Chapter 224: From Now On, Call Me Sister-in-law

TL: Hanguk

[You have consumed a Seedless Grape for Beginners.]

[All stats have increased by 1.]

[You have consumed a Seedless Grape for Beginners.]

[All stats have increased by 1.]

...

..

.

“Ptui! Ptui! Ugh… so bitter.”

After finishing the remaining bitter grapes, Sejun grimaced. He couldn’t afford not to eat them due to the stat increase, but as a result of enduring the bitter taste, all his stats had increased by 23.

“Why did you make such tasteless grapes?! Huh?!”

Swoosh. Swoosh.

[Farmer’s Warm Touch Lv. 4 is activated.]

[The growth of the seedless grapevine for beginners is slightly accelerated by your touch.]

Sejun scolded the grapevine while stroking it. Though the vine wasn’t at fault, he was upset for not getting the taste he expected.

After a while of scolding the vine,

Nom.

[You have consumed a piece of Aileen's Healthy Meatball.]

[You must eat all of it to gain the full effect.]

[60 pieces remaining.]

Sejun lost his appetite due to the bitter grapes and resorted to eating the meatball Aileen gave him.

Then,

“Time to cook breakfast.”

Sejun went to the kitchen area to prepare breakfast.

***

Black Tower's administrative area.

[Black Tower's Growth Conditions]

-Tower Farmer (A): Achieved

-Create 10 or More New Species: Unachieved

-Cultivate Over 330 Million Square meter of Land: Unachieved

-Grow a World Tree: ?

-Acquire More than 10,000 World's Energy Pieces: Unachieved

-Own More Than 5 Relics: Unachieved

-Achieve 3 Great Accomplishments: Unachieved

-Increase the Number of Entrances of the Black Tower to 120: Unachieved

“Keeheehee. Thanks to Sejun, one of the tower's growth conditions has been achieved.”

Aileen happily said, checking the conditions for the tower's growth after a long time. She didn’t know what benefits the tower's growth would bring, but it felt good.

“Huh?! But why has ‘Grow a World Tree’ changed to a question mark?”

Aileen was puzzled, remembering it was unachieved when she last checked after Sejun asked her to confirm if Flamie was the World Tree.

[The repair of the Bronze Mirror of Longing is completed.]

An alert appeared on the crystal orb.

“Keeheehee. The relic repair is complete!”

Eager to present the repaired relic to Sejun, Aileen rushed to the relic repair equipment. The ability to confidently repair relics for Sejun was thanks to this equipment, a benefit of the Black Tower's rising status.

Holding the repaired Bronze Mirror in her hands, Aileen pondered,

“Wait! I should greet Sejun’s mother too, right?”

Aileen, envious of Cuengi's interaction with Sejun’s mom, decided to say hello to his mom.

“Okay, just a quick greeting!”

Aileen, quickly checked her appearance before contacting Sejun's mother.

"Polymorph spell done, dressed, face clean, all set!"

After confirming her appearance, Aileen thought of Sejun's mother, Kim Mi-ran, and infused magic into the bronze mirror.

Soon after,

“Hello, mother!”

When Kim Mi-ran appeared in the mirror, Aileen greeted her courteously.

“Oh my! Who are you?”

Kim Mi-ran was surprised to see a beautiful woman with black hair appear in the mirror. She was so pretty that she didn't seem to be from this world.

“Yes! I am Sejun's girlfriend, Aileen Pritani!”

“Eh?! Really?! Sejun’s girlfriend...? Ah! I heard Sejun's girlfriend was beautiful, and indeed, my Sejun's girlfriend is quite the beauty! Hohoho.”

Kim Mi-ran, initially startled, recalled Flamie’s words and was delighted. Her son had such a beautiful girlfriend; she was proud of him!

“Mother, have you heard about me before?”

“Yes, Flamie told me.”

“Ahh, so Flamie already told you about me.“

Aileen seemed to have a slight understanding of why Flamie's status had changed to a question mark. Since Flamie had gone outside the tower, making it impossible for the tower to determine its status. Was Flamie pretending all this time?

Just as Aileen decided to have a 'talk' with Flamie later,

“Are you really my brother’s girlfriend?”

Se-dol, who was nearby Kim Mi-ran, asked incredulously, unable to believe it. It was hard for him to believe his brother had a girlfriend.

“Hmph! Are you saying I'm lying?!"

Offended by Se-dol’s disbelief, Aileen glared at him. She tried to restrain herself, considering he was Sejun's family.

But Se-dol felt intimidated, as if a giant black dragon was baring its teeth and growling at him under Aileen's gaze.

"Ah... No, I'm sorry, Aileen! I didn’t mean to offend you!”

Se-dol quickly apologized.

However,

“You got my title wrong!”

Aileen scolded him for his incorrect form of address.

“What?”

“From now on, call me sister-in-law.”

“Yes! Sister-in-law!”

Se-dol corrected himself immediately.

“Good. Let's get along well.”

“YES! Sister-in-law!”

Se-dol responded with a military soldier-like voice. His brother's girlfriend was too scary!

Just then,

Crack.

Fortunately for Se-dol, the Bronze Mirror started to crack.

“Mother, I’ll contact you again later.”

“That’s fine, Aileen. Take care.”

"Goodbye, mother."

Clang.

Luckily, the mirror broke just after the greetings were finished.

"Time to repair it again."

The mirror, having been repaired only five minutes earlier, went back into the repair equipment.

And,

“Flamie, let’s have a talk.”

Aileen called Flamie for a quiet conversation.

***

Dadada.

Krueng!

[Dad, Cuengi brought something good!]

In the afternoon, Cuengi returned from the western forest with kudzu roots.

Krueng!

[Here, for you, Dad!]

“Thanks.”

Sejun took the ten blue kudzu roots from Cuengi and patted his head.

Munch. Munch.

“Here, Cuengi, eat this."

As Sejun ate the kudzu roots, he gave honey jelly to Cuengi.

Krueng?

(La-la-la~ I wish it tasted sweet~)

Cuengi heard the Golden Bat singing. Sejun, hoping for a change, had asked the Golden Bat to sing to the grapevine while fertilizing it. It seemed there was no response yet.

But,

Dum-dum.

Cuengi started dancing near the grapevine, energized by the Golden Bat's song.

Then,

“Puhuhut! Now it’s Vice Chairman Theo’s turn, meow!”

Theo, wanting to show off to his siblings, stepped forward and started dancing.

"meow. meow. Meow. meow. meow. Meow."

Theo danced left three times, right three times, moving its front paws. Surprisingly, Theo danced quite well and cutely.

"They're all having fun."

Sejun sat under the shady grapevine, watching the animals sing and dance with a content expression, when,

[It's... unfair.]

A voice echoed in Sejun’s mind.

“Huh?! What was that?”

Sejun looked around for the source of the voice.

[It's... me... the grapevine...]

Again, the voice in his mind clarified.

“The grapevine? Were you the one talking just now?!”

Sejun touched the grapevine, focusing his consciousness, and asked,

[Yes... it's me. I feel... so wronged.]

This time, the grapevine's voice was heard more clearly.

“Wronged?”

Yes... earlier... you scolded me... for not making tasty grapes...]

The grapevine felt wronged by Sejun's earlier scolding.

“Sorry... I was too harsh.”

Sejun apologized to the grapevine.

[No, it's true... but... please, can you... help me make... delicious grapes again.]

The grapevine asked Sejun for help.

“Of course! I'll help you!”

Sejun quickly agreed to help the grapevine. Their goals were perfectly aligned: both wanted to produce delicious grapes.

“But how can I help you?”

[Well... originally, I used to produce delicious grapes...]

In response to Sejun's question, the grapevine spoke of its story. Sejun was able to learn more about the situation through his conversation with the grapevine.

“So, you're saying your original cultivator modified you to enhance your effects, but it ended up making the grapes bitter?!”

[Yes.]

Sacrificing taste for effect! What kind of farming is that? Sejun was outraged upon hearing the grapevine's story. Moreover, the modification had rendered the vine unable to produce seeds.

“I understand how you feel. Reproduction is an instinct of all species. Don’t worry. I'll help you.”

Sejun, who might as well be practically invisible despite being there, understood the grapevine's feelings all too well. (TL: practically invisible in terms of strength compared to other beings on the 99th floor)

[Thank you... I'm so grateful...]

Touched by Sejun's understanding and empathy, the grapevine sobbed, expressing its long-held sorrow.

Then,

[You have genuinely empathized with the Seedless Grapevine for Beginners and decided to help.]

[A Job Quest has been triggered.]

[Job Quest: Modify the Seedless Grapevine for Beginners so that it can produce delicious grapes again!]

Reward: Exclusive cultivation rights to the newly modified grapes, Relic: Violet Ring

A quest appeared.

“Oh! This is great!”

Completing the quest would grant delicious grapes, exclusive cultivation rights, and a Relic item. Sejun was filled with enthusiasm.

“So, what do I need to do now?”

Sejun asked the grapevine.

[First... please break all my branches.]

“All your branches?!”

[Yes. That's necessary...]

The grapevine explained further so that Sejun could understand. It explained that by grafting its branches onto other crops, and when they produced delicious grapes, those branches could then be grafted back onto the grapevine.

“Understood. Cuengi, can you help me break the branches of the grapevine?”

Sejun asked Cuengi for help.

Krueng!

[Understood!]

Enlarged, Cuengi carefully broke the grapevine's branches and handed them to Sejun.

And,

[You are a Field Lv. 2 is activated.]

[You have grafted a Seedless Grapevine for Beginners in a Magical Cherry Tomato].

[Your job experience increases slightly.]

[Your proficiency in You are a Field Lv. 2 increases slightly.]

Sejun grafted the grapevine branches onto various other crops.

He grafted around 300 branches onto crops like cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, carrots, pineapples, etc.

***

In the office of the chairman of the Korea Awakened Association.

“There seem to be no movements from the enemy. It looks like they're all dead.”

Five days after the nuclear missile hit Niue Island, a U.S. agent reported to Han Tae-jun, showing him satellite images of the island.

“But what was that silhouette?”

Han Tae-jun inquired about the giant silhouette seen in the mushroom cloud.

“We've had various opinions about it, but we think it might be a phenomenon caused by the locusts burning up all at once. If you look at the images of the island, it’s clear that there are no living creatures left.”

“Alright, I understand.”

After the U.S. agent left, not long after, fish drained of their fluids like mummies started surfacing in the Pacific Ocean.

These fish corpses formed a long trail leading towards Hawaii.

*****

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