Round 115

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Finally, the day of the event had arrived.

Unlike usual, Ara was dressed up in clothes prepared by the orphanage. She spun around in her spot.

“How do I look? How do I look!”

“Oh, beautiful, beautiful!”

When I clapped my hands in delight, Ara’s confidence soared.

“Hehe! I’m pretty!”

“Shall we head out now? Everyone is waiting for you, Ara.”

“Okay!”

Families were also invited to this event. They should be on their way here by now, so we should go meet them.

I slung Bokkeum, whom I always carried, on my back and held Ara’s hand.

“We’ll be back.”

“We’ll be back soon!”

As we greeted each other, everyone responded in their own way.

Thud-!

-Hehe.

-Woof!

-Grr!

We quickly reached the entrance on Woofy. After patting Woofy’s snout as a farewell, we stepped out of the Dungeon of Gluttony.

“Hmph!”

Recently, I had been spending all my time in the Dungeon of Gluttony, neglecting the management of the original dungeon, the Infinite Slime Dungeon.

Lately, I’ve been thinking of clearing out the fields here and just turning it into a living space.

With the Dungeon of Gluttony around, farming here seemed inefficient.

“Oh, it’s piled high.”

“Yeah.”

The storage, which I checked after a long time, was full of crops. Most of the slimes were in the Dungeon of Gluttony, so only a few were here, resulting in a production surplus.

My lack of attention played a part too.

Seeing the piled-up crops felt like finding a forgotten 50,000 won bill.

In short, a windfall.

“Bokkeum, let’s take all of these.”

Bokkeum.

It’s not for the event, but I might forget again, so I better take them now. Bokkeum has plenty of space anyway.

Wriggle?!

Thud!!

Watching the storage empty in an instant, the slimes working here looked at us in dismay.

It was like tenant farmers meeting an exploitative landlord…

“Hmph.”

I’m not starving them! I told them to eat their fill while working and store the leftovers!

Grumbling alone, I soon opened a pile of Layla in the corner. Come to think of it, Layla had a hard shell, so the slimes couldn’t eat it.

“Oh, Layla!”

“Ara, can you help me?”

“Sure!”

Despite saying we were going outside, we ended up diligently peeling Layla. Of course, I did it considering the time we had.

“Here, eat up!”

“Let’s eat!”

I peeled half of the Layla pile. The slimes gathered and eagerly started eating the Layla.

“Can I eat some too?”

“Of course!”

“Ooh!”

Ara sat down next to the other slimes, grinning broadly, and started eating Layla. Her crescent-moon-shaped eyes showed no sign of opening.

“Do you like it that much?”

“Eating together makes it more delicious. Kyu-seong Kyu-seong should eat together too.”

“Alright.”

A sweet and fragrant smell.

Come to think of it, I had thought about making perfume from this Layla, but I had completely forgotten.

Oh well. I’m already living happily enough.

“Gulp! Ahh.”

Layla’s juice gushed out. And because the storage was cool, the Layla kept there were all chilled.

Later on, I might freeze them and make slushies.

It would also be nice to make ice cream with strawberries.

‘I promised to make Ara ice cream. I’ll do it as soon as we get back!’

Ara had loved Jae-sung’s desserts in China. Among them, I thought I could make ice cream, so I promised to make it for her.

“Kyu-seong Kyu-seong , Jae-seong, Seon-ah are waiting?”

“Yeah. Shall we go now?”

“Yeah! Let’s pack a bit more. For Jae-seong and Seon-ah too.”

“Our Ara is so kind. How did you grow up so well?”

Ara grabbed some of the remaining Layla with both hands and packed them into Bokkeum. She left the rest for the slimes to eat.

“Eat a lot and work hard. Or rather, play a lot.”

Wriggle?

Bidding farewell to the Infinite Dungeon, we stepped outside. Soon after descending the mountain, we found our family waiting in the car.

“Why are you so late?”

“I was packing some stuff. Here.”

I handed the freshly packed Layla to my family to dodge their scolding. If it weren’t for Ara, my ears would’ve been burning for a while.

“It’s so sweet.”

“Isn’t it delicious? Praise your older brother.”

“Of course, it’s our Ara. Ara works hard, so her sister gets to enjoy it.”

Ignoring my words, Seon-ah hugged Ara and rubbed her face against hers. Ara just stood there blankly, enduring the affectionate rubs.

“Our Ara is quiet today?”

Right. I was thinking the same.

“I’m thinking about the dance!”

Ara lifted her head and said, clenching her fists and trembling.

“I’m nervous.”

“Oh, even our Ara gets nervous?”

“It’s happening!”

Ara’s cute reaction made everyone burst into laughter. Only Seon-ah clutched her chest and frowned.

“Th-this is bad for my heart.”

“….”

Chatting happily, we soon arrived at Dasom Orphanage. But….

“Kyu-seong, is this really the place?”

Dad asked, looking flustered.

I was also too surprised to answer immediately.

The usually spacious but empty orphanage yard was now bustling with cars lined up and people everywhere.

‘They said it was a small event….’

Is this really a small event?

It looked like even the media was here, with cameras and news vehicles everywhere. Seeing where their cameras were focused, I understood why.

“What! It’s Bloodborneee! Amazing!”

“Bloodborne? You mean Kim Tae-yang, the Awakener?”

Following Seon-ah’s excitement, I turned my gaze and saw a crowd gathered in one spot. A man who seemed to have just gotten out of a vehicle was there, with a cute face that belied his fame.

Bloodborne Kim Tae-yang, an 8th-level Awakener and one of the top representatives of the Iron-Blood Guild. I hadn’t seen him during my visit to Iron-Blood, but now, here he was.

“No way, is this for real?”

“I knew Iron-Blood was sponsoring, but I never imagined that even Kim Tae-yang would show up.”

“No, not that! Look over there!”

This time, they pointed to another spot.

And there, members of the Terror Guild were gathered. Their distinctive uniforms made them easily recognizable.

“Director Choi?!”

“Look! Destroyer Choi Sung-hyuk is here too. The second-ranked Awakener in our country!”

My head was spinning.

Did they just happen to drop by, or were they really here for the event?

The answer was obviously the latter. However, it was so surreal that I couldn’t believe it.

“They said it was supposed to be a small event, right?”

“How is this a small event! The press is all over the place!”

Even if you say that to me…

The director of the orphanage told me so…

We watched people as our car inched towards the entrance, stuck in a line of vehicles. Famous Awakeners and celebrities occasionally caught our eye.

I probably missed recognizing many industry-famous individuals too.

Finally, when our car reached the entrance, an orphanage staff member came to verify our identities.

“Hello.”

When I rolled down the window and greeted them, the staff member recognized me and waved with a big smile. It looked like a habit from working with children.

“Mr. Kyu-seong! You’re here!”

“Wow, there are so many people and big names here!”

“Well, we didn’t expect this either…”

“What? You didn’t know?”

“No. The visitor list only shows company or guild names, so we didn’t know exactly who would come. We never imagined such famous people would show up.”

With an apologetic smile, the staff member hurriedly directed us inside, seeing the cars piling up behind us.

“There are still some empty spots over there! You can park your car there.”

“Thank you. See you later!”

But why did so many come? This isn’t some kind of entertainment awards ceremony. When I spoke to Teacher Wi Ji-hye, she said only Ms. So-yeon and Guild Leader Han Seok-jun would attend.

‘Could it be because of the Dungeon of Avarice?’

The Korean guilds that went to support in Guangzhou weren’t the only ones. Most of the major guilds came to help, but I remember they didn’t send their main forces. Only our Ara Hongryeon provided full support.

But this time, we solved the Avarice issue so easily. Thanks to that, China expressed its gratitude to all supporters, but the level of gratitude towards us was notably different from other guilds.

‘Not only did prominent Chinese guilds thank us, but even the government officially expressed its gratitude. Are they hoping for a share of the rewards?’

Are they aiming for rewards knowing that Ara Hongryeon would be here?

After parking, we got out of the car.

The vast grounds filled with vehicles were quite a sight.

“I-I’m nervous.”

Ara’s eyes were spinning.

It seemed like the huge crowd had doubled her nerves.

I held Ara in my arms and moved forward. We needed to get to the building. There were many people on the way, and the crowd thickened in front of the building.

“Whoa.”

Dad took a step back, horrified.

“Can I wait in the car?”

“Aren’t you going to watch Ara dance?”

“You’re not going to watch?”

When Ara asked with a heartfelt expression, Dad broke out in a cold sweat and shook his head.

“J-Just kidding. Of course, I’ll watch our Ara dance!”

At that moment, I heard someone calling my name from somewhere.

“Mr. Kyu-seong!”

“Oh! It’s So-yeon So-yeon!” 

Ara spotted Jeong So-yeon and waved both arms enthusiastically with a big smile. Now I noticed that not only So-yeon was there but also other members of the Ara Hongryeon Guild were gathered.

“Oh, it’s been a while, Mrs. Kim! And it’s been a while for you too, young lady!”

Jeong So-yeon approached first and greeted us politely. Ah, she had met my mom before, right?

At that moment, Deputy Team Leader Lee Hae-sol, who had visited with us before, also approached and bowed respectfully. Guild Leader Han Seok-jun and Hanul followed and greeted us as well.

“Hahaha! I’m really looking forward to seeing our Ara dance!”

“Hehe! I’m looking forward to it too!”

Ara, who had been nervous, now looked completely relaxed, mimicking Hanul’s hearty laughter. Trying to imitate his bold laugh, she ended up looking adorably mischievous instead.

“By the way, I see many members of Ara Hongryeon have come.”

“Well, we can’t afford to be underestimated.”

“Underestimated?”

“You may have noticed on your way here, but Iron-Blood and Terror are here. Not just anyone, but their top Awakeners and guild leaders came personally.”

“Even the guild leaders?!”

That meant Representative Baek Tae-seop and Terror Guild’s leader, Johann Rothschild, were here too!

“But why on earth…?”

“Huh? How can you, of all people, ask that?”

“What do you mean?”

I tilted my head in confusion at Hanul’s words.

Then, the guild members who had gathered around my family looked at me with expressions that seemed to question if I truly didn’t know.

“They came because of you, Kyu-seong.”

“…What?”

What on earth are they talking about?

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