Chapter 91 – You Have No Choice But to Adore Me Anyway, Meow!

Theo, who was hanging onto Se-jun’s lap, stood his fur on end as he looked at Iona coming out after opening the door of the Subspace Warehouse.

‘Why is Iona coming out of there, meow?!’

Theo, who had thought he left Iona behind on the 99th floor of the tower.

‘The tower is a sham, meow!’

While Theo was angry that there was a major loophole in the tower’s system,

“This is great!”

Se-jun rejoiced as he figured out a trick that allowed them to move together if they were inside the Subspace Warehouse, even without being designated as subordinates. Now, a way to bring along more subordinates when a green alarm popped up had been created.

While Se-jun was rejoicing,

Flutter. Flutter.

The Purple Locusts began to fly toward Se-jun and the animals. It was in order to kill the enemies that appeared in their breeding ground.

However,

“Kyu—Giga Lightning!”

On this side, there was Iona, the Archmage of Destruction. Blue lightning, shot from Iona’s adorable finger, attacked the Purple Locusts.

Crackle.

The blue lightning spread sequentially, roasting the surrounding Purple Locusts until its power was exhausted. In an instant, all the Purple Locusts visible in front of Se-jun collapsed.

[Guardian Iona has…]

…

..

.

The experience point acquisition messages passed by too quickly to read.

However, Se-jun could not simply rejoice.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have acquired 1 bonus stat point.]

[You have reached the daily maximum level-up limit of 10 times.]

[Until a day passes, you cannot acquire experience points except for experience points obtained directly.]

“Huh?! Then what about the experience points I just obtained?”

Se-jun was flustered as he looked at the message. The experience points that could have allowed him to reach level 50 in one go and do the class quest flew away in vain.

“To think there would be such a limit…”

This was information most Hunters on Earth did not know. It was natural. Because they had never had the chance to ride such a premium bus.

“It can’t be helped. Retreat for now!”

Rather than fighting, Se-jun made the decision to return to the Jewel Frogs’ habitat. Even if he fought hard here, not many experience points would be generated.

Therefore, he planned to just defend this place and wait for a day to pass. Since defending this place could also prevent the extinction of the Jewel Frogs, it was killing two birds with one stone.

“Guys, pack some meat.”

Se-jun had the animals going inside pack the carcasses of the Purple Locusts. The smell of roasted chicken that arose when they were roasted by Iona’s electric magic earlier stimulated Se-jun’s salivary glands along with his culinary inspiration.

And,

Clank.

He opened the Subspace Warehouse, took out 20 Sturdy Blade Green Onions, planted them at the entrance so that the Purple Locusts could not enter easily, and went inside the Jewel Frogs’ habitat.

“But where is this place?”

Iona looked around and asked about the location.

“This is the habitat of the Jewel Frogs on the 67th floor of the tower, meow! We came to prevent the extinction of the Jewel Frogs, meow!”

“Jewel Frogs?”

“That’s right, meow! I will introduce you to the Jewel Frogs, meow!”

Theo answered Iona’s question. While being wary of Iona, Theo still did everything he was supposed to do.

In the meantime, Se-jun inspected the Purple Locust meat brought from outside to cook.

“Let’s see.”

A few that were hit first by Iona’s attack were completely charred black and inedible, but the Purple Locusts hit when the power of the lightning waned were only burned on the outside.

Thanks to that, the inside was in a once-cooked state, like being parboiled, so it seemed they could easily cook and eat it in no time.

“First, I should take out the Detoxifying Green Onion.”

Clank.

Se-jun opened the Subspace Warehouse and went inside.

“Wow… it’s spacious.”

The Subspace Warehouse upgraded by Iona had grown so significantly that it was incomparable to before. It was large enough that three Black Minotaurs could easily fit inside if they squatted.

“This, and this.”

Se-jun put the necessary ingredients into a pot and came out.

And,

Slice, slice.

He cut the Purple Locust meat into appropriate sizes, made incisions in the middle of the meat, and stuffed a lot of Detoxifying Green Onions inside to detoxify the poison.

He made 10 chunks of meat stuffed with green onions like that, and

“Cuengi, make the branch thin and long.”

Se-jun called Cuengi, who was watching and drooling beside him.

Kkueng!

At the thought of being able to eat something delicious, Cuengi was very cooperative. Cuengi put mana into the Corrupted Ent’s reinforced branch and made it into the shape Se-jun wanted.

“Good.”

Stab. Stab.

Se-jun skewered the meats onto the branch Cuengi was holding and placed the branch on a support made of stacked stones. The branch hung at a spot about 20 cm away from the flames.

“Now you just have to turn it once in a while so that it cooks evenly here. Got it?”

Kkueng!

Cuengi nodded at Se-jun’s words. He planned to cook this dish like roasted chicken using indirect heat rather than using direct fire.

It could be called Roasted Purple Locust.

At that moment,

Growl.

His stomach sent a signal asking for food. Come to think of it, he had left the 99th floor of the tower without even finishing his meal.

However, since Roasted Purple Locust was not cooked on direct fire, it needed time to cook. He needed another dish to resolve his immediate hunger.

“Theo, cut this into small pieces.”

Se-jun spoke to Theo, who was returning, looking at the Purple Locust meat and ingredients. Iona was nowhere to be seen, as if left somewhere.

“I understand, meow! Leave it to me, meow!”

Swish, swish.

Theo extended his claws and chopped the meat and ingredients finely.

“Thank you.”

‘Puhahat. As expected, Chairman Park needs me to be around, meow?’

Theo clung to Se-jun’s lap, showing off at Se-jun’s words of ‘thank you’.

Plop.

Se-jun put the chopped Purple Locust meat, potatoes, and green onions cut by Theo into a pot, seasoned it with salt, and began to boil it. It was the Chef’s Soup.

“Pyupyu. Help me.”

To reduce the cooking time, Se-jun called Pyupyu and asked her to strengthen the fire power.

Pyupyu!

When Pyupyu went by the fire and used flame magic,

Whoosh.

The strength of the fire became stronger.

Bubble, bubble.

The more it boiled, the more the color of the soup turned purple.

And,

[Purple Chef’s Potato Soup has been completed.]

[The proficiency of Cooking Lv. 4 increases slightly.]

Se-jun checked the options of the completed dish.

[Purple Chef’s Potato Soup]

By adding thinly sliced Purple Locust meat, Detoxifying Green Onion, and Potato of Strength and simmering them together for a long time, all ingredients are harmoniously mixed and all effects increase.

The Detoxifying Green Onion detoxifies the extreme poison in the Purple Locust meat, strengthening the consumption effect and making the meat softer.

Due to the effect of the Detoxifying Green Onion, the food does not spoil easily.

The taste improves slightly.

Upon consumption, Strength increases by 10.5 for 30 minutes. (Strength increases by 0.5 due to the effect of Cooking Lv. 4)

Satiety is maintained for 4 hours.

Chef: Tower Farmer Park Se-jun

Expiration Date: 30 days

Grade: C+

The dish’s options became better than when using Red Locust meat.

“Guys, let’s eat.”

Se-jun called the animals.

But the expressions of the animals who saw the color of the soup were not good. It was a look that said not to play with food.

Of course, Cuengi, who ate anything well, did not mind.

Kkueng!

Cuengi downed the soup Se-jun scooped for him in one gulp.

Murmur, murmur.

The animals began to hold a meeting on how to eat that purple soup.

“I’m not eating it, meow.”

Theo, the fish lover, gave his opinion that he would not eat.

Squeak!

The Black Rabbit gave the opinion that he would close his eyes and eat.

“You can just use hallucination magic.”

Iona gave the opinion to deceive the brain using hallucination magic.

Pyupyu!

Pyupyu gave the opinion to use dyeing magic.

*Gulp*. Kkueng!

In the meantime, Cuengi downed the soup in one gulp and held out his empty bowl to Se-jun, who was eating the soup. It was already his fifth gulp.

“Decide quickly. At this rate, there will be no food left for you. And it is much more delicious than you think.”

Se-jun urged the meeting animals and scooped another bowl for Cuengi.

“Let’s just eat it.”

Squeak.

Pyupyu.

Unable to narrow down their opinions, the animals began to eat the purple soup in their own ways.

“I want to eat Churu, meow.”

Theo, who did not eat the soup anyway, climbed onto Se-jun’s lap and demanded Churu.

“Sure.”

Rip.

Se-jun tore the top of the Churu tube and held it out to Theo.

Smack, smack, smack.

Around the time the meal was coming to an end, the smell of grilled chicken vibrated inside the cave. It was because of the Roasted Purple Locust.

“Is it all cooked?”

As Se-jun approached the Roasted Purple Locust,

[You have achieved the feat of making Roasted Purple Locust for the first time in the tower.]

[The recipe for Roasted Purple Locust is registered in Cooking Lv. 4.]

[The proficiency of Cooking Lv. 4 increases greatly.]

[Due to the effect of Cooking Lv. 4, a special effect: Minor Poison Resistance is granted to the Roasted Purple Locust.]

Just in time, the dish was completed.

“Minor Poison Resistance?”

Just by hearing the name, he seemed to know what it was. Se-jun checked the completed dish.

[Roasted Purple Locust]

By putting Detoxifying Green Onion inside and roasting the Purple Locust meat with indirect heat for a long time, it is not greasy but clean.

With skillful cooking skills, the Purple Locust meat and the Detoxifying Green Onion stuffed inside are well-cooked, making the texture soft and the taste good.

The Detoxifying Green Onion has detoxified the poison in the Purple Locust meat.

Special Effect: Minor Poison Resistance

Chef: Tower Farmer Park Se-jun

Expiration Date: 15 days

Grade: C+

“Guys, try this.”

Perhaps because they had already tried the purple soup, the animals began to eat the purple-colored Roasted Purple Locust without resistance.

While the animals were eating the Roasted Purple Locust like that, the smell of Roasted Purple Locust filling the cave began to spread outside.

And that created an unintended situation.

As the smell of meat spread outside the cave, the Purple Locusts that were eating the corpses of their own species killed by Iona’s attack near the Jewel Frogs’ habitat smelled it.

Flutter. Flutter.

Following the smell, the Purple Locusts began to swarm into the rocky crevice that was the Jewel Frogs’ habitat, whose entrance was not easily visible.

[Your crop has defeated a pest.]

[You have acquired 1 experience point.]

[Your crop has defeated a pest.]

[You have acquired 1 experience point.]

…

..

.

[Your Sturdy Blade Green Onion has withered due to poison.]

“Huh?”

When Se-jun was looking for his weapons at the suddenly appearing messages,

Flutter. Flutter.

Hundreds of Purple Locusts entered the cave.

“This quickly?”

Se-jun hurriedly picked up his dagger and hand axe.

At that moment,

“Kyut-kyut-kyut. Mr. Se-jun, open the Subspace Warehouse, and when the Purple Locusts enter, please shout ‘freeze storage’!”

Iona stepped forward and said.

Clank.

When Se-jun opened the Subspace Warehouse toward the Purple Locusts at Iona’s words,

Flutter. Flutter.

The Purple Locusts entered the Subspace Warehouse on their own to eat the crops inside the Subspace Warehouse.

And,

“Freeze storage.”

When Se-jun said so,

Whoosh.

A strong wind was created in the Subspace Warehouse and began to suck in the Purple Locusts that had entered the warehouse.

[Freezing and storing the Purple Locusts.]

[The Purple Locusts fall into hibernation.]

[If the Purple Locusts are not taken out within 10 hours, they will freeze to death.]

…

..

.

[5% of the space is filled.]

…

..

.

The Purple Locusts were frozen into square ice blocks and stacked up neatly in a corner of the Subspace Warehouse. Moreover, they were not dead, so he could take them out later to obtain experience points.

“Kyut-kyut-kyut. How is it? I had some magic power left, so I added a new feature!”

Iona said proudly.

“Iona, you’re amazing! Should I give you some roasted peanuts?”

“Kyut-kyut-kyut! Yes!”

To Iona, who had done such a wonderful thing, Se-jun handed the roasted peanuts he had roasted on the 99th floor of the tower.

“Kyut-kyut-kyut. Thank you!”

Iona raised both hands with an excited look, received the roasted peanuts, and carefully put them into her subspace pocket. She was too full to eat them right now.

‘It’s dangerous, meow.’

Watching Se-jun praise Iona, Theo felt a sense of crisis. His position was in jeopardy.

But

‘Puhahat. Chairman Park has no choice but to adore me anyway, meow!’

Fortunately, Theo had something to believe in. Theo took out a rainbow-colored gem from his bundle, which he had found while wandering around the Jewel Frogs’ habitat.