After the Shoot: Dinner Gathering
“This, this is…!”
“Does food like this really exist in the world?!”
As the crops leveled up, their effects and flavors upgraded as well.
For those experiencing them for the first time, it must have felt like the pinnacle of taste.
Those who had already tried my cooking a few times seemed a bit more accustomed to it, so their reactions weren’t as extreme.
“This is the best food in the world!!”
Ara, who eats my food daily, always showed an over-the-top reaction.
Every day felt new and fresh for her.
I was relieved she never got tired of it.
Watching her happily devour the food was adorable.
Next to her, Cheong was eating earnestly, sticking close to me.
His diligent eating habits were praiseworthy.
“How did you prepare all these dishes by yourself?”
“Wow, I heard there are different kinds of Awakener, but I didn’t know one could cook like this!”
Cooking, in truth, requires the most time in prepping the ingredients.
Once that’s done, it’s just a matter of frying and stir-frying.
In the end, I managed to prepare enough food for everyone, from the cast to the staff.
It was gratifying to see them all eating contentedly.
“Your cooking seems to have improved even more than before, hasn’t it?”
“Well, that’s partly true, but the ingredients have also improved.”
“Oh, the ingredients have improved?”
“If you check the crops, you might notice they have levels. Those levels have risen quite a bit.”
“Oh! I see! I hadn’t thought of that! I never imagined crops could level up…”
Typically, items don’t level up.
However, due to the nature of the crops, their seeds could grow and be replanted, leading to this unusual occurrence.
Since it’s something I create, it should be seen as a type of crafted item.
As my crafting proficiency increases, the level of the items naturally rises as well.
‘They’ll keep improving.’
Not only do my abilities grow, but so do the slimes.
I don’t know what the final level will be, but as they ascend, perhaps the food will become truly heavenly.
The dinner gathering wrapped up in great success.
Everyone was not just satisfied—they were so ecstatic they wanted to get my personal contact information.
Of course, Kim Tae-yang intercepted all such attempts.
“Our Kyu-seong is a very important individual. Please contact him through the guild. Do you think I’m being too strict? After tasting that food, I doubt you’d think so…”
Thanks to him, I avoided any bothersome situations.
Come to think of it, dinner was already over, and the tour with Seo Ye-eun had finished quickly as well.
‘Just one shoot, and it’s over?’
It felt bittersweet somehow.
I wondered if Emily was satisfied.
Click!
There she was, eagerly taking pictures with the celebrities.
Despite running around so much earlier, she was still brimming with energy.
Her polite and lively demeanor made everyone adore her.
“Uncle! Look at this! I got pictures and autographs from everyone!”
I ruffled her hair at her cheerful excitement.
Then, suddenly, Ara whipped out a pen and declared, “I can give you my autograph too!”
“Wow, then can you sign here?”
“Sure!”
With Ara’s autograph added, Emily gathered all the autographs from the filming crew.
She hugged them tightly to her chest, her joy contagious.
Watching her, I couldn’t help but recall the time she was unwell, and it made me smile warmly.
“I hope you’ll only experience happiness from now on.”
Even if she were to fall ill again, I was confident I could heal her.
As we wrapped up the delightful day and headed back, Kim Tae-yang and I parted ways.
Soon after, I received a call from CEO Baek.
-You’ve worked hard today.
“Thank you for your consideration, sir. Thanks to you, I made wonderful memories with the kids. It might’ve been an unreasonable request, though…”
-Not at all. And it wasn’t under my jurisdiction anyway, since Director Kim Tae-yang approved it. I just wanted to check in and make sure Mr. Kyu-seong enjoyed himself.
As we exchanged pleasantries, Baek Tae-seop shifted to the main topic.
-Mr. Kyu-seong, would it be okay to make a request?
“Of course, let me hear it.”
-Thanks to you, Mr. Kyu-seong, we’ve been able to solidify an alliance with the Skyscraper Guild in China. We’re especially forming several collaborations in the food industry, including research on crop items, farming, and monster domestication, with your permission. These were already approved a while ago. However, it seems they haven’t even begun yet.
I thought they would’ve started long ago, but I suppose they’ve been delayed while ironing out various agreements.
“I’ve heard about research on my crops and farming, but this is the first I’m hearing about monster domestication.”
-It came up while sharing information about the overall food-related aspects. It seems Skyscraper has already been attempting it.
In fact, during my previous visit to Skyscraper, I did see monsters being bred.
However, I’d heard they were still far from commercializing the process.
‘Wait a minute…?’
Suddenly, Seon-ah came to mind.
My younger sister, who had awakened the ability to communicate and could now somewhat understand the intentions of monsters.
Wouldn’t she be able to help?
I had been thinking of sending her to study abroad at Skyscraper anyway.
The great thing about her communication ability was that it worked as a form of translation to some extent.
It wasn’t just one-way communication but two-way.
She could even understand foreign languages to a certain degree.
Thinking about it this way, it’s almost like a cheat skill.
Some people study foreign languages diligently, yet she can just… do it.
-After discussions with Skyscraper, they expressed interest in observing slimes under your supervision.
“I see.”
-Would that be possible?
It wasn’t particularly difficult.
I nodded to the unseen person on the other side of the line and answered.
“It’s possible. But do I have to go in person?”
-No, no. We wouldn’t dream of troubling you like that, Mr. Kyu-seong.
“Well, would it be okay if I visited Skyscraper myself? It’s been a while since I’ve seen their guild master, and I have someone I’d like to bring along.”
-Someone you’d like to bring?
“Yes, my younger sister. She recently awakened an ability. Her ability, ‘communication,’ allows her to interpret the intentions of monsters to some extent. She’s aiming to become a monster veterinarian, so I thought she might be helpful for your monster domestication efforts…”
I trailed off, worried it might be too much, but the reaction was unexpectedly enthusiastic.
-Oh! That’s a great idea! Let’s set a date right away. I’ll accompany you as well.
“CEO Baek, too? That’s fantastic.”
I hadn’t expected Baek Tae-seop to join.
It was a clear sign of how important this matter was.
-When would be a good time for you?
“I’ll match your schedule, sir. I don’t have any urgent commitments right now.”
-Understood. I’ll contact you once the date is set. I’ll also notify Ara Hongryeon just in case.
“Thank you.”
I ended the call and checked on the kids, who were fast asleep.
The three of them were huddled together, snoozing peacefully.
A drool stain glistened at the corner of Ara’s open mouth.
“Ryu Cheon will love this.”
Imagining how happy Ryu Wang-jin and Ryu Cheon would be to see Ara, I allowed myself a brief moment of rest.
***
“So, Mr. Kyu-seong is coming.”
A table laden with delicacies—or rather, bizarre dishes.
Seated at the table, Ryu Cheon, dining with her grandfather for the first time in a while, picked at the food with an expressionless face.
She examined the food as though it were trash.
“If Mr. Kyu-seong is coming, does that mean Ara will be here too?”
“Most likely. He said he’d be bringing other guests as well.”
Taking a large bite of his food, Ryu Wang-jin frowned slightly.
After experiencing Kyu-seong’s cooking several times, even these bizarre dishes no longer tasted the same.
He thought his palate had been ruined as he forced the food into his mouth.
Then Yu Bihong, who was dining with them, spoke.
“CEO Baek of the Iron Blood Group also expressed his intention to personally attend. He seems very invested in the food-related contracts this time.”
“Hm. I had hoped to wait until the monster domestication efforts yielded some results before seeing them.”
Ryu Wang-jin clicked his tongue, a hint of regret in his expression.
Suddenly, he stood up and shouted.
“I’ll go check on it right now!”
“I’ll escort you.”
Ryu Wang-jin’s impulsive actions were so familiar that Yu Bihong calmly wiped his mouth and stood up.
As Ryu Cheon had no desire to continue eating the bizarre food, she also got up and followed along.
The destination was a vast field where monsters were kept.
Given the guild’s enormous land, they had to travel by car to reach it.
A staggering 50 million pyeong of land.
This area was 60 times the size of Yeouido, an immense scale dedicated entirely to the monster domestication efforts of the Skyscraper Guild.
The environment had been landscaped to resemble the interior of a dungeon as closely as possible.
However, the costs of maintaining such an environment were exorbitant and not cost-effective.
Of course, for a massive guild like Skyscraper, it wasn’t a particularly large expense, but it was still a noteworthy amount.
“As mentioned in the recent report, a slight issue has arisen.”
“A contagious disease?”
“Yes.”
The monster domestication project was already struggling with poor cost-efficiency.
Recently, an epidemic had begun spreading among the monsters.
Since monsters differed significantly from ordinary livestock, veterinarians couldn’t pinpoint the cause or propose solutions.
For now, isolation was the only available option.
“Aren’t the monsters already having trouble reproducing? If their population decreases further due to this disease, it’ll be a major issue.”
“Exactly. A large team is working on identifying the cause of the reproductive failure and the disease, but we haven’t made any significant progress.”
It was a total disaster.
Ryu Wang-jin frowned as he skimmed through the report Yu Bihong handed him.
“With this situation, I’ll have no face to show CEO Baek. It’ll just look like we’re wasting money.”
“We don’t have a set date for his visit yet, so we’ll do our best to achieve some results before then.”
Yu Bihong spoke with a firm expression.
They finally arrived at the monster ranch.
An expansive grassland stretched out before them.
However, it was a rather meaningless grassland.
The monsters inhabiting this area were horned rhinos.
Their primary diet consisted of plants from the dungeons they lived in.
However, the grass on this land was Earth-grown weeds and turf, different from the plants that grew in the dungeons.
As a result, Skyscraper was forced to carry out the inefficient task of harvesting plants directly from the dungeons and transporting them here.
‘…Could Mr. Kyu-seong’s farming abilities grow food for the horned rhinos?’
Kyu-seong, who could cultivate dungeon plants.
Of course, all the crops he grew were cultivated inside dungeons.
Whether it would work on Earth was still uncertain.
However, they planned to invite him and make the request.
If Kyu-seong’s abilities could solve the herbivorous monsters’ food supply problem, it would be a huge step forward in domestication efforts.
‘Of course, the reproduction and disease issues would still remain…’
But you can’t expect to solve everything at once.
Even resolving the food issue alone would be a monumental achievement.’
“You can definitely tell they’re sick. They look completely drained.”
They drove to the quarantine area where the sick horned rhinos were being kept.
There, Ryu Wang-jin inspected the rhinos one by one, his expression growing increasingly grim.
“Even the veterinarians couldn’t identify the cause?”
“They look similar to Earth’s cattle in appearance, but they’re an entirely different species. Their vegetation is completely different, and neither the cause nor the type of disease has been identified yet, making it very challenging.”
“Hmm. It’s not like we can talk to the animals to figure it out…”
Ryu Wang-jin furrowed his brow, clearly troubled.
At that moment, Yu Bihong shared a piece of information he had heard.
“Among the guests accompanying Mr. Kyu-seong this time is his younger sister. She recently awakened a new ability, called communication.”
“Communication?”
Ryu Cheon, listening nearby, tilted her head in curiosity.
“It seems to be an ability that allows some level of communication with monsters.”
“…That’s quite an astonishing ability.”
Ryu Wang-jin’s face briefly showed surprise.
Then, with a glimmer of hope, he turned his gaze back to the horned rhinos.
“Perhaps we might uncover the cause of the disease or the reason for their infertility!”
Cliche Novel 