On the way to Ara Hongryeon by taxi.
The previous day, I stopped by my family’s house to share the golden carrot soup with them, and today, the next day, I was heading to the guild.
As I stroked Ara’s head, who was quietly watching the scenery outside the window from my arms, I recalled the carrot soup that would be at Bokkeum’s.
‘The candied sweet potatoes still had the effect.’
The candied sweet potatoes Jae-seong made with the remaining carrots retained the original item effects of the golden carrots.
Unfortunately, the increase in magic rank from the golden carrots was limited to just once, so I had to be satisfied with becoming a 2nd-level awakened.
From the beginning, the effect is important, but isn’t the taste more significant?
‘But the changes that happened to the kids are significant…’
The slimes and goblins that ate the carrot soup.
Our cute little monsters, which were only 1st-level monsters, became 2nd-level monsters. It was truly a remarkable change.
There were no drastic changes in appearance or strength, but it allowed me to glimpse a possibility.
‘What if crops with star ratings are harvested again? What if they eat crops with even higher star ratings of various kinds?’
Evolution into higher species of slime and goblin.
Such an impossible thing was becoming possible.
Until now, I thought only Ara could grow due to her gluttonous ability, but now the possibility of growth was open to other children as well.
Of course, the slimes could do liquid synthesis, but it was a slightly different kind of growth. A level 2 slime and a 2nd-level slime are distinctly different. It was the difference between the growth of an individual and the evolution of a species.
“We have arrived!”
Before I knew it, I arrived at the tall building of Ara Hongryeon. As I got out of the taxi and headed toward the building, a security staff member who recognized me greeted me with a bright smile.
“Awakener Lee Kyu-seong, you’re here.”
“Hello.”
“Hello, indeed!”
He immediately contacted someone via radio and then guided me.
“There are guests visiting the guild unexpectedly. If it’s okay with you, Awakener Lee Kyu-seong, they would like to meet you. Is that alright?”
“Guests?”
“Yes, it’s Guild Master Johann of the Terror Guild, Awakener Choi Sung-hyuk, and Director Choi Seong-pil.”
The Terror Guild!
It’s the number one guild in South Korea and a massive guild that can somewhat compare to the Skyscraper Guild I visited. It seems like I’ve been encountering extraordinary people more frequently these days.
Director Choi was familiar since he often contacted me from the time of the strawberry potion incident and checked in on me now and then.
As for Guild Master Johann, I think I briefly greeted him during the orphanage event, but I’m not sure if he’ll remember.
‘The Exterminator, Choi Sung-hyuk… South Korea’s second-ranked awakened.’
People might wonder who the number one is if the second-ranked awakened of the renowned Terror Guild is Choi Sung-hyuk, but the number one is such an eccentric character that he wanders without a guild.
Anyway, I gave the security staff, who was waiting for my answer, a positive response.
“I’m fine with it.”
“All right. I will guide you upstairs.”
As I followed him into the building, everyone I passed recognized me and greeted me.
“Hello, Kyu-seong!”
“Oh, you’re at the guild, Kyu-seong!”
“Kyaa, it’s Ara!”
It was overwhelming to greet everyone individually as I got on the elevator. Suddenly, when I looked beside me, Ara seemed to be in high spirits.
“Hehehe, I got many greetings.”
In reality, Ara was more famous than me. While I was gradually gaining recognition in the awakened industry, Ara was truly an SNS superstar!
Moreover, soon Ara’s drama will air, and she will be filming a commercial, so it was hard to keep up with her in terms of recognition.
“I also watch your YouTube channel.”
“Oh, thank you.”
I bowed in response to the staff member who suddenly confessed to being a fan.
“Are you my fan? Would you like an autograph?”
“Haha. I’d be grateful for an autograph.”
I thought it was just a polite remark, but the security staff actually handed me a piece of notepaper and a pen. It didn’t seem like a lie, as if he was prepared.
However, Ara, as if accustomed to such situations, drew a doodle with a confident expression.
“Here is my autograph!”
“Thank you, Ara.”
I’ve seen her sign a few times, and each time the doodle was different. Thanks to her writing ‘Ara’ at the end, you could tell it was her signature.
While she was signing, the elevator finally arrived. A staff member who was guarding the reception area noticed us and greeted us.
“Welcome, Mr. Kyu-seong. They are already informed inside, so you can enter as is.”
“Yes, thank you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Ara confidently opened the door to the reception room.
Thud!
When the door opened, all eyes inside focused at once.
“You’ve arrived, Kyu-seong. Ara seems full of energy.”
“Have you been well, Han Seok-jun!”
Guild Master Han Seok-jun, who was seated, stood up and greeted us. Next to him, people started to rise from their seats.
“Hello, Guild Master.”
As I greeted and entered, a Westerner walked over briskly and offered his hand for a handshake. It was Johann Rothschild.
“It’s nice to see you again. I’m Johann from the Terror Guild. Do you remember me?”
“Of course, I remember. It’s nice to see you again too.”
While greeting, Director Choi subtly nodded at me. Then, a man who looked similar to Director Choi also started talking to me.
“I’m Choi Sung-hyuk from the Terror Guild. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lee Kyu-seong.”
Wow, to see Choi Sung-hyuk, the Exterminator, right in front of me.
When I was on the verge of becoming awakened, Choi Sung-hyuk was the awakened person I admired the most. I knew he was ten years older than me, but he looked around my age.
“I’m a fan.”
“Pardon?”
“Oh, I apologize. It slipped out. I’m Lee Kyu-seong from Ara Hongryeon Guild.”
“Haha. Nice to meet you.”
I was curious about what Choi Sung-hyuk’s actual personality would be like compared to his media portrayal, and fortunately, it seemed to match.
Despite being a Level 8 awakened, ranking second in South Korea, Choi Sung-hyuk had a humble and modest image.
“I visited Ara Hongryeon because I couldn’t forget the dish made with your ingredients, Mr. Kyu-seong. I never expected the person behind it would come.”
“Oh!”
“It was the best meal of my life. Thank you.”
Flustered by Choi Sung-hyuk bowing and expressing his gratitude, I waved my hand in dismissal, and people laughed.
After the greetings, we sat down.
As Ara settled on my lap, I asked what I was curious about.
“May I ask what dish you had?”
“It was carrot soup.”
“Huh?”
Carrot soup?
Coincidentally, I brought golden carrot soup today too; what an amazing coincidence.
“It was my first time having a dish made with your ingredients, Mr. Kyu-seong. I was so curious about what other dishes would be like that I couldn’t even sleep. In the end, I couldn’t resist and contacted Guild Master Han Seok-jun and came over.”
Johann’s words made me feel a bit awkward. There was over 100 servings of the golden carrot soup left, so there wouldn’t be any shortage, but it felt a bit disappointing to serve carrot soup again to someone who came wanting to try something different.
‘Still, this is made from golden carrots…’
While the dishes made with magic carrots were delicious, this golden carrot, which had received a star rating, boasted an exceptional taste.
Honestly, before tasting it myself, I was skeptical that anything could taste better than dishes made with my original ingredients.
‘It existed. I still can’t believe it.’
The more I thought about it, the more I felt it was a pity that I couldn’t arbitrarily cultivate crops with star ratings. I still had to farm consistently, hoping to harvest them occasionally.
“Kyu-seong, I heard you brought something special today.”
Guild Master Han Seok-jun began the conversation while I was already hearing that the kitchen was cooking with the ingredients I delivered.
“I brought some food.”
“Oh, we can eat together then.”
“But what I brought is also carrot soup. I never imagined the folks from the Terror Guild would have recently eaten it.”
“Wow, what a coincidence. Could we also have a taste?”
“Of course.”
I took out the well-sealed carrot soup from Bokkeum. Then I noticed everyone watching me with watering mouths.
“It’ll be good as an appetizer.”
“I’ve only had strawberries, so I’m curious about the carrot soup too.”
“Huh? The color of the soup is slightly different from the one we had.”
Once I took out the soup to match the number of people, the staff took it and served it in bowls. Bringing it back warm was a bonus.
“Gulp.”
Watching the staff member with the bowl swallowing repeatedly made me smile slightly.
“I brought enough for everyone at the guild to have some. I’ll serve it now.”
“Oh, Mr. Kyu-seong…”
I ignored the embarrassed staff’s voice and had Bokkeum take out all the soup I brought. Then the sealed soups poured out.
“This much…?”
“So I purposely made it into a soup dish. I wanted everyone to try it.”
Everyone’s wide eyes on me made me feel a bit burdened.
Soon, the staff brought an item to expand space and took the soup away. Watching that, I realized people were waiting.
“Sorry. I kept you waiting in front of the food.”
“No, we’re actually quite moved.”
“Sorry? Moved?”
“To think Kyu-seong would take care of everyone. I mean, of course, I knew you would, but I didn’t expect it. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, no. There’s no need to apologize.”
Ugh, it’s embarrassing. I just wanted to share some delicious food, but the perspective was different.
For me, they were just ingredients I ate daily, but for others, they were ingredients they might only get to try once, or not at all, in their lifetime, except maybe Ara Hongryeon’s guild members, so the meaning and value were different.
“By the way, Kyu-seong. The color of this carrot soup is a bit different from the one I had. Does it have other ingredients?”
“Yes. The smell is quite different too. It feels much richer and deeper.”
As I was about to answer Johann and Choi Sung-hyuk, Ara spoke first.
“It’s a very delicious carrot!”
“A very delicious carrot?”
“It’s made from very! extremely! special carrots!”
Ara was trying to explain using all the words she knew. Watching Ara, Guild Master Han Seok-jun’s eyes filled with anticipation.
“If Ara says that much…”
“What Ara said is not wrong. It’s a dish made from special carrots that were luckily harvested. We might not encounter it again in the future.”
I said that, but I believed I’d be able to harvest them consistently. Especially as Mark2’s level continues to rise, I should be able to harvest more often.
“Let’s eat!”
“Yeah, let’s eat.”
Everyone held their spoons with anticipation. But we couldn’t skip the greeting.
“Let’s eat well!”
Cliche Novel 