“Phew…”
After hearing the shop owner’s words, merchant Zidin immediately went to the Wizard Association’s branch for a free appraisal.
“I should quit being a merchant.”
Zidin gave a bitter smile as he looked at the palm-sized item in his hand.
He hadn’t hoped for a huge windfall. He just thought it would be nice if he could recover the losses from this business trip…
‘Of all things, a cursed seed…’
The item Zidin had appraised was a seed of a plant called the Darkbloom.
As it grows, it attracts all sorts of dark and negative energies, making its surroundings gloomy and dark, hence the name Darkbloom.
Because it carried negative energy and nobody would eat it, there was a time when Darkblooms had overrun a floor of the tower…
The Black Dragon had nearly caused their extinction.
Since then, Darkbloom seeds were considered plants to be eradicated on sight, rendering them worthless.
‘Considering the effort to dispose of it, maybe I should pay someone to take it…’
The wizard had earnestly advised him to burn and dispose of the Darkbloom seed, so Zidin ended up keeping it because he couldn’t just throw it away.
‘Should I ask the blacksmith to burn it?’
As Zidin thought about going to the blacksmith,
Kking… Kking…
A pitiful whimpering sound came from beneath his feet.
When Zidin looked down following the sound,
“Oh? It’s a puppy?”
A dark navy colored puppy, with its pink tongue sticking out slightly, was lying on its back, showing its belly, and acting coy(?).
‘Cute.’
As Zidin squatted down to touch the puppy’s belly,
Snap.
“Huh?!”
Suddenly, the puppy got up, snatched the Darkbloom seed from his hand, and started running.
“Hey! Drop that!”
Zidin quickly chased after Fenrir to snatch back the Darkbloom seed.
***
Kking! Kking!
[Yes! I feel energized because I’m full!]
Fenrir ran, devouring the negative energy contained within the Darkbloom seed.
Thud. Thud.
Feeling energized, his legs became stronger, allowing him to run more vigorously than before.
“Puppy! Drop that, it’s dangerous!”
Despite Zidin chasing from behind,
Kking?! Kking!
‘Hmph! you think I’m going to get caught?! I am Fenrir, the First Seat among the Apostle of Destruction, !’
Fenrir, with movements honed from dodging people’s feet, nimbly avoided between the legs of passersby as he fled.
As Fenrir was diligently escaping,
Swoosh. Swoosh.
“…?!”
At some point, while moving quickly, he realized his feet weren’t touching the ground.
Kking?
[Why aren’t my feet touching the ground?]
When Fenrir was puzzled why his feet weren’t touching the ground,
Flap. Flap.
An annoying sound was heard.
Piyo!
[Theo~nim, I’ve caught Whiny!]
Piyot had grabbed Fenrir by the legs and was now flying.
Squeak! Squeak?!
‘Ugh…how humiliating! Caught by such a tiny thing again?!’
Fenrir was frustrated to be caught again by Piyot,
“Whiny, why are you wandering alone-meow?!”
Piyot arrived at Theo’s location.
Piyo!
[Theo~nim, here!]
As Piyot handed Fenrir over to Theo,
Snap.
Theo grabbed Fenrir’s scruff with his front paws.
Then,
Thud.
The Darkbloom seed Fenrir had been holding in his mouth dropped to the ground.
The seed, which was originally the size of a palm, had shrunk to the size of a fingernail after Fenrir absorbed all the negative energy.
“Whiny, what did you pick up to eat,meow? Eating just anything can cause big trouble,meow!”
As Theo was scolding Fenrir and about to pick up the seed,
“Huff! Huff! Are you…that…puppy’s…owner…?”
Zidin, who had followed Fenrir, asked Theo breathlessly.
‘Yes, meow! What’s the matter, meow?”
“Huff. Huff. That…puppy…took…my…seed…”
Though his speech was slurred due to being out of breath, the gist was understood.
“Whiny, you even stole, meow?! That’s bad, meow!”
Running away and stealing. Even if it was his own subordinate, it was unforgivable.
Bang. Bang.
So, Theo scolded Whiny by hitting his buttocks with his front paws. It sounded loud but wasn’t painful.
However,
Kking?! Kking!
Fenrir cried out miserably.
It wasn’t an exaggeration,
‘Dare to hit my buttocks?! I will definitely repay this humiliation!’
Fenrir cried because he felt it was unjust to be hit on the buttocks.
“Here you go…Meow?”
As Theo scolded Fenrir and was about to give the seed to Zidin, he hesitated.
It was confusing with Fenrir around, but picking up the seed made it clear. There was an attraction felt from the seed.
Moreover,
“Kyoot kyoot kyoot. Theo, what is that?! Can I have it?!”
“No, meow! It must be given to Chairman Park first, meow!”
Iona, excited upon seeing the seed. Puhuhut. This is indeed a great item, meow!
“I will buy this, meow!”
“Huh?! That thing?!”
“Yes, meow! Take this, meow!”
Theo forcibly handed a pouch of money to the bewildered Zidin and left.
“Why would he…?”
Zidin, perplexed at Theo buying the Darkbloom seed with money, opened the money pouch.
And,
“Huh! How much is all this?!”
He was surprised by the amount inside the pouch. It contained a whopping one billion Tower Coins.
“…I should quit being a merchant now.”
Thanks to Theo, merchant Zidin, who had made a thousand times the money lost in the previous business trip, decided to open his own trading company.
***
99th floor of the tower.
“Aileen, will Cuengi be alright?”
As Sejun worried about Cuengi like a child left by the waterside,
[The tower’s administrator says there’s nothing more useless than worrying about others on the 99th floor of the tower and told you not to worry.]
“Ah…right.”
Sejun was immediately convinced by Aileen’s words.
“Thinking about it, now is not the time to worry about Cuengi.”
Cuengi is a beast with few rivals even on the 99th floor of the tower.
Cuengi going down to the 88th floor is like releasing a shark into a fish tank.
It was right to worry if Cuengi might cause the extinction of the creatures on the 88th floor.
Having such a conversation with Aileen, Sejun returned to the farm.
“Huh?! Smell of the grapes?”
The farm was filled with the aroma of grapes.
And then, Sejun discovered the grapes densely packed on the branches of Podori.
[Hey! Eat this and make more grapes quickly!]
[Huh?! Eat again?!]
[Just shut up and eat!]
[Yes…]
Flamie pressured Podori to cheer up Sejun, who was worried about Cuengi.
Of course, now he was worried that Cuengi might be wreaking havoc on the ecosystem of the 88th floor.
“Wow! Let’s harvest them all!”
Sejun hurriedly approached Podori and started to harvest.
Tap. Tap.
[You have harvested 15 Vitality-Infused Fragrant Grapes.]
[Your job experience points have slightly increased.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 8 has slightly increased.]
[You have gained 1050 experience points.]
…
..
.
He began harvesting the grapes.
Thanks to this, Sejun was able to immerse himself in harvesting grapes and momentarily shake off his worries.
“Oh! Delicious!”
While harvesting and occasionally eating the grapes,
Dadada.
Kuehehehe. Kueng!
[Hehehe. Daddy Cuengi is here!]
Cuengi came running excitedly.
However,
“Cuengi, who said you could go to the 88th floor without telling anyone?! Huh?!”
Sejun didn’t welcome Cuengi but scolded him first.
Then,
Kueeeng! Kueeeng!
[Dad is mad at Cuengi! Dad is mean!]
Cuengi cried sorrowfully.
“What are you crying for?!”
Kueeeng! Kueeeng!
[Cuengi went to get a gift for dad! Wanted to prepare a secret gift and make dad happy!]
“What?! My gift?”
Only then did Sejun realize why Cuengi had gone down the tower without telling him.
And,
‘I made a mistake.’
He realized his mistake. He should have asked why Cuengi went down the tower first.
“Cuengi, sorry. Daddy got excited because he was worried about you.”
Hug.
Kueeeng… Kueeeng…
[Daddy is mean… But Cuengi still likes daddy…]
Cuengi, burying his face in Sejun’s knees, exploded with sorrow in response to Sejun’s apology.
Pat. Pat.
Sejun patted Cuengi’s buttocks, waiting for his emotions to settle.
After a while,
Grrr…
Cuengi’s stomach rumbled, indicating hunger. The sound was longer than usual, suggesting he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch.
“Cuengi, want to eat dinner?”
Kueng…?
Cuengi slightly lifted his head at Sejun’s words, pondering whether to respond or not. It seems Cuengi is still upset.
Then,
“Today, we’re having Cuengi’s favorite honey rice cakes, okay?”
Sejun played his trump card, and
Kueng! Kueng!
[Yes! Cuengi is hungry!]
Honey rice cakes! Cuengi disarmed by Sejun’s trump card.
Kuehehehe. Kueng!
[Hehehe. Cuengi wants to eat honey rice cakes quickly!]
Cuengi nestled in Sejun’s arms as they headed to the kitchen.
Munch. Munch.
Lick. Lick.
Kuehehehe.
“Cuengi, is it tasty?”
Sejun asked as Cuengi took a bite of rice cake with his right front paw and dipped it into honey from a glass jar with his left front paw.
Kueng! Kueng!
[Yes! It’s delicious!]
Cuengi answered Sejun’s question with a bright expression.
“Cuengi, you need to tell me where you’re going before you go anywhere in the future, okay?”
Kueng! Kueng!
[Understood! Next time, I will definitely tell you before I go!]
“That’s right. Here, eat some more.”
Sejun brought out more rice cakes from the void storage.
After finishing their meal,
Kueng!
[Dad, I ate well!]
Cuengi gave Sejun a polite bow. Aiguo. My baby is too cute.
“Hehehe. Cuengi, shall we eat grapes for dessert with daddy?”
Kuehehehe. Kueng!
[Hehehe. Yes!]
“Let’s do that.”
Sejun sat Cuengi on his lap and they ate grapes together.
Yum.
Sejun ate grapes with one hand,
Thump. Thump.
and scratched Cuengi’s belly with the other when
Click.
Kueng!
[This is a gift for daddy!]
Cuengi took out a glass bottle filled with a red liquid from his snack pouch and handed it to Sejun.
“Thank you.”
‘Hehehe. What’s this? Something tasty?’
Pop.
Sejun opened the bottle cap full of anticipation.
Then,
“Ugh!”
He quickly closed the cap again due to the terrible stench coming from the bottle.
“Um… Cuengi, it seems like the gift got mixed up?”
Kueng! Kueng!
[That’s the right gift! Cuengi specially got it for dad! Eat it quickly!]
“Well… Okay.”
Sejun decided to examine what it was before eating.
[Red Juice of Life]
→ Juice obtained by squeezing the root of the red rock corpse flower with great force.
→ Consumption increases stamina and stamina potential by 150.
→ Consumption extends lifespan by 10 years.
→ Has a strong rotten smell.
→ Use restriction: Lv. 60 and above, Stamina 700 and above
→ Expiration date: 7 days
→ Grade: SS
‘Ah… So squeezing the root of the corpse flower made it smell like this.’
After reading the description, Sejun understood why the bottle emitted such a foul odor.
“But extending lifespan is incredible.”
Kueng!
[Cuengi wants daddy to live a long time!]
Cuengi responded to Sejun’s remark.
“Yeah. What’s a rotten smell anyway!”
Gulp. Gulp.
Moved by Cuengi’s words, Sejun bravely gulped down the Red Juice of Life.
However,
‘This is impossible!’
It was genuinely the worst taste ever. No, it didn’t just taste bad, it wouldn’t go down his throat.
“Ugh!”
His stomach turned, almost bringing up what he had eaten.
‘Cuengi, I’m sorry.’
“Ugh…”
Just as Sejun couldn’t hold it in and was about to spit out the Red Life Juice,
“Chairman Park, I have arrived, meow!”
Boom.
Theo, with Fenrir on his back, clung to Sejun’s face and covered Sejun’s mouth while
Pressing.
pressing on both cheeks.
Gulp.
“…!”
At the same time, the red juice of life was miraculously swallowed.
[You have consumed Red Juice of Life.]
[Your stamina and stamina potential have increased by 150 each.]
[Your lifespan has increased by 10 years.]
Thanks to that, his lifespan was extended by 10 years.
“Phew.”
Sejun sighed in relief for not spitting out Cuengi’s gift.
“Meow! Chairman Park just pooped from his mouth, meow!”
“Kyoo-kyoo-kyoo-That’s not mannerly!”
Piyo!
Kkiing!
Instead, he had to endure being misunderstood by the animals as having pooped from his mouth.
Kuehehehe.
Yum. Yum.
Only Cuengi, who had preemptively blocked his nose with telekinesis, continued to enjoy the grapes unbothered.
*****
10/10
*****
TL: Today is my birthday ?, so I hope you’ve enjoyed the special mass release! ?✨
*****
