TL: Hanguk
An enormous number of calamities appeared directly ahead.
Locusts, giant bloodsucking leeches, fire moths, petrifying spiders, even slimes.
All of these calamities were swarming toward his castle.
Is it that time again?
I was already dead…
Les looked at the scene in front of him with alarm.
What he saw was the final moment of <Balkan> that he dreamed of every night.
A nightmare and memory from 700 years ago.
The five calamities were nothing but insignificant pests to the ogre warriors.
However
“Your Majesty! Please go inside the tower!”
“And you all?”
“Haha. We’ll hold them off for some time and join you soon!”
“Don’t worry about us! Les~nim, you trust us, right?”
“Yes.”
The ogres reassured their young king, who was worried about them, with their youthful voices and prepared for the final battle.
In the distance, a giant crow with blood-red eyes was watching and laughing.
Halphas, the Crow of Death and 2nd Seat of the Apostles of Destruction.
No warrior could withstand even a second in front of Halphas. Actually, even a second was too long.
In the blink of an eye, a moment so brief they couldn’t even comprehend it, hundreds of thousands of ogre warriors lost their lives.
That’s why they were desperately fighting to buy time for their king to escape.
Back then, he hadn’t realized it, but now he could see. Though they smiled, their tightly clenched fists betrayed their struggle to overcome their fear.
As Les ran toward the White Tower with all his might
“O warriors of Balkan! Are you afraid of death?”
“”“No, we are not!”””
“Hahaha. That’s fitting for the warriors of Balkan. Balkan, forever!”
“”“Balkan, Long live!”””
Les’s guardian warrior, Chaff, and the other ogres charged toward the calamities.
A one-sided slaughter by the ogres.
Seeing this, Les occasionally glanced back, relieved, and slowed his pace.
However
Caw!
The moment Halphas cried out a second time, the tide of battle shifted in an instant.
A crimson energy engulfed the ogres, and they transformed into the sixth calamity, pursuing their own king.
At that moment
Kuooo!
The majestic white dragon Kellion Mamebe emerged from the White Tower, unleashing a breath attack that erased the calamities.
-Get inside quickly.
If Kellion hadn’t intervened to buy time, Les would have also turned into a calamity like the other ogres, and with their king, the ogres would have become even stronger.
Just as Les was about to enter the White Tower with Kellion’s help
…Ssak!
‘…?’
With a sharp sound, Les suddenly felt his cheek burn, snapping him back to reality.
And then
Slap! Slap!
He locked eyes with a cat that was smacking his cheek.
“Puhuhut. Chairman Park, permanent employee Les is awake, meow!”
Treatment complete, meow!
Theo, having finished treating Les, clung to Sejun’s knee again.
“…Why didn’t you kill me?”
As Les came to his senses, he rubbed his stinging cheek and asked Sejun.
[Bev, the God of Courage, says that while what just happened was a bit ambiguous, he is generous, so he will acknowledge it as a courageous feat.]
[You have earned 1 Achievement of Courage.]
[Bev, the God of Courage, proposes that if you engage in a one-punch battle where you exchange one hit each, he will award you 3 Achievements of Courage.]
Sejun was conversing with Bev.
With those fists?
‘Bev~nim, blocked.’
Sejun glanced at Les’s fist, which was bigger than his head, and blocked Bev.
“Puhuhut. Why kill, meow?! The sin of trying to take the life of the Great Hybrid Chairman Park is very, very costly, meow! I’m going to make you work for life, meow!”
That’s the policy of Sejun Company, meow!
In the meantime, Theo answered on behalf of Sejun.
‘Well, of course. Do you know how valuable I am.’
Nod. Nod.
Sejun nodded quietly as he listened to Theo’s words.
“But why did you suddenly attack me?”
Sejun, who had been nodding, asked Les.
“Well… I sensed battle aura from Sejun~nim?”
“Battle aura?”
“Yes. Battle aura is something we’re born with…”
According to Les’s explanation, ogres are born with a natural energy called battle aura, and as they grow, they can enhance it through fighting.
Additionally, even non-ogres can absorb a portion of an ogre’s battle aura by killing an ogre who possesses it.
In such cases, the ogres are bound to seek revenge on the being who absorbed their kin’s battle aura.
“Ah…”
Now that he thought about it, he did recall seeing a message indicating he had defeated the sixth calamity Ogre in the 10th tower.
‘But I don’t remember seeing any message about gaining battle aura…’
This damned system, slacking off again.
Sejun began to suspect the system of neglecting its duties.
“Les, so the sixth calamity is of your kin?”
“Yes. They were originally my people…”
Les replied, suppressing the anger and sorrow boiling up from within his chest in response to Sejun’s question.
“Ah.”
So he’s the Ogre King. He’s royalty.
Just as Sejun belatedly realized that Les was a king among ogres
“Sejun~nim, I’m truly sorry for attacking you. As a king, I felt I had to do something…”
Les restrained his emotions that were about to burst out again and bowed his head, apologizing to Sejun.
“It’s okay.”
“Puhuhut. That’s right, meow! It’s fine, meow!”
With smiles, Sejun and Theo accepted Les’s apology, having gained quite a bit in return.
For one, they had acquired Les as a permanent employee.
“Ajax, there’s a crack in this. Can you ask Kellion~nim to repair it?”
“Sure, hyung! I’ll make it even sturdier!”
104.28.193.250
And the shield would come back upgraded, too.
Of course, there were reasons Kellion had initially made the shield a bit weaker, but those were complicated matters for the higher-ups that weren’t worth explaining to a sunfish.
But…
Kuoo! Kuo!
Is Cuengi still angry?
“Cuengi, Dad’s fine now. Calm down.”
When Sejun spoke to Cuengi, who was still growling from behind, freēwebnovel.com
Kueng?
Cuengi tilted his head cutely.
Kueng! Kueng!
[Cuengi isn’t mad! Cuengi is just practicing making scary sounds!]
He wasn’t slacking off in his efforts to become a ferocious beast.
Kuo? Kuo?
[How is it? Is Cuengi scary?]
No. Just cute.
To Sejun, Cuengi, who was still just a baby beast, looked only adorable.
Kuo! Kuo!
“Cuengi, try raising your front paws like this. That’ll make you scarier.”
Kueng?
[Like this?]
Following Sejun’s words, Cuengi raised his two front paws and asked.
“Good job. Try it again.”
Kuoo! Kuo!
“Pffft…”
What is this? Why did he get even cuter?
While trying to hold back his laughter, Sejun…
“Alright. You’re a little scarier now. Let’s keep practicing.”
He encouraged Cuengi.
Kuoo! Kuo!
With Sejun’s encouragement, Cuengi diligently continued his training to become a fierce beast.
Hehe, whose child is this? So cute.
Sejun felt pure happiness as he watched Cuengi lift his two front paws and growl at him.
***
White Tower Administrator’s Area
“Grandpa, I’m disappointed! How could you make such a weak shield for Sejun hyung?!”
Ajax was holding the brother shield that had cracked under Les’s full-force punch, complaining to Kellion.
“No, it’s not like I wanted to make it weak…”
“I don’t care. I’m disappointed.”
“Sigh.”
As Ajax sulked, Kellion’s concern deepened.
He could make high-quality equipment anytime.
However
What was he supposed to do about Sejun being so weak…
The problem lay with the intended wearer of the equipment.
If he infused too much magic power, it would become a mere decoration he couldn’t wear, or even if he managed to wear it, the unstable magic might cause it to go out of control.
Besides…
If he made it any stronger, others would start to notice…
Originally, he and the other dragons in the Four Dragon Council had agreed not to give Sejun any more equipment as gifts.
After all, Sejun already had a ton of items that were excessively good for his abilities.
If Sejun were to equip the gear made by the dragons here, it could cause interference with his other equipment, potentially creating problems for him.
Therefore, the shield was deliberately designed with a function to hide in a void space so that the other dragons wouldn’t notice.
‘What should I do?’
Should he risk being scolded by the other dragons and show off his abilities to his grandson? Or remain as an incompetent old grandpa?
Kellion pondered briefly.
I can’t show my grandson a disappointing side!
Naturally, Kellion chose the former.
“Grandson! Your grandpa will show you his true skills!”
Kellion melted down both the Brother Shields and infused in an incredible amount of magic power to create a new shield.
A much larger and stronger one.
***
“Why isn’t Ajax coming?”
Should I call him?
Sejun said while applying seasoning to locust skewers.
Around Sejun were various dishes he’d prepared while waiting for Ajax, including locust stir-fry stew, fried locust, and locust salad.
If the first half of the meat feast was slime meat, then the second half was locust meat.
Sizzle.
As Sejun was grilling the seasoned locust skewers,
“Hyung! I convinced Grandpa to change it to a stronger shield!”
Ajax appeared.
Thud. Thud.
Carrying two circular shields, each with a diameter of 10 meters.
[Elder Brother Shield of Dragon Horn that Protects Proudly]
[Younger Brother Shield of Dragon Horn that Protects Proudly]
The names themselves expressed an intent to protect openly without hiding in void spaces anymore.
Additionally,
Usage Restriction: Park Sejun, recognized by Kellion Mamebe, all stats over 100,000
So, is this telling me not to use it if I’m not capable?
The options were as bold as the name suggested.
“Hmph!”
Did they think I wouldn’t be able to use it?!
“Land Moving.”
Sejun erected four pillars and then said,
“Ajax, place the shields on top of these.”
“Sure thing, hyung!”
Thud.
When Ajax placed the shields on the four pillars, they formed an excellent roof.
“Hehe. Genius Park Sejun-nim can use everything even if he can’t equip it.”
Sejun looked at the shields-turned-roof with satisfaction.
Plus I can use them as defense walls by setting them up in front during dangerous times.
‘I have Powers, after all.’
One of his <Power: Insignificant and Cowardly Plunder>, allowed him to take one item within a 100-meter radius without being noticed.
Recently, he had discovered an interesting feature of this power.
He could retrieve any item in his void space storage regardless of distance.
Additionally,
‘Store Theo’s leftover giant fish.’
It was even possible to store items directly into his void space without passing through his hands.
Hehehe. I even used this power to send meat to the Blackie family in my void storage.
“I truly am a genius.”
Sejun praised himself with pride.
Then,
‘Take out Pink-fur’s wooden chopsticks.’
Snap.
“Here, Les, use this.”
“Thank you.”
Sejun took out a giant pair of wooden chopsticks from his void storage and handed them to Les.
“Alright, let’s dig in.”
And so, Sejun and his companions began the second half of their meat party.
Kueng!
[As expected, Dad’s cooking is all delicious!]
“Ehehehe! I told you, Sejun hyung’s cooking is the best!”
“It’s truly delicious.”
After taking a break to digest the slime meat, the group quickly devoured the locust dishes that Sejun had prepared.
[You have consumed the Seasoned Locust Skewer.]
[All stats increase by 1.]
…
..
.
Their stats rapidly increased, making them stronger.
Thanks to Sejun’s <Title: One Who Cooks Calamities>, cooking with the first calamity, the locust, raised his stats.
Sejun himself gained stats by eating the dishes.
[You have consumed the Locust Stir-Fry Stew.]
[All stats increase by 3.]
[The potential of all stats has reached its limit.]
[No further stats can be absorbed.]
[Excess stats will be returned to nature.]
Except for the four main stats.
[Your soul is filled with praise.]
[Mental Strength increases by 7.]
Mental Strength.
Well, there’s nothing I can do about this.
Sejun watched helplessly as the excess stats dissipated.
At least with items, he could find ways to use them even if he didn’t meet the requirements, but there was no way to stop the stats from vanishing.
Still, I’ll eat it! Because it’s delicious.
Unfazed by the disappearing stats, Sejun continued to enjoy his locust dishes.
…
..
.
[Excess stats will be returned to nature.]
Of course, the more he ate, the more stats Sejun returned to nature.
At that moment,
“Huh?”
Sejun-nim’s battle aura?
Les looked at Sejun in surprise.
A portion of the stats Sejun was returning to nature was being absorbed into his battle aura, gradually strengthening it.
*****
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