Chapter 127 – Healing the Banana Tree

“Grr! Find Se-jun-nim quickly!”

“Pyak!”

“Yes!”

The Black Wolf tribe and the Silver Wolf tribe, who were helping reconstruct the Red Ribbon Kingdom on the 55th floor of the tower, also arrived on the 77th floor of the tower with the black rabbit after receiving contact from the cat interns.

“Hegel-nim! The scent splits into two.”

“Sniff, sniff. Indeed.”

At Elka’s words, Hegel said while sniffing the ground.

One side had the scent of Cuengi and Theo, and the other side had the scent of the Black Minotaurs.

“Then we will split up as well. The Black Wolf tribe will track the scent of the Black Minotaurs.”

“Yes! Then we will pursue the scent of Cuengi and Theo!”

In that way, the wolves split into two groups.

And,

“King Black Rabbit, you say you will go with us?”

“Pyak!”

The black rabbit chose the side with Theo’s scent.

Theo’s ability to track Se-jun was second to none. It was almost on par with the 10 Wonders of the Tower. The black rabbit thought that if Theo could not find Se-jun, it would only be because Se-jun was dead.

No, he might even go to the afterlife to find him…

“Then, we depart!”

“Pyak!”

At Elka’s shout, the black rabbit and the other silver wolves moved along the scent of Theo and Cuengi.

The southward descent of the 500 Black Minotaurs from the 99th floor of the tower.

Thanks to this, the boss monsters of the 80s and 70s floors grew tense and began to move busily. It was to find out the reason for the southward descent of the upper-floor existences.

And some monsters descended south in advance to prepare for emergencies. No one knew what kind of butterfly effect this phenomenon would create.

***

While confusion was occurring in the Black Tower, Se-jun, Theo, and the golden bat were having a good time under the service of the monkeys.

“Ugh! I slept well!”

Se-jun stretched pleasantly as he got up from the bed provided by the monkey chief last night. It was so comfortable because he had slept after laying the king oyster mushroom mattress, which he had kept in his sub-space warehouse, on top of the chief’s bed.

After sleeping well and getting up like that,

“Ukki!”

The monkeys noticed Se-jun’s coughing and hurriedly brought out food.

“This is?!”

Se-jun was surprised to see the food the monkeys had brought for breakfast. Mangoes with yellow flesh and red watermelons full of moisture came out as breakfast.

‘It looks delicious!’

The corners of Se-jun’s mouth went up at the mangoes and watermelons he was seeing for the first time since entering the tower.

(Wow! It smells delicious!)

The golden bat was equally pleased to see the fruit. Especially, the golden bat showed interest in the watermelon, which was easy to suck.

“Here, eat.”

As Se-jun cut the watermelon into a size easy for the golden bat to hold,

“Bat-bat!”

(Thank you!)

Suck, suck!

The golden bat held the watermelon with its wings and began to suck it eagerly.

“Shall I try one too?”

Se-jun’s first pick was mango.

“Thank you for the food.”

Just as Se-jun was about to pick up a slice of mango and put it in his mouth,

“Chairman Park, did you forget something, meow?”

Theo’s disappointed voice was heard.

“Huh?!”

When Se-jun quickly looked at Theo, Theo was wearing a sulky expression. He was pouting because he was not being looked after.

“President Theo, sorry.”

Se-jun, who had been distracted by the fruit, hurriedly took out a Churu.

“Here you go.”

As Se-jun tore open the Churu and brought it to Theo’s mouth,

“Nyang! I will let it slide just this once, meow!”

Chomp, chomp, chomp.

Only then did Theo’s sulky expression soften as he began to lick and eat the Churu deliciously, and Se-jun also picked up the mango again and put it in his mouth.

“Mmm…”

As soon as he put it in his mouth, the unique aroma and sweetness of the mango filled his mouth, and the soft flesh of the well-ripe mango crumbled gently.

And,

Gulp.

Although he barely chewed it a few times, the mango just slipped down his throat.

“It’s delicious!”

After eating the mango, Se-jun picked up the watermelon this time.

Crunch.

As he took a big bite of the watermelon, the moisture full of the watermelon’s flavor and sweetness leaked from the flesh and flowed down the side of his mouth.

“What is this, meow?! It’s sticky, meow.”

Thanks to that, Theo, who had been eating the Churu deliciously on Se-jun’s lap, was showered with watermelon juice, got annoyed, and had to groom himself again.

Crunch, crunch.

“Wow. It’s really sweet.”

The crunchy texture and sweetness every time he chewed. Although it was a pity the watermelon was not cold, it was still very delicious.

He kept all the mango and watermelon seeds that came out while eating. He planned to plant them later when he returned to the farm on the 99th floor of the tower.

“Ukki.”

While they were eating breakfast, the monkeys fanned them with huge tree leaves.

“Hehehe. Nice.”

“Puhahat. It’s nice, meow!”

(Se-jun-nim! Theo hyung-nim! I am happy!)

It felt like they had come sightseeing.

After eating fruit for breakfast in that way, Se-jun moved in earnest.

“Lead me to where the banana trees are.”

For now, he planned to examine the diseased banana trees.

‘I hope I can fix them.’

“Ukki!”

While Se-jun was thinking, the monkeys guided him to where the banana trees were.

“Humm. So these are the ones that fell ill?”

Se-jun said, examining the banana trees.

From the outside, the banana trees looked like they were drying to death due to a lack of moisture. However, looking at the fresh grass on the ground, it was easily understood that they did not end up like this due to a lack of water.

“Shall we look inside first?”

Just as Se-jun was about to tear off the dried outer bark of the banana tree,

[Farmer’s Touch Lv. 3 is activated.]

[While touched, the growth of the banana tree accelerates slightly.]

[The banana tree has no energy to grow due to being diseased.]

As Se-jun’s hand touched the banana tree, the skill activated.

[A quest occurs.]

[Quest: Energize the banana tree so it can overcome the disease.]

Reward: Upgrade Farmer’s Touch to Farmer’s Warm Touch.

Failure: Death of the diseased banana tree.

“Huh?! Upgrade?”

An upgrade of a skill. Since it was information kept top secret in each guild, it was something Se-jun had never heard of.

“But what should I do to energize the banana tree? Do I need to give it fertilizer?”

“Ukki?”

[Do you need fertilizer?]

Hearing Se-jun’s words, the monkey that was with him hurriedly brought fertilizer from the village. The monkeys were also farming in their own way, so they were making fertilizer.

They spread the fertilizer brought by the monkeys around the banana tree and watered it, waiting, but there was no effect.

“Nyang! I know a way to make it regain energy, meow!”

Theo, who had been bored on the side, shouted.

“What is it?”

“Chairman Park, just watch what I do, meow!”

Theo confidently walked forward, and,

Knead, knead.

“Wake up, meow!”

He began kneading the banana tree as if performing CPR.

However,

[The banana tree’s energy becomes weaker due to the shock.]

The banana tree was too weak to withstand Theo’s kneading.

“Hey!”

Se-jun hurriedly picked Theo up by the scruff of his neck and placed him on his lap.

“Why isn’t it getting energized, meow? My front paws are healing paws, meow.”

Knead, knead.

Theo, frustrated as if he could not understand, kneaded Se-jun’s lap.

We Se-jun was receiving Theo’s massage in that way,

(Se-jun-nim, how about playing some music?)

The golden bat came up with a new idea.

“Music?”

(Yes. You get energized when you hear music.)

“Hmm.”

The golden bat’s words made sense. Se-jun had also heard of it. That if you played music for plants, their growth would accelerate, and the yield and taste of the fruit would also improve.

“Let’s try it for now.”

Since there was no other way, they decided to try everything that came to mind.

“Ahem. Ah, ah, ah~!”

Se-jun held a branch and prepared to sing while warming up his throat.

[The banana tree’s energy weakens due to the noisy sound.]

“Huh?!”

I only warmed up my throat so far…

The banana tree was more sensitive than he thought.

“Puhahat. I must play my song for it, meow! I am the Great Black Dragon’s subordinate…”

Theo, while hanging onto Se-jun’s lap, only turned his head and sang his improvised self-composed song to the banana tree.

[The banana tree’s mood sours due to the arrogant song, and its energy weakens.]

“President Theo, stop. It says you won’t do either.”

“Let’s just chop it down, meow!”

Schwing!

How dare it get even weaker after listening to his self-composed song! The enraged Theo unsheathed his claws.

At that moment,

(Where, where, where did it appear from, the golden bat~)

The golden bat began to sing. A song it had heard while roaming around on Earth, which felt like its own theme song.

‘It prepared it.’

Se-jun thought, looking at the golden bat. And he hoped that the golden bat would not be hurt by the reaction the banana tree would soon show.

However,

“Uh?”

“Chairman Park, why are you letting the golden bat keep singing, meow?!”

No message stating that the banana tree had weakened appeared.

After a while,

[The banana tree’s energy recovers slightly due to the peaceful sound.]

‘This?!’

Se-jun read the message with a bewildered expression.

1 hour later,

[You have completed the quest.]

[As a quest reward, Farmer’s Touch Lv. 3 is upgraded to Farmer’s Warm Touch Lv. 3.]

Because the golden bat restored the energy that Se-jun and Theo had drained with its singing, the quest was completed.

Se-jun immediately checked the upgraded skill.

[Farmer’s Warm Touch Lv. 3]

-Warmth is imbued in the touch of a farmer who loves crops.

-The growth of plants touched by the farmer’s warm touch accelerates slightly.

-Diseases of sick plants touched by the farmer’s warm touch are gradually healed.

“Nice.”

With this skill, saving the banana trees was only a matter of time. Se-jun hurriedly placed his hand on the banana tree and began to heal the disease.

“Ukki!”

“Ukki-ki!”

Watching the banana tree touched by Se-jun’s hand gradually recover its original color, the monkeys were moved and bowed again. It was a miracle of god.

After healing 100 banana trees in that way during the day, Se-jun returned to the monkeys’ village when evening came.

“Ukki!”

Inside the village, they had already heard the news that Se-jun healed the banana trees and were preparing a festival. Unfortunately, since the only things the monkeys could obtain were mangoes and watermelons, no extra food came out just because it was a festival.

Instead, dried mangoes—which Se-jun had instructed them in the morning to slice thinly and dry—and fruit wine made by fermenting mangoes and watermelons together by the monkeys were added to the menu.

Still, the food was too scarce to enjoy a festival.

“At this rate, it won’t feel like a festival.”

Se-jun took out food from his sub-space warehouse and began to cook.

“Ukki!”

As Se-jun began to cook, the monkeys watched Se-jun’s cooking.

From the monkeys’ perspective, just being able to watch a god’s cooking was a story that could be passed down to their descendants for hundreds of years. Therefore, the monkeys watched closely as Se-jun cooked.

In that way, Se-jun completed four dishes while receiving all the monkeys’ attention.

Honey potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, tomato soup, stir-fried squid.

“Now, let’s eat!”

At Se-jun’s words, the monkeys ate Se-jun’s dishes placed in front of them first.

“Ukki!”

The reactions of the monkeys who ate Se-jun’s dishes were diverse. The monkeys who ate honey potatoes and roasted sweet potatoes rejoiced at the sweetness, while the monkeys who ate tomato soup were fascinated by the sour yet addictive taste.

And,

“Ukki-ki!”

The monkeys who tasted the spicy flavor of the stir-fried squid turned red in the face and sweated profusely.

“Ukki!”

The monkeys who tasted the spicy flavor hurriedly soothed the spiciness with other food, and then hurriedly offered the stir-fried squid to other monkeys, laughing uncontrollably while watching their friends suffer from the spicy taste.

While they were enjoying the festival in that way,

“Gu-o!”

“Gu-ooo!”

A monster’s roar was suddenly heard from outside the village. The pleasant time did not last long.

“Ukki!”

“Ukki-ki!”

The monkeys suddenly moved busily and hid behind Se-jun.

“Huh?! What is wrong with you guys?”

“Ukki! Ukki!”

[It’s the gorillas! O God, please protect us!]

“Gorillas?”

At that moment,

Thump, thump.

With huge footsteps, uninvited guests intruded upon the festival. It was a giant 7-meter-tall gorilla accompanied by twenty 3-meter-tall gorillas. On her head was a mismatchingly large ribbon, and she was wearing a skirt.

The gorilla chief’s daughter, who had been looking around the other monsters’ villages to find a husband candidate herself, had appeared after smelling the delicious scent.