Chapter 65: The Growing Component

Ironing myself was scalding hot.

<Super Regeneration repairs damage.>

Thanks to Regeneration and Super Regeneration, it felt less intense, and the seared area turned into something like nori stuck to a sink or kitchen towel, crumbling away.

It seemed to taste somewhere between nori, maesaengi, or seaweed, so I considered eating it like KingSlime.

“Patient! Did you eat dried seaweed?”

I’ve heard eating dried seaweed can land you in the ER.

It’d probably swell in my stomach.

I don’t usually vomit, which is good for my esophagus health while lying around, so I didn’t eat it.

The Health Absorption rate slowed, and the magic sea weed on my thigh, ironed crisp, could soon be torn off.

“Got it! See that? This is modern civilization’s power, you filthy punks!”

I was startled but figured out how to remove it.

Still, Health Absorption kept draining me, so self-harming with the iron was risky.

Learning drying works, I used the hairdryer.

Wiiiiing.

Some parts turned into dried kelp, crumbling easily, slowing Health Absorption to a bearable level.

[Hairdryer can break its limit.]

I had two, so I hit limit break.

[Hairdryer glows brightly and vanishes.]

Damn it.

Beyond a cursed game, a cursed life.

Is limit breaking tied to luck? Why’s the success rate so low?

My lower body freed from seaweed, I grabbed my usual dryer and fast-dried in front of the AC.

[Air conditioner can break its limit!]

“You think I will?”

I could’ve limit-broken the AC long ago.

Just didn’t.

Using the AC and hairdryer, I dried the seaweed on me.

It shriveled, crumbled like taffy gone wrong, and shrank in volume.

Escaped, thankfully.

It showed no level, no experience either.

My level rose, but that’s because the Nightmare Queen kept making weird moans and seductive remarks.

“Urgh, ah. You escaped!?”

Trapped in a seaweed dome due to her size, I don’t know what she’s doing.

She’s asking about me, though.

As the seaweed on me dried and twisted, the seaweed on her tried reattaching to me.

Wiiiiing.

“Get lost.”

With Health Absorption stopped and my health recovering, I didn’t want more sticking.

The buff vanished instantly and won’t return.

Threatening with the hairdryer kept the seaweed at bay.

It left a bit on the Queen and attacked again.

“Ugh, damn it.”

If I had another dryer, I’d dual-wield them like guns, but since I don’t, I used the dryer like a pistol and the iron like a shield, drying the approaching seaweed.

The moist seaweed, with the AC dehumidifying fiercely, plus the dryer and iron’s heat, dried up.

It hardened like dry grass, trying to wrap me.

Dealt with.

“Arghhhh!”

The remaining seaweed clung to the Nightmare Queen, but since most of it attacked me and dried, only the damp bits on her remained.

When I was wrapped in seaweed, I looked ridiculous, but the Queen, in her figure size, with teal seaweed like a full-body swimsuit, showed off her curves—kinda nice.

No, what’s nice? Am I crazy?

It’s not about falling for a figure.

I’m better than Room 204, gotta be.

<Level up.>

Got caught up in the Queen, then snapped out of it—feels good.

Should I help her?

“Whoa!”

As the seaweed dried and fell off, flames erupted from her body.

She burned the seaweed off, along with her clothes, but her frail yet curvaceous body was covered by long black hair in key spots.

Allies usually weaken when recruited, so why’s she stronger?

“You’re startled? Sorry, I didn’t mean to use threatening power.”

“Why didn’t you use it sooner and let it trap you?”

“I was taught using alien powers scares men away. Fire’s scary, right?”

<Level up.>

Charming again.

“It’s fine in this kind of fight.”

“Really?”

I don’t fully trust her yet, but the next invaders won’t feed my levels like she did.

Their intent, shown by the level 0 seaweed, is to attack without strengthening me.

Honestly, it’s troublesome, but the maritime clan’s thinking’s right.

Either the Queen’s an idiot, or she meant to boost me a bit—sequential deployment was dumb.

Killing low-level monsters sent by a demon king to grow and defeat him is practically a trope.

“Hm? Heh, you’re looking at me.”

She’s not a complete idiot—she underestimated me at first, then planned to grow and eat me, but now she seems foolish.

<Level up.>

For now, I’ll grow by resisting her tens of thousands of Charm for experience.

“But using it on monsters is fine—don’t burn the dungeon.”

“Of course. Thank you so much. I love you!”

The obvious charm with the level-up is damn embarrassing.

If I say the same to the Fairy Princess in the washing machine, will this studio overflow with love?

[That nostalgic smell. Hm.]

Meanwhile, CatMan sniffs the seaweed hardened to the Queen’s curves, eyes dreamy, reminiscing.

It does smell savory.

“Hm, got any sesame oil at home?”

***

“If it’s the maritime clan, their leader was originally level 15,000. Humans couldn’t escape to the sea, so they didn’t level up much.”

“Then?”

“No way 15,000 could pull this off. The clan’s got tough warriors from the harsh sea, stronger than their levels, but this is too powerful. They don’t have schemers like this either.”

“Well, swimming’s good exercise.”

Heard swimming burns tons of calories.

Great workout, so maybe physical fish warriors will keep coming.

“But it seems a high-magic demon took over as clan leader.”

Clans seem like lords, warlords, governors, or mayors.

“Not the weakest, then?”

“Probably. My magic’s over 10,000, but I couldn’t control a level-less being sent to this world.”

Someone projecting magic across worlds.

“What’s your exact level?”

“48,000s.”

“Charm?”

“74,000.”

No stocks in that world—really went all-in on one stat.

With Charm and Magic over 80,000 and high speed, her Strength’s probably similar or lower than my boosted Strength.

“Stay for now. Don’t talk randomly.”

“Can’t I express my love?”

“No more than 10 charms a day.”

“Huh? Oh.”

I debated banning charm entirely.

My head says let it run for levels, but my body disagrees, so I set limits.

RiceCookerMan’s banned from Juche-ideology remarks.

With more mouths to feed, I need rules.

[Unfair! I must obey no wall-scratching, ignoring my instincts. Let’s resist and unite against him!]

“Shut up and meow.”

[Meow… meow.]

Silencing CatMan, I told the Nightmare Queen:

“Control yourself if you want to stay.”

“…”

That pitiful look’s another charm, right? Leveled up.

I’m level 588 now. Since she arrived, I’ve gained over 130 without killing.

And a ton of dried seaweed’s left.

“Hey.”

Nabit’s mom, Youngsook ajumma, runs a side dish shop.

Should I take it there for nori crisps?

That shop’s thriving on them.

<Sea Weed>

Synthetic item.

That’s the visible description.

[Trait: Hermit of the Hovel activates.]

But Hermit of the Hovel changed it.

<Sea Weed Infused with Magic Potion>

Dried sea creature that swells with moisture.

Infused with a growth potion component.

Temporarily enlarges the consumer.

Even the Japanese girl moans couldn’t trigger Hermit of the Hovel’s charm defense.

Thought it was useless, but the “see item details in base” trait works.

With the trait, I saw the seaweed’s synthetic effect.

“A growth synthetic item?”

What grows?

No way…

It did swell massively, so it follows that trait.

Since getting Hermit of the Hovel, I can classify synthetic items, like blue mushrooms.

But it relies on that perverted sage’s memory, so if he doesn’t know, it’s vague.

“Hey, RiceCookerMan.”

[Where’s that mother! I’ll crush her! And that filthy furball!]

Unplugged for a while, now he’s late to the party.

“Admire the fighting spirit.”

[Jo… No, Koreans are a warrior race!]

Almost said North Korea again, huh?

I can teach modern history and adversary views, so I fixed RiceCookerMan’s attitude a bit.

“You’re Korean?”

[Yes! I’ll crush those plotting division, filling rice with liberal democracy for enlightenment!]

This time, he’s turning into an extreme patriot.

Converts often get radical.

If he goes wild, maybe I’ll make him a Taegukgi cape.

His North Korean accent lingers, but I’ll think of him as a post-liberation displaced person.

“Stop yapping and cook rice with this.”

Searched and found seaweed rice exists.

Seaweed goes well with rice, like nori.

The savory smell when the Queen burned it wasn’t packaged nori but like mom roasting bundled nori on a gas burner.

Thought it was seaweed—nori?

[Rice and nori’s the best combo! I’ll cook it fiercely!]

Barely cleaned the mess from the Queen fight, but with seaweed left, I cooked to deal with it.

Lost my health buff anyway.

<Rice Infused with Sea’s Aroma>

Magic +10, Health +100, lasts 24 hours.

Additional effect: Grows.

“Ughhh.”

That sound.

Can’t know what grows until I eat it.

If it’s about something shrinking and growing, a prescription would fix that.

A college buddy went to a urologist, said, “I want to go multiple times,” got generics, and carried them like a trump card.

I don’t need it now, but if I crave it later, I’ll remember that line for a prescription.

If it’s just that, it’s useful but hard to commercialize.

But if it increases size, like height, that’s a helpful effect.

“Hey, CatMan, take a bite.”

Animal testing first.

CatMan looks at me pitifully, shaking his head.

[Eat this and end up in a state where life or death’s uncertain?]

My pet CatMan’s level 294, half my 588, and his random Intelligence stat makes him drop scholarly quips.

“Hey, Queen.”

“Oh, thank you for calling me.”

Told her not to talk unless I say so—dangerous even as a figure.

“Take a bite.”

“If you give it, I’ll eat. It’s from our world anyway.”

She eats.

“Me too!”

The Fairy Princess, hidden in the washing machine, clamors.

I pull her out and offer it.

“Want it if it makes you grow?”

“Yeah!”

She glances at the figure while saying it.

She recognizes the Queen.

The Queen sighs but avoids her gaze.

“Hurry!”

Her eagerness isn’t dangerous.

Like how moldy mushrooms in my room helped her.

I put seaweed rice on a pot for her.

Then—

“…”

[I like this size. From today, I’m TigerMan. I’ll roar mightily.]

“Meow.”

CatMan grew to tiger size but roars “meow.”

“Don’t just stare—come closer, it’s fine.”

The Queen’s height and figure grew, not much different from her giant form, but more… uh, yeah.

And—

“Super big!”

“Oh…”

The Fairy Princess didn’t grow—her flower’s stem and leaves flourished, turning the balcony and window area into a forest from the pot.

In this environment, only RiceCookerMan, still normal-sized, beams proudly.

[How’s that? The rice’s effect! I boosted its duration too. Beyond what you see—urgh!]

“Yeah, great job, rice cooker.”

No space left in the room.

Especially CatMan, with Maritime Creature Specialty LV80, now has—

Additional effect: Buff items made from marine materials gain 400% effect.

[Maybe four times bigger than a tiger!]

“Looks like it…”