After that, Director Jeon Young-joo continued to offer various types of personal benefits, such as tax reductions, transaction fee discounts on awakened goods, and other privileges, emphasizing that all these benefits would be provided for free for life as long as I didn’t leave for an overseas guild.
“Can I really receive those benefits?”
“It’s an open secret, but some of the awakened individuals are already receiving these benefits. Of course, some might say it’s unfair.”
Jeon Young-joo nodded as if to show she understood my concern.
“But if we do nothing and our valuable awakened individuals are taken by other countries? We concluded that it’s better to give them special treatment even if we get criticized.”
Listening to her, certain awakened individuals suddenly came to mind.
People who had given up their Korean nationality and naturalized in other countries. They were once renowned figures in our country.
Those stories are about ten years old now, so they aren’t talked about much anymore, but they once caused a huge social stir.
‘Unlike celebrities or sports stars, awakened individuals are resource harvesters, so if they go abroad, it’s like a loss of national power.’
But am I really that important?
Anyway, it felt good to know they thought highly of me.
“If you are ever interested, please feel free to contact the Awakeners Headquarters.”
“Yes, I’ll think about it.”
In the end, these were benefits that I could only receive by making a separate agreement to stay with a domestic guild, so it wasn’t something I needed to decide immediately.
Of course, I had no plans to go abroad. How would an overseas guild even know about me and recruit me?
‘At least there’s the Skyscraper Guild and Junichi…
Now that I think about it, those two might be interested in me. And the Awakeners Headquarters probably has an inkling of this.
Anyway, after finishing the grand meal of Lee family’s home-cooked meal, the group returned together. After seeing them off, I stayed at home to clean up when suddenly, Seon-ah asked me something.
“Brother, can I mention the name of the drama Ara is appearing in?”
“To whom?”
“On YouTube.”
I shrugged.
Shouldn’t it be okay to mention it?
“I’ll ask first, but I don’t think it’ll matter. It’s a highly anticipated project anyway…”
Since it’s such an anticipated work, a lot of information was already out there. There shouldn’t be any issues if a piece of information about Ara’s appearance is revealed.
Moreover, Ara was just playing a minor role appearing only once in numerous scenes.
“More importantly, Mom.”
“Hmm?”
“I think the soybean paste is almost ready.”
“Oh, really?”
My mother, who was wiping the table, looked back at me with a face full of anticipation.
“Wow, I’m really curious. We made charcoal because of that, right?”
“Yes.”
Seeing Seon-ah’s excitement, it was clear that the Korean spirit ran in her veins.
Koreans thrive on food power!
Come to think of it, I should buy more rice seedlings now that I’m out. The last rice farming attempt was a complete failure…
‘Now Mark 2’s farming level is 5. We’re not the same as before.’
The plan was falling into place perfectly.
“We’ll be heading out now.”
“Are you leaving already?”
Ara, who was watching TV, exclaimed as if regretful.
Perhaps she knew she would be appearing on TV soon; Ara had recently become much more interested.
“Then, do you want to stay here for a while, Ara? I think I need to go buy something.”
“Sure, we’ll take care of Ara.” Seon-ah nodded vigorously and waved her hand as if telling me to hurry up and leave.
In the end, I went alone to buy rice seedlings, and it took longer than expected, so it was already evening by the time I returned.
“Stay over for the night.”
My father, who had already returned from work, looked at me and Ara—or rather, just Ara—and said.
“She’s even wearing pajamas!”
“These aren’t pajamas; it’s the full armor of the King of Tigers.”
“What’s with that weird name?”
In the end, I decided to stay overnight.
“Like this, like this. Over here, do it like this!”
Seeing my family enjoying another little talent show after the orphanage event made me think I should come to sleep over more often.
Hmm, she’s even cuter dancing in that outfit. No! Our Ara is always cute!
“We’re back.”
When we returned to the dungeon, as usual, Woofy was the first to run up to us. Being a high-level monster, it seemed to have sharp senses that quickly noticed our arrival.
“Hehehe.”
“Kyu-seong, you’re laughing weirdly again.”
I took something out from Bokkeum and handed it directly to Woofy.
“Do you know what this is, Woofy?”
-Woof?
“I made this for you. It’s called a dog chew.”
-Aroo?
Woofy tilted its head and stuck out its tongue, and seeing this, I entrusted Ara with the translation.
“It’s food!”
-Woof!
Finally, Woofy eagerly took the dog chew from me and started chewing and gnawing at it.
“Oh oh, how is it, how is it?!”
I asked Woofy, but it was already engrossed in chewing the dog chew. It was impressive how it had settled down and clung to the chew.
In the end, we lay down in the field, each chewing on a dog chew. Leaning against Woofy’s warm body felt good.
“It’s so fluffy.”
Ara climbed onto Woofy’s back, rubbing her face against it. Despite this, Woofy was focused on the chew.
Watching this made me feel proud, and I was glad I made the dog chew. I should make them often.
We spent a leisurely time having a dog chew party for a while. Without making a sound, Purr had quietly approached and was nibbling on grass nearby.
“I’m happy.”
“I’m happy too!”
I wanted to stay like this forever, but I had things to do today. So, I forced my unwilling body to get up and started moving.
Trickle, trickle.
Ara, Woofy, and Purr followed me closely.
“Today, we’re planting rice.”
“Rice! Grains! Food!”
“Yes. We failed last time, but it should be okay this time.”
We have Mark 2!
Walking leisurely like a stroll, we soon arrived at the slime village. The children noticed me and came out to greet me.
“Have you been well?”
I hadn’t stayed out often, so even though it was just one day, it felt like a long time since I last saw them.
Then I saw a familiar figure in the distance. It was Mammon and Frey.
-Lord Overlord!
-Lord Overlord, have you returned!
Frey was running hard, but being so small, the distance between us didn’t narrow. In the end, I walked toward Frey and Mammon.
“Hi, kids, but what brings you here? You’re both here?”
-We have something to report!
“We do!”
A report? Ah, the village construction must be starting around now. My father and I made the village plans, and based on those plans, Kkumuris and the goblins began to build the village.
The groundwork must be well underway by now.
“Alright, go ahead and tell me.”
“The cowardly deer have swarmed in!”
“Huh?”
Cowardly deer? Pururuk?
The name that hadn’t come up in a while made me pause for a moment. But why suddenly?
“Pururuk?”
“Pururuk?”
“Ah, we call the cowardly deer Pururuk.”
“Pururuk! From now on, the cowardly deer are Pururuk!”
Frey shouted without any objection. Meanwhile, Mammon chimed in with a troubled expression.
“The Pururuk are causing a commotion between our village and their village.”
“Really? They’re not the type to do that…”
Something seems suspicious.
The scent of troubled Pururuk!
If those guys, who hadn’t been seen for a while, are causing a fuss there, something must be going on.
“We tried to talk to them, but they just run away, so we can’t do anything.”
“Hmm, we’ll go check it out.”
“Oh, as expected of the overlord!”
Mammon looked at me with eyes full of admiration.
I’m not planning to do anything special; I just thought Ara could communicate with them, so I’m going to check it out.
“Then let’s postpone the rice farming for now. Let’s check on Pururuk first.”
“Okay!”
Ara clenched her fists and nodded. How reassuring! Our Ara!
We rode on Purr’s back and headed off immediately.
The location was roughly near the mines. However, it wasn’t long before we encountered Pururuk.
– Huaaah!
Pururuk had transformed into the appearance of a majestic giant deer.
Frey and Mammon, who didn’t recognize it, panicked.
– Ahh!
– Oh no! Overlord, I will protect you!
As Mammon tried to use poison immediately, I quickly stopped him.
“It’s alright. That’s Pururuk.”
“Pururuk?!”
I wanted to keep Pururuk’s secret, but now it’s exposed. Anyway, as we slowed down, we dismounted from Purr and approached the giant deer.
“Pururuk!!”
Ara ran over, spreading her arms wide.
Then, the Pururuk herd, transformed into giant deer, slowly approached and bowed their heads, as if asking to be petted.
“Hehe, it’s been a while.”
With a bright smile, Ara petted Pururuk’s head.
Then, like dominoes falling, the giant deer collapsed and turned into small Pururuks.
“Whoa!”
“It’s Pururuk!”
Frey was shocked, and Mammon was thrilled.
Watching their cute reactions, I cautiously approached the Pururuk herd.
They certainly seemed more sensitive than when I saw them before. It seemed evident that something was wrong.
“Ara, could you ask Pururuk if anything happened to them?”
“Okay!”
Ara immediately began to communicate with Pururuk.
I wasn’t sure what was being said, but Ara kept nodding her head and muttering words.
After a brief exchange that seemed like a conversation, Ara came back with an answer.
“The Pururuk leader is sick.”
“The Pururuk leader? Oh!”
Come to think of it, the one with the small antlers, the only one among the Pururuks, wasn’t visible. The one who always led the group and was at the forefront in dealing with us.
The only brave one among the cowardly Pururuks was absent now.
“They’ve been looking for us.”
“For us?”
“Help! Help!”
Ara waved her arms widely and shouted.
The sight was both funny and cute, but it seemed she was conveying Pururuk’s message directly.
“Oh, so they’ve been causing a fuss around here to ask for help.”
“They were too scared to go outside.”
“That makes sense.”
They wanted to meet us and get help, but they were too afraid to leave the World Tree Forest, so they couldn’t do anything.
The Pururuk-like behavior made me feel both cute and pitiful.
“Fortunately, we discovered them, thanks to Frey and Mammon.”
“Heh!”
“We’re good at things like this!”
Frey and Mammon immediately boasted, raising their noses high at the compliment.
“Let’s tell Pururuk that we’ll help. Ask them to guide us to where the leader is.”
“Okay!”
Ara gestured and communicated with Pururuk, and the Pururuk herd wagged their short tails happily.
Their transparent emotions made me unconsciously reach out to pet a nearby Pururuk.
Soon, the Pururuk herd transformed into agile beasts and looked back at us, as if signaling us to follow.
“Wow.”
“Transformation!”
We rode Purr with Mammon and Frey and followed Pururuk, holding Ara in my arms.
I don’t know what the illness is, but I have the strawberry potion. If not, there’s also Mammon.
‘Wait for us, we’re coming!’
Cliche Novel 