Chapter 426: Pip-pip! I Need to Find a Gift!

Seed Shop Headquarters.

"World Tree, can you deliver this to Park Sejun?"

Uncle, the God of Grapevines, initially thought it would be easy to send the relic.

The World Tree was originally a grapevine, and on top of that, it had strong energy.

However,

- Who do you think you are?!

The World Tree immediately spoke informally. It was extremely rude.

Just send it!

Although he wanted to shout like this, the World Tree was an entity with a status equivalent to a demigod. In his current powerless state, he couldn't treat it recklessly.

Ahem. Maybe it doesn't know who I am.

"World Tree, I am Uncle, the God of Grapevines."

So he revealed his identity, but

- Oh! Uncle, how nice to meet you! You think being a god is everything?! When I prayed so hard to have seeds when I became a seedless grape, you didn't show up, and now you appear because you need something?! How can a god be so shameless?! Huh?!

It backfired instead.

"That's..."

You should complain to Leah, the God of Abundance. It was a believer of Leah, the God of Abundance, who did that.

"World Tree, there seems to be a misunderstanding. At that time, I was in the process of recovering my strength, so I couldn't hear your voice. Besides, the one who made you seedless was..."

Uncle told Podori the truth, that it was Leah, the God of Abundance, behind the King of Farming, in order to save himself.

Thus, the truth Sejun had kept quiet for everyone's peace reached Podori's ears.

- A believer of Leah, the God of Abundance, made me seedless?!

Podori took revenge on the Leah, God of Abundance, in the best way she could.

It was roadblocking.

Kkwek?

[Guys, sorry, but please don't use this path for a while.]

Kkwek!

Podori blocked the path of the Mushroom Ants with its branches, preventing them from passing through the Leah Road.

And then,

- Give it. I'll deliver it to Sejun-nim.

Grumbling, Podori received the relic sent by Uncle and delivered it to Sejun.

***

[You have harvested the Grapevine Bracelet of Sealing.]

[Your job experience has slightly increased.]

[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 8 has slightly increased.]

[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 8 has been filled, and the level increases.]

[You have gained 100,000 experience points.]

"Oh, finally leveled up."

The harvesting skill that hadn't leveled up for a long time finally reached level 9.

[You have achieved the feat of harvesting a relic.]

[As a reward for the achievement, the shelf life of the divine relic is doubled.]

The achievement message followed.

"This has a shelf life too."

Sejun checked the bracelet in his hand after reading the achievement message.

[Grapevine Bracelet of Sealing]

→ A relic sent by Uncle, the God of Grapevines, who oversees the grapevines.

→ A bracelet made by weaving multiple layers of grapevines. When you set a target, the grapevines grow and attach to the target.

→ Uncle used this bracelet to seal the enemy's power and engage in battle.

→ It seals the wearer's strength by up to 99% (It can seal up to a total of 15,000 stats.)

→ Shelf Life: 200 days

→ Usage Restriction: All stats 500 or higher

→ Maker: Uncle, the God of Grapevines

→ Grade: S+

"Nice."

With this, I don't need to move around cautiously.

Sejun looked satisfied after checking the options of the Grapevine Bracelet of Sealing.

Sejun had one dilemma.

If he use the Land Deed to go down to the 1st floor of the Black Tower, what about the other hunters?

Hunters who couldn't withstand Sejun's energy would be in danger if Sejun went down.

The area outside the tower is a safe zone, but the 1st floor of the tower is not.

So he had considered ordering his subordinates to vacate the 1st floor of the tower temporarily, but with this bracelet, there's no need for such measures.

He could put the others in the Void Storage and go down to the 1st floor of the tower with his power sealed.

And,

Heheheh. I can become a hidden powerhouse.

"I'll pretend to be weak and then unseal to teach them a lesson."

Ah, just thinking about it makes my heart swell.

As Sejun held the bracelet and chuckled to himself, lost in all sorts of imaginations,

"Puhuhut. It's sold out, meow!"

Theo, who had arrived at the 1st floor of the Green Tower, sold out all the goods he had brought.

Instead of the now-unpopular Sturdy Blade Green Onions, Theo sold the Vitality-Infused Fragrant Grapes and the Screaming Pineapples.

After demonstrating the power of the Pineapple Bomb, he was able to achieve ten times the planned sales.

"Puhuhut. As expected, I, Theo Park, am the great legendary merchant second only to Chairman Park, meow!"

While Theo was proudly eating the grilled fish lunchbox Sejun had packed on the roof of the shop,

Gooo.

Suddenly, a massive energy was felt from the sky.

"Meow?!"

This is Ophelia's energy, meow!

Theo hurriedly used Energy Drain to absorb Ophelia's energy so that other customers wouldn't be affected.

And then,

Thump.

104.28.193.250

"Theo, I want to eat that too."

Thanks to Theo's intervention, Ophelia, who could now move freely on the 1st floor of the tower, sat next to Theo and demanded the grilled fish that Theo hadn't touched yet.

However,

"No way, meow! This is the grilled fish that Chairman Park painstakingly grilled just for me, meow!"

Theo refused. Even though the other party was the great Green Dragon, he didn't hesitate for a moment.

"What?!"

Ophelia's face hardened at Theo's rejection.

How dare he refuse the great Green Dragon, Ophelia Iorg's request?!

"Not even a bite?"

"No way, meow!"

"Grr!"

Just as Ophelia was about to explode,

"Instead, eat this, meow!"

Thrust.

Theo handed her a sausage skewer that was next to the grilled fish.

It was a sausage skewer grilled after putting several sausages on a skewer.

It had accidentally ended up in Theo's lunchbox instead of Cuengi's.

"What is this?"

Ophelia asked, taking the skewer with a pouty expression.

"It's a sausage skewer, meow! It's also something Chairman Park grilled with care, meow! Puhuhut. Of course, it's not as good as my grilled fish, meow!"

Theo's words were annoying.

But,

What's this savory and delicious smell?!

Ophelia, focused on the sausage skewer in her hand, didn't hear Theo's words.

Puhuhut. Now she won't bother me, meow!

Seeing Ophelia focused on the sausage, Theo began eating his grilled fish in earnest.

And then,

Nom.

Ophelia took a bite of one of the sausages at the end of the skewer.

Crunch.

The bouncy texture of the plump sausage, combined with its saltiness and the savory flavor of the meat, mingled in her mouth.

It's delicious!!!

Ophelia, amazed by the taste of the sausage she had for the first time in her 800-year dragon life, quickly ate the whole skewer.

"Theo, give me another sausage skewer!"

Ophelia extended her hand to Theo again.

"There aren't any more, meow! That was all, meow!"

The sausage skewer had accidentally ended up in Theo's lunchbox, so that was all there was.

"Theo, bring a lot of sausage skewers tomorrow. Got it?"

"Puhuhut. Got it, meow! But Ophelia also needs to work hard too, meow! Chairman Park said that, slaves who don't work hard don't get to eat, meow!"

"Okay! I'll work hard, so make sure to bring lots of sausages tomorrow! Got it?"

"Got it, meow!"

And so, Ophelia agreed to receive sausages from Theo.

"Grow! Grow!"

As soon as she arrived on the 99th floor of the tower, she diligently sprinkled mugwort seeds and used her skills enthusiastically.

***

West side of the 99th floor of the Black Tower.

Sniff sniff.

Cuengi roamed around the herb field with his nose to the ground.

Then,

Kuehehehe. Kueng!

[Hehehe. Found it!]

Thump.

Cuengi dug deep into the ground with his front paw and unearthed a red kudzu root.

Kueng!

[This is for Cuengi's grandma!]

Cuengi carefully put the kudzu root he had just dug up into his snack pouch. He was gathering herbs to give to Sejun's mother, Kim Mi-ran, as a gift.

Thump.

Cuengi continued to dig up kudzu roots diligently.

A little while later,

Kueng!

[Dad, Cuengi is back!]

Cuengi, who had gathered a lot of herbs, returned home.

"Cuengi's back?"

"Cuengi's back, meow?"

Sejun, who had returned from work early, and Theo, who was hanging onto Sejun's lap, welcomed Cuengi.

At that moment,

Kueng! Kueng!

[Dad, look at this! This is a gift for Cuengi's Grandma!]

Cuengi, who had arrived in front of Sejun, opened his snack pouch and proudly showed off the herbs he had dug up.

[Warmth Kudzu Root]

[Kudzu Root for Blood Circulation]

[Sturdy Kudzu Root]

They all had effects like slightly raising body temperature, improving blood circulation, or making the body a bit sturdier, with all the grades being low, E or D.

However, for a non-hunter, these were just right.

"Oh, my. Oh, my. Our Cuengi is so good. Did you dig these up for your Grandma?"

Kueng!

[Yes, that's right!]

As Sejun patted Cuengi's bottom in praise for his commendable act,

'Meow?! This is bad, meow! I haven't prepared a gift for chairman's chairman, meow!'

Seeing Cuengi's gift, Theo suddenly became anxious.

"Chairman Park, I'll go find a gift too, meow!"

Theo hurriedly used Meow Step to go down the tower.

***

Black Tower's Administrator Area.

"Mother, please take care of me!"

Aileen was going to learn cooking from Kim Mi-ran starting today.

"Sure. Let's do our best."

"Yes! Mother! Oh, by the way, Sejun will be leaving the tower the day after tomorrow."

"Really?! So, he's coming home?!"

"Yes!"

"Then I should prepare some of Sejun's favorite foods tomorrow!"

"Mother, I want to learn to make Sejun's favorite foods too!"

"Alright. Then tomorrow, I'll teach you the foods Sejun likes."

"Yes! Thank you!"

The atmosphere between the two was very good. Until they started cooking.

"Aileen, the fire seems too strong. You need to reduce it. It should be just hot enough to feel warm."

Kim Mi-ran commented, seeing the almost metal-melting fire in the mirror.

"Yes! Just hot enough, right?"

Aileen, misunderstanding, increased the fire even more. For Aileen, the feeling of "just hot enough" was still far off.

"No, Aileen, I said to reduce the fire. The soy sauce has all evaporated."

"Yes... I'm sorry."

"No, there's no need to be sorry, let's try again."

"Yes!"

Aileen spent the entire 3 hours allowed by the Mirror of Longing practicing fire control until the cooking lesson ended.

***

It's urgent, meow!

Theo was hurriedly going down the tower to find a gift.

At that moment,

Piyo!

[Theo-nim!]

"Theo-nim, where are you going?"

He ran into Piyot and Uren, who were returning to the 99th floor of the tower.

"Puhuhut. Uren, lead the way, meow!"

"Huh? Where to?"

"I don't know, meow! Just go wherever you want, meow!"

"Where I want to go?"

At Theo's words, Uren turned his steps towards the place he wanted to go.

"Stop!"

Within 10 minutes, robbers appeared. Such was Uren's incredible misfortune.

"Puhuhut. Stamp it, meow!"

Theo quickly subdued the robbers.

Press. Press.

Piyot followed behind, getting the robbers' stamps on the slave contracts.

Even though they wandered around the tower late into the night with Uren leading the way,

"Meow... it's a failure, meow! When I think of chairman's chairman, my front paws don't get pulled, meow!"

The Golden Paw, which only activated for Sejun, didn't work.

"Let's just go home, meow..."

Theo, disappointed, returned to the 99th floor of the tower.

But Theo didn't know that he had already given Sejun's family a tremendous gift.

Theo's share was considerable in the fact that Earth was not engulfed in destruction and that Sejun could leave the tower.

Keroror.

Kkirorong.

"Meow..."

Theo entered the bedroom where Sejun and Blackie were sleeping.

Gororong.

He settled on Sejun's lap and fell into a deep sleep, then

(Pip-pip! I need to find a gift! Pip-Step!)

This time, Paespaes hurriedly moved to find a gift for Sejun's family.

*****