Chapter 81: Encounter
TL: Hanguk
254th day of being stranded, dawn.
-Park Sejun, wake up.
A calm voice woke Sejun up.
"Hmm… Anton?"
-Park Sejun, the corrupted Ent's branch scouts have appeared outside.
"What? Branch scouts?"
Sejun was puzzled, thinking that the corrupted Ent had died from the breath of the black dragon statue.
-I killed just one of them.
"Oh."
As Sejun understood the situation, he quickly grabbed his equipment and stood up.
Squeak?
The black rabbit, who was sleeping in the wooden box house in the corner of Sejun's bedroom, also woke up, grabbed his hammer, and followed Sejun.
As Sejun left the brick house and moved west,
"There aren't many, are there?"
500 small branch scouts of the corrupted Ent were visible. The number was definitely less compared to before.
"Let's go!"
Squeak!
Just as the black rabbit was about to follow Sejun to fight,
-Black rabbit, you stay still. Today, only Park Sejun will fight.
Anton stopped the black rabbit.
Squeak?
-Park Sejun is too weak. He needs to get stronger.
Squeak!
At Anton's words, the black rabbit nodded its head vigorously in agreement.
-Right. You understand too. So just watch.
Squeak!
At Anton's words, the black rabbit sat down on the ground and watched Sejun.
Just then,
Kreung!
Upon hearing the noisy sound, Cuengi, who had woken up and seen Sejun fighting alone, ran over. Dad's in danger!
And,
-Stop.
Squeak!
Kreung?
Cuengi, who had heard the situation from the black dragon statue and the black rabbit gesturing towards him, also sat next to the black rabbit and watched Sejun.
So Sejun was left alone to face the branch scouts.
Thud!
The hand axe Sejun threw stuck in the middle of a branch scout's body.
[You have defeated a small branch scout of the Corrupted Ent.]
[You have earned 25 experience points.]
Puk.
At the same time, Sejun stabbed an approaching enemy with the dagger in his left hand.
[You have defeated a small branch scout of the Corrupted Ent.]
[You have earned 25 experience points.]
However,
Thud.
From Sejun's right, another enemy approached and swung its wooden arm, attacking Sejun. There wasn't enough time to pull out the dagger and counterattack.
Whoosh.
"Retrieve."
While dodging the branch scout's attack, Sejun retrieved his hand axe.
And then,
Thud!
With the hand axe in his right hand, he chopped at the waist of the branch scout that had just attacked.
[You have defeated a small branch scout of the Corrupted Ent.]
[You have earned 25 experience points.]
Sejun, facing the small branch scouts and wielding his weapons freely.
'I'm pretty strong, aren't I?'
Just as Sejun was happily immersing himself in his own strength and enjoying killing the enemies,
Zzzzz
Zzzzz
The black rabbit and Cuengi, who had been watching Sejun's relaxed battle, fell asleep out of boredom.
And,
-Hmm...he has a long way to go.
Anton's worry grew as he watched Sejun's battle. Sejun was so hopeless that he didn't even know where to start helping him.
That dawn, Sejun won against 500 small branch scouts.
***
In Landlord Grid's office on the 55th floor of the tower.
"What? The Silver Wolf Tribe broke the contract?!"
"Yes. What should we do?"
"Leave it. They probably rejected the contract relying on the Red Locust meat on the 67th floor, but they'll regret it soon."
Red Locusts can be a sufficient food source for a few months while they're alive, but once the food supply runs out, they'll end up eating each other and naturally cease to exist.
And then the famine that Grid was waiting for would start. However, that wouldn't be enough for Grid to get what he wanted. So, Grid planned to cause another famine.
"How is Tariq doing with buying up monster corpses?"
"Tariq has finished buying 50,000 monster corpses for the first round and is currently leading the wandering merchants on the upper floors to the 67th floor."
"Good."
Grid once saw it briefly on the 55th floor. When Red Locusts evolved to the next stage, they turned purple.
And the body of a Purple Locust is so toxic that not only can no one eat it, it also contaminates the soil.
"Now all we have to do is wait. Hehehe."
Grid laughed heartily, exposing the roots of his ugly teeth.
***
"Alright."
Sejun, who had been fighting until dawn, woke up from a deep sleep.
Swoosh.
He marked the date on the wall with a single stroke and stepped outside.
Roar.
Emmu.
Outside, the mother Crimson Giant Bear and Black Minotaurs were busy building a brick wall and working on the canal.
"Flamie, hello."
Sejun went down to the cave and greeted Flamie.
[Master! Good morning!]
Flamie greeted Sejun by waving its leaves.
"Flamie, I need the Flame of Affinity."
Sejun planned to check the situation in the western forest as the branch scouts became active again.
[Yes. Iyaap!]
A yellow flame appeared from Flamie's green leaves and seeped into Sejun's body.
[The Flame of Affinity seeps in for 3 hours.]
[The Flame of Affinity helps the user control the fire and enhances the power of the fire.]
"Guys, let's go!"
Squeak!
Kuoeng!
At Sejun's call, the Black Rabbit and Cuengi, who had been hunting in the pond, followed Sejun.
"Cuengi, transform!"
Kuoeng!
At Sejun's words, Cuengi grew larger. He planned to ride Cuengi instead of the mother Crimson Giant Bear who was helping with the canal construction.
Kuoeng!
Cuengi laid down and carried Sejun and the Black Rabbit. Cuengi's size had already grown well over 10 meters.
Da-da-da-da.
They rode Cuengi and arrived at the edge of the western forest in just 40 minutes.
And then,
"When did they grow this much?"
Sejun was surprised to see the decayed branches that had once again filled the entrance to the western forest.
Sejun didn't know, but so far, the Corrupted Ents hadn't been able to send branch scouts to Sejun's cave because they were replenishing the decayed branch watchman that Sejun had burnt.
Clang!
Sejun struck his dagger and hand axe together to create a spark, and then threw the flame he made onto the decayed branches. They had grown a lot, but burning them again would be the end of it. Rather, he was grateful for the easy opportunity to gain experience points.
Woosh.
Sejun's fire began to burn the decayed branches.
[You have defeated the Decayed Branch Watchman of the Corrupted Ent.]
[You have gained 10 experience points.]
...
..
.
Squeak!
whoosh!
Kroeng!
whoosh!
Instead of the Mother Crimson Giant Bear, the black rabbit and Cuengi helped him by creating wind. They had consistently consumed honey jelly and enhanced their magic-related talents. They produced a strong wind.
Woosh.
With their help, the fire grew quickly and thanks to them, Sejun's experience points piled up rapidly.
While Sejun was gaining experience, yellow flowers emerged from the western forest.
[Corrupted Ent's Sticky Flower Attacker]
Thut! Thut!
The sticky flower attack troops started to extinguish the fire by spitting sticky substance.
"We can't just let them do that."
Thud!
Sejun hit the head of a sticky flower attacker with his hand axe.
[You have killed the Corrupted Ent's Sticky Flower Attacker.]
[You have gained 1200 experience points.]
The appearance of the monster that provides a decent amount of experience points was exciting.
"Guys, attack!"
Woosh.
Sejun, who felt bad for only able them support, moved the fire left and right, creating a path for the black rabbit and Cuengi to reach the sticky flower attacker.
Squeak!
Krwoeng!
The black rabbit and Cuengi ran along the path Sejun had created.
And then,
Pang! Pang! Pang!
Puk!
They began to defeat the sticky flower attacker.
As the battle continued,
[You have leveled up.]
[You have acquired 1 bonus stat.]
[The flame of affinity is fading.]
Sejun leveled up and at the same time, the buff from Flame of Affinity ended.
"Let's get out of here!"
Sejun and the animals hurriedly fled.
At the place Sejun left,
Woooaah!
The roar of the corrupted Ent, angry at the disappearance of its watchman, echoed through the western forest.
***
67th floor of the tower.
"Lord Tariq, thank you for coming!"
Lizardman Great Warrior Tamuro greeted Tariq warmly.
Tariq was the owner of the large trader group, Chow Group. Tamuro was thrilled that he had come in person.
"Lord Tamuro, this is a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it."
Tariq handed Tamuro a black card engraved with '10000'. It was a cheque that could be cashed for 10,000 tower coins at the Chow Group at any time.
"No, this is too much..."
Despite his awkward words, Tamuro slipped the card Tariq had handed him into his armor.
"Lord Tamuro, I'd like us to go out and collect the Locust corpses. Would that be possible?"
"Of course. The Boar Tribe can fight as well, can't they? That would make things easier for us."
"Thank you. Let's go."
Tariq went out with the wandering merchant who had followed him, and returned after 10 hours.
Although the amount of Red Locust corpses outside did not significantly differ compared to the time they left, Tamuro didn't pay much attention to it.
***
Tower 75th Floor Shopping District.
"Hurry up, meow!"
Theo ran to the blacksmith's shop to do the lottery draw. No matter how much of a hurry he was in, he had to do what Sejun had asked.
He had his companions wait at the entrance of the shopping district so that he could finish his task quickly and leave.
Having arrived at the blacksmith's shop, Theo looked around the lottery corner before purchasing a lottery ticket to see if there was anything he wanted to draw.
However,
"I'm not drawn to anything, meow."
There were no items that attracted him. Theo left the blacksmith's shop empty-handed.
And on the way back to the entrance of the shopping district where his companions were waiting,
"ChuChu!"
A familiar voice reached Theo's ears.
'Is this?!'
When Theo hurriedly stopped and looked in the direction of the noise, he saw Iona, who was frantically looking around, calling someone's name.
'Phew. It's not too late, meow.'
Seeing his competitor in front of him, Theo breathed a sigh of relief. Sejun's lap was safe.
"Puhuhut. I should hurry and go up first, meow!"
Theo tried to leave quickly with a laugh, but,
"ChuChu! Where are you?!"
"Meow..."
He couldn't take a step. He was torn. He had to sit on Sejun's warm lap and eat Churu quickly, but he couldn't just leave Iona, who was desperately looking for someone.
"Iona! What's the matter, meow?!"
Theo finally decided to help Iona.
"Representative Theo, please help! My disciple ChuChu has disappeared!"
When Theo appeared, Iona explained her situation to him.
"ChuChu? What does she look like, meow?!"
"A white rabbit wearing a red ribbon and big glasses."
"Got it, meow! I'll have my subordinates help, meow! It'll be faster if we all look together, meow!"
Theo rushed back to the entrance of the shopping district.
"You guys, help Iona find a white rabbit named ChuChu with a red ribbon and big glasses, meow!"
"Yes!"
The wolves and interns spread out and started looking for ChuChu.
At that moment,
"Hello, Mr. Theo."
Jeras, a secret Inspection bureau agent who was patrolling the area, saw Theo and greeted him cheerfully. Seeing Theo's rapidly increasing sales, Jeras was proud of his ability to recognize the genius merchant.
"Oh! Jeras! Help me, meow! We're looking for a white rabbit named ChuChu, meow!"
Theo, who wanted to find ChuChu quickly and go to the 99th floor of the tower, abruptly asked Jeras for help. He felt that he had to take any help available in this situation.
"ChuChu?"
"That's right, meow! Let's find her quickly, meow!"
Theo dragged Jeras along, and Jeras, taken by surprise, ended up abandoned his mission of secret patrol duty and began helping find ChuChu.
However, they couldn't find ChuChu even after several hours had passed.
'I want to sit on Park Sejun's lap soon, meow.'
Just as Theo was longing for Sejun's lap,
Zing.
Theo's front paw activated. A strong attraction.
Click.
Theo put his paw on a bag carried by an unknown wandering merchant.
"What the?!"
The wandering merchant glared at the one who dared to touch his bag.
And then,
"Huh?!"
"You?!"
Theo and Skaram locked eyes.
*****
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