TL: Hanguk
Black Tower, 99th Floor.
[Hurry up and eat!]
Today, while Sejun was away, Flamie visited to feed nutrients to Podori and Sausage.
[Yes!]
[Yep!]
Podori and Sausage quickly swallowed the nutrients.
Then one more. And another. One more again.
An endless nutrient hell.
Once Sausage becomes a World Tree, the second trial will be cleared!
Sausage was the final, 1,000th World Tree, after all.
Thanks to this, Podori, who was next to him, also had to keep eating nutrients.
As Sausage was eating his fifth special nutrient made by Flamie,
[Oh?! I’m overflowing with power!]
Kugugung.
Sausage began to grow rapidly.
At last, he had become a World Tree.
[Time for me to go back now! Good job, everyone!]
Confirming that Sausage had grown into a World Tree, Flamie hurriedly headed to the Forest of Creation to find the Trial Statue.
[Oh. This is nice!]
Sausage realized that promotion wasn’t all bad.
And,
Your hard times are just beginning.
Podori looked at Sausage with pity.
Shortly after,
Oh? Sausage became a World Tree!
Sejun, upon reaching the 99th floor, discovered Sausage, who had grown into a World Tree.
“Congratulations, Sausage.”
After quickly congratulating the Sausage Tree, Sejun began sneaking away like a thief, cautiously glancing around as he moved toward home.
At that moment,
[The Tower’s Administrator says we need to have a serious conversation.]
Aileen spoke to Sejun.
“A… serious conversation?”
Sejun, feeling guilty, stammered at his words.
The Lizard girl Ellie’s confession.
How dare she flirt with our Sejun?!
That infuriated Aileen, and the sparks of her anger flew toward Sejun, threatening to burn him as well.
Should I just kneel? No, I’m a man, I can’t kneel…
But wait, Aileen is 200 years old… Considering elder respect, kneeling might be okay.
No, still…
As Sejun agonized over whether to kneel and beg or just beg,
Aileen continued speaking.
My handsome(?) Sejun will probably have more people flirting(?) with him in the future, right? I need some kind of countermeasure!
This was the solution Aileen had thought of to protect Sejun.
“A mark?”
Then a couple ring?!
Sejun, whose knees were nearly touching the ground, suddenly sprang up at Aileen’s words.
A couple ring?!
He was thrilled.
And then,
“Hehehe. Aileen, actually, I think a mark is a good idea too!”
Sejun readily agreed with Aileen’s suggestion.
[The Tower’s Administrator says, then, let’s create rings from each other’s body parts and exchange them.]
Huh? I agree with the ring part, but… making it from our bodies?!
He’d heard that Aileen’s true form was incredibly huge.
Then her fingers must be huge too, right?
If I were to make a ring that fits Aileen’s finger with my body…
‘She’s planning to use my entire body as a ring?!’
Shudder.
Should I suggest switching it to a badge instead?!
As Sejun trembled in fear,
Aileen requested Sejun’s hair.
“Huh?! Hair? Sure! I can cut as much as you want!”
Snip.
Sejun hurriedly cut off some of his hair and sent it to Aileen.
A moment later,
[The Tower’s Administrator tells you to always wear this from now on.]
Aileen sent Sejun a black ring she had crafted.
The ring felt warm, perhaps due to Aileen’s lingering warmth. It had a matte finish and no distinguishing features, yet it was strangely elegant and beautiful.
“Hehehe. Aileen, I’ll wear it well.”
For the first time in his life, Sejun slipped on a couple ring, grinning from ear to ear as he placed it on the ring finger of his left hand.
Swoosh.
The ring slid smoothly onto his finger.
“Options?”
At Aileen’s words, Sejun closely examined the ring.
→ A ring forged by melting the horn of the Black Tower Administrator, the Great Black Dragon Aileen Pritani, and the hair of Black Tower’s Tower Farmer Park Sejun.
104.28.193.250
→ The [Lover’s Ring (Amplification)] and the [Lover’s Ring (Weakening)] were created as a pair.
→ When the two rings are together, one side’s power is amplified, while the other’s power is weakened, achieving a delicate balance of power.
→ When worn: All Stats +500
→ When worn: Greatly decreases the favorability of the opposite sex towards the wearer.
→ When worn: Can know the status of the wearer of [Lover’s Ring (Weakening)] no matter how far apart they are.
→ If a member of the opposite gender spends more than 10 minutes with the wearer without Aileen Pritani’s permission, they will be subjected to a powerful curse.
→ Usage Restriction: Black Tower’s Tower Farmer Park Sejun
→ Creator: Aileen Pritani
→ Grade: Unmeasurable
The options weren’t exactly favorable, as Aileen had focused less on protecting Sejun and more on blocking potential rivals(?) who might try to approach him.
But,
“Hehehe.”
What did it matter? The fact that it was a couple ring was what was important. That alone made this ring a priceless treasure.
Of course, the ring was genuinely astronomically valuable, as it was made from the horn of the Great Black Dragon, Aileen.
“Aileen, good night! Hehehe.”
After bidding Aileen good night, Sejun fiddled with his couple ring and,
Snore.
He drifted off to sleep.
***
Forest of Creation.
“Candidate of the Tree of Creation. You have successfully raised 1,000 World Trees. You have passed the second trial.”
When the Trial Statue spoke,
[Hehe! Does that mean I can start the third trial now?!]
You said you’d seal my power during the third test! Now I can go see Sejun-nim!
Excited at the thought of going to see Sejun, Flamie asked in an eager voice.
However,
“No. The third trial requires preparation, so it will take some time.”
The third trial would not begin immediately.
[What?! Can’t you just seal my power in advance?]
“No.”
[Then how long do I have to wait?!]
“Thirty days. The third trial will begin in thirty days.”
[Okay…]
Flamie became dejected.
***
The next morning.
Kihihit!
The Blackie Family woke up earlier than usual.
Kihihit! Kking!
[Hehe! Guys, let’s go do good deeds!]
“Yes!”
Kkiruk!
Shararang!
…
..
.
As Blackie rallied his subordinates,
Whoosh!
He launched himself at Sejun’s face.
And then,
“…Bu-boop…”
He blocked Sejun’s mouth and forcibly gave himself a belly fart.
Hehe! You’re a genius, great Blackie! You found something that makes you feel good and counts as a good deed!
“…Bu-bu-boop…”
Looking very pleased with himself, Blackie smiled smugly while receiving a belly fart.
But,
“Gasp! Gasp! Hey! I can’t breathe!”
Kking…
Soon, Sejun grabbed Blackie by the scruff of the neck and scolded him first thing in the morning. Blackie’s subordinates quietly looked away, pretending they had nothing to do with it.
Thanks to Blackie, Sejun woke up early.
“Hehehe.”
He smiled contentedly, gazing at the couple ring on his finger, and then,
“Meow…”
Kking…
After taking care of Theo and the Blackie Family, Sejun stepped outside.
“Uhaaam.”
Stretching languidly, Sejun raised his arms in a big stretch in front of the entrance.
“Meowww!”
Kkiing!
Theo and Blackie mimicked him, raising their arms and stretching along with Sejun.
Step. Step.
Waking up early, Sejun decided to stroll through the farm for the first time in a while, increasing the growth rate of the crops and raising his potential as a reward.
[The effect of <Great Blessing of the Crops (Master)> activates, increasing the potential of your Agility stat from 43,947 to 43,957.]
As Sejun walked around the farm, raising its potential,
Kueng!
[Good morning, Dad!]
Cuengi, having just woken up, joined Sejun.
– Puhihihi. Brother-in-law~!
“Baby brother-in-law~!”
From afar, Anton’s black dragon statue flew toward Sejun and,
Pook.
embraced him.
“But baby brother-in-law, is this really okay?”
Sejun asked in a worried tone as he looked at Ace.
Although he already knew why Ace was acting this way, having heard the details from Aileen,
– Puhihihi. Brother-in-law, it’s fine now! I helped my sister…
Sejun gave Ace the chance to brag freely. Ace’s lips were practically itching to deliver this happy news himself.
– Puhihihi. So, brother-in-law, I…
Just as Sejun had predicted, Ace began eagerly chattering about how hard he had worked to help Aileen, explaining every little detail.
“Is that so?”
“As expected of my baby brother-in-law!”
Sejun responded with timely reactions during Ace’s story, making sure he didn’t lose enthusiasm and allowing Ace to continue.
– Puhihihi. And because of that, I get to play with you for 12 hours, brother-in-law!
Ace finally finished saying everything he wanted to share.
“Oh! Really?! Wow, my baby brother-in-law worked so hard!”
– Puhihihi.
Sejun’s heartfelt reactions at the end made Ace puff out his chest in pride.
And then,
“Baby brother-in-law, if you keep helping your sister and doing lots of good deeds, you might even get a present for Christmas.”
Sejun used the opportunity to motivate Ace to keep helping Aileen.
Sejun was planning a grand party for this Christmas and wanted to create joyful memories for everyone.
Hehehe. I’ll also need to make a Christmas tree.
For that, he had even planted pine trees.
But who should pull the sleigh?
As Sejun pondered who could pull the sleigh,
– Christmas?
Ace asked with sparkling eyes. He didn’t know what Christmas was, but the idea of receiving a gift was enough to make him excited.
“Yes. It’s a day when, if you’ve done a lot of good deeds throughout the year, Santa Claus sneaks in while you’re sleeping and leaves you a present.”
– Puhihihi. A present?! Really?!
“Yes.”
– But brother-in-law, do you think Santa Claus can sneak past my dad and grandpa and come to Ace?
Ace asked in a worried tone. It was a very sharp and realistic question.
Of course, sneaking past the Great Black Dragons, Kaiser or Anton, to deliver a gift to Ace seemed impossible.
However,
“Yes, of course.”
Sejun answered confidently. After all, Santa would be Kaiser or Anton.
– Brother-in-law, then…
Christmas was now 30 days away.
Santa Claus is a transcendent being who knows exactly who has been good.
While Park Sejun was answering Ace’s question,
Puhuhut. If you do good deeds, you get presents, meow! Then, when Santa comes to deliver presents, we can catch him and take all the gifts for Chairman Park, meow!
Hehehe. Cuengi wants to do lots of good deeds and get great presents! But if Santa gives a bad gift, Cuengi will punish Santa Claus!
Kihihit. Great Blackie has already done three good deeds yesterday and the day before, and one more today, so that means I’ll get seven roasted and dried sweet potatoes, right?
Kihihit. Kking! Kking!
[Hehe. No! We’ll just headbutt Santa Claus and take everything from him!]
Theo, Cuengi, and the Blackie Family were all letting their imaginations run wild, thinking about what they would do when they met Santa.
Whichever family they belonged to, their thoughts were uniformly mischievous.
As everyone listening to Sejun’s story decided they would do good deeds and meet Santa Claus,
Moo?
[Christmas?]
Whiiiing?!
[If you do good deeds, he gives you presents while you sleep?]
Kkwek!
[In 30 days!]
Even the farm members nearby, who were busy working, heard about the news of the upcoming Christmas.
And then,
[Black Tower 94th Floor, Black Drake Mozak, the Ruler of Chikasan: Nonsense! Why would anyone give you presents for doing good deeds?!]
[Black Tower 99th Floor, Black Minotaur Woocheon Sam (Minotaur 1003): Mozak, watch your words. This came directly from Sejun-nim.]
[Black Tower 94th Floor, Black Drake Mozak, the Ruler of Chikasan: Ahem. My apologies.]
[Black Tower 83rd Floor, Chestnut Hedgehog Godori: So, does that mean we should start doing good deeds from today?]
[Black Tower 99th Floor, Poisonous Bee #28: Yes. And since Santa comes while you’re sleeping, make sure to get plenty of rest.]
The news about Christmas started spreading throughout the entire Black Tower via Sejun Company’s official employee communication network.
