It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Bread that Makes You Study Well (2)

Bread stopped eating and opened his mouth, not because it was not tasty.

Rather, the opposite was true.

He exclaimed in a loud voice, startled for the umpteenth time.

“H, How is the texture like this?! How can the bread be so soft and moist?! It hasn’t even been fermented properly, and it’s made with wheat from our village, so this texture shouldn’t be possible……!”

[Your reputation has increased by 20 thanks to Bread’s admiration.]

[Affinity with Bread has increased by 10.]

Bread was nearly moved to tears by the texture of the bread, which he had never tasted before in his life.

Such soft bread!

It was a texture he could never taste in the soft bread he made.

Bread’s thought was only natural.

The wheat grown in the beginner’s village was originally strong flour, not suitable for baking.

As mentioned before, bread should be made with strong flour with high gluten content.

However, Kyung-joon overcame this with his knowledge from studying.

The ‘Chorleywood bread process’ is a modern baking method that uses chemical catalysts and high-speed kneading machines.

Kyung-joon achieved and even developed this through a combination of various magic, including fine mana control.

To be able to complete kneading and fermentation simultaneously in less than 5 minutes!

Both in reality and in the world, only Kyung-joon could do this baking method.

Kyung-joon asked Bread again, who was gobbling down the bread he had given him.

“So, is it good?”

“Mumble! Delicious! It’s delicious! It’s much better than what I made! How did you do it?!”

Bread finished Kyung-joon’s bread in an instant and asked as if pleading.

“It’s a special baking method that doesn’t exist in the world.”

“A special baking method? You mean it’s a baking method unique to the otherworlders?”

“That’s right.”

“Is there any chance you could teach me?”

Kyung-joon thought for a moment.

Bread had been giving him free bread for over a year.

Besides, he was not just a stranger player, but a close NPC and a friend.

Considering their relationship, Kyung-joon thought he could teach him a little.

But there was one problem.

“But I wonder if you can follow along…… It’s going to be quite difficult.”

“Don’t underestimate me! I’ve been making a living solely from baking since I was a child! If you don’t want to teach me, I can’t force you, but…….”

“No, it’s not that. Rather, from my point of view, it would be perfect if Bread could make and sell bread instead of me. If Bread can follow along, I’d like to sign an exclusive contract with you.”

Unlike players, NPCs rarely break a contract once they sign it.

It’s more reliable than a real contract because the system is designed that way.

“An exclusive contract?”

“So Bread would be making bread for me.”

Teach Bread Mana Baking and have him make bread instead of Kyung-joon.

After that, he could either eat the bread himself or sell it on the auction house for profit.

Then he wouldn’t have to waste his study time making bread.

At the same time, he could earn money, so it was like killing two birds with one stone.

“That’s a great idea! I’m all for it! Since I’ll be in charge of not only selling but also making, the commission will be 30%…… No! This is mainly about your unique baking method, so I’ll only take 20% as per the usual contract. If that’s too much, I’m willing to take only 10%!”

“Well, let’s think about profit distribution later. First, we need to see if you can follow along or not. I’ll show you a demonstration, so see if you can follow along.”

“Alright! I’m ready. Show me anytime.”

“Okay. Watch closely. Huup!”

[Unique skill 『Mana Baking (Lv.1)』 ]

Wooong!

A strong mana vortex formed under Kyung-joon’s hand.

As soon as the mana vortex touched the cutting board, the flour began to knead at an incredible speed.

About 5 minutes passed.

All processes, including kneading and fermentation, were completed in an instant.

It was as if a process that would normally take over 8 hours had been shortened to a mere 5 minutes.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead for show, Kyung-joon said to Bread.

“It’s roughly like this, easier than you thought, right? Can you follow along?”

“Easy my foot! How can I possibly follow that?!”

Unfortunately, it seemed like no one but Kyung-joon could properly use Mana Baking.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

The plan to sell bread by hiring Bread was postponed.

During that time, Bread kept clinging to his pants, asking him to work at his bakery, and later even begged Kyung-joon to be his master, saying he would become his disciple.

Of course, Kyung-joon refused.

He said it was because he had to study.

He had his finals in two weeks, and he didn’t have time for a master-disciple relationship.

Even though he had finished studying the main subjects, he still had to review, and he had to manage the Energy Tower, so he couldn’t leave the Study Villa for long.

And also, the Study Villa was still incomplete.

After purchasing a large quantity of necessities from the beginner’s village, Kyung-joon returned to the Study Villa.

The first thing that greeted him was a tremendous amount of status windows.

[You have caught a prairie wolf.]

[Experience has increased by 19.]

[You have caught a prairie deer.]

[Experience has increased by 12.]

.

.

.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Kyung-joon]

▶Lv.6→Lv.8

While Kyung-joon was away for two days, countless prairie monsters had passed by and been killed by the Energy Tower.

Therefore, dozens of monster corpses were scattered around the Study Villa fence.

It was like looking at a scene of a massacre.

“Judging by the experience I gained, it seems like hundreds of them were killed, but why are there so few bodies?”

<This is because the bodies disappear over time. There is no set time, but usually, the bodies will automatically disappear within 10 hours. They return to the embrace of the earth, their mother.>

“I see. Should I make a machine that automatically collects the bodies?”

The loot from monster corpses could be sold for money.

He couldn’t keep going out to collect items between studies, so he had to figure out a way to do it for him.

Just like how he built the Energy Tower because he didn’t want to hunt himself.

There was a lot more to do besides this.

Collecting the bodies would yield meat and leather, and the meat, in particular, would rot within a day outside and a week inside the inventory.

He needed to build something like a freezer storage to prevent spoilage.

There was a limit to his inventory, and he couldn’t keep going back and forth every few days to sell the loot.

It would be better to store them in a warehouse and sell them all at once on a cart or something once a month.

“I’ll have a lot to do during vacation.”

<You should focus on your finals in two weeks.>

“Right. Let me just make some more bread before that.”

Kyung-joon took out the ‘Luxury Cooking Tool Set’ he had bought at the auction house for quite a lot of money.

Then, a temporary cooking table and oven, as well as all sorts of medieval cooking tools, were summoned in the empty yard of the Study Villa.

With this, he could cook anywhere, anytime, without needing a kitchen.

It was practically a must-have item for chefs.

Of course, Kyung-joon wasn’t a chef.

“I made bread that helps you study well earlier, so this time I need to make real Bread that Makes You Study Well.”

<Bread that Makes You Study Well, you say?>

“Yes. I’m going to make a very sweet castella. They say sweet things are the best for using your brain.”

Many study experts ask:

Why do mothers bring sweet snacks to their studying children, telling them to take a break?

Why does L from Death Note keep eating cake while he’s deducing?

That’s right.

Sweet things are the best for brain activity.

The most representative brain-intensive activity is studying.

Kyung-joon also wanted to make sweet bread to supply enough sugar to his brain.

“Separate the egg yolks, add sugar, corn syrup, honey. A little bit of salt. Mix it a bit, then add the strained egg whites, butter, and olive oil…….”

Kyung-joon started kneading the castella ingredients that he had roughly heard from Bread into the flour.

After confirming that it was mixed well, Kyung-joon concentrated mana in his hand.

[Unique skill 『Mana Baking』 ]

Wooong!

A powerful mana vortex danced above the dough.

A spectacular sight that could not be seen in any kitchen, be it the world or reality!

About 5 minutes passed.

Before his eyes was the castella dough, fully fermented and kneaded.

“Now all that’s left is to put it in the oven and bake! Teemo, I’ll put in the firewood, so keep an eye on the temperature.”

<Understood.>

Crackle, crackle!

He started a fire under the medieval oven with flint and added firewood to raise the temperature.

<Current temperature is 110 degrees Celsius.>

“How many degrees is it rising per second?”

<Currently, it’s rising about 1 degree Celsius per second, and it seems like it’s about to reach its limit.>

“Good. If we leave it like this, it’ll naturally reach about 150 degrees Celsius. Let me know when it goes over 150 degrees. I’ll take out some firewood.”

After a few minutes of adding and removing firewood, the temperature inside the oven stabilized at 150 degrees Celsius.

He baked it for 40 minutes, then raised the temperature to 170 degrees Celsius, flipped it over, and baked it for another 10 minutes.

As he took the bread out and let it cool, the sweet aroma of castella wafted throughout the Study Villa yard.

[You have successfully completed cooking.]

[A unique dish has been created.]

[Dexterity has increased by 20.]

[The effect of 『Infinite Reading (Lv.2)』 adds a special effect to the dish.]

[Sweet Honey Castella Infused with Deep Mana]

▶Sweet castella made with high-level mana control. The flavor of deep mana can be felt.

▶Restores 5% satiety, increases intelligence by 10% for 1 hour.

▶Permanently increases intelligence by 1 (48-hour cooldown) (10 times limit)

▶When consumed by Infinite Knowledge Seeker, tenacity and calculation ability are instantly increased by 30%, then slowly decrease to 0% over 1 hour.

▶Item Grade: Unique

The description and effects were similar to the soft bread he made earlier, but the details were all different.

First of all, castella increased not only tenacity but also ‘calculation ability’!

Of course, since it increased both tenacity and calculation ability, the numerical value itself was 30%, lower than 50%.

However, it was very valuable in that it was a new study effect that had never been seen before.

“Wow, I made it extra sweet just in case, and it really does have a different effect. Calculation ability, for real.”

<You’ve really made Bread that Makes You Study Well. And this time, it increases intelligence instead of mana.>

Like the soft bread, there were both temporary buffs and permanent increases.

“This would be very popular on the auction house too, right?”

<It certainly would. Buffs aside, stat-increasing potions can’t be made without special ingredients.>

Teemo was right.

Permanent stat increases like intelligence and mana were rarely seen unless special ingredients were used.

However, Kyung-joon had created unique bread using only ordinary ingredients, without any special ingredients.

Even though the ingredients were ordinary, it was possible because the method was very special.

Kyung-joon was the only one who had created the Unique skill, Mana Baking.

“Okay, now that I’ve checked, let’s bake about 100 of these and get back to studying.”

Kyung-joon immediately took out the castella ingredients on the cutting board and started on a new batch of dough.

“Hum~ Hum~”

Kyung-joon couldn’t help but smile at the thought of studying while eating this ‘Bread that Makes You Study Well’ in the future.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

One day.

An item that had never been seen or heard of before appeared on the player auction house.

“Deep Mana Infused Soft Bread……?”

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