Round 1

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“Ugh.”

Each day, my back becomes more bent. I got up, rubbing my aching spine.

Sighing, I looked around. My garden, which seemed fairly well-made, stood barren without a single thing growing.

“What could possibly be the problem?”

To resolve this, I even studied farming techniques. I asked the natives of several dungeons how I could grow crops.

Yet, for three whole years.

Nothing has grown in my garden.

“Quest.”

I summoned the quest window, the root cause of all this trouble.

[Awakening Quest: Offer the Tribute]

Collect and submit the items listed.

Enchanted He Shou Wu: 0/1

Homemade Enchanted Fruit Juice: 0/1

An Awakening Quest.

This hologram-like window appears only to those who can enter dungeons, known as the Awakened.

It appears to every Awakened, and each has different content.

New quests are given as soon as you complete the previous one, but this was only my third quest.

The first two quests had also been about offering tributes, which I initially thought was a stroke of luck compared to most who receive quests to hunt monsters.

I had thought I was lucky. Sigh.

‘My ability is ‘synthesis,’ but this kind of quest…?’

To clarify.

My awakened ability wasn’t just synthesis.

It was specifically ‘liquid synthesis.’

What do you do by combining liquids?

There were many uses.

For example, I could combine two potions with different effects to create a new item that had slightly less potency but combined effects.

It’s more efficient to drink one mixed potion than to pull out and drink two separate ones when a monster is right in front of you.

You might ask if that isn’t a great awakening ability for an item creator…

‘The cooldown is 23 hours and 50 minutes. If I can only synthesize one item per day, what use is that?’

Originally it was exactly 24 hours, but the time was reduced by 10 minutes after clearing two awakening quests.

Yes.

To upgrade an Awakener’s ability, quests are essential.

In a world dominated by the Awakened, this meant that clearing quests directly enhanced an Awakener’s value.

“Ha…”

So, even though there had been no progress in three years, I had to keep trying.

“How did I even become an Awakener.”

Being an Awakener was a tremendous blessing, but without the ability to utilize it properly, I was no different from an ordinary person.

Moreover, my ability wasn’t suited for combat.

Compared to many other Awakened actively conquering dungeons, my ability wasn’t considered very important.

As a result, I belonged to no guild and couldn’t even return home; this was my reality.

Slap!

“Okay, snap out of it.”

That’s enough wallowing.

Even such moments of reflection were a luxury I couldn’t afford.

For the past three years.

For my family who believed in me and waited, I couldn’t afford to sit down and give up.

Even though there were no immediate results, I felt compelled to try something, grasping at straws.

“Ha, none of this is easy.”

Enchanted He Shou Wu.

Homemade Enchanted Fruit Juice.

For the former, I could either gather it from dungeons or buy it from someone else. Although it would be expensive, there was a guarantee I could obtain it.

The problem was the latter.

Various types of dungeons existed in the world, and even now, they were continuously being created and destroyed in an endless cycle.

These dungeons formed their own ecosystems.

There were natural environments and living organisms. Thus, fruits and edible plants exclusive to dungeons were occasionally discovered.

“I thought I just needed to obtain any fruit, extract its juice, and synthesize it, but that wasn’t the case.”

The phrase ‘homemade’ was very ambiguous. After three years of futile efforts, I speculated that I needed to personally cultivate enchanted fruits or vegetables and then process them to be recognized.

That’s why I, now an Awakener, was trying my hand at farming. I might be the only Awakener in the world who ended up in this situation.

After briefly looking over the garden, I headed towards the dungeon entrance.

By the way, this place was a so-called Infinite Dungeon that didn’t close, a small first-class dungeon.

However, since I wasn’t the owner, I was paying rent to use it.

“Farming doesn’t yield immediate results, so I guess I should go look for He Shou Wu.”

If I could resolve the issue with the fruit juice, I was thinking of buying He Shou Wu. But until then, I planned to personally explore various dungeons to find it.

Fortunately, the money I made daily from ‘liquid synthesis’ was about 100,000 won, which was just enough to cover my living expenses and the dungeon’s rent.

However, I didn’t become an Awakener just to earn a daily wage of 100,000 won; I needed to complete the quest as soon as possible.

Upon stepping outside, I immediately started searching for information on new dungeons. I looked for dungeons that might contain He Shou Wu, but the entrance fees were higher than expected, making my hands tremble.

“Is there really no good deal available?”

As I stood there fiddling with my smartphone, I suddenly realized it was quiet around me.

The small dungeon I was renting was located on Obongsan in Yangju, Gyeonggi-do. It was a small cave halfway up the mountain, which naturally could be quiet.

But why did I suddenly feel a chill?

“Ugh! What’s this?”

When I turned around, the entrance of the dungeon I had just exited was squirming. I hastily stepped back and watched the situation.

The squirming at the entrance of the cave eventually subsided. Still, just to be safe, I waited about ten more minutes before cautiously looking around.

“Dungeon transformation?”

Occasionally.

Very occasionally.

I had heard that existing dungeons could transform.

A transformed dungeon could change in class or size.

However, I had also heard that dungeons that undergo transformations typically contained incredible rewards.

“It looks the same on the outside?”

But there was one thing different from what I had heard: the exterior hadn’t changed?

I had heard that the entrance of a transformed dungeon might become more elaborate or change materials, but the dungeon in front of me showed no visible changes after its initial movement.

Maybe the shape of the cave had slightly altered, but it was such a minor change that it would be impossible to tell without taking a photo for comparison.

Stealthily.

I checked the potion I had on hand.

One synthesized potion allocated for today. And the rest of the unsold stock was stored inside the dungeon.

“This is driving me crazy.”

This dungeon was practically my home.

Except for when I needed the internet, went out to get food, and searched for He Shou Wu, it was always the place I stayed.

The dungeon was supposedly cleared of all monsters, which made what I was witnessing—a situation akin to a dungeon transformation—all the more jarring. 

‘Wasn’t this originally a slime dungeon?’

Slimes were such harmless creatures that it was hard to even call them monsters. Perhaps it would be safe to just go in?

Initially, I didn’t have any money on hand.

Even if I wanted to hire an Awakener to clear the dungeon, it required money, and luring someone with the prospect of a dungeon transformation felt somewhat underhanded.

‘What if it turned out not to be a dungeon transformation after all? Handling the aftermath would be difficult.’

In the end, I decided to go in alone.

My entire fortune was in there, and the prospect of a reward from the dungeon transformation, coupled with the fact that it was just a small first-class slime dungeon, instilled in me a reckless courage.

‘I’ve been stagnant for three years. While others were soaring, I was the only one falling behind.’

The odds of becoming an Awakener were extremely low.

At first, when I became an Awakener, it was significant enough to be featured in the media.

But now, no one remembered me. The surge of new Awakeners played a role, but the biggest issue was that my abilities and growth had stalled.

Would people understand what it felt like to think you had reached the pinnacle of your life only to feel yourself sinking to the bottom?

“It’s all or nothing.”

I stepped toward the dungeon.

* * *

-Ding!

Awakening Complete.

This noise greeted me as soon as I entered the dungeon.

‘What the heck?’ I thought, just as the usual dungeon interior welcomed me.

“What’s this?”

Nothing had changed.

Well, one thing had.

Wriggle—

A slime was rolling around in my garden.

An ordinary green, round slime rolled around, seemingly unaware of my presence.

“What was that noise just now?”

I heard that the awakening was complete, but that was nonsense.

I was already an Awakener…

‘No way, no way, no way…’

I was incredibly excited.

If what I heard was true?

“Sta, sta, status window!”

I had seen rumors online, almost like urban legends, about Awakeners undergoing a second awakening.

It meant literally possessing two awakening abilities.

“Huff, huff!”

I took deep breaths and closed my eyes.

I called up the status window but didn’t have the courage to look at it.

At the same time, the hardships of the past three years flashed through my mind like a zoetrope, producing hot tears on my cheeks.

“Calm down, Lee Kyu-seong! Just calm down!”

Urban legends were just that, legends. I had never heard of a double Awakener actually existing.

If they did exist, wouldn’t they have shown up bragging about it?

“Yeah, I must have heard it wrong. Even if it’s real, a double awakening, like that even exists…”

As I rambled on like a madman with my eyes closed, suddenly the hem of my pants felt warm and damp.

Thinking I might have gotten too excited and had an accident, I involuntarily opened my eyes.

Wriggle?

The slime that was now clinging to the hem of my pants cocked its head as if to ask, “What are you looking at?”

“You whattttttt!”

While talking to the slime, I screamed upon seeing the status window that appeared before my eyes. It clearly displayed a second awakening ability nestled next to the one that should have been alone.

[Abilities]

Liquid Synthesis LV.1

Slime Lord LV.1

“Huh, what…?”

I pinched my cheeks several times in disbelief, then gave the squishy slime at my feet a loud smack.

Slap! Slap!

Wriggle!

Ignoring the slime that seemed to quiver as if asking why it was being hit, I stared back at the status window.

“But… what is a Slime Lord?”

A second awakening ability.

Of course, I was insanely surprised and happy.

However, the name was peculiar.

The term “Lord” seemed grand, but the prefix was, unfortunately, “slime.”

I immediately checked the Slime Lord entry.

[Slime Lord]

All slimes will obey the Lord’s command.

You can produce one slime per day.

“What is this…”

Thud.

The joy quickly turned into despair, overwhelming me.

“Ha, haha, hahahaha…”

Slime? Slimes??

What am I supposed to do with slimes obeying my commands?

What use are creatures with virtually zero combat power? And not hundreds at a time, but just one per day? One per day?!

“This damn world!!!”

The tears of emotion quickly turned into tears of rage, and my eyes wouldn’t stop watering.

Amidst my crying and screaming, only one slime continued to squirm and stick to me.

Wriggle?

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