[A Familiar Named ‘Lee Soo’ Is Registered.]
After the pancake party ended, the system appeared.
A new member had joined.
“His name is now entirely Soo.”
But strangely, his surname was the same as mine, Lee.
Is the system trying to make a joke with me?
Anyway, as I watched Soo sleeping peacefully, I lay down beside him.
Swoosh
The refreshing sound of the bamboo forest.
Ah, this is the real paradise! Living simply and contentedly!
I don’t even know what I’m saying.
Anyway, as I lay there, Ara was curiously observing beside the sleeping Soo.
“Ara, what are you doing?”
“I’m observing my younger brother.”
“Brother?”
Ara’s words made me feel a bit restless.
A younger brother… Hmm.
Soo had already taken on the position of Ara’s younger brother.
It seems he has made a good impression.
“But can we take Soo with us? Or does he have to stay here?”
Squirm!
Finally, Mark2 answered my question.
From what I could guess from the nuance of the Slime Overlord’s abilities, it seemed that he no longer needed to stay here.
“We’re taking him with us!”
“Yeah, we should take him.”
I checked the time and looked at the minimap.
The distance to the sea was quite far.
“If it weren’t for Woofy and Purr, I wouldn’t even dare to think about it.”
Since cars couldn’t enter the narrow entrance of the Dungeon of Gluttony, a motorcycle was the best option.
But since I had never driven a motorcycle before, it would have taken a long time to get used to it.
Then I checked the minimap again and saw Mammon’s icon in the lush forest.
It seemed he was with Seon-ah.
Mammon, who used to be so shy, had grown close to Seon-ah, and she treated him affectionately like a cute cousin.
“Is it Layla’s influence?”
Our family’s monster affinity is world-class!
Next time, I should introduce them to my parents.
While checking the minimap, I fell asleep, feeling the gentle breeze.
**
Incheon International Airport.
Most of the high-ranking members of the Awakening Headquarters were gathered here, waiting for someone.
“Who would have thought they’d say they were coming so suddenly.”
“At least they informed us. We expected them to come secretly and leave quietly.”
The people the Awakening Headquarters staff were waiting for were none other than members of the European Awakening Union.
“Thankfully, none of the big names came.”
“Right. But we shouldn’t let our guard down.”
At that moment, a commotion arose at the airport.
As the headquarters staff investigated, they found that Johann, the guild leader of the Terror Guild, had arrived.
“It seems our information leaked.”
“Or they might have directly informed Johann that they were coming. Since there are Austrian members as well.”
The members of the Terror Guild approached the headquarters staff.
Johann, leading them, greeted with a friendly smile.
“Hello. You must be working hard today as well.”
“Ah! Isn’t it Guild Leader Johann! Haha!”
They greeted each other with smiling faces.
Soon, Johann looked around and asked.
“Is the director here as well?”
“The director didn’t come. Instead, the deputy director is here.”
“Oh, really? May I greet them?”
As Johann naturally spoke, he thought to himself.
‘So the director didn’t come…’
He knew that recently the high-ranking officials of the Awakening Headquarters had visited Lee Kyu-seong.
He had even heard that Director Jeon Young-joo personally went to see him.
He didn’t come to meet the European Union members but personally went to see Kyu-seong?
The implications of this action were more significant than expected.
That’s why Johann felt relieved instead.
‘I might be able to get some help in the competition with overseas guilds.’
Various efforts were being made to recruit Kyu-seong quietly, discreetly, yet perfectly.
There was only about a year left on Kyu-seong’s contract, and a year was a very short time.
Moreover, the Terror Guild was a latecomer.
Guilds like the Iron Blood Guild, who already knew about Kyu-seong, and Japan’s Junichi, and China’s Skyscraper were all likely making significant preparations.
‘Even Ara Hongryeon can’t be ignored anymore. Although they haven’t said anything, even the Gojoseon Guild would have noticed Lee Kyu-seong’s presence by now.’
While he was thinking, the deputy director approached Johann and greeted him.
The two naturally started a conversation and passed the time while waiting for the plane.
As they were talking, it soon became time for the plane to arrive.
The members of the European Union, arriving on a regular passenger flight, soon appeared at the arrival gate.
“Welcome!”
The deputy director hurriedly ran out to greet them.
“Haha. I didn’t expect you to be waiting for us in advance. Thank you for the warm welcome.”
The speaker was a Westerner with prominent dark circles, and the woman next to him also looked very tired.
“I am Leon. This is Maria.”
“Nice to meet you,” Maria said, forcing a smile.
The headquarters staff quickly escorted them to the hotel after confirming their arrival.
“You must be tired from your journey. Let’s get you settled at the hotel so you can rest.”
“Ah! Thank you so much for your consideration.”
At that moment, Johann quietly appeared from the side and interrupted.
“Leon! It’s been a long time!”
“What? Wow, is that you, Johann?! How many years has it been!”
Realizing that they knew each other, the Awakening Headquarters staff stepped back a bit.
The two stopped in place and started chatting.
“Anyway, it’s good to see things are going well.”
“How about you, now that you’ve joined the European Union? Let’s find somewhere comfortable to talk. Let the person next to you get some rest too.”
“Ah! Sure, but…”
Leon glanced at the Awakening Headquarters staff with a troubled expression.
The deputy director quickly intervened again.
“We will visit you tomorrow. Please stay with Johann.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
The Union members then followed the Terror Guild.
Watching their retreating figures, the deputy director immediately made a phone call somewhere.
“Yes, Director. Johann took them with him. Yes, yes. I have confirmed it. Yes.”
After the call, the deputy director ordered the staff to return.
“Um, Deputy Director, are we just going to watch them like this?”
“Hmm? Yes, for now. There’s something we need to do first.”
The deputy director looked somewhere.
Someone he had never met but was highly praised by the director.
“Keep an eye on who visits Lee Kyu-seong’s residence. And see if Lee Kyu-seong himself comes out.”
***
After taking a long nap, I woke up.
Seeing all the kids sound asleep, I decided to start harvesting bamboo shoots and bamboo.
‘There are so many now.’
The whole area was a field of bamboo shoots.
Last time, they were covered with snow, so I had to clear the snow to find them. But now they were just lying around.
Thanks to that, harvesting bamboo shoots was no problem at all.
I roughly picked them and managed to harvest over a hundred.
Swoosh, swoosh
Next was bamboo.
We didn’t need much bamboo.
It’s not like we’re raising pandas.
…I wonder if Gomgom would eat bamboo?
I was slightly curious, but since I was taking it anyway, I decided to check later. Lately, Gomgom had been so commendable, riding Woofy to harvest the mushrooms of the World Tree.
After cutting the bamboo and cleaning up, the kids began to wake up one by one.
“Yawn~!”
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah.”
Ara rubbed her sleepy eyes and then jumped up.
“Bamboo shoots!”
“Want some?”
“Yes!”
She had been eating them until she fell asleep before the nap, and she was eating them again without needing to boil them, just peeling and munching on the bamboo shoots.
Soon after, Soo, who woke up last, was startled and exclaimed.
-Sooo!
“Haha.”
It seemed he was surprised to see us.
We were just playing together a little while ago.
Soon, he gathered himself, waddled over, and reached out his arms to me.
-Sooo.
“Oh, you’re quite heavy.”
I picked up Soo and felt how heavy he was.
He was similar in size to a slime but much heavier.
“Kyu-seong Kyu-seong! I want to be held too!”
“Alright, our Ara too!”
Holding one in each arm, I found myself in a dilemma as Mark2 and Bokkeum looked on with longing eyes.
“Ahem. Now, shall we pack up and get going?”
“Yes!”
We packed up, making sure to take the harvested bamboo and bamboo shoots.
Then we climbed onto the back of Woofy, who had been eagerly chewing on a dog chew, and set off.
“Today, we’re just going to scout the sea and come back!”
“Yes! Let’s go!”
Soo was nestled in Ara’s arms, looking around in bewilderment as if not quite understanding what was happening.
“Soo, we’re going together.”
“We’re going together.”
At Ara’s words, Soo finally nodded, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.
He was said to be curious, and it seemed to be true.
Woofy set off.
After about 10 minutes, we finally emerged from the bamboo forest.
It was the first time Soo had left the bamboo forest, and he let out a cheer.
-Sooo~!
A vast meadow stretched out before us.
Woofy joyfully ran across the green fields.
With nothing in the way, our speed increased significantly.
“Let’s go!”
“Yeah!”
-Sooo!
After a full six hours, including one break, we finally reached the coastline.
“We’ve arrived at last! Good job, everyone. Well done, Woofy.”
-Woof!
I handed back the dog chew I had been holding for Woofy and took out his water bowl.
Swish.
The sound of the sea waves gently filled the air.
As I turned to look at the horizon, the dreamlike sky meeting the sea made it feel like we were in another world.
“Wow.”
How could such a place exist?
The scenery was truly breathtaking.
When I have more time, I’ll have to build a house near here with a sea view.
It could be used as a vacation home.
“Kyu-seong Kyu-seong! Look at this!”
Ara, walking along the shore, lifted something into the air.
“Wow. It’s pretty. Shall we collect them? Mammon or Frey might be able to make beautiful jewelry out of them.”
“That sounds great!”
It was a shell with a slightly unusual shape.
Beside Ara, Soo was also walking along, and after stepping into the seawater, he shivered and retreated.
-Sooo.
He must have tasted the saltiness.
It seemed that Soo should probably avoid getting too close to the sea.
“Hmm, let’s set up a parasol here.”
It was just a regular umbrella, but for the kids, it became the perfect-sized parasol.
Even though the sun wasn’t too bright, I just wanted to capture the mood.
Isn’t it romantic at the beach?
I set up five parasols and prepared the fishing gear.
‘I feel a bit nervous.’
We catch fish the size of Ara in the lake, so I wonder what kind of impressive fish we might catch here.
And generally, fish from the sea taste better.
Just thinking about catching and eating fish made me hungry.
Besides, the sea brings to mind an array of seafood in my head.
“Ara, let’s go fishing!”
“Yeah! Fishing!”
With the fishing preparations complete, I called out to Ara, who was already far away, picking up something.
Now, let’s see what we can catch!
Cliche Novel 