I thought for a moment I had made him angry, but it seemed to be a positive response. It seemed that understanding Ara was essential for communicating with him.
– “Gwaaaah.”
“Hmm! Gwaa must protect the Seal of Wrath. So, wherever wrath goes, following it is the correct thing to do!” Ara translated Gwaa’s words exactly as they were. But Gwaa, are you really guarding the Seal of Wrath? You always seem to get knocked out by Ras’s flicks on your forehead…
“Ara, please tell him that once we move to our new home, he won’t have to get knocked out anymore.”
After Ara conveyed my words, Gwaa hissed in response.
“Gwaa says he has never been knocked out! He just fell asleep because he was full!”
It seemed like Gwaa was a kid full of bravado. Despite his appearance and size, he had a cute side. After deciding to accept the move, I mentioned that I would become his master, and a notification immediately appeared.
[The ancient snake Gwaa, protector of the Seal of Wrath, has been enlisted as your familiar.]
Gwaa, with his grand name, became my familiar in an instant. Honestly, it feels a bit surreal. A level 9 monster became my familiar?
…And here I am saying this after recruiting Ras, who can knock out a level 9 monster with a flick.
Visually, Gwaa gave off an overwhelming impression. If you asked a hundred people, all hundred would likely think Gwaa was the stronger monster.
“Okay, open your mouth in celebration of becoming my familiar.”
– “Gwaaaa?”
Gwaa opened his mouth slightly. Due to his enormous size, it didn’t feel like a mouth opening but rather a cave forming before my eyes. I threw something into Gwaa’s mouth. Given his size, it was probably too small to even notice…
– “Gwaa?!”
Gwaa seemed quite surprised. That’s because what I threw was a potato. And the potato had the temporary effect of making one feel full without their hunger dropping. Though it was a small amount, there should be some noticeable change.
“How is it? Can you taste it?”
“Can I taste it?”
– “Gwaaaa.”
“I don’t know! Haha!”
As expected, huh? Anyway, it seems like we need to cultivate Rapipi quickly for Gwaa’s sake. When I asked Ras earlier, he said Rapipi grows and can be harvested fairly quickly. Plus, we have farming experts at home, so settling down should be no problem. Just in case, I asked Bokkeum to carry a Rapipi root Ras had dug up earlier. If necessary, we could plant the root and cultivate it again.
“Now, I need some help from you all!”
“What is it?”
– “Just tell us anything!”
The problem arose because I hadn’t expected Gwaa to come along with us. The issue was the size of the portal I would need to open as the Master of Gluttony.
“We need to create a large enough gate for Gwaa to pass through.”
Everyone nodded in understanding. We told Gwaa to wait a moment, and then we went out, bringing all the gnolls with us.
– “Kang!”
– “Kakang, kakang.”
The gnolls trembled and tucked their tails between their legs at the sight of Gwaa. However, after I told them that Gwaa was now part of our family, they immediately warmed up to him, climbing and playing on his body.
– “Gwaaaa.”
Gwaa didn’t seem to mind and even appeared happy.
‘Could it be that Gwaa was lonely all this time?’
Thinking about it that way, Gwaa suddenly seemed rather pitiable. Having lived in a cave all his life, just eating and sleeping, perhaps that’s why he became my familiar so easily. Now that I reconsidered the whole “must follow wrath” thing, it might be that Ras was the only friend Gwaa ever had.
After a bit of time getting to know each other, we began the real work.
We decided to build a very large door in front of Gwaa. The materials: dirt and stone.
Bang! Bang!
Scrape, scrape, scrape-!
The gnolls handled the material supply. Mammon was in charge of the design. Ras and Ara took care of the construction. Everyone was assigned a role, and we started building the door. Since the door just needed to open and close, we didn’t put too much effort into it.
– “There’s no such thing as ‘rough work’ in my creations!”
Even though we weren’t planning to put much effort into it, Mammon’s artistic spirit created a fancy door. Since I wasn’t the one building it, I couldn’t really say anything, so I just cheered them on.
However, just standing around and watching made me feel a little guilty.
‘Is this what fairies feel like?’
Suddenly, it felt like I had become an observer from Alfheim, just cheering from the sidelines. I snapped out of it and decided to join the work, grabbing a pickaxe and helping to gather materials. After about six hours of work, we finally completed a huge door large enough for Gwaa to pass through.
By then, the cooldown time for the Master of Gluttony skill had long since ended.
“Gwaa, do you have anything you want to bring along?”
“Is there something I should bring along?”
– “Gwaaaaa.”
“Nothing at all!”
In that case, it was time to really get going. With all preparations complete, we finally decided to head over to the Dungeon of Gluttony. As I used the Master of Gluttony skill, the huge door glowed and slowly opened.
– “Portal!”
Mammon was the first to pass through. The gnolls followed one by one. I carefully counted each of them to make sure no one was left behind.
“101, done!”
[!!Special Hidden Quest!!: Seven Deadly Sins]
Gluttony has begun its conquest! Conquer the remaining sins!
Pride: X
Greed: 0
Envy: X
Wrath: 0
Lust: X
Sloth: X
At the same time, a notification popped up saying the quest was complete. I was curious about the rewards, but for now, I decided to set that aside and get ready to cross over as well.
The last remaining group climbed onto Gwaa’s head: Ara, Ras, and me. Gwaa began to move. The dynamic movement was felt throughout my entire body.
Rumble rumble.
As we crossed through the portal, the scenery of our dungeon came into view. A vast green field stretched out before us, and the ethereal sky welcomed us.
– “Kang?! Kakang!”
– “Kangkang!”
The gnolls that crossed over earlier were now joyfully rolling around in the grass, as if they were seeing such a sight for the first time.
‘They probably are seeing it for the first time.’
Seeing them like that, my worries about whether they’d dislike the dungeon vanished. They all seemed to love it.
And soon, Ras and Gwaa’s reactions came out too.
– “W-what is this… There’s grass everywhere! Is this heaven!?”
In the Wrath Dungeon, it was rare to see any vegetation. The only place where plants grew was a small ecological space formed from the remnants of what Gwaa had eaten. The creatures there had been living with the sparse weeds and moss that grew there, so it was understandable why they were surprised.
– “Gwaaaaa!”
“Whoa, Gwaa, could you keep it down a bit?”
– “Gwaa.”
Gwaa immediately quieted down. Now that he was my familiar, he understood my words. Soon, Gwaa’s massive body had fully crossed over, and by then, Woofy and Purr, who had come to greet us, froze in place.
– “Woof! Woof!”
Woofy tried his best to bark and protect me, while Purr turned into a ghost and hovered around.
“Guys, this is a new friend! He’s just a bit big, that’s all.”
– “Woof! Pant pant.”
Only after hearing my words did they relax. Now it was time to introduce the new members of the family to everyone else.
‘Hmm, I have to go outside… but I should introduce everyone. Just in case things get chaotic again.’
With that, I rode Gwaa and headed towards the Slime Village first. Contrary to my worries, the slimes and the Kkumuris welcomed him without any problems. Maybe it was because they were such laid-back creatures. They seemed like kids with no sense of danger.
– “Kwoong!”
– “Sooo?”
Gomgom and Soo’s reactions were unexpected as well. Gomgom looked at Gwaa and made his signature threatening gesture by raising his front paws. The effect was significant—on my heart.
“Ugh.”
Meanwhile, Soo, as usual, curiously observed Gwaa and the gnolls. Before long, Soo seemed to take a particular liking to Ras and began following him around.
“He’s my little brother!”
– “Is he your brother? He doesn’t seem like a slime.”
“Still, he’s my brother!”
– “I see!”
Listening to their slightly off-kilter conversation, we were about to head to the next location… but couldn’t. The fairy village was in the forest, and it wasn’t suitable for Gwaa to enter. Instead, I sent Woofy ahead to bring Frey over.
– “Gasp! What is this?!”
As expected, Frey was startled upon seeing Gwaa. The gnolls didn’t even catch her attention.
“They’re new members of the family. Say hello.”
– “New members! You’ve brought someone truly amazing!”
After introducing the gnolls, Ras, and Gwaa, the gnolls followed Mammon’s guidance to the goblin village, while Gwaa settled down next to the Slime Village for now.
“Hmm, where would be a good home for Gwaa?” It seemed like it would be best to let him choose his own spot. We could look around together once he narrowed it down.
“Gwaa, we have to go out for a bit. Stay here and don’t break anything until we get back.”
– “Gwaaaa.”
At that moment, the curious slimes and Kkumuris gathered around Gwaa. Soon, they started using Gwaa’s body as if it were a playground. I was worried that Gwaa might get annoyed, but that concern was unnecessary.
– “Gwaaaaa.”
For some reason, Gwaa looked happy, communicating with the slimes and Kkumuris. It was a heartwarming sight. It seems Gwaa was lonely after all. Now that he’s part of the family, I’ll have to take good care of him.
“Don’t fight, and get along well!”
It was really time to leave now. It might take some time before we returned to the dungeon.
With that, Ara and I passed through the portal opened by the Master of Gluttony skill and returned to the Wrath Dungeon.
“Wow, now that I see it, this cave is huge.”
The cave, now empty without Gwaa, was indeed enormous. When Gwaa was in it, the space felt completely filled, but in reality, it was such a vast area.
“Shall we head back now?”
“Yes!”
The base was probably in chaos due to my disappearance, and my head was already starting to ache. I was planning to make some vague excuses, but I was sure they’d question me thoroughly. Still, the gains from this trip were significant, so I had no regrets. A little trouble wouldn’t be the end of the world.
With Ara in my arms, I used the return stone.
***
Michael couldn’t sleep due to the stress. He had entered the dungeon again, but there was still no trace of Lee Kyu-seong.
Soon, high-level monsters began to gather, attracted by the scent of humans, and they had no choice but to retreat again.
No matter how important Lee Kyu-seong was, they couldn’t risk everyone’s lives just to find a single trace of him.
Upon returning, another issue arose from the outside.
“Michael! Representatives from other alliances have contacted us!”
“Michael! The Ara Hongryeon Guild is still staging a sit-in! I hear they’ve already contacted other guilds like Skyscraper!”
“Michael! Skyscraper’s Ryu Cheon has boarded a plane to Austria! Many of the other alliance representatives are on their way here as well!”
The reports made Michael’s head spin. He just wanted to give up on everything and sit in his room.
Knock knock knock!
“Michael! Representatives from the UK and Germany have entered the base, accompanied by members of Ara Hongryeon and Skyscraper!”
“I told you to stop them, so why didn’t you?”
“Be-because the other representatives all have the same authority, we couldn’t block them just with your command, Michael…”
In the end, Michael came outside. A crowd of people, already gathered in the open space, awaited him with a tense atmosphere.
“Michael! You overstepped your authority again!”
At the words of the German representative, Michael silently stared at him.
“We overlooked it the last few times you overstepped your authority, but this time, it’s unforgivable! This is a serious matter!”
“…”
“Why aren’t you saying anything? Anyway, more important than that right now is…”
“Where is our Awakened, Lee Kyu-seong?!”
Jeong So-yeon asked sharply, her voice filled with fury. The staff at the base, excluding Michael, flinched and averted their eyes.
“Bring Lee Kyu-seong here right now. Are you detaining him?”
“Lee Kyu-seong is dead.”
“…What?”
It was a sudden, shocking statement. For a moment, people wondered if they had heard wrong and tilted their heads in confusion. But as they saw the devastated expressions of the base staff, they gradually realized they hadn’t misheard.
“W-what are you talking about…?”
Jeong So-yeon asked in disbelief, her voice trembling. The other members of Ara Hongryeon stood in stunned silence, their faces blank with shock.
“I’ll say it again. Lee Kyu-seong is dead.”
A deep silence fell over the crowd.
Cliche Novel 
Man’s going to look like a fool when he isn’t dead.
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