Chapter 192: I Don't Know About the Quest, But Revenge Comes First
“Go and collect them.”
Brachio instructed the monsters she controlled to retrieve the land deed.
And then,
“This time, I’ll have to set the magic spell to activate a day after the first touch.”
She sent the newly enchanted land deed with the new spell back to the Black Tower.
***
“Dinner time!”
Sejun called out to the animals in front of the giant crayfish barbecue being cooked in the cooking area. The crayfish was so large that it took a long time to thoroughly cook, and it was evening before they knew it.
Of course, they could have eaten it for lunch by using Flamie’s flame buff, the Flame of Affinity, or some other method, but Sejun deliberately took his time since he hadn’t digested Aileen’s healthy meatball piece yet.
Once they started eating, there wouldn’t be anything left for Sejun.
“Cuengi, can you separate the crayfish?”
Krueng!
[Understood!]
Upon Sejun’s request, Cuengi enlarged, and
Crack.
Crack.
Effortlessly tore off both claws of the crayfish.
And then,
Snap.
He effortlessly separated the crayfish’s waist and separated the torso and tail competently. Those who knew how to eat were indeed different.
“Okay, everyone, cut as much as you want to eat.”
Upon Sejun’s directive, the animals lined up in front of the separated crayfish and carved out their shares. The crayfish was so large that even a single claw was hard to consume – except for Cuengi, of course.
Krueng!
[It’s delicious!]
Cuengi, holding one claw, had already eaten more than half of it.
“Vice Chairman Theo, the claws.”
“Got it, meow!”
Snap.
Sejun used Theo’s dragon claw to cut the crayfish flesh into convenient sizes for later consumption and stored it in the void storage.
After distributing grilled Crayfish to Kaiser, Kellion, and Aileen, he finally sat down to eat.
“Vice Chairman Theo, have some Churu.”
Of course, he first looked after Theo. Clearly, he was the Chairman and Theo was the Vice Chairman, but why did it feel like he was the assistant?
“I’ve been waiting, meow!”
Theo confidently replied, then lay comfortably on Sejun’s lap, ready to enjoy his treat. Just waiting like this means I’m assisting Chairman Park, meow!
“Here.”
Sejun scooped up some tuna porridge and brought it to Theo’s mouth.
Slurp, slurp, slurp.
“Puhaha. It’s delicious because of Chairman Park’s sincerity, meow!”
“Is it?”
After seeing Theo enjoying his meal, Sejun began to eat the crayfish.
“Crayfish is best eaten by dipping it in the innards.”
As Sejun dipped the crayfish leg meat into a bowl filled with its innards and placed it in his mouth,
“Mmmm.”
First, the flavors of cheese and butter awakened Sejun’s olfactory and taste cells.
Chew, chew.
As he began to genuinely chew on the crayfish, the chewy texture accompanied by the salty taste filled with the flavors of the sea was felt.
However, the salty taste washed away quickly like it was being cleansed by the waves, and as he chewed more, a rising sweetness filled Sejun’s mouth.
As everyone was enjoying the crayfish,
“Lord Sejun, we’ve arrived!”
Elka and the subordinates, who had hurried over at Sejun’s call, arrived.
“Elka, good timing. Join us.”
Sejun cut the flesh of the crayfish and offered it to the wolves.
“Lord Sejun, thank you!”
“Thank you!”
As Elka expressed gratitude towards gratitude Sejun, the subordinate wolves also followed suit, expressing their gratitude and started eating the crayfish heartily. The wolves had skipped their meal to rush at Sejun’s call.
“Elka, did you find the farm?”
As soon as Elka finished eating, Sejun inquired.
“Yes. It’s a place we were already aware of.”
“A place you knew?”
“Yes, that place is…”
Elka began explaining about the farm on the 85th floor of the tower.
“So, you’re saying that the kudzus (aka Arrowroots) grown on the farm spread to other areas, killing all other plants on the 85th floor of the tower?”
“Yes. The kudzus absorb the nutrients from the ground, preventing any other plants from growing nearby. That’s why we suffered more during the famine.”
Kudzus are known to send their roots deep into the ground and have a strong vitality, so this possibility made sense.
“But during the famine, you didn’t eat the kudzus?”
Sejun, who recognized kudzus as one of the staple crops, asked. If the floor was filled with kudzus, it would have been enough to fill their hungry stomachs.
“At first, we did fill our stomachs with kudzus. But after seeing wolves die inexplicably after consuming kudzus for an extended period, we stopped eating them.”
“Really?”
Sejun pondered upon hearing Elka’s words. Were the kudzus poisonous? He thought he should prepare detoxifying green onions just in case.
Just then,
Krueng!
[Dad! Cuengi found this!]
Cuengi, covered in crayfish innards all over his body, ran over, holding a blue jade-like bead.
Krueng!
[Dad should eat this!]
Cuengi proudly presented the bead to Sejun. It seemed to be the core of the crayfish. It probably tasted bitter.
“Thanks.”
Sejun patted Cuengi’s head and examined the core.
[Deep-sea Giant Crayfish Core]
→ The core of a crayfish that lived in the deep sea of the dimensional ocean for over 2000 years.
→ Upon consumption, all stats increase by 20.
→ It tastes bitter.
→ Usage restriction: Lv. 50 or above, all stats 50 or above
→ Grade: B+
As expected, it was a bitter-tasting core. But this time, there was no mention of it being ‘too strong,’ which was a relief.
Swish.
Sejun bravely popped the core into his mouth. Perhaps after having it a few times, he had become somewhat accustomed to its bitterness. It was, literally, ‘just’ bearable.
Gulp.
[You consumed the Deep-sea Giant Crayfish Core.]
[All stats have increased by 20.]
“Ugh.”
To get rid of the lingering bitterness in his mouth, Sejun quickly put some honey jelly into his mouth.
The jelly melted as soon as it touched his tongue, taking the bitterness with it.
[You consumed the poisonous Honeybee’s Cherry Tomato Honey Jelly.]
[Talent: Enhanced Magic Circuit has been slightly strengthened.]
Swish.
Seeing the message that his talent had been enhanced, Sejun put honey jelly in Cuengi’s mouth, who was still staring at him with longing eyes.
Krueng….
But seemingly unsatisfied with just one, Cuengi kept looking at Sejun with a pitiful sound, not closing his mouth.
Swish. Swish. Swish. Swish.
With a softened heart, Sejun put ten honey jellies in Cuengi’s mouth.
Kuehehehe. Krueng!
[Hehe. Yummy!]
Only after seeming satisfied, Cuengi ran back to continue eating his crayfish. His meal wasn’t over yet.
In the meantime, while Cuengi was finishing his meal,
[You harvested Detoxifying Green Onions.]
[Your job experience has increased slightly.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 7 has increased slightly.]
[You have gained 50 experience points.]
Sejun pulled out the detoxifying green onions and stored them in the void storage.
And then,
Thump thump.
Krueng!
[Cuengi’s full now!]
After finishing his meal, Cuengi ran back to Sejun, his fur still smeared with crayfishs’ innards.
“Hold on. Let’s take a bath first, Cuengi.”
Krueng?
Sejun picked up Cuengi, who was trying to cling to his leg, and moved him to the fountain to give him a bath.
A little later,
Krueng!
[It’s refreshing!]
“Guys, stay in the void storage for a while.”
After bathing Cuengi, Sejun had Theo, Cuengi, and Elka enter the void storage. He was planning to go down to the 85th floor of the tower to check on the farm.
Swoosh.
Sejun unfurled the land deed for the 85th floor.
[The summoning function for the initial engraving of the land deed for the 85th-floor farm has been activated.]
Sejun disappeared to the 85th floor of the tower.
***
[You have arrived at the 85th floor farm.]
[You moved from the topmost floor, the 99th floor, to the 85th floor.]
[You have descended 14 floors.]
[Due to the effect of <Title: Retrogressor>, all stats increase by 14.]
“Wow.”
Upon arriving on the 85th floor, he saw that the entire area was covered in green vines.
“Is all that kudzus?”
Endless kudzu vines. And it was evident they penetrated deep into the ground.
Clank.
“Come out, guys.”
Before pondering any further, Sejun had the animals come out of the void storage.
“Chairman Park, I feel a pull from the sky, meow!”
Theo, who had just emerged from the void storage, suddenly pointed his front paw towards the sky.
“The sky?”
Could it be?! Emila’s Garden, which disappeared from the 49th floor of the tower, was here.
Thunk.
“Land Moving.”
Sejun took out a sky-reaching bean and planted it in the ground.
[You’ve planted the Sky-reaching Bean in the magic power-infused soil.]
[Due to the sound of the farmer’s footsteps, the effect of Magic Seed Sowing Lv. 6 has been enhanced.]
[Due to the effects of Magic Seed Sowing Lv. 6, the growth speed of the Sky-reaching Bean will double for the next 24 hours.]
However,
[There are no nutrients in the soil.]
[Nearby crops are absorbing the soil’s magic power.]
[Nearby crops begin to steal nutrients from the Sky-reaching Bean.]
The kudzus were not easy to deal with.
“What?!”
Upon seeing the message, Sejun quickly dug up the ground again.
Wriggle. Wriggle.
The roots of the kudzus were latching onto the sky-reaching bean and absorbing its nutrients. Thanks to the magic power Sejun supplied to the soil, the kudzu roots became even more active.
He originally had three sky-reaching beans, meaning should have been the last bean.
However,
“Good thing I multiplied them in advance.”
Thanks to his foresight of keeping them in the Golden Box of Abundance, Sejun now had five Sky-reaching Beans in his pocket.
Just as Sejun breathed a sigh of relief,
[A quest has been generated.]
[Quest: Restore the farm consumed by the kudzus and reclaim the land rights.]
Reward: Recognition as the rightful owner of the land deed, one tangerine tree.
A quest message appeared before Sejun.
“Huh? A tangerine tree?”
It seemed this place used to be a tangerine orchard before it was overtaken by the kudzus.
“Alright! Cuengi, enlarge and flip the ground!”
Krueng!
[Got it!]
Sejun decided to try solving the problem with force first. After all, the kudzus deeply rooted in the ground likely couldn’t withstand Cuengi’s strength.
Bang!
After enlarging, Cuengi punched the ground and
Kwoooong!
Lifted the soil with his strength. He managed to raise a piece of ground almost 10 meters thick and about 3300 square meters in area. However, many of the kudzu roots penetrated deeper than 10 meters. Most of the roots in the chunk Cuengi lifted were cut off.
“Land Moving.”
Sejun flipped the 10-meter deep ground once again.
Thump.
Unlike Cuengi, about 165.2 square meters of ground was flipped to a thickness of about 5 meters.
“Did the roots go down that deep?”
Still seeing roots with no end in sight, Sejun was flabbergasted.
Krueng!
[I’ll try again!]
Cuengi went down into the deep hole and flipped the ground once more. This time, he applied more force and lifted an area of ground 20 meters thick. Finally, roots without severed ends were visible.
Yet, about half of them were still cut off.
“Land Moving.”
When Sejun moved the ground again, he finally saw the ends of all the roots.
“This is going to be challenging…”
Sejun sighed, realizing he would have to dig 40 meters deep throughout the 85th floor to completely eradicate the kudzus.
It seemed impossible to remove all the kudzus from the 85th floor of the tower, as they would grow back faster than he could remove them.
Even if he removed all the kudzus from the farm area, the kudzus from the surrounding areas would quickly invade, making the effort somewhat meaningless.
“What to do?”
[You’ve obtained 4 kudzu fruits.]
[Your job experience has increased slightly.]
[Your proficiency in Seed Harvesting Lv. 6 has increased slightly.]
Seeing no clear solution, Sejun harvested the kudzu fruits for the time being. He collected the fruits so naturally. He truly lived up to his title as a tower farmer.
Then,
“Huh?!”
A brilliant idea struck Sejun. What if he planted these kudzu fruits in the Green Tower? It seemed like something very interesting would happen.
“Hehehe. Guys, let’s collect the fruits for now!”
I don’t know about the quest, but revenge comes first. Sejun decided to take revenge on the Green Tower, which had audaciously tried to kidnap him and Aileen, first.
*****