Chapter 129: He Was this Popular
TL: Hanguk
The insecticide developed by Gagel was highly effective. Just two days after the drones had sprayed the insecticide on a massive scale, reports came in from across Africa that the locusts had been almost eradicated.
The result was such a success that it could be called a triumph. As the locusts were rapidly exterminated, the leaders of various countries personally called Watson, the director of Gagel's African business division, to express their gratitude.
However, five days after spraying the insecticide, other reports began to come in. The number of locusts was increasing again.
Watson thought that perhaps the amount of insecticide sprayed was insufficient, so he ordered another round of spraying the affected areas with the same amount as the first time, but this time, there was no effect.
Worse, reports came in that the number of locusts had actually increased, as if the insecticide had had a reverse effect. The locusts were indiscriminately attacking and devouring everything in sight, including people and animals.
As a result, Watson was receiving tremendous protests from African governments, accusing the insecticide of creating a new mutation.
"How do we handle this?"
Incredibly, it was clear that the locusts had developed resistance to the insecticide in such a short time.
While Watson was racking his brain over this vexing issue,
Thump.
There was a noise at the office window.
"Did a bird hit the window?"
Watson's office was on the top floor of a 50m building, with three sides made of glass windows. Occasionally, a passing bird would fail to see the window and collide with it.
Just as Watson was about to refocus on his work,
Thump. Thump.
Thump. Thump.
The noise came from the window again.
"What's going on?!"
Growing alarmed by the increasing noise, Watson turned his head towards the window,
"Huh?!"
His eyes were met with a sky filled with birds, and following the birds were swarms of locusts.
"What... What is all this?!"
While Watson was astonished and confused,
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Birds were rushing towards the window, heedless of whether they would break their heads.
'Could it be?!'
Watson recalled the report that the locusts were consuming people and animals.
Meanwhile,
Crack.
Crack. Crack.
The glass started to crack under the onslaught of the birds.
'I need to escape!'
Watson hurriedly ran towards the elevator,
Crash.
Shatter. Shatter.
Unable to withstand the birds' assault, the glass broke, and birds and locusts poured into the room, engulfing Watson.
"Aaagh! Help me!"
Lagos, Nigeria suffered significant damage from the locusts' invasion.
***
"Alright."
As Sejun opened his eyes to start a vigorous morning,
Thump.
"Ugh!"
Cuengi pressed down on Sejun's chest with his front paw to prevent him from getting up.
Kreong...
[Don't go anywhere, Dad...]
Cuengi, who wanted to sleep more with his father, pushed down on Sejun's chest, talking in his sleep.
"Um... should I lie down a little longer?"
Since Cuengi wanted to lie down together, Sejun decided to stay in bed a little longer. It definitely wasn't because he couldn't lift Cuengi's front paw.
Though he lay down, sleep didn't come. So, Sejun looked over the power he had obtained yesterday and the talent that had evolved.
<Power: Strong Magic Power>
→ Increases magic power by 50, regardless of physical potential.
A simple power that just increased magic power by 50. Nothing special.
"Did I spend 100 million tower coins on this?"
Though there was nothing else to spend the money on, Sejun felt it was a waste. However, if he knew about his potential, he wouldn't have said that.
Even though hunters who had reached the highest level of potential were rare and not well-known, there was a stat limit that each individual wanted to increase but couldn't. If other beings had known about it, they would have been incredibly envious of this ability.
But for Sejun, it was still beyond his understanding. After checking the power, Sejun went on to review the evolved talent.
[Talent: Enhanced Magic Circuit]
- Constructs a powerful circuit that allows magic to circulate throughout the whole body, making mana use more efficient.
- Magic Power stat +6%
- Magic recovery speed +150%
- Effect of magic power-increasing items +55%
Nothing special had been added, and the numbers had only increased slightly.
'It's increased by 1%, 50%, 5%.'
As Sejun was calculating the increased numbers,
Kreong!
[I'm hungry!]
Cuengi, feeling hungry, opened its eyes and informed Sejun of its hunger.
"Is our Cuengi hungry?"
As Sejun tickled Cuengi's armpits and belly, asking,
Cuengi laughed.
Playing with Dad was the most fun!
While Sejun and Cuengi were playing,
Ook!
The monkeys brought in breakfast.
'What's going on?'
Sejun felt something was off about the atmosphere. The monkeys, who had treated him with the utmost respect just yesterday,
But
Kreong!
[I want to eat more of this!]
Ook!
Today, most of the monkeys were clinging to Cuengi.
'Is power truly equivalent to authority?'
As Sejun was upset at being treated as leftovers when,
"Don't be too disappointed, meow! I, Park Sejun's loyal servant, am here, meow!”
Theo lay on Sejun's lap, asserting his presence.
“Yeah.”
Sejun stroked Theo's belly, consoling himself.
"President Park, I'm hungry, meow!"
"Okay."
Sejun opened a churu and gave it to Theo.
Chomp, chomp, chomp.
'But is this right?'
Watching Theo lying on his lap, munching on a treat, Sejun felt something was wrong but couldn't pinpoint what it was. He was already too accustomed to having Theo on his lap.
***
Cave on the 99th Floor of the Tower
[Master...]
Sejun was missing, and Flamie was sad, feeling powerless, as there was no way for it to save him.
But
[I can't just be sad like this!]
Flamie exclaimed, clutching its leaves tightly. Being sad like this wasn't going to help find a way to save Sejun.
And then,
[I'll do what I can do!]
The tree did what it could, which was to grow its roots.
Woosh.
Flamie sent its roots down into the sea of a dimension with more nutrients, accelerating its growth in earnest.
***
After breakfast, Sejun took the animals and moved to heal the banana trees.
On the way to the banana farm.
Kreong! Kreong!
[It's honey! So exciting!]
Cuengi, whose snack pocket was generously filled with honey, was excited to be with Sejun.
“Shall we begin?”
With the excited Cuengi, Sejun arrived at the banana farm and touched the banana tree,
[Farmer's Warm Touch Lv. 3 is activated.]
[The disease of the banana tree is gradually healed.]
The banana tree's disease began to heal, and after about a minute,
[The banana tree's disease has been cured.]
[Farmer's Warm Touch Lv. 3 proficiency has slightly increased.]
[The banana tree grows a little while touched.]
With the disease healed, the skill proficiency increased, and the banana tree was able to grow.
To save time, Sejun tried touching two trees at once, but the skill only activated on the tree he touched first.
"If I could heal two trees at once, it would be faster..."
While Sejun was healing the banana trees, feeling regretful,
Pip-pip.
The golden bat sang, boosting the energy of the banana trees that Sejun hadn't healed yet.
And then there were Theo and Cuengi, who had nothing to do. But they were busy in their own way.
As Sejun moved from one tree to another after healing,
"We're moving, meow!"
Theo, clinging to Sejun's leg, shouted.
Then
Kreong!
Cuengi followed Sejun, trotting along.
When Sejun stopped to heal another banana tree,
Thump.
Cuengi attached its buttocks to Sejun's foot and sat down.
That's how Sejun healed 200 banana trees in the morning. While eating lunch with the animals, who had spent their energy in various ways,
"Sejun!"
Squeak!
Silver Wolf and Black Rabbit came looking for Sejun. Thanks to Cuengi clearing the path, they arrived almost as if they were traveling leisurely.
“What are you guys doing here?”
He spoke as if they had come without reason, but Sejun was really happy inside. So many beings moved just because he was gone. He hadn't built such connections even on Earth.
‘Hehehe. It turns out I am this popular in the Black Tower.’
Sejun's mood improved, and he smiled.
“The Black Wolf tribe is here too.”
"The Black Wolf tribe too?"
"Yes! They've probably joined up with the Black Minotaurs by now."
"Bring the others here too."
Sejun planned to stay here for a few days to heal the banana trees, but soon he would move to the 99th floor of the tower.
If things went as planned, he could register the 77th-floor waypoint and then safely move to the 99th-floor waypoint, so he could send the Black Minotaurs back.
But he didn't know what variables might occur in the meantime. So, he was bringing the Black Minotaurs and Black Wolf tribe just in case. Safety first.
"Yes!”
At Sejun's command, a few wolves hurried off to fetch the Black Minotaurs and the Black Wolf tribe.
"Let's start the afternoon work!"
(Pip-pip! Yes!)
The afternoon was the same as the morning. The only difference was that a black rabbit had joined in, hanging on Sejun's other leg, and started playing together.
As the afternoon passed and evening drew near,
[Farmer's Warm Touch Lv. 3's proficiency is filled, and the level increases.]
The Farmer's Warm Touch skill level increased to 4.
And
-You can place your hands on different trees with both hands, and the skill will activate separately.
The new effect that came with level 4 was what Sejun wanted.
"Great!"
Thanks to this, Sejun was able to heal 300 banana trees at a much faster pace before returning to the monkey village for dinner.
"Let's go back now."
Around the time Sejun was about to return to the monkey village with the animals,
Moo!
A distant cry of Minotaurs was heard.
A moment later,
Moo!
"I am here to see you, Sejun."
The black Minotaurs and black wolf tribe members who had come with them on the shoulders of the black Minotaurs appeared. It seemed the Minotaurs had run at full speed, carrying the weak wolves.
"Um... Let's camp here tonight."
It occurred to Sejun that the monkey village was too small to accommodate 500 black Minotaurs, 300 black wolf tribes, and 300 silver wolf tribes.
"Theo, black rabbit, Cuengi, take out the grass for the black Minotaurs to eat."
Creak.
As Sejun spoke, opening the void storage,
"Got it, meow!"
Squeak!
Kreong!
Theo, Black Rabbit, and Cuengi went into the warehouse and took out grass for the black Minotaurs to eat.
And
"Golden Bat, call the monkeys to come for dinner."
He instructed the golden bat to call the monkeys.
(Yes!)
Flap. Flap.
The golden bat responded and flew quickly to the monkey village.
"Let's start a fire first."
Snap.
Whoosh.
Having given his orders to the animals, Sejun snapped his fingers to light the firewood, preparing the meal. He started by making soup.
He had prepared the soup ingredients during his free time and had them frozen, so he only had to put them in a pot and boil them.
So he put the soup on the fire and prepared roasted sweet potatoes and potato pancakes.
And as the meal was almost ready,
Ook!
The monkeys arrived. Thankfully, they brought mangoes and watermelons with them.
"Let's eat."
At Sejun's words, the animals began to eat eagerly.
Then
Boom.
The ground shook as a mild earthquake occurred.
And
Moo?!
"Meow?!"
Squeak?!
Kreong?!
Ook?!
Feeling an incredible surge of magical energy, everyone's eyes turned towards the source of the vibration. Sejun couldn't feel the magical energy surge, but followed the animals' gaze.
"What's that?"
The direction where everyone's attention was focused. A blue light was rising from the ground was reaching the sky.
At that moment,
Rattle.
Rattle.
The eastern land near the Mana Stone mine began to tremble.
*****
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