Jae-seong was finally on leave after a long time.
He couldn’t resist taking a break after Kyu-seong’s message that he’d personally made doenjang, soy sauce, and now even gochujang.
“You’ll be surprised! Hehe.”
Jae-seong smiled warmly as he boarded the bus.
This time, he had secretly left for vacation without telling his family.
Wanting to surprise them, he came to Korea without a word.
From Incheon International Airport to Yangju.
Fortunately, there was a direct bus, and Jae-seong arrived comfortably after some rest.
Full of anticipation, he arrived in front of the house and entered the door lock code.
Beep beep beep beep.
Ding-ding-ding~!
He imagined the surprised faces of his parents welcoming him.
And soon he expected to meet Kyu-seong, Seon-ah, and Ara, but instead, he saw an empty house.
“I’m home~!”
It was cold and silent.
It seemed as though no one was home.
Only then did Jae-seong realize the house was empty, and he tilted his head in confusion.
It was very rare for no one to be home.
In fact, he remembered that his father had been staying home more often since retiring from work.
“Oh!”
Suddenly, he seemed to realize something and let out a small exclamation.
No one was home?
Then there was an obvious conclusion to draw.
“Everyone’s having fun without me!”
Jae-seong quickly stepped back outside and headed toward the dungeon where Kyu-seong was.
Guild dinner D-1.
At that moment, Ryu Cheon was boarding a plane at the airport.
***
“It would be nice if Jae-seong were here for this.”
Now that we had decided to have the guild dinner, there were many concerns.
Although I had confidently extended the invitation, looking at the guest list made it clear that this wouldn’t be an easy task.
I was confident in the dungeon itself.
The serene scenery, the vast space that had everything.
Fishing by the lake? Check.
Relaxing in the hot springs? Check.
Farm and cooking experience? Check.
Cute slime sensory play? Check.
Spacing out with the slugs? Check.
Everything was perfect.
Yes, the dungeon was perfect.
The problem was the food they would be eating while staying here.
Technically, I could ask them to eat my crops raw, but that wouldn’t be appropriate for hosting guests.
Guild Master Han Seok-jun had already offered to help with various facilities and meals, but…
“The costs are higher than the benefits.”
Was it really okay to gather such busy people and make them work for a dinner?
These were people who could earn much more by clearing a dungeon or handling guild business in that time.
‘Maybe I’m overthinking it.’
Guild Master Han Seok-jun had already informed me that he’d be sending people whether I wanted it or not, and by now, the helpers should be arriving.
As preparations progressed, the arrival of reinforcements started to feel like a huge relief.
“Mom, I’m bringing some people in.”
“Okay.”
My mother, eager to help with her son’s work, had rolled up her sleeves. I felt guilty about it.
I had intended to keep it a secret, but with my parents noticing that I had been spending more time in the dungeon, I had to explain about the guild dinner on Friday.
And no matter how much I tried to dissuade them, my parents ended up helping.
Having suddenly turned into a devoted son, I quickly set off for the dungeon.
By the way, Ara was fishing with my father, also gathering seafood to feed the guests.
When I stepped outside, people had already arrived.
They had shown up earlier than the scheduled time, and I greeted them with a smile.
“Hello.”
“Oh, it’s Kyu-seong! I’m here! Hahaha!”
It was Hanul, whom he had seen just two days ago, back again.
Hanul had just cleared the dungeon and received a vacation, yet he had come anyway.
Behind him, the entire Team 2 had shown up.
A few staff members were there too.
“Just tell us what to do, and we’ll do our best!”
“Thank you. Shall we go in then?”
Aside from Hanul, everyone was visiting the dungeon for the first time. Thanks to Hanul’s enthusiastic promotion, they all seemed excited.
“Hyung!”
Suddenly, a familiar voice called from the bottom of the hill.
No way…?
“Jae-seong?”
Had the gods answered my prayers?
Why are you here?
“Thank goodness. I was worried when I couldn’t reach you.”
“What are you doing here? How’s work?”
“I took leave and came. Oh! Hello, everyone. Hehe.”
The bear-like guy scratched his head awkwardly.
Since they had shared the moment of awakening together, everyone was already acquainted.
“Why did you come without saying anything? What if you got lost?”
“It was supposed to be a surprise. But what’s going on? The guild members are here?”
“Perfect timing. You can work here, too.”
“Hyung? I’m on vacation.”
“You came to see my sauces anyway, right? So while you’re here, why don’t you cook with them?”
Jae-seong, who had been puzzled, quickly nodded with a childlike excited expression. Such a simple guy.
In any case, I entered the dungeon proudly, bringing along a great ally and several reinforcements.
“Oh my, welcome.”
“Hello, ma’am! Haha! Leave all the hard work to us!”
My mother got up to greet the people when she saw them.
As everyone politely bowed, I interrupted.
“Mom, look who else is here.”
“Huh? Who?”
After scanning the faces, my mother soon spotted Jae-seong among the staff.
“Oh my, what a surprise!”
“Mom, I’m home.”
“You just show up suddenly without any warning. What happened? How did you get here?”
“I’m on leave. Hehe.”
My mother, perhaps feeling shy about showing her joy, lightly patted Jae-seong’s back.
Jae-seong scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.
“Mom, please take good care of these reinforcements.”
The Team 2 members and guild staff, who had been overwhelmed by the scenery since entering the dungeon, were busy looking around.
While they were distracted, I discreetly pulled Jae-seong aside.
My mother called after us, asking what she should do, but I just wanted to show off my sauces to Jae-seong.
“These jars are still maturing. I’m waiting to see how they’ll turn out.”
“The longer they mature, the deeper the flavor gets. You’ve got to manage them well, hyung.”
“That’s not a problem.”
Even if I make mistakes, the slugs never do.
I saw a few slugs that had stuck themselves to the jars, always guarding them.
“I stored the ones we already scooped out in that storage room. Want to taste some?”
“Sure.”
I opened one of the jars and scooped out a bit of soy sauce.
The soy sauce had deepened in color. It looked much saltier than what we had taken out earlier.
“Mmm! It’s good.”
“Not too salty?”
“It is salty. But it’s supposed to be like that.”
After a quick taste test, we headed to the storage room.
Here, the completed sauces were being stored in their respective methods.
I had researched and figured it all out.
“These are doenjang, and those jars over there are soy sauce.”
Everything that had been scooped out was also stored in jars, all carefully dated and tasted daily.
I do a lot of work too, you know?
“Great, really great!”
Jae-seong cheered in excitement, clenching his fists.
Then he turned to me and said,
“Hyung, didn’t you say you made rice, too?”
“That’s right. I was going to show you. You should taste it.”
Cooking rice wouldn’t be a problem, it could be done quickly.
After taking a quick tour of the sauce storage, we headed to the rice storage.
There, we found a massive amount of rice, all preserved in slime fluid.
The look and feel might seem off-putting, but thanks to the slime fluid, the rice stayed as fresh as if it had just been milled.
No matter when we cooked it, the flavor of freshly milled rice would remain. Slimes really were incredible.
While Jae-seong checked the raw rice, I cooked enough for five people.
I didn’t need to cook so much, but it was my way of telling my brother to eat plenty after his long journey.
“The smell is amazing.”
“Last time, I brought it to Ara Hongryeon and cooked it in a pot. That was truly incredible. I don’t have that skill, though, so I’m just using the magic stone rice cooker.”
“Yeah, there’s definitely a skill to cooking rice. I’ve been learning lately, too.”
“I’m looking forward to it, little bro.”
The rice was done in about 15 minutes.
As I opened the rice cooker, a thick steam rose, accompanied by the unique aroma of freshly cooked rice.
“Wow, this is incredible.”
Even though I had experienced it several times, it still took my breath away.
Jae-seong stood there, speechless, admiring the perfectly cooked rice.
“Hyung.”
“Huh?”
“Have you ever thought about making mixed grain rice? Like rice with beans.”
“Nope. Rice should be plain white!”
“But your crops are special. You could make a five-grain rice or even grow glutinous rice later to make sticky rice.”
“Hmm…”
I hadn’t thought about it, but Jae-seong’s idea made sense.
Of course, mixed grain rice or bean rice can be divisive, but there are definitely people who enjoy them. And my crops rarely divide opinions.
I did have some leftover beans, which I had been feeding to Purr diligently, so I should try making some bean rice.
It would also be worth experimenting with adding other crops to the rice.
‘Potato rice? Sweet potato rice? I should try adding everything I can think of.’
It might taste better than expected.
No, maybe I could even create a new paradigm for rice dishes.
After all, my crops couldn’t possibly taste bad.
Of course, there’s a reason certain combinations exist, but you never know.
And don’t some households already make potato rice occasionally?
While I was lost in thought, I noticed Jae-seong had already finished eating all the rice.
What? When did he finish it all?
“This is revolutionary, hyung. In a country where rice is a staple, this rice could be worshipped like a god.”
Jae-seong was speaking casually, but tears were streaming down his face.
As much as I wanted to record his funny expression, I suppressed my laughter and nodded seriously.
“Yeah, Jae-seong. But before that, you’ve got work to do.”
“Work?”
“Actually, tomorrow we’re having a company dinner with all our staff.”
“Company? Staff? You mean Ara Hongryeon?”
“Where else would it be?”
Jae-seong’s expression became blank as he realized the nature of the task ahead.
“Did you know I was coming?”
“I didn’t know. You just happened to show up at the right time.”
“No way….”
Jae-seong, I take care of you as much as I can.
So, shouldn’t you help out too?
***
Meanwhile, in Japan.
Ino Junichi called for Shimomoto Orie.
“Chef, do you have any interest in going to Korea?”
“Korea? Chef Jae-seong is on vacation right now…”
“That’s right. But I heard a little rumor that Kyu-seong has grown some rice.”
“Let’s go immediately.”
Junichi had originally planned to leave with Jae-seong, but had to give up due to urgent business.
Fortunately, the matter was resolved sooner than expected.
Grateful for the unexpected free time, Junichi rose from his seat, thanking the heavens.
“Let’s take the private jet and leave right away! Ah, but first, contact Ara Hongryeon Guild in advance.”
China, Korea, Japan.
A historic moment where the three nations would come together.
Cliche Novel 