Round 124

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The day after the shaved ice party and the snowman contest.

I came out of the dungeon and waited for the guild staff I was supposed to meet.

“Hmm, hmm~!”

Ara sat next to me on a chair, swinging her feet that didn’t touch the ground, humming a tune. In her mouth was a straw stuck in a chocolate drink.

“Is it good?”

“Yeah!”

“Can we grow cocoa too?”

Come to think of it, I had never thought about growing fruit trees. There are so many delicious things in the world, what was I doing?

Later, I should set a day to plant some fruits. Right now, the only things I had were Layla and strawberries (which were technically vegetables).

Ding~!

“Oh, Mr. Kyu-seong!”

“You must have had a hard time coming all the way here.”

The staff member who always came directly whenever there was something to deliver arrived. Feeling grateful, I tried to hand over the homemade soy milk I made, when I heard a familiar voice.

“Ha ha ha! I saw it all, Kyu-seong! Are you giving us some too?”

“Huh?! Brother? So-yeon, you’re here too?”

Unexpected people had come along.

With Kang Hanul and Jeong So-yeon, the two team leaders of Ara Hongryeon here, who was doing the work?

“Today is a vacation day.”

“Seok-jun gave us a special day off! Haha!”

It was really unexpected people who showed up.

Thanks to them, while I was briefly stunned, Ara, who had been drinking her chocolate drink, jumped off the chair and ran over.

“He! He! He!”

“Ha ha ha!”

Seeing Ara laughing with her chocolate drink, Hanul laughed the same way. Jeong So-yeon also burst into a small laugh seeing them.

“Oh! That looks delicious, Ara!”

“Do you want some?”

“Ha ha! I want some soy milk!”

“Soy milk! Kyu-seong Kyu-seong has it!”

I barely regained my composure and asked the two of them.

“If you’re on vacation, why didn’t you rest at home?”

“Uh? Kyu-seong, didn’t you want to see us?”

“Oh, no, that’s not what I meant…”

“Hehe. Just kidding. Actually, I came directly to deliver a message from the guild master.”

“I just tagged along! Ha ha!”

Just as I was about to receive the supplies from the guild staff today and start making soybeans, Hanul came along.

Now that it’s like this, should I invite both of them to the dungeon?

“The items are here.”

“Oh, thank you. Here, take this. You always work so hard.”

“Thank you, Mr. Kyu-seong.”

“Oh, and could you also take care of this?”

“Of course.”

I handed over the specifications for the greenhouse I had looked into beforehand to the staff. It was a metal frame to be installed in the field. The staff soon confirmed the metal frame and handed over the space expansion artifact before leaving. I just had to return this artifact on the specified date.

“By the way, what is the message from the guild master?”

“Kyu-seong, you asked about buying this land last time, right?”

“Yes? Yes, I did.”

“Here, this is for you.”

Jeong So-yeon handed me a few documents. With curiosity, I read the papers.

“Oh, no way…”

“We took it from the Terror Guild. Our guild master did.”

This document, to put it simply, was a land deed.

The entire area I had mentioned.

“If you just stamp it, the mountain of the dungeon you’re in will be yours.”

I was dumbfounded by the unexpected gift.

Looking at the size and price of the land on the map, even though it was just a barren mountain, it was expensive.

Moreover, I knew that selling such a mountain required several complicated procedures, but the documents seemed to indicate that everything had already been resolved.

“No, how, how did this happen?”

I was so flustered that my words kept coming out wrong.

Seeing my reaction, Hanul laughed again, and Jeong So-yeon smiled warmly.

“He! He! He! Kyu-seong Kyu-seong is acting weird!”

While I was ruffling Ara’s hair as she sipped her drink through the straw, Jeong So-yeon answered.

“There was a meeting between guild masters the other day. At that meeting, Johann, the guild master of the Terror Guild, offered several conditions in exchange for receiving an item from our guild. One of those conditions was the land you just received.”

“Oh…”

“Soon, the guild master will contact you separately. The contract with the Terror Guild hasn’t been finalized yet, and we need to coordinate with you as well.”

“What? Then, even though the contract isn’t finalized, this land is…”

“I heard that Johann showed goodwill.”

Who gives away land worth 20,000 pyeong out of goodwill? Moreover, although it was a mountain, its appraised value was an average of 550,000 won per pyeong.

In short, it was worth over 10 billion won.

Just giving that away for free?

…Well, if it’s Johann, it could be possible.

Johann Rothschild.

He was a famous tycoon even before creating the Terror Guild. His family was known for their wealth, and he was someone who could consider 10 billion won as trivial.

“Uh, can I make a quick call?”

“Of course.”

I immediately called home. My family was supposed to come to the dungeon today to make soybean paste, so I needed to ask them to bring my seal as well.

– Huh? Kyu-seong? I was just about to leave.

“Ah, mom. Could you bring my seal too?”

– Seal? Why? Your registered seal?

“Yes. I need to stamp some documents.”

– Alright. I’ll bring it.

“Oh, and we have two guests here, is that okay?”

– Guests? Of course!

As soon as I finished the brief call, Ara, who had already finished her drink, started bouncing around.

“Is the overlord overlord coming? Is he coming?”

“Yes. They’re coming now.”

I then spoke to the two who were waiting.

“Are you busy today?”

“Huh? No. This is my last appointment for the day.”

“I have plenty of time, that’s why I came along. Haha!”

Hearing their responses, I cautiously asked.

“Then, would you like to visit our dungeon? My family will be there too.”

“Your dungeon?!”

“Dungeon!!”

The two, who were startled, looked at each other and then turned back to me, nodding vigorously.

“Of course, we’ll go!”

“I’ve always wanted to see it! The land of flowing crops!”

The land doesn’t flow with crops… but okay.

I awkwardly smiled at the two who seemed to have high expectations and waited for my family.

After about 20 minutes, my parents and Seon-ah arrived.

“Oh, So-yeon, you’re here?”

“Hello again, ma’am. Hehe.”

Since they had already gotten familiar with each other during the orphanage event, the greetings were not awkward. After that, we immediately started hiking towards the dungeon, and I received the seal from my mother.

“Is this related to work?”

“Well… sort of? Once I stamp this, all this mountain will be mine.”

I stopped in my tracks.

My family, who had been walking along just fine, all came to a halt.

Ara looked around and mumbled at the sudden action.

“Why did we stop?!”

Seon-ah was the first to regain her composure and asked with wide eyes.

“What do you mean by that?”

“So-yeon and Hanul came because of that. They brought the land deed and the documents I need to stamp.”

“So, you’re saying how did you end up owning the land!”

“The Terror Guild gave it to me.”

Even to me, that sounded out of context.

But what could I do? It was the truth.

“It’s not a scam, right?”

“No, dad. The company is doing well, and my abilities have helped enough to make this happen.”

Even without the Terror Guild’s goodwill, I had intended to buy the mountain where my dungeon is located. With the money I’d earn from the contract with the Skyscraper Guild.

But thanks to how things turned out, I saved that money. I can use it later to build roads and structures here.

“Kyu-seong is a very fortunate person. This is nothing. So you can rest easy. Ha ha!”

“Hmm, hmm.”

Dad still seemed skeptical, but he let it go for now.

Soon, we arrived in front of the dungeon, and Kang Hanul and Jeong So-yeon looked at the entrance with sparkling eyes.

“So, the crops we’ve been eating all this time came from here?!”

“Ah, this is moving!”

If I had known they would be this happy, I would have invited them sooner. It was a pity that it was winter and I couldn’t show them the usual scenery.

“Ahem!”

As always, Ara raised her nose and stood in front of Kang Hanul and Jeong So-yeon.

“I will guide you.”

“Oh, Ara is going to guide us?”

Jeong So-yeon responded as if looking at a cute younger sister, making Ara lift her nose higher and nod solemnly.

“I will guide you. You must follow closely!”

“Ha ha ha! Yes! We will follow our Ara closely!”

“Trust only me!”

Everyone watched Ara, who was leading confidently, with fondness. She thought she was being dignified, but it was also cute.

“Be careful when you come in! Hanul is tall, so you might hit your head!”

“Yes! I will be careful!”

Ara entered first, and we followed one by one.

The view of the slime dungeon, which resembled a natural cave, appeared, and a rookie slime rolling around in a small vegetable garden greeted us warmly.

Squirm-!

Jeong So-yeon and Kang Hanul, who were visiting for the first time, looked around in delight.

“This is…!”

“It’s a field! There is a field here!”

They reacted like children to every little thing.

Thanks to their increasing reactions, Ara’s shoulders and nose were rising higher and higher.

“Ahem! This is the dungeon!”

“Oh! Yes!”

“This is called a garden. A small field!”

“Oh, so tomatoes come from here!”

Right now, it was a 100-pyeong garden only growing tomatoes.

Carrots and Layla were being grown anew in the Dungeon of Gluttony.

“So, where are the other crops we’ve seen?”

“Ahem! Follow me!”

Ara, looking particularly pleased, walked again with a confident stride. My family, having experienced this once already, smiled and watched the round figure of Ara leading the way.

“Oh, there’s a ladder!”

Come to think of it, I should replace this ladder soon.

I’ll use the slimes to build it into a staircase.

“Ohhhh!!”

“Wow!”

As we climbed down the ladder, Kang Hanul and Jeong So-yeon widened their eyes at the sight of the 1,000-pyeong field, ten times the size of the garden.

“It’s huge! Everything is being grown here!”

“Look at this! The slimes are harvesting bell peppers. They’re so cute!”

The slimes, who were in the middle of harvesting bell peppers, showed interest in the new visitors and presented them with bell peppers.

“Oh, are these for us?”

“Yes, you can eat them.”

“Ha ha! Freshly harvested crops from Kyu-seong!”

The two of them happily ate the bell peppers.

Ara watched them with her mouth watering, then noticed my gaze and pretended to be indifferent.

“I-I’m fine! I’m guiding you!”

“If you want to eat too, join us.”

“Can I really?”

I nodded at Ara, who was blushing slightly, and she picked a bell pepper herself and ate it eagerly.

“Shall we eat too?”

“Sure!”

It suddenly turned into a harvesting experience, but everyone enjoyed picking and tasting the bell peppers.

When everyone was captivated by the sweet taste of the bell peppers, which had a faint bitterness, Ara spoke with satisfaction.

“Now, let’s move on! We’ve played a lot!”

“Move on? This isn’t the end?”

Jeong So-yeon looked at me with a puzzled expression.

I smiled at her and said, “Ara will guide us.”

“There’s more to see! This place is like an onion; it has many layers!”

“Come to think of it, there are no onions here?”

Jeong So-yeon, who had been harvesting bell peppers and looking around the field, finally noticed.

Then, their faces filled with anticipation.

“The best is yet to come!”

“Ohhh!!”

With Ara’s shout, we continued on our way.

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