[Remaining mana: 4/10]
I ended up using another magic stone.
I needed to know exactly how much mana it took to charge, so I bore the expense this time. As a result, I offered a 5th-grade magic stone to the altar.
A 5th-grade magic stone costs at least 30 million won.
In other words, I fed 30 million won to the altar.
‘The Dungeon of Gluttony is worth much more, but still, this…’
I had misunderstood.
I thought I was charging 1 mana for 4 million won, but that wasn’t the case. There must have been some residual mana that wasn’t showing up in the numbers.
Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense for the 5th-grade magic stone to only increase it by 3.
“How much does it consume, really?”
Ara, startled, glanced at me.
I quickly apologized to the surprised Ara.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Ara. I wasn’t talking to you, I was talking to this altar. Don’t worry, Ara. It’s good for you to eat a lot.”
“Uh, okay!”
Leaving the slightly unsure Ara, I looked at the last remaining magic stone.
A brilliantly shining navy blue magic stone.
A 6th-grade magic stone worth at least 200 million won.
‘How much money do I have left…?’
I had spent most of my money buying the dungeon, but I still had a bit left.
But am I in such a hurry that I need to use all of it now?
“Let’s be satisfied with this for now.”
It was a bit disappointing not to reach 10, but getting to 4 should be enough to enter.
After some contemplation, I contacted the guild again, just in case, to hold onto another 6th-grade magic stone.
– Understood. Please contact us again at your convenience.
At the same time, I paid for the magic stone I used.
Now that everything was done, all that remained was to enter the dungeon.
“Thanks for waiting, everyone.”
The kids, who had been ready for a while, were all looking at me.
“Let’s go!”
Ara shouted, holding up her mysterious hoe. I nodded, carrying the ordinary hoe I had used so far.
“Let’s go!”
This trip’s main goals were to clear land for farming and to dig up the mushrooms Gomgom mentioned.
When we arrived at the dungeon entrance, the ring had turned again.
[Remaining mana: 4/10]
And still, the ominous message appeared as we entered the Dungeon of Gluttony.
“Wow, this is amazing.”
I had thought of it as a money-eating pig, but seeing this scenery again made those thoughts disappear. This is something I can’t give up, no matter the cost.
But this time, we weren’t just here for fun, so I quickly made a plan.
‘I already scouted the land to be cleared.’
I had spent about a week in the Dungeon of Gluttony. During that time, I had naturally scouted out some land for farming.
It wasn’t far from the entrance but was in an optimal location.
There was a good spot about 10 minutes away. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough.
– Kkuwoong!
“It’s finally time for me to shine! That’s what Gomgom is saying.”
“Hmm, let’s stick together for now, Gomgom. I’m curious to see how you harvest mushrooms.”
Gomgom’s home was here anyway.
I wasn’t worried about us splitting up, but I was curious about Gomgom’s harvesting methods and tricks.
“Wow! Let’s do it together!”
– Kkuang?
I lifted the bewildered Gomgom and the excited Ara onto my shoulders. The slimes followed me in a line.
As we walked for about 10 minutes, chatting (though I couldn’t understand the conversation), I looked around.
Trickling-
A stream flowed.
Following the stream with my eyes, I saw the direction of the lake where Young-seong and Si-young had camped.
We walked in the opposite direction of the lake, seeing the stream’s current grow stronger and deeper.
“Here we are.”
“Wow! Is this the place?”
A wide basin spread out before us.
Surrounded by mountains in the back and a river in the front. A perfect feng shui spot.
The sunlight was good, as if it was urging us to farm here.
‘It would have been better if it were a bit closer.’
One regrettable aspect was that the entrance was a 10-minute walk away. While it wasn’t too far, 10 minutes was slightly inconvenient.
“Think of it as a stroll.”
“A stroll! A stroll! Candies! Candies!”
Ignoring Ara’s incomprehensible stream of consciousness, I decided to roughly plan out the area. First, I used an app on my phone to measure the length.
“It’s nice that the length is measured as I walk.”
Like a pedometer, it automatically measured the length as I walked.
“…It’s really wide.”
“Kya-ha-ha!”
-Kraang! Kraang!
While I was estimating, the kids were running around. Actually, it was Ara running with Gomgom waddling behind her. The slimes followed aimlessly; I had no idea what they were thinking.
“Let’s start small and expand gradually.”
There was no need to clear a vast area right from the start. I would clear just enough land and expand as needed.
Through measurement, I decided to clear about 1,000 pyeong (approx. 3,300 square meters) of land. When I marked off roughly 1,000 pyeong, it looked tiny compared to the vast expanse.
“Wow, my entire dungeon is 1,000 pyeong, so it felt spacious, but here it looks really small.”
“Are we going to plow all this?”
“Yeah. Do you see the marked area? That’s going to be our field.”
“Woohoo! Let’s plow it all!”
Ara, you need to use subjects; saying it like that is scary.
Ara, shouting a battle cry, raised her hoe. Then she started plowing the ground along the lines I had marked.
Brrr!
An amazing scene unfolded as Ara’s unique-grade item and her physical ability, almost equivalent to a Level 4 Awakened, combined.
“Wow…”
The land started turning over rapidly. In the blink of an eye, about 100 pyeong of land was plowed.
-Kraang! Kraang!
Gomgom came wobbling over and grabbed my pants leg. I picked up Gomgom and continued watching.
Pow-pow!
It seemed like if you stood next to Ara, you’d get plowed along with the ground. The slimes had already moved outside the lines I had drawn, watching curiously.
Before long, Ara spread her arms wide.
“It’s done!”
“Wow!”
That quickly?
It took about 10 minutes, but in that short time, she plowed 1,000 pyeong of land.
‘If that’s the case…’
I checked the seeds I had brought.
Then I made a decision.
“Let’s make a field here and a paddy field by the river!”
“A paddy field? What’s that?”
“It’s like a field but always submerged in water.”
“Oooh! Like a swimming pool!”
With Ara’s excited help, I estimated the area for the paddy field. I then checked the rice seedbeds I had.
Thud-
Bokkeum started taking out the seedbeds. Each seedbed could plant 10 pyeong, so I bought exactly 100 seedbeds. However, despite Bokkeum being level 3, he could only bring about 50.
‘I’ll need to bring more next time.’
First, I needed to make the paddy field.
Like with the field, I marked out the area. Even though I only brought 50 seedbeds, I prepared the full 1,000 pyeong.
“Should I plow it?”
“Yes, plow it. After plowing, we need to dig deep to hold water.”
“Oooh! A swimming pool!”
While Ara was plowing again, I took the slimes to the river. I planned to use the slimes to fetch water for the paddy field.
“How versatile!”
The slimes could naturally absorb a lot of water. I thought that the fluid they released after absorbing water might be what helped plants grow well.
After telling the slimes to play by the river, I went over to Ara. Gomgom was busily shoveling dirt in the area Ara had already plowed.
“He’s helping without even being asked.”
“He said he’s making a swimming pool!”
Hearing my words, Ara shouted from afar. So Ara must have told him to do it.
I started digging the ground with a shovel I had brought. The depth was roughly 50 cm.
“It’s tougher than I thought.”
I wasn’t lacking in stamina, but no matter how much I shoveled, there was no end to it.
Ara finished plowing and joined me in piling the dirt around the perimeter. After about an hour, the three of us had created a 100-pyeong paddy field.
“Wow, it took longer than I thought.”
“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet!”
“Where did you learn that saying?”
It was time for lunch when I checked the time.
I had taken out all the supplies before Bokkeum absorbed water, and I rummaged through them to prepare a meal.
‘Hehe. I had Jae-seong take care of everything in advance.’
Before showing off our skills at Ara Hongryeon, I had Jae-seong prepare all the food for me and the kids.
So, we had cucumber salad and pickled cucumbers.
Jae-seong, claiming they were easy to make, had shown me the recipes and made them in five minutes.
“Oooh! It’s time to eat!”
Ara did a little dance. Cute.
Next were potato pancakes and carrot fritters.
These were also pre-made.
Although pancakes and fritters are best eaten hot, which was a bit disappointing, only Jae-seong could make the thinly sliced carrot fritters.
“And the grand finale, curry.”
No meal would be complete without curry.
Among the main dishes that could be made with our current ingredients, nothing could beat curry.
Since Jae-seong had already cooked the curry, all I had to do was heat it up with rice.
Sizzle!
I lit a fire and placed the pot of curry on it.
I heated up the pre-cooked rice and went over to the kids, who were already eating enthusiastically.
Crunch!
“Oooh!! This is delicious! Delicious!”
Watching Ara exclaim as she ate the pickled cucumber, I took a bite myself.
Crunch-crunch!
“Mmm!”
The tangy taste made my mouth water.
At the same time, the fresh taste of the cucumber made me hungrier even as I ate.
“Now for the cucumber salad.”
“I’m eating too!”
Crunch! Crunch!
Oh, this is really…
Spicy, sweet, and salty! A taste no Korean could dislike!
If I had to choose, I’d vote for the cucumber salad. However, for those who can’t handle spice, the pickled cucumbers were an excellent appetizer.
“I can’t stand it. I’m starving!”
The others were also eating the cucumber dishes ravenously, but I was more excited for the potato pancakes and carrot fritters.
I stopped eating the cucumber salad and picked up the frying pan.
Just a little warming up!
I took out the pre-cooked rice and placed the frying pan on the fire. Then I started reheating the potato pancakes Jae-seong had made.
“He made quite a lot.”
Knowing the kids’ appetites, Jae-seong had made plenty. Even so, it was enough to be eaten up in a day, but I was grateful for the effort he put in.
“Sniff sniff! It smells so good! It’s delicious!”
Ara, with her sharp nose, ran over at the smell of the potato pancakes. I handed her a freshly heated pancake.
“Aah~!”
“Aah~!”
As I mimed opening my mouth to eat, Ara eagerly opened her mouth and took a bite of the pancake.
Then, clutching her tiny fists, she exclaimed.
“It’s delicious!”
Cliche Novel 
I considered that a dungeon with the title of “slime lord” and an entrance to the gluttony dungeon shouldn’t be as small as it is. My conclusion was that it was weakened due to the gluttony dungeon, that the mana that sustained it was being sucked into the gluttony dungeon that had been almost stripped of life, like a pressure differential.
Both Gula and the gate were sealed, which probably reduced mana leakage but also had mana upkeep. Gula was trapped, so the passage to Earth likely didn’t exist at that time. A seal, to some extent, indicates the dungeon has some intelligence and survival instinct. This is compounded by granting a skill called slime lord to its sole resident… Making him explicitly the dungeon master. Idk how a magic ecosystem works, but, aside from the recovery of the gluttony dungeon over time, MC was bringing food in from outside and living in the dungeon while producing and using mana for three years. The dungeon at that time couldn’t even produce basic slimes, according to what he said, it was literally an empty husk. Although pitifully small, the mana he released probably allowed the dungeon to start rolling the snowball of recovery, so it gambled on him.
Assuming that’s all correct, what does it mean for the future? A better cultivation environment for the farm, likelihood of more space opening up through further dungeon transformations that are actually more like leveling up, reduced cost of lifting the seal or entirely removing it eventually, and a potential new character that represents the ego of the dungeon itself. For some reason the author is emphasizing the barrier between the dungeons, so MC’s true foundation should be considered only the slime lord dungeon.
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We haven’t heard what the other deadly sin dungeons are like. It could be that Greed, the one with that Mammon that poisoned those other guys, was a short “entry” dungeon that ended with the gate to the true Greed dungeon.
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