Round 208

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Before installing the portal at the beach, I woke up my sleeping family members. My parents and Seon-ah were still sound asleep. Judging by the remnants, it seemed like they had brought some firewood and chatted around a campfire for a bit.

“Is it morning already? Oh dear,” someone murmured.

The dungeon of Gluttony blurs the distinction between night and day, making it easy to lose track of time and sleep deeply. That’s why I always set an alarm, but Seon-ah, who must have also set hers, was still sleeping soundly.

“Seon-ah, Seon-ah!” Ara, crawling into Seon-ah’s side, gently nudged her. In response, Seon-ah, without opening her eyes, smiled widely and hugged Ara.

“I got you, Ara!”

“I’ve been caught!”

After roughly waking up the rest of the family, I prepared a simple meal of salad and bread. I also took out various jams I had made since the last strawberry jam – there was Layla jam, tomato jam, and even sweet potato paste. I sprinkled a dash of Embergrill herbs on top of the honey-infused dish, and as soon as breakfast was ready, everyone sluggishly gathered.

“Seon-ah, aren’t you going to school today?” I asked.

“I have a day off,” she replied.

“That’s why you turned off your alarm and kept sleeping.”

I spread some Layla jam on a piece of bread and took a bite. Layla was already sweet, but when made into jam, the sweetness was even more concentrated.

“I never knew greens could be so delicious,” my father remarked, nodding while devouring the salad.

“You’re talking about the salad, right?” I asked, amused.

Ara giggled at the sight and sat next to my father.

“Mom, can I ask you a favor?” I asked.

“Sure, what is it?” she replied.

“Could you buy some ingredients to make gochujang and kimchi with Seon-ah?”

“Of course,” she said.

Seon-ah, who was suddenly roped into the errand, tilted her head in confusion.

“What about you, Oppa?”

“I’m going to the beach. I’ve got a new ability I want to test out.”

“All the way to the beach? That’s far. Won’t it take a long time to go back and forth?”

“It’ll take about six hours to get there, but none to return. I’m going there to install a portal.”

“A portal?!” Seon-ah stood up from her meal in surprise.

My parents, who didn’t know what a portal was, just blinked at us while continuing to eat.

“Yeah, I gained the ability to install one portal. Since other places are easy to reach using Woofy and Purr, I thought I’d install this one far away.”

“Only one? You can’t make more?” she asked.

“For now, just one. But eventually, I think I’ll be able to set up multiple portals.”

“Too bad. I was going to ask you to install one in the Pururuk Forest if you could.”

Speaking of which, I asked about the status of the leader Pururuk Kongkong, and it seemed like they were nearing their delivery date.

“I’d say it’s about a week away.”

“Oh, is that little deer we saw last time going to give birth?”

“Yeah. You should come with me to see it, Mom.”

After finishing her meal, Seon-ah quickly cleared the dishes and bustled about. My mother, preparing to head to the forest, asked, “What about your father?”

“I was thinking he could come with Ara and me to the beach,” I said.

“That sounds good,” he agreed.

“But you can wait here. Once the portal is set up, we’ll be able to come and go in no time.”

“I don’t know what a portal is, but let’s just go together,” my father replied.

“A portal is a gate that allows you to teleport. Using it, you can travel long distances in an instant,” I explained.

“Wow, that sounds fascinating.”

First, I decided to install one side of the portal in the Slime Village. As I used the power of the Master of Gluttony, a swirling blue light materialized in mid-air.

[Inactive]

A message window appeared upon seeing the portal. It seemed that both sides needed to be installed for it to be activated.

“Is this the portal?” Seon-ah, who had finished cleaning, came over to inspect it. Meanwhile, the slimes and Kkumuris also curiously gathered around, peeking at the portal.

Squirm?

“Heh heh.”

The creatures were fascinated by the portal, inspecting it from every angle and even trying to touch it, but their hands simply passed through, as the portal couldn’t be physically touched.

“I’m going to install the other side now. It should take about 6 hours, so let’s meet back outside around 1:30 PM. Sound good?”  

“Outside?” Seon-ah asked.  

“Yeah, you need to go out and buy the ingredients, and I need to be here when you come back, right?”  

“Oh, right,” she realized.

I called for Woofy and Purr. I climbed onto Woofy’s back, while Father rode Purr with Ara.  

“I’m going to hold on tight to the mighty lord, for sure!” Ara announced, but she was securely snuggled in Father’s arms. Can you really hold on like that, Ara?

“Alright, we’re heading out first!”  

“Oppa, how are we supposed to get to Pururuk Forest?”  

“You can call for the Pururuk creatures through Kkumuris. They can carry you too.”

Kkumuris was everywhere, and they were all connected, able to communicate with each other.  

“How can you even talk to Kkumuris!” Seon-ah shouted after me as I waved goodbye and dashed toward the sea, ignoring her.

I was a bit worried that the fast ride might make Father feel nauseous, but surprisingly, he seemed just fine.  

“I’ve done plenty of fishing from boats; this is nothing,” he said, his voice barely audible over the rushing wind. It was the kind of thing that Mom would scold him for if she heard, but he seemed to be enjoying himself.

* * *

Seven hours later…  

We expected it to take six hours, but it ended up being longer. We took breaks along the way, since Father wasn’t used to riding for such long periods, so we rested more often than anticipated.  

“Father, you and Ara can fish here. I’ll go pick up Mom and Seon-ah,” I said.

Father didn’t seem to hear me, though. He was completely absorbed in preparing his fishing gear, his excitement only growing since the moment he spotted the sea. It seemed like he was looking forward to catching the enormous fish we had shared before.

“Ara, help Father with his fishing, okay?”

“Yup! You can count on me!” Ara replied enthusiastically.

I patted her head, then set up the portal. As soon as it was ready, the blue portal began to hum and swirl.

“Ooh,” I marveled as the activation message appeared.  

I stepped through the portal and…  

Wooooong~!  

“Ooh!” In an instant, I was back at the Slime Village.

The slimes and Kkumuris, who had gathered unnoticed, were startled by my sudden appearance.  

Squish, squish!  

Kku! Mul?  

“Hehe.”

“Hello, everyone. Do you want to try going through the portal?” I asked.  

As soon as I spoke, one of the Kkumuris, with a blank expression, stepped into the portal.  

“Hehehehe…” The sound of its voice echoed as it disappeared.

I stepped through the portal again, and in a flash, I was back at the beach.  

“Hehe.”  

The Kkumuris, who had safely made it to the beach, was there to greet me with the same blank expression.

“This is the sea,” I explained.  

“Hehe.”  

“Make sure to tell everyone to be careful around the water, okay?”  

“Hehe.”

I wasn’t sure if it understood me, but judging by its consistent responses, it seemed like it did. I stepped back through the portal to the Slime Village and quickly exited the dungeon.

“Sorry I’m late!” I apologized.  

“It’s okay. We didn’t wait long,” Mom replied.  

“Why are you so late? You said 1:30!” Seon-ah scolded.

I scratched my head, then took them back into the dungeon.  

“I installed the portal. It leads right to the beach, so let’s go check it out together. Father’s already completely focused on fishing.”

Mother and Seon-ah began organizing the ingredients they had bought: cabbage, sea salt, green onions, radishes, mustard greens, and shrimp paste. I felt a bit regretful since I could grow some of those vegetables myself.  

‘Next time I go out, I’ll have to get some new seeds,’ I thought.  

Cabbage, radishes, and green onions were must-haves. I also wanted to get seeds for some fruits I’d been thinking about for a while, like apple trees, tangerine trees, and grapevines.

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