Chapter 87

TL: Hanguk

Crack.

Crack.

The sound kept coming from beneath the ground, but the surface was peaceful.

......

As time passed, even the sound from beneath the ground disappeared. That was the end of it. All that remained above ground were two vibrant green leaves and the name that appeared above them.

[Powerful Purified Ent]

"What? Is that it?"

As Sejun was puzzled by the unexpected result, which was different from the noisy sound,

Thump.

Something came up from under the sprout. Or more precisely, it came up with the sprout.

And then,

Puduk.

From beneath the ground, a Powerful Purifying Ent, about 20 cm in diameter and 50 cm in height, arose, stretching its arms up high in a victorious manner.

And then,

Rustle, rustle.

The Powerful Purified Ent with green leaves on its head started walking past Sejun.

"Hey?! Where are you going?"

Sejun touched the body of the Ent and asked. His talent, 'Friend of Nature,' made communication possible.

But,

[Ent...Protect...]

"What are you saying?"

Sejun asked again, but,

[......]

The Ent was not a talkative friend.

Rustle, rustle.

Sejun had no choice but to follow the Powerful Purified Ent.

And then,

[Master! Welcome!]

They arrived in front of Flamie.

Rustle, rustle.

The Powerful Purified Ent started circling around Flamie, as if it wanted to protect it.

"Do you know why the Ent is behaving this way, Flamie?"

[Just a moment. I'll ask.]

Flamie had a conversation with the Ent.

[The Ent says its mission is to protect the World Tree.]

"World Tree? But why is it protecting you, Flamie?"

[I'm not sure. It just said it would protect me. But I'm strong enough to protect myself!]

Flamie fluttered its leaves as if throwing a punch in the air.

"Okay. For now, Flamie, can you keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't do anything strange?"

[Yes! Leave it to me! I'll watch it closely!]

Sejun left Flamie to watch the Ent and asked Aileen,

"Aileen, do you know about the World Tree?"

He sought information from Aileen.

[The Tower's Administrator says the World Tree is a tree with a powerful force of abundance. Those who are acknowledged to live near the World Tree can enjoy the benefits of abundance.]

"What about the Ent?"

[The Tower's Administrator says that originally Ents are guardians who protect the World Tree.]

"So, is our Flamie the World Tree?"

[The Tower's Administrator asks you to wait a moment.]

***

When Aileen was asked if the apple tree was the World Tree,

"Uh..."

She became flustered. She didn't know either.

So,

"Wait a moment."

She asked Sejun to wait and,

"Grandpa!"

Quickly called for Kaiser.

-Oh! Aileen~! Finally, you want to talk to this old man?

"Yes! Grandpa, I have a question."

-Oh! Go ahead and ask anything!

"If a World Tree appears in the tower, can I confirm it?"

-Of course, you can. Through the crystal orb...

Kaiser began to explain to Aileen how to confirm the existence of the World Tree.

And the result.

[Tower Growth Conditions]

···

..

.

- World Tree: Unfulfilled

...

..

.

There was no World Tree in the Black Tower.

"Grandpa, then why is the Ent protecting a tree that's not even a World Tree?"

-Aileen, don't tell me? Did Sejun ask you this?

"Huh?!"

-That little rascal! He should have asked me directly. He's bothering my granddaughter!

Kaiser looked ready to fly over to Sejun and answer his question right away. The black dragon statue began to spread its wings.

However,

"Grandpa-! If you tell everything to Sejun, I won't let it slide!"

At Aileen's threat, the black dragon statue folded its wings back.

***

[The Tower Administrator says that there is not a single World Tree in the Tower yet.]

"Then why is the Ent acting like this?"

[The Tower Administrator says that perhaps the Ent saw potential in Flamie.]

Aileen asked Kaiser in real-time and answered Sejun.

"Really?"

Our Flamie has the potential to become a World Tree? Sejun looked at Flamie with satisfaction.

Just then,

"President Park! Where are you, meow?!"

Theo jumped down from the hole in the cave ceiling, shouting. He had been playing with the Black Rabbit and Cuengi, and now he was looking for Sejun to rest on his lap.

As soon as Theo landed steadily on all fours,

Pat, pat.

He ran towards Sejun's knee and clung tightly.

And then,

"President Park, sit down and receive my report, meow!"

Theo told Sejun to sit down. He hadn't reported the trade results yet because various things had happened as soon as he arrived.

"Ah, right. President Theo, did you sell everything again this time?"

Sejun asked as he sat down.

"Of course, it was a complete sell-out, meow!"

Theo answered confidently and took out money from his bag.

824,630 Tower Coins. It was four times more than the previous trade.

"You've worked hard. Here's your incentive."

Sejun handed Theo 50,000 Tower Coins.

"Thanks, meow! And here are things President Park likes, meow!"

Thud.

Theo emptied his bag and took out Churu, coffee, and seasonings that Sejun likes. There were 70 packets of coffee mix, along with a large amount of salt and pepper.

Now that the 38th floor of the Tower had hunters camping and waiting for Theo, they had a lot of supplies as each guild regularly sent provisions.

"That's a lot?! Good job, President Theo!"

Whoosh.

Sejun stroked Theo's back.

"So how many hours of President time, meow?"

"Hmm... I'll give 150 hours of President time."

"That's good, meow! Then quickly open the Churu, meow."

Upon receiving Sejun's compliment, Theo rolled over to show his belly and asked for Churu.

"Got it."

Whoosh.

As Sejun tore open the Churu and brought it to Theo's mouth,

Lick lick lick.

Theo began to lick the Churu enthusiastically.

And then,

"So let me tell you, meow! When I met this guy named Utata..."

While eating his treat, Theo bragged to Sejun about how he defeated the wild boar merchant on the 38th floor of the tower. Thus, Theo's enjoyable healing time had begun.

An hour later,

Snore.

Theo, having been stroked by Sejun, had fallen asleep on his lap.

"Uh, time to sleep."

As Sejun picked up Theo and stood up,

[Master! Goodnight!]

Flamie waved its leaves and spoke.

"Yeah, Flamie, goodnight. Sleep well."

Sejun greeted Flamie, went to his bedroom, laid down Theo next to him and went to bed.

[The Tower Administrator says, "Good night."]

"Uh huh, good night, Aileen..."

As Sejun responded, he fell asleep.

Shortly after,

"Meooow..."

Theo, who had opened his eyes due to discomfort, woke up briefly and made himself comfortable on Sejun's lap.

Snore.

As the sound of Theo's snoring began to be heard,

Creak.

"Kyoot, Kyoot, Kyoot."

The door quietly opened, and Iona, who had been teaching magic to ChuChu, entered for a good night's sleep.

Then,

Snore.

Iona climbed up onto Sejun's lap, used Theo's tail as a blanket, and fell asleep.

***

The morning of the 257th day of being stranded.

"Park Sejun, get up!"

"Ugh! Yes!"

Startled by Kaiser's shout, Sejun quickly got up.

-The enemy is coming and you're asleep?!

"Enemy?"

-Yes. The corrupted Ents scouts are coming! Hurry up and move!

"Yes!"

At Kaiser's shout, Sejun quickly grabbed his weapon and ran to the west.

Then,

"Huh?!"

There was already someone fighting with the branch scouts. Looking closer, it was a one-sided beating.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Powerful Purified Ent, despite its 'powerful' name, was being ganged up on by ten small branch scouts.

It seemed that it had come out to stop the enemies to protect Flamie. Its legs and one arm were broken, showing how much he had been hit.

"Ent!"

Whoosh.

Sejun quickly threw his hand-axe at one of the branch scouts who was attacking the purified Ent.

Thud!

[You have defeated a small branch scout of the Corrupted Ent.]

[You have gained 25 experience points.]

"Retrieve!"

Whoosh.

As Sejun ran and retrieved the hand-axe and threw it again, he arrived where the purified Ent was.

And then,

Thump!

Thud!

He swung his dagger and hand-axe, defeating the enemies. To Sejun, the small branch scouts were a piece of cake.

After defeating 10 branch scouts,

"Are you okay?"

Sejun asked the purified Ent.

Crunch.

Chomp chomp.

The Ent nodded and began to chew on the dead body of the branch scout.

Crunch.

As it ate the wood, Its broken legs and arm began to heal. The Ent was able to heal its wounds just by eating trees.

"Good, right?"

As Sejun watched the purified Ent recover,

Munch. Munch.

More enemies approached. This time, 15 of them.

"Come on!"

Sejun shouted and ran toward the enemies. Sejun fought like that several times. It wasn't difficult as only 10-20 small branch scouts came.

***

"Meow?"

Theo opened his eyes with a feeling of emptiness, and immediately noticed that Sejun was missing.

"Where did President Park go, meow?"

As Theo was looking around for Sejun,

Tug.

He felt something grabbing his tail.

"What, meow?!"

Startled, Theo looked at his tail to see

"No...Don't..."

Shivering, Iona was having a nightmare, gripping Theo's tail.

"Just this once, meow."

With Iona clinging to his tail, Theo went outside to look for Sejun.

***

Rustle, rustle.

Munch, munch.

After continually eating wood, the purified Ent began to fight again once its body had fully recovered.

However,

Thump!

The Ent's arm broke again after being hit by the enemy's fist. The purified Ent was still very weak.

Rustle, rustle.

The Ent began to eat wood again to heal. As it ate more, it grew slightly taller, and white flowers began to bud at the end of its sprout.

"Stay strong."

Sejun felt compelled to cheer for the purified Ent. It felt personal.

As Sejun was dealing with the branch scouts,

"Found you, meow!"

Thump.

Theo, with Iona dangling from his tail, ran over and clung back to Sejun's knee.

"Now I'll take care of everything, meow! President Park, you rest, meow!"

"No, I'll fight."

"Understood, meow."

Theo, not one to insist, accepted.

"Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot."

Thanks to Theo, Iona resumed her deep sleep.

The enemies appeared intermittently, so Sejun was able to fight leisurely.

Then,

Munch, munch.

The purified Ent approached Sejun.

"Huh? Why?"

Sejun leaned against the Ent's body and asked.

[Seed...Pick...]

"Seed? Oh, when did this?"

A white seed had formed where the white flower once was at the end of the sprout on the purified Ent's head.

Pluck.

Sejun picked the seed.

[You have obtained a seed from the purified Ent.]

[Your job experience increases slightly.]

[The proficiency of Seed Harvesting Lv. 2 increases significantly.]

[The proficiency of Seed Harvesting Lv. 2 is filled, and the level increases.]

Looking at the option, it seemed that the seeds without 'Powerful' in the name, didn't have the effect of increasing stats.

"Let's plant it again."

Poke.

Sejun immediately dug the ground with his dagger and planted the seed.

Then,

Crack.

A sprout grew from the ground after a moment, and another purified Ent rose.

Rustle, rustle.

The two purified Ents began to eat wood together. When a bud began to form on the sprout of the recently born Ent, the two Ents, who had finished eating the branch scouts, returned to the flamie.

"Oh! Nice!"

Sejun thought he should get wood for the Ents. It seemed that the number of Ents would increase rapidly.

As Sejun went to the stacked trees behind the house to get some wood and was on his way to the cave where the Ents were.

(Master! I brought something good for you!)

The golden bat, which had been waiting for Sejun to pass by, called out to him.

*****

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