The next morning.
When Sejun woke up and went outside in the morning, he noticed places that had not yet been tilled were severely dug up.
“Did Toryong do this?”
Sejun assumed it was Toryong’s doing and hurriedly prepared breakfast. Today was the day they planned to go to the secret passage. He couldn’t wait to check out the secret passage.
“Let’s eat!”
After breakfast, Sejun arrived in front of the secret passage they had used, guided by Ulrich.
“This is the secret passage?”
Sejun looked at the entrance of the passage with a distasteful expression. He imagined something like a cave for a secret passage.
However,
[Red Lindgen]
What stood before Sejun was a huge red flower with its mouth wide open. The true nature of the passage was a plant monster called Lindgen, which grew by piercing through dimensions.
“Puhuhut. Chairman Park, is this your first time seeing it, meow? Let me explain about the Lindgen, meow!”
Seeing that Sejun seemed unfamiliar, Theo confidently stepped forward.
And then,
“Okay, meow! Listen closely, meow! There are 5 types of Lindgens, meow! White, yellow, red, green… uh…”
Theo, who was confidently explaining with his hand on his hip, suddenly paused, struggling to remember the last color.
Then,
“Lord Theo Park, it’s blue.”
Luken, who had followed them, quietly added. But given the loud voice of the Black Orcs, Sejun heard it clearly too.
“Yes, it’s blue, meow! Depending on its color, the Lindgen’s passage length, speed of movement, and transport capacity vary, meow! And…”
Theo continued his explanation, seemingly excited to share something Sejun didn’t know. However, his explanation was all over the place and often incomplete, so Luken kept quietly correcting him, loud enough for everyone to hear.
According to Theo and Luken, Lindgens are rare in the market and often sell for high prices.
“Lindgens are typically used by criminal gangs or smuggling organizations. For reference, the merchant passages of the Wandering Merchant Association were created by analyzing the structure and principles of Lindgen.”
Luken added.
“That’s right, meow! When a Lindgen sprouts, you can detach a leaf and plant it where you want to connect, and its stem will find the leaf and create a passage, meow!”
Theo started talking again whenever he recalled a fact, even if he had just been listening to Luken.
“Puhuhut. Lastly, the light-speed merchant passage that I, the elite wandering merchant Theo Park, use, is even better than the best white Lindgen, meow!”
Theo concluded, boasting about himself. It felt like he had given all the previous explanations just to lead up to this statement.
“But, can anyone use the Lindgen, even if they weren’t born in the tower?”
“No! That’s what’s strange! Humans can’t use the Lindgen!”
“Really?”
Upon hearing Theo’s response, Sejun approached the entrance of the secret passage, thinking he would understand better by experiencing it himself.
As Sejun approached,
Thunk.
The Lindgen closed its mouth, blocking Sejun’s entry.
However,
“Cuengi, open this for me.”
Fortunately for Sejun, he had the all-purpose opener, Cuengi.
Krueng!
[Understood!]
Squeak.
With its two front paws, Cuengi forcibly pried open the Lindgen’s entrance.
Krueng!
[Daddy, Cuengi opened it for you!]
“Thanks.”
Just as Sejun was about to enter the passage,
[The Tower’s administrator says you must not enter.]
Aileen stopped Sejun.
“Aileen, why? I was just going to take a look.”
[The Tower’s administrator says…]
Aileen explained the reason why Sejun shouldn’t enter.
“So, only those fully recognized by the tower can use the passage without any risk?”
[The Tower’s administrator says that’s why there’s a separate waypoint that only hunters use].
“Hmm.”
Sejun fell deep into thought. According to Aileen’s explanation, when using the Lindgen or any other passage, one temporarily exits the tower. Those recognized by the tower can use the passage without issue.
However, beings that can return to Earth, like humans, would actually end up outside the moment they use the passage to exit the tower.
Thereafter, it’s either certain death or, if they’re lucky, they end up outside the actual body of the tower, on the front lines fighting against destruction—a place where Sejun wouldn’t survive.
“So how did the criminal organization Three Head Society manage to use it?”
[The Tower’s administrator says she couldn’t be sure of the reason, but it might have something to do with the Apostles of Destruction.]
“That’s too bad.”
Sejun looked disappointedly and carefully inspected the flower of Lindgen.
“Are there no seeds?”
He had intended to plant a seed from the Lindgen flower. But not only were there no seeds, there wasn’t even any fruit.
Swish, swish.
Unable to find any, Sejun cut a few petals.
‘I wonder if it’s edible?’
He was considering checking if it was edible. That’s how Sejun ended up cutting the petals of the Lindgen flower and returned to his persimmon farm.
***
33rd floor of the tower.
“It’s collapsing!”
“Get out of the way!”
The Black Orcs, who had been tirelessly digging into the cliff, shouted in haste and dispersed.
And then,
Boom!
A stone pillar began to tilt and collapse. Simultaneously, a few parachutes unfolded from the hideout of the Three Head Society.
“Wolves, chase the parachutes! Black Orcs, surround the enemy’s hideout!”
“Yes!”
Upon Black wolf Chief Hegel’s command, the Black wolves and Black Orcs swiftly moved into action.
At that moment,
Bang!
With a loud blast, a ball of fire shot towards the entrance of the secret passage from the Three Head Society’s hideout. Inside the ball of fire was a silhouette of a person – it was Pablo, the manager of the secret hideout.
“After him!”
Hegel chased after the fireball with five wolves.
Boom!
“You bastards! Just wait and see!”
Pablo, after landing on the ground in fury, hastily entered the secret passage, deliberately emitting a strong smell of fire.
“Come to the 49th floor of the tower.”
Pablo intended to lure the enemies to the 49th floor, a secret hideout managed by Akhiro and filled with deadly traps, with the intention of killing them all.
***
“Yawn.”
After having lunch and a long nap upon his return from the secret passage, Sejun stretched as he woke up.
And then,
Gororong.
kurorong.
Gurgle.
“Kids, wake up.”
He woke up Theo, Cuengi, and the golden bat.
However,
(Yes!)
Only the golden bat responded to Sejun’s call immediately. Theo and Cuengi showed no reaction.
“No choice then. Golden bat, come here. I’ll give you a massage.”
Sejun decided to give massages while waiting for the others to wake up.
(Yes! Sounds good!)
The golden bat swiftly flew onto Sejun’s palm.
Stretch. Stretch.
Sejun held the wings of the golden bat and stretched them,
Gently. Gently.
and gently massaged its legs.
(It feels good!)
As Sejun continued massaging the golden bat,
Krueng…
Cuengi, who had been leaning against Sejun’s back, drowsily rolled over in front of him.
And then,
Krueng!
[Daddy, Cuengi wants a massage too!]
Cuengi laid down in front of Sejun, wanting a massage.
“Alright. I’ll give you a growth massage.”
Stretch. Stretch.
Sejun stretched Cuengi’s legs and body, though it seemed ineffective due to his lack of strength.
However,
Kuekhehehe.
Cuengi was just happy to play with his dad.
After about 10 minutes of massaging,
“What, meow?”
The last one woke up – Theo, who felt left out because only Cuengi received attention.
“Chairman Park, massage me too, meow!”
Theo laid down on Sejun’s lap, waiting for his turn.
“Alright.”
Sejun responded, grabbing Theo’s two front paws and lifting them.
Stretch.
Stretching out Theo’s body like a glutinous rice cake.
And then,
Shake. Shake.
Sejun shook Theo back and forth, moving towards the persimmon farm.
“Meow?! Chairman Park, this doesn’t feel like a massage, meow!”
“No, it’s also a massage.”
“Really, meow? Then keep going, meow!”
“Alright.”
Shake. Shake.
Theo found it amusing and let himself be completely controlled by Sejun’s hands.
Krueng!
[Cuengi is jealous of big brother!]
Cuengi looked at Theo with envy. Sejun was too weak to shake him like that.
“Puhuhut. Don’t worry, meow! I’ll find something with my paws to strengthen Chairman Park’s strength, meow!”
Theo, as the older sibling, comforted Cuengi.
Krueng?
[Really?]
“Puhuhut. Trust your big brother, meow!”
As Theo was reassuring Cuengi, Sejun arrived at the persimmon farm.
[Farmer’s Warm Touch Lv. 4 is activated.]
[The roots of the persimmon tree heal a little while touched.]
…
…
.
Sejun began healing the persimmon tree. Theo clung to Sejun’s knee again, while Cuengi searched the surroundings for something to eat.
And
(Massage. Stretch. Stretch. The wings feel refreshed~)
The golden bat, which was singing to help Sejun invigorate the persimmon tree.
As each of them diligently went about their tasks,
[Guard golden bat has awakened a new talent: Plant Healing Singer.]
A message appeared before Sejun.
“Huh? Plant Healing Singer?”
Upon seeing the message, Sejun looked at the golden bat.
(I’m the fifth, Golden Bat, and our youngest is a 2022 year old Toryong~)
The golden bat was passionately singing a song it had written and composed.
Then,
“Huh?!”
Sejun noticed a yellow glow shimmering on the branches of the persimmon trees near the golden bat.
And
Swoosh.
From the branches with the yellow glow emerged green leaves. Although there were only 1 or 2 leaves, it was an incredible sight to see leaves sprouting from the previously withered trees.
The golden bat’s song had a better healing effect than Sejun’s skill. Thanks to it, Sejun finished healing the persimmon tree much faster and could now focus on establishing a sturdy blade green onion farm.
However, after three days, they ran out of seeds to plant more sturdy blade green onions. This was because they had planted seeds on a large scale, thanks to the Black Orcs.
“Once these grow, we should be able to harvest enough sturdy blade green onions to cover the entire Earth, right?”
Sejun said, as he watered the field where he had sown the seeds.
Then,
Krueng?
[When is Dad going home?]
Cuengi approached and asked, seemingly missing his mother.
“We’ll be going back soon. Do you miss mom?”
Krueng! Krueng!
[No! Cuengi can wait!]
Cuengi nodded vigorously, though it was evident he was putting on a cheerful face for Sejun’s sake. Seeing his reaction, Sejun felt they should head back soon.
“Pack up, guys. Let’s head home.”
Using a waypoint would make the journey quick.
“Ulrich, I’ll be going back to the 99th floor of the tower for a bit. Please look after this place.”
“Understood! Leave it to me!”
“Alright. Make sure to let the moles leave on time.”
“Got it!”
Sejun repeatedly emphasized that the moles should leave work punctually, fearing they might not make it home again.
As they headed toward the waypoint to the 99th floor,
“Meow meow meow.”
Krueng!
(Pip-pip.)
The animals were happily humming, looking forward to returning home.
Then,
“Huh? A person?”
From the opposite side, a man with brown hair and a mustache approached.
“Hel-…”
Just as Sejun was about to greet the fellow human he hadn’t seen in a long time,
“Die!”
Without any warning, the man attacked Sejun.
Krueng! Krueng!
[Cuengi wants to go home quickly! Don’t get in the way or Cuengi will get mad!]
Bam!
Cuengi, agitated by the interference, punched the man.
And then,
Whoosh.
– How dare you! Do you know who I am?
The man struck by Cuengi transformed into a huge red snake engulfed in flames. It was the third head of Hydra, which had been hiding in Pablo’s body from the 33rd floor of the tower.
*****
*****
4/5
