Thump.
Kuehehe.
Thud.
Thump.
Kuehehe.
Thud.
Krueng!
[It’s fun! Cuengi’s so excited!]
After dinner, Sejun repeatedly threw and caught the lightweight Cuengi, playing with him.
Then,
Kueong.
From a distance, Pink-fur, Cuengi’s mother, called for him. It was bedtime.
Krueng…
[I want to play more…]
Cuengi looked disappointed at his mother’s call.
“We can play again tomorrow after you sleep with your mom.”
Sejun tried to console the dejected Cuengi.
Krueng!
[Alright! Cuengi will sleep well, so Daddy should too!]
After saying his piece, Cuengi rushed towards Pink-fur.
Tap-tap.
Cuengi’s steps were noticeably lighter.
“We should sleep too.”
“Okay, meow!”
Sejun and Theo headed off to bed.
Early the next morning,
Tap-tap.
Krueng!
[Daddy, Cuengi wants to play!]
Cuengi came over early in the morning, eager to play.
Then,
Leap.
While Sejun was still asleep, Cuengi leapt onto Sejun’s chest.
Thump.
“Uhm…”
Sejun groaned a bit from the impact, but he didn’t wake up.
Kuehehe. Krueng.
[Hehehe. Daddy’s alright.]
Delighted to see that even after jumping onto him, Sejun wasn’t harmed,
Gororong.
kurorong.
Kyuororong.
baerorong.
He snuggled up next to him and fell asleep.
A while later,
“Haa!”
Sejun woke up, sitting up.
Then,
Roll, roll.
Cuengi naturally rolled down the inclined surface.
“Huh?”
Thud.
Sejun quickly caught Cuengi.
“It’s really amazing. Our Cuengi is this light.”
Sejun marveled at Cuengi, who was soundly sleeping in his arms. Cuengi now felt like he weighed around 70kg, which was as light as a feather compared to before.
Holding Cuengi with both hands and lifting him, Sejun was still amazed by his own strength to lift Cuengi.
Then,
Grin.
He noticed Cuengi’s mouth corners lifting. It seemed like Cuengi was pretending to sleep.
‘Hehehe. But I won’t be fooled!’
Bu-bu-bu-boop.
Sejun made a fart sound by blowing raspberry on Cuengi’s belly as a playful retaliation.
Krueng!
[Hehehe. It’s fun!]
He soon gave up pretending and began to play with Sejun.
“Here I go again! Bu-bu-bu-boop.”
Kuehehe.
While they were playing,
Growl.
Cuengi’s stomach grumbled.
Krueng!
[Daddy, Cuengi is hungry!]
There was a new determination in Cuengi’s voice. No matter how fun, hunger was non-negotiable!
“Alright, let’s eat.”
Briefly setting down the now ferocious-looking Cuengi for a moment,
“Meow…”
Sejun placed the still-sleeping Theo on his knee.
“Huh? When did Iona get here?”
Sejun belatedly noticed Iona hanging on Theo’s tail.
“Let’s go.”
Krueng!
[Okay!]
Sejun and Cuengi moved to the kitchen. The breakfast menu was, of course, cabbage soup. Though he failed to awaken any talent yesterday, there was still hope for today.
After breakfast,
Sway, sway.
Some animals, who hadn’t awakened their wind attribute talent yesterday, managed to do it today. However, despite intentionally consuming three bowls of cabbage soup, Sejun only ended up with a full stomach.
“Tsk.”
“Chairman Park, cheer up, meow!”
“Kyoot! If you’re feeling hot, I can cool you down with magic.”
Krueng!Kuewoo!Kuewoo!
[Cuengi can blow wind too! Whoo! Whoo!]
The animals tried to comfort Sejun, but
“It’s okay, no need to comfort me.”
Sejun refused their attempts at consolation.
‘I’ll have cabbage soup for lunch too!’
Sejun hadn’t given up.
Then, after breakfast,
Thud.
Tap, tap.
Sejun took the Myler’s hoe, which was placed in front of his house, and headed to the yet-to-be-planted field.
Then,
Thump.
He scattered carrot seeds on the ground.
Thud.
“Land Moving.”
Using Myler’s hoe, he began planting the carrots.
[You’ve planted 500 Agility Carrot seeds in the magic power-infused soil.]
[Due to the sound of the farmer’s footsteps, the effect of Magic Seed Sowing Lv. 6 has been enhanced.]
[With the effect of Magic Seed Sowing Lv. 6, the growth rate of the Agility Carrot seeds will double for the next 24 hours.]
[You have 7,702,173 times left until the job quest completion.]
“Oh!”
The effect of Magic Seed Sowing was enhanced due to the synergy with the sound produced by the Farmer’s Footsteps Shoes.
“Great!”
Tap, tap.
Thanks to the effect, Sejun, with newfound enthusiasm, began planting carrots while making footstep sounds.
About an hour into planting carrots,
[The Agility Carrots are grateful for the farmer’s footsteps and lend their strength.]
[Your Agility stat potential has increased from 99 to 100.]
The potential of the Agility stat increased.
“Huh?”
Sejun was surprised as the potential increased faster than expected. He had learned two things from testing the Blessing of the Crops skill the previous day.
First, to increase the potential, one needs to walk around the field for about 2 hours. Though this duration might increase as potential rises, that’s how it currently stood.
The second thing was that the Blessing of the Crops skill given by each crop accumulates separately.
For instance, if one walks for an hour in the carrot field and an hour in the sweet potato field, they’d need to walk another hour in each field to complete the 2-hour requirement.
‘Is it because of the footstep effect?’
Sejun speculated that the reduced time to increase potential might be due to the sped-up growth of the seeds, which doubled the Blessing effect from the crops.
Thus, by lunchtime, Sejun increased both the Strength and Agility stats potentials by one each.
Lunchtime.
Squeak?
Ook?
The animals were taken aback when they were served cabbage soup for the third consecutive time. They seemed to eat more slowly, perhaps growing a bit tired of the repetition.
Krueng!
[It’s delicious!]
Of course, Cuengi devoured the soup as if tasting it for the first time.
A while later,
Rustle, rustle.
All the remaining animals who hadn’t awakened their talents finally unlocked their wind attribute.
“Ugh.”
Yet again, Sejun only ended up with a full stomach.
***
Dimensional Sea.
-What’s happening here?
The enormous octopus, Kraken, one of the 12 Apostles of Destruction who held the 6th seat and was known as the Monster of the Seas, looked around in confusion.
Suddenly, he found himself surrounded by branches, like a dense net. At first, it was just a few branches blocking his path.
Believing in his strength, Kraken tried to break through the branches.
Bang!
The branches proved sturdier than anticipated.
-How dare they resist the power of me, Kraken!
Though just a fragment of his main body, Kraken’s power was formidable, and his pride was hurt.
Thus,
Bang! Bang!
He persisted in breaking the branches. As he focused on the branches in front, he soon found himself completely encircled.
Creak, creak.
The branches slowly closed in, constricting Kraken.
-Eek!
Kraken tried to resist the branches tightening around him, but it was only a matter of time before he’d be crushed.
Ting.
Kraken was crushed, leaving behind three gray coins.
Creak.
The branches quickly moved, collecting the coins.
[How should I present these to the Master this time?]
For Flamie, killing an Apostle of Destruction was less challenging than delivering the coins to Sejun without him noticing.
***
After lunch,
“I should let Flamie hear my footsteps too.”
Sejun went down to the cave to look after Flamie. He had always been concerned since Flamie hadn’t been growing properly.
[Master! Welcome!]
The moment Sejun descended, Flamie greeted him cheerfully, waving its four leaves.
‘Poor thing. It’s an apple tree but only has these four pitiful leaves.’
Sejun had once again forgotten that worrying about others at the 99th floor was unnecessary.
“Have you been well, Flamie?”
With a sympathetic expression, Sejun stroked Flamie’s leaves and asked.
[Yes! But Master’s footsteps sound even better now! They give me so much energy! Ah! I mean, they were good before, but now they’re even better!]
Flamie hastily added an explanation, fearing Sejun might misunderstand.
‘What a cute thing.’
As Sejun continued to pet Flamie and was about to get up,
Swoosh.
Theo sneakily nudged his head under Sejun’s right hand. He seemed to be saying, ‘Pet me too, meow!’
Then,
Grab.
Following Theo, Cuengi grabbed Sejun’s left hand and pressed it to his head.
‘I was supposed to get back to work now…’
The soft fur on his palm tempted Sejun. However, if he started petting them now, it would easily waste dozens of minutes. Sejun tried to resist the temptation and thought of a way to distract them.
“Hey, go catch some tuna.”
“Tuna, meow?!”
Krueng!
[Tuna is delicious!]
The mention of tuna excited both Theo and Cuengi.
“Yeah, if you bring back tuna, I’ll make you Churu.”
“Puhuhut. Understood, meow! Cuengi, let’s compete and see who catches the tuna first, meow! I will show you my speed, meow!”
Krueng!
[Cuengi is also good at swimming!]
Theo and Cuengi hurriedly ran towards the pond, along with Iona, who was sleeping on Theo’s tail.
“Now I can get to work.”
In the cave’s field, Sejun began his work.
[An Opportunity has Arrived.]
Flamie discreetly began herding two Apostles of Destruction, whom she planned to capture and crush in the Dimensional Sea, towards the passage connected to the 99th floor of the tower.
***
“I’ll catch the tuna first, meow!”
Swoosh!
Using his water affinity, Theo swam swiftly through the water, cutting through it like a blade.
Krueng!
[Cuengi won’t lose!]
Cuengi reverted his weight to its original state.
Thump.
He became heavier and started sinking quickly to the bottom of the pond.
Both of them reached the bottom of the pond almost simultaneously.
Then,
-Who are these guys?
Before them, a gigantic green sea serpent emerged from the passage connected to the Dimensional Sea. It was the Leviathan, occupying the 12th seat among the 12 Apostles of Destruction, known to summon tsunamis.
“What’s that, meow?”
Krueng?
[What is it?]
Upon seeing Leviathan, Theo and Cuengi tried to identify the massive fish before them. A long fish that lives in the sea, resembling a snake.
“Meow! I know, meow! That’s the giant eel Chairman Park likes to eat, meow!”
Krueng!
[Cuengi will catch what Dad likes!]
Convinced that the Leviathan was a giant eel, Theo and Cuengi charged to capture it.
“Puhuhut. Watch this, Cuengi, meow! This is Vice Chairman Theo’s secret technique, MeowMeow Storm Fist! MeowMeow! MeowMeow!”
Theo unleashed his dragon claws, infusing them with magic power and attacked Leviathan.
-Ugh! How can…
Thud.
Before Leviathan could finish, he was defeated by Theo’s attack and turned into water.
Ting.
A green coin dropped.
“Meow? The eel disappeared, meow?”
Krueng?
[Where did the eel go?]
As they puzzled over the sudden disappearance of the ‘eel’,
-Leviathan, why are you blocking the way—— Huh? Who are you guys?
This time, Kraken, who had followed Leviathan, blocked the passageway again.
“Meow! That’s just like the octopus Chairman Park loves, meow!”
Theo, who always handed over what he didn’t want to eat to Sejun, exclaimed.
Krueng! Krueng!
[Cuengi like octopus too! Cuengi will catch it this time!]
Boom!
Shouting, Cuengi charged at Kraken with full force.
And
Krueng!
[This is Cuengi’s special technique, Cuengi Punch!]
Boom!
Following Theo, Cuengi named his technique and with a magic power infused fist, struck Kraken’s head.
-Argh! How can this…
Thud.
Kraken couldn’t finish his sentence before he was defeated and turned into water.
Then,
Ting.
A tree branch appeared where the coins dropped, placing 7 coins before disappearing.
And,
[Guard Theo has defeated Leviathan, the 12th Apostle of Destruction that infiltrated the Black Tower.]
[You’ve gained 10 million experience points, 50% of the experience points earned by Guard Theo.]
[You cannot earn experience as the job quest hasn’t been completed.]
[Guard Cuengi has defeated Kraken, 6th Apostle of Destruction that infiltrated the Black Tower.]
…
..
.
The messages appeared before Sejun, who was working in the field.
“Huh?! My experience points…”
Just as Sejun was expressing his dismay,
[Hehe, it was a success.]
Flamie, from behind Sejun, was delighted to have successfully handed over the coins it held.
*****
TL: A new cover for this novel has been released, so I am linking it here. However, please note that it contains some spoilers, so only open it if you are okay with that.
Cover link: https://hangukhub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/IMG_6779.jpg
