First, I started by portioning out the soy sauce.
Using a strainer to filter out impurities, I carefully tipped the jar to pour the soy sauce into smaller containers. Was it heavy? Well, I may not look like it, but I’m a Level 2 Awakener. I easily lifted the jar and slowly poured out the soy sauce, managing to fill around 30 small containers. In total, I had about 60 liters of soy sauce.
Next, I took out the doenjang (fermented soybean paste). It looked like it had matured well, so I pressed it into separate containers. I tasted a bit in the middle and found it to be a little salty too.
“If it’s too salty, you can add some soybeans and boil it together to balance the flavor,” my mother said.
“Oh, really?”
“Since we’re talking about it, I’ll make some right now. Do you have soybeans?”
“We have plenty.”
I asked Ara to guide my mother to where the soybeans were stored. Ara, already drooling at the thought of the food, quickly went with her. Meanwhile, I continued portioning out the rest of the jars. The quantity was much more than I had expected. I only managed to empty about a third of the jars, deciding to leave the rest to ferment further.
At some point, my mother returned with the soybeans and started mixing them with the doenjang to cook.
“Mom, this is a lot. Can we really finish it all?”
“Then let’s not cook everything, just a small portion.”
“That sounds good.”
There were many ways to adjust the saltiness, and besides, once it’s mixed into dishes, it wouldn’t taste overly salty. While I was organizing the portioned soy sauce, doenjang, and jars, the delicious smell started wafting through the air.
Just as I was getting excited to taste our homemade doenjang, my mother spoke up.
“Hm, this should be just right in terms of flavor.”
“How does it taste?” Seon-ah asked curiously.
My mother scooped a little with her finger and offered it. Seon-ah quickly tasted it and nodded with a bright expression.
“I want to try too!” Ara, who had been bouncing around, exclaimed. My mother laughed as she offered some to Ara, who gleefully ate the doenjang along with my mother’s finger.
“That tickles!”
“Hehe.”
Ara savored the taste, her face showing pure delight. At that point, my father and I couldn’t hold back our curiosity.
“Let us try too.”
We scooped a bit with a spatula and tasted it. The saltiness had definitely mellowed, leaving behind a rich, savory flavor with a unique umami depth.
“Nice.”
It wasn’t an eye-opening taste, but it felt familiar with an extra layer of savory goodness. Ultimately, it would shine when cooked in dishes.
“Then how about we make doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) tomorrow?”
“Sounds amazing!” Seon-ah exclaimed.
Doenjang jjigae was one of my favorite dishes. I hadn’t eaten it much recently, but with our homemade doenjang, I would be having it more often now.
“We should finish portioning this out.”
“Alright.”
Together as a family, we portioned out the rest of the doenjang. Ara, in particular, was diligently scooping it into smaller containers, which was both admirable and adorable.
“Should we make gochujang (red chili paste) tomorrow too?”
“Gochujang? Then maybe we can make kimchi while we’re at it?”
“We’d need to buy napa cabbage and fish sauce for the kimchi.”
“Wait, do we put fish sauce in our kimchi?”
“Don’t we?”
As Seon-ah and I chatted, I noticed Ara, who had been diligently scooping, nodding off. For someone who had been working so hard, it wasn’t the best place to fall asleep!
We all couldn’t help but smile warmly at the sight of Ara dozing off cutely. Suddenly startled, Ara woke up.
“I wasn’t sleeping!”
At least wipe the drool off your mouth before saying that.
After a brief moment of waking up, Ara resumed scooping the doenjang with determination, only to be overcome by sleep once again, her head gradually drooping.
In the end, I decided to take her to bed.
“Ara, come here.”
“Mm…”
As I lifted her into my arms, she buried her face into my chest. Watching us, Seon-ah murmured jealously, “I could’ve put her to bed too.”
“Hey, you finish up the work.”
After quickly dealing with the situation, I put Ara to bed, where she soon fell into a deep sleep. Lately, I’ve been spending all 24 hours inside the Dungeon of Gluttony, having even moved a bed and other sleeping arrangements there. This was possible due to the massive amount of mana stones I had gathered from the recent Dungeon of Wrath.
‘I could sell them… but there’s no need.’
I already had plenty of money. Even if I earned more by selling them, what would I spend it on? I figured I’d just use the stones to maintain the dungeon. Of course, I’d save the high-grade mana stones for emergencies or if the guild ever needed them, but I planned to use the rest liberally.
“Kyu-seong, Kyu-seong.”
“Hm?”
Just as I was about to return and finish cleaning up, Ara, for the first time in a while, whimpered. She had always been so mature, but now she was reaching out, trying to grab hold of me. In the end, I decided to stay by her side until she was fully asleep, gently patting her.
While putting Ara to sleep…
Morning had come.
“Huh? I ended up sleeping too.”
By then, Ara was already awake, happily washing her face.
“Splish splash!”
Her vigorous washing routine was accompanied by slimes and Kkumuris by the stream. When I looked at where the jars had been, everything was neatly cleaned up. They must have finished everything while I slept.
“Ara, did you sleep well?”
“Yep! Did you sleep well, Kyu-seong-Kyu-seong!” Ara greeted me with a bright smile.
Recently, she had been taking care of her own washing and changing her clothes all by herself. It made me feel a little lonely.
‘I used to wash and dress her every day… Our Ara has really grown up. Dad feels a bit sad.’
Ara, now finished with washing her face, shook her head dry and came out. Watching her, I decided to use this free time to check the things I had been putting off.
‘Quest Rewards’
I had cleared two quests after returning from the Dungeon of Wrath.
[Awakening Quest: Hunt]
[Using slimes, hunt 100 random low-grade monsters]
[Low-grade monsters: 101/100]
I had barely completed the awakening quest. Once I recruited gnolls as my servants, the hunts naturally counted. What was the reward?
[There is an increased chance of summoning two slimes when summoning.]
[There is an additional increase in the chance of summoning a Level 2 slime.]
Not bad. The abilities of the growing slime army were improving bit by bit. If I kept at it, I might be able to evolve them into Level 10 creatures like Mark2.
‘Would they turn into something like Ara if they reach Level 10?’
The chances were slim. Ara had been a boss monster of the Seven Deadly Sins, after all. But still, you never know. Their appearance had changed slightly at Levels 3 and 5; what would they look like at Level 10?
“Ara, do you think slimes would turn into people like you if they reached Level 10 or 11?”
I asked just in case, but Ara shook her head.
“That’s not possible.”
“I see.”
“Instead, they’ll transform into something cool!”
With a sudden flourish, Ara struck a pose.
You say they’ll transform into something cool, but why are you posing like that? Have you been watching superhero shows? I still couldn’t quite grasp what Ara’s definition of “cool” was.
‘She thought Ras was cool.’
To me, Ras looked like a cute little puppy. But since she thought that was cool, well… who knows?
[Awakening Quest: Become Stronger]
[Evolve two slimes into higher species]
[Higher species slime: 1/2]
The new quest was fortunately one I could already complete.
‘So, they have to evolve like how Mark2 became a World Tree Slime?’
Poispois’s condition had also been unusual lately. If I could get Poispois to Level 6, it would likely evolve into a higher species. A free quest, essentially. I planned to fuse them as soon as possible.
Next, I checked the other quests.
[!! Special Hidden Quest!!: Seven Deadly Sins]
You have started conquering Gluttony! Conquer the remaining Sins as well!
Pride: X
Greed: 0
Envy: X
Wrath: 0
Lust: X
Sloth: X
Without intending to, I had already begun the conquest quest. Along with Gluttony, I had unintentionally completed Wrath as well.
[An additional effect is added to the Owner of Gluttony.]
[You can now register familiars on the minimap.]
“Ooh, familiar registration?”
I immediately opened the minimap, and a prompt for registering familiars appeared.
“I can see Ras clearly, too.”
The children of the Seven Deadly Sins were automatically displayed on the minimap without the need for separate registration. When I selected familiar registration, a list of all my current familiars appeared. I could select up to five more creatures.
“Even the fairies can be added?”
First, I selected Frey. Her cute face appeared on the map, showing that she was at the hot springs.
“She’s in the hot springs!”
I felt a little guilty, but decided to move on. I added Woofy, Purr, and Chirp as well. That troublesome Chirp hadn’t been showing up lately, but thanks to this minimap feature, I could finally track where he was.
‘Where on earth is that?!’
Chirp was located far off in the southeast, somewhere I had never even been. The good thing was that Chirp’s movements cleared the foggy, blacked-out areas of the minimap, expanding my vision. The terrain he moved through was now fully revealed on the map as if I had traveled there myself.
“Not bad.”
After adding four familiars, I debated on the fifth one but decided to leave it for now. Next, it was time to check out the Gluttony Master.
[Master of Gluttony (Bound Growth Type)]
-A token that proves you are the master of the Dungeon of Gluttony.
-Once per day, you can create a portal to the Dungeon of Gluttony.
-Minimap functionality added.
-New! You can now create a two-way portal within the Dungeon of Gluttony (0/1).
-Clear additional linked quests to unlock hidden features.
Usage restriction: Kyu-seong and familiars under his control.
Equippable by: Kyu-seong.
“Ohhhh!!!”
The new feature was the ability to create a portal. Although it was limited to inside the dungeon, it was an amazing function. After checking the description more closely…
[Creates a semi-permanent portal.]
[Creation and deletion are freely possible.]
“Sweet.”
Though it showed I could only create one portal, it hinted that I might be able to create more in the future. Now, where should I place it?
At first, I considered connecting a portal between Gnoll Village and Slime Village, but then I thought about it again.
“The sea?”
The farther I placed it, the more beneficial it would be. Gnoll Village was just a 10-20 minute ride on Woofy or Purr, but the sea took several hours. If I connected a portal, I could come and go as I pleased.
“This is an absolute jackpot.”
At first, I hadn’t even considered completing this quest, but with rewards like these, it was turning out to be pretty appealing. If I ended up subjugating the other Seven Deadly Sins, I could install portals all over the dungeon.
“Ara.”
“Hm?”
“What are the other Seven Deadly Sins like?”
“Gasp! Are you the Conqueror Lord, Kyu-seong-Kyu-seong?!”
Ara immediately caught on to my intention, her insight so sharp it was almost scary. How did she know?!
“Where did you even learn that phrase…?”
“Mammon told me! Kyu-seong-Kyu-seong is the Conqueror Lord!”
“Ahem…”
No, Ara, that’s a misunderstanding… I’m just trying to get all the cute little Seven Deadly Sins to work together—uh, I mean, live happily together.
“It’s a good thing! Conquer them all! Kyu-seong-Kyu-seong is the Conqueror Lord! Hehe! Haha! Ha!”
“A-Ara?”
I think Ara’s education on proper emotions might have gone astray somewhere. Who on earth taught her this?
‘Could it have been me?’
After all, I did merge Mammon and lure Ras with the promise of food. It was essentially a form of conquest.
—Not much I can say to that.
Cliche Novel 