The next day, as soon as the alarm went off, I opened my eyes and got up.
I had trouble sleeping the night before because of the sudden discovery of the Relic of Gluttony.
“What could it be?”
The Relic of Gluttony!
It even had the name “relic” attached to it.
Of course, since it was something Ara had said, I had a little, just a little, doubt about it, but still, I couldn’t help but be excited.
A relic of the Seven Deadly Sins, doesn’t that sound quite plausible?
“Ugh!”
At that moment, Ara, who had been sleeping, suddenly sat up. Then, with a dazed face, she looked up at me.
“It’s an adventure.”
“Did you wake up? I got up a little early to check the fields, so Ara can sleep more.”
“I’m waking up.”
Stumbling as she got up, she swayed and moved. Then, as if remembering something, she came back and sat next to Cheong.
“I’m waking up.”
“Sister? I’m getting sleepy. Hehe.”
Cheong pouted with a cute smile.
Ah, our Cheong is so cute and cheerful, even when throwing a little tantrum.
In the end, unable to resist, I joined them and hugged them tightly.
“Dad, it tickles.”
“The beard has grown.”
I was savoring my happiness for a while, and eventually decided to go to the fields with the kids.
“Whoosh whoosh.”
I had told Ara to wash her face, but she ended up taking a shower instead. It was so cute, so I just watched without saying anything.
“Dad, dad. Puh puh.”
While washing Cheong’s face, Cheong kept making noises and playing around.
Cheong’s face looked much brighter now.
After washing the kids, I quickly washed myself and then took a bite of the bread I had made with a simple flour mixture.
I spread strawberry jam generously and took a big bite. The sweet taste of the strawberries and the savory scent of the bread made my mouth feel delightful.
Even though it wasn’t freshly baked, it was a satisfying meal.
One wasn’t enough, so I ate a few more.
The kids also spread the jam on their own and ate eagerly. I felt a little dissatisfied, so I took some eggs from the fridge.
I quickly fried the eggs and put them on the bread, then sprinkled some Embergrill herbs on top. A new flavor emerged.
“Mm!”
It would be perfect if I had some coffee to go with it!
“Coffee? Should I bring some and try growing it?”
I’ll have to ask the guild about it. I bet if I mention it, they’ll bring over several seedlings.
“There’s so much to do.”
The seeds sent from the US need to be planted as soon as winter is over. I also need to plant fruit trees, excluding the apple trees, and I want to try growing cacao nibs too.
Now, I’m thinking of growing coffee beans as well…
Since we’re talking about coffee, I’m also tempted by green tea, but is that too much?
I’ll think about it after winter ends. There’s only about a week of winter left now.
It’ll be over soon, so I need to prepare in advance.
“I’m farming!”
Even though it was winter, I continued to manage the fields regularly.
Since I had put up a greenhouse, there were no major problems, and besides, the slimes had always been taking care of things as usual, so I had less work than usual.
“Hmm, hmm. No problems with today’s harvest.”
Then, suddenly, I heard a loud noise from one side.
Soon after, Ara and Cheong, along with a few slimes, came running excitedly.
“Beard, beard!”
“Dad!!”
Our little ones are so excited, running toward me. They must want to check the Relic of Gluttony quickly.
“Yes, yes. It’s almost done. Just wait a little longer.”
“That’s not it! Follow me!”
“Follow you?”
Turning my gaze, my face froze slightly.
Could it be…?
I was hurriedly pulled by the kids’ hands and made my way to the fields. I soon saw the empty inside of the greenhouse.
“Ugh.”
But in the center of the field, there was one large plant stem, bent down by the greenhouse.
“Is this… the strawberry field?”
“Yes! It’s the golden strawberry!”
Golden Strawberry!
It was the moment I saw the second golden crop, something I never expected.
Pop!
Just then, Mark2 appeared from somewhere and urgently gestured to me.
“We need to remove the greenhouse!”
“Huh? Huh?”
With Ara’s translation, I immediately began the process of dismantling the greenhouse.
The golden strawberry, which had been bent down and unable to grow taller because of the greenhouse, stood tall and massive once freed from it.
“Wow, what on earth is this?”
This looked nothing like the strawberries I had seen before. From the outside, you could even call it a tree.
It really seemed like a tree, though its stem was flexible, which likely prevented it from breaking through the greenhouse.
Before long, the plant began to grow in real-time right before our eyes.
It stretched its height, thickened, and started blooming flowers.
Slither!
The slimes moved frantically.
However, it seemed difficult for them to reach the flowers due to their high position.
“I’ll do it!”
Slither?!
Luckily, my height was enough to reach, but I wasn’t sure who would even call this a strawberry.
It was more like a real tree.
Slither—
“Just a little more, scrape it off! Pollen, lots of it! Yes! That’s it!”
Under Mark2’s guidance and Ara’s translation, the work continued.
I moved around the tree, and later even brought a ladder to help with the task.
“Can I pick just one flower?”
I wanted to send it to the lab. I picked about three flowers and handed them over to Cheong.
Since there were many flowers, it wasn’t a big deal. I began cross-pollinating the flowers, which I estimated to be in the thousands, and later Ara and Cheong also helped.
My younger siblings, who had woken up late, came to watch.
“What is this?”
“Whoa! Hyung! Wow! What is this!”
Seon-ah looked on in disbelief, while Jae-seong was incredibly excited.
Ah, by the way, I had arranged for the ducks to have their own house nearby. They had originally been living in the dungeon, but since they caused too much trouble, they finally found their own room.
Anyway, with my younger siblings’ attention, we finally finished the task.
I didn’t even have to worry about any flowers being unpollinated.
The slimes had perfectly handled everything.
“Strawberries.”
“Strawberries?! This?”
Seon-ah gasped, as if saying such a thing was impossible.
Then her expression changed to one of understanding.
“Well, this kind of thing has to happen once in a while.”
“Is this a mutation, hyung? Wow, I’m so excited.”
“Do you remember the golden carrots we ate last time? It’s a similar phenomenon. I can’t make it happen on my own, but if I’m lucky, it turns out like this. I guess it’s a mutation, just like you said?”
Soon, the cross-pollinated flowers began to wilt.
Because it was a golden crop, the growth process was incredibly fast.
As the flowers began to wither, fruits began to form where the ovaries were, and soon we saw strawberries hanging, just like the ones we commonly know.
“Is this a strawberry?”
“It looks just like an apple.”
As my younger siblings had reacted, the strawberries began to grow large. They were roughly the size of Ara’s fist.
Having only seen tiny strawberries the size of a thumb up until now, seeing such large ones felt very unfamiliar.
Their appearance was round and smooth, almost like an apple.
“The colors are also varied.”
White, red, pink, orange, purple, and except for the seeds densely packed on the surface, there was almost no resemblance to regular strawberries.
“But why are there so many?”
Multiple strawberries were hanging from a single flower.
The sheer number of them made me feel a little emotional.
“The golden carrots only had one!”
Of course, the golden carrot was enormous and almost as big as Ara’s height, but it always felt like something was missing.
However, this time, so many strawberries grew, and it was even more moving.
Slither!
“Now, we can harvest them!”
“Already? Great!”
Since there were thousands of fruits, we harvested them ourselves, excluding the slimes who couldn’t reach the high ones.
‘What about the apple trees?’
For the taller fruit trees, I would have to think a bit about them later. Or maybe I could set up slime-specific ladders for each tree so they could climb up.
As I was thinking about this while harvesting the strawberries, I suddenly wanted to check their effectiveness.
I was already preparing a forced golden sweet potato project to heal Kyler’s daughter, and I wondered if this could work too.
[★??]
[A strawberry with the combined energies of the soil, slime, crops, and magical power, created by a twist of fate.]
[The effect increases based on the star grade.]
[1-Star Effect]
[When consumed, it treats severe external and internal injuries.]
[When consumed, it permanently increases recovery-related abilities.]
[When consumed, it increases magical power by one level (for magic below level 3, once only).]
“Ah!”
Just as I had expected!
But one downside was that its star grade was the same as the golden carrot I had grown before, which was just one star.
“Shall we eat while we’re at it?”
“Whoa! That’s a great idea!”
The sweet and fragrant scent of the strawberries was hard to resist. It was like how bees are drawn to flowers; I couldn’t help but want to bring them to my mouth.
There was plenty of them.
Even if all the kids in the dungeon ate some, there would still be thousands left.
With my kids being less than 2,000 in number, there was more than enough strawberry supply.
“Can we eat this? It feels like it’s something rare.”
Seon-ah asked with a slight hint of nervousness.
I thought she would quickly grab one and eat it, but this was unexpected.
“It’s fine. I grew them to eat, so we should eat them.”
“Hyung! This effect is insane!”
‘That’s right. If I eat this, I’ll be a Level 3 Awakener!’
I had become a Level 2 Awakened from the golden carrot, and now, after eating this golden strawberry, I was going to become a Level 3!
What’s more, the magic enhancement range of a golden crop with one star was up to Level 3 and below. That meant, with golden crops, even Level 4 Awakeners could be upgraded.
‘Though, I’m a Liquid Synthesis user!’
Even if I became a Level 4 Awakener, being a Liquid Synthesis user didn’t really mean much.
Ah, I should say I’m a dual Awakener, the Slime Overlord.
Liquid Synthesis doesn’t sound as cool though.
“Then, I’ll eat it!”
Gulp.
“I’m going to enjoy this!”
We all sat together in a cozy group and each grabbed a strawberry to eat.
After sharing some strawberries with the slimes, I held one with both hands and took a big bite.
Splat!
The strawberry juice burst out!
For a moment, I almost felt guilty…
Splash!
“Huh?”
Before I knew it, I was swept into a stream made of strawberries.
Around me, strawberries were laughing joyfully and floating down the stream with me, and I could taste the strawberry scent all over my body as I gulped down the strawberry-flavored water.
“It’s delicious!”
“Ahhahaha!”
The strawberries seemed to be happy with my reaction.
Soon, we reached the end of the stream, where there was a strawberry swimming pool.
A massive lake of strawberry juice.
Strawberries were swimming excitedly or diving in the cool, amazing place!
I played in the water with the strawberries, either swimming with them or floating in the lake, enjoying myself.
“…Hah!”
What was that, just now?
When I came to my senses, all that was left in my hand was a pitiful trace of the strawberry.
I could see the slimes eagerly licking up the strawberry juice spilled on the ground.
……………I couldn’t resist either.
In the end, I gave up on my humanity and joined the slimes, licking the juice.
No way, this tastes so good!
It was too delicious to call it just a strawberry. This was divine fruit.
If there’s such a thing as heaven, I imagined fruits like this would grow there.
“I want to eat more!”
This insane addiction almost made me eat another strawberry, but I barely managed to hold back.
Phew! Well done, Lee Kyu-seong!
Now, let’s see how the others are reacting. I was so distracted that I hadn’t even noticed what the others were doing.
“Hyung….”
“Oh, Jae-seong, are you back to your senses?”
“This… Haha.”
Jae-seong laughed, looking at me as if he couldn’t believe it.
It was a reaction I totally understood.
Ara and Cheong were still licking their hands, their eyes slightly glazed, which was a little scary.
And Seon-ah…
“What is this? Why do I see something weird in front of me?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Could she be seeing the strawberry lake too? But her reaction was too real to be fake.
“Has my Awakening been completed? Wait, could it be that I…?”
“What?!”
No way, that message!!
It was Seon-ah’s Awakening, completely unexpected!
Cliche Novel 