Chapter 278: Thanks to All of You, I was Never Lonely
Deep underground, where the roots of the Mother Tree are located.
Creak...crack...
The Mother Tree struggled painfully to free itself from the millions of red tentacles that tightly wound around its roots.
But the Mother Tree's resistance was infinitely weak, already exhausted to its limits.
While the Mother Tree resisted,
Sizzle...sizzle...
The hot, red tentacles scorched the roots of the Mother Tree, creating wounds and
Gulp...gulp...
Sucked the life force through those wounds, supplying it somewhere else. And at the end of these tentacles was a giant red mantis, the Queen of Mantises, Mantis Queen.
The Mantis Queen had long coveted the power of conception that the Mother Tree possessed.
The power of conception is the ability to bring into existence whatever one desires.
The fact that the Mother Tree could give birth to birds from the flowers it blooms was due to this power of conception.
Therefore, the Mantis Queen, seeking to obtain the power of conception, used her power of fire to dry up the water on the 79th floor of the tower, waiting for the Mother Tree to weaken.
And as the Mother Tree weakened, she approached its roots to steal the power of conception.
However, the Mantis Queen had been absorbing only the life force of the Mother Tree for years, unable to obtain the power of conception.
The Mother Tree, even as it was dying, protected the power of conception with its life force, enduring to the last.
The recent rapid increase in the number of mantises was due to the Mantis Queen giving birth to many offspring to handle the overflowing life force she absorbed from the Mother Tree.
But this was about to end soon. The moment for which the Mantis Queen had waited for decades was approaching.
The life force of the Mother Tree was nearly depleted.
Once the life force was gone, the power of conception that the Mother Tree desperately protected would become hers.
Then,
Crack.
The Mother Tree, somewhat revitalized by the treatment from Sejun and the animals, began to move its roots.
But the roots couldn't budge, entangled tightly by millions of red tentacles.
Crunch...crack...
Instead, the tentacles tightened even more, solidifying their grip in response to the Mother Tree's roots trying to break free with greater force than usual.
However,
Creak...creak...
Knowing this might be its last chance to do something, the Mother Tree moved its roots violently with all its might, and
Snap.
Finally, one of the tentacles wrapping the Mother Tree's roots broke.
Snap...snap...
Once the breakthrough was made, more and more tentacles began to break one after another.
Queeeek?!!!
Realizing someone was helping the Mother Tree, the Mantis Queen became enraged.
And then,
Queeeeeek!
She ordered all mantises to march towards the Mother Tree.
***
Queek!
Following the Mantis Queen's command, a million mantises quickly marched towards the Mother Tree and
Kueeeng!
Kyooooo!
The duo responsible for destruction flew towards them, emitting a menacing aura.
Shortly after,
"Kyoo-Kyoo-Kyoo-meteorite. Fall upon the enemy. Meteor."
Boom!
A meteorite fell from the sky, and
Kueng! Kueng!
[Whoever disturbed Cuengi in his sleep! Cuengi will punish them!]
Kwagwagwang!
A giant club of justice swung from right to left,
Crack.
and a million mantises were annihilated.
[Guard Iona has killed a male mantis.]
[You've gained 500 experience points, 50% of the experience points earned by Guard Iona.]
[Herbalist Cuengi has killed a female mantis.]
[You've gained 2500 experience points, 50% of the experience points earned by Herbalist Cuengi.]
...
..
.
[You have leveled up.]
[You have acquired 1 bonus stat.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have acquired 1 bonus stat.]
Thanks to the tremendous experience gained, Sejun leveled up twice.
[A quest has been generated.]
[Job Quest: Gather lots and lots of precious seeds.]
Use the Seed Harvesting skill 1,000,000 times (0/1,000,000)
Reward: Unlock level 71, 10 million Tower Coins, +100 to all stats
Upon reaching level 70, a job quest appeared to advance to level 71.
Use the Seed Harvesting skill 1,000,000 times. This was the third consecutive grind quest following the use of the Harvesting skill 100,000 times and planting 10 million seeds.
Still, the reward of +100 to all stats was very appealing.
"A million times Seed Harvesting? Well... it should be done before I know it."
Sejun was moderately motivated upon reading the quest. This level of motivation was just right.
If one starts with too much enthusiasm, it tends to wane later on.
"And now's not the time to be distracted."
Click.
[Farmer's Warm Touch Lv. 7 is activated.]
[The damaged roots of the Mother Tree are slightly healed while being touched.]
Sejun placed his hand on the Mother Tree and began to heal it again.
After a while,
"Hum hum hum."
As Sejun hummed a tune while healing the Mother Tree,
Thump. Thump.
"Meow meow meow."
Theo naturally kneaded the Mother Tree and leaned his bottom against Sejun's leg, humming along.
(Pip-pip.)
Piyo. Piyo.
Following that, the golden bat and Piyot also climbed onto Sejun's shoulders and sang.
The golden bat sang a healing song for the Mother Tree, while Piyot sang a song of encouragement for everyone.
And,
Kueng...
[Sleepy...]
"Kyoo-kyoo-sleepy."
After dealing with the mantises, Cuengi and Iona went to their spots to sleep. Cuengi in Sejun's arms, Iona on Theo's tail.
Kurorong...
Kyoorong...
Soon, their snoring could be heard,
Hum. Pip. Kuro. Yo. Meow. Kyoo. Pip. Kyoo. Ng.
Various sounds combined into pleasant music. The harmonious sounds deeply immersed Sejun and the animals, who sang vigorously without realizing it.
While Sejun was focused on healing the Mother Tree and humming,
[The Mother Tree has completely escaped from the entity absorbing its life force with its roots.]
A message appeared indicating that the Mother Tree's roots had completely escaped from something harmful.
"When Cuengi wakes up, I'll have to tell him and Toryong to deal with whatever's underground."
With Cuengi, the digging expert, and Toryong together, they would quickly find the entity tormenting the Mother Tree.
Then,
Rumble...
The ground shook as something began to emerge from the ground.
However,
"Chairman Park, it's dangerous, meow! Meow-meow! Meow-meow!"
Before it could fully emerge from the ground, it was dealt with by Theo's Meow-meow Storm Fist, who, although in charge of healing, also doubled as Sejun's bodyguard.
[Guard Theo has killed Mantis Queen Itra of Flame.]
[You've gained 50 million points, 50% of the experience points earned by Guard Theo.]
Of course, because of the job quest, the experience points were not acquired.
"What a waste..."
As Sejun felt regret,
"Puhuhut. Chairman Park, I, Vice Chairman Theo, protected you, meow!"
Theo proudly made a V with his toes.
"No, that's not it! I've become stronger, so I could have won this time!"
Sejun retorted, feeling somewhat petulant.
"No! Chairman Park is weak and couldn't win, meow!"
Theo countered, as if he couldn't stand losing. Praise me now, meow!
"No, that's not it!"
"Yes, it is, meow!"
As Sejun and Theo bickered,
-Tower Farmer.
Someone called out to Sejun.
"Huh?"
Sejun looked around, but couldn't find the entity that had spoken to him.
Then,
Srrrrrr...
-Tower Farmer. It's me. The Mother Tree.
The Mother Tree spoke to Sejun again, its bare branches trembling.
"Ah, it is the Mother Tree? How are you feeling?"
Once they could communicate, Sejun asked if his treatment was working well.
-Tower Farmer. You may stop treating me now.
"What?! Why? It seems like there's still a lot of healing to be done?"
-I have lived the life allotted to me and will soon die. Instead, please take this child.
"A child?"
As Sejun wondered,
[A quest has appeared.]
[Quest: Plant the seed of the Mother Tree in your farm and raise it into a mature tree.]
Reward: Recognized as the rightful owner of the land deed.
A quest related to the land deed appeared.
And Sejun also understood what child the Mother Tree was referring to.
While Sejun was checking the quest, a fresh bud that didn't match the bare branches was formed in front of him.
The Mother Tree, from which the Mantis Queen had stolen all its life force, was using the last of its life force to bloom the last flower of its life in front of Sejun.
Softly.
The bud burst open, revealing a white flower with a fist-sized, light-green seed inside.
"......"
The flower bloomed by the Mother Tree was so beautiful that it was impossible to look away, more so than any flower Sejun had seen before.
Perhaps it felt even more poignant because Sejun intuitively knew that this beautiful flower would soon wither away.
"Is this the child you were talking about?"
-Yes.
As Sejun was about to pick the light-green seed from the flower of the Mother Tree,
"Mother!"
Led by Prana, the queen of the Kingdom of Kov, all the birds of the Kingdom of Kov flew towards the Mother Tree.
As soon as they saw the march of the mantises, Loui reported to Prana, who then led all the birds to protect the Mother Tree.
-It is good. There is time to say goodbye.
"What? Mother, a goodbye?!"
-Prana, my daughter. My life will not last much longer. Instead, from this seed, a new Mother Tree will be born to take my place.
"Mother..."
-Prana, please help the Tower Farmer here, so the tree can grow well.
"Yes, Mother."
After talking to Prana, the Mother Tree said,
-Tower Farmer. Please take care of my remaining children.
The Mother Tree once again entrusted Sejun with the seed and the birds it had given birth to.
"Yes. Rest easy."
-Thank you.
The Mother Tree, relieved by Sejun's promise to take care of its children, let go of the life it had sustained for hundreds of years.
Plop.
Starting with a light-green seed falling, the white petals of the flower also fell.
-Thanks to all of you, I was never lonely.
Those were the Mother Tree's last words.
The Mother Tree, which had stood alone in one place for a long time, was no longer lonely after it accidentally gained the power of conception and gave birth to birds.
"Goodbye, Mother."
Caw...
Chirp...
Coo...
Piyo...
Thanks to them, the Mother Tree was able to comfortably end its life, accompanied by the farewell of the numerous birds it had given birth to.
Swoosh.
As the life force that had been supporting the great weight disappeared, the trees easily collapsed and turned to dust.
"Sejun-nim, please take care of the Mother Tree's seed. We will conduct the funeral and leave immediately."
Prana entrusted Sejun with the seed of the Mother Tree and started preparing for the funeral.
And as Sejun was about to search for the Mother Tree's seed buried in the dust,
"Chairman Park, it's here, meow!"
Before the dust settled, Theo, who had already secured the Mother Tree's seed, offered it to Sejun.
To be precise, he didn't exactly secure it; the seed rolled in front of Theo, and he picked it up.
And then,
"Take this too, meow!"
This time, Theo handed over a red bead.
"What's this... huh?! Theo, but why are you like this?"
Sejun, while receiving the red bead, belatedly noticed that Theo was covered in dust and dirt.
"Puhuhut. I was looking for something nice to give to Chairman Park, that's why, meow! So, hurry up and pet me, meow!"
Theo, with the Mother Tree's seed and the red bead each in his hands, rushed towards Sejun's face.
"Hey! Ptui! Ptui!"
Sejun, caught off guard and getting fur and dust in his mouth, yelled out in annoyance.
However, the corners of Sejun's mouth were slightly raised.
He didn't like baths, but he knew Theo, who always took good care of his appearance, had gotten dirty for his sake. That made him feel good.
'Hehehe. I'll let it slide this time.'
'Puhuhut. Chairman Park is in a good mood, meow! I might as well ask for more, meow!"
Thus, they both looked at each other and smiled brightly.
*****
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