After the enjoyable gathering, it was time to return to everyday life.
“No… I don’t want to go back…”
The guild members, who seemed to be suffering from the aftermath of having too much fun, were sluggish.
Looking at them, guild leader Han Seok-jun smiled wryly.
“Alright, alright. We can always come back again next time! Let’s gather our energy and head back!”
Surprisingly, Hanul took the initiative and encouraged the others. He even worked hard cleaning up, and as it came time to leave, he patted the guild members on the back and was the first to move.
“I’ll call you guys next time. Let’s fix anything we found lacking this time and have even more fun then.”
“There wasn’t anything lacking at all!”
“It was a perfect two-day trip. There’s nothing to fix!”
Nodding with a smile at their reactions, he finally gathered his things, and everyone began moving outside the dungeon.
Although they said they could always come back, their steps felt unusually heavy.
Seeing this, Ara shouted energetically.
“Come on, cheer up! We’ll have fun again next time!”
“Sniff! Yeah, Ara! We’ll definitely have fun again next time!”
“Yeah!”
Encouraged by Ara’s words, the others finally began to leave one by one.
Soon, all the members had left, and the guild officers came up to me.
“Thank you for all your hard work, Kyu-seong.”
“No, I enjoyed it as well.”
“Haha, I hope we can have another event like this soon.”
After shaking hands with guild leader Han Seok-jun, I exchanged farewells with Hanul, Young-seong, Si-young, and Jeong So-yeon.
“You don’t need to walk us out. It’ll just make it harder to say goodbye, so let’s part here cleanly.”
“Still, I should at least see you off.”
“No, no, it’s fine. We’ve already said everything.”
Young-seong patted me on the shoulder and called out to someone in the distance.
“Junichi! Don’t try to stay behind secretly, come on, follow us out!”
“Haha! Caught me, huh?”
Scratching his head awkwardly, Junichi followed behind. Soon, the other guild representatives, who had caught the eyes of Hanul and Han Seok-jun, quietly followed suit.
“It was so much fun. Next time, come visit our guild, Kyu-seong. Haha.”
“Sure. I’ll visit sometime. Take care, Representative.”
“Our Terror Guild will also eagerly await your visit, Kyu-seong.”
“Yes, I’ll drop by your guild too sometime.”
After exchanging farewells with everyone, they all left. They insisted there was no need to see them off, so I just stood there and watched their backs disappear.
“It was fun.”
“Yeah, it really was fun.”
“I hope they come again next time. I want to swim with them then.”
“Sure. Let’s swim together. We should also invite the kids from the orphanage later.”
“Ooh! That sounds great!”
After everyone left, I felt somewhat empty. The dungeon, once so lively, suddenly felt desolate.
But that feeling didn’t last long.
Soon, the slimes and Kkumuris started gathering around me, leaving no room for boredom.
Squirmy?
–Heheh.
Soo and Gomgom were still asleep.
Seon-ah had only greeted the others before visiting the Pururuk Forest.
‘Is it time for them to be born soon?’
I should stop by as well.
I’ve been too busy with Gnoll Village and preparing for the gathering, so I haven’t paid much attention, but thanks to Seon-ah, I’ve been able to relax a bit.
I’ll visit the Pururuk Forest, check on Kongkong, and see if the goblins and gnolls are doing well.
But before that…
“Hmm, is it growing well?”
Rapipi I brought back from the Dungeon of Wrath.
It’s important since it’s food for Gawa.
Squirm!
“Yeah. How’s it going? Is everything okay?”
Squuirm!
Judging by the confident response, it seemed like everything was going well.
“It only needs to grow for one more week!”
“Oh? That soon?”
“It’s already a big Rapipi! It’s ready to bloom!”
“Oh, so you mean the whole Rapipi we brought, not the seeds.”
That means it’ll take a bit longer for Gwaa to eat.
As I thought about it, I spotted Gwaa sleeping far away, out of sight from others.
From a distance, it didn’t look like an animal but more like a small rock mountain.
– Grrrr.
“Still sleeping, huh?”
Day after day.
Seeing it sleep all day long made me realize how incredible it was.
I stroked Gwaa’s body a little and then headed toward the Pururuk Forest.
There, Seon-ah was sitting, gently rubbing Kongkong’s belly.
“Oh, what’s this? Where are the guests?”
“They’ve all left.”
“What about Jae-seong?”
“He left with them.”
“They left so quickly! I wanted to say goodbye…”
They really did leave fast.
They cleaned up in a flash and rushed out.
It felt like they hurried back because if they stayed any longer, they wouldn’t want to leave.
But…
Why are Ryu Cheon and Yu Bihong still here?
“Ryu Cheon, Ryu Cheon.”
“Yes.”
Ryu Cheon, now holding Ara and touching her cheek, must have followed Seon-ah here.
“I guess everyone’s gone now.”
“Yes. You two can take your time before leaving.”
“Thank you, but we shouldn’t cause too much trouble, so we’ll leave in a little while.”
Yu Bihong replied awkwardly, as if feeling a bit guilty.
“How’s Kongkong doing?”
“It’s soon. Maybe today, or by the end of this week at the latest.”
“Oooh.”
It felt strange.
A new life being born in the dungeon!
“Kongkong is going to have a baby!”
“Yep!”
“Oooooh! I’ll take good care of them! Just let me know what you need, Seon-ah Seon-ah!”
Ara declared proudly with her chest puffed out, and everyone burst into laughter.
“Yeah. Our Ara will soon be a big sister. I’ll need lots of help from you.”
“A-a big sister?! Am I really going to be a big sister?”
Hmm, a big sister…
I wondered if it was okay to call Ara, who was gender-neutral, a “big sister,” but I decided not to say anything that might spoil the moment.
As long as Ara liked it, that’s what mattered.
Obsessed with the word “big sister,” Ara ran around excitedly, repeating it over and over.
Watching her cute antics for a while, I spoke to Seon-ah.
“Seon-ah, I’m going to head over there for a bit. Can you stay with Ara and the guests?”
“Huh? Oh, sure.”
I decided to leave Ara behind while I checked on the goblins and gnolls.
Bringing Ara along might be troublesome if Ryu Cheon decided to follow.
So, leaving Ara with Seon-ah, I moved on alone.
Since I was heading that way, I figured I’d visit the Fairy Village and the mines as well.
“Grand Lord!”
“Oh, Frey.”
As soon as I arrived at the village, Frey greeted me.
Though still slow, Frey had become quite skilled at flying and gently landed on my shoulder.
“Have all the guests left?”
“Two are still here, but don’t worry. I think you’ve seen them before, Frey.”
“Oh! I see! I thought I had seen them before, but I was a bit confused. Was it during their last visit? Or were they different people?”
Anyway, nothing much was going on in the Fairy Village.
The supply of Meluca honey had become stable, and the harvested fruits were slowly piling up in one corner.
‘I sent some of the fruit to Young-seong hyung, but there’s no word on the results yet.’
I forgot to ask this time.
But if the analysis was done, wouldn’t he have told me by now?
Based on the item’s effects, it seems like it could be used as an ingredient for a new medicine.
“By the way, Frey.”
-Yes!
“Is it just me, or do the kids seem a little chubbier?”
Was it déjà vu?
I remember them getting chubby and rolling around last time as well…
-Thanks to you and the apostles, we’re in a more prosperous environment than ever!
“So they’re eating well?”
-That’s right!
They didn’t seem to be rolling around yet, but I was starting to get a bit concerned.
Well, whatever.
They’re cute, so they’re forgiven.
“Just don’t get too lazy—at least play hard!”
-Yes! We will play hard!
Listening to Frey’s cute response, we headed toward the mines.
The area around the mines was bustling, with the gnolls busy carrying minerals and rocks.
The goblins were nearby, diligently shaping the stones to be used as building materials.
The scene reminded me of a busy wholesale market at dawn.
-Kirik!
-Kaeng!
The kids spotted me and perked up their ears, wagging their tails as they ran toward me.
“Have you been doing well? Nothing unusual happened?”
-Kaekaeng!
-Kirik!
Their reactions made it seem like something had happened.
What could have possibly happened in the meantime?
Thankfully, their cheerful expressions showed it wasn’t anything serious.
Relieved, I was about to ask what was going on when they suddenly grabbed my hand and started leading me toward the mines.
Kaang! Kaang!
The inside of the mine had become much wider than before.
There was even a small base set up inside.
We kept going deeper.
It was so far in that I started wondering where we were headed, and then I began to hear familiar voices from the end.
“…If we dig further here…”
“…We should probably wait for the Grand Lord first…”
As I overheard their whispers, Frey, who was sitting on my shoulder, suddenly shouted.
-Mamon! Ras!
Hearing Frey’s voice, some kids hurriedly ran over from inside.
“You’ve arrived, Grand Lord!”
“You’re here.”
Mammon and Ras had rushed over and now subtly stood in front of me as if trying to block my way further.
What’s going on here?
“What’s going on? I came because I heard something happened.”
Mammon and Ras suddenly fell silent.
You guys didn’t cause any trouble while I was away, did you?
Then, Mammon and Ras turned their backs to me and whispered among themselves.
-Should we reveal it now?
-We were going to surprise him…
-But we can’t hide it anymore.
-Too bad. We have no choice.
I can hear you, you know.
As if reading my thoughts, Frey shook her head in disbelief with a look of pity.
-How dare you show such disrespect when the Grand Lord has come in person! Don’t hide anything, confess what wrong you’ve done!
Frey sat on my shoulder, speaking haughtily.
It was like a fox pretending to be mighty because it had a tiger at its back.
-Come inside!
-I’ve discovered something. Don’t be too surprised. Heh heh.
The little ones led us in with faces full of anticipation.
I wondered what they had found to be acting this way.
As we went further inside, I started to feel a bit brighter.
It was actually getting brighter as we walked, and soon I realized why.
“What is this ore?”
At first, I saw only a few pieces of glowing ore here and there.
They emitted a faint light.
I’d never seen ore like this before.
And the deeper we went, the more glowing ores appeared, until Frey and I finally saw something that made us gasp in awe.
“Wow.”
-What is this!
A massive chamber made entirely of glowing ores.
It was as if there was another cave within the mine, but the entire cave was made of these mysterious glowing stones.
And that wasn’t all.
“What’s that!”
At the center of the chamber stood something huge.
It looked like a slime.
What is this? A statue?
As we approached slowly, a shimmering status window appeared in my vision.
[Shell of Gluttony]
-Could this be…
‘Ara?’
Cliche Novel 