Although my garden is just about 100 square meters, I divided it into sections and planted various things.
“This was probably cherry tomatoes, right?”
The sprouting plant seemed to be a cherry tomato.
For now, it was an Earth cherry tomato seed, not one from the dungeon, but I had also planted seeds of a plant called ‘Layla’ found only in the dungeon nearby.
“This is incredible, really.”
If they just keep growing like this, they should bear fruit in about 100 days.
I’m not sure yet if there’s any problem, but just seeing the sprouts was hugely satisfying.
…But then?
“What’s this?”
Am I seeing things wrong?
It seemed to have grown a bit more in that short time.
As I rubbed my eyes and tried to figure out what was happening, suddenly Mark2 touched me.
Squirm-
“What’s wrong? Oh!”
I glanced back and could see a sprout piercing through the soil in real-time.
And it wasn’t even on the tomato line, but from the side where I planted carrots.
“Oh, no…”
The growth rate, visibly identifiable, was insane.
Is it because of the dungeon? Or because of Mark2?
[Farming LV.1]
Enhances the growth of crops.
Increases yield.
I reviewed Mark2’s abilities once again.
The description wasn’t particularly striking.
But could just this phrase cause such an insane phenomenon?
Squirm!
Mark2 squirmed and touched me again.
I realized that sprouts were also emerging where I was standing.
I hastily left the garden to observe this magical scene.
“Aaaaah…”
The emotion was indescribable.
The sprouts were stretching out as if time had been sped up.
Although the land was too narrow to plant much, it was still a spectacular sight.
“Does this even make sense?”
Now it was clear.
It wasn’t just the right timing; it was thanks to Mark2’s ability.
Otherwise, this phenomenon couldn’t be explained.
“Ah! Tomatoes!”
I began to set up the supports I had prepared in advance next to the tomatoes.
Normally, you’d wait until the tomatoes had grown a bit before doing this, but the growth rate was extraordinary.
After installing a total of 100 stakes, I could see that they had grown up to my shin.
“This is unbelievable.”
A cry of joy seemed about to burst forth.
It was just cherry tomatoes and carrots growing, but why was I so thrilled?
Honestly, I hadn’t even expected much from the dungeon fruit, Layla, but it was growing steadily too.
“People say no one has successfully cultivated dungeon plants.”
From what I’ve gathered over three years, no one has ever succeeded in growing dungeon plants.
If that’s the case, then I would be the first person on Earth to successfully cultivate a dungeon plant.
“Can’t eat wild Layla either.”
If anything, Layla tasted similar to Earth’s mangosteen but was much juicier and thus considered as a potential juice ingredient.
‘But will fruits and vegetables infused with magic grow?’
One concern was the phrase ‘infused with magic’ from the quest.
It’s said that most fruits, vegetables, and other plants from the dungeon are imbued with magic, but the real question was whether the crops I artificially grew would also be imbued with magic.
“Let’s just see what happens.”
“It seemed that I could see the results much faster than I expected given the rate of growth.
In the meantime, Mark2 was crawling around between the garden beds, fiddling with something. I didn’t know what it was doing, but it looked somehow pretty.
“Hehehe.”
Cute thing.
As I was watching the plants grow without noticing the time passing, Slime1, having completed its exploration, came up to me.
Wiggle-
“Oh? Did you find something too?”
Wiggle!
I got up from my spot, feeling like I kind of understood the slime’s wiggling now. Seeing me stand up, Slime1 started to crawl somewhere as if guiding me.
“Looks like there’s something, huh?”
A slight fear crept in.
However, seeing that the slime was fine, I thought it couldn’t be too serious and commanded,
“If the place you are leading me to is dangerous, stop right there.”
Wiggle-
The creature kept moving.
Taking its response as a sign that it wasn’t dangerous, I followed it to a corner of the dungeon.
Wiggle!
“Here?”
It was pointing to a part beyond my expectations.
That was none other than the floor.
I would have expected some changes on the wall or something, but the floor…
‘Or maybe there was always something on this floor?’
I hadn’t checked this particular spot on the floor before the dungeon transformation. I had only checked the dirt floors that could be used as fields, not these stone floors.
Wiggle-
Slime squeezed its body into a strange seam on the floor. Then, it really went through the narrow gap like a liquid.
“No, Slime. I can’t do that like you.”
What should I do now?
There was a pickaxe prepared for the garden, but I was a bit cautious since I didn’t know what was beneath.
Plop!
As if it heard me, the slime popped out of the gap and bounced.
“What’s down there?”
Wiggle!
“If there’s a monster, move to the right, if not, to the left.”
The slime moved to the left.
So there definitely wasn’t a monster.
“Is there an item?”
The slime moved to the left again.
If there’s no item, then what exactly is down there?
“It’s not dangerous, right? Move to the left if it’s dangerous this time.”
Wiggle!
The slime moved to the right, so I decided to trust it.
I now held the pickaxe in my hand and struck down on what was hard to even call a crack in the floor.
“Awakening sure is good.”
Generally, when you awaken, your physical abilities improve beyond those of an ordinary person, though only slightly.
“But what is it? Is it because of dual awakening?”
For some reason, I felt that my stamina hadn’t decreased as before. The cause must have been a dual awakening, so I just let it be.
Clang! Crunch!
Gradually, the gap widened, and finally, I could roughly see below.
I lay down on the floor, peering through with one eye to see what was there.
“It’s bright, isn’t it?”
For some unknown reason, the space below was very bright. Thanks to this, I could see what the space was like and confirmed that there was nothing there, just a vast emptiness.
“I guess I’ll know if I go down.”
I got up again and started to use the pickaxe. Thanks to my tireless stamina, I could continue working without much difficulty, and as the crack got bigger, I was able to widen the hole much faster than at the beginning.
“Wow.”
Finally, through a hole large enough for me to go through, I just peeked my head down and looked around 360 degrees.
“There are shining stones embedded. They look expensive, don’t they?”
Then suddenly, I realized that the entire space below was a dirt floor. I was already using just over 100 square yards of land as a field because that’s all I could use where I lived, but it would be a different story if I had such a space.
“How many square yards is this? It’s huge, isn’t it?”
It seemed to be at least 1,000 square yards. Furthermore, on one side, I noticed a stream of water flowing from a crack in the wall, naturally creating a pond-like feature.
“…Does it seem like it’s urging me to farm?”
That was the environment.
The problem was that the ceiling was high, so once I went down, I couldn’t come back up without a ladder, but that could be resolved by just obtaining a ladder.
“…”
I was deep in thought.
In fact, I had only farmed because of a quest. Farming itself was not important; it was just a means to an end.
But now that I had awakened the Slime Lord ability and realized that I could farm through the slime, things were different.
‘Should I just switch to being a farmer?’
Even though I was an awakened being, I was not one who hunted monsters.
Given the situation, it seemed not bad to specialize as an awakened being in this area using my abilities.
This was a field completely ignored by other awakened beings. It was a chance to have my own competitive edge.
“Let’s see the results first and then reconsider.”
The crops were growing fast, but I hadn’t seen any fruits yet. The decision could wait until after I saw the crops.
However, I couldn’t help but consider it positively, since it seemed like the only thing I could do with the slime was farming.
“Good job, Slime.”
Wiggle!
I petted the wiggling creature and then picked it up with both hands.
It had a strangely pleasant texture that was addictive, something I hadn’t noticed yesterday due to being preoccupied.
Ssshhh-
“Oh, typical slime. It stretches a lot.”
Wiggle!
Holding the wiggling creature in my hands, I returned to the field to find that the tomatoes had already grown up to my knees.
“That’s kind of scary.”
Mark2 was diligently crawling around the garden, which had transformed into a small jungle. To my eyes, it just seemed to be wiggling and moving around, but it was emitting a rather serious vibe.
“But don’t you guys eat something like food?”
Wiggle?
As I fiddled with the slime, which seemed to question what I meant, I realized I still didn’t know much about slimes.
Information was always important, I felt.
I should have learned a bit more about slimes when I had gone out, but since going out wasn’t hard, I could just make the effort again.
‘I was too distracted by the sudden events.’
From now on, it was important to gradually learn more.
So, I played with Slime1 in my hands while absently watching Mark2 and the garden.
Just watching it was so healing that I couldn’t fall asleep, and I ended up pulling an all-nighter.
“Sigh.”
As a result of staying up all night, the tomatoes had grown up to my waist. They had grown enough that it wouldn’t be surprising if they started to bloom.
“Come to think of it, I didn’t even thin out the carrots or prune the tomato plants.”
But it was perfect.
It must have been Mark2 working hard on those processes.
“Amazing, huh?”
He was truly a perfect farmer, or should I say laborer, either way, it was impressive.
If the tomatoes have grown this much, is it time to start harvesting the carrots?
Honestly, I’m not sure.
Their growth rate was so fast that it was hard to gauge compared to ordinary crops.
“Mark2, call me when it’s time to harvest the crops. Don’t do it alone.”
Gloop!
As if responding, Mark2 squirmed and was busily doing something else in the Layla field.
He had spent more time in the area where Layla was planted, and it seemed Layla required more care.
“Layla is something I need to know about.”
It was just planted.
That’s why it occupied the smallest area in the garden.
Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!
The alarm sounded.
Originally, this was the time to wake up.
I turned off the alarm and checked the cooldown of my ability.
It was about time for it to be usable again.
“If combining Slime1 with a potion doesn’t work, then with Mark2…”
Something about merging Slime into one was intriguing.
Was it because two had become one?
After a while, the cooldown was over.
“Phew. Here goes, Slime1!”
In one hand, the potion again, and in the other, Slime1.
As I took a deep breath, suddenly water dropped from the ceiling.
“Huh?”
The moment I looked up, something fell on my face with a thud.
“What the!”
Startled, I brushed off my face and something familiar and squishy fell to the floor.
“Slime?”
Why was there slime on the ceiling?
Looking up, I saw a small crack in the dark, high ceiling through which sunlight was streaming.
“Where did you come from?”
I wondered if I had used my ability as the Slime Lord, but it had literally just dropped from the ceiling.
“Ah!”
Now that I think about it, the first slime was like that too, and the one that had multiplied suddenly the day before also appeared out of nowhere.
“This is awesome!”
A slime dungeon where one appears every day.
Since slimes could be used as labor through the commands of the slime lord, the more the better. Totally thank you.
“Wait. Stay away for a bit.”
In case the liquid synthesis was accidentally used again, I sent the slime that had fallen from the ceiling far away.
Then, feeling it was far enough, I immediately used the liquid synthesis.
[The target is inappropriate for using the ability.]
“As expected.”
The awakening ability didn’t come with detailed instructions.
It was the same for all awakeners; they had to learn the limits and exact methods of their abilities through trial and error.
“Mark2!”
Squirm?
It was fun, Slime1.
I put down the potion and picked up Mark2.
Mark2 was definitely heavier.
“Synthesis!”
[The target is inappropriate for using the ability.]
“Huh?”
What?
It clearly indicated that liquid synthesis was possible with Mark2.
“Oh, could it be.”
LV.1 with LV.1.
LV.2 with LV.2 could be synthesized?
That seemed like a plausible method.
“So then…”
I called back the slime that had fallen from the ceiling.
Upon using the liquid synthesis again,
[Slime LV.2 has been created.]
A new Mark2 was born.
“Tomorrow, then, I’ll have to try synthesizing Mark2 with the new Mark2.”
As I set down the newly created entity, it looked around and then cuddled up to me again.
“Cute, huh?”
Wait a minute.
[Slime LV.2]
Ordinary slime.
‘Liquid synthesis possible’
Ability: Poison LV.1
“Why is your ability like that?”
Cliche Novel 