Round 14

Prev | TOC | Next

Together with Poooh who just came up, and Rookie, the three of us went to check on the Layla.

The Layla, wrapped in cabbage-like purple leaves, was already exuding a sweet smell.

No, to simply call it sweet would be an understatement; it was a fragrant yet not overpowering scent.

“Could this be used as a perfume?”

It was just a passing thought, but I wondered what it would be like if it were actually done.

I wouldn’t need to make it myself.

Couldn’t I just pick these leaves and commission a perfume manufacturer? There seem to be custom perfume workshops these days.

“Harvest these leaves separately. Don’t throw them away.”

Squish!

Poooh—

So, that’s settled.

First off, I don’t know how to harvest. So, I need to watch a demonstration from a seasoned trainer.

“Who wants to try harvesting first?”

Squish?

Poooh!

Poooh pointed at Rookie.

Rookie, with a prickly demeanor, quickly clung to the purple leaves of the Layla. Soon after, he began delicately and carefully peeling off one leaf at a time.

Poooh!

Watching alongside, Poooh seemed impressed and soon joined in the work.

“I can’t lose to a slime.”

I also harvested the fruits of the Layla while sneaking glances at how they were doing it. Surprisingly, it wasn’t difficult; I just needed to carefully peel off the enveloped leaves in the correct order.

“Slimes are more delicate in their work because they don’t have hands.”

Now I realized that using my hands made the task feel easier. I was newly impressed by the slimes managing such tasks without hands.

Following along with the work beside me, I was the first to encounter the fruit of the Layla. The leaves were peeled back, revealing fruit that emitted a strong fragrance.

Gulp.

I inadvertently swallowed my saliva.

I always liked fruits, but this was shocking enough to make me question if it could merely be called a fruit.

“Now what do I do with this?”

I could just pick it, but I waited just in case.

Let’s finish watching the seasoned trainer’s demonstration.

Click!

However, contrary to my grand expectations, Rookie simply plucked the fruit of the Layla. A thin stem was visible, which he seemed to have just snapped off.

“Then, me too.”

Snap!

I gently twisted the fruit sideways, and the stem broke off, separating it.

“Wow.”

The Layla, with its shiny purple shell.

To someone unfamiliar, it might look like a giant purple acorn.

“The flesh isn’t exposed, so it should be easy to store.”

Soon after, the three of us enthusiastically harvested the Layla, quickly gathering thirty fruits.

Looking at the neatly stacked Layla, I felt a sense of abundance.

“Wow.”

But then I wondered if this too might be an item, so I took a closer look…

[Magically Infused Layla LV.1]

[It contains a faint magical power.]

[Upon consumption, depending on the amount of mana held, monster affinity increases for 1 minute, followed by a permanent slight increase in affinity.]

I knew that ordinary Layla was not considered an item, but it seemed the crops I, or rather, the slimes had grown, turned out to be special.

And like last time, this time too it had effects I never expected.

“If you say ‘monster affinity,’ does it mean you can become friends with monsters?”

‘This is unusable.’

While carrots and tomatoes seemed somewhat manageable, this was a bit…

“As long as it tastes good.”

Trying to convince myself, I picked up a Layla fruit. Having harvested it, it was now time to taste!

“Call the ones below too.”

Poooh!

While Poooh went to call the others, I split a total of six Layla peels, including the share for the slime. As I cracked the hard outer shell and exposed the flesh, a sweet fragrance enveloped the entire dungeon.

“Kuh.”

I forcibly swallowed the saliva pooling in my mouth as I finished the preparations. By the time Poooh had brought the other slimes up,

“Alright! Great job, guys! Let’s eat!”

Gulurung!

Gumul~!

Mark2, Poispois, Runner, Poooh, Rookie.

All five slimes and I each took one Layla.

“There’s quite a lot of flesh.”

The pulp was nearly the size of an armful, so there was a substantial amount hidden inside the shell. Of course, I knew that the seeds inside the pulp were significant, but there was still enough to eat satisfyingly.

‘It’s not just filling; it feels like my stomach will burst.’

Anyway, having barely managed to wait until the slimes arrived, I immediately took a bite.

Jjuwaak!

Juice burst forth, filling my mouth.

At the same time, an enormous army of fragrances began assaulting my brain through my nose.

Gulp!

Texture? Taste?

No, it was more than that; it was the ultimate form of gastronomy.

It was the fragrance.

“Haah…”

I had only taken one bite, but I was still lost in the aftertaste. The Layla had already passed my throat and settled in my stomach, but it still felt as if it filled my mouth.

Gulurung-

It seemed the slimes also felt the lingering aftertaste and were paused. It was a different reaction from the quickly devoured carrots and cherry tomatoes.

“Huh?”

Suddenly.

The aftertaste disappeared quickly, and the scent of Layla vanished from my mouth. It was so clean that I was surprised again.

‘It didn’t just disappear; it felt like it cleared the palate…’

Ah, it’s clear.

It wasn’t that it disappeared, but another fragrance quickly covered it. My mouth felt as fresh as if I had eaten mint.

Layla had a complex mix of various fragrances.

“Wow. Amazing?!”

I brought my mouth to the Layla again.

Once again, the same emotion swept over me, followed by a long aftertaste.

It was an infinite repeat from then on.

Thanks to the lingering aftertaste, I could keep eating without getting tired of it.

Thanks to that, my stomach quickly became rounded as I polished off the Layla.

“Ugh.”

Gururung–

As if addicted, no matter how much I ate, it was still too delicious, and I overdid it.

“Could this really have an addictive component?”

Typical Layla is known to be harmless to humans and even rich in nutrients, but the Layla imbued with my magical power might be different.

Maybe I should assign this as a task.

Looking around, the slimes had also finished off Layla fruits as big as their bodies and were squirming with a sense of satisfaction.

“Collect all the seeds; we’ll replant them.”

Gururung-

“By the way, shouldn’t the plants we planted below start showing some reactions by now?”

I ordered the slimes to take a break and went down alone.

Then, I saw a tomato? with a newly formed bud.

“Tomato… right?”

It looked a bit different from the ones planted above.

It had grown much taller, almost reaching my chin.

Thanks to that, it was using two stakes tied together as support.

“They all managed this by themselves, huh? Really all-round workers, aren’t they?”

Recently, due to my frequent outings, I had left almost all the farming work to the slimes.

I didn’t have time to worry, but seeing them manage so well on their own made me feel incredibly proud.

Looking to the side, other crops were also starting to show signs of growth. From freshly sprouted seedlings to ones that seemed quite grown already.

“The tomatoes are the fastest, though.”

It seemed like I might even be able to harvest the tomatoes by tomorrow.

Though they looked a bit strange compared to ordinary tomatoes, I was considering using them to treat Young-seong’s wife if they had superior detoxifying abilities.

“Here are eggplants, these are strawberries? Wow, the cucumbers have only grown this much?”

My sense of growth speed was completely skewed.

They were already growing fast, but I found myself grumbling without realizing.

“Oh, Embergrill! I’m also looking forward to it.”

The growth speed of the Embergrill, a dungeon plant, was surprisingly fast. Honestly, I didn’t know when it would fully mature, but just by looking at it now, it seemed to grow quickly.

Gumul?

While I was examining everything, Mark2, tired from resting, poked his head out. Despite telling him to rest, his behavior suggested he thought of this farming work more as play.

“What, you’re all rested?”

Gumul!

“Yeah. Do as you like.”

As soon as they heard that, Mark2, Poispois, and Poooh came down. They soon were looking around the field and also enjoyed swimming in the pond, living peacefully.

“It seems it’s not as busy as last time.”

It was nice to see them relaxed.

So I sat down and spaced out, and without realizing, sleepiness overtook me.

Checking the time, it was indeed time to sleep.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow. Guys, if there’s anything to harvest here, wake me up too. I want to experience and see it.”

Gulurung!

Every day was fulfilling.

Helping brotherYoung-seong, making friends with famous people. At the same time, making money.

Quite nice!

* * *

Gumul!

Ddiririri-

An alarm sound came along with a damp feeling.

Stretching as I woke up, I saw Mark2 perched on my belly.

“Oh, good morning, Mark2.”

Gumul!

I had asked to be woken up when it was time to harvest, and it just happened to be time to get up. Was the timing just perfect?

“Hmm, cooldown will be over in 10 minutes.”

Following Mark2, who was ahead, I went downstairs and saw that the tomatoes had grown even bigger. At the same time, fruits that shone like jewels appeared.

“It’s totally different now?”

Last time, the cherry tomatoes were metaphorically described as jewels. But this time, they were literally like jewels.

The colors were diverse too.

There were red ones like rubies, and orange, yellow, even purple and black ones.

“Can I eat this?”

Since it was time to harvest, we decided to do it together. At that moment, Mark2 came wiggling over with something in his hands.

“Oh, you’ve already harvested something?”

He picked a black one, of all things.

Regardless, I picked up the cherry tomato that Mark2 handed over and checked it.

-Ba-ba-bam!

[You have discovered a new crop.]

[Please name it.]

What’s this now?

I was startled by the sudden system notification sound. I looked at the message and was surprised again by the unexpected notification.

“Oh? I can name it myself.”

[?? LV.1]

[A crop imbued with magical power.]

[Harmless to humans.]

[When consumed, you gain poison resistance for 3 minutes.]

[When consumed, detoxification occurs.]

[When consumed, a small amount of magic power increases for 3 seconds.]

Since it had not been named yet, it was marked with question marks. Surprisingly, I also found a friendly message.

“Oh, what’s this about being harmless to humans?”

Is this a service?

Anyway, the effects themselves were extraordinary.

Let’s see what effects the previous cherry tomatoes had…

[Magic-imbued Cherry Tomato LV.1]

[Contains faint magical power.]

[When consumed, depending on the amount of mana you hold, you gain poison resistance for 3 minutes. Subsequently, a very slight permanent increase in poison resistance.]

There were some things that had disappeared and others that had increased.

However, in my opinion, the benefits of the newly acquired tomatoes seemed far superior.

‘I had just read the data I commissioned from Young-seong as soon as I received it.’

The previous cherry tomatoes provided poison resistance depending on the amount of mana held, but the efficiency was not very good.

In other words, even the Awakener with the most mana in the world would only gain about 0.1 in poison resistance from consuming it.

The permanent gain in poison resistance was even less significant, almost unnoticeable before and after eating.

“But this one should be quite effective. No, it needs to be!”

I firmly believed in its absolute effectiveness. I really hope it is.

Even if the effect that increased with the amount of mana held was gone, as long as it shows an efficiency of more than 0.1 just by consumption, that would be enough.

“Should I try eating it before deciding on a name?”

Since it was harmless to humans, I immediately brought the tomato to my mouth.

Soon after, it melted in my mouth as if it had no skin, and the concentrated taste of the tomato took over my entire mouth, esophagus, and even my stomach.

“Huh…”

Simultaneously, the status window appeared in front of my eyes.

[Poison resistance will increase for 3 minutes.]

[Magic power will increase for 3 seconds.]

The increase in magic power.

Honestly, I was not a combat Awakener, so I had never really felt the presence of magic power, but now I could feel it.

“Is this magic?”

The strange feeling of depletion I felt when using liquid synthesis or summoning slimes. However, this time, it was the opposite feeling, becoming energized.

“Ah…”

But it only lasted for about three seconds.

“Still, isn’t that amazing? To feel it so clearly?”

I would need to leave it to the laboratory to know the exact figures, but from what I could see, it was no ordinary item. And, coming at a time when I needed to treat Young-seong’s wife, the discovery of this magic tomato was a ray of light.

“Yeah. Let’s just call it the magic tomato.”

[Would you like to register it as ‘Just Magic Tomato’?]

“No, no. Magic Cherry Tomato.”

[Would you like to register it as ‘Magic Cherry Tomato’?]

“Yes.”

[The new crop has been named ‘Magic Cherry Tomato’.]

Is there any reward or something?

I waited a bit, but there was nothing else.

“…Was the name too plain?”

Maybe I should have named it something like ‘Lee Kyu-seong’s Tasty Tomato.’

But right then.

[A quest has been generated.]

Instead of a reward, a new task had arrived.

Prev | TOC | Next