Chapter 68
TL: Hanguk
The cats arrived in front of the Minotaur King who was guarding the waypoint.
"Greetings! My name is Oren, a wandering merchant who came to sell precious items to the Minotaur King!"
Tremble, tremble, tremble.
Despite his trembling legs, Oren finished his speech.
Impressive, Mr. Oren!
The other cats admired Oren, who had taken out Earth's items from his bag.. Items like a lint roller, tumbler, pocket tissues, etc. were displayed.
Items that the Minotaur King didn't need at all. He could have just sent them away, but thanks to Sejun's request, the Minotaur King continued the conversation.
"What's that?"
"Ah! This is called a lint roller. It's imbued with adhesive magic on it so it can remove dust and fur."
"And the price?"
"The price? It's 50 tower coins."
Oren called a price almost ten times what he had paid.
The Minotaur King, who had asked about a few more items,
"I want to verify if the items you are selling are truly valuable. Minotaur 3000, take these cats to an expert!"
Minotaur 3000 obeyed the Minotaur King's order and led the cats away.
***
When Sejun came back after setting fire to the western forest,
Buzz. Buzz.
A single Poisonous Honey Bee landed on Sejun's hand. In its grip was a transparent square jelly with a yellowish glow. Its size was about the same as a caramel from the outside tower.
"Is this the honey jelly?"
Buzz. Buzz.
[Yes. It's honey jelly made from cherry tomatoes.]
Plop.
The Poisonous Honey Bee placed the honey jelly on Sejun's palm in response to his question.
[You have obtained 1 Poisonous Honey Bee's Cherry Tomato Honey Jelly.]
[Your proficiency in Beekeeping Lv. 4 has increased slightly.]
The texture was soft and squishy.
"Let's take a look."
Sejun examined the honey jelly.
[Poisonous Honey Bee's Cherry Tomato Honey Jelly]
→ It's a special blend of the pollen and honey from cherry tomatoes that have grown in the tower, absorbing lots of nutrients. The Poisonous Honeybees have processed it with their unique method, enhancing its aroma and taste.
→ The honey has been concentrated to maximize sweetness.
→ Upon consumption, it slightly enhances your magic-related talent.
→ Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
→ Expiration date: 1 year
→ Grade: C
Incredible!
It's difficult to awaken a talent, but enhancing a talent is another realm.
Many hunters strive to enhance their talents. This is because as talents are enhanced, they can grow into higher-grade talents.
However, the number of hunters who can enhance their talent is really few. That's because it requires intense, bone-grinding effort.
But...
Just eating this will enhance magic-related talent?!
As Sejun was startled by the option of the honey jelly. At that moment, someone was even more astonished than Sejun.
Krungg! Krungg!!!
Cuengi, intoxicated by the sweet scent of honey jelly that he had never smelled before in his life, clung to Sejun. Dad! Give me!!!
"Cuengi, sit down!"
Sejun said firmly, calming down the excited Cuengi.
Krungg.
At Sejun's words, Cuengi hurriedly sat in front of Sejun and stretched out his hands. Give me that
However,
Squeak!
The black rabbit also wanted to eat the honey jelly and urged Sejun not to forget him.
'I want to eat it too...'
Just when Sejun was contemplating what to do with the honey jelly,
Buzz. Buzz.
Fortunately, dozens of poisonous honey bees started to fly over, each carrying a piece of honey jelly. The honey jelly in Sejun's palm seemed to be the first one made.
[You have obtained 1 Poisonous Honey Bee's Cherry Tomato Honey Jelly.]
[Your proficiency in Beekeeping Lv. 4 has increased slightly.]
...
..
.
Dozens of honey jellies piled up in Sejun's hand.
Kru-eong!
Cuengi roared again, asking for honey jelly.
"I'll give one to each of you guys first."
Sejun, with a handful of honey jellies, divided one each to Theo, the black rabbit, and Cuengi in order.
However,
"That's not a fish, meow! I won't eat it meow!"
Theo, a fish lover, refused the honey jelly as expected. Thanks to that, Cuengi was able to eat one more honey jelly, and Cuengi's magic-related talent grew.
And Sejun's combat power fell below one hundredth of Cuengi's.
"Guys, come over and try one each."
Sejun called over the other rabbits and let them each try a piece of honey jelly.
"Yum."
Sejun also put a piece of honey jelly into his mouth and chewed. The initial sensation was definitely that of jelly.
Munch munch.
As he chewed, the honey jelly melted in his saliva, filling his mouth with the rich aroma and taste of honey.
"Oh!"
Sejun, who had been experiencing the aftertaste of the honey jelly that had disappeared like cotton candy, came to his senses and exclaimed. Since Sejun had no magic-related talent, there was no talent enhancement.
"Aileen."
Sejun looked at the remaining 10 pieces of honey jelly in his hand and called Aileen. He thought Aileen, who loves cherry tomatoes, would also like this.
"Aileen?"
But there was no answer.
"Asleep?"
Sejun put the remaining honey jelly in Theo's bag for the time being, did some work, and then had lunch.
And just when he was about to take a break,
[Aileen Pritani, administrator of the tower, is dying due to Dragon Heart's rampage.]
"What?!"
[A quest of the Black Tower has been activated.].]
[Black Tower Quest: Calm Aileen Pritani's Dragon Heart rampage.]
Reward: Aileen Pritani regains consciousness
Failure: Aileen Pritani dies due to Dragon Heart rampage.
***
"Hehehe. Burn it all, human!"
Aileen watched Sejun as usual through the crystal orb. As Sejun, who gained the ability to control fire from apple tree, set fire to the western forest and leveled up, Aileen was excited.
"Hehehe. human, get stronger quickly!"
While cheering on Sejun enthusiastically, Aileen drank the cherry tomato soup Sejun had given her when her throat became parched.
Thump! Bang! Thump! Bang!
Her Dragonheart began to beat strongly as her magic power increased.
"Hehehe. Good."
Aileen was happy feeling her dragon heart beat strongly, when suddenly
"Ahh!"
Aileen clutched her chest and collapsed.
Thump!!! Bang!!!
Suddenly, the mana within the Dragon Heart began to run uncontrollably. It was a mana rampage.
"Par... Sejun... help..."
Aileen called out to Sejun and lost consciousness.
And then,
[The Tower Administrator's life is in danger.]
[The Emergency System of the Black Tower is activated.]
[The Emergency System of the Black Tower is analyzing the condition of the Tower Administrator's body.]
[...]
[The Emergency System of the Black Tower is requesting help from the last entity the Tower Administrator called out to.]
***
[Choose an item to help Tower Administrator Aileen Pritani.]
"But why did Aileen's Dragon Heart go berserk?"
Sejun, who didn't know what to do to help, asked urgently.
[Tower Administrator Aileen Pritani's Dragon Heart rampaged because of their talent: Hardened Dragon Heart, which absorbed more mana than it could handle.]
Hardened Dragon Heart?
Talent absorbed more mana than it could handle?
"So if I enhance their talent, it should be fine, right?"
Sejun happened to have such an item.
[Yes, that would be the best solution.]
Sejun, who was planning to give Aileen some honey jelly, smiled. It was a good thing he saved it. It was really lucky.
"Theo, take out the honey jelly."
"Got it, meow!"
In the meantime, the poisonous honey bees had brought more honey jelly, so there were 12 pieces.
"Feed this to Aileen."
[Understood.]
The honey jelly in Sejun's hand disappeared.
[Tower's Administrator Aileen Pritani has been provided with 12 pieces of Poisonous Honeybee's Cherry Tomato Honey Jelly.]
"How is it?"
[Please wait a moment. Waiting for a reaction.]
[...]
[Poisonous Honeybee's Cherry Tomato Honey Jelly is successfully enhancing Tower Administrator Aileen Pritani's talent: Hardened Dragon Heart.]
[Talent: Hardened Dragon Heart has been slightly enhanced and the rampage of the Dragon Heart has stopped.]
"So, Aileen is okay now?"
[Yes. For the time being, there should be no rampage of Tower Administrator Aileen Pritani's Dragon Heart.]
"For the time being?"
[Yes. Although it is stable now, there is a risk of another rampage if Tower Administrator Aileen Pritani's talent does not grow.]
A few seconds later, a message appeared that the quest was completed.
"Phew."
Sejun looked at the message and breathed a sigh of relief.
***
Gurgle
"Mr. Minotaur 3000, how long do we have to keep going?"
Oren asked Minotaur 3000 at the sound of his stomach rumbling. They had been walking for several hours, without having eaten for days.
However, Minotaur 3000 did not answer and continued to walk. Minotaur 3000's task was to keep the cats walking until they were exhausted. After about three hours of walking, a signal came from a colleague in the distance.
Moo!
"Huh? We're going to eat first?!"
"Food?!"
The cats were excited by the mention of food.
But,
"Wh... where is this...?"
Minotaur 3000 took the cats to a land full of mud. The cats paused in front of the muddy ground, not wanting to dirty their paws.
Then
Sniff sniff.
"Do you smell grilled fish?!"
"You too?!"
The cats got excited by the smell of grilled fish.
Moo!
Minotaur 3000 pushed the cats into the mud field and said.
"Huh? We can eat at a restaurant?"
In response to the cats' question, Minotaur 3000 silently pointed to a place. There was a restaurant at the end of the mud field on the opposite side, and the smell of grilled fish was coming from the restaurant.
"It's grilled fish!"
The cats rushed to the restaurant. Inside the restaurant, gray rabbits were grilling fish.
"Five grilled fishes, please!"
"I'll have ten!"
As the cats hastily ordered grilled fish
Squeak!
The biggest gray rabbit stretched out its paw.
"Huh?! You want payment in advance?!"
At the rabbit's words, the cats were taken aback. The price for a grilled fish was 0.05 Tower coin. But they were penniless beggars.
Then
Flick.
The gray rabbit presented a contract.
"Ah! You're letting us eat on credit?! Thank you!"
When the cats stamped their paws on the contract promising to pay back later
Squeak!
Squeak!
Squeak!
The gray rabbits busily grilled piranhas and served them to the cats.
Although there was a condition that if they didn't pay back within three days, they had to make 1000 mud bricks for each grilled fish, they could afford to pay back just by selling what they had, so they ate the grilled fish heartily without any burden.
And if all else failed, they thought they would just have to make 1000 mud bricks. The fact that the size of the mud bricks was based on the size of a Black Minotaur was a secret.
A while later
"I'm so full."
"I'm full."
The cats lay down with happy expressions from feasting after a long time. The cats, drowsy with fatigue, fell asleep.
***
"Why isn't the tower opening yet?!"
Kaiser Pritani, who wanted to see his lovely granddaughter, looked at the portal in annoyance.
"Lord, calm down. Isn't it a sign that Aileen's life is not in danger?"
"Hmm. That's true."
Kaiser had set up a system to request help from the last entity Aileen calls when her life is in danger.
'And Aileen always called me. Hehehe.'
Before losing consciousness, Aileen always called Kaiser and when the portal was activated, Kaiser would go first, call other dragons to heal Aileen, and then return.
'Aileen, hurry up call your grandpa.'
Kaiser, unaware that Aileen had called Sejun as she collapsed, looked at the inactive portal and wished that Aileen would call him.
Then
[Transmitting the activity record of the Black Tower's emergency system.]
"What?!"
The fact that the Black Tower's emergency system was activated meant that Aileen had a seizure.
Kaiser hurriedly checked the activity record of the emergency system.
"That's a relief."
There had been a rampage, but fortunately, the state of Aileen's Dragonheart was much better than before.
However,
"Roarrrr! Who is Park Sejun? Who is he!!!"
Kaiser roared in anger at the fact that Aileen had called someone else instead of him.
***
"Ugh."
Sejun shivered at the sudden chilly sensation.
[Master! Are you cold? Eiyap!]
Flamie quickly created flames around Sejun to warm him up, and the chilly feeling quickly subsided.
*****
*****
TL Notes:
I am currently on a break from my IRL work as I have come to visit my parents, so the update schedule until this Sunday might be irregular or there might be no updates on some days. 😊