Chapter 204 – Gathering Barnacles

“Lord Theo, just trust me!”

If it was for Lord Theo! Kona jumped onto the lake turtle’s back with a determined expression.

Hop.

Splash.

Kona, who dived into the water while flapping his short arms and legs in the air to maximize his flight distance, swam diligently and climbed onto the lake turtle’s back.

“Is this the lake turtle’s shell?”

Kona said, looking at the lake turtle’s red back. In the shell, crater-like holes were densely packed. The sizes varied from small to huge.

He thought he would have to refine it first to know, but since it looked solid, it seemed like a good material for making equipment.

At that moment,

Crack.

Kkueng?

[Did Kona come to get this too?]

Cuengi, who had already settled on the lake turtle’s back, spoke to him. Cuengi was tearing off the lake turtle’s shell and diligently putting it into his snack pouch.

“Yes!”

Thinking that Cuengi had also come to mine the lake turtle’s shell, Kona replied and began to mine the lake turtle’s shell with a pickaxe.

Clang! Clang!

As Kona mined one of the lake turtle’s shells after using his pickaxe for 10 minutes like that,

“Peng?”

a glossy, real shell appeared underneath.

“Then what is this?”

When Kona was flustered, looking at the stone he had mined,

Ppuaang!

[My back feels cool, ppu!]

The lake turtle made a pleasant cry.

“Back? Huh?! Guys, what are you doing there?”

Se-jun, who had been making ice for the lake turtle, asked, looking at Cuengi and Kona on the lake turtle’s back.

Kkueng!

[Dad, Cuengi harvested oysters!]

In response to Se-jun’s question, Cuengi bragged to Se-jun, holding what he had mined from the lake turtle’s back in both hands and shaking it.

“Oysters?!”

Even at a glance it was not oysters, but oysters were the closest thing in Cuengi’s knowledge.

“Hold on. Ice Cube.”

Se-jun, to explain properly to Cuengi, made a bridge of ice, moved to the lake turtle’s back, and examined the things attached to the shell.

“These are barnacles. So that’s why you said you were hot.”

Se-jun said, touching a red barnacle. It was to the extent that a slight heat could be felt when touching the outer shell of the barnacle. The part in contact with the lake turtle’s back would be even hotter.

At that moment,

[You have discovered the reason why the lake turtle cannot sleep.]

[The quest is updated.]

[Quest: Remove all the barnacles parasitizing the lake turtle’s body!]

Reward: 130,000 experience points, 13,000 Tower Coins, thriving of the endangered lake turtle 100 years later

The quest was updated, and the reward increased slightly.

“Good.”

A quest that even motivated Se-jun, who was thinking about how to eat the barnacles deliciously while picking them diligently.

“Cuengi, these are called barnacles.”

Se-jun told Cuengi the name of the organism attached to the lake turtle’s back.

Kkueng?! Kkueng?

[They are not oysters?! Then we can’t eat them?]

Cuengi was shocked at Se-jun’s words. He became gloomy at the thought of not being able to eat something delicious.

“No. You can eat this too. And it’s very delicious.”

Kkueng?!

[Really?!]

“Yes. So let’s pick them diligently!”

Kkueng! Kkueng!

[Understood! Cuengi will pick the most!]

“Puhahat. As long as I, Vice President Theo of the dragon claws, am here, that won’t happen, meow!”

The barnacle picking competition began like that. Se-jun did not stop the two this time. Since it was not causing harm to the surroundings, there was no reason to stop them.

“Kona, call the other penguins too.”

“Yes!”

Se-jun had even the penguins put in to pick the barnacles attached to the turtle’s back.

***

“Just try getting caught!”

Aileen, who was searching here and there with the crystal ball, looking for the Three-Headed Society.

[A being with the energy of destruction has infiltrated the Black Tower.]

“Huh? Energy of destruction?”

An alarm appeared to Aileen like that. Aileen immediately checked the place where the alarm rang and was able to find Mr. Won, the boss of the Three-Headed Society with ‘1’ written on his mask, on the 1st floor of the tower.

“This is the guy who touched our Se-jun’s family. Iona, go to the misty zone on the 59th floor of the tower. There is a hideout of the Three-Headed Society there.”

Aileen, while monitoring Mr. Won, whom she had accidentally found, had Iona handle the hideout Mr. Won had passed by.

And fitting for her title as the Mage of Great Destruction, Iona completely erased the existence of the Three-Headed Society’s hideout from the tower, along with the members there.

Aileen monitored Mr. Won like that. When Mr. Won entered a cave on the 47th floor of the tower and did not move,

“Iona, the northern cave on the 47th floor of the tower. I have marked it, so go and handle it.”

Thinking that this was the last hideout of the Three-Headed Society, she decided to handle Mr. Won.

“Kuuu. It’s over!”

Aileen, whose body was stiff after looking only at the crystal ball for a long time, stretched.

At that moment,

“Huh?! What is that?”

The leather vest Se-jun had asked her to appraise caught her eye. She had forgotten about it while searching for the Three-Headed Society with her eyes wide open.

“Khehehe. I must appraise it quickly and give it to Se-jun.”

Aileen used appraisal magic on the leather vest.

***

Two hours later.

“It has become much cleaner.”

Se-jun, who was freezing the island, said, seeing that about a quarter of the barnacles that filled the lake turtle’s back had been removed.

“It’s about time to make lunch.”

Se-jun moved to the lakeside, gathered tree branches from around, and piled them high on the ground. Today’s lunch menu was grilled barnacles. He pulled out the barnacles he had put in the void storage warehouse and poured them on top of the branches.

Snap.

Fwoosh.

Snapping his fingers to create fire, Se-jun lit the branches and began to grill the barnacles whole. Since barnacles basically possessed hot heat and had considerable flame resistance, Se-jun created high heat with his Talent: Overflowing Fire.

Kkueng!

[It smells delicious!]

Once the barnacles were somewhat cooked, Cuengi, smelling them, began to wander around, and other penguins also slyly took their places nearby.

“Puhahat! It’s my victory, meow!”

Only Theo, who was not interested in barnacles, remained on the lake turtle’s back and diligently picked barnacles.

“They’re well cooked. Guys, let’s eat!”

When Se-jun tried eating one of the grilled barnacles and spoke to the animals,

Kkueng!

[I will eat well!]

“We will eat well!”

Cuengi and the penguins each took a barnacle and began to eat.

However,

“Peng!”

Unlike Cuengi, who was eating deliciously, the penguins who had held the barnacles urgently put them down, hurried into the lake, and put their hands into the lake to cool them down. The barnacles were too hot.

Unlike Cuengi’s hide, which could easily ignore most things, they were fragile penguins.

“Guys, cool them down here before eating.”

Feeling bad for the penguins who were in the same plight as himself, Se-jun made ice with Ice Cube and placed the barnacles on top so they could cool down.

While everyone was eating the barnacles deliciously like that,

Thud.

a fist-sized red bead rolled out from the flesh of a giant barnacle Cuengi was eating,

Roll, roll, roll.

and stopped in front of Se-jun.

“This is?”

It was definitely the inner core of a barnacle.

‘Is this bitter too?’

As Se-jun tried to pick up the inner core with a tense expression,

Kkueng!

[That is absolutely Dad’s!]

Cuengi confirmed Se-jun’s thought, saying that the inner core tasted bitter.

Pick.

Se-jun picked up the inner core and examined its options.

[Inner Core of Hot Barnacle]

[This is the inner core of a barnacle that parasitized the lake turtle’s body and grew by absorbing the lake turtle’s energy for 1,000 years.]

[Upon ingestion, Strength increases by 20 or Strength potential increases by 10.]

[Upon ingestion, slightly strengthens flame-related talents.]

[A strong bitter taste occurs.]

[Use Restriction: Lv. 30 or higher, 20 or higher Strength]

[Grade: B]

Chomp.

Without hesitation, Se-jun put the barnacle’s inner core into his mouth. Since he was going to eat it anyway, it was more comfortable to eat it quickly like this rather than consuming mental energy by agonizing over whether to eat it.

‘The pain is temporary, but the stats are eternal!’

Clenching his teeth and enduring the slowly rising bitter taste, Se-jun comforted himself.

Gulp.

Having endured the bitter taste like that, Se-jun swallowed the inner core.

[You have consumed the Inner Core of Hot Barnacle.]

[Strength potential increases by 10.]

[The flame-attribute talent you possess is strengthened.]

“Good.”

His mouth was bitter, but his heart was reassured.

At that moment,

Plop.

“Huh?”

Patter, patter, patter.

A penguin ran away after placing a red bead in front of Se-jun. It had given Se-jun the inner core that came out of the barnacle it was eating.

Stare.

The penguin watched from afar to see if Se-jun ate the inner core it gifted. Very burdensomely.

Under the burdensome gaze, Se-jun swallowed the inner core right away. He thought it was better to eat it while the bitter taste still remained in his mouth.

“Kuhup…”

Gulp.

[You have consumed the Inner Core of Hot Barnacle.]

[Strength increases by 10.]

[The flame-attribute talent you possess is slightly strengthened.]

There was no difference in the bitter taste from the first one he ate, but perhaps because this one was a younger barnacle, the options were not as good as the first one.

As Se-jun, who had swallowed two inner cores like that, was cutting the flesh into bite-sized pieces to eat the barnacles in earnest,

“Huh?!”

Something hard and bead-shaped was felt inside. Was it an inner core again?

When Se-jun put his hand into the barnacle flesh without much suspicion,

“Chairman Park! You shouldn’t, meow!”

Theo, who was diligently picking barnacles on the lake turtle’s back, detected that Se-jun’s knees were in danger and moved in a hurry.

But,

Grab.

Se-jun had already grabbed the bead.

[You have contacted the Essence of Fire.]

[Your body has suffered a fatal injury.]

[ is activated.]

[Consumes mana to protect the body from breaking.]

[Mana is severely lacking.]

[Dragon Clan Skill – Dragon Skin is activated.]

[The scale of the Great Black Dragon Kaiser is destroyed.]

“Argh!!”

Se-jun felt a pain as if his hand were burning.

And,

Boom!

he was blown into the lake due to the explosion that occurred from the bead.

“Chairman Park! Are you okay, meow?”

Theo hurriedly pulled Se-jun out of the lake and checked Se-jun’s body. Fortunately, there seemed to be no major injuries other than his entire body being hot like a ball of fire and a slight burn on his right hand.

Knead. Knead.

Theo pressed Se-jun’s right hand with his front paws and used a healing skill.

Kkueeng! Kkueeng!

[Dad… your body is hot. Dad, wake up quickly!]

Cuengi also hurriedly ran over, not knowing what to do, and massaged Se-jun’s legs while crying.

“Cuengi, don’t worry, meow! I will fix Chairman Park, meow! Cuengi, go fetch water to cool Chairman Park’s body, meow!”

Kkueng!

[Understood!]

Cuengi brought water in a barnacle shell and kept wetting Se-jun’s body.

When Theo and Cuengi massaged Se-jun for over an hour while cooling Se-jun’s body like that,

[The Tower Administrator is furious, asking why Se-jun fainted.]

[The Tower Administrator asks why Se-jun’s body is filled with the energy of fire.]

Aileen, who was trying to deliver the appraised leather vest to Se-jun, asked Theo in anger. Se-jun’s body condition was so full of fire energy that it wouldn’t be strange if it burst into flames right away.

“Sister Aileen, Chairman Park was hurt while touching that bead over there, meow! But Chairman Park won’t wake up, meow!”

Fwoosh.

Theo said, pointing to the red bead that was continuously producing strong flames after the explosion.

Rustle.

Aileen hurriedly collected the bead. She had to know what the identity of the bead was to know the reason Se-jun collapsed.

But,

“Ah, it’s hot!”

The red bead was so hot that even Aileen could not touch it.

“Grandfather! Help me!”

Aileen hurriedly requested Kaiser’s help.

While everyone was worrying about Se-jun like that,

[You have absorbed a minute amount of fire energy.]

[The flame-attribute talent you possess is strengthened.]

Se-jun was absorbing the fire energy that entered his body bit by bit, strengthening his flame-attribute talent.