[Farmer’s Footstep Shoes]
→ These are shoes made for farmers, meticulously crafted stitch by stitch with golden sheep wool by Emila Ibenes, the Apostle of Creation1.
→ It’s a semi-divine level equipment not registered in the Black Tower.
→ Crops grow to the sound of the farmer’s footsteps.
→ When wearing these shoes and walking around the field, the growth rate of crops accelerates.
→ Usage Restriction: Tower Farmer
→ Creator: Apostle of Creation, Emila Ibenes
→ Grade: Semi-Divine
Skill: [Blessing of the Crops (Master)]
[Blessing of the Crops (Master)]
→ Crops that hear the footsteps of the farmer react by empowering the farmer, enhancing his potential.
“Apostle of Creation?”
Sejun realized just now who the being that had addressed him a while ago was: the Creator God who had created the towers and then vanished. To think that God had an apostle! It was an astonishing fact.
“But it’s a pity.”
He remembered the crops he couldn’t pick from Emila’s garden. The crop Sejun wanted to pick was a peach. He wished he could have taken just one bite… It was regretful.
“Still, our Vice Chairman Theo really is something.”
Squish. Squish.
Sejun fiddled with the squishy pink jelly of the sleeping Theo. Sejun remarked on his incredible detection ability that could even identify an apostle of the creation god that no one knew existed. Probably even dragons couldn’t do that.
As Sejun was admiring Theo,
Krueng!
[Cuengi has filled up his snack pouch!]
Cuengi emerged from the void storage, patting his full snack pouch with a proud expression.
Krueng?
[Is it nap time now?]
Cuengi, looking at the sleeping Theo and Golden Bat, asked.
“Are you sleepy, Cuengi?”
Sejun asked, thinking that if Cuengi was sleepy, they would rest here before moving on.
However,
Krueng!
[Cuengi’s not sleepy yet!]
In response to Sejun’s question, Cuengi shook his head. He had just filled his snack pouch with food; there was no way he’d feel sleepy now.
“Then, let’s go back to the farm first.”
Krueng!
[Understood!]
Sejun rode the enlarged Cuengi back to the farm.
***
Incheon International Airport.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been to Korea.”
A man with silver-white hair and a black suit spoke as he exited the departure gate. A long scar marred the left side of his face, making people avoid getting too close to him.
Then,
“Welcome! Mr. Tamuro!”
Four muscular men who had been waiting greeted Tamuro.
“What’s the situation?”
“As usual. There are 50 guards at home, around 30 at the workplace and school. Some of the guards are confirmed to have firearms.”
“Our side?”
“We have 30 hunters and 100 organization members, all armed and waiting.”
“It’s going to get noisy. It would’ve been easier to deal with inside the tower…”
Tamuro remarked with a hint of reluctance. If they had managed to prevent the shipment of the Sturdy Blade Green Onions from coming to Earth from the tower as planned, there would’ve been no need for him to act.
But the Silver Wolves joined the transport of the Sturdy Blade Green Onions, disrupting the organization’s plans. Due to the Sturdy Blade Green Onions supplied from the tower, it had prevented the rapid increase of the Locusts.
On top of that, Akiro and Pablo suddenly lost contact. As things kept getting complicated, Mister 2, the second-in-command of the organization, took direct action.
The plan was to kidnap the wandering cat merchant Theo, locate Park Sejun, take possession of the crops, all while eradicating the Sturdy Blade Green Onions.
“But who would’ve thought we’d lose contact with Mister 2 as well…”
In this way, they found themselves forced into action in Korea, even though they knew it would become chaotic.
“Let’s move then!”
“First, let’s head to the site.”
“Yes!”
Tamuro got into a car, heading towards Bucheon.
***
Krueng!
[We’re here!]
“Good job, Cuengi. You can eat your snacks now.”
Sejun spoke to Cuengi, who had run all the way to the persimmon tree farm.
Krueng!
[Got it!]
At Sejun’s words, Cuengi settled near him and began emptying his snack pouch.
And then,
“Will this really enhance my potential?”
Tap. Tap.
Sejun was testing the Blessing of the Crops skill in the Sturdy Blade Green Onions field, letting the crops hear his footstep with his Farmer’s Footstep Shoes.
He needed the Sturdy Blade Green Onions from the 49th floor of the tower to grow quickly so it could be sent to Earth faster. Even though his work was done, instead of ascending to the 99th floor, he continued to test here to accelerate the growth of the Sturdy Blade Green Onions.
Tap. Tap.
Despite Sejun’s continuous footsteps, no special messages or feedback appeared.
Tap. Tap.
Gororong.
Baerorong.
Sejun’s footsteps and the snoring of Theo’s golden bat harmonized together. Whether Emila had put them into a deep sleep or not, Theo and the golden bat were still asleep.
Then,
[The Tower’s Administrator says the appraisal is complete.]
[The Tower’s Administrator says you’ll really like it.]
“Really?”
With Aileen’s words, a bronze mirror appeared before Sejun. The frame and handle of the bronze mirror were engraved with wavy patterns on a silver background, and the mirror’s surface, which reflected objects, had mysterious characters carved into it.
Although the appraisal was complete, the mirror’s function wasn’t obvious just by looking at it. Sejun decided to check its options first.
[Mirror of Longing]
→ A divine relic of the god of space, Dimena, who was in charge of spatial divinity in ancient times.
→ By infusing it with magic and thinking of someone you miss, you can see them through the mirror. (You must have seen the person’s face at least once to view them through the mirror.)
→ Over time, the relic’s power has weakened.
→ It’s a divine-grade equipment not registered in the Black Tower.
→ Some information hasn’t been disclosed yet due to insufficient data.
→ Usage Restriction: Magic Power 100 and above
→ Creator: God of Space, Dimena
→ Grade: Divine
More than the mirror’s divine rank,
“I can see the person I miss?”
This phrase caught Sejun’s attention more.
“Show me my mother.”
Sejun infused the mirror with magic and pictured his mother in his mind.
Then,
Ripple. Ripple.
The characters carved into the bronze mirror rippled like water, and revealed the image of Sejun’s mother, Kim Mi-ran, preparing dinner. As expected, tonight’s menu was kimchi stew (TL: or Kimchi-jjigae). Subsequently, Sejun checked on other family members.
His father was on his way home from work, and his younger brother, Se-dol…
“Ugh! My eyes!”
Sejun quickly averted his eyes from the mirror. He hadn’t expected to see Se-dol taking a shower.
“Thankfully, they all seem well.”
Sejun was relieved to see his family in good health.
And,
‘I wish I could have seen Aileen too…’
Sejun lamented not being able to see Aileen. Even though he had met her before, Sejun couldn’t remember the fact that he had encountered Aileen after getting hit from behind.
As Sejun was lost in his thoughts,
[The Tower’s Administrator says you’re wearing unfamiliar shoes.]
Noticing the change in Sejun’s footwear during the time she had gone to listen to her grandfather’s stories, Aileen inquired. Something felt off.
“Oh, these?”
Sejun explained how he climbed the sky-reaching beanstalk to reach the massive floating land in the sky and acquired the shoes.
“Have you ever heard that the Creator God has an apostle?”
[The Tower’s Administrator says she’ll ask her grandpa about that.]
[The Tower’s Administrator asks if the voice you heard in your head was a female’s voice.]
“The voice? Of course, it was…”
Sejun, about to reply, felt a sudden chill but said,
“It was a woman’s voice.”
He spoke honestly, thinking that hiding the truth would be worse.
[The Tower’s Administrator says she understands.]
After that, Aileen remained silent.
And,
“How dare you! Gifting something to our Sejun?!”
Aileen registered the Apostle of Creation as a threat.
***
Tap. Tap.
Sejun continued to let the Sturdy Blade Green Onions hear his footsteps.
After about two hours,
[The Sturdy Blade Green Onions are grateful for the farmer’s footsteps and lend their strength.]
[Your stamina stat potential has increased from 99 to 100.]
The awaited message appeared, and his stamina limit stat increased by 1.
“It really works.”
Sejun, having confirmed the effect of the Blessing of the Crops skill, said,
“Good. Test over. Time to go back. Cuengi, let’s go!”
Sejun called for Cuengi. It was time to return to the 99th floor of the tower.
However,
Krueng…
[Cuengi’s sleepy…]
Cuengi, having emptied his snack pouch, felt drowsy from a full stomach.
“Then let’s rest a bit before we go.”
Krueng!
[Daddy, sleep next to Cuengi!]
Cuengi pointed to a spot beside him.
“Alright.”
As Sejun sat beside Cuengi,
Kuehehehe.
Cuengi snuggled up to Sejun’s side and promptly fell asleep.
Pat pat.
Sejun, stroking Cuengi and the head of Theo who was on his lap, fell asleep together.
A short while later,
Gororong.
Kurorong.
Baerorong. 𝘪𝑎.
“Meow?! Where are we, meow?!”
Theo woke up from his sleep.
Then,
“Thank goodness, meow!”
Squeeze. Squeeze.
Realizing he was on Sejun’s lap, Theo pressed down on Sejun’s body with his paws to check if everything was okay.
“His face looks a bit rotten, but he seems okay, meow!”
After checking Sejun’s condition, Theo lay back on Sejun’s lap.
10 minutes later,
“Meow! I can’t sleep, meow!”
Perhaps he had slept too much because he wasn’t sleepy anymore.
Then,
“Isn’t that what I brought, meow?”
Theo spotted the Mirror of Longing in Sejun’s pocket.
“I want to see Chairman Park’s knee, meow!”
Holding the mirror, Theo infused it with magic, thinking about Sejun’s knee.
Then,
“Oh! It’s me, meow!”
Theo, along with Sejun’s knee on which he was sitting, appeared in the mirror.
“Puhuhut. I’m truly amazing, meow!”
Theo boasted about the mirror’s brilliant feature, praising himself.
“I want to see Elka, meow!”
“I want to see Ulrich, meow!”
“I want to see Sister Aileen, meow!”
As Theo was amusing himself with the bronze mirror,
Krueng?
[Big bro, what’s that?]
Cuengi, who had just woken up from his nap, asked Theo about the mirror he held. It looked fun!
“Puhuhut. Look at this, Cuengi, meow! If you infuse it with magic and think of someone you want to see, they appear in the mirror, meow!”
Theo proudly showed Cuengi the image of the black rabbit in the mirror.
Krueng!
[It’s Big Bro!]
“Puhuhut. What do you think, meow? Cuengi, want to give it a try, meow?”
Theo suggested, as if he was doing Cuengi a favor. It’s time to show the elder brother’s authority, meow!
Krueng! Krueng!
[Yes! Cuengi wants to try!]
Excited by Theo’s offer, Cuengi responded.
“You must use it carefully, meow!”
Krueng!
[Understood!]
Theo warned Cuengi as he handed over the bronze mirror.
Then,
Krueng!
[Mirror, Cuengi wants to see Cuengi’s grandma!]
Holding the mirror with both front paws, Cuengi infused it with magic power.
However,
……
Nothing appeared in the mirror. It was expected since Cuengi had never seen Sejun’s mother, Kim Mi-ran.
Krueng? Krueng?!
[Why isn’t it working? Why can’t Cuengi see Cuengi’s grandma?!]
Cuengi shook the mirror and exclaimed.
“You silly, meow?! You need to know their face to see them, meow!”
Krueng! Krueng!
[Cuengi is not silly! But Cuengi doesn’t know grandma’s face!]
At Theo’s words, Cuengi started to sob sadly.
At that moment,
“Uhmm… Why are you two fighting?”
Sejun woke up due to their commotion.
Kwueong!
[Daddy, Cuengi wants to see Cuengi’s grandma!]
Cuengi, with a tearful voice, ran to Sejun.
“Whoa! Cuengi, st… gah!”
Sejun hurriedly exclaimed, but
Whack!
Cuengi was much faster.
Koooom!
Fortunately, the dragon tattoo on Sejun’s left arm disappeared, saving Sejun.
TL Notes:
1) Here it could also be translated as Apostle of the Creator God but I have used Apostle of Creation to match with Apostle of Destruction.
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TL: Hi Guys, I have been gone for a few days as you might have noticed but I am now back with daily regular releases.
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𝑖𝘦𝑎.𝗇t