Chapter 239: Just Hang In There

"Now that everyone has gathered, let's depart."

Stella Hisron, the representative of the Silver Dragons, announced as the dragons dispatched from various clans to explore the 10th tower assembled.

Since the Silver Dragons' leader, Crisella Hisron, had proposed this venture, the Silver Dragons were leading the expedition.

Thump. Thump.

At Stella's command, the dragons kicked off the ground and soared into the sky.

"Then let's depart. Black and White Dragons at the front, Golden and Blue Dragons on the left, Brown and Red Dragons on the right..."

Stella assigned positions and formed a formation considering the relationships among the dragons, pairing those with good compatibility or friendly relations, and keeping those with poor compatibility or relations at a distance, naturally creating a diamond formation.

'Will this be okay?'

Stella glanced at the Green Dragons at the rear. Honestly, there were no dragons compatible with the Purple Dragons, who used poison. The Green Dragons were placed near them simply because they had the least trouble with the Purple Dragons.

Flap. Flap.

As the dragons flew towards the tenth tower,

Screech.

A clump of red mist, a fragment of the Destruction, emitted an eerie sound as it slowly approached them.

"It's the dust of Destruction! Be ready!"

Miles, at the forefront, was the first to spot the Dust of Destruction and shouted a warning.

To simply dismiss it as dust was too dangerous due to the red mist. When this dust, emitted by the Destruction reached a certain size, they could form a physical shape and attack the tower. That's why dragons usually worked to eliminate these remnants.

"Dragons, fire your breath!"

"Got it!"

Following Stella's command,

Whoosh.

90 dragons simultaneously breathed fire at the Dust of Destruction. Various colors of breaths, black, white, silver, and more, shot towards the red mist.

Boom!!

The red mist, hit directly by the breaths, exploded and dissipated.

Then,

Clang.

Coins dropped from where the Dust of Destruction had dissipated. They were Tower Coins, about one billion in total. However,

"Let's move on."

The dragons generally ignored the Tower Coins as they were of no use to them, but

"Collect."

"Collect."

Only the Black and White Dragons quietly collected the Tower Coins. They had recently learned from Kaiser and Kellion that tower coins could be used to buy Samyangju.

Since the other dragons showed no interest in the coins, all the Tower Coins collected from eliminating the Dust of Destruction went to them.

'Why are they collecting those?'

However, they had to endure the strange gazes of the other dragons.

"We've arrived."

After several hours of travel, the 10th tower came into view.

***

[You have arrived at the 55th-floor farm of the Black Tower.]

[You have moved from the top floor, 99th floor, to the 55rd floor.]

[You have descended 44 floors.]

[Due to the effect of <Title: Retrogressor>, all stats have increased by 44.]

"Wow!"

Sejun admired the trees around him, intoxicated by the sweet and unique fragrance of the fruit.

Moreover, the fruits, already ripe, had a deep pink hue.

"Peaches!"

Sejun cheered upon seeing the abundant peaches on the trees.

"If only I had known there were peaches here earlier..."

Sejun was delighted by the fragrance and appearance of the peaches.

But if he had come earlier, he would have had to wait for them to ripen. So perhaps it was better he came late.

Then,

Sip. Sip.

(Sejun~nim, this is incredibly delicious!)

The golden bat, which had been hanging on Sejun's back and sleeping, was lured by the aroma of peaches and started sipping the peach juice, excitedly calling out to Sejun. Fortunately, it seemed like the bat found the juicy peach (mulbok¹) to its liking.

Clang.

"Cuengi, come out! There's something delicious here!"

Sejun called out to Cuengi as he opened the void storage door,

Dadada.

Krueng!

[Okay!]

Cuengi quickly rushed out.

And then,

Sniff sniff.

Krueng!

[It smells delicious!]

With a joyful expression, sniffing the aroma,

Leap.

Cuengi lightly jumped about 2 meters high and plucked an exceptionally large peach, the size of two fists, from the top of the peach tree.

Pluck.

Sejun also picked a peach from a nearby tree.

"Huh? This one is hard?"

The peach Sejun picked turned out to be a hard peach (Ddakbok¹).

"That's odd."

Sejun was puzzled; he had picked the peach from the same tree where the golden bat was eating from, but instead of a juicy peach, he ended up with a hard one.

"Both kinds are here."

Upon checking other peaches on the same tree, Sejun found both soft and hard peaches.

Interestingly, the same peach tree was bearing both hard and soft peaches simultaneously.

"Nice."

Sejun was happy that he could enjoy both types of peaches. Just as he was about to try the hard peach,

Kuehehehe. Krueng!

[Hehehe. Here, this is for you, Dad!]

Cuengi carefully handed Sejun the peach he had just picked with both hands, carefully.

"This is for me?"

[Soft Peach of Vitality]

The peach Cuengi gave had a name, unlike the others.

Krueng! Krueng!

[Yes! Cuengi picked the most delicious-smelling peach!]

Cuengi confidently nodded in response to Sejun's question.

'What's this?'

Sejun was surprised by Cuengi's sudden caring behavior. Had 'Our Children Have Changed²' visited him?

'It's not bitter, is it?'

Sejun carefully examined the peach with a bit of trepidation.

[Soft Peach of Vitality]

→ A peach that grows on a tree in the tower, with an extremely rare chance of bearing a peach brimming with vitality.

→ It's sweet and very delicious.

→ The flesh is soft and can bruise or spoil quickly.

→ Consuming it allows you to learn the skill: Vitality.

→ Usage restriction: Lv. 10 and above, all stats 10 and above.

Thankfully, it wasn't bitter.

"A Vitality skill?"

Sejun looked at the peach when

Krueng!

[Eat it quickly, Dad!]

Cuengi, drooling, urged Sejun to eat it quickly. How much Cuengi must have wanted it...

"Okay, I'll eat it."

Sejun, to appreciate Cuengi's feelings, quickly bit into the peach.

Squish.

As he bit, the peach's fragrance filled his mouth, and the soft flesh released its juice.

Slurp.

Sejun quickly sucked in the juice to prevent it from dripping and

Squish.

bit into the peach again.

Chew. Chew.

After Sejun devoured the entire peach in a trance,

[You have consumed the Soft Peach of Vitality.]

[You have learned the skill: Vitality Lv. 1.]

A message appeared indicating he had learned the skill.

[Skill: Vitality Lv. 1]

- Quickly digests food remaining in the stomach to gain vitality.

- Increases strength, stamina, agility, and magic by 1%.

- Duration is determined by the amount of food remaining in the stomach.

Krueng!

[Now Dad can eat a lot and become strong like Cuengi!]

Cuengi looked proudly at Sejun for gaining the Vitality skill. Now Dad can eat with me!

Kuehehehe.

As Cuengi was delighted that Sejun could eat a lot,

Meanwhile,

Peep peep!

A White Rabbit spotted Sejun and Cuengi from a distance and called its companions. Peach thieves!

Dadadada

At the sound of the White Rabbit's call, thousands of White Rabbits swarmed in to punish the peach thief, surrounding Sejun.

Then,

Pyei!

The leader of the white rabbits recognized Sejun and rushed into his arms. It was the brother of the black rabbit born on the 99th floor of the Black Tower.

"Have you been well?"

Pyei?!

[Uncle, why are you so late?!]

The misunderstanding was quickly resolved as the white rabbit greeted Sejun.

And then,

[You have been recognized as the rightful owner of the land deed for the 55th floor peach orchard.]

[The land deed's skill: Farm Information Lv. Max has been activated.]

Sejun was easily acknowledged as the owner of the land deed.

Pyei! Pyei!

[Let's go to the kingdom quickly! The Black Rabbit is waiting for you!]

The White Rabbit urged Sejun, intending to guide him to the Red Ribbon Kingdom.

"Just a moment."

Sejun stopped the eager White Rabbit.

"Let's pick some peaches first."

Our Cuengi hasn't even had a single peach yet.

"Wait a minute, Cuengi. Dad will pick some peaches for you."

Sejun reassured Cuengi, whose eyes were shaking with the fear of not getting to eat peaches.

Krueng!

[Okay! Cuengi will wait patiently!]

Cuengi answered with a bright smile, waiting for Sejun to pick peaches.

Sejun began to pick peaches, considering Cuengi had not yet had one.

***

"Are you all following well, meow?!"

Theo looked back at the rabbits following him and asked.

Peep!

Pyap!

The rabbits responded to Theo's question, essentially saying they were following well and urging him to lead the way faster.

"Understood, meow!"

Theo resumed leading the way.

But then,

"Meow?! Another fork in the road, meow!"

Theo encountered a split in the path.

"I won't be fooled this time, meow!"

Determined not to be tricked a third time, Theo scrutinized the paths carefully.

However,

"What, meow?!"

This time, both paths seemed natural.

"Puhuhut. It's the right one, meow!"

Deciding to trust his instincts this time, instead of overthinking as he had before, Theo chose the right path.

"This way, meow! Follow me, meow!"

Peep?

[What?]

Pyap?

[Didn't he just hesitate?]

"Ah... No, meow! I was just taking a break, meow!"

Flustered by the rabbits' sharp suspicions, Theo hastily made an excuse and entered the right path with the rabbits.

Pyap?

[I think I heard a scream from the left just now?]

One of the white rabbits at the back paused to listen to the left path before quickly following the group.

Shortly after,

Thud.

The left path closed, and a snake's head appeared.

-Tch. A miss.

A fragment of Jǫrmungandr, frustrated at missing its prey, withdrew its head from the merchant passage and sought other prey.

This time, Theo had chosen correctly.

***

Sejun and White Rabbit, walked towards the Red Ribbon Kingdom's castle.

Crunch. Crunch.

Cuengi, eating a hard peach, followed along.

"That must be the castle where the black rabbit is."

Sejun saw the grand white castle in the distance, the newly constructed White Castle, replacing Grid's mansion.

After walking towards the castle for about 30 minutes,

"Chairman Park~!"

Theo, having safely brought the rabbits to the castle and now searching for Sejun, joyfully ran towards him upon spotting him.

Then,

Pyang! Pyang!

[Uncle! Cuengi!]

The Black Rabbit, following Theo, also ran towards them.

"Oh! You found us on your own... Cuengi, get ready."

Krueng!

[Understood!]

Crunch. Gulp.

Cuengi responded and quickly finished the peach in his hand, freeing up his front paws.

"Chairman Park~!"

By then, Theo had drawn close to Sejun and once again leaped towards him.

Whoosh.

Snap.

Sejun reached out his hand to catch Theo, but once again, he failed to catch him.

"Chairman Park, I missed you, meow!"

Theo rubbed his body against Sejun's face, whining affectionately.

"Ptui. You're early."

"Meow."

Sejun grabbed Theo's scruff, seemingly exasperated. It was as if Theo's fur reset no matter how much it was brushed.

Pyang! Pyang!

[Uncle, come quickly! Everyone, come!]

The Black Rabbit greeted Sejun, Cuengi, and the Golden Bat, who had come for his wedding.

"Black rabbit, how have you been? How's the wedding preparation? Not too tough?"

Pyang! Pyang...

[Yes! It's been really hard...]

As the Black Rabbit was responding,

"Cuengi, grab him!"

Pyang?

Snap.

Cuengi sneakily moved behind the Black Rabbit and restrained his front paws by sliding his paws under his armpits, preventing him from moving.

"Black rabbit, this is all for your good. Hehehe."

Kuehehehe. Krueng!

[Hehehe. That's right!]

Sejun and Cuengi laughed mischievously like villains.

"Just hang in there."

Sejun pulled out the white kudzu root from his void storage.

*****

5/5

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TL Notes:

1) Mulbok and Ddakbok refer to two types of peaches: soft peaches, also called juicy peaches, and hard peaches, also known as crispy peaches.

2) Our Children Have Changed (우리 아이가 달라졌어요) - It is a Korean Tv show in which experts provide customized solutions to help inexperienced parents.

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2/5