped either. Though this is the first time they’ve infiltrated the entire company, which did give me a scare.”

The security chief laughed, “Haha.”

Amon silently nodded.

The two boarded the elevator.

“You go first.”

The team members would take the next elevator.

The elevator carrying the two headed down to the basement where “The Baker of Happiness” would be.

The elevator moved very slowly for security reasons.

With no music or television, it was extremely boring.

In the quiet elevator, Amon broke the silence.

“How long have you been with the company?”

“About 3 years.”

“And how long have you been security chief?”

“…About a year.”

“Then how long have you been living as the human called George?”

“…”

The security chief’s mouth closed.

He silently looked at Amon.

Amon was looking up at him with confident eyes.

The security chief sighed and opened his mouth.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice until the end. You really do have remarkable eyes.”

“You’re not attacking me?”

“I specialize in long-range combat. In this narrow space, I don’t see much chance of winning against you.”

“You flatter me.”

“So, what do you want from me?”

“Nothing in particular. I was just curious.”

Amon said, looking at the jam flowing from under the security chief’s eyes with his Saan.

“About the story of when you started living as a human.”