Chapter 527: It's Your Fault.
Kueng-foooooo!
As the shockwave of Kueng-fooo, fired by Cuengi towards the calamity, came surging forward,
[Intermediate Herbalist Cuengi Park has defeated the First Calamity, Locust.][You’ve gained 50 experience points, which is 50% of the experience points earned by Intermediate Herbalist Cuengi.]
…
..
.
The calamities vanished in an instant.
Kuaaargh!An ogre, who had been commanding the calamities, appeared next.
“Meow!”
Thud!
He was knocked out cold, struck on the back of the head by Theo.
“Puhuhut. Great Hybrid Chairman Park, it’s safe now, meow!”
Theo, precisely spotting Sejun hidden with camouflage, waved his front paw.
“Vice Chairman Theo, good job.”
“Puhuhut. That’s right, meow! I, the Hybrid Vice Chairman Theo, worked overtime today, meow!”
At Sejun’s praise, Theo quickly clung to Sejun’s lap, looking quite proud. It was a right he fully deserved after his hard work.
With Theo perched on his lap, Sejun arrived in front of the ogre.
“I’ll help you. Come this way.”
Swish.
He placed his hand on the unconscious ogre’s body and absorbed the battle aura.
“Done. Vice Chairman Theo, finish him off.”
“Puhuhut. Understood, meow! Meow!”
Puk!
At Sejun’s command, Theo defeated the ogre with a single strike of One Meow Slash.
Then, the ogre’s body turned transparent and faded away. The dead ogre left nothing behind except for the battle aura.
With the disappearance of the last ogre in Recia,
[You have exterminated the sixth calamity sent by Destruction, the ogre.][You have achieved a great feat that no one has accomplished before.]
[As a reward for the great feat, the sixth calamity ogre can no longer invade Recia.]
[As a reward for the great feat, future stay fees for the 0th floor of the Black Tower will be reduced by 0.5%.]
Messages appeared.
“Hehehe. You just keep giving me things.”
Sejun chuckled as he looked at the messages.
So far, he had leveled up three times while defeating the calamities, and the Earth stay fee had been reduced by a total of 2.1%.
In addition,
[You have exterminated all the calamities that threatened the five remaining Blue Towers in Recia.][You have completed the Mid-level Administrator Quest.]
[As a reward for completing the Mid-level Administrator Quest, all stats increase by 100.]
[As a reward for completing the Mid-level Administrator Quest, you have acquired 10 billion Tower Coins.]
Even the rewards for completing the Mid-level Administrator Quest were received.
However,
“Hehehe. Guys, no time to waste! Let’s gather quickly!”
In Sejun’s opinion, the biggest gain was the corpses of the calamities.
The familiar taste of the Locust, the giant blood-sucking leech, and the slime were naturally precious.
But who would have guessed that the Fire Moth and the Petrifying Spider could yield such unique flavors?
Upon trying them in cooking, it turned out that the third calamity, the Fire Moth, and the fourth calamity, the Petrifying Spider, also made excellent ingredients. ṝ
The Fire Moth had a texture and taste similar to squid, and with the effect of the <Title: One Who Cooks Calamities>, it granted an ability that enhanced fire attacks.
The Petrifying Spider, on the other hand, was a true gem. Its eight thick legs tasted like crab, while its body meat tasted like lobster.
With the Petrifying Spider, Sejun gained the ability to petrify opponents upon receiving an attack, thanks to the effect of the <Title: One Who Cooks Calamities>.
Thrilled with the new ingredients he obtained the previous night, Sejun had whipped up various calamity dishes: squid sashimi, parboiled squid, fried squid, spicy seasoned squid, steamed crab legs, lobster with butter, and more, along with Locust, leech, and slime-based calamity dishes.
He ate heartily with the 10,000 frogs who joined after defeating three of the five calamity forces targeting the five Blue Towers.
Thanks to this, Sejun increased all his stats by 500 with <Title: Saint of Feeding>, and he also received praise that boosted his mental strength by around 150.
Of course, the frogs who ate Sejun’s cooking also grew significantly stronger.
It was natural as eating Locust-based dishes naturally boosted their stats, and some frogs even awakened talents or acquired skills similar to the effects of the other calamity dishes.
Why don’t I get any?!
As Sejun watched the frogs acquiring new talents and skills, he, too, ate eagerly, driven by jealousy. But sadly, all he got was frequent trips to the bathroom.
Back to the present.
“Puhuhut. Got it, meow!”
Kueng!
Following Sejun’s orders, Theo and Cuengi quickly packed the corpses of the calamities into the Void Storage.
Kihihit! Kking! Kking?!
[Hehe. Big Bro! Hurry up and load the delicious stuff! Are we going home now?!]
“Blackie, stop lurking around here.”
Kking…
The Blackie family, who were frantically running around, only managing to get in the way of their brothers, were caught by Sejun and tucked into his sling bag.
“We’ll help too!”
With the help of the frogs, they hurriedly packed up the calamities’ corpses.
[You have completed your duty as a Mid-level Administrator.][You will return to the Black Tower 99th floor in 5 hours.]
A message appeared, saying he’d be sent back in five hours.
When he was in a rush to leave, the system would give him the most expensive express ticket.
But now that the urgency had passed, it gave Sejun the cheapest local ticket.
Though the system was treating Sejun like he was a complete nobody,
“Oh! Five hours?”
He had gained time!
To Sejun, this was actually a bonus—a precious opportunity to increase his stats.
“Everyone, those who didn’t eat with me yesterday, come over here and line up!”
For the next five hours, Sejun cooked the five calamities for the frogs, feeding them until they were full, raising all his stats by 300 and his mental strength by 100.
And returned after leaving behind lots of food cooked with calamity corpses that couldn’t be stored because the void storage was full.
And then,
“This is food personally made by Guardian Deity Park Sejun! Do not waste a single morsel! If you’re full, then eat till you die!”
The remaining frogs ate Sejun’s cooking and grew even stronger.
***
Blue Tower Administrator Area
[Black Tower’s Tower Farmer Park Sejun has achieved the great feat of being the first to exterminate the Sixth Calamity Ogre in Recia, the world protected by the Blue Tower.][Exceeded the goal of achieving five great feats, one of the growth conditions for the Blue Tower.]
[Completed the requirement to eliminated all five of the required five Sixth Calamity Ogres, one of the growth conditions for the Blue Tower.]
[One of the growth conditions for the Blue Tower has been achieved.]
“Wuhahaha!”
What a windfall, all thanks to Park Sejun!
Kin Aster, the Blue Tower Administrator, grinned happily as he read the messages.
Just yesterday, Kin had been preparing for battle, worried about Recia’s grim state as it faced imminent destruction.
But Sejun’s arrival turned the situation around 180 degrees in just one day.
Meanwhile,
[The last remaining Red Tower of Kanos will accept Kanos refugees for 1 hour.][After 1 hour, the Red Tower will withdraw from Kanos.]
There were places where the situation had turned 180 degrees in the opposite, more disastrous direction.
Hunters in Kanos had been using Sejun’s crops effectively to fend off the calamities.
But then, the Kraken itself descended upon Kanos, and the land fell to ruin in an instant.
The Kraken unleashed its fury upon Kanos, venting its rage after the total annihilation of its forces in Recia.
As Kanos fell into destruction and began to sink,
[Red Tower Administrator Ramter Zahir, you may descend upon Kanos.][Will you descend?]
A notification appeared in front of Ramter.
“Of course! I’ll put an end to this today!”
[You will be transported to Kanos in 1 minute.][Prepare for battle.]
Gulp.
Ramter disappeared, after eating Sejun’s Bean Set and some well-aged golden Samyangju.
[You have arrived in Kanos.]Upon arrival, Ramter saw the massive Kraken, its tentacles wrapped around Kanos, preparing to swallow it whole.
Ramter was also enormous, nearly a kilometer in size, but compared to the Kraken, which was large enough to devour an entire planet, he was like an ant.
Just one of the Kraken’s tentacles was hundreds of times larger than Ramter.
Kuooo!
Ramter started the battle by first shooting a breath attack toward Kraken’s head.
With the Bean Set boosting all his stats by 16 times and his magic power increased tenfold thanks to the well-aged golden Samyangju, Ramter unleashed a red Flame Breath infused with his immense power.
The incredibly powerful breath scorched both the land and sky as it reached Kraken and
Boom!
An enormous explosion erupted, as if erasing the very world itself.
However,
-Kuhaha. That actually hurt a bit.
Kraken, the sea-devouring monster and 6th seat of the Apostle of Destruction, managed to withstand Ramter’s breath attack with just one of its eight tentacles.
One of its tentacles bore a massive hole, but it was already regenerating rapidly.
-Die! Arrogant Red Dragon!
The Kraken launched a water cannon blast at Ramter.
Kuooo!
Ramter retaliated with another breath attack, refusing to back down.
Water and fire, natural opposites.
The clash between the two forces caused the world itself to scream as it was simultaneously engulfed in flames and drowned.
And after an hour of intense fighting.
[Red Tower Administrator Ramter Zahir, your permitted descent time has ended.][Returning to the Red Tower Administrator Area.]
Ramter was forced to return, having failed to inflict significant damage on the Kraken or prevent the fall of Kanos.
Two defeats: he had failed to save Kanos from destruction and had barely damaged the Kraken that was devouring it.
“KRAKEN-!!!”
Unable to contain his frustration, Ramter let out a furious roar. Great beings like him were not accustomed to defeat.
And then,
Kuooooo!
Sensing their leader’s defeat to Destruction through his roar, the other Red Dragons also bellowed in anger.
At that moment,
Shhh.
An unseen, ominous energy slithered up from the shadows of the Red Dragons, attempting to infiltrate their bodies.
But,
Zzzzt.
The moment the energy touched the Red Dragons, it dissipated instantly.
This was thanks to the curse-breaking effect of the golden Samyangju the dragons had consumed.
Unbeknownst to them, the Curse of Destruction cast upon the dragons was growing stronger each time a world met its end.
Had the dragons remained unaware of the curse, they would have eventually fallen into serious peril.
And,
“Phehehe. Delicious.”
The cursed energy tried to invade the body of the Red Dragon hatchling, Perion Zahir, who was cheerfully sipping on a drink with floating rice grains.
Too young to drink the golden Samyangju, Perion hadn’t consumed any.
However,
Fzzzt.
The cursed energy that attempted to climb up Perion’s round body slowly disintegrated.
This was thanks to the Sikhye, a traditional rice drink, Sejun had specially prepared as a curse-breaking drink for the hatchlings.
And so, without even realizing it, the red dragons achieved one small but perfect victory against Destruction.
***
[You have arrived on the 99th floor of the Black Tower!]Sejun returned home after just one day away.
“Home!”
Though he’d only been gone for a day, he was still overjoyed to be back.
And then,
Clank.
“Puhuhut. I missed you, Chairman Park, meow!”
Kuehehehe!
Kihihit!
This time, Theo, who had gotten rid of the synchronization time by threatening Hel early, rushed toward Sejun along with Cuengi and the Blackie Family.
104.28.193.250
To them, Sejun was someone they missed terribly even after just one second apart.
“I missed you guys!”
Of course, Sejun felt the same way.
While Sejun and his companions were having their emotional reunion
“Ugh.”
Sejun felt a heavy weight pressing on his shoulders, to the point of discomfort.
It was a weight that wasn’t physically present but felt very real.
It was the battle auras he had absorbed.
When he’d taken in one battle aura, it hadn’t been noticeable, but with five battle auras in his body, the burden was now significant.
I need to deliver these quickly.
Sejun decided he needed to transfer the battle auras to Ogre King Les as soon as possible.
“Guys, we’re going to have to part again.”
“Meow?!”
Kueng?!
Kking?!
He immediately transported to the 99th floor of the White Tower.
“Sejun-hyung!”
Sejun was welcomed warmly by Ajax upon arriving at the White Tower.
“Ajax, here, eat this.”
He handed Ajax some dishes he’d prepared from the five calamities, then went to find Les.
“Les, here, take these battle auras.”
He transferred the five battle auras that had been burdening his body over to Les.
“Thank you for returning my people, Sejun-nim!”
Les expressed his gratitude to Sejun, carefully accepting the five battle auras.
The battle auras would absorb the unique energy exuded by Ogre King Les and eventually reconstruct their bodies.
“Alright, I’ll be going.”
As Sejun was about to step back onto the waypoint to return,
“Sejun-nim, wait a moment!”
Les called out to Sejun.
“What is it?”
“Your battle aura level has increased. Why are you leaving just like that?”
“Huh?! My battle aura level increased? Didn’t you say I would just know when the level increases?”
“Yes, that’s normally the case, but…”
“But I didn’t know.”
It’s your fault.
Sejun stared at Les with an accusatory look, not considering his own low talent.