Chapter 26: Shall We Make It From Now On?

Tap, tap, tap…!

Raindrops that had clung to the tree leaves fell onto the head of a gigantic beast crouched beneath them.

The beast trembled violently, unable even to shake the water away.

The beast’s true identity was a spy sent by Sekaru of the west.

He had arrived before Irshak’s subordinates.

Thanks to the boss personally lending him a mobility device and a peeping item, he had arrived the fastest and could observe from the farthest distance.

However, cautious to the extreme, he never dared to approach close enough to see the absolute domain with his own eyes.

Just as he was about to spy on it using only the peeping item, others arrived.

And shortly after…

Screeeech!

A sound of death rang out.

What he saw through the peeping item was a banquet of screams and predation.

‘D-did I see it?’

The last thing reflected in the item was a vivid green leaf.

It was just a leaf, yet why did it feel as if their eyes had met?

That was when it happened.

The instant he thought he heard a sharp tearing sound through the air, the tip of his ear burned.

“Aaaagh!”

He started running without even looking back.

True to being Sekaru’s trusted subordinate, he secured evidence even while fleeing.

The thing that had just sliced off the tip of his ear.

It was a throwing blade, flat and oval, sharp at the tip, with honed edges.

While pulling it free from the tree, he nearly lost a finger.

As he fled, the sound of air ripping apart echoed behind him.

“Eeeek!”

Rolling across the ground, he swore to himself.

“I-I’m never coming back!”

It was the desperate reflection of the only surviving spy.

“Strong and energetic morning…”

Perhaps because it had rained yesterday, Goh Namtae’s morning call sounded a bit weak.

Beep beep beep!

Thump thump thump thump!

“No, I’m not sick. It’s just… I had a strange dream all night…”

Tilt tilt!

The little ones’ eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Hearing that Heungbok’s name had also been given by his mother in a dream, they seemed to expect another such dream.

“This time, it wasn’t my mother… There was a jellyfish with dozens of eyes, a bird head with ice wings, and a man in blood armor snooping around inside our wall.”

Haeul’s group flinched, ears twitching.

Even the guardian beasts trembled and avoided his gaze.

Well, even if it was just a dream, the content was rather horrifying.

Goh Namtae patted them gently to calm them down.

“It’s fine. I wasn’t scared. We won. And Heungbok, you know what? He opened a pumpkin growing on the roof and started spitting out pumpkin seeds.”

Flinch.

The leaf of Heungbok, who had been peeking through the window to greet him, shook violently.

“It was just a dream. Everything was taken care of at the end, except for one suspicious shadow. …Hm? It escaped? That’s fine too. Seeing it run away, it probably won’t come back.”

He wondered if talking about the dream had been a mistake.

Seeing them still trembling, Goh Namtae decided to avoid sharing such dreams in the future.

“Once we eat something tasty, everything will be okay. So let’s have breakfast!”

Only then did their expressions brighten.

After making food all day yesterday, there was enough left that he did not even need to make tofu today.

But just as he was about to grill it, he realized something.

“…We’re out of oil.”

Thud.

They dropped to their knees in despair.

They looked more hopeless than when being punished.

Goh Namtae shook his head.

“Soybean oil is, just like the name says, oil made from soybeans.”

‘Woooah!’

‘Let’s make soybean oil!’

‘Should we bring the soybeans?’

He stopped them before they could rush off carrying sacks of beans and prepared breakfast.

Making soybean oil was added to today’s to-do list.

At this point, he could no longer imagine a meal without it.

It seemed they had already grasped the truth before even tasting fried food.

‘…Should I really try making fritters?’

Watching them bounce with excitement made him smile.

‘Dad, it looks like I’m living well, right?’

Yesterday’s gloom felt like a distant memory.

The torrential rain that had seemed ready to sweep everything away had stopped, and the sun shone brightly as if nothing had happened.

After eating a ‘lacking’ breakfast without soybean oil, he opened the mirror.

Beyond it were two familiar faces he had not seen in a while.

“O-older brother, hello?”

“Hyung, is that really you, Namtae?”

Seeing their slightly tense expressions, Goh Namtae grinned and held up his phone.

Ding.

Even after the notification sound, the siblings just stared blankly at the crack.

Since the mirror stayed open only briefly, they seemed fully focused.

-Check your messages!

When Goh Namtae sent another handwritten note, Kim Jaewon finally picked up his phone.

His eyes went wide.

“H-hyung! You sent a message from the Labyrinth? Is this real?”

“Where, where?!”

He sent another message to the panicking siblings.

-The variety and quantity of goods will increase, so check whether the Saeron Guild can handle it. And tell them it must go through your parents, no exceptions.

“Yes, yes! But what exactly—”

Showing them was faster than explaining.

He had to hurry before the mirror grew blurry.

Instead of dumping everything indiscriminately, he decided to send packaged sacks.

That was why he had gone to the trouble of packing them in the fields.

Even the guardian beasts joined in, working hard to pass things through the mirror.

Installing a larger mirror made it faster, but it was still a bit late.

Ping!

The last sack of rice bounced back.

“I should’ve sent it first and talked later. …It’d be nice if messages worked anytime.”

As if waiting for that, Toto replied.

[It is possible.]

[As when you sent only the first note, or even with a smaller opening, messages can be sent.]

“…Huh?”

Opening a door just to send messages was far easier than sending physical notes.

Even a door no bigger than the eye of a needle was enough.

“Then real-time communication might actually be possible.”

It would require the other side to reply immediately, but at least the time limit for sending his own messages was gone.

[Would you like to try sending one?]

“…No, I have nothing to say.”

Despite finding a new method, Goh Namtae put the phone down.

The phone could no longer steal his time.

There was something far more urgent.

“Shall we go extract soybean oil now?”

Thump thump thump thump!

Beep beep beep beep beep!

With enthusiastic cheers from his family, Goh Namtae headed to the storage shed.

But finding what he wanted was not easy.

Thanks to the guardian beasts’ cleaning, it was spotless, yet everything was mixed together in chaos.

He finally understood why he never gained any ‘organizing’ or ‘cleaning’ skills.

“Why are they hidden so well? Should I do a big cleanup?”

If his father were here, he would probably say that would only be possible in the next life.

‘Shall we look for it?’

“Hm? It’s fine. I think it was around here somewhere. Just a moment… Yes, this!”

Goh Namtae proudly held up what he had found.

A hydraulic jack his father used, several chisels of different sizes, and finally a piece of sandpaper that had taken the longest to find.

“To extract oil, we need to make an oil press. I’ll use these to make one.”

His eyes sparkled.

He was hopeless at organizing and cleaning, but he had extraordinarily strong manual skills.

After stepping outside and gathering a log, planks, and several beams, the preparations were complete.

He tapped the wood lightly and asked,

“Toto, can this wood withstand the pressure of a hydraulic jack?”

[Of course.]

[I can confidently say it is harder than an A-grade weapon on Earth.]

‘I cut all that wood myself…?’

Toto continued explaining.

[It is within the boss’s domain, combined with the boss’s saw.]

[This does not mean the boss rivals hunters with A-grade weapons.]

[The boss’s abilities are specialized in farming.]

Toto’s explanations often struck painfully close to home.

Goh Namtae waved his hands with an exasperated expression.

“W-who said anything? I’m not planning to fight anyone anyway.”

Fight hunters, of all things.

Yet his instincts were warning him.

Hunters were steadily advancing through the floors.

‘Is it really safe to relax just because it’s the 100th floor…?’

To the boss whose sense of crisis had awakened, Toto spoke.

[However, if you make good use of pest eradication, it can be applied as a defensive capability.]

“Pests? Are there any nearby?”

[Not yet.]

‘Not yet…?’

Toto cut off the explanation with a suggestive phrase.

Feeling that asking further would only chill him to the bone again, Goh Namtae let it go.

He would know when the time came.

For now, something fun awaited him.

He first hollowed out the inside of the log into a round shape.

Lost in thought as he carved, he soon received a response.

[A skill has been activated.]

[Carving]

But he did not use the skill and continued with only the chisel.

From experience, using a newly acquired skill right away made him tire quickly.

Hollowing out a single log was finished in no time.

When he turned around holding the hollowed log, the area was spotless, without a single wood chip.

Looking again, he saw Haeul carrying the last fragment to the furnace.

They were perfect assistants.

After patting them, he picked up the sandpaper.

Because the work was already ingrained in his body, a skill formed quickly.

This time, he used it immediately.

‘Sanding!’

“…Wow!”

It was not even comparable to an electric sander.

The surface became smooth in an instant, and he could adjust curves and strength exactly as he wanted.

The entire wooden cylinder was soon polished to the point where even a fly would slip.

Next, he cut planks for the lid and base and drilled a hole for the oil to flow out.

After refining everything with the sanding skill, he lay down on the platform.

[Platform synchronization has begun. — 0.5%]

“The platform syncs too? It’s not connected to the house.”

[That is correct.]

[However, as you said, since it is separate from the house, synchronization will take a long time.]

He wondered what would happen once it synced, but his weary body pushed the curiosity aside.

Soft fur wrapped around his limbs, and just as his eyes were about to close on the cool waterbed, the ground beside the platform began to bulge.

A single stem popped up.

“Heungbok?”

Rustle, rustle.

A small leaf sprouted at the tip of the stem and quickly began to grow.

Before long, it was large enough to cover the entire platform, forming a leaf parasol.

“Thanks, Heungbok. Can you come out into the yard now?”

‘Yes, I’ve grown a lot!’

“Oh, you can speak directly now?”

At his amazement, Heungbok shyly shook his leaves.

Even though his body was now large enough to swallow a house, his shyness remained.

If anyone else heard this, they would be left speechless.

“You worked hard growing.”

When Goh Namtae gently stroked him, the leaves trembled lightly.

But deep beneath the ground,

the roots stretched more than ten feet, silently.

After closing and opening his eyes briefly on the platform, his mana was fully recharged.

He immediately finished making the oil press for those waiting on the soybean oil.

He bonded the parts with the joining skill, fixed the hydraulic jack, and placed the cloth bag on top, completing it as an item.

[Boss’s Oil Press……]

He skipped the description.

‘We brought the soybeans!’

‘Shall we start making it now?’

Goh Namtae smiled and shook his head.

“We need to roast the soybeans and grind them first.”

‘Then I’ll roast them.’

‘I’ll grind the beans!’

The little ones were unusually cooperative today.

When he put the ground beans in and pumped the handle, clear oil began to drip down.

[Boss’s Soybean Oil - Yellow Grade]

[Mana amplification, skin luster, flavor enhancement……]

It had taste, cosmetic benefits, and even defense-related properties, but none of that caught the family’s attention.

‘Let’s grill tofu!’

‘Grill pumpkin!’

‘I want peppers!’

They had developed preferences of their own.

Now he could satisfy them all.

Or even more.

“…Kids, should we have fried food for lunch today?”

It was the moment the menu was upgraded once again.