Chapter 151 – Shall We Go Pick Chestnuts

“Puhuhut. Seven more sleeps and it is my birthday, meow.”

Khehehehe. Cueng!

[Big hyung, me too-da-yo!]

(Bat-bat. Me too!)

Since they all had the same birthday, it was only natural. Having received their birthdays from Se-jun, the animals cheered up and regained their former vitality. No, they were even more energetic than before.

Although everything seemed to have been resolved like that, something was strange. No one was making preparations for the birthday.

“By the way, did you guys prepare gifts?”

“What gifts do you mean, meow?”

Theo looked at Se-jun, wondering what kind of strange talk he was making, and

Cueng!

[I’m ready to receive gifts-da-yo!]

Cuengi patted his own cute belly.

(Bat-bat? Why do we prepare gifts?)

The golden bat was equally puzzled.

“As expected…”

The animals were only thinking about receiving gifts and had no intention of giving any at all.

“Think carefully. If all of you are only thinking about receiving gifts, from whom will Vice Chairman Theo receive gifts?”

Se-jun tried to let them know that if everyone only thought about receiving gifts, no one would be able to receive any.

But,

“Of course it is Chairman Park, meow!”

“Huh?!”

Cueng! Cueng!

[Naturally-da-yo! Dad gives Cuengi’s gift too-da-yo!]

(Bat-bat! Se-jun-nim gives my gift too!)

The animals all had a plan. A plan to receive gifts from Se-jun…

“Guys, then what about my gift?”

“I will massage Chairman Park’s rotten face, meow!”

Cueng!

[Cuengi will protect Dad-da-yo!]

(Bat-bat! I will bring the items that Se-jun-nim needs!)

“Ah…”

Se-jun realized that he was already receiving many things as gifts from the animals.

However,

“Still, it’s a bit unfair.”

In the end, it meant Se-jun had to prepare all the gifts for the animals by himself. Although it could be solved with grilled fish, Churu, honey, rice cakes, fruit juice, carrots, grass, and so on anyway.

“And what do you mean by rotten!!!”

Grab!

Se-jun punished Theo, who had spoken thoughtlessly, by pulling his cheeks.

“Meow?! What are you doing, meow?!”

Theo struggled to break free from Se-jun’s hands.

But,

‘Oh! This is healing!’

Se-jun was addicted to the squishiness of Theo’s cheek fat and could not let go.

While Se-jun was holding Theo’s cheek fat like that,

[The administrator of the tower says that she is preparing your gift, so look forward to it.]

“Really? Thanks. But when is Aileen’s birthday?”

Se-jun, who had thought he would not receive a single birthday gift, rejoiced at Aileen’s words and asked about Aileen’s birthday.

[The administrator of the tower says that her birthday is May 5th.]

“Oh! It’s Children’s Day?”

[The administrator of the tower is enraged, saying that she is not a child.]

[The administrator of the tower shouts that she can get married too.]

“Ah! Aileen, it’s not that you are a child, but in the country where I live, Korea, May 5th is a day for children.”

[The administrator of the tower asks with anticipation if one receives gifts if they are a child.]

‘You were just enraged saying you aren’t a child a moment ago.’

“In any case, it won’t work for you. Once you pass 13 years old, you are not a child, so you can’t receive gifts.”

Se-jun said as if it was out of the question.

[The administrator of the tower is disappointed, asking why the age limit is so stingy.]

‘Is this stingy?’

And if someone of her age was treated as a child, everyone living on Earth would be a child.

While he was having a conversation with Aileen like that,

“What a waste, meow! I am not a child, meow!”

Cueng!

[Since Cuengi is not yet 13, I’m a child-da-yo! Cuengi can receive gifts on Children’s Day-da-yo!]

(Bat-bat! I can receive them too!)

The animals were eavesdropping on Se-jun’s voice and calculating whether they could receive Children’s Day gifts.

“Anyway, thanks. Our Aileen is the only one who takes care of my birthday gift.”

[……]

Aileen fell silent again at Se-jun’s words.

Once the matters regarding birthdays were settled like that,

“Are they growing well?”

Se-jun went to the walnut field. Se-jun had successfully planted a total of three walnuts by yesterday.

(…T…)

The walnut planted earliest already had its leaves fully spread, and

(…i…)

the sprout of the walnut planted latest yesterday was just breaking through the ground and poking out its shy head.

The reason the walnuts could grow so quickly was thanks to the experience of failure he had while planting the elixir-grade cherry tomatoes.

When planting the walnut for the first time,

Thud.

Se-jun infused mana into the ground while digging it with Myler’s Hoe. He had realized that infusing mana into the ground when planting elixir-grade cherry tomatoes was helpful to the crops.

Therefore, when he planted the walnut, he infused mana into the ground, and

[You have planted the Walnut of Training in the mana-infused ground.]

[You have achieved the accomplishment of successfully planting a crop in the mana-infused ground.]

[Your job experience increases significantly.]

[Sowing Lv. 6 evolves into Mana Sowing Lv. 6.]

[Due to the effect of Mana Sowing Lv. 6, the probability of the Walnut of Training taking root increases.]

[Due to the effect of Mana Sowing Lv. 6, the growth speed of the Walnut of Training accelerates for 24 hours.]

As a result, the Sowing skill evolved into Mana Sowing, creating the miracle of a sprout coming up just a day after the walnut was planted.

Of course, since Mana Sowing applied to other crops as well, the cultivation period of the crops growing on Se-jun’s farm as a whole was greatly reduced.

And that meant the production volume of crops during the same period would increase further.

“So, naturally, we should sell more diligently. Vice Chairman Theo, isn’t that right?”

“Meow?! Why is that, meow?”

Before he knew it, Se-jun strapped the bundle onto Theo’s back, detached Theo from his knee, and set him down on the floor.

Theo, who had planned to play and eat comfortably until the birthday like that, was sent down the tower once again.

***

– Yesterday at around 8 PM, the US Navy… fired a missile at the Martha, which was at sea, sinking it. The Martha was a grain carrier that departed from Lagos, Nigeria…

Currently, each nation was in an emergency. They were blocking the entry of all ships departing from Nigeria, and taking preemptive measures by firing missiles if a ship that entered international waters lost contact.

The reason each country was responding so frantically was because they were checking every day what kind of damage Brazil was suffering due to its delayed response.

A few days ago, a drifting ship approached close to Rio de Janeiro port in Brazil.

Although the port’s control tower sent a guard unit to the grain carrier, which was unresponsive to radio communication, the guards lost contact after conveying that there was an immense number of locusts inside the ship.

The control tower realized that the situation was unusual and immediately requested help from the military, but as time was delayed here, the ship approached close to Brazil, and

Flutter, flutter.

hundreds of thousands of starving locusts flew and entered Brazil. Since then, Brazil was in a war day by day.

For the first two days or so, compared to what was feared, there was almost no damage. Although one or two were spotted occasionally, it was at a level that the police could sufficiently suppress.

However, on the third day.

Flutter, flutter.

The blue sky was covered by blue locusts. It was an immense number exceeding one billion.

Because Brazil had lots of green spaces, it possessed the best environment for locusts to breed, and the locusts had bred explosively in the green spaces without being disturbed.

Overnight, a city was occupied by the locusts, and the number of dead whose bodies could not even be found was in the hundreds of thousands. It was a disaster.

Since then, Brazil was mobilizing the military and fighting with all its might against the locusts, but there was no great effect.

Because each country was receiving such information on Brazil every day, they were strengthening the guard against all ships approaching the sea.

***

“Ground Moving!”

Thud.

Having sent Theo down, Se-jun spent all afternoon using the skill with Myler’s Hoe to plant corn.

Although the consumption of mana was high up to the Ground Moving and Mana Sowing skills, it was manageable because Se-jun’s recovery speed of mana had accelerated due to his Talent: Enhanced Mana Circuit.

And,

Kkue-eng!

Bat-bat!

Cuengi was lying on the bed Se-jun had made for him, rolling around and singing with the golden bat, waiting for his food to digest.

At that moment,

“Se-jun-nim! We have arrived!”

The giant silver wolves ran over.

“Good work. How is the 83rd floor of the tower?”

“Fortunately, we found the farm. Also, there are no dangerous monsters nearby. Currently, Hegel-nim is guarding it.”

Elka, who had returned after scouting the 83rd floor of the tower on Se-jun’s errand, answered. Taking a lesson from his experience going to the 77th floor of the tower because of the land deed, Se-jun had them patrol the 83rd floor of the tower in advance before using the land deed.

“Is that so? What is at the farm?”

“That… you will be disappointed. Ah!”

Elka hesitated and carefully took out the crop he had brought with his front paw, then dropped it in pain.

Thud.

Spikes were densely packed on that crop like a hedgehog.

“Huh?!”

“I knew you would be disappointed, as expected. It is an inedible crop.”

At Se-jun’s reaction, Elka spoke as if he had expected it. However, his face was clearly filled with regret for not being able to make Se-jun happy.

“No! It can be eaten! This is a chestnut burr!”

“Yes?! A chestnut burr?”

“Yes. Hold on a second.”

Se-jun stopped speaking and examined the spikes of the chestnut burr, carefully flicking one of the spikes with his finger.

Ting.

A metallic sound was heard. Perhaps because it grew in the tower, it was indeed extraordinary. A chestnut burr clad in steel spikes. Indeed, seeing that even Elka was pricked and in pain, there was no way they were ordinary spikes.

‘Wow. This is brutal.’

If he had stepped on it and peeled it with his foot without any thought, his sole would have been completely punctured. Moreover, there might be poison in the spikes.

“Cuengi, help me!”

Se-jun eventually called the all-around sturdy troubleshooter, Cuengi.

Cueng? Cueng!

[Did you call-da-yo? Cuengi will help Dad-da-yo!]

At Se-jun’s call, Cuengi came running diligently with the golden bat on his back.

“Peel this for me.”

when Se-jun carefully grabbed one of the spikes of the chestnut burr and handed it to Cuengi,

Cueng.

Cuengi, who received the chestnut burr, peeled it as easily as peeling a tangerine skin. Although there were steel spikes, they were not enough to pierce Cuengi’s thick hide.

Ting, ting.

Rather, under Cuengi’s strength, the spikes of the chestnut burr broke like toothpicks breaking.

And,

Cueng! Cueng?

[Here it is-da-yo! But what is this-da-yo?]

He asked while looking at the two large chestnuts that came out from inside.

“This is called a chestnut. Try eating one.”

Slice, slice.

As Se-jun peeled the chestnut with a dagger and put it into Cuengi’s mouth,

Crunch, crunch.

Cuengi, chewing the chestnut, opened his eyes round and made a surprised expression.

Cueng! Cueng!

[This is amazing-da-yo! It’s a taste I’m eating for the first time, but it’s delicious-da-yo!]

Cuengi waved his arms around and felt excited.

Crunch.

“Right?! It’s delicious, isn’t it?”

Meanwhile, Se-jun also peeled a chestnut, ate it, and spoke.

“Cuengi, shall we go pick chestnuts?”

Cueng!

[I’d love to-da-yo!]

Cuengi, who knew no refusal when it came to eating, answered energetically.

“Alright. Then stay in the void storage for a moment.”

Although he forgot it because he did not use it often, if they were in the void storage, they could go together when Se-jun moved.

Cueng!

Cuengi entered the subspace along with the golden bat.

And,

“Everyone, I will go to the 83rd floor of the tower for a moment.”

This time, so that they would not worry about him, he informed the rabbits and mushroom ants in advance that he was going to another place.

“Aileen, I will go to the 83rd floor of the tower for a moment.”

Lastly, he also informed Aileen that he was leaving.

[The administrator of the tower tells you to bring lots of delicious things when you come.]

“Got it. I will bring lots.”

Unroll.

When Se-jun answered and spread out the land deed of the farm on the 83rd floor of the tower,

[The summon function for the engraving of the first owner of the farm land deed on the 83rd floor of the tower is activated.]

Se-jun moved to the 83rd floor of the tower in a safe state this time.