“Oh, is that Jae-seong?”
Mother cheered as she came upstairs and saw Jae-seong.
She then greeted Junichi and Orié, who were standing next to him.
“Hello.”
“Ha-ha. Hello, ma’am. I am pleased to meet you. My name is Ino Junichi, the owner of the restaurant where Jae-seong worked.”
“Oh my, you speak Korean so well, I’m surprised! Nice to meet you. I’m Jae-seong’s mother, Kim Hyun-mi.”
Father also greeted them with a look of wonder, and with that, the introductions were finished.
Orié spoke in broken Korean, mentioning she was learning the language through Jae-seong.
“Are you two dating?”
When Seon-ah teased Jae-seong about it, he twisted his body in embarrassment.
Sensing something off, our family looked back and forth between Jae-seong and Orié with speculative eyes.
“Hehe.”
“Don’t laugh like that. Is it really true?”
When Seon-ah asked again seriously, the response came from beside her.
“I am currently dating Jae-seong.”
Orié explained with hand gestures.
Shocked, our family looked at Jae-seong’s bear-like figure and nodded.
“Haha. That’s great.”
“Please take good care of our Jae-seong.”
“It turns out you came to brag. Kyu-seong Oppa! Let’s brag a bit too!”
At Seon-ah’s words, I decided to introduce the new family member, Cheong.
Cheong, having stepped away from the limelight, was still hiding behind Ara.
When my parents finally noticed Cheong, their mouths fell open.
“Is this really your son this time?”
“Oh my! Oh my!”
At their reaction, I awkwardly introduced Cheong.
“This is Cheong, our new family member. Ara’s younger brother.”
“Hello, Cheong? How nicely you are named.”
Mother hurried over to Cheong and Ara and crouched in front of them. Then, Ara proudly proclaimed,
“She is Grand lord, a figure of respect.”
“Oooooh!”
At Ara’s words, Cheong, visibly nervous, stepped forward with tears in his eyes.
Mother quickly comforted Cheong.
“Poor baby, there’s no need to be scared.”
“Are you scared?”
“I’m not scared.”
Mother instantly understood Cheong’s way of speaking.
Indeed, she is impressive.
After hesitating for a while, Cheong cautiously approached Mother. Everyone watched in silence.
Finally, Cheong fell into Mother’s arms.
Mother, with familiar hands, embraced and stroked Cheong.
“Ah, how beautiful. You look just like Ara.”
“Am I like her?!”
“Our Ara is beautiful, and so is Cheong. Ah, how pretty.”
Soon, Ara also clung to Mother.
With each child occupying one side of her embrace, Father cautiously asked me,
“Is he not human?”
“Yes.”
“How fascinating.”
Father’s curiosity ended there, but he looked restless, as if he desperately wanted to touch.
“Father, come and greet them too.”
“Eh? No, I can do it later.”
Despite Father’s refusal, Mother, holding the children, approached.
Cheong, with trembling eyes, checked out the unfamiliar people.
“Cough. Hello, Cheong?”
When Father awkwardly greeted him, Cheong bowed in response.
“Hello.”
At that, Father froze.
Seeing this, I examined him, and his gaze was firmly on Cheong.
He must have taken a liking to him.
“Shall we go inside?”
“Yes!”
Junichi, happier than anyone else, led everyone into the dungeon.
Thinking about it, it seemed that aside from Seon-ah, the others hadn’t experienced winter before, so I was curious to see their reactions. First off, the Slime Dungeon. This place was now cleared up as the site for Jae-seong’s restaurant. Since he decided to fully return to Korea, we took another thorough look around.
“Should we start taking orders from tomorrow?”
“No, could we prepare a bit more first?”
“Of course, it’s your restaurant. Or should I say, your and another person’s restaurant?”
As I glanced at Orié while speaking, Jae-seong twisted his body in embarrassment. Seeing Jae-seong so happy made me feel at ease too. Who would have thought they’d end up dating like this? For a while, we discussed the restaurant’s structure and facilities with Jae-seong, Orié, and Junichi.
Meanwhile, Seon-ah, along with our parents, was thoroughly enjoying their time with Cheong and Ara, laughing together.
“Our discussion is done, shall we move on now?”
“Let’s go.”
We moved to the Dungeon of Gluttony. As soon as we entered, we were greeted by freshly fallen snow.
“Oh!”
“Snow?”
My parents looked around in surprise, and soon the Japanese group that followed were also captivated by the winter scenery.
“Snow…!”
“I’ve only heard about it, but it’s really fascinating.”
“Sugoi!”
The snowy scene in the dungeon was unique, feeling much like a Christmas village. If only decorations were added, it could truly capture the atmosphere perfectly. The dainty Slime Village was now covered in a layer of pristine white snow.
Soon, the fluffily hat-wearing slimes and Soo warmly welcomed us.
-Hehe.
-Quiing.
“Oh, oh.”
At this sight, my mother couldn’t stop smiling.
“Are the kids alright?”
“Um, maybe?”
More than that, I was worried about the fields where greenhouses hadn’t been installed. We had only managed to set up half before we left in the morning to meet guests, and it had already accumulated so much snow.
“The snow has piled up!”
“Snow is falling, lots and lots of it.”
Ara squirmed and climbed down from my mother’s arms, and seeing this, Cheong followed suit.
“The fields are cold!”
“Oh! You think like me, Ara!”
“We need to cover them with greenhouses quickly!”
Ara grabbed my hand and pulled.
Then Cheong also grabbed my other hand with a worried expression.
“Let’s go together.”
I managed to hold back my laughter as I led them to the fields, with everyone naturally following behind. First, we stopped by the storage where the greenhouses were kept to pick up some materials. At the same time, I left a request for Seon-ah and my parents.
“It seems like Gomgom is hibernating on the straw again. Could you check on him?”
“Sure. Mom will look after him.”
My parents went to check on Gomgom, and Seon-ah followed soon after with a camera in hand, eager to film a winter special.
“Wow! It’s gotten bigger!”
Junichi, seeing the field, marveled at its expansive size, which now seemed fitting to describe as vast. Orié and Jae-seong also stood by, their mouths agape in awe.
“It’s definitely grown since Junichi last saw it. You could see slimes busily moving around even now.”
‘It looks busy.’
Perhaps because of the snow, it appeared very busy. Now that I saw it, the slimes were busily clearing the snow that had fallen on the fields where greenhouses weren’t installed yet. Seemingly, the snow provided some insulation for the crops that were only seeded, but now, with most crops either grown or growing, it seemed they were clearing the snow.
“We are here now! It’s time to feel relieved!”
Ara, carrying materials for the greenhouses, ran ahead shouting. The slimes, actively clearing the snow, showed gestures similar to cheers and bounced around.
“Dad, I want to do it too.”
“Do you want to help, Cheong?”
“Yes!”
Cheong cheerfully responded, and I set out to install the greenhouses with him. Nowadays, the quality of materials is so good that one could mostly install greenhouses alone, and especially since most of the crop care was handled by slimes, not having tall structures wasn’t an issue.
Thus, the installation was quite simple and easy.
“Plant it in the ground like this, hammer it to fix it, then grab here and spread it out like this……………”
Watching me, the kids soon started to follow along.
Junichi, along with the rest, also joined in and helped the children with the installation of the greenhouses.
Under the heavily snowing sky, we were setting up the greenhouse. Ironically, it wasn’t cold at all.
“Wow, it’s really fascinating. How can it snow if it’s not even cold?”
“It is fascinating.”
Once the greenhouse was set up, we planned to have a quick lunch and then collect leaves from the World Tree.
These leaves are quite a delicacy.
I’ll have to make shaved ice with the snow.
‘And then sprinkle it with strawberry or Layla syrup, oh!’
While we were setting up the greenhouse, Junichi suddenly pointed at something.
“What tree is that?”
“Ah, that’s an apple tree.”
“Oh! Have you finally started planting fruit trees?”
“Yes. I plan to gradually increase them.”
“Ho, is it possible to grow grapevines too?”
“Is it possible? Of course.”
It was obvious.
He was eyeing wine.
There had been continuous attempts to make whiskey using Goso-Goso.
But unlike the sweet potatoes I had given them before, it seemed to take a bit more time with dungeon plants.
“Is Goso-Goso whiskey still far off?”
“Um, Goso-Goso takes a bit longer to ferment.
It takes longer than barley, wheat, or corn.”
“Fermentation….”
Wait a minute.
Fermentation?
My gaze automatically turned to Cheong.
Feeling my gaze, Cheong looked at me curiously and tilted his head.
“Hehe.”
Cheong smiled as if just being looked at was enjoyable. He was so adorable.
“So, would it be alright if I handle the fermentation here and send it over?”
“It’s alright, but the fermentation process is not that simple…”
“I’ll try it myself.”
Fermentation is ultimately a process that involves bacteria and microorganisms. Maybe with Cheong’s abilities, we could make fermentation faster and easier?
‘Wouldn’t that be a jackpot?’
Cheong’s abilities were quite versatile.
Not only helping plant growth but also aiding in fermentation, and even capable of healing and attacking.
No wonder he’s a named slime.
Of course, given Cheong’s gentle nature, attacking might be a bit too much…
‘But then, there’s no need to attack anyone in the first place.’
Thanks to everyone’s help, the greenhouse setup was quickly completed.
“Thank you all for your hard work!”
“Ha-ha! No, it was enjoyable to see the field firsthand, and the installation was easy, so it was fun.”
Junichi cheerfully made his remarks.
I responded with a subtle smile.
“Have you had a meal yet?”
“I saved my appetite for today!”
“Ha-ha. You’re very honest. Then let’s have an early lunch!”
My gaze then shifted to Jae-seong.
Now, it’s time for you to showcase your cooking skills, Jae-seong.
Noticing my gaze, Jae-seong rolled up his sleeves, filled with determination.
“I won’t disappoint you, hyung.”
“Let’s look forward to it, little brother.”
Then it was Ara who became excited.
“Wow! Is Jae-seong Jae-seong cooking?”
“Yes. I’ve been improving my cooking skills to make something delicious for our Ara.”
“I’m looking forward to it! Cheong should look forward to it too!”
“I’m looking forward to it!”
Cheong didn’t know what was going on but seemed expectant anyway.
With that, Jae-seong, now showered with expectations from the new family member, exclaimed.
“Let’s head to the kitchen!”
Cliche Novel 
the author forgets so many things its frustrating. They already met everyone besides cheon at the guild festival. His father and Junoichi even bonded while drinking.
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