Chapter 213: At This Level, Wouldn't I Be The Stamina King?
"Ulrich, what's over there, meow?!"
Theo, having arrived at the Black Orc's camp, pointed to a tent and asked. He was drawn to the tent because of his front paws.
"Are you referring to that place? There's a rock we found a few days ago when we were planting."
"A rock, meow?"
"Yes. The rock is sharply shaped, so it seemed like it would be good for the Black Orc's training, so we've been keeping it in the tent. Would you like to see it?"
"I do, meow!"
"Understood."
Ulrich led Theo to the tent where the rock was.
"Here it is."
Ulrich pointed to a 3-meter-sized gray rock inside the tent.
"Puhuhut. This is it, meow!"
Theo, placing his front paws on the rock, was certain. This is something that Chairman Park would be delighted with!
"Ulrich, give it to me, meow!"
"What? Yes! Take it."
Ulrich, slightly startled by Theo's request for the heavy rock, responded.
"Puhuhut. Thank you, meow!"
With that, Theo took the rock, put it in his bag, and then slept soundly in Ulrich's barracks, while waiting for the hunters to arrive to sell them crops.
***
Krueng!
[You have to eat this now!]
Cuengi, as if sensing Sejun's talent, pushed the bitter kudzu root towards him, demanding he eat it. It turned out Cuengi had gone to the western forest to dig up the kudzu roots that Sejun had planted in the corpses of the corrupted Ents and Tree Titan.
Sejun had originally planned to burn the enemies' corpses along with the kudzu to prevent it from spreading, but Cuengi persuaded him not to. Thanks to that, Sejun could now eat the kudzu roots harvested by Cuengi as herbs, even on the 99th floor of the tower.
Even if the seeds were to spread, Sejun had a separate plan in mind for the kudzu in the western forest, so there was no need to worry.
"Okay."
Unusually, today Sejun willingly followed Cuengi's instruction. Sejun also wanted to experience the effect of 'A Medicine That's Bitter is Good for Stamina.'
Crunch.
"Ugh."
Gulp.
Bearing the bitter taste, Sejun swallowed the kudzu root. The bitterness was bearable, after all.
And then,
[You have consumed a Sturdy Kudzu Root of Life.]
[Your Stamina increases by 20.]
[You have consumed a bitter medicine.]
[Talent: 'A Medicine That's Bitter is Good for Stamina' is activated.]
[Your Stamina increases by 2.]
A message appeared indicating that an additional 2 points of stamina had been gained.
"Is this supposed to be 2?"
It felt more like a 5 to Sejun, who was surprised by the message indicating the level of bitterness he had just experienced.
If this is 2, what would 10 taste like? Sejun hoped he would never have to experience such extreme bitterness just for a 10 point increase in stamina.
Then,
Krueng! Krueng!
[There's one more here!]
Cuengi, having accurately detected Sejun's stamina increase, pulled out another kudzu root for a follow-up attack.
Krueng! Krueng!
[Eat this one right away too! It was effective when you ate it just now!]
Cuengi, having keenly observed the increase in Sejun's stamina by 2 after eating the root, insisted. It seemed Cuengi was keeping a thorough check on Daddy's health!
"Ugh..."
Sejun, who had been caught with the added stamina, weakly responded.
'I should have refused it earlier!'
Sejun regretted not burning the kudzu, but it was too late.
"Urgh."
With a grimace, Sejun reluctantly chewed and swallowed another kudzu root.
[Talent: 'A Medicine That's Bitter is Good for Stamina' is activated.]
[Your Stamina increases by 1.]
This time the stamina increased by 20 again, but the bitterness was slightly less this time. Or rather, Sejun's mouth had become accustomed to the bitterness.
Having eaten two such bitter kudzu roots, Sejun took out some honey jelly to clear the aftertaste from his mouth and shared it with Cuengi as well.
"Here. One bottle of honey jelly for Cuengi, and one piece for Daddy."
Though both were 'one', the unit was different. Sejun gave Cuengi a whole glass bottle full of honey jelly, while he himself ate just one piece.
Kuehehehe. Krueng!
[Hehehe. Delicious!]
Cuengi, having received the bottle of honey jelly, took a seat outside the cornfield so as not to disturb Sejun's work, hugged the bottle to his chest, and started popping out honey jellies one by one.
And then,
"Time to get back to work."
Sejun resumed harvesting corn.
Rustle. Rustle.
Sejun harvested corn without straightening his back even once until lunchtime.
"Now that I think about it, I haven't been getting tired lately."
Although Sejun worked for several hours and was sweating, he marveled at his own tirelessness.
But that was to be expected. Sejun's stamina was at 244, thanks to Cuengi diligently feeding him kudzu roots and thus increasing his stamina.
"Hehehe. At this level, wouldn't I be the stamina king?"
Sejun said proudly. Of course, that was by human standards.
Cuengi would have sighed if he had heard. By Cuengi's standards, Sejun's stamina was still dangerously low for dropping dead of sudden death somewhere.
***
"How are the other dragons?"
Sip.
Kaiser asked as he drank the soju Sejun had given him. After confirming the anomaly with the Red Dragon, Kaiser had Anton go to the Blue and Brown Dragons, who produced the Essence of Ice and Earth, to check on their condition.
Sip.
"The other dragons were normally producing essences."
Anton answered, drinking the soju that was filled in his glass.
"That's a relief. Any other anomalies?"
"None. They were properly moving the tower and supporting the beings of that world to fight against destruction."
"Hmm. So, they don't have any anomalies?"
Kaiser was lost in thought. It would be fortunate if that were the case, but the likelihood was slim.
Kaiser suspected that some force was preventing all the dragons from having a particular thought unconsciously.
It was a force so powerful that it could erase the letters Kaiser had magically inscribed himself 'fight against destruction and protect the world.'
This force was interfering in reality too, preventing the Black Dragon from thinking 'I must fight against destruction and protect the world.'
According to Kaiser's findings, the Black Dragons were prevented from thinking about fighting against destruction to protect the world, the White Dragons from the thought of moving the tower, and the Red Dragons from thinking about creating the Essence of Fire.
"If each dragon race is being hindered from thinking different thoughts, it will be hard to find out."
Kaiser was troubled. He needed to know what thoughts were being suppressed to inform the other dragons, but there was no way to know that.
***
Gororong.
Theo was fast asleep in Ulrich's tent.
Then,
"Vice Chairman Theo."
Jeff woke Theo up.
"Meow... What is it, meow?"
"The hunters have arrived."
"Got it, meow!"
At Jeff's words, Theo got up and moved to the camp where the hunters were waiting.
"Vice Chairman Theo is coming!"
As Theo neared the camp, the cat interns announced his arrival, and
"Let's start the auction, meow!"
Thanks to that, the auction could start right away.
Then,
"Vice Chairman Theo! I want to buy peanuts!"
"Yes! The magical peanuts! That's exactly what I need!"
"Right! Without it, I am not even allowed to go home!"
The Korean hunters demanded Theo sell them magical peanuts, all because of the magical peanuts Theo had given to Eom Jeong-sik last time.
Eom Jeong-sik had given the magical peanuts to his daughter Eom Hyo-Jeong the day before a mock exam to eat while studying, and her rank in the mock exams had skyrocketed after eating the peanuts and studying.
Eom Hyo-Jeong, who usually ranked around 30th in school, came in 1st. Because of this, the mothers of the students who were originally at the top of the class approached Eom Jeong-sik's wife to find out the secret.
And,
"This time, my husband brought peanuts from the tower, and they are incredibly effective. Ho ho ho."
As Eom Jeong-Sik's wife talked about the magical peanuts, the news quickly spread through mom cafes and the educational district, and the wives of hunters with children who were students taking exams pushed their husbands after hearing about it.
That's why here, the hunters were desperately shouting for magical peanuts.
"Magical peanuts?"
"What's that?"
When hunters who had not yet received information about the magical peanuts were confused,
"Puhuhut. I've brought the magical peanuts, meow!"
Theo chuckled and took out the magical peanuts from his bag. The ones he had given to Eom Jeong-Sik last time were all for today's sake. He didn't know they would be this enthusiastic.
"Show them to the other humans, meow!"
Theo, to further attract interest in the magical peanuts, showed them to other hunters as well.
"It's a sellout, meow!"
Thanks to that, today's auction was also very successful.
"From now on, Bill will auction the Power Potatoes, and Jeff will sell the Agility Carrots, meow!"
Theo introduced Bill and Jeff to the hunters and then headed back up to the 99th floor of the tower.
"Puhuhut. Wait for me, Chairman Park, meow!"
On his way back, Theo's steps were light as a feather.
***
"Let's get back to work, shall we?!"
After having lunch and taking a short nap with Cuengi, Sejun headed to the green onion field. Today, he planned to cut the leaves of the sturdy blade green onions, not the ordinary ones.
He was curious to see if the leaves of the sturdy blade green onions, when cut with the Sickle of Freshness, would last longer.
"Heheh. Now I can cut them too!"
Sejun confidently swung his sickle upon arriving at the sturdy blade green onion field.
Swoosh.
The sturdy blade green onions were easily sliced in one cut. In the past, Cuengi or Theo had to do the cutting, but Sejun was no longer the weakling of the past.
Now, with a strength over 100, Sejun could easily cut the sturdy blade green onions himself.
Moreover, as his stamina increased, his Talent: Sturdiness, allowed him to ignore weak damage, so he could grab the sturdy blade green onions with his bare hands without getting hurt.
As Sejun was busily cutting the leaves of the sturdy blade green onions,
"Chairman Park! I have returned, meow!"
Theo, having finished the auction, launched himself at Sejun's face.
Plop.
"Vice Chairman Theo, you're here? Ptooey. But could you move aside?"
Sejun, with Theo's fur in his mouth, spat out the fur as he spoke.
"Puhuhut. Alright, meow!"
At Sejun's words, Theo climbed down from his face and hugged his knees tightly, rubbing his face against them. I missed you, meow!
"Puhuhut. Chairman Park, I have a gift for you, meow!"
"A gift?"
"That's right, meow!"
Thud!
After exchanging enough greetings with Sejun's knees, Theo pulled out a giant rock out of his bag.
"What's this?"
As Sejun was about to examine the rock,
Flash.
The rock suddenly levitated on its own and and flew away.
"Huh?!"
"Meow?! Catch it, meow!"
Theo hurriedly chased after the rock, his gift that was trying to escape.
"Stop right there, meow!"
While Theo was chasing the rock,
Thump!
The rock fell downwards. It landed on the Fragment of the Divine Stone in front of Sejun's house.
"Puhuhut. Caught it, meow! Now you can't escape, meow!"
Theo stood on top of the rock, his four legs firmly planted on it.
Then,
Flash.
A strong light exploded from the rock, and Theo was flung off into the air.
"Theo!"
Sejun, who was following behind, leaped forward and caught Theo's body in mid-air.
Swoosh.
They slid on the ground, but due to the effect of Talent: Sturdiness, they were not hurt.
"Vice Chairman Theo, are you alright?!"
Sejun quickly got up and checked on Theo.
"Meow... I'm fine, meow! More importantly, what happened to my gift, meow?"
Fortunately, Theo was unharmed. Having regained his senses, he hurriedly looked for the rock.
And,
"Meow? They've merged, meow?"
"Ah?! They have."
Sejun and Theo discovered that the Fragment of the Divine Stone and the rock Theo brought had fused together, appearing as if they were originally one stone tablet with no visible seam.
"Why would it combine?"
As Sejun reached out to touch the stone tablet,
Flash!
The stone tablet flashed again. This time, it wasn't the whole stone tablet that shone with light, but only the front.
And,
[First Commandment - Only the Tower Farmer can prevent the destruction.]
As the light faded, there were letters engraved on the front of the stone tablet.