Portal to Sky Island.
I ascended to the island floating among the clouds with the Kylers and our family.
“This is…….”
“Wow! Dad, look! We’re inside the clouds!”
Seeing Emily and Kyler’s reactions filled me with pride.
Yes, this is why I invite guests home. Plus, I must be the only one on Earth who owns a place like this.
My family looked at Kyler and Emily with content smiles.
“But Ara, where do we use this key?”
“It’s used in the village of the ancient slimes!”
“Oh! How do you know that? Do you remember something?”
“I found it myself! It’s an adventure!”
Ara declared confidently.
At the same time, Cheong clapped admiringly at Ara.
“Clap clap clap. That’s amazing, sister.”
“Ahem!”
I didn’t know what it was about, but I joined in the applause. Then, the applause spread, and everyone started clapping.
It seems they found something while singing songs of exploration and adventure. But I know the ancient slime village; where exactly was it?
‘I’ve been out of it lately. But I thought I had looked everywhere.’
I guess I’ll find out if I follow Ara.
So, I followed Ara, who led the way.
I told my family I’d be going somewhere following Ara and left the Kylers in their care for a while.
The relic of gluttony…
I’ll check what it is and then see what to do about Emily’s quest.
‘It feels like I’ve become a hero maker… like that game, Princess Maker. My own hero! With added danger signals!’
I still don’t understand.
Why do I need to be careful about heroes?
Even though more than half of the Seven Sins are my familiars!
I am proud!
With these thoughts, I headed to the village.
My family didn’t come straight to the village but seemed to show the Kylers around.
Brring!
(Sorry, sorry. I’ve been too busy to pay attention lately.)
Since reaching awakening level three, I’ve understood the slimes much better.
It seems I was seriously weak as an awakener and couldn’t perform to my original abilities.
Brring.
(That’s okay, that’s okay. Did you eat well?)
“I had a meal. But your way of speaking is quite unique.”
Thanks to the portal, I freely came and went, and some of my slimes were noticeable.
The ancient slimes had never come down to our village; they said they needed to prepare mentally.
It’s understandable since they’ve lived in this remote place all their lives.
“So, where to?”
“Follow me!”
I followed Ara, and soon realized she was heading behind a waterfall.
“That’s where the slimes grow their crops.”
“Yes!”
Ara nodded vigorously.
Could it be that the relic of gluttony was here?
“Ah!”
I remembered I hadn’t gone deep inside. I had only cared about the crops at the entrance and had been busy working.
Sure enough, Ara and Cheong entered deeper into the cave.
As we walked further in, the clusters of light became fewer, and soon only a few floating things remained.
And then, an ancient-looking door was revealed.
“Wow.”
It was clearly no ordinary door.
Why hadn’t I looked more closely before?
I’ve become too complacent since life got easier.
“Open it and go in.”
Creeeak.
Boom boom boom.
Ara’s strength was displayed here.
Seeing Ara exert so much effort, I wouldn’t have been able to open it alone.
Inside the door, a small room appeared.
And a familiar-looking altar.
“That’s…….”
The place where I first found Ara.
And now, split in half, leading to the dungeon of gluttony with stairs and a door entrance.
The altar looked the same, or rather, upon closer inspection, slightly different.
“There’s a relic here!”
An ancient slime that had followed us was bouncing around and talking to us.
Brring! Brring!
(You must not touch the relic!)
“Oh? Shouldn’t touch?”
Brrong!
(Yes! Gula said not to touch! It’s precious!)
“Gula was Ara’s old name, right?”
“Yes!”
Ara answered energetically while greedily eyeing the key in her hand.
“It’s a treasure. He! He! He!”
The ancient slime’s words went in one ear and out the other. Only Cheong was restless, tugging at Ara’s clothes.
“Is it dangerous?”
“Huh? It’s okay!”
Brrong.
(Just looking is allowed.)
Listening to their conversation, I started to feel a bit anxious.
I finally asked the ancient slime about the relic.
“Is it a dangerous object?”
Brring?
(What? The relic?)
“Yeah. So I thought that’s why it’s blocked.”
Brrong?
(I don’t know?)
“Huh? Then why block it?”
Brring!
(Because Gula said not to touch it!)
“But that Gula is Ara right here now.”
Brrriiing?
(Gula?)
The ancient slime tilted its head, seemingly realizing something.
Brrong!!
(That’s right!!)
What is this guy doing? Acting all cool and then this?
Eventually, the ancient slime stepped back.
Brrong!
(I clearly listened to Gula. So it’s not my fault!)
“Yes! There’s nothing wrong! So let’s open it now!”
Ara raised the key.
She then climbed onto the altar, her eyes sparkling.
“Treasure!”
I’ll have to talk to Seon-ah about it. Show her some educational movies, at least.
Well, thanks to that, we found the relic of gluttony. So that’s a gain.
“But where does it go?”
“Huh?”
Following Ara’s remark, I closely examined the altar too.
As Ara said, there really didn’t seem to be a keyhole.
“It’s not here!”
Cheong also looked around in confusion.
But still, we found nothing.
“Where do we insert the key?”
Brring.
(I don’t know.)
Really.
After just watching that scene, maybe I expected too much.
Eventually, we spent a long time looking for the keyhole.
Still, we couldn’t find it.
“Ah, shall we take a break and then look?”
“Uh.”
“Do you want to keep looking?”
“Yes!”
“Alright. Then Ara will keep looking. I’ll make some snacks.”
“Wow!”
I then took out what had become almost part of our bodies and laid out various things.
And while I was preparing the snacks, I harvested a few floating light orbs outside the room.
I made a rough snack.
After mixing strawberry jam and light orbs, I spread it well on the bread we brought.
I added carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, and finally kangnyuk jerky to enhance the meaty flavor.
“Sandwich!”
Honestly, I’m not sure about the taste.
Should I have left out the kangnyuk jerky?
Since the kids have good appetites, I made a lot of sandwiches. By that time, Ara, Cheong, and the ancient slime still hadn’t found the keyhole.
“Kids, let’s eat some snacks and then continue looking.”
“Ah. At times like this, you really need to eat snacks.”
Ara’s sigh and tone were both annoying and cute, making me laugh without realizing it.
As the kids and I ate the sandwiches, they were tastier than expected.
“Hmm?”
I thought the sweetness mixed with the meaty taste might not go well, but that was a big misunderstanding.
In fact, it paired very well, especially the potentially overwhelming sweetness was neatly countered by the vanilla-like and chocolate-like flavors of the light orbs.
“It’s delicious!”
“It’s yummy!”
Om nom nom.
Seeing everyone eating happily made me proud too.
Anyway, the food made here can’t be tasteless, making a failure would be a skill in itself.
Having eaten diligently, Cheong seemed full and came up to rub against my face.
“I’m sleepy.”
“Cheong, want to take a nap?”
“Yes.”
Cheong nodded sleepily.
Ara immediately got back to work after eating the snacks.
After putting Cheong to sleep, I carefully took out a sleeping bag and placed it before helping Ara.
“Hmm.”
Where could it be?
But at this point, isn’t there a different mechanism?
‘Is there really no hole?’
Could it just open if I place the key on it?
After thinking various thoughts, I decided to just try something silly and took the key from Ara.
“Oh.”
Ara looked at me with expectant eyes.
I felt a bit pressured by her expectations, but I soon held it against the altar.
Nothing happened.
Maybe I need to recite some kind of magical spell.
“Open sesame!”
“Sesame!”
Ara echoed after me.
However, as expected, there was no response.
Squeak.
“Huh?!”
No! There was a reaction! Unbelievable!
Specifically, the key reacted.
The key had a strange texture, similar to that of a slime.
It seemed as if it understood my words…
“Huh?”
Could it be?
Is this key reacting to the ‘Slime Overlord’s’ powers?
Were you a slime too, all along?
With a hint of hope, I spoke to the key.
“Please open.”
“Wow! Even talking to a key is possible for you!
You really are amazing!”
Seeing Ara sincerely admiring me made me feel strangely proud.
But that feeling was brief.
Soon after, the key actually twitched.
“Wow! Oh!”
“Wow!”
Brrong!!
While everyone was startled, Cheong finally woke up.
Then he rubbed his eyes and got up.
“Did you find it?”
“No, not yet. But it seems like it might work.”
Soon, I moved in the direction it seemed the key was pointing.
The key, like a compass, seemed to be moving towards somewhere.
“Here?”
“Wow! You really are amazing!”
The place the key pointed to was the very center of the altar.
When I brought it to the center, the key calmed down.
Why does it stop here?
There’s no place to insert it here?
“Open, please.”
Zzzzap!
When I commanded again, the key spread out like a spider web.
“Whoa!”
“Wahaha!”
I let out a surprised noise.
Ara cheered at the fascinating sight.
The key spread out in all directions, beginning to cover the altar.
At a glance, it felt a bit grotesque.
Ah, if I had to describe it, it looked like the process of opening a Demon Lord’s artifact.
‘No way!’
As I denied it, the key finally covered the entire altar.
Then the center of the altar began to split open.
“Wow.”
“Ohhh!”
“That’s amazing!”
Everyone was mesmerized by the extraordinary sight as the altar finally opened completely.
Zzzurk.
And the key, which had covered the altar in red, returned to its original key form.
“What a fascinating key.”
“Yes! It’s incredible! Who made this?”
Ara, wasn’t it you who made it.
Together with our innocent Ara, we examined the inside of the altar.
It felt like the moment I first discovered Ara.
“Huh?”
But.
Is what’s inside also a slime?
A red slime was contained inside.
It was about the size of Ara’s head.
“This is…!”
Ara also exclaimed with a shocked expression.
Oh, Ara.
Did you finally remember something?
“It’s a pretty hat!”
“Huh?”
A hat?
This?
Anyone would see it as a slime, but Ara called it a hat.
I couldn’t understand it.
But soon, whether it was a hat or not, I realized it wasn’t a slime.
Slosh.
Ara carefully took out the red slime.
But it really wasn’t a slime.
How do I know?
Because an item display appeared.
[Relic of Gluttony (Mythic)]
[A relic imbued with the power of gluttony. It can be worn on the head. It can mimic any headwear item, changing the wearer’s appearance or mimicking any form of headwear.]
– Able to mimic 100% of helmet-type items up to mythic level through item absorption.
– Capable of transforming the wearer’s appearance within a certain ratio.
“Wow.”
Was it really a hat?
Cliche Novel 