Round 379

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I woke up and immediately started tending to the field.  

This was one of the routines that rarely changed.  

Honestly, there wasn’t much I had to do, but it was something so fundamental to me that I did it as naturally as breathing.  

“It’s already level 6.”  

I looked over the freshly harvested tomato.  

What was fascinating was that once crops reached level 5, they began to show variety in species.  

The level 6 tomato I had just harvested wasn’t a cherry tomato like before, but a tomato about the size of Ara’s fist.  

Too big for a single bite, but you could finish it in about two.  

The effect hadn’t changed much, but the flavor had. It lost a bit of its sweetness and gained a fresher taste.  

Though “fresh” might feel vague, there was no better word to describe the taste.  

Maybe I just lacked vocabulary?  

“Yum yum.”  

Ara was happily tasting the tomato, holding one in each hand with a bright smile.  

Next to her, Cheong, who loved the field more than anyone else, was pouting at the sight.  

“You have to work hard too, sister!”  

“Okay!”  

“Sister, you’re only good at answering!”  

“Okay!”  

Ara was a bit unusual in that, unlike other slimes, she preferred eating to working in the field.  

Other slimes would go crazy over farming and rush in, but Ara had emotions more similar to a human’s.  

Thanks to that, I rarely saw her working the fields outside the early days. Of course, she helped, but only to the extent I did.  

“Is this about done?”  

“Yes!”  

“Okay!”  

“Then shall we move the items the merfolk brought yesterday?”  

Mammon would probably love them.  

The guild master even asked last time when the next piece was coming out.  

‘Maybe I should send Katrina a gift too…’  

The guild master and Katrina were diehard fans of Mammon.  

I couldn’t quite understand that world of art, but Mammon’s work seemed to have a fervent following over there.  

Leaving Cheong behind to play in the field a little longer, Ara and I took the cart together. Our destination was the Cat Village, where Mammon lived.  

“You’ve been in the Nyang Village every day lately.”  

“A big! Furnace is there!”  

“Yeah. If I knew you’d love it this much, I would’ve made one in Gnoll Village too.”  

“Let’s build one!”  

“Shall we? No need to overthink it.”  

I decided to build a large furnace in Gnoll Village too.  

Of course, after discussing it with the others.  

On the way to the Cat Village, we planned to stop by the ranch.  

Piglets that weren’t even three days old yet.  

Romrom’s babies were growing fast.  

– Oink.  

“Yeah, yeah.”  

Romrom had become a total sweetheart now.  

As soon as she saw Ara and me, she pressed her nose against us affectionately.  

Ara handed Romrom a freshly harvested tomato.  

– Oink!  

Romrom happily munched on the tomato.  

Meanwhile, I checked on the piglets clinging to her belly.  

Sixteen piglets in total.  

They were starting to show signs of opening their eyes.  

“They’re growing so fast.”  

“Growing up strong, they are!”  

Ara picked up one particularly dark-colored piglet and examined it.  

The little black piglet squirmed as if to say, “Don’t touch me.”  

– Squeak!  

“Hehe, so cute.”  

Ara rubbed the piglet against her cheek.  

I thought about taking a photo of that moment and sending it to Seon-ah.  

Recently, Seon-ah had been able to visit after work and had restarted Ara’s daily life channel.  

Thanks to that, the YouTube channel began to regain some of its former energy, though not quite as much as before.  

Now sponsorship offers were flooding in.  

Though I hadn’t signed any contracts yet because it was a hassle.  

“You’re all adjusting well. You’ve been working hard.”  

– Chirp!  

– Meep!  

Gnolls and goblins, who now looked like they were the same species.  

They were always together.  

Gnolls, goblins, and the Breeding Tribe were in charge of ranch management. Rabbits handled distribution. Gnolls took care of fence repair and construction, while goblins tended the livestock.  

The wild boars recently captured from Chiyon had successfully integrated with the existing ones.  

There were some issues at first, but food quickly solved them.  

“Deliciousness is justice.”  

I learned this painful truth while conquering six of the Seven Deadly Sins.  

And my crops just kept getting tastier—  

Not to mention, more diverse.  

Thanks to Jae-seong’s requests, I’d been planting all sorts of things.  

It became harder to keep track of each crop like I used to.  

These days, most of the fieldwork was left to the slimes, and I had taken a step back to manage things more diligently.  

“Eat well and work hard.”  

After handing out freshly picked tomatoes to the hardworking folks, I got back on the cart.  

Soon, in less than ten minutes, we arrived at the Cat Village.  

The first thing we saw were the adorable little back-of-the-heads.  

“Hey guys, morning? Did you sleep well?”  

– Grand Lord!  

– Grand Lord, you’re here? 

Hehe.  

Mammon, Frey, and Bell were there.  

Frey was constantly showing off her head like she was proud—probably flaunting her tiara.  

– We were just making Ara’s crown!  

“Oh, really?”  

– Meow.  

Instead of replying, Bell greeted us with a cry and swung his hammer around haphazardly.  

But despite his clumsy appearance, the work was progressing quickly.  

– Meow.  

– Nyaa!  

As the assisting cats scurried around, Ara’s crown was nearing completion.  

“Ooooh!”  

Ara’s eyes sparkled as she hopped around.  

In the meantime, I handed over the ornaments the merfolk had retrieved to Mammon and Frey.  

– Oh my! This is…!  

– Wow, so pretty!  

Beautiful corals, seashells, and mysterious minerals were scattered throughout.  

– Ooooh, there are pearls too.  

“Pearls? Where?”  

Looking at the shell Mammon pointed to, there really was a pearl inside.  

So they’d hidden them in there.  

We opened the closed shells and took out the pearls.  

It seemed they’d done this deliberately for easier transport.  

– The quality is excellent. This is premium-grade.  

“Really?”  

Since Mammon was an expert in minerals and gems, I trusted his judgment.  

Pearls were gemstones too, so he’d definitely know.  

– Back when the sea existed, we often dealt with pearls like these. But these are even better quality than those.  

“Even someone like me with no knowledge can tell they look great.”  

Not only were they big, but their shape and luster were beautiful.  

Some had a pink tint, while others shimmered with black.  

We sorted the pearls by color, and the coral and shells by type.  

– Can I use these?!  

“Of course.”  

– Yay! They’ll look so pretty when added into the designs!

– Since we’re on the topic, maybe we could use these for Ara’s crown or your tiara too?  

– Oh! That’s actually a good idea, coming from you, Mammon!  

– What’s that supposed to mean.  

I stepped in to stop the two from bickering again and started working in one corner of the forge.  

First, I sorted the seashells properly.  

Then I began to polish them.  

“Huh? This isn’t how I remember it.”  

– What do you mean?  

“I saw somewhere that you only use the flat parts of the shell. I think it’s called najeonchilgi?”  

– I want to know more!  

Frey stopped polishing the shell, clearly eager to check right away.  

Hmm, too bad we don’t have internet here.  

Thanks to Son Ogon, we had been working on wiring for electricity, but Wi-Fi was still out of reach.  

Actually, even the electricity wasn’t fully installed yet, so this kind of stuff was still inconvenient.  

“I’ll step out and download a najeonchilgi video real quick.”  

– I’ll keep working in the meantime!  

– I’m curious too! New techniques always get my heart racing!  

For Frey and Mammon’s sake, I had to bring back some najeonchilgi footage.  

And I was planning to head out anyway to see if the Demon King’s powers worked on guild members too—perfect timing.  

I told them I’d be back shortly and took the cart toward the dungeon entrance.  

Once outside, I spotted some staff prepping the restaurant.  

“Good morning.”  

“Oh, boss!”  

I had been in charge of bringing them into the dungeon at scheduled times, so they were a bit surprised to see me out early today.  

“I’ll be back shortly.”  

“Yes! Have a safe trip!”  

I waved at lively Jung-yul’s greeting.  

He had become even more enthusiastic after getting his star rating.  

‘He was already passionate before, but now it’s on another level.’  

Outside, I checked my phone and found a pile of messages.  

But most were routine matters—nothing related to the Demon King’s powers.  

Still, just in case, I contacted the guild leader.  

Brrr.  

Click.  

“Hello, Guild Leader.”  

– Ah, Mr. Kyuseong! Good morning.  

The Guild Leader responded warmly.  

I asked if anything unusual had happened lately.  

Well… other than the Saudis constantly shouting “Korea, Korea” every day, not really.  

“Ah, haha.”  

I gave an awkward laugh and confirmed there was nothing serious, then hung up.  

It seemed my powers didn’t extend to guild members—probably for the best.  

While I was outside, I downloaded three videos on najeonchilgi, then returned to the dungeon.  

Just as I arrived, Jae-seong, who seemed to be finishing preparations, greeted me.  

“You’re working hard, Jae-seong.”  

“Hehe. Not at all. It’s not hard—I’m having fun every day.”  

Look at that innocent bear-like expression.  

How are we three siblings all so different?  

“Oh, Jae-seong. The merfolk found something in the sea.”  

I pulled out what looked like gemstones—but were actually salt—and handed them to Jae-seong.  

They came in various colors, looking like transparent crayons.  

“What is this? Huh? Is it salt?”  

“Wow, as expected of a chef. How’d you know?”  

“I think I could taste a bit of saltiness.”  

… Wait, he could tell just by looking?  

These salt chunks were less salty than regular salt, but he sensed it just by sight?  

Just as I was admiring Jae-seong’s extraordinary senses, he quickly tasted one.  

“Mmm! It’s salt, but the flavor is so rich! And it’s not artificial—this tastes like pure natural seasoning.”  

“How is it? Think it’ll be useful for cooking?”  

“Absolutely! I’m already imagining how I can use it!”  

Seeing him that happy made me feel proud too.  

I told him I’d bring more of the salt later and said goodbye.  

Returning to the dungeon, I headed toward the ones who must’ve been waiting impatiently for me.  

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”  

– Not at all! In fact—  

Mammon pointed at Frey, who was deeply focused.  

Frey was crouched down, carefully carving her tiara.  

“So cute.”  

She didn’t even notice I had arrived.  

Next to her, Bell was still working on Ara’s crown, with Ara watching closely.  

“Here, take a look at this.”  

– Ooooh.  

Mammon watched as I handed over my phone and pulled up the najeonchilgi video.  

After watching for about five minutes, Mammon let out a gasp.  

– I never even considered this method of processing. Why didn’t I think of this before?  

At that moment, Frey snapped out of her concentration.  

– Whew! Ah, Grand Lord! You’re back!  

“Yeah. You were really focused, weren’t you, Frey?”  

– Yes! Oh, is that the video? Can I watch it too?  

“Of course.”  

The two of them then watched the video together from the beginning.  

They discussed it excitedly, exchanging ideas as they watched it to the end.  

Seeing them huddled so close, they looked like the best of friends—despite all the bickering they did every day.  

– Let’s try it right away!  

– Yeah!  

The two of them enthusiastically began slicing the pile of seashells.  

I was really curious how their version of najeonchilgi would turn out.  

– Everyone’s working so hard.  

“Huh? Verna?”  

At the sound of a voice behind me, I turned and saw Verna fluttering over with her wings.  

“It’s Verna! Verna’s tiara is ready too!”  

Ara, noticing Verna’s arrival, pointed to a tiara that looked similar to Frey’s but had its own unique design.  

– Hoho! I knew it would be ready!  

“So you came for your tiara, huh?”  

– That’s right.  

Verna replied boldly, then flew up with a regal expression and quickly placed the tiara on her head.  

– Hmm, perfect fit. I give it 97 points.  

“Huh? Why not 100?”  

– Just because! If I give out 100 too easily, it feels like I’m being too generous.  

Hmph, our Verna.  

For some reason, she reminded me of the old Frey.  

But then, suddenly—  

Ding!  

[The Goddess of Mercy, Verna, has fallen due to the Tiara of Sloth.]

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