When a suspicious object appeared on the beach,

Wiiing!

Sirens began to sound throughout Hawaii. Since there had been strange signs beforehand, the United States had already issued an evacuation order for all of the Hawaiian region, and most of the people living in Hawaii had already evacuated via boats or airplanes.

Boom!

Kaboom!

Thanks to that, tanks and fighter jets waiting on the shore could freely launch shells and missiles towards the black entities approaching, darkening the sea.

After hundreds of shots and missiles were fired, it seemed like the enemy had vanished.

But then,

Wriggle, wriggle.

The scattered black flesh on the ground began to gather towards the sea, and then

Boom!

A gigantic black entity burst forth from the sea.

“What the?! Is that a leech?!”

“A leech?”

The black entity was indeed a leech. The soldiers finally recognized the identity of the enemy and were relieved. It was just a leech.

Boom!

Tanks and fighter jets resumed their attack on the giant leech. The leech was slow and large, making it an easy target for all their attacks.

However,

Squish, squish.

Despite the attacks, the giant leech’s body quickly regenerated.

Moreover, the giant leech did not remain passive. It expanded its head and then lunged its body to cover the fighter jets and tanks that had attacked it. Although the attack was simple, its enormous size made it sufficiently threatening.

Crash!

The fighter jets could quickly fly away to avoid the leech’s attack, but the tanks were crushed under it.

“Move at full speed!”

“Yes!”

The soldiers inside the tanks didn’t panic and tried to escape by breaking through the leech’s body.

Then,

Crunch. Crunch.

With a crunching sound and the smell of fresh blood, smaller leeches started pouring in like water through the gaps of the tank.

“What the?!”

Bang! Bang!

The tank commander accurately shot the heads of the approaching leeches.

But,

Wriggle, wriggle.

The fragments of the dead leeches were simply absorbed into the bodies of other leeches.

And then,

Wriggle, wriggle.

The leeches clung to the soldiers’ bodies, sinking their teeth in and starting to suck their blood.

“Aargh!”

“Save me…”

Eventually, they were buried under thousands of small leeches, their blood drained and becoming mummified like fish floating in the Pacific Ocean.

***

23rd Floor of the Purple Tower.

Fire, blaze up!

Whoosh.

Along with Flamie’s incantation,

Screech!

Hundreds of approaching venomous centipedes were burned to death in the flames. True to Flamie’s talent in fire attributes, Flamie skillfully used the basic fire magic as soon as she learned it from Aileen.

However,

This is still as annoying as ever.

While it was easier than before since Flamie could kill hundreds at a time, the need for vigilance remained the same.

Isn’t there a better way? Ah! There is! The Detoxifying Green Onions from the master!

Flamie was excited at the thought of the Detoxifying Green Onions but then realized,

But how do I get them?

Not having a clear way to acquire them, Flamie quickly became dejected.

I’ll have to ask Aileen for a solution!

Flamie decided to seek Aileen’s help.

***

“All right, the rice is washed.”

Sejun soaked the transparent, hulled rice in water, gently stirred it with his hand, drained the water twice, and then

Pour.

Sejun put the washed rice in a stone pot that Theo had brought from the 97th floor of the tower. It was all the harvested rice. The pot was large enough to hold it all.

Swish.

He also filled the pot with water.

“Hmm… Is this enough?”

Sejun, who was pouring the water, fell into thought. Unlike an electric rice cooker, the stone pot didn’t have any markings to indicate how much water to add.

“What should I do…”

Failure here would waste the hard-earned rice. No. Precious rice cannot be wasted! Even if it fails, he’ll eat it.

But Sejun wanted to make delicious rice right from the start, if possible.

“Aileen, has the bronze mirror been fixed yet?”

Sejun asked Aileen, hoping to use his ‘mom’s help’ to make the rice.

But,

The tower’s administrator says the repair is not yet complete.

The bronze mirror was still under repair. Sejun didn’t know that Aileen had used it once to greet his mother.

“No choice then.”

Sejun measured the water level with his index finger, reaching one finger joint above the leveled rice. It was a method often mentioned by cooking experts on TV.

Although it’s a subjective method since everyone’s finger joint length varies, Sejun had nothing else to rely on at the moment.

“This should be enough, right?”

Sejun set the water level one finger joint above the rice.

Click.

He closed the lid of the stone pot, placed it on the fire, and started cooking the rice.

“Hehehe. What should I have for side dishes?”

Sejun pondered what side dishes to eat with the white rice.

“First, I’ll make grilled fish and stir-fried squid.”

Clang.

Having decided on the side dishes, Sejun opened the void storage and took out piranhas and squids to start cooking.

30 minutes later,

Creak.

As he opened the lid of the stone pot,

“Oh!”

There was a glistening, fluffy rice shining brilliantly.

“Let’s stir it a bit.”

Sejun stirred the rice with a rice paddle.

And then,

Whoo, whoo.

He blew on the rice stuck to the paddle to cool it down and picked it up with his fingers.

Chew, chew. 𝘳.𝑐ℴ

Sejun savored the rice slowly. The texture of the chewy rice grains was just right. With a bit of pressure, the grains burst softly and mashed smoothly.

And then,

Munch, munch.

The more he chewed, the more he could taste a slight stickiness and a savory sweetness.

“Wow… this is amazing! I made it, but it’s so delicious.”

Sejun praised himself and scooped a spoonful of rice into his mouth.

“Wow. It’s so good.”

Perhaps because it had been almost a year since he last ate rice, but the rice tasted incredibly sweet. He felt he could easily finish several bowls of plain rice.

“Ah. I’ve been eating alone.”

After eating about three spoonfuls, Sejun finally came to his senses.

“Guys, let’s eat!”

Sejun called the animals.

Krueng!

Squeak!

Ook!

The animals came to the kitchen at Sejun’s call.

“Here you go.”

Sejun dished out rice into bowls for the animals and then

“Let’s try this!”

Sejun scooped a big spoonful of white rice and topped it with a piece of grilled fish.

Aaah.

He put it all in his mouth in one bite.

Chew, chew.

The salty flavor of the fish and the soft sweetness of the rice filled his mouth.

Gulp.

The salty-savory taste of the fish and the soft sweet flavor of the rice filled his mouth.

Gulp.

After swallowing, the lingering salty taste made him crave more rice.

“Hehehe. This time with the stir-fried squid.”

Sejun scooped some stir-fried squid with a spoon,

Swish. Swish.

mixed it with the white rice, and took another big spoonful,

Aaah.

and put it in his mouth.

Chew, chew.

Gulp.

After swallowing, the spicy taste lingered in his mouth, making him crave rice again.

“So delicious.”

As Sejun alternated between eating grilled fish and stir-fried squid,

Krueng! Krueng!

Daddy always eats so deliciously! If I follow Daddy, Cuengi won’t fail!

Cuengi started eating rice with grilled fish and stir-fried squid, following Sejun, and the other animals began to do the same.

After a while,

Krueng! Krueng!

Cuengi want another bowl! It’s so delicious!

Squeak!

Ook!

The animals quickly finished their rice and eagerly presented their empty bowls to Sejun.

“Alright.”

Sejun dished out more rice for the animals.

And then,

Kuehehe. Krueng!

Hehehe. Delicious!

Cuengi, finished eating rice the fastest.

After Cuengi ate 10 bowls of rice,

Poof!

A golden light emanated from Cuengi’s body and then slowly faded. The Rice-as-Medicine effect had been triggered. Thanks to this, Sejun realized his cooked rice amounted to 100 servings and that about 10,000 grains of rice were in one bowl.

Me too! Sejun started eating rice earnestly, hoping to experience the Rice-as-Medicine effect himself.

As Sejun finished his 10th bowl, following Cuengi,

Poof.

A golden light glowed from his body.

You have consumed 100,000 grains of rice.

The Rice-as-Medicine effect has been triggered.

Your total stats will randomly increase by 100, randomly distributed among Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Magic.

Strength increased by 23, Stamina by 9, Agility by 37, and Magic by 31.

“Great.”

Sejun’s face lit up with a smile as he saw the message indicating his stats had increased due to the Rice-as-Medicine effect.

And,

Munch, munch.

Theo, enjoying the privilege of the Vice Chairman by eating two Churus simultaneously while lying on Sejun’s lap, was taken aback.

“Meow?!”

When he saw the golden light emanating from Sejun,

‘What, meow?! Puhuhut. Chairman Park is also getting stronger by burning money like me, meow?!’

Theo misunderstood, thinking Sejun was also burning money to get stronger.

‘I need to work hard from now on to earn more money for Chairman Park to burn, meow!’ Theo’s determination flared up, but just in spirit.

Gororong.

Warming up from the burning resolve, Theo fell asleep while licking the Churu.

Soon,

“Cuengi, we’re out of rice.”

The stone pot was empty.

Krueng…

Cuengi want more…

Cuengi made a disappointed face. It was understandable for a child used to eating a thousand servings of rice noodles.

“Don’t be too disappointed. We’re out of rice, but there’s still this.”

Swoosh.

Sejun poured water onto the scorched rice at the bottom of the stone pot and began to boil it again, making scorched rice soup.

Bubble, bubble.

As the water in the stone pot started to boil, a rich aroma began to spread all around.

“Here, everyone have a bowl.”

Sejun served the finished scorched rice soup to the animals.

And then,

Slurp.

Sejun scooped up a spoonful for himself. Chewing the twice-cooked rice,

Gulp.

he swallowed it along with the soup.

“Aah!”

The hot broth warmed his stomach.

“I guess I don’t need to clean this?”

After finishing the meal, Sejun looked at the clean stone pot, cleaned by the animals who had eaten every last grain of rice and scorched rice. The rice and scorched rice were popular among the animals.

“Now it’s time to work.”

After finishing the meal, Sejun got up. He hadn’t been able to complete his quota of Samyangju and rice noodles yesterday due to Theo’s interference, so he had no time to rest today.

“Guys, let’s get to work.”

At Sejun’s call, the animals moved to their respective workplaces.

***

Good morning, Flamie!

Podori’s roots greeted Flamie’s roots respectfully as soon as morning arrived, as promised.

Yeah. Did you sleep well, Podori?

Yes! I slept well!

That’s good. You need to sleep well. Here, take this.

Flamie’s roots passed a drop of liquid to Podori’s roots. It was drawn from the lake where Flamie had rooted itself. Flamie wanted to give more, but more than a drop might be too much for Podori to handle.

What… what is this?

Podori asked, surprised by the immense energy emanating from the liquid.

Hmm… think of it as a nutrient.

Nutrient?

Yes. So absorb the nutrient and hurry to make delicious grapes for our master.

Yes! I will work hard to produce grapes!

Podori began to absorb the liquid given by Flamie.

Then,

Creak, creak.

As Podori absorbed the liquid, its branches rapidly grew, starting to produce bunches of grapes.

Shortly after,

Boom!

Krueng!

It smells delicious!

Squeak!

Ook!

Kwiek!

The entire farm family, attracted by the delicious scent, began to gather around Podori.

“Huh?! Is that the smell of grapes?”

Sejun, who had just woken up, was also drawn by the smell of grapes, like the other animals, and headed towards where Podori was.

And then,

“Whoa?!”

He discovered an enormous number of grapes on the grapevine.

*****

𝑖.𝘤ℴ𝘮