Chapter 88
TL: Hanguk
"A good thing?"
(Yes! It's big and shiny!)
'Big and shiny?!'
At the bat's reply, Sejun put down the wood he was carrying and went inside the void prison.
And the item he found.
"Could it be... this? Big and shiny?"
Inside the prison was a gold tumbler that was not there when Sejun was cleaning.
(Yes! I prepared it for you, master!)
The golden bat pointed at the golden tumbler with its wings and spoke proudly.
Since the previous owner, Skaram, liked big and shiny things, the golden bat thought Sejun would too.
Then,
"This is trash, meow!"
Theo, who was hanging on Sejun's knee, shouted at the sight of the tumbler.
(Tr...trash?! I got this from outside the tower especially for you!)
"That's why it's trash, meow! President Park said that items from outside the tower are trash, meow!"
Theo said proudly, remembering Sejun's teaching.
(That can't be...)
The golden bat seemed disappointed.
"You got this from outside the tower?"
(Yes! Master! I can wander outside the tower for 1 minute!)
Seeing Sejun's reaction, the golden bat boasted about its ability. I'm competent, right? I did a good job, right? Please praise me!
However,
"Golden bat, I'm disappointed."
Instead of praise, Sejun scolded the golden bat.
With the ability to bring things from outside the tower, it brought back a mere tumbler?! There were so many things to eat like snacks, bread, drinks, ramen, etc.! And with such an ability, it brought back a mere tumbler!
(What?!!!)
At Sejun's words, the golden bat was shocked as if the world had collapsed. It tried to impress its master with its ability, but ended up ruining it.
'I'm a useless bat...'
It wanted to hide. Just like when it was abandoned right after birth because it was a different color.
When the golden bat was about to hide its face with its wings in despair,
"Golden bat, you're wasting an incredible talent."
(Me? Talent?)
"Yeah. Theo, the contract."
"Here it is, meow!!"
At Sejun's words, Theo immediately took out the contract.
Then,
Swish. Swish.
Sejun started writing the contract. He was going to observe a little more and then decide, but he couldn't treat such a top-tier talent like this.
"I'll release you in exchange for working for me for 10 years."
Sejun proposed a contract to the golden bat, offering to release it from prison in exchange for ten years of service.
(You're providing three meals a day and a performance bonus?!)
The golden bat was surprised to see the contract. Even though it would be thankful just to get out of here, but it was unbelievable that he is going to provide meals and even money for ten years! This new master was strange.
"Now, stamp it."
(Okay.)
Press.
The golden bat stamped the contract with the thumb on the tip of its wing.
"Welcome, golden bat."
Clank.
Once the contract was stamped, Sejun undid the chain that bound the golden bat's legs.
(Thank you!)
Flap. Flap.
The unchained golden bat flew around Sejun, flapping its wings loudly. It felt so comfortable to fly without the chains that had been dragging its feet.
"First, sit down. I have something to ask."
(Yes!)
Following Sejun's order, the golden bat sat on his shoulder.
And then,
"Can you go outside the tower every day?"
(No. Only once a week.)
"Is that so? Then when you go outside the tower..."
Sejun began asking a series of questions to fully understand the golden bat's ability.
What he found out was that the golden bat could go to a few specific places outside the tower on Earth once a week. The bat said it wasn't exactly sure where the locations were.
Also, the bat could bring things into the tower as long as they weighed less than 5kg and were within a 30cm radius of the bat.
If he could gather more information and find out where the golden bat appears?!
'Then I can start getting supplies I need!'
"Hmm."
The thought alone made his mouth water with excitement.
"Got it. We'll continue this conversation in the morning."
Sejun ended the conversation and stepped out of the prison.
"What are you doing?"
Flap. Flap.
Sejun asked the golden bat, which was hesitating and not coming out of the prison.
(Can...Can I come out too?)
"Of course. You're free now."
Upon hearing Sejun's words, the golden bat gathered courage and cautiously poked its head out of the prison.
(Wow...)
The golden bat was touched as it breathed in the fresh air outside the prison.
And then,
Flap! Flap!
It began to joyfully fly around.
"Don't go too far."
Clink.
Sejun advised the golden bat as he locked the prison. He planned to use the prison as a storage room in the future.
He picked up the wood again and took it to the Ents, but they didn't eat it.
"Why aren't they eating?"
[Master, there's no life force in these.]
"Life force?"
It seemed like they only ate the ones that hadn't been dead for long.
"Got it. Time to sleep."
Sejun hurried back home. He was very sleepy.
***
"Alright."
Sejun woke up from his sleep and immediately got out of bed.
"Huh?"
Sejun realized that his lap was empty.
"Where did he go?"
Theo, who was supposed to be on his lap, was nowhere to be seen.
Swoosh.
When Sejun added another line to the wall of his bedroom and came out,
"This is Black Rabbit and Cuengi, meow!"
(Yes!)
Theo was introducing Black Rabbit and Cuengi to the golden bat.
Squeak!
Kueong!
Black Rabbit and Cuengi greeted the golden bat, adjusting their posture to look like big brothers.
And then,
"Golden bat, since you're the youngest now, take good care of your big brothers from now on, meow!"
(Yes! big brother!)
The ranking was quickly settled.
Just then,
Flap. Flap.
The black dragon statue flew over.
-Park Sejun, you lazy brat! Why did you wake up so late?!
It was Kaiser, who was grumpy for no reason, despite having waited for Sejun to wake up.
"Ah. Hello, Mr. Kaiser."
-Yes.
"But what's the matter? Is Aileen not talking to you again?"
-Yes. No! That's not what I came to talk about!
The conversation channel that briefly opened when Aileen asked about the world tree was quickly closed with Kaiser's nagging.
"So?"
-I came to tell you that since the Ents were born from the seeds you planted yesterday, there would be no problem even if the Corrupted Ents become extinct now.
"Ah, so are you going to take action now, Mr. Kaiser?"
-Why would I step in?! You should do it!
"Me?"
-Yes! Starting today, go to the western forest and hunt the corrupted Ents!
Flap. Flap.
Kaiser left immediately after saying his piece, returning to the fountain.
"So, are we going to the western forest, meow?"
When Theo began preparing for battle by unsheathing his claws,
Squeak!
Kueong!
The Black Rabbit and Cuengi also picked up their weapons, a Hammer and a Enhanced Branch of the Corrupted Ent.
Just then,
Gurgle.
The sound came from Sejun's stomach who hadn't eaten breakfast.
"Let's eat something first."
As Sejun went to the kitchen, Theo, who had suddenly clung to Sejun's knee, held Churu in his front paws, asking Sejun to feed it to him.
And,
Squeak!
Kueong!
Flap!
The rest of the animals naturally followed Sejun.
Kueong!
Especially Cuengi seemed excited, as he was planning to eat one more time when Sejun ate.
The meal was chaotic.
Lick, lick, lick.
Sejun fed Churu to Theo with his left hand while eating soup and steamed potatoes made by the rabbits with his right hand.
And,
Gulp, gulp. Krueng!
Every time Cuengi drank soup in one shot, Sejun refilled it.
The good thing was that the Black Rabbit and the Golden Bat just stayed quietly on Sejun's shoulder. They clung to him so well that they didn't interfere with his movements.
"Phew."
Sejun sighed after eating. He had eaten to get some energy, but he felt more exhausted after the meal than before.
After eating, Sejun went down to the cave.
He packed crops and necessary items in the Void Prison Store to take with him to the Western Forest.
After filling up the storage, when he went to Flamie,
[Master! I will give you a buff!]
Flamie offered to apply the Flame buff.
"Alright. Thanks."
Sejun had no intention of accepting the Flame of Protection buff initially, whose utility he couldn't ascertain, but he accepted it considering Flamie's sincerity.
[Yaap!]
Flame's leaf turned blue and the Flame of Protection seeped into Sejun's body.
[The Flame of Protection seeps in for 3 hours.]
[The Flame of Protection protects the target.]
"Ent No.1, follow me."
Sejun, who had received Flame's buff, spoke to the large Ent. Sejun named the first born Ent as "Ent No.1". Naturally, the second born Ent was named "Ent No.2".
He wanted to take both Ents, but the Ents refused to leave both their posts, insisting that one should stay here to protect Flamie. So, Sejun decided to take the stronger Ent No.1 with him.
Plunk. Plunk.
Upon Flamie's command that it should follow Sejun's words as its own, Ent No.1 followed Sejun as instructed.
When they came up to the surface, Theo, Black Rabbit, Cuengi, Golden Bat, Iona, and ChuChu were waiting.
"Huh? Iona, are you planning to join?"
"Yes. I need to gather some ingredients and train ChuChu."
"Alright. Let's go together."
Having someone as powerful as Iona was a relief for Sejun.
Kueong!
Cuengi grew bigger and carried the group, including Ent 1, on his back.
Theo, who had secured a spot on Sejun's lap, widened his eyes.
'I must not fall asleep, meow.'
"Kyoot kyoot kyoot."
Theo, seeing Iona laughing at him, reminded himself to stay alert. He can't give up Sejun's lap!
"Let's go!"
Kueong!
Thud Thud.
With Sejun's order, Cuengi began running towards the west.
And then,
Snore.
Snore.
Before anyone realized it, Theo had fallen asleep on Sejun's lap, and Iona, too, had fallen asleep next to him, using Theo's tail as a blanket.
After about 40 minutes of running, they reached the entrance to the western forest. The branch watchman guarding the entrance were few in number, as most hadn't recovered from Sejun's previous fire attack.
"Guys, wake up."
Sejun woke up Theo and Iona and disembarked from Cuengi's back.
Puck!
Sejun threw his axe to kill the branch watchman and entered the entrance of the western forest.
"You follow while eating."
Sejun took Ent 1 out from his void prison and gave the instruction.
Plunk.
Ent 1 nodded to Sejun's order and began eating the branch watchman.
As the group passed the entrance,
Swoosh. Swoosh.
Yellow and purple flowers approached. They were the Sticky Flowers Attacker and Poisonous Fog Flower Attacker.
Boom!
"I'll prepare the enemies just right for President Park to defeat, meow!"
Theo ran forward, his claws out.
And then,
Squeak!
Kueong!
The Black Rabbit and Cuengi followed.
Thunk!
[You have killed the Corrupted Ent's Poisonous Fog Flower Attacker.]
[You've gained 1500 experience points.]
Sejun slowly followed, delivering the final blow to the monsters weakened by the animals, thus gaining experience points.
Just as they were defeating the enemies,
[A tenant farmer has created a 300 square meter magical cherry tomato field.]
[You've gained 200 experience points.]
[The size of your farm has exceeded 100,000 square meter.]
[Talent: Landlord evolves to Centurion Landlord.]
"Centurion Landlord?"
Sejun checked his evolved talent.
[Talent: Centurion Landlord]
-This is a talent that can only be acquired by a farmer who owns more than 100,000 square meter of farmland.
-You can designate up to 100 tenant farmers.
-Tenant farmers can use the Landlord's job skills. (When a tenant farmer uses the Landlord's skill, the Landlord receives a 3% reward.)
-You can designate up to 5 guards to protect the farm. (You receive 50% of the experience points for enemies killed by the guards within 1 km of the Landlord.)
-The talent grows as the size of the farm grows.
"Oh! 50% of the experience points?!"
Moreover, this doesn't steal experience from the animals. At this rate, it seemed faster for the animals to kill monsters instead of him doing it personally.
Sejun appointed Theo, Black Rabbit, Cuengi, Iona, and ChuChu as guards.
"Guys, go!"
The animals, who had become Sejun's farm guards, began to kill the monsters.
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TL Notes:
Previously, I directly converted the Korean unit "pyeong" to "square meter," for example, 10 pyeong to 10 square meters. However, from now on, I will be providing an approximate conversion from pyeong to square meters. For e.g. - In this chapter, instead of mentioning 100,000 square meters, it is mentioned as 30,000 pyeong in the raw. When converted to square meters, it becomes approximately 99,173.554 square meters, which I have rounded to 100,000 for better readability.
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