The day after visiting Hanul’s family home, we returned to the dungeon.
Grandmother, who seemed utterly taken with Ara, even shed tears as we said goodbye, making parting bittersweet. Ara, too, wore a troubled expression, likely thinking of the grandmother’s tears, but she brightened when I suggested we visit often.
‘I should bring Hanul and his mother to the dungeon one day.’
Grandmother would probably love it. Perhaps she might not want to leave at all.
“I’m back.”
Upon our return, I saw Seon-ah playing with Gomgom and Soo. A closer look revealed she had gathered some World Tree mushrooms and was sorting them on the floor.
“Is Ara back?!”
Ignoring me entirely, Seon-ah waved enthusiastically at Ara, running to her and scooping her up in a hug before carrying her away.
“… …”
As I stood there, a bit dumbfounded, Gomgom and Soo came over to me, seeking affection.
Kkyuing.
Kroooong.
Gomgom’s fluffy fur and Soo’s adorable whimpering were soothing.
“Ah, this is happiness,” I sighed, immersed in the moment.
As I petted them, the slimes came over as if to remind me not to forget about them. Soon, surrounded by all the kids, Ara and Seon-ah joined us, too. Touching the soft, squishy slimes made this place feel like paradise.
“Did everything go well while you were out?”
“Hm? Oh, I just served some soybean paste stew.”
“It was delicious! Grandma loved it!” Ara started chattering away, recounting everything from meeting Hanul ’s family to her conversation with the grandmother. Her animated storytelling was so endearing that we could only gaze at her with indulgent smiles.
“Nothing happened while I was gone, right?”
“Nope. Well, maybe just that Kongkong’s kids have become really active?”
“Guess I’ll have to check on them later.”
But before that, there was something I needed to confirm.
After thoroughly playing with the kids, I stood up and called for Purr. With Ara riding alongside me, we headed toward the mines.
“Where are we going?!”
“To meet our new family member!”
The Shell of Gluttony! The Forgotten Slime! Its awakening was drawing near. If my calculations were correct, today was the day. If it had already awakened, the kids would have surely made a fuss and let me know by now.
On the way, I decided to stop by the fairy village, but Frey was nowhere to be seen. Opening the minimap, I noticed a cluster of icons gathered near the mines. It seemed everyone else had the same idea and was already waiting by the Forgotten Slime.
“Oh! Is it going to be Crybaby?”
“Crybaby? Is that its name now?”
“Hmm… We’ll have to think about it more,” Ara said, her expression serious.
Watching Ara’s thoughtful face, I guided Purr toward the mines and quickly arrived. The area near the shell had been beautifully decorated with luminous stones.
“Nice ambiance,” I remarked.
“It’s so pretty!”
Incidentally, I had given some of these luminous stones to Hanul . He was supposed to pass them on to Young-seong Hyung in the guild, but I didn’t have high expectations.
Pretty was good enough for me.
Our dungeon already had an ethereal, nighttime atmosphere, and the soft glow of the luminous stones complemented it perfectly. How should I describe it? It felt like Christmas Eve every evening.
After taking in the view, I entered the mines. Goblins and trolls greeted me enthusiastically, and I patted each one on the head as I passed. Word must have spread because soon, the leaders rushed out to greet me.
“Grand Lord!”
Frey, Mammon, and Ras—now a trio often seen together—stood before me.
“Frey, you’re flying like a pro now.”
“Hehe! I’m really good at flying!”
Frey flitted about gracefully, leaving behind a trail of shimmering powder, looking every bit the fairy.
“So, you were all waiting here?”
“Uh, yeah. We were crafting decorations for the building exterior and ended up here while taking a break,”
Mammon said, scratching his head.
His crown now sported additional decorations: Ara’s stars and some luminous stones.
“I practiced wall-facing meditation here,” Ras declared.
“Wall-facing meditation?” I asked.
“It means meditating while facing a wall. Would you like to join?”
The voice was that of a cute little kid, yet the tone was stern and serious. Ras’s suggestion left me slightly flustered, but Ara, standing beside me, shouted with excitement.
“I’ll do it! If I train, will I become as cool as Ras?!”
“Hmm, with just this, it’s hard to become like me immediately. But it could be your first step on the path.”
“Wow!”
Ara’s sparkling eyes made it clear that wall-facing meditation was now unavoidable.
“Ras, the slime will wake up soon. How long are you planning to meditate?”
“Hmm, I initially intended to meditate for two long hours. However, since we have a beginner here, let’s limit it to just 30 minutes.”
“…Wait, 30 minutes? And what do you mean, ‘just’ two hours?”
I had assumed wall-facing meditation would take days, but Ras’s adorableness had once again defied expectations.
‘Of course, it wouldn’t take days.’
While they were chattering about the training, I checked on the Forgotten Slime.
[Time until awakening: 2 hours 17 minutes.]
Wow, we really arrived just in time. If we had dawdled a bit longer outside, we might have missed it.
“How much time is left?!”
Ara hopped onto my back and leaned over my shoulder, her adorable face nearly stopping my heart. Taking a moment to collect myself, I answered.
“Two hours and seventeen minutes.”
“Wow! Then we’ll do wall-lighting meditation!”
It’s wall-facing, Ara, not wall-lighting.
Either way, the atmosphere had shifted entirely to meditation. Everyone lined up, facing the wall, and stared blankly ahead.
Two hours might not seem like much, but doing nothing and sitting still for that long was an ordeal. Despite Ras’s initial claim of 30 minutes for the beginner, the slime’s awakening time coincided with a full two hours, so the meditation period extended accordingly.
“Wall-facing meditation, begin!” Ras announced.
Why was I even doing this with them? Somehow, I found myself sitting down and joining the meditation.
Honestly, it felt less like training and more like a silent endurance contest.
Squirm.
Ten minutes into the meditation, someone started fidgeting.
And to my surprise, it was Ras.
‘…Ras.’
You were the one who proposed this. How could you be the first to fidget? You’re too adorable!
Once Ras started moving, it seemed impossible to stop, wriggling and shifting continuously. His antics soon spread to Mammon, who began squirming as well.
Unexpectedly, Frey was sitting still.
And Ara, too, was quiet.
‘Wait.’
Looking closely…
Frey and Ara were half-asleep. This wasn’t meditation at all!
Ras and Mammon: squirming.
Frey and Ara: snoring.
This so-called wall-facing meditation had devolved into a chaotic, hilarious mess.
Watching these adorable troublemakers, I finally took decisive action.
“Ugh, I can’t do this. Wall-facing meditation is too hard. I give up, guys.”
As soon as I stood up and admitted defeat, Ras and Mammon jumped to their feet as if they’d been waiting for this moment.
“Even the Grand Lord finds this training difficult! There’s no way I, Mammon, could succeed!”
“Ahem! We’ve trained enough for today. Don’t be too discouraged.”
Looking at the time, we hadn’t even lasted 20 minutes.
These little ones, seriously.
Meanwhile, Frey and Ara were still fast asleep.
Mammon nudged Frey, who jolted awake, startled, drool dripping from her mouth.
“Huh? What? It’s over already?”
“Sleeping doesn’t count as training!”
“I wasn’t sleeping! When did I sleep?!”
The bickering between Mammon and Frey resumed immediately.
At the same time, Ara woke up, stretching with a satisfied yawn.
“Ahhh!”
Her expression was as refreshed as if she’d had the best nap ever. Then, with a bright smile, she shouted.
“Wall-facing meditation is great!”
“Ara, that’s not wall-facing meditation—you just took a really good nap.”
In the end, we wrapped up the short wall-facing meditation, and though I couldn’t imagine what anyone could have learned in those 20 minutes, we spent more time chatting about it than actually meditating.
“I have awakened to the principles of the universe.”
“Oh ho, Mammon, you seem to have grasped a truth similar to mine. A most excellent training session.”
“The principles of the universe? What’s that?”
“Can you eat it?!” Ara asked eagerly.
Just as I was wondering what kind of conversation this was supposed to be, the time for the slime’s awakening crept closer.
How could the discussion about training last longer than the training itself? Not that we did much in the first place.
As Ras and Mammon began their lecture on universal truths, I noticed that there were only about five minutes left until the slime awakened.
“Guys, only five minutes left.”
“Already?!”
“Five minutes!”
In an instant, the kids abandoned their training chatter and rushed to the slime, their round little backs radiating enthusiasm.
Click!
I snapped a quick picture of them before joining them in watching the slime, ready for the countdown.
“One minute left!”
“One minute!”
“Gasp!”
“I wonder what kind of being it will be.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”
Each reacted in their unique way as the countdown reached ten seconds.
“Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six…”
“Five! Four!” Ara chimed in excitedly.
“Three, two, one!”
Ding!
[The Forgotten Slime is awakening.]
At last, it was waking up! What kind of being would you turn out to be?
Suddenly, a brilliant light burst forth from the massive shell of gluttony, growing so intense that we all had to shield our eyes.
“Ugh!”
“What’s happening?! What’s happening?!”
“It’s too bright!”
Only Ara, whose abilities involved vision, remained unaffected, while the rest of us had to cover our eyes.
“Whoa! It’s shrinking!”
“Huh?”
Shrinking? Was it becoming the size of a regular slime?
‘Actually, that’s not bad.’
It was way too big to begin with. While being large had its advantages, it also came with a lot of downsides. A more manageable size would be much better.
“It’s shrinking! Shrinking!”
Still unable to open my eyes because of the light, I suddenly noticed a system message appear in my obscured vision.
[The Named Slime ‘Azure of the Apocalypse’ has been completed.]
[Influenced by the Synthesizer, it has taken on an appearance similar to the Synthesizer’s race.]
“Wha—?!”
This message…
It was the same one that appeared when Ara transformed into a human-like form!
Was it Ras? Or Mammon? I couldn’t remember exactly, but I had heard that the slime fragment was tied to Ara’s subordinates, who possessed powers akin to the Seven Deadly Sins. I never expected a system message like this to appear.
“Can we open our eyes now?”
I was desperate to confirm the result, but the light persisted.
“Not yet! It’s starting to dim now!” Ara called out.
When would this end? The anticipation was killing me!
Finally, after about ten more seconds, Ara exclaimed, “Oh! It looks kind of like me! What are you?!”
It looks like Ara?!
Unable to contain my curiosity, I forced my eyes open. Thankfully, the light had disappeared entirely.
And there, standing quietly before me, was a child.
A small figure with a pristine white body and deep blue hair. It resembled a human child, much like Ara’s form, but unlike her, it looked like a boy.
The boy opened his mouth to speak.
Could it talk? Was it going to talk? Please say something!
“Waaahhhh! Scaryyyy!”
The little blue-haired boy suddenly burst into tears.
…It really is a crybaby, just like Ara said.
Cliche Novel 