Another new day had begun.
After eating my fill of potatoes yesterday and spending the rest of the day working in the fields, I was now on the first floor, waiting for my ability to come off cooldown and working out a plan.
“Hmm.
I’ll replant this section with these…”
We’d eaten most of the potatoes that hadn’t turned into items.
The ones still growing, which I suspected would be items, I intended to save as seed potatoes and use to replant the entire area.
“That should give me Mana Potatoes.”
A new variety of potato that I believed would rank above the ordinary mana-infused kind.
Since I also needed to complete the hidden quest about discovering new crops, it was the natural thing to try.
I glanced over and saw a recruit harvesting the mana-infused tomatoes.
Judging by the condition of the plants, it was probably time for the last harvest.
“Once that’s finished, plant some new Mana Cherry Tomato seeds there.
We’ve already replanted the Leila…”
The slimes did most of the actual work, so my role largely consisted of planning and managing things.
After scribbling in my notebook for a while, I began thinking about going out again.
‘By now, Yeongseong hyung should have received the juice analysis results.
I want to know how Ara Hongryeon’s dungeon expedition went too, and I need to give Jaeseong some ingredients.’
Of course, I’d use my ability before leaving.
I kept humming and jotting things down until the time finally arrived.
At the moment, I had six slimes: Ppuu, Mark Two, Dokdoki, and three recruits.
I’d neglected slime synthesis a little while making the juice, and somehow three fresh recruits had accumulated.
“All right, today’s your turn.”
I could’ve synthesized Mark Two and Dokdoki, but I decided to leave them alone for now.
Instead, I’d create another Level 2 slime.
[Slime LV.1 and Slime LV.1 will be synthesized.]
[The merging slimes will share all memories and experiences.]
[Slime LV.2]
An ordi?nary slime.
‘Liquid Synthesis possible’
Ability: Acrobatics LV.1
Last time I’d got Running, and now another bizarre ability had appeared.
“What use is Acrobatics to something that doesn’t even have arms or legs?”
Getting Mark Two and Dokdoki so early on felt like incredible luck now.
Granted, I hadn’t made much use of Dokdoki’s poison yet, but it still seemed far more useful than Running or Acrobatics.
After using Liquid Synthesis, I made fruit and vegetable juice from the tomatoes we’d finished harvesting and the remaining Leila.
Then I summoned another recruit and prepared to go outside.
I packed the remaining potatoes, which amounted to a grand total of three, along with the last mana-infused cherry tomatoes we’d just harvested and one more Leila.
I was planning to give those to Jaeseong.
I also packed the fruit and vegetable juice I’d made earlier and called out to the slimes working hard around the farm.
“If anything happens while I’m gone, report it as soon as I return!
Especially if you’ve harvested something!”
Squirm!
Ppuu!
After emphasizing that point, I went outside.
My phone immediately began vibrating.
“Hmm…!”
As expected, the messages were from Yeongseong hyung and Kang Hanul.
Had Hanul already come out of the dungeon?
“It’s only been two days.”
According to his messages, the expedition had succeeded and everyone had come back safely.
He added that the fruit and vegetable juice and paralyzing poison I’d supplied had played major roles.
“I’m glad they were useful.”
I was reading through the messages when I found something even more unexpected.
—Little brother!
Our Seokjun hyung says he’d like to meet you.
Any chance you could come by?
He asked me to quietly pass along that he wants to see the person who contributed most to this expedition.
“What?!”
Seokjun?
Surely he meant Han Seokjun, the master of the Ara Hongryeon Guild?
Kang Hanul was already a huge figure in his own right, but now the guild master himself wanted to meet me.
“When did he send this?”
I checked the timestamp.
The message had arrived a few hours earlier.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I replied with my agreement.
—I’m outside now.
It would be an honor to meet Guild Master Han Seokjun.
There was certainly no harm in establishing that connection.
He might have been flattering me, but my items seemed to have helped them, so this was a chance to leave a good impression.
Ding!
—Oh!
How about we meet at the same café as last time?
I’ll come over with Seokjun hyung.
The reply arrived immediately.
I’d assumed I would be the one traveling, so I hurriedly texted back when I saw that they intended to come all the way to me.
—I’ll come to the guild instead.
This was Ara Hongryeon, after all.
If the guild master was inviting me, I might even get to look around inside.
It was a place I’d admired for years, and just imagining it made me excited.
‘I’ll be able to see Ara Hongryeon’s Awakened too!
I wonder if I’ll see Jeong Soyeon, David, or Yoo Si-hu?’
I was only a Grade 1 Awakened.
Those were people I’d normally have no hope of ever meeting in person.
Even the lowest-ranked Awakened in Ara Hongryeon was probably Grade 4.
Ding!
—Oho!
You’ll come here?
Sorry to put you to the trouble, but we’ll be waiting!
I could almost hear Hanul’s booming voice through the message.
With that settled, I checked Yeongseong hyung’s texts.
—Gyuseong, if you happen to see this, could you get me another serving of juice?
As luck would have it, I’d made two more servings.
I told him I could, then mentioned that I’d been invited to Ara Hongryeon.
Ding!
—Then I’ll wait for you at Ara Hongryeon too. Find the original chapter at g.com.
See you there.
I finished the conversation and immediately started down the mountain, heading toward Seocho District in Gangnam, where the guild was based.
While riding the subway, I checked the internet.
The headlines were full of stories about Ara Hongryeon.
‘What happened this time?’
For a moment I worried that another wave of criticism had erupted, but the articles said something completely different.
—27 Hours!
That’s All It Took to Clear a Grade 4 Dungeon!
—New World Record!
Ara Hongryeon Guild Does It Again!
—Predator Kang Hanul Roars at Everyone: “Who Said We Failed?”
Heh, heh.
These were very interesting headlines indeed.
I read through them one by one, feeling almost as if I were the one receiving the praise.
Every article was filled with acclaim, admiration, and astonishment.
The comments were generally positive too, apart from a few people determined to be contrarian.
—As expected of Korea’s first guild.
Guess the veterans still have what it takes.
—Insane, twenty-seven hours!
The previous record was fifty-two hours, and they almost cut it in half LOL.
—Behold the power of kimchi!
—But things changed as soon as Kang Hanul joined.
Is Jeong Soyeon still too inexperienced?
└She’s still the youngest Grade 6 Awakened in the country.
Doesn’t that mean her potential is even higher?
└Nobody knows that for sure.
I lost track of time reading the articles and comments.
Before I knew it, I’d arrived in Seocho District, where Ara Hongryeon’s headquarters stood.
The moment I stepped out of the station, I could see the gleaming building in the distance.
It was the headquarters of South Korea’s first-ever guild.
“Wow…”
This was only my second time seeing it in person.
The first had been when I was spending money recklessly in hopes of awakening and had come here to motivate myself.
‘Never thought I’d end up coming back like this.’
It was a strange feeling.
When I finally awakened, received an underwhelming ability, and was rated only Grade 1, I’d thought I’d never have any reason to come back to a place like this.
I straightened my shoulders and headed for Ara Hongryeon.
I was still a Grade 1 Awakened, the same as back then, but things were different beneath the surface.
I was a double Awakened, with a unique competitive advantage in farming that no one else could replicate.
“Ah!
Yeongseong hyung!”
He was sitting on a bench near the building.
When he noticed me, he waved with a smile.
“Sorry.
Feels like I’ve been calling you out an awful lot lately.”
“Not at all, hyung.
Here, take these first.”
I handed over the juice I’d prepared.
When Yeongseong hyung saw there were two servings, he looked apologetic.
“I’ll transfer the money right now.”
“Hyung, you don’t have to pay ten million won a bottle like last time.”
“No.
These items are worth that much.”
[20,000,000 won has been deposited.]
“Actually, I’d like to give you more.
I’m only keeping it to this amount because I know you’d feel uncomfortable otherwise.
Right now, money’s all I’ve got left.”
Seeing another huge sum appear in my account made me feel a little guilty.
If he were a stranger, I might have tried to push the price even higher.
But Yeongseong hyung had helped me through the hardest period of my life.
And I knew exactly why he was buying this juice, which made accepting his money even harder.
“Whenever I make something new, you’ll get first chance to buy it.
I promise.”
“Haha!
I’d appreciate that.
But I’ll still pay you a fair price.
I’m not going to take advantage of you.”
“By the way, how did the analysis turn out?”
“This time it was important enough that I personally checked the results.
Just as you said, it’s harmless to the human body.
I ran some clinical tests as a precaution, and there were no problems.
All that’s left is for my wife to drink it.”
“Then you’re going to give it to her today…?”
“That’s right.”
I felt nervous without even meaning to.
Yeongseong hyung must have been a hundred times more anxious, yet his face remained remarkably calm.
“I hope it works.
And if you ever run short of juice, let me know.”
“Thank you, Gyuseong.”
I couldn’t keep him there any longer, so we said our goodbyes.
After he left, I headed toward the entrance of Ara Hongryeon’s building.
‘I’ve never seen a poisoned person drink it, so I don’t know how effective it’ll be.
What if the effects aren’t strong enough?
Then I’ll just have to improve the crops and raise their levels…’
Perhaps because I’d just seen Yeongseong hyung, my head remained full of thoughts about poison and the juice even as I walked into the guild building.
I was so distracted that I didn’t notice someone stepping in front of me.
Bump!
“Ah!
I’m sorry.”
“Not at all.
May I ask whom you’re here to see?”
I looked up.
“Oh, my name is Lee Gyuseong.
I have an appointment with Mr.
Kang Hanul and Guild Master Han Seokjun.”
“…You said your name was Lee Gyuseong?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.
Please wait just a moment.”
I glanced around the lobby and noticed quite a lot of people.
Most of them seemed to be staring in my direction.
‘What’s going on?’
I was so wrapped up in thinking about the juice that I couldn’t immediately make sense of the situation.
Then I caught a few whispered comments.
“Who’s that?
He claims he’s meeting Team Two’s leader and the guild master?”
“Yeah, I’ve never seen him before.”
“Just some weirdo, maybe?”
Ah!
So they had the wrong idea.
Then again, I could understand.
If some random nobody appeared out of nowhere and claimed he was meeting Ara Hongryeon’s guild master and a team leader, I’d find it suspicious too.
Just then, the man who’d asked me to wait returned.
“May I confirm that you’re Lee Gyuseong, a Grade 1 Awakened?”
“Yes.”
Did he really have to look up my Awakened registration?
It was embarrassing enough that everyone was hearing about my Grade 1 classification.
“We weren’t given advance notice of your visit, so our staff have gone to check.
Would you mind waiting a little longer?”
“Oh, thank you.”
Seriously, Hanul, what kind of arrangement was this?
He hadn’t prepared a thing, and now anyone watching would naturally misunderstand.
The young man in front of me remained perfectly polite, but the others weren’t so considerate.
“Did he say Grade 1?”
“Our guild accomplished something pretty amazing this time, but that doesn’t mean every random person can just…”
I stood there awkwardly under their sharp looks.
The onlookers seemed to be waiting for the moment I’d be thrown out.
‘Don’t you people have your own business to get on with…?’
Perhaps five minutes passed.
Every minute felt like ten in that uncomfortable atmosphere.
I scratched my head and slowly looked around.
‘Wow, it’s Ara Hongryeon all right.
Even the building is incredible.’
The interior seemed to be decorated with materials recovered from dungeons.
Since I was stuck here anyway, I decided to make the most of it and admire my surroundings.
“Huh?!”
Someone suddenly let out a startled cry.
A commotion spread through the lobby, and everyone looked in the same direction.
Naturally, I turned too.
‘Whoa, that’s Jeong Soyeon!’
One of Ara Hongryeon’s star Awakened, whom I’d only seen on television and online, was walking toward me.
She looked healthy and vibrant, her long straight hair swaying behind her as she approached.
“Uh…?”
What was going on?
Why was she coming toward me?
Then, as if to prove I hadn’t imagined it, she walked straight up and spoke.
“Mr.
Lee Gyuseong?”
“Yes, I’m Lee Gyuseong.”
“Hello.
I’m Jeong Soyeon.
It’s nice to meet you.”
“Y-yes.
Nice to meet you too.”
What on earth was happening?
While the questions swam through my head, she gestured for me to follow.
“I’m sorry we weren’t prepared for your arrival.
Please come with me.
I’ll take you to Team Two’s leader and the guild master.”
“Oh, yes!”
The murmuring around us grew even louder.
I was just as bewildered as everyone else, though, so I simply followed her.
And now that I was seeing her in person, she was even prettier than on television.
‘What am I thinking about at a time like this?!’
I was struggling to regain my composure when Jeong Soyeon, who had pressed the elevator button, turned back toward me.
“Mr.
Lee Gyuseong?”
“Yes?”
“I heard you were the one who made that item.”
That item?
She probably meant the juice and poison.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Some of the people from the lobby had quietly followed us over.
Seriously, didn’t any of them have things to do?
This time, though, they looked at me with curiosity and anticipation rather than contempt.
“Gyuseong.”
“Yes?”
“I want you.”
“Pardon?”
Jeong Soyeon’s eyes were sparkling as she suddenly said something very strange.
At the same moment, an excited murmur, almost like a cheer, erupted from the people around us.
“I want you, Gyuseong!”
“W-wait, what do you mean by that?!”