“The Apostles of Destruction even entered the pond…”
Sejun was lost in deep thought with a serious expression on his face.
Theo and Cuengi hadn’t emerged from the pond yet, but he wasn’t worried about them. They were capable of hunting the Apostles of Destruction, and there was also Iona, who was sleeping on Theo’s tail.
If it became truly dangerous, Iona would intervene, so Sejun wasn’t too concerned.
Then,
[The Tower’s Administrator is asking if you’re alright.]
Aileen inquired about Sejun’s condition.
“Me? I’m fine. Theo and Cuengi took care of it.”
Sejun reassured Aileen, assuming she was worried about the Apostles of Destruction.
[The Tower’s Administrator says she’s relieved.]
[The Tower’s Administrator says she was worried when she heard that the Apostles of Destruction suddenly infiltrated the 99th floor of the tower.]
The Apostles of Destruction, entering through the Dimensional Sea, didn’t conceal their aura. Thus, as soon as they entered the tower, the tower’s system detected them, and Aileen also realized the invasion.
If Theo and Cuengi had been slightly late, Aileen would’ve directly confronted and defeated the Apostles of Destruction.
Thanks to this, Sejun realized that if the Apostles of Destruction enter through the Dimensional Sea, Aileen would be the first to know.
“That’s a relief.”
Sejun felt relieved hearing Aileen’s words. If the Apostles that entered through the Dimensional Sea had come out of the pond, the first one they would have encountered would be the vulnerable Flamie. By the time Sejun would have noticed, it might have been too late.
After finishing his conversation with Aileen and farming for about an hour,
[The Stamina Corns are grateful for the farmer’s footsteps and lend their strength.]
[Your Stamina stat potential has increased from 100 to 101.]
Sejun’s Stamina potential increased by 1.
“Nice.”
Sejun beamed with pride and refocused on his farming.
Then, 𝘪𝘳.𝒸𝘰𝑚
Splash.
“Chairman Park, we’re back, meow!”
Krueng!
[Cuengi caught a tuna!]
Theo and Cuengi emerged from the pond. Theo was empty-handed, while Cuengi proudly held 2 massive tuna in each of his front paws. It was clear at first glance that Cuengi was the victor.
“So, Cuengi won?”
“No, meow! I caught tuna too!”
Theo, taking offense at Sejun’s remark, started pulling out giant tunas from his bag, two just like Cuengi’s. They were of similar size.
It was thanks to Flamie, who had released four tunas of similar size into the pond to prevent them from fighting.
“And here are the coins I got, meow!”
Theo handed over four green coins and five gray coins to Sejun.
“This many?!”
Sejun exclaimed in surprise as he received the nine coins.
Krueng!
[Cuengi has one more coins! That means Cuengi won!]
Cuengi claimed his victory because he had one more gray coin.
“No, meow! I have this, meow! The victory belongs to me, Vice Chairman Theo, meow!”
Theo pulled out a thin, elongated object from his bag, about the size of Sejun.
Krueng?
[Isn’t that just a stone?]
Cuengi tilted his head, wondering why his elder brother brought a useless stone that couldn’t even be eaten.
“Puhuhut. This isn’t an ordinary stone, meow! My paws were attracted to it, meow!”
Theo proclaimed confidently. His paws were indeed attracted to it, and Chairman Park’s satisfaction level was around 8-9 points, which was not bad.
“What is this?!”
As Sejun examined what Theo brought, he became excited.
[Giant Deep Sea Oyster]
It wasn’t a stone, but an oyster.
“Vice Chairman Theo, take out your claw.”
Sejun instructed Theo, holding his paw.
“Puhuhut. Alright, meow!”
Clang!
Seeing Sejun’s reaction, Theo, sensing that he had brought something remarkable, confidently took out his dragon claw.
Scrape. Scrape.
As Sejun carefully started cutting the oyster shell, water began to seep out.
Scrape. Scrape.
Ignoring it, Sejun continued to slice the oyster.
After cutting about half of the oyster shell,
“Cuengi, can you open this?”
Krueng!
[Okay!]
Realizing that Theo had brought something edible, Cuengi eagerly helped.
Creak.
As Cuengi easily pried open the oyster shell, its white flesh was revealed. It was a massive piece of flesh.
Slice.
As Sejun cut a piece of the glistening oyster and placed it in his mouth, it burst with the rich flavor of the sea.
“Wow.”
He couldn’t help but exclaim.
While Sejun was savoring the sea’s aftertaste,
Thump! Thump!
Krueng!
[Dad, Cuengi want to try some too!]
Sejun didn’t offer him any, and Cuengi, growing impatient, stamped its feet, trying to show he wanted some too.
“Alright, here.”
This time, Sejun cut a piece of the oyster about the size of his palm and put it in Cuengi’s mouth.
Chew. Chew.
Krueng! Krueng!
[Cuengi can taste the blue sea! It’s delicious!]
The connoisseur Cuengi immediately recognized the taste of the sea.
“Vice Chairman Theo, do you want some?”
“No, meow!”
Theo declined firmly, in stark contrast to Cuengi. As expected, he was a devout fish lover.
Krueng!
[Cuengi will eat it!]
Having already swallowed the oyster in his mouth, Cuengi quickly responded, opening his mouth like a baby bird.
“Okay. One bite for me, one bite for Cuengi.”
Sejun sliced the huge oyster to bite-sized pieces for himself and palm-sized for Cuengi.
As Sejun and Cuengi were eating the oyster in harmony, when they had consumed about half of it,
Krueng!
[Dad, you should eat this!]
From the flesh of the giant oyster, Cuengi pulled out an ivory-colored bead the size of a walnut and handed it to Sejun.
“What’s this? A pearl?”
Sejun inspected the bead Cuengi handed to him.
[Giant Deep Sea Oyster’s Core]
→ A core from an oyster that has lived in the deep seas of the Dimensional Ocean for more than 3000 years.
→ Upon consumption, strength increases by 50 and you gain the talent: Sturdiness.
→ It has a very strong bitter taste.
→ Usage restrictions: Lv. 50 and above, Stamina 50 and above
→ Grade: A
“Wow!”
Sejun exclaimed in admiration at the options of the core. The strength increase by 50 and acquiring a new talent was remarkable. It also explained why Cuengi handed over the core without hesitation.
“It has a very strong bitter taste?”
Krueng! Krueng!
[Cuengi doesn’t like bitter! Dad likes bitter, so Dad should eat it and become stronger!]
Cuengi gave a thumbs up, cheering Sejun on. Having seen Sejun drink bitter coffee, Cuengi believed that Sejun enjoyed the bitter taste.
‘Alright. For the sake of becoming stronger!’
I’ll also escape being the weakest!
“Ugh.”
With firm determination, Sejun put the Giant Deep Sea Oyster’s Core in his mouth.
Squish.
Upon entering his mouth, the core turned mushy.
“Ugh!!!”
An overpowering bitter taste filled his mouth. The intense bitterness hit Sejun so hard he felt dazed.
While regretting swallowing the core, Sejun attempted to spit it out, but
Gulp.
The core involuntarily slid down Sejun’s throat on its own.
[You’ve consumed the Giant Deep Sea Oyster’s Core.]
[Your Strength increases by 50.]
[Talent: Sturdiness has been awakened.]
“Arghhh!”
Sejun screamed and quickly ate the tomatoes from his garden to wash away the remaining bitterness in his mouth.
“Ugh… That was terrible.”
After consuming about 20 cherry tomatoes, Sejun shuddered, recalling the intense bitter taste. He then checked the benefits he had gained.
[Strength 85]
[Talent: Sturdiness]
– Your body becomes more durable, allowing you to ignore attacks below a certain level.
– The higher your stamina, the higher the damage you can ignore.
“Hehe.”
Sejun was pleased with the results. Though it wasn’t a wind attribute talent, Sejun had successfully awakened a talent.
“Then, we’ll be going now.”
[Yes! Master! Enjoy your dinner!]
Flamie waved its leaves enthusiastically at Sejun, who was heading out for dinner.
Left alone in the cave, Flamie pondered,
[Sigh. Next time, I’ll find something nutritious and delicious.]
Flamie began contemplating what could both raise Sejun’s abilities and satisfy his taste buds.
***
The next morning.
“Ha!”
The moment Sejun woke up,
Gulp.
[You have consumed a piece of Aileen’s Healthy Meatball.]
[You must eat all of it to gain the full effect.]
[78 pieces remain.]
Sejun started his morning with a piece of Aileen’s Healthy Meatball, which he had neglected lately because of the cabbage soup. Eating it first thing in the morning meant he could digest up to two pieces a day. Shortly, he felt the meat quickly filled his stomach, satiating his hunger.
Swoosh.
After finishing his meal, he marked the date on the bedroom wall, indicating the start of his 327th day, and stepped outside.
As soon as he left the house,
Kkwek!
From a distance, a Mushroom Ant called out to Sejun. It was signaling him to come and collect the elixir mushroom.
Flick flick.
Sejun quietly signaled the Mushroom Ant to move towards the back of the house.
Then,
Kkwek!
The transaction took place behind the house.
[You have harvested a Enhanced Elixir: Oyster Mushroom.]
[Your Job Experience has increased slightly.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 7 has increased slightly.]
[You have gained 250 experience points.]
Immediately after the harvest, the scent of oyster mushrooms spread.
‘Let’s give up on this.’
He was too full to eat more, and the strong scent would undoubtedly give him away to Cuengi. Hiding it would only diminish his dignity as a father. Sejun decided to give the entire oyster mushroom to Cuengi.
“Thanks. I’ll count on you next time too.”
As Sejun praised and sent off the Mushroom Ant that brought the mushroom,
Krueng? Krueng!
[Dad, where are you? Cuengi is hungry!]
He heard Cuengi’s distant call searching for him.
“Dad’s over here!”
Upon hearing Sejun’s response,
Thud thud thud.
Chasing Sejun’s voice, Cuengi came running with cheerful footsteps.
Krueng!
[It’s dad!]
Jump!
Cuengi launched himself towards Sejun.
Sejun caught Cuengi with ease. Thanks to his increased strength, Cuengi now felt as light as a feather to him. Of course, much of it was due to Cuengi’s efforts.
Sniff. Sniff.
Krueng! Krueng?!
[Dad smells delicious! Did Dad eat something tasty without me?!]
Cuengi, detecting a delightful scent from Sejun, began to sniff around his mouth, increasingly skeptical. Cuengi was showing signs of turning into his fierce baby beast mode.
But,
Krueng?
Surprisingly, there was no scent coming from Sejun’s mouth.
“Ta-da! Dad saved it just for Cuengi. Here, eat this while you wait.”
Sejun took out the oyster mushroom he had hidden around his waist and gave it to Cuengi.
Krueng! Krueng!
[Dad’s the best! Cuengi will wait patiently!]
Chomp. Chomp.
Held in Sejun’s arms, Cuengi responded energetically and began eating the mushroom.
After feeding the animals the tuna porridge he made the previous day, Sejun went outside.
And then,
Thud. Thud.
As he had done the previous day, Sejun took Myler’s hoe and started planting crops in the field.
[You have planted 500 Magical Cherry Tomato seeds in the magic power-infused soil.]
[The Magical Cherry Tomato seeds hear the farmer’s footsteps, enhancing the effects of Magic Seed Sowing Lv. 6.]
[Due to the effects of Magic Seed Sowing Lv. 6, the growth speed of the Magical Cherry Tomato seeds will double for the next 24 hours.]
[You have 7554673 times left until the job quest completion.]
The only difference was that he planted carrots yesterday and cherry tomatoes today.
While planting the cherry tomatoes,
(Sejun! I think I’ll be heading to Earth soon!)
The Golden Bat, which had been hanging on Sejun’s back, hurriedly exclaimed.
“Oh! Really?”
(Yes! What should I bring back?)
“Ramen! Definitely bring back a lot of ramen!”
Sejun cried out as if he had a lingering craving for ramen. Ever since he had only tasted the broth because Cuengi snatched his ramen, that scene haunted his dreams.
Perhaps he wouldn’t have felt this way if he hadn’t tasted it at all. However, after tasting it, Sejun’s yearning had only intensified.
(Yes! Just trust me!)
The Golden Bat confidently replied and then teleported to Earth.
*****
*****
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