Chapter 112 – Awakening Magic Talent

While Se-jun was resting at home due to mana exhaustion,

[Hello, Cuengi!]

Flamie greeted Cuengi as he came down to the cave. Once in the morning and once in the afternoon, Cuengi was hunting small fish that Flamie drove from the Sea of Dimensions using her roots.

Kkueng! Kkueng!

[I’m not doing well! Dad collapsed from mana exhaustion!]

[What?! The master collapsed?!]

Flamie, who heard the news about Se-jun from Cuengi, asked in a worried voice.

Thud!

Kkueng! Kkueng! Kku-kkueng!

[He collapsed after dropping lightning just once! Dad is weak! I’m very worried that Dad might die at this rate!]

Cuengi hunted the fish with a single punch while pouring out his worries to Flamie.

Although Cuengi had already known that Se-jun was as weak as a sunfish, he did not know that Se-jun had a talent for putting himself in danger even when alone. Even now, just in case, the Golden Bat was guarding Se-jun.

[This won’t do. We must come up with some measures.]

Kkueng! Kkueng!

[That’s right! A plan is needed!]

Flamie and Cuengi searched for a way to strengthen Se-jun. However, even after thinking for a long time, no proper alternative came to mind.

***

The 55th floor of the tower.

“Power of ice, obscure the surroundings according to my command. Ice Fog!”

To buy time for the group to escape, Iona created an ice fog to block the view while slowing down the enemy’s movements.

The group, who had intended to easily defeat Grid and rescue Jeras, met an unexpected ambush inside the barrier. Those were the white knights guarding Grid’s mansion. They were Dragon Tooth Soldiers whose entire bodies were made of dragon bones.

The number of Dragon Tooth Soldiers was 100. The Dragon Tooth Soldiers were neither strong nor fast. However, because the Dragon Tooth Soldiers could neither be destroyed nor get tired, the group chased by them grew increasingly exhausted.

They also thought of a way to exit the barrier, but unlike when they entered, the barrier could not be broken from the inside, so they continued to fight the Dragon Tooth Soldiers while fleeing.

As the group was getting more and more exhausted like that,

Pyupyu!

Pyupyu suggested they go check if the secret passage of the Red Ribbon Royal Family might still exist. And shaking off the pursuit of the Dragon Tooth Soldiers, they followed Pyupyu and arrived at the location of the secret passage’s entrance.

Rattle.

When Pyupyu pushed the bottom of the rock,

Rumble.

The rock moved, revealing the hidden entrance of the secret passage. Although the palace of the Red Ribbon Kingdom had collapsed, fortunately Grid had not touched the underground area, so the secret passage remained intact.

“Hurry!”

“Hurry up!”

Elka and Hegel made the wolves enter the secret passage.

And,

Pyupyu!

When even the black rabbit entered the secret passage, Pyupyu hurriedly called her master.

“Kyu-kyu-kyu- Understood. Power of ice, grant bitter cold snow and wind to the enemies! Blizzard.”

Iona cast the magic and quickly entered the closing secret passage.

Thud.

Whoosh.

Simultaneously with the closing of the secret passage, the Blizzard magic activated, and a snowstorm began to blow.

And,

Freeze.

The Dragon Tooth Soldiers chasing the animals froze in the snowstorm and stopped their pursuit. The traces of the secret passage moving also vanished in the strong wind.

***

“Ugh…”

Se-jun, who had spent all of yesterday lying down, woke up. Perhaps because of the aftereffects of mana exhaustion, his condition was not good today either. He had no strength in his body and did not want to do anything.

“Still, I have to do what needs to be done.”

Stroke.

Se-jun barely managed to add a stroke to the bedroom wall, starting the morning of his 275th day of being stranded.

When Se-jun, who had marked the date, went outside,

Kkueng!

Cuengi, who was carrying breakfast for Se-jun, spotted him and rushed over urgently. The Golden Bat, who had monitored Se-jun all night, was sleeping on the ceiling of Se-jun’s bedroom.

Grab.

Cuengi increased his size to 3 meters, grabbed Se-jun’s shoulders, and took him back to the bedroom.

“Cuengi, what is it? I can move around now.”

Se-jun tried to go out, but…

Press.

Cuengi lightly pressed the chest of Se-jun, who was trying to get up, with his front paw. With just that, Se-jun was completely suppressed.

Kkueng! Kkueng!

[No! Dad must eat a lot and rest!]

Se-jun had no choice but to eat soup in bed, forced by Cuengi.

A moment later, Cuengi, who had been monitoring Se-jun to prevent him from leaving, lay down next to Se-jun and fell asleep, bringing silence to the bedroom.

And,

Kku-ro-rong.

Bae-ro-rong.

Only the snoring sounds of Cuengi and the Golden Bat could be heard. Both of them were exhausted from worrying too much about Se-jun.

“These guys.”

His heart warmed by the two caring for him, Se-jun stroked Cuengi’s belly. It was cozy.

Then, the incident of being suppressed by Cuengi earlier suddenly crossed his mind.

“Receive my punishment. Bbubbbubbub.”

Se-jun took revenge by blowing raspberry on Cuengi’s belly.

Kkuhehehe.

Tickled by Se-jun’s raspberry, Cuengi laughed in his sleep. Se-jun, who had played like that, carefully got up and went outside. Staying only inside the house was too stifling.

“Phew.”

Going outside, Se-jun took a deep breath.

“The Seed Shop should open soon. A good seed needs to appear, so…”

Clank.

Se-jun muttered to himself, opened the subspace warehouse, entered, and came out holding a strawberry.

And,

Slurp.

He took a bite of the strawberry.

“Mmm.”

Thanks to the freshness of the strawberry, energy seemed to return to his body.

[You have consumed a Lucky Strawberry.]

[Luck will increase for 1 hour.]

“It would be nice if the Seed Shop opens late. Then I could eat one more strawberry.”

While Se-jun was having useless thoughts,

Buzz. Buzz.

The young Poison Honeybee Queen, who had decided to follow Se-jun yesterday, flew over holding something and sat on Se-jun’s shoulder.

It looked similar to Honey Jelly, but it was a Honey Jelly embedded with particles that sparkled in gold like gold dust. Perhaps because of the golden light, it looked very luxurious.

“Seventh, did you sleep well?”

Se-jun asked the young Poison Honeybee Queen. As the queens grew in number, Se-jun named them in the order they arrived.

Buzz. Buzz.

[I slept well. And this is a small token of my sincerity. Hehehe.]

Thud.

Seventh Poison Honeybee Queen laid down the Honey Jelly she brought in Se-jun’s hand, and then rubbed her front feet diligently like a fly. Offering a bribe already, she had talent. The talent of a sycophant.

“Thank you.”

Se-jun thanked the Seventh Poison Honeybee Queen first and checked the Honey Jelly.

[Golden Royal Jelly]

It was created by a Poison Honeybee Queen who refined and refined various types of Honey Jelly over a long period using her secret method.

The taste and nutrition were enhanced by refining Honey Jelly.

Upon consumption, it forcibly awakens latent mana-related talents.

Expiration Date: 100 years

Grade: A+

“It forcibly awakens latent mana-related talents?!”

Se-jun’s expression brightened after reading the description of the Golden Royal Jelly.

This was completely meant for him. It was an item absolutely necessary for Se-jun, who was suffering from mana exhaustion. If a mana-related talent was created, he could obtain effects such as an increase in mana or an increased rate of mana recovery.

Furthermore, if a mana-related talent awakened, he could also strengthen the talent using Honey Jelly.

“Amazing! Thank you so much, Seventh!”

Bu… Buzz.

[Hehehe. I am so glad that my bri… gift is to your liking, Master.]

‘Was it really a bribe?’

“But did you make this?”

Buzz. Buzz.

[No. It belonged to my queen’s queen’s queen’s…]

The Seventh Poison Honeybee Queen only stopped after saying ‘queen’ ten times. According to the Seventh Poison Honeybee Queen’s explanation, it had been stored since then. It seemed that it became impossible to make once the flowers disappeared.

“Can you not make it?”

Buzz. Buzz.

[Well, I tried honey for the first time yesterday… but I will work hard!]

“Alright.”

Se-jun liked the Seventh Poison Honeybee Queen’s proactive response. And without hesitating, he immediately swallowed the Seventh Poison Honeybee Queen’s bribe.

Having eaten the Lucky Strawberry and increased his luck, now was the best timing to eat the Golden Royal Jelly.

Squish.

As soon as he put it in his mouth, the golden jelly became mushy like dough. At the same time, a soft yet intense sweetness filled his mouth. It was a sweetness that could give a headache, but strangely, it did not hurt.

Thanks to that, Se-jun could purely enjoy the sweet taste.

And,

Gulp.

The mushy Golden Royal Jelly went down naturally.

“Wow.”

No sweetness remained in his mouth, making it clean until the end.

[You have consumed Golden Royal Jelly.]

[Forcibly awakening latent mana-related talents.]

Blue lumps of light hovered around Se-jun’s body.

At that moment,

[Forcibly awakening a mana-related talent higher than your latent talent.]

Along with the message, even larger lumps of blue light appeared.

“Oh! It’s hitting here!”

While Se-jun rejoiced, thinking that eating the Lucky Strawberry was worth it,

Slide.

One of the blue lumps of light was absorbed into Se-jun’s body.

[Talent: Magic Circuit is preparing to awaken.]

“Magic Circuit?”

Just as Se-jun was about to examine what kind of ability it was, since it was a talent he had never seen before,

[Talent: The physical body is too pathetic to awaken the Magic Circuit.]

[Talent: Forcibly awakening the Magic Circuit.]

“Agh!”

Along with the message that the talent was being forcibly awakened, a heavy energy spread throughout his body from Se-jun’s stomach, and he felt a terrible pain as if his entire body was being torn apart.

“What in the world…”

Se-jun could not bear the pain and lost consciousness.

Buzz.

The Seventh Poison Honeybee Queen hurriedly called for help. Of course, she omitted the detail that he had collapsed after eating what she gave him. If she did not, she might be killed before Se-jun woke up.

A moment later,

Kkueng!

Cuengi, who was sleeping inside, rushed out and dragged Se-jun back to the bedroom. As expected, Dad was weak!

Cuengi thought that the weak Se-jun had fainted from exposure to the outside wind. For Se-jun, it was an unfair misunderstanding.

And,

[What?! Master collapsed again?! These bad fire ants!]

At the news that Se-jun had collapsed, Flamie decided to punish the fire ants, who had created the reason for Se-jun’s fainting.

Rumble.

Flamie began to stretch her roots to the south.

***

“Puhahat. The work finished faster than expected, meow!”

Just as Theo, who had completed the trading and even the founding of the Earth Defense Force, was about to head back up to the 99th floor of the tower with the interns in joy,

“Something is not right, meow!”

“Huh?!”

The expression of Theo, who had been smiling until just now, changed in an instant. Bill and Jeff also grew tense at Theo’s serious face. Because every time that expression appeared, they had to run without rest.

“Park Se-jun’s knees became weak, meow! Run fast, meow!”

Theo began to run quickly.

And just as he was about to enter the merchant passage leading from the 70th floor to the 80th floor of the tower,

“Wonderful wandering merchants, take a look at an item before you go.”

At the voice coming from behind, Theo’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

“Why did you call me, meow?!”

Theo asked the wandering merchant who had laid out items on a stall.

“Huh?!”

The wandering merchant was momentarily flustered at Theo’s words. He had called out to other wandering merchants passing by, but Theo naturally thought he was the one called, thinking that he was the only wonderful wandering merchant.

“Ah! I called to show you some items suitable for a wonderful cat!”

Like a seasoned wandering merchant, he responded appropriately.

“Is that so, meow?”

Theo began to inspect the items the wandering merchant had laid out on the stall.

“Meow…”

There were many large and flashy sculptures that dazzled the eyes. However, Theo did not even glance at such items and focused on the feeling of his front paw. Theo was someone who now clearly knew his strengths.

At that moment,

“Meow?”

Tingle.

A pull attracting Theo’s front paw was felt.

“Give me this, meow!”

“Huh?! This one?”

The wandering merchant’s expression brightened at the sculpture Theo pointed at. This was because what Theo pointed to was a strange sculpture about the size of a small golf ball, which made it impossible to tell what was carved.

“Really?”

“Yes, meow!”

‘To think there is a merchant who wants to buy something I just happened to pick up on the street.’

“Ahem. It is cheap anyway, so just give me 3 Tower Coins.”

The wandering merchant spoke as if he were selling it off as a clearance item, but even the most expensive sculpture he sold did not cost 3 Tower Coins.

However,

“Give me a discount, meow!”

He met the wrong opponent. No matter how much he wanted to buy it, Theo was not one to just buy it outright.

“Then… just 2 Tower Coins…”

“Give me a discount, meow!”

After bargaining three times, Theo bought the strange sculpture for 0.5 Tower Coins and ran toward Se-jun again.

‘Puhahat. President Park, wait, meow! I am bringing something good, meow!’