Wriggle, wriggle.
After Kyu-seong and Ara left, the slimes took an interest in the newly grown apple tree.
Unlike the vegetation they had encountered so far, this plant seemed different.
The slimes all gathered around it, their heads huddled together as if in deep contemplation.
Gomgom, Soo, and Cheong soon joined in, pondering together.
“Gruu.”
“Kyuuing.”
Gomgom and Soo offered their thoughts first.
However, the slimes shook their heads, looking for another opinion.
“It’s going to grow well! Have confidence!”
Cheong stretched out both arms enthusiastically.
Inspired by Cheong, Gomgom and Soo also stretched their arms wide.
“Gruuu!”
“Kyuuing!”
Their opinions aligned.
Having reached a consensus, the slimes clung to the apple tree, inspecting it from all angles.
Diligent and meticulous, the group examined every inch of the tree.
From a distance, Seon-ah was quietly snapping photos.
She muttered to herself, imagining the apples she’d harvest someday.
“When will the other fruits be ready?”
And right at that moment, seeds of various plants, expedited from the U.S., arrived in Korea.
***
“Here’s the list.”
The process seemed almost too easy as the list of items was handed over casually.
I glanced at the guild master and the branch director, gauging their reactions.
Their reassuring expressions told me not to worry.
“Hmm…”
I examined the tablet.
Having done something similar before, I took my time going through it.
As expected of the U.S., the list was filled with items I’d never seen or heard of.
“Wow.”
The item list was distributed to everyone present, including Ara.
Ara seemed more captivated by the pictures than the descriptions, repeatedly exclaiming in awe.
“This is terrifying!”
Turning my head slightly, I saw what Ara was looking at—a truly menacing serrated greatsword, labeled as a unique-grade item.
I caught a glimpse of Director Jeon Yeong-joo eyeing it hungrily.
It seemed like Ara had stumbled upon something particularly rare.
But such a weapon was of no use to me.
For a moment, I imagined Ara wielding that serrated greatsword, swinging it around…
“Hmm.”
The thought was too gruesome.
Rejected.
I even considered using the greatsword to chop firewood, but it felt far too extravagant for such a mundane task.
“You can filter the list by category, so take your time,” Nathan suggested.
I adjusted the tablet’s settings to browse items by category.
This made the process significantly more manageable.
Excluding combat items, I focused on utility, support, and healing items.
A few caught my attention, including some that could aid in farming.
‘An item that controls soil? That’s impressive.’
There were items for teleportation, tools that could locate water sources with mana stones, and even one that pulverized waste into nothingness.
But among all these, my eyes were drawn to a single item.
[Mysterious Work Boots (Common-Growth Type)]
Another item from the “Mysterious” series was here.
While there was no practical reason to choose it, I couldn’t help but be intrigued.
[Mysterious Work Boots (Common-Growth Type)]
[Shoes once worn by an unknown individual]
[Enhances crop growth]
[Reduces stamina consumption]
[Eliminates stamina consumption when walking on farmland]
[Slightly enriches the soil you step on]
From a general perspective, it didn’t seem like a great item.
No one would likely consider using it.
But for me, this held more value than items that could summon lightning or breathe fire.
‘Still, it feels a bit underwhelming!’
With so many outstanding items available, picking a mere common-grade item felt like a waste.
The list had items ranging up to the highest grade, unique.
The grades were: Common, Advanced, Rare, Unique, and Legendary.
Choosing a common-grade item when there were unique-grade options felt like a loss.
“Hmm…”
“Kyu-seong Kyu-seong! It’s a hat!”
At that moment, Ara showed me a picture.
It was, as she said, a hat resembling a medieval helmet.
Considering Ara’s passion for collecting hats, it was no surprise that the helmet piqued her interest.
It was a unique-grade item—rare enough on its own, but it was also a growth-type, making it exceptionally valuable.
“Let’s see… oh? A unique growth-type item?”
Unique items were rare, but adding a growth feature made it even more extraordinary.
Checking the helmet’s abilities, I found them to be impressive.
[Greedy Gladiator’s Soul (Unique-Growth)]
[A gladiator on the brink of becoming a legend succumbed to greed, meeting a tragic end. That greed lingers to this day]
[Excellent defensive capabilities]
[Reduces magical and elemental damage by 10%]
[Consumes gold to temporarily achieve invincibility]
The helmet grows with every use of gold.
It wasn’t bad at all.
Especially the ability to gain temporary invincibility by consuming gold—that sounded borderline overpowered.
However, the additional comment below gave me pause:
“Comment: Consumes 1kg of gold for 0.001 seconds of invincibility. Up to 100kg of gold was consumed, but no signs of growth were observed.”
Even the U.S. Department of Defense had left a review.
How much is 100kg of gold worth?
I didn’t know the exact price, but it had to be a fortune.
It felt a bit awkward to add such an extravagant item to Ara’s hat collection…
“You can take your time deciding. Even if it takes a year, it’s fine,” Nathan said with a sly grin.
Since there was no rush, I decided to take a relaxed approach to choosing an item.
“By the way, I just received news that seeds from the homeland have arrived via express delivery. How about we start with those?”
“Sounds great!”
The item list had over 3,000 entries.
Reading each description was daunting, so I decided to postpone making a choice.
Soon, the seeds Nathan mentioned were delivered to our location.
I was already excited, having heard about them in advance.
“Wow! Seeds!”
Boxes filled with various plant seeds arrived, each labeled with their name, quantity, characteristics, and source.
Half were Earth plants, and the other half were dungeon plants, all of which were rare.
“As you can see, these are all edible plants. If you ever have the opportunity, could I also request non-edible plants in the future?”
“Of course!”
There were 10 different types of seeds, all edible.
I couldn’t wait to experiment with them.
After receiving the seeds, we parted ways.
We agreed to discuss the item selection later, and Nathan mentioned he’d be returning to the U.S. that night.
‘Now it’s time to meet Kyler.’
After deciding to consult the branch director and guild master further regarding the items, I spent a little time shopping with Ara.
We stocked up on food and snacks we couldn’t make in the dungeon.
With a little time left before our next appointment, we decided to contact the Dasom Orphanage.
The director warmly welcomed us, saying we were always free to visit.
“It’s been a while!”
“Yeah, it really has.”
We hadn’t been able to visit often due to the series of recent events.
After the last event we held there, we barely managed to visit once a month.
Ara happily reunited with her friends, sharing the snacks we’d brought and laughing joyfully.
Watching her, my heart felt warm.
“You’ve been busy, haven’t you?”
“Sigh, I should have visited more often, but…”
“It’s okay! We’ve already heard from So-yeon. She told us you’ve been extremely busy, not just saying it to be polite.”
Apparently, Jeong So-yeon occasionally updated them on my activities.
And just as the saying goes, “Speak of the tiger and it will appear,” So-yeon arrived on her motorbike while I was chatting with the orphanage staff.
“Isn’t this the rare appearance of Mr. Kyu-seong?”
“Haha, I saw you just a few days ago. Anyone hearing this would misunderstand.”
“Hmm, I heard you visited Team 2 Leader’s house recently. Did you eat something delicious without us again?”
So-yeon playfully teased, her sharp eyes scrutinizing me.
I couldn’t help but laugh and raise my hands in surrender.
“What would you like to eat?”
“I wasn’t hinting at anything… but sweet potato Candy, please!”
She grinned mischievously, and I couldn’t help but chuckle as I pulled out some sweet potatoes.
Borrowing the orphanage kitchen, we made a generous batch of sweet potato Candy, enough for everyone, including the kids.
The delicious smell attracted the children, who gathered around curiously.
“Candy!”
“Ara, your dad’s making Candy!”
Ara’s eyes sparkled as she ran over.
“Candy!”
“That’s right! Candy!”
Seeing the bright and cheerful children lifted my spirits.
At the same time, I couldn’t help but admire the orphanage staff for raising the children so well.
‘Well, So-yeon grew up here too.’
As I finished making the sweet potato Candy and began distributing it, one of the staff members approached me.
“Mr. Kyu-seong, you have a visitor.”
“A visitor? Here?”
I was momentarily flustered.
Why would someone come here to see me?
It wasn’t even my house.
I handed off the Candy distribution to someone else and stepped outside.
There, I saw someone unfamiliar.
In front of them stood Ara, clutching sweet potato Candy in both hands, facing off confidently.
“Candy! Try it!” Ara declared.
“Um… who might you be?” I asked cautiously.
“It’s them, Kyu-seong Kyu-seong!” Ara exclaimed.
Them? Could it be…
“Ky—” I almost blurted out the name but stopped myself just in time.
Right then, So-yeon appeared behind me.
“Kyu-seong, is this your guest? I thought it was someone from the guild, so I came out to check, but I guess not.”
So-yeon gave a polite but slightly awkward bow, then subtly glanced at the person I assumed was Kyler.
The man, presumably Kyler, returned the bow before accepting the Candy Ara offered him.
“This looks delicious!”
“Is this…?” Kyler took a bite of the Candy with a curious expression.
His shoulders flinched as the taste registered, and he chewed thoughtfully, even closing his eyes to savor it.
“Hmm…”
The way he relished the food made it clear—this had to be Kyler.
But why had he come here instead of our agreed meeting spot?
“What do you think? What do you think?” Ara eagerly asked.
Without opening his eyes, Kyler smiled and gave a thumbs-up.
“It’s delicious! As expected, Kyu-seong Kyu-seong’s cooking is amazing!”
Ara grinned and popped some Candy into her mouth.
After finishing the Candy, Kyler suddenly bowed deeply.
“Apologies for showing up unannounced. I had an urgent matter that requires me to leave soon, so I came here first.”
“Ah, I see.”
Considering he was a Level 9 Awakened, it made sense. His schedule was likely unpredictable.
Before I realized it, So-yeon had slipped away, leaving only me, Ara, and Kyler.
Confirming we were alone, Kyler spoke in a low voice.
“I’ve been observing you over the past few days, Mr. Kyu-seong. I also saw your application for an out-of-standard grade rating.”
“Hm.”
“With your abilities, I’m certain you’ll pass. The Union may be strict, but they’re thorough and fair in these matters.”
“Uh… thank you.” I nodded awkwardly.
Kyler straightened his posture.
“Mr. Kyu-seong, I’ll get straight to the point.”
“Go ahead.”
“Could you help me?”
His sudden request left me momentarily speechless.
Sensing my hesitation, Kyler elaborated.
“I have a sick daughter. I’ve been searching far and wide for a cure. Recently, I discovered that the key to her treatment lies in a dungeon tied to the Seven Deadly Sins.”
“Seven Deadly Sins!”
So that’s why Nathan said Kyler knew a lot about the Seven Deadly Sins.
“The dungeon is actually in the United States. It’s the Dungeon of Lust. The U.S. government has hidden its location, but I eventually found it.”
“Are you planning to raid the dungeon?”
“If it’s for my daughter’s treatment… absolutely.”
I didn’t know that the wanderer Kyler had a sick daughter. I thought he was just wandering aimlessly, but it turns out there was a reason.
“For that, we desperately need Mr. Kyu-seong’s power. I will give you whatever you want in return. Everything that comes out of the dungeon will go to Mr. Kyu-seong. I only wish for my daughter’s treatment.”
“Hmm.” A treatment for his daughter… there’s a clue in the dungeon?
“I can help, but could I possibly check on your daughter in person before we raid the dungeon?”
“That might be difficult. There are many targeting me, so I’ve kept my existence hidden from her as well.”
An unexpected response, but it made sense. However, I explained again,
“Kyler, if you’ve investigated me for a few days, you would have heard about the people I’ve treated.”
“My daughter is a special case. I know Mr. Kyu-seong’s abilities are great, but…”
“You never know. Realistically, raiding the dungeon of the Seven Deadly Sins is almost impossible alone, even for Kyler, a level 9 awakener, right?”
“…… You’re right. However…….”
As the atmosphere suddenly grew serious, Ara, who had been eagerly eating sweets, looked around at Kyler and me. Then she suddenly exclaimed,
“Does he have a sick daughter! Kyu-seong Kyu-seong will solve it!”
“Huh?”
“My brother Cheong can solve it too! We will cure his daughter!”
“Cheong?”
Ara was right. My confident request to see his daughter was also influenced by Cheong’s presence. If my crops couldn’t heal her, maybe Cheong’s abilities could. If that’s still too hard, then we could move on to raiding the Seven Deadly Sins.
“Phew.”
Kyler’s deeply troubled expression was visible. After a moment of thought, he seemed to have made up his mind.
“I still can’t trust Mr. Kyu-seong.”
“I see.” It was regrettable, but understandable. If he even hides his identity from his daughter, there’s nothing more to say. If his daughter were to be taken hostage, it would be fatal for Kyler.
“But let me tell you this.”
“Yes?”
“Just give me a little time, and I will tell you. Of course, I realize that even making such a request from my position is preposterous.”
Kyler, having chosen his words carefully, spoke with a resolved look in his eyes.
“If you save my daughter, I will do anything for Mr. Kyu-seong. I beg you.”
Kyler’s words suddenly unfolded. It was like he was throwing a gambit. Almost like a blank check, but I also said,
“The risk you’ve taken to come here already shows me Kyler’s sincerity. If you decide, entrust your daughter to me.”
Then I too must be completely sincere.
Cliche Novel 
Now he’s even collecting other people’s kids
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