When Jae-seong made it, it was just one serving. But this time, I had prepared extensively and could make enough for 50 people at once.
“Preparing the ingredients was tough.”
When Jae-seong and I briefly visited the dungeon, we prepped all the ingredients in advance. That’s why it took so long to return home, but thanks to that, it was convenient now.
“Smells great!”
Already, Ara and the slimes were devouring it like there was no tomorrow.
With a determination not to lose, I took a big spoonful. It wasn’t just the smell of curry; the complex and subtle aromas of the vegetables mixed with the embergrill enhanced my appetite.
“Ah!”
Finally, the first spoonful went into my mouth. It was a familiar curry taste, yet a flavor of curry I had never tasted before.
“So, so delicious…!”
As expected, the melt-in-your-mouth curry was simply exquisite. Although I was a bit worried due to the strong personalities of the ingredients, just like when Jae-seong made it, each ingredient stood out while harmoniously blending together.
Curious about the others’ reactions, I glanced to the side and saw a scene out of a fairy tale—a food fight in progress.
Munch munch!
What should I call this?
Battle eating?
Even though I had given Ara 20 servings, half of it was already gone.
Well, I’m glad they liked it.
It was so delicious that it was hard not to like it in the first place.
“Phew, phew. Chomp!”
Since the curry was hot, I blew on it and ate slowly. Unlike the slimes, I wasn’t a big eater, so one serving was enough.
…Honestly, I wanted to eat more, but there was only one serving left for me.
“Phew!”
Surrounded by the dreamy scenery of nature, eating this fantastic curry made it hard to tell if this was reality or a dream.
“This place is great for farming and for a relaxing retreat.”
Once I’m sure there are no dangerous monsters after a thorough exploration, I should bring my family here for a visit.
Lick lick—
Before I knew it, I had finished all the curry. Feeling a bit disappointed, I scraped the bottom with my spoon. Next to me, they were licking their bowls clean.
“Ara, was it good?”
“It was so, so, so good!”
Meanwhile, Bokkeum threw himself into the pot where the curry was made, determined to lick even the curry stains.
Wriggle!
Eventually, Mark2 and Poispois joined in, leading to a battle for the pot.
Anyone would think I was starving them.
“Haha, no need for dishwashing.”
Seeing the slimes scrambling and the clean bowls made me laugh.
While the kids played, I quickly finished cleaning up. Lying down on the extended chair, it felt like heaven.
“The weather is nice and cool too.”
In front of me was a fire pit crackling as if logs were burning, picturesque scenery, and adorable slimes.
Exhausted from playing, Ara wriggled over and clung to me. The chair got narrower, but it felt even better.
Gurgle?
Seeing this, the slimes also clung to me one by one. I hugged them, watching the stars.
“Maybe I’ll take a short nap.”
I set an alarm and fell asleep hugging the kids.
* * *
Beep beep! Beep beep!
The cheerful alarm woke me up.
I slightly lifted my head and saw the slimes still in their positions and Ara, who had fallen asleep quietly.
Carefully, I placed the sleeping Ara on the chair and began to tidy up.
Wriggle wriggle—
“Here, pack this up.”
I asked Bokkeum to pack the luggage and started folding the tent. Although I ended up sleeping on the chair last night, tonight I plan to sleep in the tent.
With the tent transformed into magic stones and the barrier rods collected, the cleanup was done.
Gulp!
Seeing Bokkeum swallow all the luggage, I felt incredibly lucky.
“If I had to carry all that…”
One or two days’ worth of luggage was manageable, but any more would be tough. Thanks to Bokkeum, all I had to carry was Ara’s snack backpack.
“Uwoong!”
As I tidied Ara’s hair, I checked again to make sure nothing was left behind.
“Shall we set off again?”
“Let’s go!”
Feeling refreshed, Ara shouted energetically.
We might reach the Shiny Tree today, which meant it would be a four-day round trip.
“This place is really huge.”
The Shiny Tree, which seemed close enough to use as a landmark, was two days away one way. Exploring the rest of the dungeon could take months, maybe even over a year.
After walking a bit, we reached the edge of a shallow forest.
“Eh? The bugs are gone?”
Just until we set up the tent and played nearby, there were many bugs like fireflies flying around, but now there were none to be seen.
Did they all run away when we got close? But they were already gone when we started out.
“It’s time for the Shiny Tree to start shimmering!”
“What?”
“All the glowing bugs have gone to the Shiny Tree!”
Ara’s vocabulary was surprisingly decent. Even so, what she just said was hard to understand.
“Whatever it is, it’s not dangerous, right?”
“It’s not dangerous! Uh…!”
Ara groaned, finding it hard to explain, then clapped her hands once.
“Oh! It’s night time!”
“Night?”
It’s already night though?
I looked up at the sky, and Ara giggled.
“It’s still daytime now!”
“It’s daytime now?”
“When it gets night, the Shiny Tree starts shimmering! No! When the Shiny Tree starts shimmering, that’s when it’s night!”
“Oh, so that’s how you tell day and night?”
“That’s right! As expected, Kyu-seong Kyu-seong is smart!”
It seemed like they distinguished the time of day based on the Shiny Tree. Thinking it was an ingenious way to tell time, we slowly walked into the forest. Contrary to my expectations of it being dark inside, it was quite bright.
“Hmm, it’s pretty ordinary.”
Having seen only fantastical landscapes, the forest felt ordinary. Of course, the plants in the forest were all unknown to me, but that was the same on Earth too.
“You can eat this too!”
“Moss?”
Ara plucked some green moss and quickly put it in her mouth. Seeing her chew happily, I got curious too.
“Can I eat some too?”
“It’s fine.”
I plucked a bit of moss and ate it, tasting a faint mint flavor. But it didn’t taste particularly good.
Whirr—
“Huh?”
At that moment, I saw the deer we had seen the day before.
But this time, they were in a herd.
“Wow.”
It was just like the description I had read; when gathered, the colorful deer formed a kind of painting. It seemed like an illusion to make them look like one large animal, and it was incredibly beautiful.
“Oh! It’s Whirr!”
“Haha.”
I laughed at Ara’s cute naming sense.
The Whirr, as Ara named them, seemed wary of us but not scared. Perhaps gathering in a herd gave them courage.
“But they’re all small in size?”
I thought the Whirr I saw the day before was a fawn, but now it seemed like they were adults. Looking closely, I saw small deer about the size of rabbits.
So they gather in herds to create an illusion because they’re so small.
Whirr!
The Whirr with small antlers at the front stepped forward boldly. I wondered what gave it the courage, but then I saw it wagging its tail energetically at Ara.
‘That’s strange.’
It felt like I’d seen this reaction before. The horned beasts during the dungeon break had also reacted to Ara like this…
“Layla?”
Layla increases monster affinity.
And Ara had eaten over ten of them by herself.
The description mentioned permanent increases in monster affinity, but the limit was supposed to be five…
Just to be sure, I decided to check Ara’s status. It had been a while since our first meeting.
[Ara (Gluttony)]
[One of the Seven Deadly Sins, a demon responsible for gluttony]
[A slime with unknown potential. Minion of Lee Kyu-seong.]
[Abilities: Gluttony, Breath, Physical Enhancement, Affinity.]
“Huh?”
A lot had changed.
First, the name. It used to be the name of a demon, but now it was ‘Ara.’ The description clearly stated that she was my minion.
Next were the abilities.
“That’s crazy.”
New abilities, Physical Enhancement and Affinity, had appeared.
And these two were clearly…
‘Physical Enhancement is from the Sweet Potato candy, and Affinity is from the Magical Layla.’
It must be thanks to the Gluttony ability.
But I never imagined it would be this much.
Isn’t this the strongest ability?
Whirr!
“Hehe, it’s Whirr. Hehe.”
Ara petted the Whirr that had approached. The deer seemed to enjoy it, closing its eyes and rubbing its head against her hand.
I took out a Layla from Ara’s snack box and ate it. Then I slowly approached.
“I want to eat Layla too.”
So, she noticed the smell.
Unable to hide the scent of Layla, I handed over the snack box to Ara and slowly approached the deer. It seemed the monster affinity buff was working well, as the Whirr didn’t run away but tilted its head curiously at me.
“Good girl.”
I carefully reached out and petted it.
The Whirr flinched but soon stood still, stiffened.
It seemed Ara’s affinity was much higher than mine.
“It’s delicious!”
Ara ate Layla and even shared it with the slimes. Then, she handed some to the Whirr I was petting.
“Want to try it? It’s soooo delicious!”
As Ara extended her hand holding the Layla, the Whirr’s tail wagged energetically again. However, it seemed uninterested in the Layla, only rubbing its head against her.
After a brief moment of bonding, the Whirr with the small antlers returned to its herd.
“Aww.”
Ara, feeling a bit disappointed, clenched and unclenched her hand, letting out a groan.
Whirr!
“Goodbye!”
Whirr!
The herd of Whirr nodded as if saying goodbye and moved away, disappearing as a group. They looked like a giant dragon slithering away.
“Wow.”
“Ooh! That’s amazing!”
It seemed that as we explored the Gluttony Dungeon further, we would encounter other creatures too. It was unlikely that only the deer herd lived in such a vast area.
“Shall we go further in?”
“Let’s go!”
The Shiny Tree was now right in front of us.
As we moved past where we parted with the Whirr, the scenery gradually changed. The forest remained, but the trees making up the forest seemed…
“These all look like tree roots?”
What I thought were wooden trunks were not planted in the ground but extended from somewhere else.
And in that direction was a giant tree, now so close it couldn’t be seen in a single glance.
It seemed like all these tree-like structures were roots of that Shiny Tree.
“In the past, I used to eat these trees too.”
“Oh, really?”
“But eating too much made the tree hurt, so I stopped.”
“…I see.”
I couldn’t imagine what Ara looked like before, but seeing how much she ate even in her small form, I could guess. Honestly, she could probably eat endlessly if she wanted to.
“Bugs!”
Just then, Ara pointed somewhere and shouted.
Bugs like the fireflies we saw the day before were flying around.
“We’re almost there.”
-Squeak!
Huh? What was that sound?
For a moment, I thought Ara made the sound, but it didn’t seem to be the case.
Ara, hearing the same sound, perked up her ears and looked around.
“Mark2, Poispois, Bokkeum. That wasn’t you, was it?”
Glug?
It wasn’t the slimes either.
Then the sound…
“Huh?!”
Ara pointed again, but she seemed too flustered to speak properly.
When I looked where she was pointing, I saw human-like beings the size of a palm among the firefly-like bugs.
To be precise, they were perched on a tree, watching us.
Cliche Novel 