“Uhaam!”
Sejun, waking up in the morning, came outside and stretched lazily with a yawn.
“Meow!”
Krueng!
Following Sejun, Theo and Cuengi also stretched beside him, raising their arms in a yawn.
“Ugh… I’m hungry.”
Sejun, whose stomach had already digested the crab stew he ate to bursting point the previous night, leaving him feeling hungry again.
“Guys, let’s eat breakfast quickly.”
“Got it, meow!”
Krueng!
[Great idea!]
At Sejun’s words, Theo and Cuengi clung to Sejun’s legs.
Then,
Swish.
He made crab stew porridge by adding rice flour to the leftover crab stew broth from yesterday. It wasn’t out of laziness… it was just too wasteful to throw away food. Definitely not just for convenience.
“Guys, isn’t it delicious?”
Krueng!
Squeak!
Ook!
The animals nodded vigorously and responded to Sejun’s question.
“I should eat too.”
After getting an all-clear from the animals’ taste test, Sejun began to eat the crab stew porridge in earnest.
“Hoo. Hoo.”
Slurp.
Blowing on the hot porridge to cool it down and taking a bite,
“Mmm…”
The flavor of the sea filled his mouth.
Gulp.
“Ah. This is great!”
The hot porridge warmed his stomach and spread heat to the parts of his body that were still waking up.
Scrape, scrape.
After neatly scraping off and eating everything that was stuck to the crab shell,
“Ice cube.”
While Sejun was making an iced Americano for his morning coffee,
Whirr!
[Hello, Sejun~nim!]
A poisonous honeybee flew to Sejun and landed on his shoulder, rubbing its body against his face as a greeting.
“Hmm. What’s up?”
Whirr!
[Our queen wants to meet you!]
“Queen?”
Sejun was puzzled and asked since, although there had been interactions between Sejun’s domesticated poisonous honeybees and wild ones since he last visited the poisonous honeybee queen’s hive, the queen had never sought him out directly.
Whirr! Whirr!
[Yes! The queen has something to give you!]
“Really?”
Recently, Sejun was considering taming another poisonous honeybee queen after recently leveling up his beekeeping skills.
“Guys, let’s go.”
Sejun woke up Theo and Cuengi, who were sleeping beside him, and headed towards the hive of the eastern poisonous honeybee queen.
***
Kaiser and Kellion emerged from the Silver Dragon’s territory.
Flap. Flap.
“Since we’re here, shall we go drink there?”
“Should we?”
While flying towards their own territory, the two landed on a floating island of a suitable size midway and polymorphed.
They usually clinked their cups as statues and drank together, but they had never actually faced each other and drank like this.
Clink.
“Ahh, this is great! Do you know how hard it was to hold back from telling everyone that Sejun made this?”
“Kek kek kek. I almost spilled it too.”
The two began to drink, clinking their golden cups filled with Samyangju. The cups, though made of gold, had a simple appearance that complemented the clear Samyangju inside.
“Kahaha. The best snack with alcohol is definitely the roasted sweet potatoes Sejun made.”
After a gulp of cold alcohol, Kaiser took a bite of the steaming roasted sweet potato.
Kaiser had preserved these sweet potatoes, received in thousands from Sejun, with preservation magic, maintaining them in freshly roasted condition.
“Here’s to us drinking Samyangju alone from now on. Cheers!”
“Right. Cheers!”
As the two emptied several bottles, planning to continue drinking Samyangju alone, when
“What are you guys talking about? And where did all this Samyangju come from?!”
Red Dragon Ramter, who had followed them out of concern, asked upon seeing dozens of bottles laid out around them.
Gulp.
Overwhelmed by the strong aroma of Samyangju, Ramter involuntarily drooled.
“Huh?! Ramter?! Ah. This isn’t Samyangju.”
“Yeah. Right! It’s soju!”
Startled by Ramter’s arrival, the two blurted out excuses, but
“Don’t lie. The smell of Samyangju is unmistakable.”
Ramter wasn’t convinced at all.
Snap.
“It’s coming from here too.”
Ramter, after confirming by smelling the empty alcohol bottles rolling on the ground, became completely sure. These guys knew the source of the Samyangju!
Then,
“If you guys don’t tell me where you got the Samyangju from, I’ll tell all the other dragons everything I’ve seen and heard here.”
Ramter threatened them.
“Sigh. Alright. But you have to swear you won’t tell any other dragons.”
Kaiser, realizing it was hard to keep the secret, demanded a promise from Ramter to keep the source of the Samyangju confidential. It was a better choice for the three of them to share it rather than nine.
“Fine. I, the great Red Dragon Ramter Zahir, swear on my name that I will not reveal anything I’ve heard here today to the other dragons. Is that enough? Now tell me where you got the Samyangju.”
Eager to know the source of the Samyangju, Ramter quickly made his vow and looked at Kaiser. He had realized that Kaiser was the real power player in their conversation.
“Alright. The truth is, the Samyangju was made by the Tower Farmer of our Black Tower…”
Kaiser revealed to Ramter that the maker of the Samyangju was the Tower Farmer of the Black Tower.
“What?! It’s made by the Tower Farmer of the Black Tower?!”
“Yes.”
“Unbelievable… I owe a great debt to the Tower Farmer of the Black Tower then. Right! You have the essence of fire, right?! Give it to me.”
Ramter decided to give a gift to the Tower Farmer of the Black Tower, who he owed a debt. Of course, there was also an intention to make a good first impression for future supplies of Samyangju.
“Ramter, there’s something you need to keep in mind. Our Tower Farmer of the Black Tower is incredibly weak, so if you go by common sense, it could be disastrous! Got it?”
Knowing Sejun had narrowly escaped death several times, Kaiser earnestly warned Ramter.
“Really? If you say so, he must be incredibly weak. Got it.”
Ramter absorbed the power of the essence of fire and adjusted it to the level of the Red Tower’s Tower Farmer Udon, but upon hearing he was weak, he adjusted it to half the strength of Udon’s level. He thought his own Tower Farmer was very weak as well.
‘This should be enough, right?’
Ramter reduced the power of the essence of fire significantly and handed it to Kaiser.
But
“What is this?! Ramter, you bastard, are you trying to assassinate our Sejun under the guise of giving a gift?!”
Kaiser got angry upon receiving the gift. The Tower Farmer of the Black Tower was much weaker than Ramter thought.
“No… How was I supposed to know your Tower Farmer was that weak?”
“What are you doing?! Reduce it to one-tenth here!”
“Alright…”
Ramter, trying to give a gift, ended up being scolded.
***
Upon arriving in front of the massive mountain where the Poisonous Queen Bee’s hive was located, Sejun saw the crops he had planted during his previous visit had grown and bore fruit.
Whirr. Whirr.
The sound of the poisonous honeybees buzzing around the flowers of the crops echoed from all directions.
“Before we go in, I’ll harvest these.”
Whirr.
[Yes!]
Like a sparrow unable to pass by a mill, Sejun couldn’t just walk past the ripe crops.
Rustle.
Sejun harvested the cherry tomatoes with the Sickle of Freshness, cutting the stems.
[You have harvested 6 Magical Cherry Tomatoes.]
[Your job experience has slightly increased.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 7 has slightly increased.]
[Due to the Cold energy imbued in the Sickle of Freshness, the expiration date of the harvested crops has increased by 5 days.]
[You have gained 300 experience points.]
After harvesting cherry tomatoes, corn, carrots, and other crops, Sejun entered the cave and reached the large room where the Poisonous Queen Bee was.
Whirr! Whirr!
[Welcome, Sejun~nim! It’s been a long time!]
The Poisonous Queen bee greeted Sejun.
“Yeah. It’s been a while. You’ve been doing well, right?”
Whirr! Whirr!
[Of course! I’ve been so happy lately because I get to eat delicious honey!]
The Poisonous Queen Bee replied responded while drawing a heart. It looked really good.
“But didn’t you say you had something to give me?”
Whirr! Whirr!
[Oh my! I forgot! Just a moment, please!]
At Sejun’s words, the Poisonous Queen Bee hurriedly fetched something from a small hole.
Whirr! Whirr!
[This is the first thing I’ve made! They are still lacking, but I wanted to give them to you, Sejun!]
Plunk.
The Poisonous Queen Bee handed Sejun five transparent honey jellies.
“Thank you.”
Sejun closely examined the honey jellies he received.
[Incomplete Platinum Royal Jelly]
→ This variety of honey jelly was refined and processed over a long period of time by the Poisonous Queen Bee using ancient secrets passed down through generations.
→ It is incomplete due to the lack of a few flower types needed for the royal jelly.
→ The honey jelly has been refined for enhanced taste and nutrition.
→ Consuming it increases all stats by 30.
→ Forced awakening of one latent talent upon consumption.
→ Expiration Date: 100 years
→ Grade: A+
“Wow! This is impressive?!”
Despite being labeled ‘incomplete’, it boasted a +30 to all stats and had the ability to forcibly awaken a talent.
“Here, you guys eat too.”
Sejun shared one with Theo, Cuengi, and the golden bat, then
Gulp.
Sejun then ate the Incomplete Platinum Royal Jelly.
Ssssss.
As soon as the royal jelly entered his mouth, it melted away, and Sejun felt as if he were in the middle of a flower garden, so intense was the fragrance of flowers.
While Sejun was intoxicated by the floral scent,
Gulp.
[You have consumed Incomplete Platinum Royal Jelly.]
[All stats increased by 30.]
[A latent talent is forcibly awakened.]
A weak light began to emanate from Sejun’s body.
And
[Talent: Insignificant Presence has been awakened.]
One of Sejun’s latent talents awakened.
“……”
Seeing the name of the talent, Sejun was speechless with rising irritation. This was too much! No matter how insignificant he might be, to blatantly label it as a talent?!
Sejun checked the talent anyway, hoping against hope.
But,
[Talent: Insignificant Presence]
-A talent only possessed by beings with a low presence.
-Among others, you are the last to be noticed.
-Enemies underestimate you.
The talent’s description was not far from Sejun’s expectations.
At that moment,
Kuehehehe. Krueng!
[Hehehe. It’s delicious!]
(Tasty!)
Sejun saw Cuengi and the golden bat swallowing the royal jelly.
“What talents did you guys get?”
Sejun hurriedly asked them, hoping for something worse than his own.
However,
Krueng! Krueng!
[Cuengi has acquired the talent ‘Gluttony’! It’s a talent that makes me stronger the more Cuengi eats!]
(Pip-pip. For me, it’s ‘Unrelenting Grip’. It’s a talent that doesn’t easily let go of things caught by the feet.)
Both had awakened far better talents than Sejun.
“Theo, Vice Chairman, what about you?”
Sejun asked Theo, his last hope, though he expected the answer. Such was human curiosity.
“Meow?! I didn’t awaken any talent, meow…”
“What?! You didn’t awaken a talent?”
“That’s right, meow…”
Theo responded in a dejected voice to Sejun’s question.
“Really? That’s okay. Not everyone awakens a talent. Cheer up! Vice Chairman Theo, want some Churu?”
Sejun offered Churu to console Theo.
Then,
“Great, meow! And pet my stomach too, meow!”
Theo promptly flopped onto Sejun’s lap.
Chomp, chomp, chomp.
While Theo was enjoying the Churu and getting petted by Sejun,
Sniff, sniff.
Krueng!
[This is where that delicious smell came from!]
Cuengi started sniffing around Theo’s bag.
“……”
Theo’s body stiffened.
And
Krueng!
[Found it!]
Cuengi pulled out the royal jelly from Theo’s bag.
“What? You didn’t eat it?”
Sejun interrogated Theo. Was he tricking me?!
“Sorry, meow… I didn’t want to eat it, meow…”
Theo spoke, glancing at Sejun. He, who only ate grilled fish and Churu, had hidden the royal jelly in his bag, not wanting to eat it.
“Eat it now, quickly.”
“Okay, meow!”
Gulp.
Under Sejun’s watchful eye, Theo reluctantly swallowed the royal jelly.
And
Boom!
A golden light exploded from Theo’s body.
‘Did I feed it for nothing?’
Sejun regretted forcing Theo to eat the royal jelly.
*****
3/5
