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Before installing the portal at the beach, I woke up my sleeping family members. My parents and Seon-ah were still sound asleep. Judging by the remnants, it seemed like they had brought some firewood and chatted around a campfire for a bit.

“Is it morning already? Oh dear,” someone murmured.

The dungeon of Gluttony blurs the distinction between night and day, making it easy to lose track of time and sleep deeply. That’s why I always set an alarm, but Seon-ah, who must have also set hers, was still sleeping soundly.

“Seon-ah, Seon-ah!” Ara, crawling into Seon-ah’s side, gently nudged her. In response, Seon-ah, without opening her eyes, smiled widely and hugged Ara.

“I got you, Ara!”

“I’ve been caught!”

After roughly waking up the rest of the family, I prepared a simple meal of salad and bread. I also took out various jams I had made since the last strawberry jam – there was Layla jam, tomato jam, and even sweet potato paste. I sprinkled a dash of Embergrill herbs on top of the honey-infused dish, and as soon as breakfast was ready, everyone sluggishly gathered.

“Seon-ah, aren’t you going to school today?” I asked.

“I have a day off,” she replied.

“That’s why you turned off your alarm and kept sleeping.”

I spread some Layla jam on a piece of bread and took a bite. Layla was already sweet, but when made into jam, the sweetness was even more concentrated.

“I never knew greens could be so delicious,” my father remarked, nodding while devouring the salad.

“You’re talking about the salad, right?” I asked, amused.

Ara giggled at the sight and sat next to my father.

“Mom, can I ask you a favor?” I asked.

“Sure, what is it?” she replied.

“Could you buy some ingredients to make gochujang and kimchi with Seon-ah?”

“Of course,” she said.

Seon-ah, who was suddenly roped into the errand, tilted her head in confusion.

“What about you, Oppa?”

“I’m going to the beach. I’ve got a new ability I want to test out.”

“All the way to the beach? That’s far. Won’t it take a long time to go back and forth?”

“It’ll take about six hours to get there, but none to return. I’m going there to install a portal.”

“A portal?!” Seon-ah stood up from her meal in surprise.

My parents, who didn’t know what a portal was, just blinked at us while continuing to eat.

“Yeah, I gained the ability to install one portal. Since other places are easy to reach using Woofy and Purr, I thought I’d install this one far away.”

“Only one? You can’t make more?” she asked.

“For now, just one. But eventually, I think I’ll be able to set up multiple portals.”

“Too bad. I was going to ask you to install one in the Pururuk Forest if you could.”

Speaking of which, I asked about the status of the leader Pururuk Kongkong, and it seemed like they were nearing their delivery date.

“I’d say it’s about a week away.”

“Oh, is that little deer we saw last time going to give birth?”

“Yeah. You should come with me to see it, Mom.”

After finishing her meal, Seon-ah quickly cleared the dishes and bustled about. My mother, preparing to head to the forest, asked, “What about your father?”

“I was thinking he could come with Ara and me to the beach,” I said.

“That sounds good,” he agreed.

“But you can wait here. Once the portal is set up, we’ll be able to come and go in no time.”

“I don’t know what a portal is, but let’s just go together,” my father replied.

“A portal is a gate that allows you to teleport. Using it, you can travel long distances in an instant,” I explained.

“Wow, that sounds fascinating.”

First, I decided to install one side of the portal in the Slime Village. As I used the power of the Master of Gluttony, a swirling blue light materialized in mid-air.

[Inactive]

A message window appeared upon seeing the portal. It seemed that both sides needed to be installed for it to be activated.

“Is this the portal?” Seon-ah, who had finished cleaning, came over to inspect it. Meanwhile, the slimes and Kkumuris also curiously gathered around, peeking at the portal.

Squirm?

“Heh heh.”

The creatures were fascinated by the portal, inspecting it from every angle and even trying to touch it, but their hands simply passed through, as the portal couldn’t be physically touched.

“I’m going to install the other side now. It should take about 6 hours, so let’s meet back outside around 1:30 PM. Sound good?”  

“Outside?” Seon-ah asked.  

“Yeah, you need to go out and buy the ingredients, and I need to be here when you come back, right?”  

“Oh, right,” she realized.

I called for Woofy and Purr. I climbed onto Woofy’s back, while Father rode Purr with Ara.  

“I’m going to hold on tight to the mighty lord, for sure!” Ara announced, but she was securely snuggled in Father’s arms. Can you really hold on like that, Ara?

“Alright, we’re heading out first!”  

“Oppa, how are we supposed to get to Pururuk Forest?”  

“You can call for the Pururuk creatures through Kkumuris. They can carry you too.”

Kkumuris was everywhere, and they were all connected, able to communicate with each other.  

“How can you even talk to Kkumuris!” Seon-ah shouted after me as I waved goodbye and dashed toward the sea, ignoring her.

I was a bit worried that the fast ride might make Father feel nauseous, but surprisingly, he seemed just fine.  

“I’ve done plenty of fishing from boats; this is nothing,” he said, his voice barely audible over the rushing wind. It was the kind of thing that Mom would scold him for if she heard, but he seemed to be enjoying himself.

* * *

Seven hours later…  

We expected it to take six hours, but it ended up being longer. We took breaks along the way, since Father wasn’t used to riding for such long periods, so we rested more often than anticipated.  

“Father, you and Ara can fish here. I’ll go pick up Mom and Seon-ah,” I said.

Father didn’t seem to hear me, though. He was completely absorbed in preparing his fishing gear, his excitement only growing since the moment he spotted the sea. It seemed like he was looking forward to catching the enormous fish we had shared before.

“Ara, help Father with his fishing, okay?”

“Yup! You can count on me!” Ara replied enthusiastically.

I patted her head, then set up the portal. As soon as it was ready, the blue portal began to hum and swirl.

“Ooh,” I marveled as the activation message appeared.  

I stepped through the portal and…  

Wooooong~!  

“Ooh!” In an instant, I was back at the Slime Village.

The slimes and Kkumuris, who had gathered unnoticed, were startled by my sudden appearance.  

Squish, squish!  

Kku! Mul?  

“Hehe.”

“Hello, everyone. Do you want to try going through the portal?” I asked.  

As soon as I spoke, one of the Kkumuris, with a blank expression, stepped into the portal.  

“Hehehehe…” The sound of its voice echoed as it disappeared.

I stepped through the portal again, and in a flash, I was back at the beach.  

“Hehe.”  

The Kkumuris, who had safely made it to the beach, was there to greet me with the same blank expression.

“This is the sea,” I explained.  

“Hehe.”  

“Make sure to tell everyone to be careful around the water, okay?”  

“Hehe.”

I wasn’t sure if it understood me, but judging by its consistent responses, it seemed like it did. I stepped back through the portal to the Slime Village and quickly exited the dungeon.

“Sorry I’m late!” I apologized.  

“It’s okay. We didn’t wait long,” Mom replied.  

“Why are you so late? You said 1:30!” Seon-ah scolded.

I scratched my head, then took them back into the dungeon.  

“I installed the portal. It leads right to the beach, so let’s go check it out together. Father’s already completely focused on fishing.”

Mother and Seon-ah began organizing the ingredients they had bought: cabbage, sea salt, green onions, radishes, mustard greens, and shrimp paste. I felt a bit regretful since I could grow some of those vegetables myself.  

‘Next time I go out, I’ll have to get some new seeds,’ I thought.  

Cabbage, radishes, and green onions were must-haves. I also wanted to get seeds for some fruits I’d been thinking about for a while, like apple trees, tangerine trees, and grapevines.

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First, I started by portioning out the soy sauce. 

Using a strainer to filter out impurities, I carefully tipped the jar to pour the soy sauce into smaller containers. Was it heavy? Well, I may not look like it, but I’m a Level 2 Awakener. I easily lifted the jar and slowly poured out the soy sauce, managing to fill around 30 small containers. In total, I had about 60 liters of soy sauce.

Next, I took out the doenjang (fermented soybean paste). It looked like it had matured well, so I pressed it into separate containers. I tasted a bit in the middle and found it to be a little salty too. 

“If it’s too salty, you can add some soybeans and boil it together to balance the flavor,” my mother said.

“Oh, really?” 

“Since we’re talking about it, I’ll make some right now. Do you have soybeans?”

“We have plenty.”

I asked Ara to guide my mother to where the soybeans were stored. Ara, already drooling at the thought of the food, quickly went with her. Meanwhile, I continued portioning out the rest of the jars. The quantity was much more than I had expected. I only managed to empty about a third of the jars, deciding to leave the rest to ferment further.

At some point, my mother returned with the soybeans and started mixing them with the doenjang to cook. 

“Mom, this is a lot. Can we really finish it all?”

“Then let’s not cook everything, just a small portion.”

“That sounds good.”

There were many ways to adjust the saltiness, and besides, once it’s mixed into dishes, it wouldn’t taste overly salty. While I was organizing the portioned soy sauce, doenjang, and jars, the delicious smell started wafting through the air.

Just as I was getting excited to taste our homemade doenjang, my mother spoke up. 

“Hm, this should be just right in terms of flavor.”

“How does it taste?” Seon-ah asked curiously.

My mother scooped a little with her finger and offered it. Seon-ah quickly tasted it and nodded with a bright expression.

“I want to try too!” Ara, who had been bouncing around, exclaimed. My mother laughed as she offered some to Ara, who gleefully ate the doenjang along with my mother’s finger. 

“That tickles!” 

“Hehe.”

Ara savored the taste, her face showing pure delight. At that point, my father and I couldn’t hold back our curiosity.

“Let us try too.”

We scooped a bit with a spatula and tasted it. The saltiness had definitely mellowed, leaving behind a rich, savory flavor with a unique umami depth. 

“Nice.”

It wasn’t an eye-opening taste, but it felt familiar with an extra layer of savory goodness. Ultimately, it would shine when cooked in dishes. 

“Then how about we make doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew) tomorrow?”

“Sounds amazing!” Seon-ah exclaimed.

Doenjang jjigae was one of my favorite dishes. I hadn’t eaten it much recently, but with our homemade doenjang, I would be having it more often now.

“We should finish portioning this out.”

“Alright.”

Together as a family, we portioned out the rest of the doenjang. Ara, in particular, was diligently scooping it into smaller containers, which was both admirable and adorable.

“Should we make gochujang (red chili paste) tomorrow too?”

“Gochujang? Then maybe we can make kimchi while we’re at it?”

“We’d need to buy napa cabbage and fish sauce for the kimchi.”

“Wait, do we put fish sauce in our kimchi?”

“Don’t we?”

As Seon-ah and I chatted, I noticed Ara, who had been diligently scooping, nodding off. For someone who had been working so hard, it wasn’t the best place to fall asleep!

We all couldn’t help but smile warmly at the sight of Ara dozing off cutely. Suddenly startled, Ara woke up.

“I wasn’t sleeping!”

At least wipe the drool off your mouth before saying that. 

After a brief moment of waking up, Ara resumed scooping the doenjang with determination, only to be overcome by sleep once again, her head gradually drooping. 

In the end, I decided to take her to bed. 

“Ara, come here.”

“Mm…”

As I lifted her into my arms, she buried her face into my chest. Watching us, Seon-ah murmured jealously, “I could’ve put her to bed too.”

“Hey, you finish up the work.”

After quickly dealing with the situation, I put Ara to bed, where she soon fell into a deep sleep. Lately, I’ve been spending all 24 hours inside the Dungeon of Gluttony, having even moved a bed and other sleeping arrangements there. This was possible due to the massive amount of mana stones I had gathered from the recent Dungeon of Wrath. 

‘I could sell them… but there’s no need.’  

I already had plenty of money. Even if I earned more by selling them, what would I spend it on? I figured I’d just use the stones to maintain the dungeon. Of course, I’d save the high-grade mana stones for emergencies or if the guild ever needed them, but I planned to use the rest liberally.

“Kyu-seong, Kyu-seong.”  

“Hm?” 

Just as I was about to return and finish cleaning up, Ara, for the first time in a while, whimpered. She had always been so mature, but now she was reaching out, trying to grab hold of me. In the end, I decided to stay by her side until she was fully asleep, gently patting her. 

While putting Ara to sleep…  

Morning had come.  

“Huh? I ended up sleeping too.”

By then, Ara was already awake, happily washing her face.  

“Splish splash!”  

Her vigorous washing routine was accompanied by slimes and Kkumuris by the stream. When I looked at where the jars had been, everything was neatly cleaned up. They must have finished everything while I slept. 

“Ara, did you sleep well?”  

“Yep! Did you sleep well, Kyu-seong-Kyu-seong!” Ara greeted me with a bright smile. 

Recently, she had been taking care of her own washing and changing her clothes all by herself. It made me feel a little lonely.  

‘I used to wash and dress her every day… Our Ara has really grown up. Dad feels a bit sad.’

Ara, now finished with washing her face, shook her head dry and came out. Watching her, I decided to use this free time to check the things I had been putting off.  

‘Quest Rewards’

I had cleared two quests after returning from the Dungeon of Wrath. 

[Awakening Quest: Hunt]  

[Using slimes, hunt 100 random low-grade monsters]

[Low-grade monsters: 101/100]

I had barely completed the awakening quest. Once I recruited gnolls as my servants, the hunts naturally counted. What was the reward?  

[There is an increased chance of summoning two slimes when summoning.]  

[There is an additional increase in the chance of summoning a Level 2 slime.]

Not bad. The abilities of the growing slime army were improving bit by bit. If I kept at it, I might be able to evolve them into Level 10 creatures like Mark2.  

‘Would they turn into something like Ara if they reach Level 10?’

The chances were slim. Ara had been a boss monster of the Seven Deadly Sins, after all. But still, you never know. Their appearance had changed slightly at Levels 3 and 5; what would they look like at Level 10?

“Ara, do you think slimes would turn into people like you if they reached Level 10 or 11?”

I asked just in case, but Ara shook her head.  

“That’s not possible.”  

“I see.”  

“Instead, they’ll transform into something cool!”

With a sudden flourish, Ara struck a pose.  

You say they’ll transform into something cool, but why are you posing like that? Have you been watching superhero shows? I still couldn’t quite grasp what Ara’s definition of “cool” was.  

‘She thought Ras was cool.’  

To me, Ras looked like a cute little puppy. But since she thought that was cool, well… who knows?

[Awakening Quest: Become Stronger]  

[Evolve two slimes into higher species]

[Higher species slime: 1/2]

The new quest was fortunately one I could already complete.  

‘So, they have to evolve like how Mark2 became a World Tree Slime?’  

Poispois’s condition had also been unusual lately. If I could get Poispois to Level 6, it would likely evolve into a higher species. A free quest, essentially. I planned to fuse them as soon as possible.

Next, I checked the other quests. 

[!! Special Hidden Quest!!: Seven Deadly Sins]  

You have started conquering Gluttony! Conquer the remaining Sins as well!  

Pride: X  

Greed: 0  

Envy: X  

Wrath: 0  

Lust: X  

Sloth: X

Without intending to, I had already begun the conquest quest. Along with Gluttony, I had unintentionally completed Wrath as well.  

[An additional effect is added to the Owner of Gluttony.]  

[You can now register familiars on the minimap.]  

“Ooh, familiar registration?” 

I immediately opened the minimap, and a prompt for registering familiars appeared.

“I can see Ras clearly, too.”

The children of the Seven Deadly Sins were automatically displayed on the minimap without the need for separate registration. When I selected familiar registration, a list of all my current familiars appeared. I could select up to five more creatures.

“Even the fairies can be added?”

First, I selected Frey. Her cute face appeared on the map, showing that she was at the hot springs.

“She’s in the hot springs!”  

I felt a little guilty, but decided to move on. I added Woofy, Purr, and Chirp as well. That troublesome Chirp hadn’t been showing up lately, but thanks to this minimap feature, I could finally track where he was. 

‘Where on earth is that?!’

Chirp was located far off in the southeast, somewhere I had never even been. The good thing was that Chirp’s movements cleared the foggy, blacked-out areas of the minimap, expanding my vision. The terrain he moved through was now fully revealed on the map as if I had traveled there myself.

“Not bad.”  

After adding four familiars, I debated on the fifth one but decided to leave it for now. Next, it was time to check out the Gluttony Master.

[Master of Gluttony (Bound Growth Type)]  

-A token that proves you are the master of the Dungeon of Gluttony.  

-Once per day, you can create a portal to the Dungeon of Gluttony.  

-Minimap functionality added.  

-New! You can now create a two-way portal within the Dungeon of Gluttony (0/1).  

-Clear additional linked quests to unlock hidden features.  

Usage restriction: Kyu-seong and familiars under his control.  

Equippable by: Kyu-seong.

“Ohhhh!!!”  

The new feature was the ability to create a portal. Although it was limited to inside the dungeon, it was an amazing function. After checking the description more closely…

[Creates a semi-permanent portal.]  

[Creation and deletion are freely possible.]

“Sweet.”  

Though it showed I could only create one portal, it hinted that I might be able to create more in the future. Now, where should I place it? 

At first, I considered connecting a portal between Gnoll Village and Slime Village, but then I thought about it again. 

“The sea?”

The farther I placed it, the more beneficial it would be. Gnoll Village was just a 10-20 minute ride on Woofy or Purr, but the sea took several hours. If I connected a portal, I could come and go as I pleased.

“This is an absolute jackpot.”  

At first, I hadn’t even considered completing this quest, but with rewards like these, it was turning out to be pretty appealing. If I ended up subjugating the other Seven Deadly Sins, I could install portals all over the dungeon.

“Ara.”  

“Hm?”  

“What are the other Seven Deadly Sins like?”

“Gasp! Are you the Conqueror Lord, Kyu-seong-Kyu-seong?!”

Ara immediately caught on to my intention, her insight so sharp it was almost scary. How did she know?!

“Where did you even learn that phrase…?”  

“Mammon told me! Kyu-seong-Kyu-seong is the Conqueror Lord!”

“Ahem…”  

No, Ara, that’s a misunderstanding… I’m just trying to get all the cute little Seven Deadly Sins to work together—uh, I mean, live happily together.

“It’s a good thing! Conquer them all! Kyu-seong-Kyu-seong is the Conqueror Lord! Hehe! Haha! Ha!”

“A-Ara?”

I think Ara’s education on proper emotions might have gone astray somewhere. Who on earth taught her this?

‘Could it have been me?’  

After all, I did merge Mammon and lure Ras with the promise of food. It was essentially a form of conquest.

—Not much I can say to that.

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These days, even household appliances were being made from magic stones.

Of course, it was still too expensive to be widely available to every household…

“We’ve replaced everything in our house with magic stone products!” 

While delivering goods to various places, my wealth kept piling up.

I used that money to replace all the furniture and appliances in my parents’ house.

Honestly, I wanted to buy them a new house… but my parents had asked for a house to be built in our dungeon.  

Huh? Why am I suddenly talking about this?

It’s because I’m looking forward to Seon-ah and Ara coming home from their chores around now.

Since our rice cooker is a magic stone product, I’m really curious about how the rice I made will turn out when cooked in a magic stone rice cooker.

“Mr. Kyu-seong, see you next time!”  

“Let’s have a meal at our place sometime.”  

“Take care. You’ve worked hard today.”  

Representative Baek, Johann, and the head of the department waved goodbye as they left.

After seeing them off, Han Seok-jun and I went back to the office.  

“They’re all gone. You mentioned earlier that there was something you wanted to discuss privately. Is it about the art pieces we talked about last time?”  

“Oh, no, it’s not that… Actually, the works by Artist Ingo will take some more time. I’ve been too busy lately to make much progress.”  

“I see. I appreciate you taking the time. What I wanted to discuss is actually about monster by-products.”  

“Monster by-products?”  

Han Seok-jun’s eyes widened in surprise. He clearly hadn’t expected that.  

“Yes. When I visited the Dungeon of Wrath recently, I gathered a few by-products.”  

“Through that spatial expansion slime, right?”  

“Yes.”  

“Did you fight monsters to get them?”  

“No, I think I just got lucky. The place I stayed seemed to be a graveyard for monsters, so I gathered some bones and hides that were lying around.”  

Han Seok-jun looked at me as if he couldn’t believe it, but with no way to verify it himself, he had no choice but to believe my words.  

“I didn’t bring them with me today, but would it be okay if I brought them next time?”  

“Of course. Let’s take a look at them. I’ll also inform Director Choi in advance.”  

“Thank you.”  

Since Han Seok-jun is a guild leader, he’s probably seen countless monster by-products, so I felt confident he’d handle it well.  

Seeing him react so calmly made me feel even more reassured.  

“Ninth-level dungeon monster by-products, and even resources from the mines.”  

I should bring everything in and leave it to them.  

“Well then, Guild Leader, I’ll be off now.”  

“Thanks for your hard work on your first day back. Rest well, and reach out whenever you’re ready with the by-products.”  

“Yes!”  

After finishing up at the guild, I hurried back home.

The thought of eating a bowl of white rice filled my heart with excitement.  

“I’m home!”  

“Kyu-seong! Kyu-seong!”  

Ara, who had been hugging Seon-ah, suddenly ran toward me.  

I picked her up and spun her around.  

“Did you have a good day, Ara?”  

“Yes! It was fun! I studied hard!”  

“Oh, our Ara even studied? Good job.”  

I had already informed them in advance, so the house was already filled with the smell of cooking rice.  

My mouth watered just thinking about it.

“You’re back?”  

“Yeah. Where are Mom and Dad?”  

“They’re in the kitchen. Do you want to try some?”  

Seon-ah, who was chewing on some raw rice, asked.  

Ara, who had apparently been eating it too, grabbed my hand and encouraged me to try it.  

“It’s delicious!”  

“Really?”  

I decided to see what polished rice tasted like.  

Crunch.  

“Hmm? Not bad.”  

“You always react like that. Have your tastes become too picky?”  

“Is that so?”  

I used to eat raw rice when I was young.  

There was no particular reason; I think it was because my permanent teeth were coming in and my gums were itchy.  

Comparing the experience to then, the rice was definitely much more fragrant and sweeter than ordinary rice.  

“It’s hard to describe the taste.”  

I guess you could call it a distinct rice flavor.  

Either way, with the aroma from the rice cooker, my anticipation was building even more.

“Oh, you’re home, Kyu-seong?”  

“Yes, Mom.”  

Just as my mother stepped out of the kitchen, she smiled.

Seeing the satisfaction and anticipation on her face made me feel happy for no reason.

“How is it?”

“The rice? It’s great. We should send some to Jae-seong too.”

“Oh, right. Jae-seong will love it.”

I didn’t know what the main dish at the restaurant where Jae-seong worked was, but I was sure rice would be involved.

Japan, like Korea, loves rice.

Since it’s a place that breeds all kinds of rice varieties, even if Jae-seong uses expensive rice, I think he’d still be surprised to see what I made.

‘I’m really looking forward to this.’

Beep—.

“Honey, the rice is ready.”

As soon as the rice cooker beeped, my father hurried out with an urgent look on his face. 

Then, realizing that I had arrived, he said, “Oh, you’re here.”

“Yes, I’m here.”

“Let’s eat.”

“Yes.”

Soon after, Seon-ah and I took out some simple side dishes from the fridge and set the table, while my mother and father scooped the rice.

As the rice cooker opened, the aroma of the rice grew even stronger. 

My salivary glands were so stimulated that it was starting to hurt.

Growl.

My stomach growled in response to the smell.

Indeed, for Koreans, nothing beats the power of rice.

“Here, take this.”

My father handed me a large bowl of rice, much more than I usually ate, but no one questioned it as we received our portions.

“Glug.”

Ara, sitting quietly at the table, swallowed her saliva repeatedly.

When her bowl was placed in front of her, her eyes sparkled.

Her bowl was bigger than anyone else’s, piled high with white rice.

Ara smiled contentedly.

“Ara is so cute.”

Seon-ah, about to place her spoon down, stopped and gazed at Ara with adoring eyes.

Once the table was set, the family sat down together.

“Kyu-seong, let’s eat well.”

“Yes.”

“It would have been perfect if we had Kyu-seong’s chili powder and gochujang for the kimchi.”

“Let’s go check it out after we eat.”

Honestly, even if it wasn’t my kimchi, the combination was heavenly.

We said our thanks and each grabbed a piece of kimchi, placing it on top of the steaming white rice.

The visual wasn’t much different from the usual white rice we knew. The size and color of the grains were typical.

But the smell was different.

It was an aroma that anyone could recognize as the scent of high-quality rice, stimulating the appetite.

“Bite.”

I took a large bite of rice with kimchi, the hot rice and cold kimchi entering my mouth.

Crunch!

First, the crunchy texture of the kimchi hit me.

Then, the rice grains, firm at first, softened as I chewed.

“?!!”

The chewy texture surprised me.

What amazed me even more was how I could feel each individual grain of rice in my mouth.

At first, the stickiness of the rice gave a satisfying sense of cohesion, but once it touched my tongue and saliva, each grain seemed to dance and pop.

Thanks to that, the texture and flavor of each grain of rice spread throughout my mouth, maximizing the rice’s unique nutty and sweet flavors.

And then the salty and tangy taste of the kimchi, like seasoning, kicked in.

‘This is insane.’

I couldn’t even express my thoughts out loud.

At this moment, my mouth wasn’t for talking, but solely for eating this white rice.

“Wow, it’s hot.”

“Yum yum.”

“Ha ha.”

The rest of the family was also busy eating without a word.

Everyone was piling kimchi on the steaming rice, chewing eagerly without speaking.

I also focused on savoring the firm rice grains with my tongue and teeth.

Clatter.

“Huh?”

Why is my bowl empty? Is this déjà vu?

“One more bowl!”

At that moment, Ara also raised her empty bowl.

And, as if she had anticipated it, my mother had prepared extra rice in the old rice cooker, not just the magic stone cooker.

Just as the old rice cooker finished, we were each able to get a fresh serving.

‘I wonder if it will taste different?’

The advantage of the magic stone cooker was speed.

It could cook rice faster than an electric rice cooker.

Thanks to that, my mother had already set more rice in the magic stone cooker.

But what about the taste?

“Slurp, it’s the same.”

That was a relief. The flavor didn’t change with the cooker.

It’s all about the ingredients, after all.

I eagerly finished my meal with various side dishes.

In the end, despite not being big eaters, each of our family members ended up eating three bowls of rice. 

Ara finished off all the leftover rice from the rice cooker. 

“Ara, did you eat fifteen bowls? That’s amazing!” 

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” 

Ara, with her belly sticking out, smiled in satisfaction. 

The way she patted her cute little belly was always adorable. 

“Ah, I’m so full. Let’s go out in a bit.”

My father, who had already prepared all the fishing gear, sprawled out on the couch.

But since it was almost time for Ara and me to sleep, we ended up dragging him outside together.

“Let’s walk around the dungeon to help digest.” 

After eating so much, we needed to exercise a bit. 

Walking to the hot springs wouldn’t be a bad idea.

So, I loaded the whole family into the car and headed back to the dungeon. 

As I looked around again, I noticed that the construction around the dungeon seemed almost complete. 

The landscaping wasn’t bad either, and it looked like the work would be done soon. 

“About two weeks left.”

“Really? It’s finishing faster than expected.”

“It’s the power of money.”

I had spared no expense, and money really did work wonders.

After taking a quick look around, we entered the dungeon, where, as expected, Woofy greeted us.

“Seon-ah, did you already tell them about our new family members?” 

“Yes. Ara told them before I could.”

Imagining Ara chattering away to our parents made me smile, and I gave her a pat on the head. 

“The snake, Gwaa, is the new addition, but don’t be too shocked when you see it.”

“Right, you said it’s a kind snake?” 

“It’s gentle.”

All it does is sleep every day, so it’s pretty harmless.

On the way to the slime village, we saw Gwaa’s gigantic body in the distance. 

“That’s him.”

“What?” 

“Isn’t that a structure built by the slimes?” 

My father and mother were startled. 

They knew the snake was big, but they hadn’t expected it to be this huge. 

“He’s been sleeping every day lately. I think he’s just a sleepy creature.”

Now they were at a loss for words. 

Since we were already here, we took a closer look at Gwaa. 

My parents and Seon-ah seemed intimidated by its overwhelming size, but as Ara climbed up Gwaa’s body to play, they started to relax a little. 

“Gwaa, sleep tight.”

At that moment, Gwaa’s sleepy eyes opened slightly. 

– Grrr.

“Oh no, did we wake you? You can sleep more.”

I stroked Gwaa’s chin, and his eyes shifted to my parents, as if checking out these new people.

“They’re my parents.”

– Grrr?

“Hello there!”

“Uh, yeah. Hello.”

“He’s really huge.”

Thanks to Ara’s translation, we exchanged greetings, and once Gwaa fell back asleep, we quietly stepped away.

We couldn’t keep waking him up while he was sleeping so peacefully.

“Ara mentioned there are dog-like creatures, too.” 

“Oh, they’re living in the goblin village. Let’s visit that place as well.”

But first, we decided to check on the soy sauce jars. 

My father and Seon-ah seemed curious about the soy sauce and doenjang (fermented soybean paste) I had been making, so they insisted on tagging along.

– Heheh.

“Hello, Kkumuris.”

One of the slimes, sitting on a jar lid, greeted us with an unreadable expression.

I opened one of the jars, scooped some soy sauce with a tasting ladle, and took a look.

“The color isn’t very dark, is it?” 

Seon-ah observed, echoing my earlier thoughts.

“Doesn’t it look like sesame oil?”

“Yeah, now that you mention it, it really does look like sesame oil.”

I gave everyone a little taste, and they all cringed from the salty flavor. 

“Ugh, salty!” 

“Oh wow, that’s really salty.”

Only Ara smiled happily.

“It’s delicious.”

“Our Ara eats anything well.”

So, what was my mother’s opinion?

“Oh, I think it’s ready.”

“Is it finished?”

“Yes. This level of saltiness is normal. It seems to be done.”

Finally, the soy sauce I made with my own hands was complete! 

Does that mean the doenjang is ready too?

“Let’s scoop out one jar.”

“Scoop it out?” 

“I mean, let’s check the doenjang.”

“Oh! Let’s get it out right away!”

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“Welcome, Mr. Kyu-seong!”

“Oh my! I’m so glad you’re safe, Mr. Kyu-seong.”

“You’ve caused quite the trouble again this time, haven’t you, Mr. Kyu-seong?”

The next morning.

As soon as I arrived at the Ara Hongryeon Guild, I was greeted by familiar faces.

“Oh, everyone is here?”

“They’re here to see you, Mr. Kyu-seong,” Han Seok-jun said with a smile.

Beside him were CEO Baek and Johann, the Guild Master of the Terror Guild. 

These people, who are usually too busy to spare any time, had all gathered here, and I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.

“Oh dear, I’m late.”

“Ah, Director!”

Director Jeon Young-joo and two team leaders, whom I had previously dined with, also came by.

“Wow, we have quite the luxury of guests today,” Johann said with a joking laugh.

But to me, it felt very real.

It was as if all the powerhouses of Korea were gathered in one place.

Thinking that I was face-to-face with people I had only seen on TV still didn’t feel real.

“Ahem! But Mr. Kyu-seong, Ara didn’t come with you today, did she?” 

Baek Tae-seop looked around subtly, clearly wanting to see Ara.

Feeling a bit guilty, I awkwardly scratched my head.

“Actually, since I have an inquiry to go through today, I left Ara with my sister. Ara’s tired of these investigations by now.”

“An inquiry? What kind of inquiry?” 

Director Jeon Young-joo asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

“You shouldn’t say that so casually, sir.”

“I thought I was being questioned about the incident in Austria?”

“Oh, we’ve already received all the necessary materials from that side. You don’t have to do anything. Today’s just a gathering to celebrate your safe return.”

“Really?”

So that’s what this is? What a relief. I thought I was about to face another week of nightmares.

“Hahaha! It seems you’ve had quite a hard time, Mr. Kyu-seong. Well, it was no ordinary situation after all.”

“Guild Master Johann’s assistance was crucial in receiving those materials from Austria.”

“Oh, no, it was nothing. I just made a phone call.”

So this is what connections are like. Knowing these amazing people sure made life easier.

“Alright, then let’s get into the investigation that’s not really an investigation.”

“An investigation that’s not an investigation?”

“Come on, we just want to hear firsthand what happened from you.”

“Oh, that? Well…”

It was a story I had repeated countless times during the week of questioning. Saying it one more time wouldn’t be too hard.

Of course, I planned to share additional details with Guild Master Han Seok-jun later, especially about explaining the monster byproducts.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t help but wonder about Ara, who was likely having her first one-on-one date with Seon-ah. Was she behaving well?

***

Seon-ah could have left Ara at her parents’ house, but she chose not to.

Instead, she decided to bring her along to school.

“Ara?”

“Isn’t that Ara?”

“Yeah, that’s right! It’s Lee Seon-ah, from the Dungeon Studies department, and the owner of the Ara Channel!”

Today, Ara was dressed up, wearing a stylish one-piece dress. She also had on a wide-brimmed lady’s hat. Naturally, Seon-ah had coordinated her outfit.

“Is this the school?”

“Yes. Give them a wave, Ara.”

Flap, flap. 

When Ara waved her hand at Seon-ah’s words, people screamed in excitement.

“Kyaa! It’s really Ara!”

“Do you think we can get an autograph?”

“Just one picture, please!”

Her popularity was incredible. Ara had now become the nation’s beloved niece.

As a result, Seon-ah couldn’t even enter the classroom and had to spend a long time acting as Ara’s manager, managing the crowd.

“Alright! Please line up. One line only. Hey! No cutting in line!”

An impromptu fan meeting had started. Ara, with determined resolve, greeted each fan with utmost sincerity.

“Hello, it is!”

“Hi, Ara. How can you be so cute?”

“Would you like to pat me?”

“Oh my, can I?”

Despite interacting with strangers for the first time in a while, Ara didn’t seem awkward at all. Her incredible sociability was on full display.

After spending some time taking pictures and signing—well, doodling—Seon-ah quickly wrapped things up.

“Alright, I have to head to class now, so I’m sorry to those still in line, but we’ll meet again later!”

“Oh, what a shame.”

The students obediently complied. After all, they had to attend class too.

After dispersing the crowd, Seon-ah entered the classroom with Ara.

She had already received permission from the professor to bring Ara along.

[The Difference Between Monsters and Familiars, and Understanding Them]

When they entered the classroom, it was already packed. The fan meeting had caused them to arrive just in time.

Professor Hong Se-eun, who had already arrived and was preparing for the lecture, noticed Seon-ah and Ara entering the room.

“Seon-ah, you’re here.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Seon-ah, who always showed passion in her studies, was already well-loved by her major professors.

As a result, she often faced tiring tasks, but Seon-ah embraced them with enthusiasm.

She was a true dungeon otaku, the type who enjoyed even tough assignments or errands.

“Ah, is that the child?”

“Hello, it is.”

“How cute. How old is she?”

“3,501 years old, it is!”

“Wow, Ara is quite old, isn’t she?”

“Yes!”

Professor Hong Se-eun laughed warmly, accepting the conversation, and the students couldn’t help but smile.

“Alright, let’s start the class.”

As the lecture began, Ara stuck close to Seon-ah, carefully looking at the textbooks with her.

She didn’t understand what was going on, but she was trying her best to focus, which amused the nearby students.

“Does anyone have a question?” the professor asked.

Nobody raised their hand, but suddenly, a small hand shot up.

“Oh, Ara!” Seon-ah called out in surprise, but the professor was quicker.

“Yes, Ara, you can ask your question.”

“If a familiar has a baby, is the baby a familiar too?”

“Hmm, that’s a great question. Let’s start by understanding the breeding of familiars.”

The professor then gave an explanation, using the simplest words possible to match Ara’s level. This allowed the students to revisit familiar concepts from a fresh perspective.

“Hearing it without technical terms really changes the way I look at things.”

“Wow, I never thought it could mean that. So the difference between familiars and monsters could come from this.”

Professor Hong Se-eun also realized that trying to explain things in a simpler way allowed her to think from various perspectives, which felt refreshing.

“Ara, did you understand?” she asked after finishing the explanation. Ara scratched her head awkwardly.

“Hehehe, I don’t really get it.”

“Haha, that’s okay. Ara, you’re at the age where you should be playing and having fun.”

Ara’s cute response melted the expressions of the students around her. 

With that, the class eventually ended, and people swarmed around Ara, who had now become a little star.

“Seon-ah, can you bring Ara with you to school more often?”

“Kyaa! Ara held my hand! It’s so soft!”

Ara smiled happily as she munched on snacks that were handed to her from all directions.

“My brother is busy today, so I’m just looking after her for a bit.”

“Your brother’s a member of the Ara Hongryeon Guild, right? Wow, that’s so amazing!”

“I’m so jealous. Your brother is in the Ara Hongryeon Guild, you get to see our nation’s niece Ara every day, and your YouTube channel is doing great too!”

“Ah, the videos from today at school will be uploaded. Does anyone need a mosaic?”

“Me, me! I’m not wearing any makeup today.”

And so, Ara continued to share in Seon-ah’s daily life. After finishing school, they had a quick fan meeting while eating lunch, and finally, the two were able to head to the rice mill.

“It was delicious.”

“The school lunch?”

“Yeah!”

Seon-ah burst into laughter as she saw Ara recalling the school lunch first among all the experiences of the day.

The two stopped by the nearest rice mill and asked the owner to mill the rice.

“Where is this rice harvested from?” asked the mill owner.

“It’s from a dungeon,” Seon-ah replied.

“A dungeon? Rice grows in dungeons too? How peculiar.”

The owner was fascinated, as he had never seen this variety of rice before. The golden sheen of the rice was enough to catch anyone’s attention. The mill owner was so intrigued that he asked if he could take a little portion of it in exchange for milling it for free.

“Hmm, I think I should ask about that.”

Seon-ah quickly sent a text message to Kyu-seong. She thought he might be too busy to respond, but luckily, he replied quickly.

-It’s fine. Go ahead and share some.

With permission granted, they decided to give about 10 kilograms of rice.

Rumble, rumble, rumble. 

The machine started up, and the grains of rice began falling from the stalks. The loose grains were filtered to remove impurities.

“Wow,” Ara’s eyes sparkled as she watched.

The grains were then moved to a new machine.

Thud, thud, thud. 

The giant machine roared to life, and soon, gleaming white rice began pouring out.

“Ooooh! It’s rice!” Ara exclaimed in awe.

“Haha! Yes, it’s rice,” the mill owner responded, enjoying Ara’s excitement.

The mill owner then began packaging the rice into bags.

“Wow, that’s quite a lot. You sure you can take it all back?”

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-Hmm, so you’re saying you’re Ara’s aunt?  

“Is that how it works?”  

As soon as I mentioned my sister, that was the immediate response.  

Since Ara is my daughter, I guess that makes her Ara’s aunt?  

“Call me Lee Seon-ah.”  

-Lee Seon-ah. Should I call you Lee Seon-ah from now on?  

“No, you should call me ‘noona’ (older sister).”  

-‘Noona’? Got it. If that’s what you want, I am Ras.  

“It’s not what I want, it’s just that ‘noona’ is correct, Ras.”  

Ras glanced at me cautiously.  

His wide, bright eyes looked pitiful.  

“Hey, Ras looks scared.”  

“What? What did I do?”  

-I-I am not afraid.  

These kids were hilarious.  

Anyway, since we arrived, I first took out some dog chews.  

I gave Seon-ah a handful to help her get acquainted with the gnolls.  

“Oh, good boys.”  

As I expected, the affectionate gnolls quickly warmed up to Seon-ah. She also skillfully interacted with them, just like she’d handled the kids in my dungeon before.  

-Oh, you know how to give a good pat. Very nice.  

“Not ‘you’, it’s ‘noona’, Ras.”  

-N-Noona.  

“Right, ‘noona’.”  

-Noona.  

Ras, trying hard to maintain his dignity, made one last stand, but in the end, he couldn’t resist.  

Then he turned his sparkling eyes back to me.  

Oh, how adorable.  

I just wanted to nibble him.  

After enjoying the dog chew party, we started exploring the village.  

Looking around, it seemed like there were fewer gnolls than before.  

When I asked about it, Mammon quickly replied.  

-The gnolls are currently working in the mines! Thanks to them, construction in the village is moving very fast!  

Oh, they were doing all that without me even asking.  

I spotted the construction site, where gnolls, goblins, and slugs were working together to build structures.  

The gnolls, stronger than the goblins, were easily moving heavy materials, their tails spinning like propellers, which made me laugh.  

“They can’t keep their tails still while working.”  

-They’re excited. For us, who have always only dug the ground, it’s refreshing to have a new form of amusement.  

It seemed they considered construction a type of play and were enjoying it.  

Well, they used to say they had fun just digging, so these new experiences must feel novel to them.  

-Woof!  

The kids building the structures noticed us.  

I told them to take a break and handed out some dog chews and snacks.  

“How about it, Ras? Enjoying yourself?”  

-It’s perfect. In fact, I am grateful.  

Ras lowered his head in gratitude.  

When he raised his head again, his eyes were shining.  

-My subordinates and I used to live on just enough food to not starve. So to be able to fill our stomachs with delicious meals three times a day in such a beautiful place—we are deeply grateful.  

“Hey, there’s no need to be so thankful. We’re all family now.”  

As I patted Ras’ head, he closed his eyes and savored the moment.  

His tail was wagging wildly from side to side.  

-Lord! Me too!  

-Hehe, me too…

“Of course, I’ll pet you too!”  

-Squee!  

-Growl!  

Suddenly, the kids rushed into my arms.  

They filled my embrace.  

I smiled brightly, hugging them all and rubbing my face against theirs.  

“Hiyahaha!”  

Ara squirmed from the tickling.

Soon after, Seon-ah quietly took a picture of us.

“Is this what peace looks like?” 

Hearing Seon-ah’s wistful voice, I gently patted the kids.

***

The Goblin and Gnoll village, nicknamed “Go-Noll Village,” was about 35% complete.

Actually, that percentage only applied to the buildings, and if you factored in the landscaping, there was still a long way to go.

When we went to the mine, we could see that the entrance had been widened significantly.

At the same time, we witnessed the incredible speed of the work and the massive amounts of resources being mined.

“Wow, they’re real professionals.”

The gnolls were hard at work mining stones.

While I felt I was stronger than them, their mining skills were unmatched.

Thanks to this, the goblins could fully focus on gem cutting and mineral crafting.

It was a perfect division of labor.

They were working together in their respective fields of expertise with great synergy.

The construction materials for the village were being gathered separately, and according to the story, Ras would carry all of it at once.

“All of this in one go?”

-We need to gather more.

The materials were already piled so high that one would need to look up at them, yet it was still not enough. Ras’s monstrous strength impressed me again.

“Ras can carry all of this?”

“You don’t know, but Ras is incredibly strong.”

Seon-ah looked at Ras with surprised eyes.

It was understandable—on the surface, Ras looked like nothing more than an adorable dog standing on two feet, wearing cute boots.

-I’m quite powerful, you know.

“Oh, our Ras is so impressive.”

When Seon-ah patted the cute Ras, he almost rolled over to expose his belly but quickly held back with a sheepish cough.

Such a cute little guy.

“Any issues so far?”

-Rather, all issues have been resolved!

-None at all. Everything is perfect.

Good, good.

I was quite pleased with the positive reactions from the kids, and then I remembered something important.

“What about the food situation?”

-We are currently expanding the village’s fields. It seems like we’ll be operating them together with the gnolls soon.

“Hmm, I’ll assign more slimes to help.”

-Thank you, great lord!

Speaking of food, I thought of Gwa.

Before tomorrow comes, I need to discuss with Mark2 about what to do with Gwa’s food, the Rapipi plant.

After saying goodbye to the kids, Seon-ah stayed behind, and I returned to the slime village.

“Mark2! Are you busy?”

Mark2 shook its body as if to say “no” and came over to me. Watching Mark2, I took out the Rapipi root from Bokkeum.

“Ungh, here we go!”

If it weren’t for Ara, I wouldn’t have dared try this.

The Rapipi was a massive, round-rooted plant.

Mark2 looked a bit startled when it saw the huge root.

“You know our new family member, Gwa, right? This is its food. Do you think you can grow it?”

Mark2 quivered.

“Oh, you seem pretty confident. You’re really a level 6 now!”

Mark2 quivered again enthusiastically, as if to say, “Leave it to me!”

Ever since it evolved into a higher species, the World Tree Slime, its confidence had soared.

I took Mark2, and with Ara, we set off to find a good spot to plant the Rapipi.

“Where would be a good place?”

We checked in on the peacefully sleeping Gwa and wandered around the empty lands near the village until Mark2 chose a spot.

“Here?”

Mark2 wiggled in agreement.

“Alright, let’s plant it here.”

We started digging the ground to plant the Rapipi root. In hindsight, I should’ve brought a few gnolls with us.

“One, two, heave-ho!”

Ara worked hard, digging quickly.

The root was so large that we had to dig both wide and deep, but together with Ara, we managed to make a huge hole.

“Is this enough?”

Mark2 wiggled.

“We need to dig more? Ugh, okay.”

With Mark2’s guidance, we created a space just right for planting the Rapipi.

In the end, we had to dig almost twice as deep as the original hole before we finally got the thumbs-up signal.

“Done! Great job, Ara!”

“It was a diligent task!”

Ara’s vocabulary is quite something.

I don’t know where she learned that, but it’s unique.

‘Father.’

I pushed aside the person who came to mind and pulled out the Rapipi root again.

After settling it nicely into the soil, we filled the hole back up.

“Phew, ah! Mark2, these are some seeds. Can you plant these too?”

Mark2 nodded confidently.

I’m glad I saved all the seeds that came from the fruit.

We planted the Rapipi seeds near the spot where we had planted the Rapipi root and marked the area to indicate that it was the Rapipi field.

Mark2 wiggled.

“You want to assign a few slimes to manage it? Got it.”

We assigned slimes to manage the Rapipi field as well. Since it wasn’t far from the village, it seemed like it would be easy to manage with regular visits.

“Whew, great work.”

“It was hard work indeed.”

Before we knew it, it was 9 PM.

It was time to wash up and go to bed.

We had a productive day.

Fortunately, thanks to the kids handling everything on their own, I only had to check things occasionally, and everything went smoothly.

‘Maybe I’ll check the jar before going to bed.’

It had been a week since I last checked the jar.

I wondered how much the soy sauce and soybean paste had fermented.

-Hehe.

Just in time, I saw a slime opening the lid for me. The way it carefully wiggled and opened each lid was adorable.

After helping it open the lid, I used a ladle to scoop a bit of the soy sauce.

“Oh.”

The color was starting to develop.

It wasn’t quite as dark as I expected, but it had a slightly sesame oil-like appearance.

Slurp.

I hesitantly took a sip…

“Ugh, salty.”

It was salty.

Wait, is this ready?

I should check with my mother when she comes. She said she’d come tomorrow with Father, so after finishing my schedule in the afternoon, I’ll bring them over.

“Kyu-seong, I’m all washed up.”

“Oh wow, our Ara can do it all by herself now.”

“I am mature!”

“That’s right. Our Ara is so grown-up.”

She rubbed her eyes sleepily as she spoke, making me want to laugh, but I held it in.

I lifted Ara up and cradled her in my arms, getting her ready for bed.

‘Ah, I still need to check the items Ras gave me from the Dungeon of Wrath…’

Other than the mana stones, everything else needed processing. Since things turned out this way, I’ll discuss it with the guild master when I meet them tomorrow.

I noticed today that the mining speed had dramatically increased, and the minerals were being extracted at a much higher rate than before.

It might be a good idea to combine the byproducts and turn them into equipment.

***

Austria.

Base of the Dungeon of Wrath.

Michael was ousted from his position as the French representative, and a new figure had taken his place.

Now, both the British and French representatives had changed.

Coincidentally, both of them had crossed paths with Kyu-seong and ended up falling from grace.

“Although there have been various issues lately, we must press ahead with preparations for the raid.”

“Fortunately, Kyu-seong agreed to continue providing support through item deliveries.”

“Honestly, I still don’t understand how he survived. If we could learn his methods, it would help with the dungeon raid.”

The time for the first raid team to enter was approaching.

This project was planned to span eight phases in total, with the first one set for next week.

‘It was supposed to be this week, but it got delayed.’

Damn Michael.

His constant desire to act on his own whims had caused trouble everywhere.

But after this recent incident, even the timing of the first raid had been postponed.

‘Perhaps it’s a blessing in disguise.’

Now that Michael had finally stepped down from his position as a representative.

“Four days until D-Day. Let’s focus on our preparations!”

“The key to this expedition is to safely explore the dungeon’s interior! Mapping the dungeon and estimating the location of the dungeon boss should be our priority!”

At that moment, one of the researchers raised their hand.

“What is it?”

“We still haven’t identified the type of dungeon boss. Isn’t it dangerous to make assumptions about its location and end up triggering an accident?”

“Hmm, you’re not wrong.”

After all, it’s the boss of a Level 9 dungeon, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

It’s highly likely to be merciless, terrifying, and one of the most powerful monsters ever.

Moreover, judging by the types of monsters that have appeared, it’s estimated that the boss will be massive in size.

‘A colossal killing machine!’

When they saw the AI-generated image of the boss, it looked like a giant, bipedal reptile.

A boss monster that spews flames from its mouth, with sharp spikes covering its entire body.

Just imagining it was horrifying.

How many sacrifices would it take to finally bring down such a boss?

“We should revise the plan and make some new proposals.”

“Thank you for considering our input!”

And thus, Ras, the boss monster of the Dungeon of Wrath, unknowingly became an unimaginably terrifying creature in their minds.

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Milling rice wasn’t an easy task.

To explain it simply, it was the process of removing the husk from the rice, but there was another layer inside the husk.

Depending on how much of this layer was removed, the rice would be classified as either white rice or brown rice.

These days, machines take care of all of that, but I didn’t have such a machine.

It seemed like I would need to take it somewhere and have it processed.

“But I really want to taste it.”

Even just a little bit—just a taste.

First, I had to shake off each grain from the bundle of rice stalks I’d gathered.

Since it looked too much for just me and Ara, we decided to ask for help.

“Do you think this is enough to get a taste?”

“Yes!”

We loaded a bundle onto Bokkeum and thought about who we could ask for help.

After some consideration, we figured it might be worth asking the fairies for assistance.

“They’re good with their hands and there are plenty of them.”

Plus, they weren’t doing much lately.

Our slimes had been handling all the farming, so the fairies in Alfheim had nothing to do and had been idling around.

Even their once-diligent patrols had slacked off since they realized I was the master of this dungeon, and there was no longer anything dangerous.

Since both Woofy and Purr were away, I sprinted over for the first time in a while.

Thanks to my upgraded physical abilities, I was much faster than before.

While I still couldn’t compete with Woofy or Purr, I managed to reach the fairy village quickly.

-(~^0^~)

-(,,><,,)!

The fairies waved cheerfully.

I could only see them after reaching the entrance to the village.

Some of them seemed to have just come back from a bath, awkwardly covering their wet bodies with oversized leaves.

“You guys are living the good life.”

Maybe being reborn as a fairy wouldn’t be so bad.

But now, it was time for them to work.

Fortunately, Frey was away, and Ara learned through conversation that the fairies were all gathered in Gnoll Village.

It seemed Soo and Gomgom were there too.

“Well, time for us to do what we need to do.”

“We must do what must be done!”

We gathered the fairies who had been lounging around and asked them to help separate the grains.

It had been a while since they’d had work to do, so they eagerly joined us, showing enthusiasm from all directions.

-9(‘7’)”

-(2′ o ‘)2!

-( > ̄‹)/

-1(^o^)/

“Great, great!”

I also sat down and began separating the grains.

But within five minutes, I realized just how inefficient this method was.

“Should we just shake them off?”

While it might increase the chances of losing or damaging some grains, it seemed like shaking them off would be much faster.

We stopped everyone who was separating the grains by hand and moved the rice bundles inside the World Tree.

If we were going to shake them off, it was better to be indoors, surrounded by walls.

The inside of the World Tree was perfect—not too big, not too small.

Shooosh!

For an ordinary person, it would have been impossible, but with the strength of an awakened one, just a strong shake was enough to loosen some of the grains.

It was definitely faster than before, but still, about half of the grains stubbornly refused to come off.

—”(w)”—

The fairies ran around collecting the fallen grains, and their movements were absolutely adorable.

I just wanted to kiss them.

“Ara.”

“Yes!”

“Since I don’t have enough strength, Ara, do you want to try shaking it off?”

“Ooh! Leave it to me!”

Ara rolled up her sleeves, flexing her arm to show off her nonexistent biceps, revealing only soft, chubby arms.

“Be sure to control your strength!”

“Hmph! Watch and learn. Kyu-seong, Kyu-seong!”

Ara grabbed the bundle of rice stalks and swung it.

With a swoosh, the grains flew off like bullets.

“Oooooh! As expected of Ara!”

“Heh! Heh! Heh!”

The perfect balance of strength! She had just the right amount of control to separate the grains from the stalk without damaging them.

Ara really could do anything!

Thanks to her, the fairies suddenly became very busy.

As grains showered down from all directions, the fairies scurried around, quickly gathering the scattered rice.

I couldn’t just sit idly by, so I joined the fairies in gathering the rice.

Swoosh!

-…(` = ‘)/

-\(‘ ‘)…

As we diligently gathered the grains, the pile grew taller and taller.

Seeing the pile of rice steadily increase filled me with satisfaction.

‘This much from just a small bundle, huh?’

Was it one-hundredth? Or maybe one-thousandth?

Even though we’d only gathered enough for a small taste, the amount was enormous. Of course, it might shrink once we cooked it, but for now, it looked like a lot.

At the end, we finished shaking off all the rice bundles, forming a small hill of grains.

“Whew! Good job, Ara. Good job, everyone.”

“”

“Is it rice time now?”

“Not quite. Now we have to…”

If it was this hard just to separate the grains from the stalk, when were we going to hull the rice?

It was a different story from Goso-Goso (millet).

With Goso-Goso, after soaking it, a quick boil would naturally separate the husk, but rice required milling.

“Hmm…”

Maybe we could just soak it briefly and try to peel the husk by hand? Even if we managed to remove the husk, we’d still need to scrape off the inner layer to get the rice we’re used to.

I picked up a single grain.

Using my fingernail, I scratched at the husk, or chaff, but it was tightly stuck to the grain and didn’t peel off easily.

Still, it wasn’t completely impossible, so I forced one grain into a yellowish rice grain shape.

“This is how we have to peel the husk.”

“…We have to peel all of them like this?”

“Hahaha.”

It had been a while since I saw Ara looking so flustered.

She looked so serious, as if she’d encountered the greatest enemy of her life, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

As much as I wanted to keep teasing her, I soon told her the truth.

“Once we put this into a machine, it’ll peel the husk for us. But since we don’t have one, we’ll have to take it somewhere to get it done.”

“Oh, thank goodness! We can take it somewhere?”

“Of course.”

Ara wiped the cold sweat from her brow in relief, as if she’d been imagining having to peel all those grains by hand.

“Well, I’m going to chew on some raw brown rice for now.”

“I’m going to eat it too.”

I offered the hardworking fairies a taste as well.

To them, a grain of rice was just the right size for a fairy-sized snack.

“Ara, you can just eat it raw, right?”

“Yep!”

“I’m so jealous.”

“I’ll still peel it and eat it.”

Ara joined me, diligently peeling the husks just like I was.

As expected, with her great strength, Ara quickly peeled the rice.

After watching Ara and the fairies for a bit, I tried chewing on some of the raw rice… 

‘It’s just rice, isn’t it?’

I couldn’t really tell the difference. 

Had I expected too much? I felt a little disappointed.

“Ooh! It’s delicious!” 

“R-Really?”

“Yes! It’s tastier than regular rice!” 

I couldn’t tell at all, but Ara was excitedly grabbing handfuls of rice. She didn’t even bother peeling the husks before popping them into her mouth. 

Chewing and chewing. 

Although the raw rice was hard, for Ara, who could chew through stones, it probably felt rather soft. 

Soon, Ara, with her mouth full of raw, husked rice, beamed with a big smile.

“It’s delicious. Hehe.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“I bet it’ll taste even better as cooked rice.”

“Now that you’ve said that, I’m looking forward to it too!”

Anyway, I had to head back to Ara Hongryeon tomorrow.

The Awakening Headquarters had mentioned sending someone due to the Austria situation, so things could get busy.

‘I should ask Seon-ah for help.’

Since we’d be leaving together anyway, I decided I would ask Seon-ah to take the rice to the mill. 

I probably wouldn’t be able to leave at all tomorrow, being tied up the entire day… 

Maybe I should ask her to take Ara as well? 

She’d be bored staying with me anyway. 

I decided to talk to Seon-ah when she arrived, and after leaving some strawberries and rice as snacks for the hardworking fairies, I returned to Slime Village.

“Where have you been?” 

Just as I returned, Seon-ah was back, so it seemed I could head straight to Gnoll Village on Woofy.

“Oh, the rice cultivation is done, so I went to take care of a few things.”

“Rice?! It’s finally ready?”

“Yeah. Actually, I was going to ask you for a favor.”

“What is it?”

“I think I’ll have to go to the guild tomorrow to catch up on the work I’ve been putting off. If you have some time, could you stop by the mill with Bokkeum and Ara?”

“The mill? Oh, yeah, we probably can’t do the… uh, the processing ourselves, right?”

“Milling?”

“Yeah, that.”

Seon-ah nodded, then coolly agreed.

“So tomorrow, Ara gets to go on a date with me?”

“A date! That’s great!”

Ara suddenly looked up at me.

“Is Kyu-seong  Kyu-seong not coming?”

“I’d like to, but I think I’ll be stuck dealing with things.”

Ara flinched!

She immediately understood from the way I said it that I was going to be tied up with something unpleasant.

She subtly distanced herself from me.

“D-Do your best. I, I will go with Seon-ah and turn the rice into cooked rice.”

“Ugh.”

Ara had also been through some grilling during the early stages of the investigation, so she was visibly dreading it.

But still, Ara, you don’t have to act so coldly toward me, do you~?

With that, we quickly settled the plan for tomorrow, and I showed Seon-ah the rice grains we had husked.

“They shine like gold. You could sell them as is, and they’d still sell.”

Soon enough, Seon-ah, like me, scratched the husk off the rice with her fingernail and bit into the raw grain.

“Ugh, it’s bitter.”

“Just peeling the husk isn’t enough. That’s why we need to take it to be processed.”

Now that we had checked the rice, it was time to go meet our new companions. 

I hadn’t been able to take care of them properly this past week, so I was curious about how they were doing. 

‘It seems like they’re adjusting well with him.’

Ever since Gwaa came to greet us, he had been sleeping the whole time. It seemed that once his belly was full, he was naturally inclined to sleep a lot.

I should probably gather some information about snake ecology. Although he’s a monster, there might be some similarities.

“Woofy, let’s go!”

Woofy enlarged his body so that all three of us could ride comfortably at once.

Then, with the wind rushing past, Woofy ran swiftly.

Seon-ah, who seemed to have gotten used to this speed, appeared calm and stable now.

‘This is definitely better than running myself.’

Before long, we passed by the fairy village and headed toward the village of goblins and Gnolls.

Soon, the well-organized village came into view.

It looked like a beautiful medieval town straight out of a fairytale.

“Wow, it’s really coming together!”

In just a few days, the village had made incredible progress. Before I left for Austria, it was mostly just the framework in place—optimistically speaking, it had a lot of potential, but now it was transformed.

What on earth happened while I was gone?

I saw children gathered in the clearing by the fountain in the middle of the village. 

Seon-ah, who had already spotted the Gnolls, exclaimed in surprise.

“Gnoll?! They’re so cute!!”

Of course, Seon-ah couldn’t resist anything cute. I wondered how she’d react when she saw the cutest of all, Ras.

And just then, I spotted Ras as well—the only Gnoll wearing boots. Adorable.

-Oh? It’s the Grand Lord!

-The Grand Lord has arrived!

Mammon and Frey, who had noticed me, waved their hands. Gomgom and Soo were with them as well.

-Mm! You have arrived!

Ras greeted me cheerfully.

Seeing Ras, Seon-ah froze in place.

“Huh? Huhh?”

She was so flustered that she couldn’t even form proper words.

“So, what do you think of your brother’s talent?”

There are always cute kids gathered around me. Hehe.

You should be thankful, dear sister.

But paying me no mind, Seon-ah hurriedly got off Woofy and approached Ras.

Ras looked at her with a blank expression.

-Who might you be?

“Oh my gosh, listen to how he talks! So cute…”

Once again, it seemed like Seon-ah’s preferences had been perfectly hit.

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