The ability of the Oyster was underwater breathing. Thanks to this, as soon as the next day arrived, I began harvesting seafood in the shallow sea with Ara.
“There are so many.” Even in the shallow parts, we found so much, so how much more diverse and abundant would the resources be in the deeper areas? Excited for a while, I started gathering various things indiscriminately, and Soo started grumbling.
“Sooooo!”
“What’s wrong, Ara? What’s it saying?”
“It says there are too many.”
When I came to my senses, I saw a heap of seafood piled up. Isn’t this much okay to take?
“Fish!”
“Oh, if I consider the fish, it might be cutting it close.”
Because there’s always so much to carry, there wasn’t as much leeway as I thought. If I were to catch just one fish, it wouldn’t matter, but since I came all the way here, I should catch a few.
Eventually, we stopped gathering seafood here and resumed fishing like yesterday. And once again, Ara’s fishing rod bent first. It seemed luck was on Ara’s side when it came to fishing.
“Eung-cha!”
But this time, unlike yesterday, she quickly pulled it up without struggling.
It was a mackerel about the size of my forearm.
Its back was blue, so I called it a mackerel, but its shape was a bit different. Were there more fins?
“Oh, then is this a red-fleshed fish?”
The giant cutlassfish we ate yesterday was a white-fleshed fish. But this one looked like a red-fleshed fish. Since white and red-fleshed fish taste different, I was looking forward to it.
“Oh, now it’s my turn!”
The fishing line was pulled taut. A bite came in while I was preparing Ara’s gear!
To show Ara my impressive skills, I carefully handled the fishing rod…
Shraaak!
“Huh?”
Contrary to my tense anticipation, the fishing line came in too easily, but it was clear that something heavy was caught. Could it come in so easily?
Soon, the identity of what was caught revealed itself as I reeled in the line.
“What is this?”
It was a giant crayfish.
It had a light purple shell and was about the size of a slime. Roughly half an arm’s length. This refers to its body diameter, so its length was even greater. A crayfish large enough to slightly surpass Ara’s height.
“Crayfish? Shrimp? What do I call this?”
Somewhere between a crayfish and a shrimp? It did have a claw, but only one.
Anyway, unlike fish, it didn’t resist much and was pulled onto land. It only started flapping around vigorously once it was out of the water.
Whack!
Then once again, Ara’s punch came into play.
The punch accurately hit and effectively knocked the crayfish out.
“Wow.”
Holding up the fainted crayfish, its size was much more appreciable. It was quite heavy, and if I weren’t an Awakener, I might not have been able to lift it alone.
“First, let’s secure the claw…”
I tied up the claw to prevent it from opening. The size of the claw was also intimidating, and if it pinched me, it wouldn’t be pleasant.
While securing another trophy, Ara once again pulled her fishing rod. This time, it seemed to be quite a fighter, much like the cutlassfish we caught yesterday.
If it were on my rod, I might have been dragged away instead.
Ara is incredibly strong, surpassing even the physical abilities of a Level 4, no, probably a Level 5 now, physical-type Awakener. Seeing Ara cautiously exerting strength suggested that it was indeed a remarkable fish. Of course, aside from strength, she was careful because the rod could break.
A struggle that lasted about 10 minutes.
And once again, Ara succeeded splendidly.
“Wow, what is this this time?”
A giant fish was caught, different from yesterday’s catch but similar in size.
However, it had a peculiar appearance, resembling a mix between an anglerfish and a flatfish, looking rather unattractive.
“Hehe.”
But that made it even more exciting. It’s already proven on Earth that ugly fish taste good. This one looks delicious just by the looks of it!
Afterward, Ara and I each caught one more fish and packed up our things.
One giant crayfish.
One anglerfish-flatfish.
One long fish that looked like a cutlassfish.
And one giant sea bream.
We laughed joyfully as we packed our four catches.
“This is going to be delicious!”
“Let’s eat it with the family. Share it with the kids too.”
“Yeah!”
Soo was already drooling.
Even though the amount was small, Soo had already learned what deliciousness meant.
‘Seon-ah will love this.’
Seon-ah, who can’t resist cute things, would go wild seeing Soo. She’ll probably spend all day carrying a camera, filming Ara and Soo’s daily life.
Checking the minimap, Mammon was at the Goblin Village. It would be nice if Seon-ah could also be registered as a minimap icon, which is a bit disappointing.
“Shall we head back?”
“Let’s go! It’s our loot!”
-Sooo!
Like a triumphant general after winning a war, Ara shouted while pointing toward the direction of the Slime Village.
Watching Ara, Soo didn’t know what was happening but decided to imitate her.
These cute little ones.
It was a short trip, but there were many things to do once we returned.
First, I needed to go out and check if there were any pending messages, and then I had to fully understand Soo’s abilities.
I never thought that the Millennium Ginseng would turn into a spirit and become a familiar, so I might need to consider other ways to solve Frey’s curse.
But maybe…
[Lee Soo (Spirit of the Five Elements)]
Abilities: Five Elements Cycle, Vitality Recharge, Blessing of the Spirits.
There might be an answer among those abilities, so it was too soon to jump to conclusions. For now, I didn’t have the unfinished elixir with me, so I couldn’t test the abilities,
‘I can roughly guess what Vitality Recharge does, but I’m curious about the other two.’
Maybe one of those two could be the key to solving Frey’s curse.
***
Almost ten hours had passed since we rode Woofy.
Finally, we could return.
Snooze snooze-.
Ara and Soo were dangling and sleeping in my arms. Despite taking breaks in between, they must have found it quite boring.
“Kids, we’re here.”
“Hmm…”
-Sooo!
The slimes were the first to get off and were greeted by the children. It seemed as if they were reporting on how they managed the fields diligently while we were away.
“Mark2, good job.”
Squelch!
In the end, there was no reason to bring Mark2, but thanks to him, we had a fun time.
Next time, I’ll take Poispois with us as well. By now, it must be diligently managing the Meluca flowers.
First, I planned to quickly organize our luggage and then go find Seon-ah. As we were organizing our stuff, there was some bustling activity on one side.
-Bwee.
-Hehe.
Soo was surrounded and being interrogated by the slimes and squishy creatures. And in the center of it all was Gomgom.
-Kwoong.
Gomgom, tense at the appearance of the unfamiliar Soo, soon spread its arms wide as if to threaten.
-Kwong.
-Sooo?
But Soo, seeing Gomgom, tilted her head and, perhaps out of curiosity, approached and poked it instead.
-K, Kwong?
-Sooo.
Gomgom, startled, soon lowered its arms. Then it hugged Soo.
Could that be…
A preliminary move for a suplex?!
The tremendous scene of lifting its back and slamming down backward didn’t unfold.
-Sniff sniff kwong.
-Sooo.
It was just a simple hug.
Since when did they bond so deeply?
The two soon began to walk around the village arm in arm as if they had known each other for a long time.
Gomgom started introducing the village.
And as Ara watched the scene with sleepy eyes, she mumbled.
“Gomgom has become a big brother.”
The world of children is hard to understand. Anyway, it’s a relief that they’re getting along well. Seeing that Purr isn’t here, it seems he’s gone to Seon-ah. I gave a slightly apologetic look to the Woofy who had traveled far and asked for another favor.
“Woofy, can you bring Seon-ah over?”
-Woof!
Woofy wagged its tail as if it was no problem and quickly ran off. As expected of a high-rank monster, its stamina is incredible.
While Woofy went to fetch Seon-ah, I finished organizing the luggage and checked the meju scattered around the village.
‘Isn’t this almost fermented?’
I said almost, but it seemed like it was complete. I should bring my mother over and have her verify it.
For now, I left it as it was and checked the jars and charcoal I had prepared on one side. I was already excited about making doenjang and soy sauce!
-Woof!
-Neigh.
Woofy and Purr signaled that they had arrived. I stopped inspecting the jars and went out to see Ara being held by Seon-ah.
“Did our Ara have a good trip?”
“Yes! It was fun! I caught a lot of fish and clams! I also brought Soo!”
“Really? That sounds fun. But what’s Soo?”
Then, as if called, Soo waddled over, led by Gomgom’s foot. With a plump body and a cute appearance befitting a spirit.
-Sooo.
And that unique cry.
As expected, Seon-ah was completely captivated.
“W-w-who are you?”
-Sooo?
-Kwoong!
Gomgom pulled Soo closer to Seon-ah as if to say hello. Soo tilted his head, looked up at Seon-ah, and started spinning around her.
-Sooo, Sooo, Sooo.
-Hehe.
Before long, Kkumuris joined in, spinning around like Soo. Thanks to this, Seon-ah’s eyes spun in circles too.
“It’s a new family member. Its name is Lee Soo.”
“Lee, Lee Soo?”
In the end, Seon-ah couldn’t resist and grabbed the mischievous herb root that was circling her.
-Sooo.
Soo let out a sound like a doll when caught. She then gazed at Seon-ah with bright eyes.
-Sooo!
“Why do such cute beings always gather around you, brother? Did you save a country in your past life?”
“Probably something like that.”
I formally introduced Soo. The story of the Millennium Ginseng we planted last time evolving into a spirit, and how Soo, as a spirit, became a familiar.
Listening to the story, Seon-ah looked amazed and then started touching Soo all over in fascination.
-Sooo.
Every time, Soo cried out like a sound-emitting doll.
“Soo is my little brother!”
“I’m glad you have a cute brother, Ara.”
“Yeah!”
Unlike my surprise, Seon-ah naturally continued the conversation. Her skill was different.
“Nothing happened while we were away?”
“Yeah. It was just normal.”
“Still, you did well. Now you can rest.”
“Me? I’m resting now.”
Seon-ah was hugging Soo, Ara, and Gomgom tightly. Seeing her filled with desire, I nodded.
She’s resting better than anyone.
“Take care of the kids. I’ll step out for a bit.”
“Where are you going?”
“Just checking if there are any missed messages.”
Then Ara suddenly got up.
“I’m going too!”
“Really? How about you get some fresh air outside, Ara?”
Deciding to go out with Ara, I left the kids with Seon-ah. I’ll feed them the seafood we brought back later.
As we headed to the infinite dungeon, I saw its empty interior. No, there was a slime squirming around.
Squirm?
A slime is summoned every day.
I decided to take it back with us and greeted Rookie.
“Hello?”
Squirm!
As expected, a Rookie! Full of energy!
Ara also petted the slime once and came outside.
Since the travel time was long, it was already evening outside.
It was time to sleep, but I needed to check if I missed any messages before going to bed.
“Hm!?”
At that moment, Ara’s ears perked up, and she looked around. Her eyes then flashed with a mysterious light.
“Ara?”
“I found it!”
Found what?
In that instant, Ara swiftly moved and grabbed something in mid-air.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
“Huh?”
What I thought was empty air turned out to be a person.
And Ara, having subdued the person, shouted at me.
“Tag! Got it!”
Cliche Novel 