Chapter 345 – It Was You

The headquarters of the Seed Shop.

“Lady Rhea, welcome back.”

Melin, the God of Spring Wind, and other gods asked Rhea, the Goddess of Abundance.

The bodies of Melin and the other gods were transparent to the point that the background behind them could be seen dimly.

They were vanishing, having lost their divine power.

“Indeed… Yes! Look at this!”

Rhea boasted in response to Melin’s question, using a tone very different from when she dealt with Se-jun.

Rhea showed a lump of light as large as a fist.

500 billion Tower Coins’ worth of divine power. The other 500 billion Tower Coins was lost in the process of bringing it.

As she had told Se-jun, it was a loss that had to be endured since it was not an official trading route.

“Wow!”

“As expected of Lady Rhea!”

“Huhut. Here. Eat!”

Rhea tore off a piece of divine power as small as a thumbnail and handed it to the gods.

“Lady Rhea, thank you.”

“Thank you.”

“If it weren’t for Lady Rhea, we would have already vanished!”

The gods expressed their gratitude to Rhea and consumed the divine power she handed them.

And having consumed the divine power, the gods restored their divinity, and their bodies became distinct.

“Hehe. We should all help each other live. Once you guys find believers, you too will be able to trade with Se-jun.”

“Yes! We really hope so. That way, we won’t have to walk on eggshells around those guys anymore.”

“Right! Let’s show the pride of us non-combat gods!”

As Rhea shouted gallantly,

“Puhahaha. Pride? What did I just hear?”

Thump. Thump.

A god so massive that they were no match for him passed by, scoffing at their conversation.

“Hmph! Just wait and see! Soon, non-combat gods will become the trend! Park Se-jun, fighting!”

“Park Se-jun, fighting!”

Rhea and the other non-combat gods cheered for Se-jun.

***

Pluck.

[You have harvested Mugwort of Tenacity.]

[Your job experience increases slightly.]

[The proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 8 increases slightly.]

[You have obtained 45 experience.]

Se-jun diligently harvested mugwort with Theo, Cuengi, Ajax, Uren, and the Farming King.

At that moment,

Kking! Kking!

‘Hey! Look! I pick grass well too!’

Fenril plucked the mugwort with his mouth and brought it in front of Se-jun.

“Oh! Is Blackie helping with farming too?”

Plop.

Fenril sat down at Se-jun’s question.

Kking!

‘I helped you, so give me food!’

He had an ulterior motive.

Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.

After Se-jun gave Fenril the dried roasted sweet potatoes like that,

“Now, we have half left, so let’s hang in there!”

He cheered his companions on and continued to harvest the mugwort again.

“Puhut. By the way, what is the skeleton slave’s name, meow?”

Theo approached the Farming King and asked his name.

Clatter.

[I am called the Farming King.]

“Puhut. What kind of name is Farming King, meow? You should at least be a Tower Farmer like our Chairman Park.”

Theo mocked the Farming King’s name, wrote ‘Farming King’ in the Party B section of the contract, and

Place.

Placed the contract in front of the Farming King’s hand which was about to harvest mugwort,

Press.

Clatter?

And received his stamp.

“Pfft. You, Farming King? I’m Tower Farmer.”

Looking at the Farming King, Se-jun boasted with his thumb pointing down to the ground. He spoke in a truly irritating manner.

Clatter!

[I am also good at farming!]

Thanks to that, the Farming King, who fell for Se-jun’s provocation, could not contain himself and spoke in a huff.

“Puhut. Do you dare challenge our Chairman Park in farming, meow? Chairman Park, show him what you’ve got, meow!”

“Huhut. Fine. I will show you why I am the Tower Farmer!”

In this way, the showdown with the pride of two people who were sincere about farming on the line began.

“Then, it’s a match to see who harvests more mugwort!”

The harvesting contest began with Se-jun’s shout.

“Se-jun Hyung, win it!”

Ajax cheered Se-jun on diligently in the contest where the prestige of the tower farmer was on the line.

After a while.

“Huhut. Farming King, you still have a long way to go to challenge me.”

The result was Se-jun’s victory.

Skills were skills, but in terms of physicality, the Farming King from the 4th floor of the tower could not beat Se-jun.

However,

Clatter!

[Even if I cannot harvest well, I am good at planting grapes!]

“Puhut. Chairman Park, the Farming King is proposing a grape planting contest, meow!”

Perhaps because Se-jun’s disregard felt unfair, the Farming King requested a rematch.

“Really? Then shall we compete in grape planting?”

Clatter.

[Good!]

“Good. Earth Raising!”

With the intention of seizing the initiative, Se-jun scattered 50,000 grape seeds on the ground and struck the ground with Milo’s Hoe.

Then,

Rumble.

[You have planted 50,000 fragrant grape seeds overflowing with life in the mana-infused soil.]

[Your job experience increases greatly.]

[The proficiency of Mana Sowing Lv. 8 increases greatly.]

[You have created 200,000 pyeong of grape fields.]

[You have obtained 400,000 experience.]

200,000 pyeong of grape fields created in an instant. Huhut. Farming King, did you see that? The skill of a Tower Farmer.

When Se-jun looked at the Farming King with a confident expression,

Place.

The Farming King planted only a single grape seed.

And,

Hum.

When he used a skill on the place where the seed was planted,

Creak.

The grape began to grow rapidly.

“Huh?!”

Isn’t this the effect of the Elixir of Harvest? No. The growth speed was much faster than the Elixir of Harvest.

Creak.

The grape seed grew into a tree in no time and bore fruit.

And,

Clatter.

The Farming King, puffing out his ribs as much as possible in a victor’s pose, picked a bunch of grapes and handed it to Se-jun.

[Fragrant Seedless Grape]

“Seedless grapes?”

I saw this somewhere…

“Ah.”

Podori! Seeing the seedless grapes reminded him of Podori. Could the taste be the same too?

Pop.

He plucked a single grape and touched its tip to his tongue.

“Ugh…”

As expected, it was astringent.

“Farming King, you know Podori, right?”

Clatter? Clatter.

[Podori? Since I planted it, of course I know.]

At Se-jun’s question, the Farming King nodded and confessed to being the culprit himself. Caught you, you rascal!

As expected, Farming King, it was you!

The one who neutered our Podori…

“Farming King, you committed two wrongs.”

Clatter?

[Me?]

“First, the crime of neutering our Podori, second, the crime of making grapes taste this bad! Why did you do that? Apologize to the grapes quickly!”

Cuengi! Cuengi?!

[That’s right! Why did you do that, kkueng?! That was really tasteless, kkueng!]

The farming showdown was forgotten before they knew it… and turned into a Farming King hearing by Se-jun and Cuengi, who were angry after eating the astringent grapes.

Kking?! Kking!

‘Why make him angry?! Skeleton, you are definitely in the wrong!’

Fenril also diligently took Se-jun’s side by his side.

After a while.

Clatter…

Leaving behind the Farming King, whose mind was completely shattered by the scoldings of the two,

Crunch.

Se-jun and his companions ate the fried food deliciously for lunch as well.

The menu was fish and chips.

Eating fried fish and french fries together was fish and chips, so it was no different from breakfast.

The only difference was the tartar sauce.

In the morning, he was in a hurry to eat fried food, so he just dipped it in soy sauce, but for lunch, he demonstrated his skills in a more authentic way.

So he mixed grape seed oil, egg fruit yolks, and rice vinegar to make mayonnaise.

And then he added onions, carrots, green onions, and other ingredients to make tartar sauce.

After eating lunch like that,

“Would this be delicious if fried too?”

Se-jun coated the mugwort in batter and placed it into the boiling oil.

Sizzle.

The sound of the batter frying in the hot oil sounded delicious.

“It’s done.”

Se-jun scooped out the mugwort as the color became golden brown.

Then,

[You have achieved the feat of making Crispy Mugwort Fritters for the first time in the tower.]

[The recipe for Crispy Mugwort Fritters is registered in Cooking Lv. 9.]

[The proficiency of Cooking Lv. 9 increases slightly.]

[Due to the effect of Cooking Lv. 9, the effect of Mugwort of Tenacity, a cooking ingredient, increases by 5%.]

A message indicating that he achieved a feat appeared.

“Nice.”

Se-jun happily put the mugwort fritter into his mouth while looking at the messages.

Crunch.

As the fritter crunched, the mugwort aroma spread widely in his mouth,

Crunch. Crunch.

The cheerful texture with every chew made eating enjoyable, and perhaps because heat was applied, fortunately the bitter taste was not strong.

Gulp.

[You have consumed Crispy Mugwort Fritter.]

[You have bloomed Talent: Strong Tenacity.]

Se-jun bloomed the talent as he swallowed the mugwort.

“Huh? Strong Tenacity?”

Originally it was just Tenacity, but thanks to the 5% increase in the effect of the cooking ingredient, ‘Strong’ was attached in front.

“Let’s see.”

Se-jun checked the newly acquired talent.

[Talent: Strong Tenacity]

A talent that prevents dying easily due to a strong tenacity for life.

Each time you overcome a crisis of death, your life force becomes slightly stronger.

Life Force +10%

“Oh!”

Life Force +10%?!

Se-jun excitedly and hurriedly coated the mugwort in fritter batter,

Sizzle.

Fried it, and began to eat. I must eat a lot to strengthen the talent!

My life force needs to be high so I won’t be treated like a sunfish.

[You have consumed Crispy Mugwort Fritter.]

[Due to the effect of Cooking Lv. 9, the effect of Mugwort of Tenacity, a cooking ingredient, increases by 5%.]

[Talent: Strong Tenacity is minutely strengthened.]

In this way, Se-jun ate the mugwort fritters so diligently that the roof of his mouth was almost scraped.

However,

Life Force +10.0001%

His life force rose only a very tiny bit.

“As expected, it is not easy.”

The world did not just give things to Se-jun for free.

“Let’s just work.”

Se-jun, who realized that the world was not easy, harvested the mugwort again.

2 hours later.

“Pfhew. It’s finished.”

Se-jun spoke in a proud voice as he looked at the piled up mugwort.

[Your soul is filled by the pouring praise.]

[Mental strength increases by 1.]

Mental strength rising at the same time. Indeed, labor does not betray.

“Hehehe. Good. Guys, let’s go back now.”

Se-jun smiled and prepared to return.

“Puhut. Let’s go home, meow!”

Cling.

Theo quickly clung to Se-jun’s leg at Se-jun’s words.

But,

“Vice President Theo, take the Farming King back to the 4th floor of the tower.”

Theo had work to do.

The Farming King, who came from the 4th floor of the tower and climbed all the way to the 62nd floor of the tower.

Although he was lucky when climbing up, there was no guarantee that he would be lucky when going down.

Therefore, he had told Theo to escort the Farming King.

In addition, he also instructed Theo to check if the grape farm on the 4th floor of the tower was okay.

“Puhut. Vice President Theo will monitor thoroughly and return quickly, meow! Farming King, let’s go, meow!”

When Theo was about to depart quickly with the Farming King,

“Lord Theo, I too…”

Uren also stepped forward to follow Theo for a safe return home.

“Puhut. Understood, meow! Uren, follow me too, meow!”

‘I should buy whatever I want to buy on the way with Uren’s money, meow!’ For Theo, who regarded Uren as his wallet, it was naturally welcome.

“Chairman Park, I’ll be back, meow!”

“Yeah. Have a safe trip.”

Cuengi!

[Big brother, have a safe trip, kkueng!]

“See you later.”

Kking!

‘Bring back something delicious when you return!’

As Theo left with the Farming King and Uren under everyone’s send-off like that,

“Let’s go too. Toryong-i.”

Se-jun called Toryong-i and moved toward the red light pillar created by the red crystal.

And,

Cuengi!

[Move aside, kkueng!]

“Clear the way!”

Kking! Kking!

‘Move out of the way! This body is the noble wolf, Lord Fenril!’

Cuengi, Ajax, and Fenril threatened the boss monster guarding the waypoint, and

“Please pass!”

The boss monster stepped aside to let them pass.

Cuengi!

[Dad, use the waypoint now, kkueng!]

“Hyung! It’s safe now!”

Kking!

‘In the future as well, just follow behind me!’

“Yeah. Thank you.”

[The waypoint of the 62nd floor of the Black Tower has been saved.]

Thanks to them, Se-jun saved the waypoint comfortably, and

“Guys, enter.”

[Moving to the 99th floor of the Black Tower.]

He returned to the 99th floor of the Black Tower with his companions.

***

The Green Tower Administrator area.

“Good. I should go now.”

Brachio flew to the Black Tower with the completed Green Dragon statue.

Now, if she just went inside the Black Tower and appeased Se-jun’s anger…

Brachio only thought about appeasing Se-jun’s anger.

However, it was a very complacent thought.

“Grandmother Brachio, who tried to kill our Se-jun, is now banned from entering the Black Tower!”

The final boss of the Black Tower, Aileen, did not open the door.

“Brachio, what is it?”

“Aileen won’t open the door…”

So Brachio went to Kaiser.

“Kaiser, what should I do to appease Aileen’s anger?”

She asked Kaiser how to appease Aileen’s anger.

“Ah. For that, you have to ask Se-jun…?”

“……”

‘What should I do?’

Brachio had no way of entering the Black Tower.