I entered an empty bathroom in the guild building and used the Master of Gluttony. Familiar messages appeared.
[Confirming the master of the dungeon, Lee Kyu-seong]
[Entry is permitted]
[Remaining mana: 19/20]
[Open the door.]
At first, I didn’t understand what “open the door” meant, but after a few tests, I figured it out. I opened the door of a nearby bathroom stall with Ara. Inside, the scenery of the dungeon unfolded.
“We’re here!”
Ara bounced and ran inside.
Chasing after her, I called Bokkeum, who was playing nearby, and headed to the storage room.
“Hmmm!”
“Hmmm!”
Ara and I carefully inspected the storage room.
Even though we provided food to boost the guild members’ morale, we had to set aside ingredients for the antidote.
Alright, let’s check everything one by one!
Sesame leaves, lettuce, onions, garlic, bell peppers. And cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, radishes, eggplants, cucumbers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, embergrills, strawberries brought from upstairs.
There’s so much.
But we still had unharvested peppers, beans, and rice. Especially these three needed special care after harvesting, so I’d be busy.
“Pack the sesame leaves.”
“Sesame leaves!”
“Okay, lettuce, onions, garlic… pack them too.”
“Lettuce, onions, garlic!”
“Tomatoes are also antidote ingredients, but there are plenty, so no problem. Radishes are a no-go. Strawberries are borderline, so no.”
“Slurp.”
Ara was already drooling while packing the crops I mentioned. Cute.
“Hmm, and… Ah! There’s also the World tree mushrooms and honey here. We’ve gathered quite a bit of honey.”
I hadn’t paid much attention, but it seemed the fairies were storing it here. I occasionally gave Ara or Gomgom some as snacks, but with so much food, it had relatively piled up.
“Alright, let’s pack some honey too.”
“Okay!”
Bright eyes, a mouth dripping with drool.
I finally opened a jar of honey and handed it to Ara.
“Want some?”
“Ca-Can I eat this?”
“Of course! It’s ours.”
Ara reached out with a beaming face, but then she paused. Curious, I waited, and she closed the honey jar.
“Ara?”
“It’s for sharing.”
“Hm?”
“It’s better to eat together than alone!”
Ara wiped her drool and clenched her fists determinedly. Without thinking, I hugged her.
“Oh, my dear Ara, you’re so cute and admirable.”
“I am admirable and cute!”
I didn’t want to keep our cute Ara waiting any longer. I quickly packed the selected crops, handed them to Bokkeum, and got ready to leave.
“Kyu-seong Kyu-seong!”
“Yes?”
“There’s a honey-flavored hot spring!”
Ara picked up Bokkeum and dashed off. Following her, I saw her taking Bokkeum to the honey-flavored hot spring.
Gulp! Gulp!
Bokkeum drank the hot spring water.
The amazing thing was that despite how it looked, nothing got mixed up inside Bokkeum.
‘Bokkeum is really a good helper.’
Compared to Mark2, Poispois, and other slimes, Bokkeum was the quiet type. But he silently did his job.
Gulp! Gulp!
“Ah!”
Seeing Bokkeum drinking the hot spring water, Ara also felt thirsty and crouched down to drink with him.
The sight of the two slimes from behind was so adorable that I immediately took a picture. I should send this to Seon-ah.
“Did we pack everything?”
The equipment made of mithril would have to wait until next time. The raw ore was not yet processed, and there wasn’t enough to decide what to make.
“Let’s go!”
Ara picked up Bokkeum and stood up.
I grabbed the bag, which served as Bokkeum’s transport, and we exited through the same door we had entered.
Creak—
Opening the door, we returned to the bathroom inside the guild building.
[Gluttony Dungeon Portal Cooldown: 24 hours]
The cooldown started the moment we exited. Fortunately, no matter how long we stayed in the dungeon, it didn’t affect the time. Of course, the remaining mana would still decrease.
‘This will come in handy in emergencies. Though I hope it never comes to that.’
With Bokkeum in tow, we headed straight to the guild cafeteria. The chefs and cafeteria staff, who I had become familiar with, greeted me warmly.
“Kyu-seong! Long time no see. Are you here to eat?”
“Thanks to the vegetables you provide, working has been a joy lately. Please keep up the good work!”
As I exchanged greetings, Ara ran ahead and presented Bokkeum to them.
“Make lots of delicious food!”
“Huh? Ara, long time no see.”
“Yes!”
Seeing Ara’s sudden action, the confused staff turned to me.
“I brought some food because it looks like everyone’s been working hard due to the sudden situation.”
“What?! But we receive your supplies on time. And now you’re bringing these precious items here…”
“There’s not much else I can do to help the guild, so I thought I’d bring some food. Just like how you always prepare delicious meals for everyone.”
“Oh, no…”
The mix of astonishment and gratitude on the faces of the cafeteria staff made me feel a bit embarrassed.
While my crops were valuable, I had so many of them that it felt like they were underfoot.
‘…I saw sailors making ramen with rare seafood, and now I somewhat understand how that feels.’
Valuable crops? Sure, they were precious. But seeing the people around me enjoy eating them was more valuable to me. Of course, I wouldn’t just give them away like a pushover, but occasionally offering them as a service was fine.
Soon, Bokkeum started unloading the crops. The chefs’ faces lit up more and more with each item.
Then the cafeteria manager approached, grabbed my hand tightly, and thanked me. He started explaining something I hadn’t known.
“In fact, while Awakened Kyu-seong supplies the crops, most of them are used for guild members’ buff items. The ones that come to the cafeteria are either not classified as items or are surplus.”
“Hmm…”
The probability of my crops becoming items varied. Some had an over 80% chance, while others were about 50%.
The non-item crops were partially sent to Jae-seong in Japan for his culinary training, and the rest were supplied to the guild cafeteria.
Still, the numbers weren’t large. Non-item crops became food for our household, and only the leftovers were sent, resulting in small quantities.
“So, we can only plan a menu with your ingredients about once a month, or twice if we’re lucky. On those days, all the staff and guild members of Ara Hongryeon gather without going outside. It essentially turns into a group feast day. Haha.”
“I see.”
“Unexpected surprises like today will probably boost morale for many. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Mr. Kyu-seong. Ah! But we’ll make sure to properly pay for these. I’ll deposit the payment into your account.”
“No, today is on the house. I’m just doing my part as a member of Ara Hongryeon. It’s not every day, and I can provide a meal like this on a day like today.”
“As expected of you, Mr. Kyu-seong… Thank you! We’ll do our best to serve you the finest dishes!”
The grateful manager began moving busily. With the large quantity of crops I brought, they’d be busy sorting and cooking them.
Meanwhile, I watched videos on YouTube with Ara that Seon-ah had uploaded. I hadn’t had much interest before, but sending the photo earlier reminded me to check them out.
“Wow.”
The view counts were quite high, actually very high. The most viewed video had over 2 million views, and most others had over 500,000.
“It’s me!”
Ara giggled excitedly as the video played. The video, edited from several clips, was about 10 minutes long.
Watching each video and seeing people’s reactions felt surreal. While I knew Ara’s cuteness was unparalleled, the enthusiastic responses were still hard to believe.
“Is this the kid who resolved the Yongsan incident?”
└Yes! I saw a brief video of it!
└Amazing, aren’t they a genius awakened?
“She’s so cute, unbelievably so. I’d love to touch her cheek just once.”
└Get in line.
└Is that bear CG? A doll? Where can I buy one?
While checking comments and watching the other videos, Ara got bored and started wandering around curiously. She was peeking around the kitchen, asking about various things.
I was about to bring her back, worried she might be a nuisance, but the manager smiled and said it was fine.
“It’s actually great.”
“…I understand.”
Ara’s lively curiosity seemed to brighten the busy chefs’ and staff’s faces.
After some time, everything was ready. The buffet was set up, and the manager guided me to a seat with a smile. Then he made an announcement over the guild’s PA system.
“Attention, attention. The meal is ready. Today, Awakened Kyu-seong has generously provided the ingredients for a feast, so everyone in the guild, please come and enjoy…”
Do they always make such announcements before meals? I don’t think so…
Listening to the long-winded announcement, I decided to enjoy the buffet with Ara.
“Wow!”
Ara, experiencing a buffet for the first time, was excited by the array of food. She could probably eat everything here by herself if she tried.
People started coming into the cafeteria. But something felt off about their mood.
“Are these really Kyu-seong’s ingredients?!”
“Is that true? Really! Really?!”
“Ah! I’m first!”
People were rushing in like angry rhinos. Upon seeing me, they started tearing up.
“It’s true! If Mr. Kyu-seong is here, it’s true!”
“Sniff! I’ve been struggling for a month, but the gods haven’t forsaken me!”
“Mr. Kyu-seong! Thank you! Thank you! I’ll eat well!”
Their reactions were almost fanatical.
But the influx of people didn’t stop there.
Even the usually busy Jeong So-yeon burst through the door.
Bang!
“Kyu-seong brought the ingredients?!”
Next to her were Ko Kang-yeon, the deputy team leader of Team 1, and Lee Hae-sol, the deputy team leader of Team 2, both eyeing the buffet cart with an intense glare.
“Food.”
“Delicious food.”
Their reactions, likely from being overwhelmed by work, made me wonder if they were slightly broken. Starting to feel a bit scared, I quickly grabbed some food and said to Ara,
“A-Ara, let’s put a reasonable amount on our plates and eat.”
“Okay!”
What followed was a battle.
People quickly began filling their plates, and more people kept streaming in. The kitchen became busier as well.
Ah…
It felt like I had awakened something that shouldn’t have been awakened.
Cliche Novel 