After the school break began, Lee Seon-ah sat idly in a cafe, waiting to meet a friend she hadn’t seen in a while. She was still reeling from the Yongsan incident that had happened just two days earlier. Once her meeting with her friend was over, she planned to visit Kyu-seong’s dungeon.
“Hey, Seon-ah! Have you been waiting long?”
“Oh, you’re here?”
Snapping back to reality at her friend’s arrival, Seon-ah’s friend immediately brought up a topic.
“Did you see the chaos this time?”
“Yongsan?”
“Yeah, it was huge.”
Seon-ah, who had actually been at the scene, silently nodded.
“Did you see the video on YouTube?”
“YouTube? What video?”
“Wait, you didn’t know?”
“I know about the chaos. The awakened ones caused a terror attack, right?”
“Someone filmed it and uploaded it.”
“Really?”
As soon as YouTube was mentioned, Seon-ah recalled a video she had uploaded. Unlike her high expectations, it had only garnered double-digit views. Lost in the painful memory she had momentarily forgotten, her friend came closer and showed her a phone.
“Look at this. It’s blowing up right now!”
“Huh?”
Checking the video, Seon-ah recognized a familiar silhouette.
“What?”
It was the back of a child wearing a straw hat. Even though it was filmed from a distance, Ara’s form was too clear. Seon-ah covered her mouth.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing.”
Ignoring her friend’s puzzled look, Seon-ah continued watching the video. The content of the video was shocking to her.
“What is this…”
“Amazing, right? That kid must be an awakened one! Do you know? The opponent the kid knocked out is a 4th-level physical type. Isn’t this kid a prodigy?”
“…”
The video ended with Ara throwing the much larger 4th-level awakened one. Even with just that, the video was going viral.
-Who is this kid??
└Seems like an awakened one! They say early education for awakening is trending these days!
└I heard there’s a school for gifted children who awaken early. Maybe the kid goes there?
-OMG! I know the one who got thrown! That guy is definitely a 4th-level awakened one!
└Stop joking, how could a 4th-level lose to a kid? At most, it must be a 2nd-level.
└You should check the news, it’s true!
-I can’t believe it. Is this the future of our country’s awakened ones? And she’s so cute!
└Seriously amazing!
Seeing the comments, Seon-ah urgently spoke to her friend.
“Can you send me the link to that video?”
“Sure.”
Before her friend could send the link, Seon-ah, feeling a sense of urgency, opened YouTube. She was met with an unexpected sight.
“What’s this notification?”
She hadn’t noticed it since she had turned off notifications, but upon opening YouTube, she saw countless messages in the top right corner. The unbelievable number +999 appeared. Clicking it, she realized they were comments.
“No way…”
With a trembling heart, she clicked the most recent notification, which led her to a video she had uploaded of Ara. A video that had barely reached twenty-something views now had over 300,000 views. Not only that, but every video she had uploaded now had at least 100,000 views.
“Seon-ah, I sent the link.”
“Uh, thanks…”
“Oh, and that kid in the video? I think they have a YouTube channel too. It popped up in the algorithm, and it was super cute. I’ll send you that too.”
“You saw it too?”
“Yeah? Oh, you already saw it? That kid’s videos are amazing, right? Their name is Ara, right? And that cute bear they’re with, it’s incredible. Must be CGI, right? The backgrounds are so well-made too.”
Seon-ah couldn’t bring herself to tell her friend the truth. She had hoped for high views, but now that she was getting this massive attention, she felt nervous.
“But the views on Ara’s videos are skyrocketing. I checked this morning, and one video had 30,000 views, but now it’s over 300,000.”
“Wow…”
“Seon-ah, are you okay? Are you sick?”
Despite feeling overwhelmed by the sudden attention, Seon-ah, with her strong mentality, held firm. Instead, she was now thinking…
“I should strike while the iron is hot!”
She was planning to shoot and edit new videos.
* * *
“Hiya!”
-Neigh!
Straightening up after bending over, I looked out over the vast field, where various crops were shining green.
And next to it, Ara was riding a phantom horse. In front of her was Mark2, who had been working near the World Tree in the Meluca field, and behind her was one of the Kkumuris.
“Giddy up! Let’s ride!”
Ting!
-Hehe.
Mark2 bobbed up and down, and Kkumuri clutched Ara’s clothes with its tiny, unfinished hands.
Clip-clop, clip-clop.
The time it took to travel to the Alfheim village by the World Tree had been greatly reduced since the appearance of the phantom horse. It was an unexpected surprise gift.
-Woof!
-Growl!
And behind them, Gomgom trotted along, riding the flame wolf. The flame wolf had the ability to regulate its own temperature, keeping a warm and cozy atmosphere. However, as a slight side effect, when the temperature was lowered, its size also shrunk, so now it was as big as a large dog. It was less burdensome than when it was as huge as a house.
-Tweet, tweet.
And a 2nd-grade monster, a blade swallow, sat on my shoulder, preening its sharp feathers with its beak. Its size was similar to an ordinary swallow, only as big as a palm, making it adorably small.
It was a peaceful time spent with the new members of our family that had suddenly appeared. The creatures Ara brought became naturally registered as my familiars after eating my crops a few times. It seemed that the one who fed them was recognized as the owner. Or maybe not? Honestly, I wasn’t sure about the exact mechanism.
In any case, since the system registered them as familiars, they were my familiars. As Ara said, it was indeed a huge surprise gift. Thanks to it, the restrictions on movement were gone, allowing me to explore the dungeon freely.
‘Ara is really a blessing.’
Smiling broadly, I finished my work.
Ting! Ting!
Kkumuri!
“Oh, great. Good job.”
The slimes, having completed their tasks, approached me for praise. I patted them and checked something discreetly.
[Awakening Quest: Offer the Tribute]
[Gather and submit the specified items]
[Directly harvested dungeon fruit: 10/10]
[Directly harvested magic-infused crops LV.2: 50/50]
“I’ve finally completed the quest I had forgotten about.”
Forgotten? No, I just had too many things going on and postponed it for a while.
Anyway, I finally completed the quest as most of the crops reached level 2.
[Quest Completed]
[The level of the ability ‘Liquid Synthesis’ has increased.]
[Liquid Synthesis LV.3]
[Number of uses 2 -> 3]
“Oh! Leveled up again!”
It’s rare to level up even when clearing awakening quests, but ever since the last quest, each completion resulted in a level up.
[Awakening Quest: Offer the Tribute]
[Gather and submit the specified items]
[Newly cultivated crops LV.3: 0/200]
[Newly cultivated elixir-type crops: 0/1]
A new quest was generated, and the difficulty spiked once again.
“Level 3 crops should be possible soon… The problem is the elixir.”
An elixir…
I hadn’t considered that. I had only cultivated edible crops so far, so why didn’t I think of elixirs? Obtaining the seeds was already a high difficulty task.
Occasionally, items called elixirs are found in dungeons.
They are often traded at high prices and quickly consumed.
No one had tried to cultivate them from seeds, or if they had, they quickly realized it was impossible. So, obtaining the seeds was extremely challenging.
“I’ll need to get an elixir first.”
Obtaining an elixir was tough but not impossible. Moreover, I belonged to Ara Hongryeon, one of the top five guilds in Korea. I could probably get one within a year, setting aside the matter of obtaining seeds.
Now, the remaining quests?
[Quest: Welcome the New Settlers]
[Welcome those who will soon migrate to the Dungeon of Gluttony]
[Residents’ happiness: 100/100]
[Awakening Quest: Hunt Monsters]
[Use the slimes to hunt monsters]
[Goblins: 0/10]
“Oh, what? I can complete this too?”
If the quest was completed, there should’ve been some signal… This system was really unfriendly.
Hunting goblins could be done anytime, and I had already completed the quest for 100 happiness without realizing it.
It felt like clearing overdue tasks all at once.
Ding!
[You have obtained the artifact ‘Master of Gluttony.’]
“Oh?!”
An artifact! Master of Gluttony!
I didn’t know what it was, but it was clearly an extraordinary message. Then, a light appeared in front of me, and soon a strange item materialized.
Clip-clop!
“Oh! Kyu-seong Kyu-seong! What is that?”
“I’ll check it out.”
Ara must have noticed the light in which the item appeared, as she quickly brought the phantom horse over to me. Mark2, along with the slimes, Ara, Kkumur, and the familiars, all gathered around with curious expressions to see the light in front of me.
“Oh, a bracelet?”
The item named ‘Master of Gluttony’ looked like a thin wooden bracelet. When I checked the item window…
[Master of Gluttony (Bound-Growth)]
[A token proving the ownership of the Dungeon of Gluttony]
[You can create a portal to the Dungeon of Gluttony once a day]
[Complete additional linked quests to unlock hidden features]
[Usage restriction: Lee Kyu-seong and his familiars]
[Wear restriction: Lee Kyu-seong]
“Wow!”
“Is it good? Is it good?”
It was an unexpectedly amazing item.
Can this be used anywhere? If I enter the Dungeon of Gluttony with this, where will I come out? I had many questions, but the important thing was that I could enter the Dungeon of Gluttony anytime without being bound by location. Even though it was limited to once a day, that restriction felt trivial.
“This is insane. It’s awesome.”
“It’s awesome! It’s awesome!”
Ting! Ting!
-Hehe!
-Neigh!
-Roar!
As I rejoiced, the creatures, not knowing the reason, also cheered along with me. They didn’t understand what was happening, but they were happy because I was happy, shaking their bodies with excitement.
[Quest: Recruit New Residents]
[Recruit new residents to the Dungeon of Gluttony]
[New residents: 0/30]
Ah, a new quest also appeared. I didn’t know how long this chain would go on, but this time the content seemed quite tricky.
‘New residents?’
Unlike the Kkumuris who moved in on their own, it seemed that I would have to bring the next residents myself. The familiars forcibly brought in using Ara’s affinity didn’t seem to count as residents.
“Phew, let’s calm down. I still have things to do.”
It had only been two days since the Yongsan incident. Guild Leader Han Seok-jun and Ara Hongryeon had handled it initially, but Ara’s statement was still needed. Thankfully, they had given us two days, allowing us a bit of respite, but now it was time to prepare and go to the Awakening Headquarters in Seoul.
“Ara, shall we get ready to go?”
“Yes!”
* * *
Near the World Tree, in the Meluca flower field.
As usual, Poispois, who had been spraying poison on the Meluca flowers, looked around the field with satisfaction.
-Ah, Poispois-nim. You’re so cool.
-Poispois-nim has much more charisma than the other apostles.
-I just want to touch you once! Is that too forward?
And, as always, the Alfheims gathered around, watching him.
Bloop!
Leaving the field’s management to the other slimes, Poispois focused on the horn-like protrusion on his head and started exploring around. Over the past few days, quite a few mana stones had accumulated, and perhaps because of that, no signals were detected nearby.
Bloop! Bloop!
So, today Poispois decided to venture a bit farther, driven by a sense of adventure.
After leaving the village of Alfheims and traveling for a while, he finally picked up a signal on his horn.
Bloop! Bloop! Bloop!
However, the signal was unusual. It was on a different level than what he had felt before. Sensing a strong signal as he approached, Poispois finally discovered the source.
A massive rock mountain with a small crack.
Bloop?
Was there always such a big rock mountain nearby?
Realizing he had wandered quite far from the World Tree, Poispois decided to satisfy his curiosity first. Soon, he squeezed into the small crack in the rock mountain, using his slime’s liquid-like nature, and found that there was a space inside.
Bloop–!!
And Poispois could see it.
The source of numerous signals.
Not mana stones, but an enormous amount of mysterious ore.
Cliche Novel 