On the 79th floor of the Black Tower, the Rainbow Castle in the Kingdom of Kov.
Piyo! Piyo!
[Loui-nim! I have brought Theo~nim!]
Piyot had brought Theo to King Loui.
“Theo~nim, welcome.
“Puhuhut. Loui, nice to see you, meow!”
The two of them faced each other.
“But what brings you here…?”
“Chairman Park asked me to give this to you, meow!”
Theo handed over bags full of crops that Sejun had sent to Loui.
“Chairman Park? Ah! You mean the Great Black Dragon?!”
Although Loui was initially confused why the great Black Dragon was referred to as Chairman Park, he fortunately understood that they were the same.
“Oh! Thank you! We were running short on food lately as many birds were born.”
“Puhuhut. Be very grateful, meow!”
With great excitement over Loui’s thanks, Theo completed his first errand for Sejun.
“Do you have the land deed for the 80th floor of the Black Tower, meow?”
He started on completing the second errand.
“The land deed for the 80th floor?”
“Yes, meow! Chairman Park wants it, meow!”
“I’m sorry. We don’t have it now, but if you give us some time, I’ll mobilize all the resources of the Kingdom of Kov to secure the land deed for the 80th floor!”
“Okay, meow! Then I’ll just go see the treasure vault today, meow!”
“Yes! I will guide you to Theo~nim’s treasure vault!”
When Loui was guiding Theo to the treasure vault he gave last time as a reward for the mother tree.
“Um… Theo~nim, where are you going?”
“Puhuhut. Is it not there, meow!”
Theo began heading in a different direction from where Loui was guiding him. I feel the pull over there, meow!
The place he headed to had a more splendid door than the treasure vault Theo originally received. It was Queen Prana of the Kingdom of Kov’s treasure vault.
“This is…”
Arriving in front of the treasure vault where Prana kept her most cherished treasures, Loui was flustered.
“Puhuhut. Open it, meow!”
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Theo boldly asked Loui to open the door.
“Just… wait a moment.”
Opening it himself could lead to a huge nagging from his wife later. Loui hurriedly sent a soldier to Prana.
“Theo~nim is here. Theo~nim, please take whatever you desire.”
Prana personally came and gladly opened the treasure vault.
“Got it, meow!”
Theo entered the treasure vault and came out with a brown bead.
“Phew.”
As Theo came out with just one item, Prana quietly sighed in relief. She said to pick freely… but she didn’t really mean it.
Theo carefully packed the gift for Sejun in his bundle.
“See you again, meow! Come on, Piyot let’s go, meow!”
Piyo!
[Yes! Goodbye!]
Theo and Piyot headed down to the 55th floor of the tower.
“Meow meow meow”
Piyo! Piyo!
Thus, they sang a song as they went down to the 55th floor.
“Meow?”
Piyo!
[Theo~nim, there’s a fork in the road!]
A fork appeared in front of them.
“Puhuhut. It’s this way, meow!”
Theo sensed the aura of wealth and took the right path, and white snakes began to appear. Once again, they were inside Jǫrmungandr’s belly.
And
Kkuik! Kkuik!
From afar, the familiar sound of a pig being strangled could be heard.
Theo was heading towards Uren, who unknowingly was both a slave baiter, a cash dispenser for Theo, and he doesn’t knew it yet, Theo’s left front paw man.
“Puhuhut. Time to make money again, meow! Come on, Piyot!”
Theo laughed brightly as he ran towards the source of Uren’s screams.
***
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})“Cuengi, good job.”
Sejun patted Cuengi on the head as they finished harvesting Korean blackberries together.
Ajax was spending his free time under the guise of scouting the surroundings.
From time to time, Ajax’s loud roars could be heard, which seemed like it would bring many workers to work on the farm.
Kuehehehe. Kueng?
[Hehehe. Is it lunchtime now?]
Cuengi looked at Sejun with hopeful eyes. It seemed like he wanted something.
“Yes, it’s time for lunch. Cuengi, what would you like to eat?”
Kueng!
[Cuengi wants to eat Ssukgaraetteok!] (TL: Ssukgaraetteok = Ssuk + Garaetteok = Mugwort Rice Cake. Check below image)
As expected of the gourmet genius Cuengi. Even though Sejun never mentioned Ssukgaraetteok, he combined mugwort and garaetteok.
“Got it. Land Moving!”
Upon receiving the order, Sejun used Myler’s hoe to strike the ground, quickly constructing a building made of dirt.
A kitchen was created in an instant. Not just from the outside but inside it was exactly like the kitchen on the 99th floor of the tower.
Sejun went inside the kitchen, took out the cooking tools from the void storage, and began to cook.
First, he separately washed the red and blue mugwort in water, briefly blanched them in boiling water, and then squeezed out the water.
He did it himself because if he left it to Cuengi, it wouldn’t be water but juice that would be extracted.
“Ah, Cuengi, could you squeeze this?”
Instead, Sejun gave Cuengi the vibrant life mugwort that wasn’t blanched, as Cuengi watched drooling by his side.
Since it came up, he thought of making mugwort juice as well.
Kueng?
[Do I just squeeze it tightly?]
“Yes, very tightly.”
Kueng!
[Leave it to Cuengi!]
Cuengi vigorously nodded at Sejun’s words, placed the vibrant life mugwort between his front paws, and began to press hard.
Then, the red mugwort juice started to fall into a glass bottle. It didn’t drop drop by drop but flowed in a stream.
And the mugwort left in Cuengi’s hands was so thoroughly squeezed that it turned into powder.
‘Ah. If I let Cuengi handle it, it will turn into powder, not juice.’
Sejun had a significant realization.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Kueng?
[Dad, is this enough?]
Cuengi asked, brushing off the mugwort powder stuck to his hands.
“Yes, that’s perfect.”
A juicer couldn’t even squeeze that well… Indeed, my son is excellent.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Sejun entrusted Cuengi with the mugwort juice and finely chopped the squeezed mugwort with a knife.
He then added rice flour and water to the chopped mugwort and kneaded it. Since the mugwort was naturally sweet, he added only a little salt, no honey.
A short while later,
“Done.”
Sejun finished the dough and began to steam the red and blue dough separately.
Now, putting this steamed dough into a black noodle press and having Cuengi press it would complete the garaetteok.
Then,
“Huh?! Sejun hyung! Are you making Garaetteoks?!”
Ajax had returned. As much as he enjoyed his free time, he wouldn’t pass up lunchtime.
“Yes. You came just in time. Guys, gather around.”
Sejun called everyone.
And,
“Wash your feet and stamp them here.”
He made a separate mugwort dough into the shape of a hotteok and had them stamp it. It was a Ssukgaetteok. (TL: Ssuk = mugwort and gaetteok as you all by now is rice cake but this time in shape of hotteok)
Kueng?
[Is this a slave contract?]
Cuengi, who had some experience receiving footprints on slave contracts, looked at Sejun with serious eyes. Dad, are you making Cuengi a slave?!
“No. And Cuengi, who told you to make such a scary face at your Dad, huh?! You can’t do that!”
Sejun spoke sternly to Cuengi while holding the red mugwort juice that Cuengi had squeezed.
Though he hadn’t checked yet, since the mugwort was squeezed to the point of becoming powder, the effects should still be there.
Kueng. Kueng.
[Cuengi is sorry for doubting Dad.]
Fortunately, upon hearing Sejun’s words, Cuengi quickly apologized and stamped his footprint on the Ssukgaetteok.
“Ehihi. Sejun hyung, does that mean all the ones I stamped are mine?”
Ajax was energetically stamping his footprint on the Ssukgaetteoks.
Kueng!
[These are all Cuengi’s because they got Cuengi’s stamp!]
As Cuengi and Ajax busily claimed ownership by stamping their footprints on the Ssukgaetteoks,
“Alright, let’s get Blackie to stamp too.”
Kking?
‘Another bath?’
After Sejun washed Fenrir’s front paw with water,
Press.
He stamped Fenrir’s footprint onto a small-sized Ssukgaetteok made especially for Fenrir.
Kking? Kking?
‘This is soft? Is it edible?’
Fenrir tried to eat the soft Ssukgaetteok dough, but Sejun blocked his mouth with a dried sweet potato.
After stamping the footprints, the Ssukgaetteoks were placed in a steamer.
“Let’s check the options for this.”
While waiting, Sejun checked the option of the mugwort juice that Cuengi had squeezed.
[Mugwort Juice of Life]
→ 1000 vibrant life mugworts that absorbed the overflowing vitality of the Green Tower were squeezed solely by force by the novice herbalist, reducing the effect of the mugwort juice by half.
→ Consuming 1ml restores 5% vitality.
→ The flavor has been concentrated, making both the sweetness and bitterness stronger.
→ Volume: 100ml
→ Producer: Herbalist Cuengi
→ Shelf life: 300 days
→ Grade: A
Fortunately, the effects were as Sejun expected. Although the effects were reduced by half, it didn’t matter since there was plenty of mugwort.
[Green Tower Tower Farmer Ophelia Iorg has harvested 1 vibrant magical mugwort.]
[The Green Tower’s temporary storage now holds 11,251 vibrant life mugworts and 1,076 vibrant magical mugworts.]
Ophelia was still harvesting diligently.
To think Ophelia was this grateful that she is working so hard for my longevity.
“I should send her some delicious food later.”
Sejun decided to treat Ophelia to some food later and divided Mugwort Juice of Life in portions of 20ml.
He mixed one of them with water in a 5 to 1 ratio and tasted it.
“Ugh!”
It was too sweet and the bitterness was also strong. It was difficult to handle the taste of 200 mugworts concentrated in 100ml of water. So he added more water.
After adding water several times to find the optimal mixing ratio, 20ml of mugwort juice in 500ml of water turned out to be the most palatable mix.
However, it tasted like slightly bitter sugar water, which was quite disappointing.
At that moment,
Kueng!
[Dad, the Garaetteoks are done!]
Cuengi, who remembered the smell of the cooked Garaetteok from before, called Sejun.
“Okay.”
Sejun hurriedly took the Garaetteok dough out of the steamer and placed it in the black noodle press that Cuengi was holding.
Kueng!
Cuengi applied strength and began to press out the Garaetteoks.
And,
[You have achieved the achievement of making the first Red Rice Cake of Life in the tower.] (TL: I’ll keep the new dish name in english rice cake instead of Garaetteok. I know a lot of you are already confused with Garaetteok and I don’t want to confuse you guys any more)
…
..
.
[You have achieved the achievement of making the first Magical Blue Rice Cake in the tower.]
…
..
.
As the red and blue rice cakes were produced, new cooking achievements were unlocked, improving the effects of mugwort by 5%.
Sejun cut the continuously coming out rice cakes into bite-sized pieces, generously dipped them in honey, and fed them to Cuengi, Ajax, Fenrir, and himself.
The honey used was regular honey, not kudzu honey, to not overpower the taste of mugwort.
“Mm. Delicious.”
The rich aroma of mugwort filled his mouth immediately upon chewing, and the honey seeped between the chewy rice cakes, creating a great flavor and taste.
While eating the rice cakes, the Ssukgaetteoks were completed, and everyone enjoyed eating their own footprint-stamped Ssukgaetteoks.
As lunchtime ended,
“Abundance!”
[The power <Abundance!> is applied to the Korean blackberry tree.]
[The amount of fruit to be harvested next time from the Korean blackberry tree will double.]
Before leaving, Sejun used his power to increase the next harvest of the Korean blackberry tree.
<Abundance!> uses vitality, but Sejun’s vitality had also increased over time,
Gulp.
[You have consumed Mugwort Juice of Life diluted with water.]
[Vitality is restored by 20%.]
He drank the diluted Mugwort Juice of Life to recover vitality.
“Abundance!”
[You have consumed Mugwort Juice of Life diluted with water.]
[Vitality is restored by 1%.]
…
..
.
He used the power while chugging the juice like plain water.
While Sejun was increasing the yield of the Korean blackberry tree,
Kueng!
[If you work here, you’ll get 10 peanuts and 5 tower coins per day as wages!]
“But you’ll have to work hard in return!”
Cuengi and Ajax explained to the big-footed squirrels who arrived late after Ajax about what they would earn and what they needed to do if they worked on the farm.
After a while,
“Guys, let’s go home now. Ajax, guide us to the waypoint.”
Sejun asked Ajax, who had been scouting, for the location of the waypoint.
“Okay! Hyung, the waypoint is to the west. But… there’s a strange lake to the east.”
“A strange lake?”
“Yes. The lake is made of milk. I drank a lot from it, but there’s still plenty.”
“Huh? A milk lake?”
That reminded him of what he had heard from the raccoon tribe during the previous harvest festival. They said there was a milk spring where they drew milk to make cheese.
“Let’s go! Toryong!”
Sejun quickly called Toryong and headed towards the milk lake.
“Is it real?”
He had believed the raccoons’ words, but it didn’t feel real until he saw the milky-colored milk lake.
“Real milk really does come from the ground…”
Sejun collected milk from the milk lake,
Kuehehehe. Kueng!
[Hehehe. It’s milk!]
“Drink as much as you want! Keep drinking!”
Kueng! Kueng!
[Okay! Cuengi will drink a lot!]
Kking?
‘Should I quench my thirst too?’
While the three of them were eagerly drinking the milk,
After some time,
“Huh?”
Sejun, who was scooping milk, and the three who were drinking milk slowly moved forward. The milk was rapidly decreasing.
Kking? Kking!
‘Why are we moving forward? Hey! Don’t run away!’
Thud-thud.
Fenrir energetically chased after the dwindling milk.
Gurgle.
Naturally, the culprit was Cuengi. As after a long time, Cuengi, had been allowed to drink without any limit. As a result, the milk lake finally hit the bottom.
Unfortunately, it was a lake that no longer produced milk.
Kueng?
[Did Cuengi do something wrong?]
Cuengi looked crestfallen and checked Sejun’s reaction.
“No, it’s okay. I scooped a lot of milk.”
Sejun consoled Cuengi while showing him the dozens of glass bottles filled with milk. It’s just milk. They could find a larger milk lake later.
Kking!
‘Hey! I’m thirsty!’
However, Fenrir, who had chased after the dwindling milk without getting a single sip, barked while looking at the glass bottles filled with milk.
*****
