Chapter 293 – Harvesting Persimmons

“Hehehe. I knew it.”

Se-jun felt an unknown sense of satisfaction upon seeing Fenril faint after eating something bitter, just like himself.

Slide.

Se-jun returned home, gently laid the fainted Fenril on the bed, and covered him with a blanket.

And,

Scribble.

he marked the date that he couldn’t do earlier due to leaving in a hurry.

He completed the 73rd ” character. Above it, seven rows tightly filled with ten ” characters each were visible.

“It’s one year tomorrow…”

Stroke.

Se-jun gently stroked his 365-day history carved on the wall and

“Shall I start preparing for the party soon?”

came outside to prepare for the party celebrating his one year of survival.

Today, a busy day was expected since he had to prepare food to serve to the animals invited to the party.

It was because he planned to stop by the farms on other floors and harvest crops.

As Se-jun came outside like that,

Kkueng…

[Cuengi will help Dad…]

Cuengi, who was waiting to help Se-jun.

However,

Growl.

Cuengi’s stomach clock, announcing mealtime, interrupted Cuengi’s words.

Kkuhehehe. Kkueng.

[Hehehe. But Cuengi is out of fuel, da-yo.]

Cuengi scratched his head and smiled awkwardly.

“For now, let’s pack some food to eat on the way and leave.”

Kkueng!

[Sounds good, da-yo!]

Clank.

When Se-jun opened the subdimensional warehouse to take out some simple food to eat,

Kkuhehehe.

Cuengi toddled after Se-jun into the subdimensional warehouse and filled his snack pouch.

A moment later,

“Toryong-i.”

Se-jun called Toryong-i and headed to the place where the waypoint was.

—Master, we have arrived.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Se-jun replied and looked down at his lap.

Purr.

Kyurorong.

Kkurorong.

Ppiyorong.

On his lap, the animals who had eaten breakfast were sleeping soundly.

Gently. Gently. Gently.

Se-jun opened the subdimensional warehouse and gently laid the animals down on the floor of the warehouse so they wouldn’t wake up.

And,

“See you in a bit.”

[Hehe. Yes.]

He put Flamie, who was on his shoulder, in last and closed the door.

When Se-jun, now all by himself, placed his hand on the red crystal,

[Loading the saved waypoints of other floors.]

[Saved Waypoints of Other Floors (7)]

—The 98th floor of the tower

—The 85th floor of the tower

—The 83rd floor of the tower

—The 77th floor of the tower

—The 55th floor of the tower

—The 49th floor of the tower

—The 44th floor of the tower

the floors Se-jun could go to appeared.

“First, I should go see the persimmon trees.”

Se-jun disappeared as he selected the 49th floor of the tower.

While Se-jun left the 99th floor of the tower,

Moo!

the Black Minotaurs were controlling the entrance to the 99th floor.

It was to let in only the people invited to Se-jun’s party.

However,

Step.

“Here is the invitation to the Great Black Dragon’s 1st anniversary party.”

beings appeared presenting paper stamped with Theo’s paw print as invitations to them.

Moo?

[What should we do?]

Moo!

[Since Vice Chairman Theo’s paw print is here, it will be fine!]

Although they felt something was off, Woo Chil-baek and Woo Pal-baek accepted the invitations and let the visitors in since it was definitely Theo’s paw print.

“Here is my invitation.”

“Invitation.”

Like that, the two accepted the invitations and let the visitors into the 99th floor of the tower one by one.

***

[You have arrived at the 49th floor of the Black Tower.]

[You have moved from the 99th floor of the tower, the highest floor, to the 49th floor of the tower.]

[You have descended 50 floors.]

[By the effect of , all stats increase by 50.]

Se-jun’s four stats rose by 50 each, with his total stats increasing by 200.

“Hehehe. My condition is good?”

Se-jun did not feel much excitement other than the feeling that his condition had slightly improved.

It was because Se-jun’s total stats were currently close to 2,500.

Adding 200 to 2,500 only made it 2,700. Now, a stat increase of about 200 did not have a big impact on Se-jun.

“Wow! A lot of sweet persimmons have grown.”

Looking around, Se-jun cheered as he saw the sweet persimmons hanging in clusters on the persimmon tree.

Even a rough count of the persimmons hanging on just a single tree seemed to be several hundred.

Clank.

Se-jun left the door of the subdimensional warehouse slightly open so that the animals could come out when they woke up, and

[Master!]

Hop.

placed Flamie, who welcomed him tremendously despite having been apart for only a short moment, on his shoulder.

And,

“Oh! This one is good.”

Se-jun grabbed a fist-sized, beautifully ripe sweet persimmon, twisted it once, and pulled.

At that,

Pluck.

the sweet persimmon separated smoothly from the branch.

“Looks delicious.”

As Se-jun looked at the well-ripe orange persimmon,

Rub. Rub.

he rubbed it once on his clothes and

Chomp.

took a bite. He took a bite. A sweet taste was felt along with the crunchy texture of the sweet persimmon.

Munch. Munch.

Se-jun walked out of the farm while eating the sweet persimmon.

“Wow. Incredible.”

Se-jun was in awe as he looked at the endless green grassland before his eyes.

It was the Sturdy Blade Green Onion planted by Se-jun’s instruction in response to Han Tae-jun’s request that more Sturdy Blade Green Onions were needed.

Thanks to that, the quantity of Sturdy Blade Green Onions supplied to Earth increased,

and since the distance from the 49th floor of the tower to the 41st floor of the tower became shorter, the transport time was also reduced.

After touring the giant Sturdy Blade Green Onion field like that, Se-jun returned to the farm and

“Hum. Hum. Hum.”

Pluck. Pluck. Pluck.

began to pick persimmons in earnest while humming.

***

“Nyaaaang! Nyan? Where is this, meow?!”

Theo, who woke up from sleep and stretched lazily, raised his head and looked around.

And,

“It’s over there, meow!”

he quickly grasped the position of Se-jun’s lap and ran diligently toward Se-jun,

“Chairman Park!”

Cling.

and clung to Se-jun’s leg.

“Vice Chairman Theo, did you sleep well?!”

When Se-jun asked while looking at Theo hanging on his leg,

“I did, meow! But my mood is not good, meow!”

Rub. Rub.

Theo replied while rubbing his face against Se-jun’s leg.

“You slept well, so why is your mood bad?”

“That is because Chairman Park left me behind, meow! Always carry me around, meow!”

In the end, it meant he was in a bad mood because he was separated from Se-jun’s lap.

“Puhuhut. I have something to give Chairman Park, meow! Look at this, meow!”

Theo placed an item from his bundle on his front paw and proudly showed it to Se-jun.

“Lightspot Seed?”

Se-jun spoke while looking at the seed Theo handed over.

[Lightspot Seed]

The Darkspot seed had transformed into a Lightspot seed as Fenril absorbed all of the impure energy.

Although he would have to plant it to see what would come out, it was a welcome event that the crops he could grow had increased.

“Vice Chairman Theo, well done.”

When Se-jun spoke while stroking Theo’s head,

“Puhuhut. I know, meow!”

Theo replied arrogantly with his chin lifted.

Slide.

When Se-jun, whose desire to praise Theo instantly vanished at that sight, tried to withdraw his hand,

“Meow?! You can’t, meow! Keep stroking me, meow!”

Theo grabbed Se-jun’s hand with both front paws.

“Let go. I have to work.”

When Se-jun refused and withdrew his hand,

“I don’t want to, meow!”

Theo grabbed Se-jun’s hand and pressed it to his forehead. Thanks to that, Theo hung onto Se-jun’s hand and rose up to Se-jun’s eye level.

“Pfft.”

Se-jun burst into laughter upon seeing Theo hanging and swinging from his hand. Cute fellow.

Ultimately, Se-jun surrendered to Theo’s cuteness.

“Alright. Just for 10 minutes.”

“Puhuhut. Understood, meow!”

He plopped down on the ground, placed Theo on his lap, and began to stroke his belly and head in earnest with both hands.

‘Puhuhut. Chairman Park is weak to this kind of thing.’

It was another weakness of Se-jun’s that Theo had caught.

***

Whimper…

Fenril regained consciousness on the bed.

Kking! Whimper…

[Kaiser, you harsh bastard! To eat something so bitter…]

Fenril still thought the black royal jelly was the black bean that Kaiser had eaten.

It was because the duration of the black bean that Fenril had observed was about 3 minutes.

Fenril mistakenly thought that the effect had vanished because he fainted.

Kking!

[Next time, I shall endure it!]

Fenril looked around while strengthening his resolve.

Kking?! Kking?

[Huh?! Where did everyone go?]

Fenril felt a bit depressed to find himself alone in the bedroom. It was because Se-jun, who would give him dried roasted sweet potato, was not there.

…?!

Fenril was flustered by the emotion he had just felt.

Thump. Thump.

Kking! Kking!

[No! Get a grip, Fenril! You are an Apostle of Destruction! You must not be enticed by things like food!]

Fenril scolded himself while hitting his face with his adorable front paws. Though it did not hurt at all because there was no strength in his paws.

Kking! Kking!

[Right! I shall investigate this place when no one is around!]

Like that, Fenril strengthened his resolve again and came out of the house.

And,

Kking?

[What is this?]

Munch. Munch.

He tried tearing and eating the branches and leaves of perfectly fine crops, and

Kking?

[I smell a suspicious scent here?]

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

Fenril dug the ground for no reason, uprooting the well-growing crops and ruining the field.

Kking.

[I’m hungry.]

As Fenril grew hungry, he went to the sweet potato field,

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

dug up a sweet potato from the ground,

Munch. Munch.

and began to eat it deliciously.

While Fenril was eating the sweet potato like that,

Kkee-ek?

the Mushroom Ants discovered that Se-jun’s field, which they had diligently cultivated, was ruined.

Kkee-ek!

Kkee-ek!

The Mushroom Ants called other Mushroom Ants elsewhere and began to search for the culprit.

While all the Mushroom Ants were wandering around searching for the culprit like that,

Kking. Kking.

one Mushroom Ant discovered Fenril, who was wrestling with a sweet potato as big as his own body.

Kkee-ek!

The Mushroom Ant called his companions and surrounded Fenril.

At that,

Kking! Kking! Kking!

[You bastards! Don’t come near! This body is none other than Lord Fenril, the Apostle of Destruction!]

Fenril, who belatedly realized he was surrounded, barked diligently.

However, to the Mushroom Ants, Fenril’s barking was too trivial to be a threat.

Kkee-ek!

Rather, Fenril’s unrepentant attitude only angered the Mushroom Ants more.

Smack. Smack.

In the end, the leader of the angry Mushroom Ants spanked Fenril with his antenna as a representative.

Kking! Kking! Kking?!

[Don’t hit me! It hurts! Sob. Where on earth did he go?!]

Fenril intensely missed Se-jun, who gave him food and protected him.

***

Rub. Rub.

While Se-jun was stroking Theo,

Dudu!

[Master Se-jun, hello!]

The moles, who discovered Se-jun while working, ran over and greeted him.

“Yeah. Have you been well?”

Dudu!

[Yes! We are working hard for 8 hours a day!]

“Right. Good work. And you managed the persimmon trees well.”

As Se-jun praised the moles,

“Nyaang.”

he reattached Theo to his leg and stood up.

And,

“Share this and eat it.”

he went to the subdimensional warehouse, took out 100 boxes each of raw sweet potatoes and potatoes for the moles who had worked hard all this time, and handed them over.

At that moment,

Flinch.

Kkueng?

Cuengi’s ears reacted. He woke up from sleep upon hearing Se-jun’s words telling them to eat.

“Cuengi, did you wake up?”

Kkueng?

[What can Cuengi eat, da-yo?]

Cuengi replied while rubbing his eyes at Se-jun’s question.

“Hmm. First, Cuengi help me, and then let’s eat those sweet persimmons together.”

Kkueng!

[Sounds good, da-yo!]

At Se-jun’s words, Cuengi sprang up, went under the persimmon tree, and began to pick persimmons with telekinesis, and

“Guys, let’s pick persimmons.”

Se-jun woke up the other animals as well and harvested persimmons together.

“Vice Chairman Theo, show us your skill!”

“Puhuhut. I will show the skill of Vice Chairman Theo, meow! Golden Bat, Ppiyot, catch, meow!”

Swish. Swish.

When Theo quickly climbed the persimmon tree at Se-jun’s words and cut the stem of the persimmons with his claws,

(Yes!)

Ppiyot!

[I caught it!]

the Golden Bat and Ppiyot flew around diligently, catching the falling sweet persimmons and passing them to the moles.

“They are doing well.”

Thanks to that, Se-jun did not need to climb the persimmon tree and only had to pick the sweet persimmons within reach of his hand.

Pluck. Pluck.

While he was picking persimmons like that,

“Huh?! This is?”

a large persimmon with a pointed tip came into Se-jun’s view. Isn’t this a Dae-bong persimmon?!

“Hehehe. I should make soft persimmon.”

Just as Se-jun was about to pick the Dae-bong persimmon, rejoicing at the thought of eating soft persimmon,

[The Seed Shop opens.]

[Park Se-jun’s grade is Extraordinary.]

The Seed Shop opened.

“Ah. Come to think of it, today was the day the Seed Shop opens, right?”

Se-jun had completely forgotten about the Seed Shop because he was only thinking about the 1st anniversary party.

“Shall I see if there’s anything to buy?”

Se-jun began to examine the Seed Shop to see if there were any seeds to buy.