Chapter 90 – Completing the Upgrade

“Will Se-jun be able to resolve it well?”

Aileen thought of Se-jun, who had gone to the 67th floor of the tower.

Although she was concerned about the Red Locusts,

“The others will protect Se-jun well.”

Since the other animals had gone together, Aileen was not very worried.

At that moment,

[The population of Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the tower has exceeded 7 billion.]

[The population of Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the tower has met the evolution conditions.]

[The Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the tower are evolving into Purple Locusts.]

“Huh?! Purple Locusts?”

Aileen was flustered as she looked at the new alarm.

And,

“Grandfather!”

She quickly called Kaiser.

-Oh! Aileen! Do you finally want to talk to your grandfather?

“Grandfather! They say the Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the tower have evolved into Purple Locusts! What should our Se-jun do?”

-It is good because if the enemy grows stronger, the reward becomes better too.

“What do you mean?! Our Se-jun is getting in danger!”

-That Se-jun worry of yours again! He has the Detoxifying Green Onion, and there are plenty of guys stronger than Se-jun around him, so what are you worrying about! Even an option went along with him.

“So you mean there is no need to worry about our Se-jun, right?”

-That is what I am saying.

“Khehehe. Grandfather, teach me administrator duties quickly!”

-Kahahahat. Yes. Your grandfather will teach you everything!

‘Our Aileen has finally come to her senses.’

While Kaiser was touched,

‘Khehehe. I need to learn administrator duties quickly and look for more things I can give to our Se-jun.’

Aileen was having different thoughts.

***

Nabia Swamp on the 67th floor of the tower.

Shoook.

[You have arrived at Nabia Swamp on the 67th floor of the tower.]

[From now on, find and eliminate the cause that threatens the extinction of the Jewel Frogs.]

Along with a bright light, Se-jun and the animals appeared.

Splash.

“Ugh. What is this?”

As soon as he arrived, his shoes were submerged in water, and Se-jun’s expression crumpled at the unpleasantness of the water entering his shoes. And it was the same for the animals that came with Se-jun.

“It feels bad, meow!”

Squeak!

Kkueng!

Pyupyu!

When the animals frowned as their fur got wet,

Flutter. Flutter.

Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings came from the surroundings.

“Huh?”

50,000 Red Locusts that had almost turned purple nearby were flying toward Se-jun and the animals from all directions.

“What?!”

“These bastards!”

Squeak!

Kkueng!

Pyupyu!

The animals surrounded Se-jun and blocked the approach of the Red Locusts.

“Meow! I, President Theo, will protect Chairman Park, meow!”

Slash, slash.

Theo extended his claws and slaughtered the Red Locusts,

Squeak!

Pound! Pound! Pound!

And the Black Rabbit swung his hammer and crushed the Red Locusts.

And,

Kkueng!

Whoosh. Boom!

Cuengi grew his body size to about 3 meters and lengthened the branch to about 5 meters, bursting and killing the Red Locusts with the wind pressure created by his full swing.

Pyupyu!

Shooo.

Lastly, Pyupyu used Water Cannon, a water-attribute magic, to shoot high-pressure water and defeat the Red Locusts.

[Guardian Theo has defeated a Red Locust.]

[You have acquired 5 experience points, which is 50% of the experience points acquired by Guardian Theo.]

…

..

.

Perhaps because they were weak, the experience points were also small.

When the animals began to deal with the Red Locusts,

[The cause of the extinction of the Jewel Frogs in Nabia Swamp on the 67th floor of the tower has been found.]

[A Middle Manager quest has occurred.]

[Middle Manager Quest: Exterminate the Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the tower.]

Red Locusts: 0/6,999,999,712

Reward: 1,000,000 Experience Points, 10,000 Tower Coins

Upon Failure: You cannot return to your original place until you complete the quest.

The quest appeared.

“6,999,999,000?”

Se-jun was surprised to see the population of Red Locusts. This was because, according to what he had heard from the wolves last time, the population of Red Locusts had surely decreased to almost 5 billion.

“So if only 288 more increase, they evolve into purple ones, right?”

While Se-jun was looking at the quest like that,

Wiggle.

Red Locusts about 10 cm in length, which were smaller than normal Red Locusts, began to emerge from the swamp. They were Red Locust larvae that had just hatched from eggs.

The Red Locusts were using this Nabia Swamp as a breeding ground. Although the Red Locust larvae had just been born, they moved nimbly.

And when one of the Red Locust larvae that emerged from right below Se-jun tried to bite Se-jun’s foot,

Woosh.

A blue flame rose from Se-jun’s body and burned the Red Locust larva. It was the Flame of Protection buff cast by Flamie.

Woosh.

The Flame of Protection burned the larvae rising from the ground, protecting Se-jun.

But

Pssssh.

The Flame of Protection that had been protecting Se-jun faded away after a few minutes, completing its 3 hours.

Fortunately, in the meantime, the animals had dealt with all 50,000 Red Locusts,

Kkueng!

Stomp! Stomp!

And as Cuengi stepped on the ground strongly a few times,

[Guardian Cuengi has defeated a Red Locust larva.]

[You have acquired 2 experience points, which is 50% of the experience points acquired by Guardian Cuengi.]

[Guardian Cuengi has defeated a Red Locust egg.]

[You have acquired 1 experience point, which is 50% of the experience points acquired by Guardian Cuengi.]

…

..

.

All the Red Locust larvae and eggs that were beneath the swamp were crushed to death by Cuengi’s stomping.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have acquired 1 bonus stat point.]

Thanks to that, Se-jun leveled up once again. Although the experience points given by the Red Locusts were small, the number was so massive that quantity covered for quality.

“Let’s first grasp the situation. Make Dark Cloud!”

Since they were attacked as soon as they arrived, Se-jun and the animals did not grasp the situation at all.

“I wonder if there is a waypoint nearby?”

While making the dark cloud, Se-jun briefly looked around the surrounding sky.

“It is too far.”

Even at a rough glance, a red rain rising to the sky could be seen at a place about 10 km away. It seemed he would have to give up registering a waypoint this time as well.

Billowing.

The dark cloud made in Se-jun’s hand rose to the sky. And he made the dark cloud at a height of about 3 meters and spread it widely so that they could not be seen from the sky.

An area of 500 meters centered around Se-jun was covered with a dark cloud about 30 cm thick. In the meantime, as the proficiency of making dark clouds rose, this kind of detailed adjustment was possible.

Pyupyu!

Pyupyu, who had rested for a bit and recovered mana, cast a waterproofing spell on Se-jun and the animals.

“Oh. Thank you.”

Thanks to Pyupyu’s magic, although the shoes were damp, it seemed they could avoid the disaster of their feet becoming wrinkled.

“First, the Subspace Warehouse.”

Clank.

Se-jun opened the Subspace Prison, but

“Huh?”

Because Iona was in the middle of upgrading the Subspace Prison, the door did not open.

“This is trouble.”

Looking at the population of Red Locusts, it seemed they would evolve into Purple ones soon. To prepare for that time, the Detoxifying Green Onion inside the Subspace Prison was needed.

At that moment,

[The Red Locusts have evolved into Purple Locusts.]

[The quest has been updated.]

[Middle Manager Quest: Exterminate the Purple Locusts on the 67th floor of the tower.]

Purple Locusts: 0/7,000,011,712

Reward: 3,000,000 Experience Points, 50,000 Tower Coins

Upon Failure: You cannot return to your original place until you complete the quest.

The quest was updated.

“What?! We killed over 50,000 just now, but the number increased instead…”

It seemed there were breeding grounds elsewhere too.

“Chairman Park, eat this quickly, meow! It’s dangerous, meow!”

Theo hastily stuffed a Detoxifying Green Onion into the mouth of Se-jun, who was looking at the quest.

“Mph! Whaf’f wrong?”

“Just swallow it quickly, meow!”

Theo shouted while pressing Se-jun’s jaw to prevent him from opening his mouth.

Munch, munch.

Se-jun glared at Theo with a look that said ‘just you wait’ and chewed the green onion as told for now. Because it was raw green onion, it was a bit spicy, but as he chewed, it tasted sweet and delicious.

Gulp.

[You have consumed Detoxifying Green Onion.]

Detoxifies poisons of D-grade or below for 1 hour.

“President Theo, what on earth…”

When Se-jun, who swallowed the green onion, tried to scold Theo,

“Chairman Park, look down, meow!”

“Down? Huh?!”

The water around Se-jun had turned purple before he knew it.

[You are poisoned by a D-grade neurotoxin.]

[It has been detoxified.]

If Theo had fed him the Detoxifying Green Onion even a little bit later, it would have been dangerous. Poison-filled blood had flowed out of the Red Locusts’ bodies and mixed into the swamp.

“Representative Theo, you…”

Se-jun was touched by Theo, who had saved his life.

However,

“Chairman Park, it was close, meow! Take good care of your lap, meow!”

As Theo rubbed his face against Se-jun’s lap and spoke, Se-jun’s heart cooled down quickly. He was originally this kind of guy.

“President Theo, but where did you get the Detoxifying Green Onion?”

“I packed items to sell in advance in my bundle, meow! As expected, I am a superior, outstanding traveling merchant who is always prepared, meow!”

Theo showed off, bragging as he pointed to his bundle.

“Good job.”

Se-jun stroked the head of Theo, who was hanging onto his lap.

“I want to eat Churu, meow!”

“Not here. I’ll give it to you later.”

“I understand, meow!”

Thanks to Theo, the worry about the poison was relieved for now. Se-jun fed the Detoxifying Green Onion to the other animals too. Although they had stronger poison resistance than Se-jun, being continuously exposed like this could be dangerous.

“By the way, will this be okay?”

Se-jun wore a serious expression as he looked at the swamp that had turned purple. He was worried about the Jewel Frogs, which were supposedly threatened with extinction.

***

The Lizardmen’s main base on the 67th floor of the tower.

“Block them!”

“Hold out!”

“Never let even a single one enter the waypoint!”

The Lizardmen, free mercenaries, and the Silver Wolf tribe were desperately defending the waypoint.

However, their long-range firepower was insufficient to block the Red Locusts pushing in with sheer numbers. They began to get pushed back gradually.

‘Dammit! When is the backup coming?! At this rate, we’ll be broken through within a few hours!’

Tamuro, the Lizardman Great Warrior, felt bitter about the reinforcements that did not arrive no matter how long he waited.

At that moment,

Flutter. Flutter.

About a quarter of the Red Locust forces changed direction and began to head east. Thanks to that, they gained a bit of breathing room as well.

“Take turns resting and recover your stamina!”

‘That is where Nabia Swamp is, so what’s going on?’

Having given instructions to the soldiers, Tamuro thought as he looked in the direction the Red Locusts were flying.

***

Inside a rocky cave.

Smack, smack, smack.

‘Puhahat. It’s so nice without Iona, meow.’

Theo was eating Churu while sitting on Se-jun’s lap. And Se-jun and the other animals were drying their moisture by the fire.

At that moment,

Hop, hop.

Twenty frogs with colorful gems embedded in their foreheads approached. They were Jewel Frogs.

“Is the treatment finished well?”

When Se-jun touched the Jewel Frog’s body and asked,

Ribbit, ribbit.

[Thank you. Thanks to you, our friends have become healthy.]

Ribbit, ribbit.

As the Jewel Frog bowed its head, the other Jewel Frogs also expressed their gratitude to Se-jun.

Se-jun had met the Jewel Frogs when he was wandering around the purple-dyed swamp to find their habitat. He had thought that since the water was contaminated with poison, the Jewel Frogs would be in danger.

While looking for the Jewel Frogs like that,

Ribbit…

The Black Rabbit heard the faint sound of a Jewel Frog.

Squeak!

And at the place the Black Rabbit led Se-jun, they found a Jewel Frog dying of poison.

“First, eat this.”

When Se-jun fed the Detoxifying Green Onion to the Jewel Frog and detoxified the poison,

Ribbit! Ribbit! Ribbit!

[Thank you! My friends are also sick from drinking the purple water! Please help us!]

The Jewel Frog that came to its senses requested help from Se-jun, and they were currently waiting in the Jewel Frogs’ habitat for the Jewel Frogs to fully recover.

“That is good. We will take care of this place, so do not come out for a few days.”

Se-jun boasted to the Jewel Frogs and came out of the huge rocky crevice that was the Jewel Frogs’ habitat.

Flutter. Flutter.

1.5 billion Purple Locusts welcoming Se-jun as soon as he came out.

…?!

Se-jun froze at the overwhelming number.

At that moment,

Bang!

“Kyut-kyut-kyut. Mr. Se-jun, I finished the upgrade! It’s a whopping five-fold overlap!”

Iona appeared, opening the door of the Subspace Warehouse wide with both hands.