Gumul?
When the Millennium Ginseng was presented, Mark2 tilted his head. It seemed like he was wondering if he was supposed to eat it.
“Mark2, can you cultivate this?”
Gumul-.
Mark2 showed a subtle reaction, then soon bounced his body.
“It’s difficult for now.”
Ara, translating seriously from the side, seemed to be interpreting Mark2’s expressions too.
“Difficult for now?”
Gulp!
“The ability is insufficient!”
“Ah.”
Mark2 was at level 4, with his farming ability at level 3. I had planned to level him up, but various other matters had delayed the synthesis.
‘I’ve only been using synthesis for making antidotes and soy milk.’
Since my recent visit to China, I had handed over a considerable amount of soy milk, so now there was some leeway for liquid synthesis.
“It’s synthesis time.”
“Oh!”
Coincidentally, there was also a quest to create Level 5 slimes for awakening, so I decided to synthesize Bokkeum too.
By the way, I had already made level 4 slimes for both Mark2 and Bokkeum a while ago.
“Let’s go!”
“I’m looking forward to it!”
Since all the slimes except the Rookies were in the Dungeon of Gluttony, I gathered the kids right away.
Various slimes appeared from here and there, but it seemed like it would take a while for them all to gather.
Gulp!
“Let’s start with Mark2.”
I synthesized Mark2 with a level 4 slime.
[Synthesizing Slime LV.4 with Slime LV.4.]
[The merging slimes share all memories and experiences.]
The merged slimes completed the level 5 Mark2.
Ding!
“Is it done?”
Ara, who had been watching the synthesized Mark2, looked at me.
“Nothing seems different?”
When Poispois reached level 5, a small horn had appeared on its forehead, but Mark2 didn’t show any noticeable change. However, since the change might not be visible, I checked the status window first.
[Mark2 (Slime) LV.5]
[A unique slime]
[It is the familiar of Kyu-seong]
[Capable of liquid synthesis]
[Ability: Farming LV.5 ]
“Oh? Farming didn’t just go up to level 4, but to 5?”
The ability level increased by 2, not just 1. Unlike Poispois, however, no new abilities appeared.
‘Synthesis results are always different.’
Everyone expected a new ability and appearance change like Poispois, but it seemed that wasn’t always the case.
Then, what about Bokkeum?
“Alright, Bokkeum, your turn.”
While Mark2 was proudly showing off his level 5 self to the other slimes and Ara, I proceeded with Bokkeum’s synthesis.
Bokkeum.
Bokkeum underwent synthesis silently.
Soon, a newly formed Bokkeum appeared.
“Oh! This time it changed!”
“Bokkeum? Is that you, Bokkeum?”
Still carrying a bag, but the form had changed. It used to look like an ordinary bag, but now it resembled a shield more than a bag.
“What is this!”
Ara exclaimed as she looked at the bag-shield on Bokkeum’s back.
Curious, I checked the status window right away.
[Bokkeum (Slime) LV.5]
[A unique slime]
[It is the familiar of Kyu-seong]
[Capable of liquid synthesis]
[Abilities: Space Expansion LV.4, Shield LV.1]
“It really is a shield?”
Bokkeum, are you trying to be a tank after being a pack mule?
It seems like our Bokkeum ends up with all the unfortunate attributes.
[Shield LV.1]
[A shield with a durability of 100]
[It blocks all attacks within the range of its durability]
[It was an interesting ability]
The phrase “blocks all attacks” was particularly impressive.
‘But how strong is a durability of 100?’
The explanation was, as usual, unkind.
I would have to test it separately later.
Anyway, with this, we now had four slimes above level 5.
I decided to think about the remaining one later and asked Mark2, who was still wobbling among the slimes.
“Mark2, can you do it now?”
His farming level had gone up by 2.
With this, shouldn’t he be able to collect seeds and cultivate the Millennium Ginseng?
Gumul!
“I’ll give it a try!”
His confident answer was reassuring.
Although, since he said he would try, there was still a chance of failure.
I handed the Millennium Ginseng to Mark2 and looked for a place suitable for its cultivation.
Mark2 chose the spot himself but shook his head after wandering around the field.
Gumul-.
“This is not the right place.”
“So it’s too much to grow it on ordinary soil.”
Besides, it was winter.
The conditions were not favorable in many ways.
This reminded me to ask Ara something I was curious about.
“Ara, how long until winter ends?”
“Um! It’s almost over!”
“Already?”
Wait, winter only started a week ago!
The last leaf of the World Tree fell a week ago, and today was exactly the seventh day.
“Winter is short! But there’s also summer!”
“Summer?”
“One, two, three, four…”
Ara suddenly started counting on her fingers, and when she finished, she spread her hands and smiled.
“Eight! Winter ends in eight more nights!”
“Oh, 15 days? Exactly a fortnight.”
The Dungeon of Gluttony was oddly cute.
Winter only lasted a fortnight.
The worries I had seemed laughable now.
“No wonder the snow was light. Winter was short.”
“Eat lots of shaved ice before winter ends!”
“Sure. Let’s make a lot.”
But first, we had to finish what we were doing.
We took Mark2 and boarded Purr.
We started looking for a suitable place to cultivate Ginseng.
“Oh.”
I opened the minimap to check our location.
As we passed through unexplored areas, they lit up on the map.
Without worrying about getting lost, we discovered several new places.
A small green lake, a strange cliff where the waterfall flowed upwards, a field covered with colorful, unknown flowers.
We also found a massive mountain range and a dense forest.
“There’s so much to explore.”
Not only was the terrain unique, but the vegetation was entirely different as well.
For example, the area near the World Tree had roots that protruded like trees, making it look like a forest, but the forest we found now was a real forest.
It was filled with various types of trees, none of which seemed to be from Earth.
‘Researchers and scientists related to nature would be amazed.’
Of course, not only our dungeon but other dungeons also had unique ecosystems different from Earth, but Dungeon of Gluttony seemed to contain a particularly diverse environment.
It took us almost 10 hours to get here.
We took a short break, ate a meal, and then started moving again.
As we continued west, marveling at the greatness of Dungeon of Gluttony, we finally discovered something else.
“A river? No, is it the sea?!”
“Wow! There’s so much water!”
We arrived at a body of water so vast that the horizon was visible.
It was hard to tell if it was an enormous freshwater lake or indeed the sea.
– Neigh.
“Purr, let’s stop here for a moment.”
While we marked other places on the minimap and moved on, we stopped here for a while.
I approached the shoreline and touched the water lightly.
“It’s cold.”
“It’s cold!”
It was colder than the lake where we usually camped and fished.
When I tasted it, it was so salty that it stung my tongue.
“Wow, is it really the sea? There’s a sea in the dungeon?”
I began to feel overwhelmed by the Dungeon of Gluttony.
How vast is this dungeon, and what does it mean for me to own such a place?
There were so many things to verify.
The places we passed were far from ordinary, and now we had found the sea.
Looking at the minimap, we had come quite a distance from the slime village.
We had been traveling for a whole day, so it made sense.
Without Purr, it would have taken several days, if not over 10 days, to get here.
“Hmm, it’s a bit disappointing.”
The minimap only showed the areas we had explored, so the sea beyond was still marked in black.
I was curious about how wide the sea was and if there were island-like terrains, but it was hard to check now.
“Lick. Ugh!”
Ara licked the seawater and shivered.
It was extremely salty and astringent, which seemed too strong even for Ara.
“Ara, have you been here before?”
“Yes!”
“How is it? Is there anything dangerous?”
“There is nothing dangerous! There was a lot to eat!”
Ara answered brightly.
I felt somewhat relieved, but since there could have been changes while Ara was away, I couldn’t be certain.
Still, I’m craving some seafood.
“Let’s end the western exploration here. We can’t go further because of the sea anyway.”
“Yes! Let’s plant the Ginseng quickly!”
I had gotten excited and ran aimlessly, but now we really needed to find a suitable place to plant the Ginseng.
We retraced our steps.
This time, we moved slowly to see if there was a place to plant the Ginseng.
Gumul?
“Hmm? Not here either.”
It’s quite challenging.
But I felt positive knowing that we could select suitable land for planting.
If it were up to me, I would have planted it in any field and wasted the precious Ginseng.
Time passed, and it became the second day of our journey.
My father said he would visit because of the construction, but things turned out like this.
Still, it wasn’t something I absolutely had to be present for, so it shouldn’t be a big problem.
Ding!
“Oh! Found it!”
“What? Really?”
While I was blankly looking around and thinking about my father, Mark2 and Ara suddenly caused a commotion.
Our current location was the green lake we discovered earlier.
It was a modest-sized lake, roughly the width of an elementary school playground.
The place where we had camped before was connected to a river and quite large, so in comparison, this lake felt really small.
The lake was surrounded by a dense forest, giving off a mysterious vibe, and the trees making up the forest seemed oddly familiar.
‘Bamboo.’
If people saw it, they would likely all call it bamboo based on its appearance. Whether it was actually bamboo would need further investigation.
Gulp! Gumul!
“This water is good! This land is good too!”
Mark2 pointed to the green lake and the nearby ground.
It seemed like it was better to use specific water rather than just any water.
“Do we just plant it here?”
Gumul!
“Dig here!”
Near the lakeshore, there was soft soil.
It was moist and easy to dig by hand as the ground wasn’t hard.
“I’m slightly worried.”
Since it was a precious item, I couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. If something went wrong with the Millennium Ginseng… sniff.
I carefully planted the Millennium Ginseng in the dug-up spot.
Then Mark2 started crawling around the Ginseng and the surrounding soil, doing something.
“Farming level 5! I trust you!”
“I trust you!”
All I could do was cheer for Mark2 with all my might. I could somewhat understand how the fairies felt watching over the slimes.
Ding!
Suddenly, I heard a notification sound.
Wondering what it was, something appeared in my vision.
[Random effect activated!]
[The Ginseng, imbued with a thousand years of energy, meets the energy of Gluttony and begins to gain spiritual properties!]
Cliche Novel 