Morning had dawned.
Of course, sunlight didn’t reach inside the dungeon, so I noticed the time by the alarm.
With winter coming to an end, it was time to prepare, prioritizing seeds to plant in the goblin fields and construction for the goblin village.
‘I should also check the Meluca flowers. Shouldn’t they be blooming soon?’
Maybe they wouldn’t bloom because it was winter. We would know for sure by the end of winter.
“Ugh!”
Ara stretched energetically as she woke up.
Thanks to a good night’s sleep, she looked full of energy instead of groggy.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes! I slept very well, Kyu-seong Kyu-seong!”
Hearing Ara’s lively voice, the Rookies from the vegetable garden wriggled over.
“Good morning.”
Squirm!
After playing with the soft slime for a bit, I went down to the pond for a quick wash. Ara, next to me, splashed water on her face with enthusiasm.
After drying Ara’s face with a towel, we looked around the field to find all the crops had been harvested and the field was empty.
“Oh, it’s all done?”
Squirm!
The slimes, bouncing around, seemed to be saying they were bored.
“It was all finished yesterday!”
“So, yesterday was the last day.”
Checking the storage, I found the harvest neatly stacked. Although it was only 1,000 pyeong of land, the high yield of my crops meant there was quite a lot.
“Now it’s time for you all to move to the Dungeon of Gluttony.”
Squirm?
The ten or so Rookies tilted their heads in confusion.
With that, we headed towards the Dungeon of Gluttony.
“What will we do today?”
“Well, first we’ll check the fields, sort any harvested crops…”
We’ll select seeds for the goblin fields, visit the mine to check the amount of extracted minerals, and see how many stone materials have been mined for building the village.
“A busy day.”
Ara’s eyes spun as she listened to my plan.
“We don’t have to do everything today. Let’s take it step by step, slowly.”
“Okay!”
With the Rookies in tow, we crossed over to the Dungeon of Gluttony. The unfamiliar scenery made the slimes freeze in place, startled.
Ara opened her arms wide and welcomed them with a big smile.
“Welcome to the Dungeon of Gluttony!”
Squirm, wobble?
The slimes began exploring the area, moving around curiously. On my back, Bokkeum, watching them, responded for the first time in a while.
Bokkeum.
It felt like he was saying, “I remember when I was like that.” His reserved reaction was so typical of Bokkeum.
As usual, Purr and Woofy came out to greet us, but since we had more companions this time, we walked towards the slime village.
It was only a 10-minute walk, so we moved slowly, showing the Rookies around the dungeon.
Squirm?!
Squirm squirm!
The Rookies started making a fuss upon discovering the village. The vast fields near the village also excited them.
“This is where you’ll be staying from now on.”
Squirm!!
The Rookies spread out excitedly in the village, where the veteran slimes and Kkumuris welcomed them.
Squirm!
“Oh, Mark2.”
At that moment, Mark2 urgently came to find me.
Did something happen?
“Oh, is that so?”
Ara, understanding Mark2’s squirming, nodded in response.
“What? What’s going on?”
“Something strange happened in the field!”
Something strange in the field? What could it be?
Judging by their reactions, it didn’t seem to be anything bad. We needed to go and check it out.
As we headed to the field, the other slimes followed closely behind me. They seemed reassured, as if having their leader present made them fearless.
The entire field was covered with leaf houses, so nothing unusual was immediately visible. However, upon closer inspection, I noticed a faint light coming from one of the houses in the middle.
“What is that?”
“Oh wow!”
Sensing something unusual, we quickly headed to the house where the light was coming from.
The sight that greeted us was astonishing.
“What is this?”
There, waiting to be harvested, was a gigantic golden carrot emitting a radiant light. My brain froze in this unprecedented situation in all my farming experience.
“Wow!”
Ara, excited, ran over and began caressing the golden carrot’s exposed base, rubbing her cheek against it.
“It’s a magnificent carrot.”
Seeing her drooling and caressing the carrot snapped me out of my daze, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Shall we check it out?”
“Yes!”
I didn’t know why this had happened, but I moved closer to the carrot. As I approached, I realized that there were no other carrots in sight except for this golden one.
“Did you harvest all the others?”
Squirm.
Mark2 shook his body from side to side, indicating they hadn’t been harvested.
“They all disappeared, leaving only this one!”
“Really? Did the carrots merge into one?”
We finally reached the carrot. Its circumference was roughly the size of one slime, not quite large enough to wrap my arms around, but about half that size.
We wouldn’t know how deep it went until we harvested it.
“Shall we harvest it?”
“Can I do it?”
“Go ahead.”
Ara carefully started digging around the carrot. Her meticulous work made her look very cautious.
‘She looks like an expert.’
Oh, she is an expert, right? Ara is a slime too. I sometimes forget that.
“Mark2! Help out!”
Squirm!
Ara called Mark2 to assist with the work. I squatted nearby, watching them work.
Their meticulous and careful digging was akin to extracting a precious wild ginseng, ensuring not to damage the carrot’s fine roots.
Although I could check the item window now, I decided to wait until the harvest was complete.
‘Why did this suddenly happen?’
Was it just luck? If Mark2 didn’t know why this occurred, then it likely wasn’t his doing.
After about 30 minutes, the full form of the golden carrot was revealed. The highly concentrated carrot scent, which hadn’t been noticeable before, now filled the entire house. The scent was so strong that it should have been overwhelming, but it wasn’t at all.
In fact, it was a smell I could inhale forever.
“Whew!”
Ara let out a satisfied sigh, pretending to wipe non-existent sweat from her forehead. It was amusing to see Mark2 mimic her actions.
“Is it done?”
“It’s done. It was a very difficult task.”
“Wow, our Ara is amazing. Mark2, you did a great job too.”
At my praise, Ara and Mark2’s pride seemed to skyrocket. Of course, Mark2 didn’t have a nose, but the sentiment was clear.
“Shall we check it out now?”
“I’m curious!”
The carrot was roughly about 1 meter long, perhaps a bit less.
When I lifted it, it was quite heavy, feeling much weightier than it looked.
Then, the awaited item window appeared.
[???]
[A powerful carrot imbued with the energy of the soil, slime, crop, and magic due to a stroke of luck. Its effects increase with the star rating]
[1-star Effect:
– Permanently increases earth affinity slightly upon consumption.
– Permanently increases all vision-related abilities upon consumption.
– Permanently increases magic power by one tier for magic below 3rd tier upon consumption (limited to once)]
Ta-da~!
[Please name the crop.]
Star rating? This was the first time I’d seen such an item.
It seemed the usual level indicator had disappeared.
And below that, the item effects were just insane.
“What is this!”
[Would you like to name the crop ‘What is this’?]
“No, wait a minute.”
My mind was racing.
First of all, I skimmed over the increase in earth affinity and vision-related abilities. Even though these permanent increases were impressive, the last effect was simply too powerful.
‘Does it forcibly increase the tier of an awakened being?’
No, it could increase the tier of monsters as well. Although there were conditions of being below the 3rd tier and a one-time limit, it was still an incredible ability.
If I ate this, it meant I could finally surpass being a perennial Level 1 awakened being.
Tremble
My “Commoner” passive was triggered.
Eventually, I calmed my trembling hands and carefully placed the carrot back on the ground.
“Could this even turn a non-awakened person into an awakened one?”
That didn’t seem likely. The ability probably only worked on already awakened beings.
But the most surprising part was that this was the effect of a 1-star crop. The description suggested that the number of stars could increase, so if there were 2-star or 3-star crops…
“That’s crazy.”
“Is it crazy?”
Of course, this was the first time I experienced something like this while farming, so it wasn’t likely that star crops could be harvested often. Since I had only managed to harvest a 1-star crop by sheer luck, getting higher star ratings would be extremely difficult.
Calm down, and let’s name it first.
“Ara, what should we call this?”
“Carrot Carrot?”
Ara tilted her head as she spoke.
No matter how amazing this thing is, calling it “Carrot Carrot” is a bit…
“How about ‘Magic Storm Concentration Carrot’?”
“Th-that’s okay. It’s cool, I guess.”
Ara, poor at lying, showed her true feelings.
Seeing her try to make it sound cool, it seemed like she didn’t really like the name.
“Shall we just call it the Golden Carrot?”
“That’s simple and good!”
So, the first star-rated crop we harvested was named the Golden Carrot.
After harvesting it, the light it emitted disappeared, which was actually a relief. It would have been a bit troublesome if it kept glowing.
“Mark2, just out of curiosity, do you think we can plant this again to get seeds?”
Mass production of Golden Carrots! If that happens, I’d be invincible!
Squirm.
But seeing Mark2 gesture that it was impossible, I quietly accepted it. The description did say it was a stroke of luck, after all.
Perhaps such events could happen occasionally, but it seemed like this special item couldn’t be grown or harvested at will.
“So, there’s only one thing left to do.”
I noticed Ara drooling as she stared at the carrot.
There was no way I could sell such an item anyway. So, there was only one thing to do: eat it deliciously.
“Hmm… But is it right for me to cook this with my cooking skills? Just eating it raw feels like such a waste.”
So, what should I do?
‘I’ll have to call Jae-seong.’
The carrot was quite large, easily several times bigger than a regular carrot. Sharing a bit wouldn’t be a problem.
And cooking it would yield more servings than just eating it raw.
I wanted the slimes, the Kkumuris, and the others to have a taste too.
‘Is that too greedy?’
I decided I needed to discuss this with Jae-seong. He might have the answer.
“No point in waiting. Ara, let’s contact Jae-seong.”
“Yes! Jae-seong Jae-seong, that’s a great idea!”
Ara wagged her tongue, probably excited at the thought of Jae-seong cooking the carrot.
Ara, who already loved Jae-seong’s cooking, would enjoy eating the carrot raw, but she couldn’t help but look forward to it being cooked.
“Carrot fries! Carrot fries!”
“Haha, that sounds good too.”
Jae-seong should be able to come back to Korea for a bit, right? Let’s call him right away.
Cliche Novel 