Chapter 206: It's Really a Shrimp
TL: Hanguk
As the Hydra, the snake with nine heads and holding the 10th seat among the 12 Apostles of Destruction, made its appearance,
"Mini Black Hole!"
Iona immediately cast the magic spell she had prepared in sync with the appearance of the Hydra.
Kaaaboomm!!!!
A roaring sound filled the air as a black hole opened in front of the heads of the Hydra, the mini black hole beginning to suck in everything around it.
And then,
-Aaaargh!
The golden head in the center of the Hydra's three heads was swallowed by the mini black hole.
However,
-Seventh head, pull out the Ninth head!
-Got it.
The green head, following the instruction of the black head, which was the first on the far left, joined it in pulling the golden head from the black hole.
Although it was just a fragment with only a fraction of the power possessed by the Apostle of Destruction, the three-headed Hydra was not weak.
And,
"Kyoo-kyoo-kyoo-kyoo, you managed to withstand my magic?!"
Iona was not weak either. She was infuriated that the Hydra had escaped her spell, and her anger reached the fourth stage of 'Kyoo'.
"Power of dimensions, follow my command and shred the enemy to pieces! Triple Mini Black Hole."
Kaaaboomm!!!!
This time, three mini black holes appeared in front of each of the Hydra's heads with Iona's magic spell.
The Hydra's heads struggled to avoid being sucked in, but
-Aaaargh!!
-Help!
-No!
Ultimately, they couldn't resist the pull of the mini black holes and were gradually sucked into the black abyss.
Kaaaaaaabooooomm!!!!
The heads continued to be sucked in. However, they all shared one body.
Rip.
The body was torn into three parts following its heads and began to be sucked into the hole.
A moment later,
Clink.
Twelve bronze coins dropped to the floor as the body, now divided into thirds, was completely sucked into the mini black hole.
"Kyoot kyoot kyoot. That’s why you should have just gone when I sent you off peacefully!"
Iona said as she picked up the bronze coins.
"Kyooaaam. I need to sleep now."
Yawning, Iona headed down to the 44th floor where Sejun and Theo were.
***
"Absorb!"
[Talent: Friend of Fire absorbs faint fire energy.]
Sejun placed his hand on the shell of a balanidae and absorbed its fire energy. Initially, he was surprised when the balanidae disappeared, but it didn't matter since the back of the lake turtle was overflowing with balanidae.
Moreover, there were many balanidae on the belly of the Lake Turtle. So Sejun took care of the ones on the back, while the other animals harvested those on the turtle's stomach.
As Sejun was in the midst of balanidae removal,
[Talent: Friend of Fire absorbs faint fire energy.]
[The absorbed fire energy consolidates, partially improving your constitution.]
[Talent: Mediocre evolves into Talent: Beyond Mediocre.]
[All stat potentials increase by 5.]
"Huh?!"
Sejun was surprised. The basic talent he first obtained upon awakening had evolved.
"I've heard that the basic talent you get first almost never changes..."
He wondered if his talent, Talent: Friend of Fire, was much more remarkable than he had initially thought.
"Hehehe."
Sejun chuckled and examined his evolved talent.
[Talent: Beyond Mediocre]
-A slightly superior talent than the Mediocre.
-You receive 1 bonus stat every time you level up.
-All stat potentials increase by 5.
Sejun was pleased with the growth of his base talent.
However,
"Hmm?"
Sejun realized something odd. As his basic talent grew, so did his potential. This meant that the potential of hunters differed based on their basic talent.
And these base talents, when descriptors like 'Beyond' are removed, were categorized mainly into three levels: Mediocre, Skilled, and Genius.
"What? Does that mean the other hunters' maximum potential isn't 99?!"
Sejun felt unfairly treated. He had spent hours diligently making footsteps for the crops and had to eat bitter things to increase his potential, while some people didn't have to go through such trouble from the moment they awakened!
"This world really is unfair."
Sejun suddenly realized the irrationality of the world and proceeded to absorb the energy from the balanidae, removing them.
Had other skilled or genius hunters heard Sejun's words, they might have felt even more aggrieved. Those other hunters hardly had any methods to increase their potential.
Just walking and eating increased his potential? Such a luxury.
"Absorb."
Sejun, unaware of this, was diligently removing balanidae.
Then
(Sejun! I brought ramen!)
The golden bat, which had briefly gone to Earth, returned. Sensing a little while ago that it was about to go to Earth, the golden bat immediately asked Sejun what to bring, and of course, Sejun ordered ramen.
Two bundles of ramen hung from the golden bat's feet – a total of ten packets. It was thanks to the elixir-grade cherry tomato Sejun had fed it. He'd have to feed it more diligently from now on!
"Good job!"
Sejun, looking proudly at the golden bat, lifted it onto his hand and stroked it,
Pip-pip...
The golden bat melted under Sejun's touch, basking in the pleasure.
A moment later
Baerorong...
Carefully placing the golden bat, which had dozed off under his touch, on his back,
Rustle. Rustle.
With its eyes closed, the golden bat clutched its feet to secure itself on Sejun's clothes and began to sleep soundly.
"Sleep well."
Just when Sejun had put the golden bat to sleep,
Gurgle...
A loud noise echoed from the water. It was the stomach alarm of a hungry Cuengi. It was dinner time.
"Ice cube."
Sejun quickly moved to the lakeside.
Then
Snap.
He flicked his fingers to ignite a flame, and a huge flame emerged. Even without firewood, the fire sustained through Sejun's magic.
Sejun fixed the fire in one spot, filled a pot with water, and started boiling it. Tonight's dinner menu was balanidae ramen.
However, ten packets of ramen weren't enough for everyone here. So, he added balanidae, potatoes, green onions, Cheongyang green peppers, and other vegetables to increase the quantity and seasoned it to ensure it wasn't bland.
As the dish neared completion, Sejun scooped up some of the soup to taste it. He had finely chopped some of the balanidae to ensure their flavor infused the broth, which gave the broth a greenish color, but in turn, the broth became flavorful.
"Yep, that's it."
After tasting the broth, Sejun added the ramen noodles to the pot and called out,
"Everyone, time for dinner!"
He called the animals over.
Soon, as the ramen was almost ready, animals began to emerge from the lake.
Tap, tap, tap.
Splash.
Theo was the first to emerge from the lake, clinging to Sejun's knee.
Sniff. Sniff.
Krueng!
[It smells like ramen!]
As soon as Cuengi came out of the lake, it took its place in front of the ramen pot, sniffing.
"Here you go."
Sejun dished out ramen into bowls for the animals and also filled his bowl with balanidae ramen before sitting down.
And then,
Scoop.
With his left hand, he scooped up some tuna porridge and fed it to Theo, who was lying in his lap, and with his right hand, he began eating his ramen.
Slurp.
Chew, chew, chew.
As the meal was coming to an end,
"Chairman Park, something is approaching, meow!"
Theo, swaying his tail back and forth, spoke.
"What is it?!"
As Sejun became alert from Theo's words,
Sniff. Sniff.
[Dad, it smells like sister Iona!]
Cuengi sniffed around and then spoke.
"Ah. It's Iona? Cuengi, which way?"
When Sejun asked,
Krueng!
[That way!]
Cuengi pointed with its front paw in the direction of Iona's scent.
"Alright? Should we go greet her?"
Sejun decided to go for a walk to help with digestion.
However,
"Got it, meow!"
Krueng!
[Understood!]
The two clung to Sejun's legs as they answered. In reality, Sejun was the only one actually walking.
After walking for about 30 minutes to meet Iona,
"Kyoot-Kyoot-kyoot. Long time no see, Sejun!"
Iona shouted as she quickly flew towards him.
And then,
Swoosh.
Iona, who tightly wrapped around Theo's tail, closed her eyes.
Zzz.
Iona fell asleep quickly.
"Should we also sleep?"
Seeing Iona sleeping soundly with a joyful expression made him feel sleepy too.
And so, day 333 of being stranded passed.
***
The next morning.
"Ice Cube."
Sejun, who had woken up earlier than usual, was freezing the ice island with Theo and Cuengi hanging on his legs.
Just then,
"Kyoot-kyoot-kyoot. Sejun, let me help you!"
Iona, who had woken up feeling refreshed, stretched and began to chant a spell.
"Power of ice. Freeze the enemy with severe cold, snow, and wind upon my command! Blizzard."
As Iona used her magic spell, the ice island was engulfed in a blizzard and changed to a much larger size than before.
Then,
[The temperature of the lake has decreased.]
[You have completed the quest.]
[As a reward for completing the quest, you are recognized as the rightful owner of the lake's land deed.]
[Land Deed Skill: Lake Information Lv. Max is activated.]
[As a reward for completing the quest, 300-backed penguins have agreed to help with the lake work.]
The land deed quest was completed.
"Let's see."
Sejun checked the land deed.
[Lake Land Deed of the 44th floor of the tower]
→ A deed proving your ownership of the lake on the 44th floor of the tower.
→ Owner: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
→ Grade: C+
→ Skill: [Lake Information Lv. Max]
[Lake Information Lv. Max]
→ Size: 165,300 square meters
→ Workers: 301 (Land Owner, 300 blue-backed penguins)
→ Special Note: There are a lot of freshwater shrimp.
"Freshwater shrimp? Here?"
Sejun looked into the lake closely after reading the description on the land deed. However, all he could see was clear water and other fish with his eyes.
"Chairman Park, cheer up, meow!"
Thump. Thump.
Theo, who had just woken up, kneaded Sejun's face, who was looking at the lake. Just looking at the lake won't smooth out your rotten face, meow!
"What's there to cheer up for?! But Theo, have you ever seen shrimp in the lake? They look like this."
Sejun bent his fingers to make a shape similar to a shrimp.
However,
"Hmm, meow... I don't know, meow!"
Theo showed a clueless expression.
Then,
Puang!
[Good morning~!]
The lake turtle, who had woken up from sleep, came up from the bottom of the lake to greet Sejun.
"Is Chairman Park talking about those things, meow?"
Theo pointed at the lake turtle and asked.
"Huh? What?"
"Don't you see those creatures jumping off the back of the lake turtle, meow?"
"Jumping off?"
Convinced by Theo's words that they might be shrimps, Sejun squinted and stared intently at the lake turtle's back, but
"Hmm. I don't see anything?"
Sejun couldn't see anything.
"Of course not, meow! They've all gone back into the lake now, meow!"
"What? Turtle, can you go down and come up again?"
Puang!
[Understood~!]
At Sejun's request, the lake turtle dived to the bottom of the lake and then surfaced again.
"Do you see them now, Theo?"
"Yes, meow!"
"Got it. Let me know when they disappear."
Despite Sejun's focused observation, he still couldn't see anything.
"Turtle, go down once more. Ice Cube."
To get closer to the turtle's back, Sejun created ice to step on. But he still couldn't see the freshwater shrimp.
"Why can't I see them?!"
"Puhuhut. Chairman Park, I'll catch them for you, meow!"
Shashashak.
As Sejun got frustrated, Theo boldly climbed onto the back of the lake turtle and lightly waved his front paws, as if catching something.
And then,
"Puhuhut. Chairman Park, did you see my prowess, meow?"
Theo returned with a smug look on his face and spread out his front paws,
"Huh?!"
There was nothing on Theo's paws. But slowly, small freshwater shrimps began to appear in Sejun's vision. They were revealing themselves as their camouflage skill wore off upon death.
"It's really a shrimp."
Sejun's face lit up with emotion as he saw the shrimp. Finally, he could make salted shrimp (TL: aka fermented shrimp or Saeu-jeot).
*****
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