Chapter 456: Why is no one coming?!
During this time, Sejun continued to load the Magical Cherry Tomatoes onto the Golden Cart and sent them away.
Although he didn't receive any payment for the Cherry Tomatoes since the Land Deed for the 35th floor of the Golden Tower was the trade-off, he was able to cover the transportation costs by selling all the inedible items like lightning-struck wood and lightning stones to the trading partner in the Golden Tower.
And then,
"Hehehe. I finally got it."
Sejun obtained the Land Deed for the 35th floor of the Golden Tower.
"Congratulations, Chairman Park, meow! Puhuhut. Of course, it's all thanks to me, meow!"
As expected, Theo never missed a chance to brag, even if it was just a little.
"Yeah, yeah. It's all thanks to our Vice Chairman Theo."
In a good mood from obtaining the desired Land Deed, Sejun patted Theo on the forehead and praised him.
After a while,
"Meoow... Puhuhut. Chairman Park, take this too, meow!"
Theo, who had been thoroughly enjoying Sejun's touch, put his front paw into his Bag and rummaged around before handing over the items he received from Turbo and Shark to Sejun.
"Huh?! Land deeds and... a Green Life Orb?!"
This was fortunate, as Sejun had been feeling a bit disappointed lately because Brachio-nim had been giving him money instead of Green Life Orbs.
The Green Life Orbs that Brachio gave to Sejun were not something she deliberately sought out but rather something she collected after dealing with monsters who had grown stronger from consuming the Green Life Orbs and were endangering other monsters with extinction.
For Brachio, it was much easier to go outside and deal with the Red Mist to earn money rather than going through the hassle of exploring the Tower to find monsters with Green Life Orbs.
"Hehehe. Vice Chairman Theo, get more of these."
"Got it, meow! Just trust me, meow!"
Although it was Shark who did the hard work, it was Theo who took the credit.
Sejun now had a total of 45 Green Life Orbs including the one he just obtained, but he wasn't satisfied.
The more Life Orbs he had, the more secure he felt.
And then,
"Puhuhut. Chairman Park, I did well, so give me some Churu, meow!"
Churu is a form of praise, meow!
"Alright."
Theo also liked it when Sejun praised him a lot.
Chomp, chomp, chomp.
While feeding Churu to Theo with one hand, Sejun checked the five Land Deeds Theo brought with the other.
The Land Deeds were for the 22nd, 26th, and 28th floors of the Green Tower, and the 2nd floor of the Black Tower, and the 97th floor of the White Tower.
Clack. Clack.
As Sejun was neatly organizing the obtained land deeds,
"Hmm?! So now I have all the Land Deeds for the Green Tower from the 20th floor to the 28th floor."
He realized that he now had all the Land Deeds for the Green Tower from the 20th floor to the 28th floor.
"Oh, this is good."
I should go and register them all at once.
Of course, for now, the 35th floor of the Golden Tower was the priority.
"But to go to the Golden Tower, I'll need to prepare for the lightning first... I guess I'll have to block it with magic, right?"
Just as Sejun was thinking about taking Iona to the Golden Tower,
Piyo?!
[Theo~nim, are you going to the Golden Tower?!]
"Puhuhut. That's right, meow! I'm going with Chairman Park, meow!"
Theo was boasting to Piyot, Uren, and the Minotaur King that he was going to the Golden Tower with Sejun.
And then,
"You're here? But why did you three come together?"
Sejun turned his head and asked as he heard their conversation.
Moo.
[We just finished special training.]
"Special training?"
In truth, Piyot, Uren, and the King of Farming had been fleeing from the Apostle of Destruction when they encountered the Minotaur King patrolling the 90th floor of the Tower and joined him to ascend together.
The three of them were relieved and comfortably came up to the 99th floor with the Minotaur King, but
Moo. Moo.
[You guys are too weak. It's time for special training.]
What awaited them was not rest but the Minotaur King's brutal 3-hour special training.
"But why did the King of Farming come first?"
Moo.
[The King of Farming was too weak to endure my special training, so he was excluded.]
Hehehe. . So the King of Farming is also a sunfish too.
Sejun chuckled at the King of Farming.
"Minotaur King, can I take the special training too?"
For some unknown reason, Sejun suddenly had the confidence to ask if he could also undergo the Minotaur King's special training.
Moo...
Sejun asked the question, and the Minotaur King pondered deeply as he stared intensely at Sejun.
Moo.
[You can manage about 10 minutes.]
"What?! A whole 10 minutes?!"
Sejun was deeply moved by the Minotaur King's words.
'Honestly, I thought it would be about 3 minutes....'
I've grown a lot.
"Minotaur King, then please train me too."
I need to get stronger if I want to see Aileen!
Moo.
[Then endure it.]
"Huh? Endure what...?"
Just as Sejun was about to ask,
Shwk.
The Minotaur King's right index finger descended over Sejun's head.
Chk.
As Sejun hurriedly raised both arms to block the Minotaur King's finger, an immense Herculean Strength transmitted through the finger began to press down on Sejun's body.
9 minutes and 55 seconds later.
"Aaagh!"
I feel like I'm going to die...
Sejun screamed as sweat poured down his body.
[You have resisted an enormous weight.]
[Strength has increased by 1.]
[Your body has endured an enormous weight.]
[Stamina has increased by 1.]
Still, the messages that appeared roughly every minute helped him endure.
But now...
I can't take it anymore...
He had reached his limit.
Just as Sejun's body was on the verge of collapsing,
Chk.
Moo.
[The 10 minutes are over.]
The Minotaur King withdrew his finger right at the 10-minute mark.
"Huff, huff, huff."
"Chairman Park, your face is ugly even more now, meow!"
Poke, poke, poke.
Theo clung to Sejun's face, who was catching his breath with his head lowered, and began intensive care.
Normally, Sejun would have immediately retorted with "It's not ugly!" in anger, but...
'I did it! I really did it!'
Sejun was filled with pride at the tremendous sense of accomplishment from enduring the Minotaur King's finger.
And then,
"Kuuuh. Hehehe."
The feeling of accomplishment continued even in his sleep.
***
The next morning.
"Alright."
Sejun, who woke up feeling great,
[The seal of the Earth's Jewel has been broken.]
...
..
.
He checked the message in front of his eyes.
Today, Tan, the God of Charcoal, left a reward of Purifying Charcoal on 3.3 square meter of land.
That's a bit ambiguous.
Sejun decided to determine the size of the Tan Road based on the reward.
Shwk.
Sejun raised his upper body.
Gororong.
Kyurorong.
Kirorong.
Eomdorong.
Kirurung.
"Iona?"
He noticed Iona sleeping while wrapped in Theo's tail.
"This is perfect."
He was planning to call her when he went to the Golden Tower anyway.
Meooo...
Kyiiing...
Sejun got up from the bed, taking Theo and Blackie with him.
Iona, who was wrapped around Theo's tail, and Eomdol and Ggomi, who were clinging to Blackie's fur, came along automatically.
With the group in tow, Sejun headed outside.
First, he looked for the reward from Tan, the God of Charcoal.
And then,
"Found it."
He discovered 100 pieces of charcoal, each as thick as a calf, between the cornfield and the sweet potato field.
[Purifying Charcoal]
→ This charcoal is a product personally made by Tan, the God of Charcoal.
→ It purifies the air within a 1km radius.
→ If washed thoroughly with holy water, it can be reused at 50% of its original effectiveness.
→ Creator: Tan, the God of Charcoal
→ Grade: A
"Hm... Let's put one in the bathroom for now."
So, Sejun placed one piece of Purifying Charcoal in the bathroom.
"Oh! The air's much fresher now."
He could immediately feel the difference.
Tan-nim gets 22 square meters.
"Land Moving."
[Tan Road]
-Tan, the God of Charcoal, who gave us Purifying Charcoal as a gift so we could enjoy fresh air even in the bathroom. He was a considerate god.
After creating the Tan Road, Sejun entered the Void Storage.
Kiki!
104.28.193.250
Kiki!
He was welcomed by the Destruction Devourers as he checked the crops he had planted inside the Apostle of Destruction's body.
"Nice. The pine nuts are all grown."
He saw that the pine nuts had grown tall on the pine trees, hanging like pine cones.
I'll harvest them later.
Sejun then checked the plum tree that he had planted after breaking the amber and taking out the plum seed inside.
"Oh, the plums have all grown."
Pluck.
When Sejun picked a plum,
[You have harvested a plum.]
[You're a Field Lv. 6 has been activated, dealing additional damage.]
...
..
.
A message appeared.
There was no special effect.
"So what? As long as it tastes good, that's all that matters."
Crunch.
Sejun took a bite of the plum.
"Mmm, delicious."
Sejun quickly finished eating the plum.
"They're not showing any signs of growth."
He looked at the spots where the Dragon Fruit and the All-Devouring Jelly were planted.
Whether it was because they were of Transcendence grade and thus slow to grow, or if some other condition was needed for germination, there were still no signs of sprouting.
After watering the two Transcendence grade seeds, Sejun said,
"Alright, Spit out the seeds!"
Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!
Ptooey! Ptooey! Ptooey!
Sejun received the seeds from the Destruction Devourers and then went off to have breakfast.
A little later,
"Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Of course! Leave it to me!"
While eating, Sejun asked Iona to accompany him to the Golden Tower to block the lightning, and she readily agreed.
Then,
Piyo!
[Sejun-nim, please take me with you too!]
I'll serve as Theo-nim's right front paw!
Piyot flapped his wings and shouted.
"Puhuhut. Piyot is my right front paw, so of course you're coming along, meow! And Uren, who is my left front paw, is coming too, meow!"
"Kuik?! I'm going too?!"
"Of course, meow!"
Uren, who originally hailed from the Golden Tower, was surprised by Theo's words.
'I haven't collected all the money yet, should I really go?'
Dad said not to come back until I received all the money...
'No, this might actually be a good thing. If I happen to run into Magin, I can confirm it directly.'
Uren had been gathering information about those on the blacklist while going around collecting money with Piyot.
During that time,
"What?! Evis, Madaf, and Nellie have all become Magin's subordinates?!"
Recently, Uren heard some shocking news.
The top three on the blacklist were all working as subordinates for his relative, Magin Daemon.
Moreover, after a thorough investigation, it was revealed that they had been cleaning up for Magin for decades.
Magin had used his subordinates to scam Uren.
However, there was still only circumstantial evidence.
So he was planning to gather more solid information before making a move, but...
'Perhaps now is a better time, with Sejun-nim and Theo-nim coming along.'
If he went alone, he didn't know what misfortune might befall him.
Honestly, he wasn't confident either...
Thus, Uren made up his mind to return to the Golden Tower.
"But do you have any measures against the lightning in the Golden Tower?"
I should share some insider tips from the Golden Tower.
"Iona said she'd take care of everything, didn't she?"
"What?!"
"Kyoo, are you doubting me?!"
"Kuik! Absolutely not!"
Uren, who had been too busy eating to listen until now, hurriedly apologized to Iona.
"So what's the method?"
Still, thinking there might be a useful method, Sejun asked Uren.
Then,
"This is it."
Uren proudly showed off his thick belly fat.
"Huh?"
"Thick fat. If you have this, you'll be fine even if struck by lightning."
The Daemon family, the most prestigious family in the Golden Tower.
The Daemon family's immense wealth was largely due to their bodies, which had such thick fat that electricity couldn't pass through it.
Thanks to this, they were able to monopolize the logistics of the Golden Tower and amass enormous wealth.
"Hmm."
Sejun fell into thought at Uren's words.
Come to think of it, electric eels also have thick fat to block the electricity they generate...
"Would that even work?!"
That's just your unique trait!
Realizing that Uren didn't have a good method to protect against lightning, Sejun sighed.
"Everyone, gather up!"
Sejun called his companions into the Void Storage.
And then,
"If you get bored, pick some pine nuts."
He subtly hinted at them to do some work.
Clang.
He closed the Void Storage.
"Aileen, I'm going to visit the Golden Tower for a bit."
[The Tower Administrator says to have a safe trip.]
"Okay."
He couldn't bring himself to say not to worry because he knew that to Aileen, he seemed like someone who might burst at a touch.
It's a bit sad. I need to get stronger quickly.
After once again strengthening his resolve to become stronger,
Shrrr.
Sejun unfolded the Land Deed for the 35th floor of the Golden Tower.
[The summoning function for the initial engraving of the land deed of the 35th-floor of the Golden Tower has been activated.]
With that message, Sejun disappeared.
***
At the outskirts of Destruction.
It had been four days since Halphas had summoned the Apostles of Destruction.
...
Halphas was still alone.
"Those bastards! Why is no one coming?!"
Halphas realized that there was a significant problem with his leadership.
*****