Round 314

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It has been a few days since the guild members visited the restaurant.  

Since then, the restaurant has welcomed more guests a few times, receiving great reviews and successfully announcing its grand opening.  

Thanks to previous customers making reservations again, the restaurant was nearly full every day without needing to attract more guests.  

As a result, Jae-seong, Orie, and the staff were having busy days.  

Swoosh—.  

Thud.  

“Phew. Packaging is done. Now we just need to send it out.”  

“It’s finished! We’ve worked hard.”  

The rice cakes were finally packed.  

They were gifts to be sent to acquaintances.  

Looking at the neatly stacked boxes on one side, I straightened my back.  

After packaging rice cakes for so long, my body felt stiff and sore.  

‘Chuseok is coming soon.’  

Beside the packed rice cakes, other pre-ordered items were also stacked.  

Items for Chuseok.  

There were hanbok, ceremonial items, and traditional games like yut, things the kids would enjoy.  

Just then, Ara, as if sensing my gaze, looked at the hanbok with sparkling eyes.  

“I want to try it on! But I will endure!”  

“You can try it on now. Shall we check if the size fits?”  

“R-Really?!”  

Seeing her excitedly stomping her feet, I felt an urge to tease her but held back.  

Soon, I told Ara to pick an outfit she liked, and we looked through them together.  

Colorful striped jeogori.  

After carefully examining the outfits, Ara chose one with a striking yellow color.  

“This is the one!”  

“Oh, alright.”  

I checked the size.  

It was just right for Ara.  

As soon as she put it on, a cute hanbok-clad Ara was complete.  

“Wow. Our Ara looks beautiful no matter what she wears!”  

“I am beautiful and cute!”  

I couldn’t be the only one to see this.  

I immediately left the storage room to announce Ara’s cuteness to the world.  

Wobble?  

Squirm.  

Seeing an unusual outfit they’d never seen before, the slimes gathered curiously.  

Surrounded by the slimes, Ara proudly showed off her hanbok with her hands on her hips.  

“How do I look?”  

Wobble!  

The slimes cheered.  

Soon, even the little Kkumuris joined in, clapping absentmindedly.  

-Heh-heh.  

Even though they were clapping, their soft hands made no sound.  

As we watched for a while, the person we had been waiting for finally appeared.  

“A-Ara!!”  

Seon-ah, eyes blazing, rushed toward Ara at an incredible speed.  

Squirm!  

-Heh-heh.  

Startled, the little ones moved aside, and Seon-ah immediately took out her camera.  

“You should have dressed her up when I was here! So unfair!”  

“Why should I?”  

“Hmph!”  

Seon-ah glared at me in frustration, but her attention quickly shifted back to Ara.  

The camera started clicking busily, and Ara giggled in sync.  

Hmm, I couldn’t end it here.  

Even though it wasn’t Chuseok yet, I should check the sizes and try dressing up the other kids too.  

First, I went to find Cheong, who was playing in the field.  

There, in the middle of the field, I found Cheong dozing off.  

“Oh dear, was our Cheong tired?”  

“…Dad?”  

I lifted Cheong into my arms as he snuggled up affectionately.  

When we returned to where Ara was, the crowd had grown.  

My parents, Jae-seong and Orie, and the staff.  

Even Ashu and the rabbits had gathered in no time.  

“There are so many people!”  

“Did you see the outfit Ara is wearing?”  

“I see it! It’s so pretty!”  

Cheong’s eyes sparkled.  

As I patted his head, I quietly slipped into the storage room.  

“Shall we dress you up like your sister?”  

“Wow, yes!”  

I began searching for a hanbok that would suit Cheong.  

Since he was already quite adorable, anything would suit him, but I wanted something that matched his white skin and hair color.  

“Blue is the way to go.”  

Once dressed, Cheong transformed into a cute little noble.  

His adorableness rivaled Ara’s, making me instinctively rub my cheek against his.  

“Let’s go show everyone.”  

“Okay!”  

Holding my hand, Cheong walked outside the storage room.  

By then, even Kyler’s family and the Seven Deadly Sins kids had gathered.  

It seemed like the entire town was here.  

“Cheong!”  

Emily spotted us and called out.  

At the same time, Seon-ah’s camera moved with an incredible flourish, capturing us in the frame.  

“C-Cheong is adorable too!!”  

Her eyes gleamed dangerously.  

That looked a bit worrisome.  

Cheong stood next to Ara in his hanbok.  

And so, the cute hanbok duo was complete.  

“Oh my, how adorable.”  

“Our grandchildren are the cutest!”  

My parents happily took photos, grinning.  

Meanwhile, the other kids eagerly rushed up to me, begging for hanbok too.  

-Ashu wants to try it on too!  

-Lord, have mercy on me as well!  

– I prefer red.

Before I knew it, I had become the designated stylist in the storage room.  

I diligently matched the children with hanbok in their preferred colors and sent them outside, where new guests kept arriving.  

“Wait, don’t tell me you all want to wear them too?”  

Squirm!  

-Heh-heh.  

-Bweep!!  

Everyone had their own preferences, making them quite picky with their choices.  

In the end, I had to dress even the last remaining slime in a hanbok before I could finally take a break.  

“I-It’s finally over.”  

“Brother, come outside quickly.”  

Jae-seong smiled and urged me.  

When I stepped out of the storage room, a sea of colorful hanbok stretched in all directions.  

“Whoa.”  

It was truly beautiful.  

With dozens of hanbok spread everywhere, it was the peak of vibrancy.  

A picturesque scene.  

“But where did you get clothes for the slimes?”  

“Turns out, money can solve anything.”  

Surprisingly, all of them were custom-made.  

Of course, the focus was on mass production rather than quality.  

There was still a mountain of clothes left.  

Considering the hundreds of slimes, goblins, and gnolls, there was still a long way to go.  

‘And if I think about the fairies and over a thousand rabbits…?’  

They’ll have to dress themselves.  

There’s no way I can handle all of them one by one.  

“Ah, the time…?”  

I realized it was time to transport the rice cakes Ara and I had packed.  

Leaving behind the festival-like atmosphere created by the hanbok, I began moving the rice cake boxes with Jae-seong.  

Jun-gyul and Sian also helped us.  

“We only have two dinner reservations today, right?”  

“Yeah. Originally, there were three, but one canceled.”  

The restaurant ran two courses, one at lunch and one at dinner.  

We had just finished the lunch session.  

When I mentioned how hard he was working, Jae-seong simply shook his head with a smile.  

“No, brother. I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. Every chef dreams of having their own restaurant, but I might be one of the luckiest. I get to serve the best dishes with the finest ingredients every day.”  

“Thanks for thinking that way. Keep up the good work.”  

We were planning to open the restaurant to the public eventually, but we hadn’t decided when.  

For now, serving only acquaintances already kept us fully booked.  

Maybe once we got more comfortable with the workflow, we’d expand further.  

As I carried the rice cake boxes outside, a guild truck arrived.  

“Hello.”  

“Hello, Mr. Kyu-seong!”  

A guild employee greeted me warmly.  

Soon, we loaded all the rice cake boxes into the refrigerated truck.  

These boxes would now be delivered to my acquaintances all over the country.  

There were 300 boxes in total—was I really acquainted with that many people?  

‘Thinking about the guild members, I guess it makes sense.’  

After bidding farewell to the guild employee who had driven the truck, I was about to head back to the dungeon when—  

Rip—.  

A tearing sound came from nearby.  

“Huh?”  

What was that noise?  

When I turned my gaze, I saw the air itself being ripped apart.  

I was completely baffled.  

What the hell was going on?  

Then, someone emerged from the torn space.  

“Oh dear.”  

“Who… who are you?”  

I was so shocked that I didn’t even feel a sense of danger.  

To make things even more surreal, the stranger spoke fluent Korean despite their distinctly foreign appearance.  

“Surprised? I slipped, that’s all. Haha.”  

“Are… are you okay?”  

“Of course. Look, I’m perfectly fine.”  

The man gestured to his entire body to show he was uninjured.  

His brown skin, jewel-like eyes, and sharply defined nose stood out.  

‘Arab?’  

He seemed to be of Middle Eastern descent.  

Naturally, that made me think of the region.  

“Nice to meet you. My name is Muhammad Kazami.”  

“Oh, uh, hello.”  

“Apologies for the sudden visit. We were in a hurry and couldn’t notify you in advance.”  

“Ah, I see…”  

“Are you busy right now?”  

The visit was indeed abrupt.  

However, I had a rough idea of why they were here.  

“Did you come about a contract?”  

“Yes. I am from the Isthart Guild in Iran. Here, this is my business card and an introduction booklet.”  

Muhammad handed me a thick book out of nowhere.  

I accepted it on reflex and stared blankly.  

Wait… Isthart?  

That’s…  

“The number one guild?”  

“That’s what some call us.”  

The number one guild.  

Where? Worldwide.  

The world’s top-ranked guild.  

Isthart.  

A name known by every single person on Earth.  

Even a three-year-old child would recognize it.  

“This is…”  

At that moment, Muhammad made a troubled expression as he glanced somewhere.  

I followed his gaze and soon understood why.  

Sss—.  

Pa-pa-pat.  

Figures surrounded us.  

They weren’t from our government.  

Their entire bodies were clad in something like black tights, making their faces unrecognizable.  

“That was fast. I thought I shook them off.”  

“Excuse me?”  

“They’re from Iraq. We tried to stay hidden, but they couldn’t hide from me.”  

Iran and Iraq, out of nowhere.  

I had just come out to deliver some rice cakes, and now I was caught up in this?  

I had no idea what was happening, but I couldn’t just stand still.  

I needed to do something to protect myself.  

‘The Overlord’s Authority.’  

[Activating skill.]  

[Select a slime.]  

‘Ara.’  

A randomly selected ability.  

But with Ara’s skills, any choice was essentially a jackpot.  

[Copying the ‘Intimidation’ ability.]  

[Time remaining: 10 minutes.]  

“Ah.”  

A bit disappointing.  

Something like invulnerability would have been nice.  

But I was mistaken.  

The moment I gained the intimidation ability—  

The hostile figures around me hesitated and stiffened.  

Even Muhammad, standing right next to me, looked at me in shock.  

“T-This power…!”  

Wait.  

Was Ara’s intimidation really this strong?  

Come to think of it, I had never actually seen her use it before.  

And the Overlord’s Authority only copied 20% of the original ability.  

So I hadn’t expected much…  

“Ugh… guh.”  

The figures who hadn’t even spoken until now let out pained groans.  

I had no idea what to do, but then an idea struck me, and I shouted—  

“Kneel!”  

“??”  

The onlookers tilted their heads in confusion.  

But then—starting with Muhammad, the people around me slowly dropped to their knees.  

“It worked?”  

This actually worked?!

As they all knelt in sequence, I couldn’t resist saying the line I had always wanted to try.  

“This is the difference in our levels.”  

…Wait.  

Was that too much?  

The awkward silence that followed made me clear my throat unnecessarily.  

Just then, the sound of sirens blared, and the forest became noisy.  

“Mr. Kyu-seong!!”  

“Are you alright?!”  

That was fast.  

Though, to be fair, less than two minutes had passed.  

It wasn’t that the government-assigned bodyguards were slow—it was just that the ones who had come to find me were far more skilled.  

“Huh?”  

“W-What’s going on here?”  

The people who arrived next were shocked at the sight before them.  

Then, after confirming that I was unharmed, they hesitantly asked,  

“Ky-Mr. Kyu-seong? Can you explain what’s happening…?”  

“Well, um…”  

But before I could even attempt to explain—  

One by one, the newcomers also started dropping to their knees.  

“W-What the?!”  

“Why… why is my body…?”  

How do I stop this?  

The more people gathered, the more of them knelt.  

It was like a sinkhole pulling them in.  

“How do I stop this?!”

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