[You have arrived at the 99th floor of the Black Tower.]
Right after breakfast, Sejun and the animals arrived at the 99th floor of the tower through the waypoint on the 79th floor.
“Toryong.”
-Yes, Master!
Sejun called Toryong and moved to the farm.
As they arrived at the farm on the 99th floor,
Kueng! Kueng!
[It’s home! Mom, Cuengi is back!]
Dadadada.
Cuengi hurriedly ran to find Pink-fur.
And then,
-Hahaha. This tastes great.
-That’s why I said Sejun’s Samyangju is the best.
-Agreed. Definitely agreed.
“Hello there.”
Sejun went to greet the dragons who were gathered around the fountain, having a drinking party.
-Yeah, come on over.
-Want to have a drink, Sejun?
-Cough. This is for the Samyangju I received last time.
Ramter, who received 5 bottles of Samyangju for free last time, handed Sejun 100,000 Tower Coins. He couldn’t accept it for free due to the pride of a dragon.
“That’s too much?”
-Ahem. Don’t disregard my sincerity.
“Then, this is my sincerity.”
Sejun took out two sets of 11 different flavored Makgeolli from the void storage and handed them to Ramter.
-No, this is…
Ramter couldn’t refuse because of what he just said.
-Ahem. Then, I have no choice.
Swoosh.
He reluctantly took the Makgeolli, pretending to dislike it.
-But what brings you here?
Kaiser asked Sejun, who seemed to have something to say but was only looking around hesitantly.
“I have something to ask the three of you.”
-What is it?
“I want to receive dragon blood in exchange for giving you black beans or Samyangju.
-Dragon blood?!
Gooooo.
Kaiser raised his voice and his energy at Sejun’s words.
-Why would you need that?!
-…A human asking for…!
Kellion and Ramter also shouted, angrily.
“Uh…”
Sejun felt intimidated by the dragons’ heated reactions.
Chairman Park is under my protection, meow! Fortunately, Theo was busily absorbing the dragons’ energy with Energy Drain.
‘Right. Blood has to be drawn by making a wound…’
He thought it would be easy to ask since they casually gave claws, scales, and teeth before, but asking for dragon blood seemed to have crossed the line.
“I’m sorry.”
Sejun apologized first, thinking he had asked for too much.
Even though he thought he had gotten quite close to the dragons, their reaction made Sejun feel a bit… no, quite disappointed.
Then,
-No, why should Sejun apologize?! You?! Who made our Sejun apologize?!
Kaiser angrily grabbed Kellion by the scruff.
-No… It wasn’t me!
-Then, is it you?!
-It’s not me either!
Kaiser’s fierce gaze shifted from Kellion to Ramter, and Ramter quickly shook his head in denial, fearing he might be grabbed next.
Actually, Kellion and Ramter were also quite surprised by Sejun’s apology. Why apologize all of a sudden?
Their anger wasn’t because Sejun crossed a line by asking for dragon blood. It was because ‘weak’ Sejun asked for it.
What’s the difference? Dragon blood contains concentrated dragon power, and a weak and insignificant being could perish just by touching it.
In other words, touching dragon blood could kill Sejun.
‘Sejun, dragon blood is too dangerous for you!’
‘You’re too weak, touching our blood could kill you. Play with something else!’
‘Weak Sejun dares to ask for what?!’
That’s why the dragons were angry.
Sejun, who sells them delicious alcohol and black beans needed to fight the Apostle of Destruction, was too precious to be put in danger.
-But why do you need dragon blood?
As the the anger subsided, Kaiser asked in a soothing tone.
“I’m undergoing the trials of the 10th tower, and I was told to collect 1L of dragon blood from nine dragon races.”
-What?! The 10th tower?!
-Eh?!
-Eek!
The dragons were greatly surprised by Sejun’s answer and looked at each other.
They hadn’t found any clues about the 10th tower… It was unexpected that Sejun was undergoing the trials of the 10th tower.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
Feeling the atmosphere was not normal, Sejun nervously watched the dragons’ reactions.
Then,
Tap. Tap.
“Puhuhut. Chairman Park, don’t be scared, meow! I, Vice Chairman Theo, am your right hand, meow!”
Theo tapped Sejun’s leg with his front paws, comforting him.
“I’m not scared!”
Sejun, feeling hit where it hurts by Theo’s words, retorted.
“No, meow! I felt Chairman Park’s legs trembling because he was scared, meow!”
“No! I was shaking them on purpose!”
“Puhuhut. Chairman Park, you’re lying, meow! I should tell Cuengi later, meow!”
“Huh. Anyway, our Cuengi trusts Dad more.”
“No, meow! Cuengi trusts his big brother, me…”
The topic of conversation shifted from whether Sejun was scared to who Cuengi trusts more. Thanks to this, Sejun’s tension completely disappeared.
‘If the dragons say anything, I’ll ask Aileen to chase them away.’
Just as Sejun was firming up his resolve,
-Hahahaha. That’s our Sejun! Don’t worry. I’ll squeeze out the blood of the nine dragon races for you.
Kaiser loudly declared his cooperation, having finished discussing with Kellion and Ramter. Judging by his attitude, he seemed ready to forcibly obtain dragon blood if the dragons refused.
-Sejun, do you only need to collect the dragon blood?
“Yes.”
-Understood.
There was an easy way to collect only the dragon blood. It could be stored in a container that doesn’t allow the dragon’s energy to leak.
Well… for that, they would need to use very durable materials, but dragon bodies are tough.
Scales, horns, claws, teeth, and skin could be used as materials to create a container that wouldn’t let the dragon blood’s energy leak.
“Then, please.”
After asking the dragons for their blood, Sejun stopped by the brewery. He had something for the monkeys.
Ukki! Ukki!
“Yes. Guys, you’re doing well, right?”
Sejun received a greeting from the monkeys and said,
“Use this for making alcohol.”
He handed the monkeys an unending staff.
The staff’s length could be adjusted at will, making it easier to stir to the bottom of the jars and lighter, thus more convenient than the Greatsword of Amplification for brewing alcohol.
Ukki! Ukki!
The monkeys were delighted with Sejun’s gift.
“Then, keep up the good work.”
Sejun left the brewery and headed to Flamie, who was in the cave, intending to use <Power: Abundance!>.
Sejun, who had passed out from using his power on Podori and forgot about Flamie, planned to make Flamie grow significantly today.
‘Flamie, wait. I’ll make you grow quickly.’
Sejun hurried towards the cave.
“Flamie, have you been well?”
[Yes! Master, welcome home!]
As Sejun went down to the cave and greeted, Flamie welcomed him by shaking its five leaves.
‘It must be because it didn’t eat well when it was younger.’
Seeing the still small Flamie made Sejun feel sorry.
Every time he saw the small(?) Flamie, Sejun felt guilty for not taking better care of it.
Of course, it was cute because it was small, but it couldn’t stay small forever.
“Abundance!”
[uh?!]
Thus, Sejun used his power on Flamie.
So far, <Power: Abundance!> had the effect of doubling the next harvest when used on a tree.
However, this time, by using the power on the ground for the germination of the Birds Bearing Tree, Sejun realized he could use his power differently.
And now, Sejun used his power hoping Flamie would grow twice in size.
Naturally, thinking the size of Flamie was all he was seeing, Sejun didn’t even take out the Life Orb.
Just as Sejun was about to start drawing life force,
[The apple tree is affected by <Power: Abundance!>…]
The message suddenly stopped, as if buffering.
***
[Podori, why haven’t you been eating much lately? Huh?!]
[What?! I’ve been eating diligently!]
Startled by Flamie’s words, Podori hastily absorbed the nutritional supplements it had been nibbling on.
[That’s better. You should eat like that from the start. Here, eat more. That’s how you’ll become the World Tree faster.]
Flamie handed over three pieces of nutritional supplements after Podori ate one.
[Tha… Thank you.]
Podori expressed gratitude to Flamie with a voice that seemed like it was about to cry. It definitely wasn’t from being moved.
‘Sigh. I want to give up on becoming the World Tree.’
Had it known it needed to eat this much nutritional supplements to become a candidate for the World Tree, it wouldn’t have chosen this path.
Then,
[Uh?!]
[Flamie~nim, what’s wrong?]
[It’s an emergency!]
With Flamie’s urgent voice, its gaze, which had been watching over Podori, disappeared.
***
‘Master is in danger!’
As Sejun used his power suddenly without any preparation,
Snap.
Flamie broke off its branch with five leaves attached in a rush.
It was an instinctive action, not one thought out, to save Sejun. This reduced the range of the power and thus Sejun’s life force consumption.
[The apple tree’s leaves are affected by <Power: Abundance!>.]
[The apple tree’s leaves grow twice in size.]
“Huh?! Flamie!”
As Flamie’s branch broke and fell to the ground while the leaves were lengthening, Sejun rushed to catch Flamie.
Then,
Click.
Flamie landed like a superhero using its four leaves as limbs.
“Huh?”
Sejun felt something was off from Flamie’s actions.
However,
[Master…]
Not yet understanding the situation, Flamie moved its leaves to stand up. It wanted to die as close to Sejun as possible.
Plop. Plop. Plop.
Thus, Flamie, who had never walked in its life, awkwardly started walking towards Sejun using two of its bottom leaves like legs.
Sejun quietly observed Flamie. The superhero landing was odd too. Normally, trees don’t walk just because they’re broken.
Moreover, there was a sense of liveliness rather than fragility emanating from Flamie’s body.
And he was sure.
‘Our Flamie can walk! Hang in there, Flamie!’
While Sejun was encouraging Flamie’s first steps,
[…?]
Flamie too felt something was off.
Plop. Plop. Plop.
It was moving strangely, and although its body was separated, it could still feel sensations from its other roots.
‘That Podori, messing around again. I need to scold it!’
‘Veronica broke another branch. Sigh. She really lacks farming talents. If only she had 1/100th of our master’s farming skills, she’d be easier to teach.’
With such thoughts, Flamie walked towards Sejun, determined to die by his side.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
With each step growing stronger, Flamie became more vigorous.
And before long, Flamie got used to walking and then,
[Master, I can run!]
Flamie started running around Sejun.
“Flamie, are you okay?”
[Yes!]
Flamie realized it wouldn’t die even if it was separated.
Thinking about it, Flamie was a being that surpassed even the World Tree. It already had the ability to separate flowers or branches, similar to the corrupted ents.
It just didn’t know it had this ability because no one taught it.
[Heheh! Master, can I go with you?]
“Of course. Let’s go together.”
“Puhuhut. I, Vice Chairman Theo, will specially permit it, meow!”
Theo added his remark, seeking credit for Sejun’s answer.
[Thank you!]
Flamie bowed to Sejun and Theo, expressing its gratitude.
“Let’s go.”
As Sejun extended his palm towards Flamie,
[Yes!]
Boing.
Flamie used its leaves like springs and jumped onto Sejun’s palm.
Day 361 of being stranded. Flamie became able to travel with Sejun.
*****
TL: Another mass release; I hope you enjoyed it.
*****
