Round 27

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What should I do?

For the past week, I’ve been so preoccupied with Ara that I lost touch with the outside world.

Of course, there was a time when I went out to buy children’s clothes and a straw hat, along with other necessities, and once when I went to give Young-seong some fruit juice, but during those times, I was too anxious about leaving Ara in the dungeon to pay attention to my surroundings.

“Even if I explain that it’s a slime…”

While staring at Ara, who still stood holding the sweet potatoes like twin swords, I scratched my head.

Would the kids really believe this sight?

I quietly placed my index finger on Ara’s lips to ask her to be quiet and quickly climbed up the ladder.

“Oh, what’s that? I smell sweet potatoes!”

As I came up, Jae-seong licked his lips and said this. Then, Seon-ah sniffed around and soon smiled upon seeing me.

“Brother, you totally look like a farmer. Look at what you’re wearing.”

“Why did Seon-ah suddenly come here? It’s hard to even find this place…”

The low rent of the infinite dungeon included such reasons. Precisely because there were no doors, it was impossible to prevent someone from entering.

Of course, most owners of infinite dungeons build new buildings around them to manage entry, but the place I lived was considered not worth such investment and was neglected.

‘I’ll need to buy the dungeon and build a surrounding structure first when I earn enough money.’

I hadn’t felt any urgency because there had never been visitors to the dungeon, but this incident was a wake-up call.

“It had been a while since I came home for the weekend and Jae-seong said he was visiting you, so I came along.”

Seon-ah’s eyes sparkled.

Thinking about it, she was a fanatic about awakened beings.

Seon-ah knew the names, techniques, and related events of famous awakened beings, and was so interested that she even entered a university program studying dungeon monsters.

Of course, she would have said she’d tag along if he said he was going to the dungeon.

“Hmm, just wait here a bit. I have some roasted sweet potatoes. I’ll bring them.”

“Really? We’ll come down too. It’s been a while since I saw the slimes.”

Jae-seong walked up nonchalantly.

I quickly blocked him, looking around anxiously.

“No, no, I’ll bring them. Just rest here. You must be tired from climbing up.”

“…Why are you acting like this, bro?”

Then Seon-ah, who had been casually exploring, noticed the vegetable garden and exclaimed.

“Wow! Are these the vegetables we ate last time? It’s really amazing. And I want to see the slime too! Jae-seong kept bragging about how cute it was…”

Seon-ah’s voice trailed off.

As I was blocking Jae-seong, I wondered why Seon-ah had suddenly quieted and looked over to see her frozen, staring at something.

Curious, I followed her gaze and…

“Krrrr.”

There was Ara, peering at us, wearing a straw hat with tiger ears, showing only her eyes through a connected hole in the ladder.

“…”

Busted.

Well, I knew I couldn’t hide her forever, but I never thought we’d be discovered this quickly.

“…Who is that, brother?”

“A slime.”

“Don’t lie. How can such a cute kid be a slime!”

Seon-ah then excitedly dashed off.

Startled by her reaction, Ara looked confused and quickly slipped back into the hole.

Following Ara, Seon-ah climbed down the ladder, and as I watched the two, Jae-seong asked.

“Were you blocking us because of her? But really, what’s going on? Is she your hidden child?”

“If she were my child, would she have tiger ears?”

“Wasn’t that just a decoration? Are they real ears?”

“Sigh…”

Since we’ve been discovered, there’s no need for pointless struggles.

I gestured to Jae-seong to follow me and climbed down the ladder.

“Baby, come to this sister!”

“It’s scary! It’s scary!”

They were busily running around.

At first, when she heard an unfamiliar voice, she grabbed the sweet potatoes as if they were weapons, ready to fight at any moment, but now she was running around, tears streaming down her face.

“Hi, kids. Remember me?”

In the meantime, Jae-seong greeted the slimes, and I swiftly prepared the sweet potatoes.

‘I barely saved them from the steamer.’

I almost overcooked them, but luckily, I saved them just in time. While I was preparing the sweet potatoes, something bumped into my thigh with a thump.

“Kyu-seong Kyu-seong ! Save me! A strange woman is chasing me!”

Ara, clinging to my leg and mumbling as if she was about to cry, made me laugh without realizing it.

“Gasp! Kyu-seong Kyu-seong ! Are you in league with that woman? It’s a very serious crisis, why are you laughing?”

“Ara, these two are my siblings. Say hello.”

“Siblings!?”

Ara looked up at me in shock, then turned to look at Jae-seong and Seon-ah. Seon-ah was already taking pictures of Ara, who was clinging tightly to my leg, with her phone.

“Hello, Ara? So your name is Ara. I’m Seon-ah.”

“Seon-ah?!”

“I’m Jae-seong. Nice to meet you.”

“Jae-seong!”

Every word Ara said was punctuated with an exclamation mark, eventually making even Jae-seong burst out laughing.

Cuteness really does save the world. Even the usually unsmiling Jae-seong is laughing.

But why does she call my siblings by their names while I’m Kyu-seong Kyu-seong ?

“So what are you doing here, Ara? Why are you here?”

“I am Kyu-seong Kyu-seong ‘s subordinate!”

Suddenly, a cold gaze was directed at me.

Ah, even if you glare at me, it’s the truth.

“Ara is a slime. She may look human, but…”

“Lies!”

Seon-ah quickly attached herself to Ara, touching her cheeks. Ara stuttered in surprise at the sudden skinship.

“Such soft cheeks. And these tiny, neat hands and feet, you say she’s a slime?”

“It’s true.”

“I am a slime! The great slime of the Overlord Kyu-seong Kyu-seong !”

As if she had never been tearful and running away, suddenly she puffed out her chest and placed her hands on her hips. It seemed like she thought that pose was cool, but it was too late to make a difference now.

“Kyaa! How cute!”

…Well, it seems to have worked perfectly.

While Seon-ah was examining every bit of Ara, Jae-seong checked out the sweet potatoes.

“Did you harvest these now?”

“Yeah. Just harvested them. Wanna try some? You want the steamed or the roasted?”

“Both.”

Things are chaotic.

I split the sweet potatoes in half, giving Jae-seong half steamed and half roasted, and also handed some to Seon-ah, who was still squabbling with Ara.

“Sweet potatoes?”

“They’re delicious!”

“This is tasty?”

“Very, very tasty! Only Kyu-seong Kyu-seong  could create something like this!”

Seeing the sweet potatoes made Ara herself want some, and she looked at me with sparkling eyes. Knowing this, I naturally brought enough for Ara too and handed her what looked like more than ten roasted sweet potatoes.

“Truly Kyu-seong Kyu-seong ! My great Overlord!”

It seems that Ara was pleased to have received more sweet potatoes than Seon-ah or Jae-seong. She came up to me, her arms full of sweet potatoes, and bumped into me with her whole body.

“Oh?!”

And from behind, there came a surprised exclamation from Jae-seong, who had just eaten a sweet potato.

Soon after, Seon-ah took a bite of the roasted sweet potato and turned to look at me with a dazed expression, as if asking, “What did I just eat?” But she didn’t speak; instead, she was busily chewing.

“What the! These roasted sweet potatoes are insanely good, this is really….”

Leaving Jae-seong, who was seriously contemplating the sweet potatoes, I decided to catch up on some overdue work.

First, I cleaned up the ashes from making the roasted sweet potatoes and slowly cleared the still messy field.

Wriggle! Wriggle!

As I moved, the slimes diligently followed and helped me. Jae-seong and Seon-ah might need some time to recover from their shock, so I figured I’d get some work done in advance.

“I should plant the magic sweet potatoes.”

Planting magic sweet potatoes yields magic sweet potatoes. I had already planted all the potatoes, and they were just about to sprout.

Recently, I learned something new: replanting the magic cherry tomatoes resulted in the same magic cherry tomatoes.

“The levels were the same.”

Is further improvement impossible?

I wasn’t sure since I hadn’t tried many experiments yet, but it was a bit disappointing.

I wondered if something would change when Mark2’s level increased and his farming stats improved.

“Wow, you work like this? The slimes are cute yet admirable.”

Seon-ah, having recovered from her shock, still holding a sweet potato, watched me work.

“Me too! I’m also helping diligently!”

“Wow, Ara is really great. Cute and there’s nothing you can’t do!”

“Hehe.”

Seeing Ara happily twisting her body, I felt glad that I had introduced her to my siblings, even if it wasn’t intentional.

“Brother! Can I use some raw sweet potatoes?”

“Hm?”

“I’m going to cook something right now. I just came to hang out because of Seon-ah, but I can’t stand still.”

Jae-seong’s eyes sparkled.

It seemed that my sweet potatoes had inspired Jae-seong.

“That’s great for me. And it’s good because I’ve never fed Ara anything I’ve cooked before.”

“You’ve never fed her anything you’ve cooked?”

“Yeah. At most, I’ve just boiled, steamed, or roasted.”

“…This is a big responsibility. It’s Ara’s first time trying cooking.”

Ara, hearing her own story being discussed, tilted her head in confusion, wondering, “What is cooking?”

“Ara, do you want to watch Jae-seong cook?”

“Yes! I will watch!”

Even though Ara didn’t know what cooking was, it seemed fun to her, so she quickly ran over to Jae-seong. And the three of them, including Seon-ah, went upstairs.

Honestly, I was anxious since I had never left Ara alone except for brief moments outside, but I decided not to worry.

“Hmm, I think I’m being too protective of Ara.”

Of course, I need to be careful.

But I felt I had to restrain myself from being overly protective.

After sending the three of them upstairs, I finished cleaning the field and even prepared new sweet potatoes to plant.

With the slimes around, the work was finished quickly, and soon I decided to go up as the delicious smell wafted down to me.

“It’s a sweet smell.”

A very familiar sensation.

It seemed that Jae-seong was preparing a sweet potato dish.

Climbing up the ladder, I peeked to check the atmosphere. I saw Jae-seong cooking in the frying pan, Ara drooling as she watched, and Seon-ah wiping her drool.

“Sorry. I wish I could make something more spectacular, but I don’t have the ingredients or tools.”

“Why apologize, slurp, when you’re making something that looks, slurp, delicious.”

Oh dear.

I felt the need to educate Ara; at this rate, she might literally follow anyone who tempts her with delicious food, like a kidnapper.

“Speaking of getting kidnapped by delicious food, it suddenly reminds me of Kang Hanul.”

That gentleman also couldn’t resist good food; Ara would probably get along well with him. Now that I think about it, I haven’t contacted him recently; with my siblings here, I should step out and give him a call.

“There, it’s done.”

“Woowwaaa!”

Along with Ara’s excessive exclamation, it seemed that Jae-seong’s sweet potato dish was ready. The smell was definitely sweeter, raising my expectations.

“Oh? Brother, you came up too.”

“Brother, come quickly.”

“This is a dish called Matang! Matang!”

Watching Ara fussing, I hurried over.

And then I discovered something unexpected.

[Magic Sweet Potato Matang]

“An item label?”

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