Chapter 117 – Meeting the Mushroom Ants

Kenya, Africa.

Thud.

“Tch. Why am I planting this?”

Ngugi, who was saved by Theo and forcibly enlisted in the Earth Defense Force, straightened his back and grumbled as he looked at the Sturdy Blade Green Onions planted around him.

There were about 1,000 Sturdy Blade Green Onions planted around him.

Before leaving the tower.

“Hand over all the Detoxifying Green Onions.”

Han Tae-jun confiscated all the Detoxifying Green Onions that Theo had distributed to the Earth Defense Force. Han Tae-jun believed Theo’s words that destruction was coming to Earth and planned to mobilize all resources to do his best.

Naturally, at first, hunters, centering around Lucilia, the Guild Leader of the Wizard Guild, rebelled, saying, “Who do you think you are?!”

But they only invited trouble for themselves. As expected, there were many hidden strong people in the world. Lucilia and the hunters had to surrender after being beaten half to death by Han Tae-jun’s barrage of Magic Missiles.

‘To think he could use magic with that massive build.’

Ngugi shuddered as he recalled the memory of that time.

Before even 24 hours had passed after arriving on Earth, Han Tae-jun established the Earth Defense Force and began buying land all over the world. Then, he designated land for the Earth Defense Force members to plant the Sturdy Blade Green Onions.

Ngugi did not even get to see the money from selling the Detoxifying Green Onions, but fortunately, he was looking forward to the promise of receiving an allowance every time he planted the green onions.

‘Maybe this job is better… since I don’t have to risk my life here.’

Thud. Thud.

While Ngugi was planting the Sturdy Blade Green Onions with those thoughts,

Flutter.

A green locust about the size of a fist flew in front of Ngugi.

“Huh?!”

Ngugi was greatly surprised when he saw the locust.

[Green Locust]

‘How is this possible?!’

This was because the name that used to be seen above the monster’s head inside the tower was visible above the locust’s head.

Slash.

Ngugi sliced the Green Locust with the machete he possessed. Then, a message indicating that he had acquired experience points appeared. It was definitely a monster.

“How is a monster outside the tower? Is it true that Earth is going to be destroyed?!”

By the time the chilling thought that what Theo had said might be true entered Ngugi’s head,

Flutter. Flutter.

About 100,000 Green Locusts filling the sky were seen flying toward the place where Ngugi was.

‘To think a swarm of locusts is a monster…’

It seemed that it had not been known because the names above their heads were not visible to the eyes of non-awakened people.

“Damn it! I should have brought my weapon…”

Ngugi regretted leaving his weapon behind. His main weapon was a bow. Since there was no need to carry a weapon on Earth, it was left at home.

Slash. Slash.

Out of options, Ngugi had to defeat the Green Locusts with the machete he had. They were not strong, so there was no danger in defeating them.

While Ngugi was busy catching the Green Locusts like that,

“Huh?!”

Squish.

Crunch. Crunch.

The Green Locusts were seen getting cut and killed instead as they approached to eat the leaves of the Sturdy Blade Green Onions. To try to eat the leaves even while dying, it was a truly terrifying appetite.

And since the monsters charged on their own, the speed at which the Sturdy Blade Green Onions killed the monsters was faster than the speed at which he defeated them.

“So this is why they told us to plant the Sturdy Blade Green Onions…”

Ngugi, who had gained a great realization, reported this situation to the Earth Defense Force headquarters. More Sturdy Blade Green Onions were needed.

***

When Se-jun arrived at the west forest,

“Oh. There are more of them.”

Creak. Creak.

Creak. Creak.

Before he knew it, the number of Ents had increased to 7,000. It was thanks to not being attacked by the fire ants.

Creak. Creak.

The small Ents welcomed Se-jun, competing with each other to stick out their heads.

[Seeds… pick… for me…]

[Please… pick… seeds…]

“Alright.”

There was a reason why the Ents asked Se-jun to pick the seeds that they could have picked themselves.

[Farmer’s Touch Lv. 2 is activated.]

[While the touch lasts, the growth of the Purifying Ent speeds up slightly.]

This was because they liked the feeling of their growth accelerating as the Farmer’s Touch skill was activated when Se-jun picked the seeds.

While Se-jun was picking the Ents’ seeds like that,

“It’s a duel, meow!”

Woosh. Woosh.

Theo ran around here and there to catch the branch swung by the Ent, saying he would have the duel he couldn’t finish last time.

And,

Kkueng.

The bored Cuengi played by digging the ground.

As he dug down deep, the light disappeared and it became dark, but

(Brother Cuengi, I will light the way. Bat Light!)

The Golden Bat, who had not had an opportunity to demonstrate its ability until now, used its hidden ability.

Flash.

A weak golden light emitted from the Golden Bat’s body, illuminating the surroundings.

Kkueng!

[Good job, kkueng!]

Thump. Thump.

Thanks to that, Cuengi was able to dig the tunnel even deeper with the Golden Bat’s help.

When Cuengi had dug down about 10 meters beneath the ground like that,

Kke…

(Brother Cuengi, there is some sound coming from over there.)

The Golden Bat heard a suspicious sound.

Kkueng?

[Which direction, kkueng?]

(It is that way.)

When the Golden Bat pointed south, where the sound was heard, with its wing,

Thump. Thump.

Cuengi began to dig a tunnel toward the south.

And by the time he dug 300 meters,

Thud.

Crumble.

The wall crumbled.

And,

Kkueng?

(Huh?)

Kke-ek?

Cuengi and the Golden Bat met the black ants digging a tunnel from the opposite side.

***

“Everyone, gather!”

Se-jun, who had picked all the Ents’ seeds and replanted them, called the animals. It was time to go back now.

“I have already gathered, meow!”

Theo, who had returned to Se-jun’s lap a long time ago, exhausted from chasing branches, said proudly.

“Right, meow! Take this, meow!”

Theo remembered the items he had brought from the president’s office of the Traveling Merchant Association and pulled them out one by one from his bundle.

“Furniture?”

When Se-jun examined the items Theo pulled out, they were chairs, a night light, and a side table. He thought it would be nice to decorate the bedroom.

“Good job. But where did you buy them?”

“I didn’t buy them, meow. I just picked them up, meow!”

Theo confidently claimed he had picked them up when he had clearly stolen them. As expected of a cat bandit.

“Really? Anyway, good job.”

“I know, meow! So open a Churu, meow!”

“Sure.”

Se-jun put the items Theo pulled out into the subspace warehouse and fed Theo Churu.

Lick. Lick. Lick.

Nearly ten minutes passed until Theo finished the Churu like that, but Cuengi and the Golden Bat did not return.

“Where did they go?”

When Se-jun stood up to search for the two of them,

Kkueng!

Batbat!

Cuengi and the Golden Bat, who sat on Cuengi’s shoulder, appeared from the ground singing.

And,

Kke-ek!

Behind them, ten black ants about 30 cm in size followed while singing in chorus.

[Mushroom Ant]

“Mushroom Ant?”

Seeing the name displayed above the black ants, Se-jun looked at the ants closely.

‘They are cute.’

Unlike the fire ants who had sharp, triangular faces, the Mushroom Ants had round faces and blunt front teeth, giving them a cute appearance.

They had gentle looks that suggested they could not fight at all. Instead, perhaps due to the name “Mushroom Ant,” they seemed like they would be a good fit for farming.

“Where have you two been? And what are those ants?”

Kkueng! Kkueng!

[We met them while digging the ground, kkueng! They said they would give us food called mushrooms if we spared them, kkueng!]

(Se-jun, these ants say they want to work on Se-jun’s farm!)

Kke-ek!

At the words of Cuengi and the Golden Bat, the black ants violently shook their antennae up and down.

“Let’s go to the farm for now.”

Se-jun took the ants and went to the farm.

***

On the way to the farm.

“So you escaped after living as slaves of the fire ants?”

Se-jun spoke with the Mushroom Ant as they moved.

Kke-ek!

At Se-jun’s words, the Mushroom Ant moved its antennae up and down to answer.

“So there were that many fire ants.”

According to what he heard from the Mushroom Ant, the influence of the fire ants was extremely large. It was said that there were dozens of fire ant colonies, each consisting of hundreds of thousands of ants.

Fortunately, there was no single fire ant colony strong enough to unify all of them. Thus, they did not invade other areas often.

If the fire ants had all been unified into a single force, they might have ruled the 99th floor of the tower.

At that moment,

“Huh?!”

Kke-ek!

They met other Mushroom Ants on the path.

And,

“They say they want to work on Chairman Park’s farm, meow!”

The Mushroom Ants, somehow having found out, said they wanted to work on Se-jun’s farm.

Although Se-jun did not know it, when Se-jun collapsed, the roots of Flamie, which moved in rage, struck several fire ant colonies, freeing the Mushroom Ants who had been held as slaves by the fire ants, and

[If you have no place to go, go south and rely on Se-jun’s farm.]

Following the words of Flamie, who had freed them, the Mushroom Ants were in the middle of seeking out Se-jun.

Like that, Se-jun kept meeting Mushroom Ants until they arrived at the farm, and by the time they reached the farm, the number of Mushroom Ants exceeded 500.

“For today, take a rest here for now.”

Se-jun provided empty land so that the Mushroom Ants could rest.

Kke-ek!

At Se-jun’s words, the Mushroom Ants lay down on the empty land and began to rest comfortably for the first time in their lives.

***

“Hup.”

Gulp. Gulp.

Ah.

Se-jun woke up from sleep and drank the water placed on the side table Theo had given him yesterday.

“Representative Theo, wake up.”

Se-jun woke Theo after drinking water, but

“I will sleep for five more minutes, meow…”

Since Theo was one who never woke up at once, Se-jun attached Theo to his leg.

And,

Scratch.

He added a stroke to the wall and came outside.

When Se-jun came outside,

Kkueng!

Batbat!

Cuengi and the Golden Bat, who had woken up early and were playing, gave Se-jun their morning greetings.

“Let’s eat breakfast.”

Kkueng!

At Se-jun’s words “Let’s eat breakfast,” Cuengi answered loudly, “Great, kkueng!”

While Se-jun prepared breakfast in the kitchen,

Squeak!

Ppya!

The rabbits also woke up one by one and gathered in the kitchen.

This morning’s menu was boiled pork slices. Originally, he was going to make soup as usual, but Se-jun, who accidentally discovered wild boar meat in the treasure warehouse, urgently changed the breakfast menu.

“Hum hum hum.”

Humming at the pork he was eating for the first time in a while, Se-jun tied the wild boar meat with Detoxifying Green Onions and put it in the pot.

And,

Bang! Kkueng!

Bang! Kkueng!

Following Se-jun, Cuengi beat the table and sang. Dad is making a new dish, kkueng! It will definitely be delicious, kkueng!

Glug. Glug. Glug.

While Cuengi sang like that, Se-jun added the Fire Carrot Wine, along with the carrots inside, whole into the pot. Alcohol was the best for removing the gamey smell. Additionally, he added enough water to submerge the wild boar meat, closed the lid, and began to boil it.

At that moment,

-No! That precious alcohol!

-If you were going to do that, you should have given it to me…

While the two dragons, who had come to the kitchen at mealtime to see if there was anything to beg for, were lamenting as they saw the Fire Carrot Wine put into the pot,

“But what do the Mushroom Ants eat?”

Se-jun thought of the ants.

‘Should I go check on them for a bit?’

In any case, it had to boil for about 20 minutes for the boiled pork to be finished. Thus, Se-jun left the kitchen and moved to the place where the ants were resting.

When Se-jun arrived at the place where the Mushroom Ants were,

“Huh?!”

Kke-ek!

Kke-ek!

Although the land had definitely been sufficient yesterday, the Mushroom Ants were swarming so much that empty land was not visible due to those who joined overnight.

‘There must be about 3,000 of them?’

While Se-jun was estimating the number of ants,

“Huh? The colors?!”

Se-jun’s eyes noticed something different about the Mushroom Ants from yesterday. The backs of the Mushroom Ants were showing different colors from yesterday.

As Se-jun looked closely at the back of a Mushroom Ant,

“Are those mushrooms?”

He saw mushrooms growing on the backs of the Mushroom Ants. Each Mushroom Ant grew a different kind of mushroom on its back.

And,

Kke-ek!

The Mushroom Ants were harvesting the mushrooms growing on each other’s backs for one another.

At that moment,

Kke-ek!

A Mushroom Ant growing a king oyster mushroom on its back approached Se-jun and stopped in front of him.

And,

……

It just stood still.

“Is it asking me to pick it?”

When Se-jun cut one king oyster mushroom growing on the back of the Mushroom Ant with his dagger,

[You have harvested a King Oyster Mushroom.]

[There are 47,812 times left until the completion of the job quest.]

[Your job experience increases very slightly.]

[The proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 5 increases very slightly.]

[You have gained 1 experience point.]

The crop harvest message appeared.

“Oh!”

Se-jun cheered as he looked at the message. The mushrooms growing on the backs of the Mushroom Ants were about 100 in total. Moreover, since they had grown like that overnight, if things went well, he might be able to harvest them once more around evening.

It seemed he could complete the job quest today.

“Guys, stop!”

Se-jun hurriedly shouted to prevent the Mushroom Ants from harvesting the mushrooms.