At Korea University in Seoul, Lee Seon-ah was struggling with the new assignment she had received.
“An interview with an Awakened? Who should I contact for that?”
To make matters worse, it was a group project.
Her friends, who were in the same group as her, were also worried about which guild to contact.
“Hey, come to think of it, isn’t Seon-ah’s brother an Awakened?”
“What? Really?”
All eyes turned to Seon-ah. Feeling a bit flustered by the sudden change in atmosphere, she waved her hands.
“Well, my brother is an Awakened, but….”
“Wow, that’s amazing! Then we can ask your brother for help!”
Seon-ah looked troubled.
She had always admired the Awakened, but she had hardly ever thought of her brother, Lee Kyu-seong, as an Awakened.
‘Recently, he joined the incredible guild called Ara Hongryeon, but it still doesn’t feel real….’
Seeing the crops he brought home lately, she was convinced he was indeed an Awakened, but his image was different from what people typically expected of an Awakened.
An Awakened doing farming!
Although she never said it out loud, she was honestly quite dumbfounded.
Especially as a big fan of the Awakened, Seon-ah experienced cognitive dissonance regarding her brother’s unusual abilities and activities.
That’s why she hardly ever mentioned that her brother was an Awakened.
Unfortunately, her closest friend, who knew this fact, had revealed it.
“…Alright, I’ll ask my brother. But don’t expect too much. It’s unlikely to work out.”
“Great! Wow, you just saved us. We might get this project done easily thanks to you!”
Contrary to Seon-ah’s words, her group members already seemed convinced that the interview was secured. Their relieved faces made Seon-ah feel slightly dizzy, but she tried to think positively.
‘Yeah. What’s wrong with my brother? He just has some unique abilities and uses them differently, but he’s still an Awakened, right?’
After all, Kyu-seong was a member of the famous Ara Hongryeon! There was nothing to be ashamed of!
…Or so she kept telling herself.
Seon-ah, having brought it up, immediately sent a message to her brother, Kyu-seong.
“Dear brother, how have you been? I have a small favor to ask of you….”
* * *
Stunned by an unexpected shower of water, I quickly regained my senses.
“Is this river water?”
Since the river was right beside us, I thought the water had reached us from there, but I tilted my head in confusion when I realized it was falling from the sky.
“Is it hot?”
No, it wasn’t hot, but it felt warm. The temperature was contrasting with the cold river water, and when I looked at the place where the water was spraying, I saw a small amount had already collected.
“Kyu-seong Kyu-seong! What is this! Is it a swimming pool?”
Ara was jumping around excitedly, and Gomgom was running around, covering its head because of the falling water.
“Wait a moment.”
I was slightly worried that there might be harmful substances in it. The water, gushing out from a crack in the rock, was emitting light steam and spreading an unfamiliar scent.
‘It’s not perfume, so what is this smell?’
It wasn’t unpleasant or foul.
It was a faintly spreading, pleasant fragrance. If I were to describe it as a sommelier, it smelled like freshly baked bread, old walnuts, lightly roasted coffee, and fresh wood.
Lick!
Before I knew it, Gomgom had stopped running and was licking the mysterious water that had filled the pool.
“I’m going to taste it too!”
“Uh….”
I wasn’t worried about Ara, who could digest anything, but I was a bit concerned about Gomgom.
I immediately grabbed Gomgom with both hands and lifted him up.
-Groan?
“You shouldn’t just eat anything you find.”
I wasn’t sure if he understood me, but Gomgom pointed at Ara as if to say, “Why can’t I do it if she can?” and struggled.
Sip!
“Oh! It’s tasty?”
Ara bent down, took a sip of the water, and tilted her head. It was unclear if she found it delicious or not.
Before that, is this even drinkable water?
This unexpected event temporarily halted our work. Leaving the mysterious liquid, which was still gushing out like a fountain, I decided to focus on the field first.
It should calm down eventually anyway.
And although it might have been just my imagination, I felt that the liquid was unlikely to be harmful.
“We came here to work, so let’s get to it.”
First, I pondered which of the seeds we brought should be planted first.
“Dungeon plants first. What should we name this one?”
Ara mentioned that the fruit, which tasted like bread, was a staple food here. We had plenty of seeds, so there was no problem planting them.
Since the slimes were responsible for growing them, there was nothing to worry about.
“Goso-goso!”
“…Goso-goso?”
Ara, your choice of words is quite risky.
Following Ara’s suggestion, who displayed a sense of naming that could easily be misunderstood, the bread-tasting plant was ultimately named “Goso-goso.”
…Is this right?
“So, should we allocate about 200 pyeong for Goso-goso?”
I don’t know how much the yield will be.
Since more is better, I decided to use the entire 1,000-pyeong field we just made for planting Goso-goso.
Then what about the other seeds?
‘Chili peppers, lettuce, onions, garlic!’
Since we decided this way, I’ll make another 1,000 pyeong for each of the remaining crops. In fact, compared to real farmers, 1,000 pyeong isn’t that large.
The difference is that, unlike them, I’m not mass-producing a single crop but growing various kinds of crops in smaller quantities.
This is all possible thanks to the excellent workers, the slimes.
“Ara, we need to make more fields.”
“Ooh! Let’s plow them all up!!”
Ara, with a serious face, raised her hoe and shouted a battle cry.
I asked Ara to make four more 1,000-pyeong plots. While Ara was plowing the fields, I planted Goso-goso seeds in the first field.
“Carefully, carefully….”
-Growl?
Gomgom approached, tilting his head, thinking I had called him. Then, seeing what I was doing, he started to mimic me.
He clumsily dug up the soil, placed a stone in it, and covered it nicely.
I couldn’t help but smile.
“Gomgom, do you want to try it too?”
-Growl!
I gave him a few seeds.
Although clumsy, he started planting the seeds in the field with some effort.
Planting them like this might be a bit troublesome when growing or harvesting later, but it was fine.
After all, the slimes would be the ones having a hard time, not me.
“…I feel like I’m turning into a ruthless landlord for a moment….”
Is it just my imagination? I’m a slime welfare officer.
The task of planting the seeds was entirely handled by me and Gomgom. Meanwhile, the slimes were busy flitting around, sometimes watching Ara, sometimes coming to watch me and Gomgom, playing freely.
“Whew, this is the hardest part.”
In fact, since others did the plowing and all other farming tasks, sowing the seeds felt particularly hard.
However, manually planting seeds without the help of machinery was quite a strenuous task.
“It looks like I’ve planted about 200 pyeong now.”
Although Gomgom was trying to help, with his clumsy movements, he was planting seeds at a rate of about one per minute. So, most of the work was still done by me.
“Wow! I plowed it all up!”
Ara, who had already plowed up 4,000 pyeong of land, came running to me, looking triumphant.
I praised her, patted her head, and told her to eat the Layla and sweet potatoes I brought as snacks.
“Sweet potatoes~ Sweet potatoes~!”
When Ara went to rummage through the backpack, Gomgom got up awkwardly and waddled after her. The scene reminded me of a childhood storybook, making me smile unknowingly.
“Hup! Let’s work hard!”
Though it was simple labor, it just took time; as an Awakened, my stamina and body were perfectly fine.
With renewed determination, I started planting the seeds again.
* * *
“Wow, good job!”
“Will there be a lot of delicious things coming out?”
“Of course!”
In the end, we did it.
In fact, except for the Goso-goso seeds, I had brought enough seeds for only about 200 pyeong for the other crops, so planting the total 1,800 pyeong of land was enough.
Moreover, towards the end, Ara, who had eaten a snack, helped me, making the work much faster and easier.
‘Chili peppers, lettuce, onions, and garlic, each 200 pyeong. And 1,000 pyeong for Goso-goso. With such a large area, managing it all will be….’
I had already designated a slime to manage the Gluttony Dungeon farm. That slime was none other than!
“Mark2! From now on, you’re in charge here!”
Squish!
Since I had already hinted at it before coming here, Mark2 wasn’t surprised and simply squished. And it wasn’t just him.
“Rookies! You’ll be living here too!”
Squirm!?
The new rookies seemed startled by the unexpected announcement.
But soon, they looked around and seemed to like it, squishing with satisfaction.
Even I thought this place was much better than the Infinite Dungeon.
‘Hmm, it’s still a bit too barren, though.’
Even though they were slimes, they were my precious family. There should at least be some shelter from the wind and rain.
And if I was going to build such a place, I wanted to create a space for myself as well.
‘Construction! We need construction!’
And I know an expert in this field!
Someone very close to me!
“Dad!”
Although he now worked in wallpapering and interior design, my father was actually a builder. He used to be the president of a small construction company, but he went bankrupt because he over-invested in my endeavors.
Now that he had barely repaid his debts, I would earn money and ask him to handle the construction here.
‘…I feel like I’m just making him work when I should be showing filial piety.’
I pondered for a moment but couldn’t think of a better plan. I would just subtly mention it to him. I should bring him here soon to show him the dungeon.
Now, let’s focus on farming first.
“My turn is over! I’m passing the turn!”
The slimes, looking at me as if I was speaking nonsense, started moving. They began crawling around the dry field, making it moist.
They seemed to be working on something, as they were moving much more slowly than usual.
Given the large area, it seemed like it would take some time.
So, I decided to leave the field to them and go check on the Alfheims.
‘I need to check if the Meluca flowers are growing well and give Poispois’s poison a try.’
I’d also collect the mushrooms that Gomgom mentioned.
Gomgom would probably find them for me.
I packed up the camping gear and took Bokkeum with me.
Mark2 and the two Rookies, who remained in the field, waved us off and then focused back on their work.
“Do they really like working that much?”
“It’s fun!”
Since Ara was also a slime, it was probably not a guess or a lie. Although I already knew this, it was still an incomprehensible kind of fun for a human like me.
Is work… fun?
“Let’s head out.”
“Let’s go!”
This time, I planned to head straight toward the World Tree without looking around.
With Bokkeum on my head and Gomgom in Ara’s arms, we walked straight ahead without distractions, and soon the edge of the forest came into view. It took about two hours, which was quite fast.
‘It took half a day last time, so this is a significant improvement.’
This was the difference between traveling a familiar path and an unfamiliar one.
As we reached the edge, I considered taking a short break and looked at Ara, whose gaze was curious.
“What are you looking at?”
“That!”
“Hmm?”
Turning my gaze, a sudden strong wind hit us.
Whooosh—-!!
“Whoa! What’s this!”
I instinctively closed and reopened my eyes, then froze at the sight before me.
Whooosh-!
A massive monster exuding immense pressure.
It had the appearance of a four-legged beast, resembling a creature from mythology.
“Haetae?”
Cliche Novel 