In the end, the gnolls bowed down before my food.
– “To think we can eat such delicious food three times a day! Surely, that place must be heaven!”
Ras shouted passionately, and the other gnolls eagerly joined in, jumping up and down.
Yip! Yip yip yip!
Hehehe, these simple creatures. It seems like I’ve almost won them over.
Ras, who had previously said he would discuss things, was now halfway through praising my food with a grand speech.
Though I couldn’t understand what the gnolls were saying, they were all shaking with excitement.
“So, Ras? Have you finished your discussion?”
I asked Ras, whose belly was bulging after finishing his meal. As expected, Ara and Mammon waited for Ras’s answer with hopeful expressions.
– “Yes, we have reached a unanimous decision.”
“Unanimous!”
What choice would the gnolls make?!
– “Ara’s father, Kyu-seong, will you accept us, my followers and me?”
Yes! I did it! I hugged Ras in celebration, and Ara and Mammon joined in, wrapping their arms around us in excitement.
“Welcome, Ras! And the rest of you, too!”
– “Thank you for the warm welcome!”
However, I noticed a hint of concern on Ras’s face. I set him down and asked if something was wrong.
– “We are a race that lives by digging into the ground. I haven’t been to your dungeon yet, so I’m concerned about what kind of environment awaits us.”
“Ras, are you worried you won’t be able to dig?”
– “Yes, we love digging, especially into tough ground.”
“Hehehe, then there’s nothing to worry about.”
After all, the whole reason Ras and the gnolls came up was because of the mine.
So, their workplace—or rather, their playground—was already prepared from the start.
Of course, since the environment here is different, I’m not sure if they’ll like it. I’m a bit concerned, but I’ll try my best to provide what they need.
‘The Dungeon of Gluttony is vast, so surely there’s some terrain the gnolls will like. That is, assuming they don’t like the mine.’
With that, we immediately registered them as familiars.
[Ras of Wrath has been registered as a subordinate familiar.]
[101 gnolls of the Wrath Dungeon have been registered as subordinate familiars.]
“Alright! You’re mine now!”
“Welcome!”
Ara and Mammon cheered, dancing around Ras with joy. Ras, looking a little awkward, extended his hand to shake ours.
– “Take good care of me and my followers.”
“Of course! I’m counting on you too.”
Now, all that was left was to move in.
I checked the time. There was still a bit of cooldown left before the Master of Gluttony’s ability would be ready.
I decided to use that time to prepare for the move.
We packed up together, though, surprisingly, there wasn’t much. It really hit me just how impoverished the gnolls had been living.
‘Is there really nothing?!’
There was no stockpiled food, so there was no need to cook anything, and, consequently, there were no household goods or furniture either.
However, there was one unexpected discovery—monster by-products.
“Wow, this is amazing!”
– “These are my spoils of war.”
The by-products from the monsters Ras had hunted over time were all gathered in one place. And, true to the reputation of a 9th-level dungeon, they were clearly of great value at first glance.
“It looks like they’ve eaten all the meat, but they’ve gathered all the leather, horns, and magic stones.”
Huge monster hides.
Terrifying horns, teeth, and claws.
And the crowning jewel of monster by-products: magic stones.
Particularly, all the magic stones were of grade 7 or higher—purple stones. Some of them were even the black magic stones that are spoken of in legends.
This was an 8th-grade magic stone!
An incredibly valuable item worth over 10 billion!
I sneaked a glance at Ras.
Ras was busy explaining to Ara and Mammon about the monsters he’d hunted.
– “This one flew through the sky, so I had a hard time with it. But in the end, it was shot down by one of my stone throws.”
“Ooooh! That’s amazing!”
– “If it were me, I would’ve poisoned it and brought it down immediately.”
Their conversation sounded like children’s chatter, but seeing the 8th-grade magic stones made me realize just how powerful Ras, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, truly was.
To take down an 8th-grade monster, you’d typically need an 8th-grade awakener, along with several 7th-grade awakeners for support.
This meant a 50-50 chance in a one-on-one battle.
But Ras had likely taken down the 8th-grade monster all on his own, with no help.
‘The gnolls wouldn’t have been able to assist him.’
The gnolls, being mere 1st-grade monsters, were lucky if they didn’t die from a heart attack out of sheer terror. Ras was truly impressive.
“Are you taking all of this with you?”
– “Ara’s father, Kyu-seong, this is my tribute to you.”
“Huh?”
– “It’s a token of gratitude for accepting us. Some might even call it a bribe.”
I had been hoping for something, but is he really giving me all of this? And what does he think of me that he’d offer a bribe? I’m not corrupt at all!
…Well, maybe that’s a bit hypocritical.
“Should I really accept this?”
– “Of course. To me, these are just for display, nothing more or less. It might be more useful in your hands.”
“Alright. Thank you. I’ll gratefully accept it.”
Even just the pile of magic stones looked like more than I could use in a lifetime of running a dungeon.
I’d need to count and classify them by grade to be certain, but just a quick glance gave me a good idea.
And the rest of the by-products were also from monsters in a 9th-grade dungeon.
If I processed them into equipment, they would make some top-notch items.
‘Now that the gnolls have joined us, mining will go faster. If I combine the minerals from the mine with these by-products, we could create some really decent gear.’
Most of the equipment used by awakeners today is made from monster by-products.
Sometimes people use pre-made equipment items they’ve obtained, but that’s a very rare occurrence. My Full Armor of the Tiger King was one such rare item.
Anyway, looking at the mountain of monster hides, teeth, and other parts, it seemed there would be more than enough to arm all the members of the Ara Hongryeon Guild.
With perfect timing, I stuffed everything into Bokeum, who had emptied his stomach after two meals. There was so much, it took quite a while just to load it all.
“Ahh, my belly feels full.”
– “Seeing you pleased brings me joy as well.”
After finishing packing everything, we had a bit of time left.
Ras and the gnolls gathered together one last time, chewing on their favorite dog chews as they said goodbye to their village.
– “But there’s one thing that worries me.”
“What is it?”
– “When we leave, there will be no one left to manage the snake. That means the snake will start acting in full force.”
“Ah!”
It was definitely a cause for concern.
Even if Ras left, the dungeon would likely remain intact. After all, the condition for clearing the dungeon was to destroy the core.
That meant people who didn’t know that Ras was the boss of Wrath would continue to try and conquer this place. And if they encountered that ancient snake…
‘It would be a disaster.’
“Hmm, what would be the best way to handle this?”
I couldn’t just stop the dungeon raid either. The European Union had already invested trillions in preparation, so there was no reason for them to call it off.
Honestly, if it weren’t for that snake, the other monsters seemed manageable for the awakeners.
No matter how strong the monsters were, the awakeners preparing for the raid on Wrath would include several 8th grades and numerous 7th grades.
“Should we take that snake with us?”
“Ooh! That’s a great idea! A big snake!”
Ara clapped her hands in excitement, but Mammon and Ras seemed more skeptical.
– “How are you planning to take that thing with you? Even if you do, will it be able to live well with us?”
– “A snake consumes a lot of food. Ara’s father, Kyu-seong, can you really handle feeding it?”
Food? Haha.
I had already thought of that.
I had recently acquired Rapipi fruits, and I also collected the seeds from the fruits the kids ate. I planned to assign a slime to exclusively grow them.
Originally, I intended to harvest just the fruits without letting the roots grow, but if we take the ancient snake with us, things would change.
I could make an entire field of Rapipi roots just for feeding the snake.
‘But that’s not the main issue.’
To bring the snake to my dungeon, it would need to become my familiar. That was the real challenge. I couldn’t just take it because I wanted to.
“People will soon come here. It might be selfish, but as a fellow human, I don’t want anyone getting hurt because of the snake.”
– “Hmm! You’re thinking of your followers. If that’s the case, it’s understandable.”
He seemed to misunderstand, but I let it slide.
– “But to wake the unconscious snake, there’s no way to do that right now. Besides, we can’t even communicate with it. How would you manage it?”
At that moment, Mammon, who had been skeptical, quietly offered a suggestion.
– “Waking it up isn’t difficult. I can wake it using awakening poison.”
“As expected of Mammon, you’re so versatile.”
– “Hehe.”
Mammon scratched his head, pleased with the compliment, while Ara puffed out her cheeks, determined not to be outdone.
“I can communicate with it! I’m Lee Kyu-seong’s interpreter!”
“Oh, that’s right! Our Ara is a translation genius!”
“Yup!”
And Ras would be in charge of putting it back to sleep in case of any danger!
Everyone’s roles were decided in an instant.
– “Let’s go right away!”
– “That thing is huge… I hope it’s not too scary.”
“We’ll make the big snake our friend! It’s going to be great and cool!”
We headed to where the ancient snake lay unconscious.
We arrived shortly after, and the snake was still peacefully asleep, breathing softly.
Gulp.
‘Thinking about taking this massive creature with us is a bit overwhelming.’
To give an idea of its size, just its head alone was as big as a small commercial building. From the ground, all I could see was the underside of its jaw, it was that massive.
Its teeth were probably bigger than me.
No, comparing myself to it didn’t even make sense—it was probably the size of a city bus.
– “I’m going to wake it up now.”
“Alright.”
Just in case, Ras was already perched on the snake’s nose. Mammon began wiggling his hands as if casting a spell, and the snake started to react.
– “Grrr…”
“Oh! It’s waking up!”
Ara exclaimed, and the snake slowly opened its eyes.
– “Gwaaah…”
It made a peculiar sound for a snake.
Its half-closed eyes scanned us.
“Hello! Did you sleep well?”
The ancient snake seemed dazed.
Although it didn’t really have facial expressions, the atmosphere gave that impression. It looked like it had just woken up, confused to see strange creatures in front of it, as if it was still dreaming.
“I am Ara. What is your name?”
– “Gwaaah.”
“Gwaa? Is your name Gwaa?”
Cliche Novel 