Part 2 Chapter 135: I Did All the Work, and Yet... / 859
TL: Hanguk
[Podori, hurry up! You need to level up fast!]
Flamie urged Podori on, pushing herself harder.
Otherwise, I'm going to end up becoming the Tree of Creation!
No matter how urgent things were, there was no way to lower the level of the world that Sejun had raised, so all she could do in this situation was push Podori harder.
And so, Podori, spurred on by Flamie's nagging.
[Flamie-nim, I did it!]
He succeeded in raising a Level 1 world to Level 2 in just three hours.
[Podori, great job! Eat this and let's go again!]
[What? I really worked hard today, so you should at least let me rest for a day...]
[Podori, do you want to burn?]
Fwoooosh.
When Flamie created a massive flame with her roots,
[N...No, ma'am!]
Podori flinched in shock and frantically scarfed down the nutrients Flamie gave him.
Sejun-nim, why did you do that...
Why did you raise the world's level...
While Podori was suffering thanks to Sejun's exploits,
"Hehehe. I'm so full."
"Puhuhut. I'm so full, meow!"
Sejun and Theo lay side by side on the ground, stroking their round, protruding bellies with beaming smiles and drowsy voices.
My Sejun looks handsome even with a belly.
'Hehehe. This one's a keeper.'
I'll title it 'Sejun with a Belly' and save it as number 1,237.
Aileen, who could store every memory more vividly than any photograph, gave this one a title and filed away the image of Sejun in her mind.
My Theo-nim, that jiggling belly is so adorable.
'Kyoot kyoot kyoot. I can't help it. I have to save this.'
"Kyoot kyoot kyoot. O power of magic...."
Iona used Memory Magic to preserve the image of Theo.
While Aileen and Iona were completely lost in their lovers' appearances,
Kuehehehe. Kueng!
[Hehehe. Cuengi brought coffee!]
Cuengi came carrying coffee.
And then,
Kihihit. Kking!
[Hehe. Butler! Cuengi hyung made this for me!]
"Heehee. Daddy, Cuengi oppa made one for Taecho too!"
Blackie and Taecho followed behind Cuengi in a little line, carrying a Dried Roasted Sweet Potato Latte and Strawberry Milk.
"Thanks, Cuengi."
Sejun sat up from the ground and took the coffee, then
Slurp.
"Ahh. That's good."
He drank the coffee while holding Theo and Cuengi in his arms.
"Cuengi's coffee really is the best."
Aileen sat to Sejun's right.
"Kyoot kyoot kyoot. That's right."
Iona perched on Theo's tail and sipped her coffee.
Kihihit. Kking!
[Hehe. Yummy!]
Slurp. Slurp. Slurp.
Blackie pressed his rear against the sole of Sejun's foot and eagerly lapped up the Dried Roasted Sweet Potato Latte.
"Heehee. Yummy."
Taecho sat to Sejun's left and sipped her Strawberry Milk little by little. Thanks to that, Strawberry Milk got all around her mouth, leaving a ring of pink foam around her lips.
As Sejun and his companions were enjoying their pleasant, leisurely tea time,
[Sejun-nim, it's time.]
[System Eok-Samchiri] spoke up.
"Mm."
Sejun pulled a marble swirled with green and purple from his pocket and swallowed it.
A moment later.
[You have successfully absorbed 1% of the Essence of Life.]
[You have successfully absorbed 1% of the Essence of Poison.]
Messages appeared before Sejun.
[You have passed the 38th and 39th trials to become the Great Colorless Dragon in one attempt.]
[As a reward for passing the trials, 0.02% of the Great Colorless Dragon's power has been transferred to you.]
Following that, a message also appeared saying he had passed two of the Great Colorless Dragon trials.
I just need to take another one in three days.
"Eok-Samchiri, remind me to take the essences in three days."
[Yes. Understood.]
Sejun set the schedule for his next essence absorption with [System Eok-Samchiri], then
Slurp.
"Time to get to work."
He finished the rest of his coffee, got up, and headed to the 10th Great Tower.
And then,
[You have harvested Divine Elixir: Pea of Great Magic Power.]
...
..
.
He loosened up his body, stiff from resting, by picking peas.
He had to loosen up his body beforehand like this so he could deploy at any time.
And then,
"Done harvesting."
Once he finished picking peas and his body was sufficiently loosened up,
[A quest has been issued.]
[Quest: Go to the Level 5 world <Lumir> and...]
Reward: 17 minutes added to <Unique Power: Temporary Creator God>.
As if it had been waiting, a Proxy Creator God quest appeared.
However,
"Huh? Go and talk some sense into Pedro?"
This time, the quest content was a bit strange.
Twisted Causality didn't always exist only in physical spaces. Sometimes, the causality created by various beings would tangle and twist until it existed as Twisted Causality within a living creature.
Additionally, the quest details explained that if Pedro died, the Twisted Causality would go berserk, so Sejun was to protect him and keep him alive.
A moment later.
[You have arrived at the Level 5 world <Lumir>.]
Sejun and his companions arrived at <Lumir>.
"Do you know someone called Pedro?"
"Overreacting King Porcupine Pedro? Of course I do. If you follow that path over there, you'll find a cave."
They were able to quickly find the cave where Pedro, the porcupine with Twisted Causality, lived.
"Go, Park Blackie!"
Kihihit. Kking! Kking!
[Hehe. Butler! Just leave it to the great Blackie! The great Blackie will straighten him out real good!]
Thud thud thud.
At Sejun's command, Blackie charged boldly into the cave.
Sejun had planned to take the easy route with Blackie, but
Thud thud thud.
"Why are you coming back out?"
Kking...
[Butler... the great Blackie isn't feeling well today...]
Blackie suddenly started pretending to be sick.
What's going on?
That's obviously faking.
Sejun looked at him suspiciously and
"Come here."
picked up the malingering Blackie, rubbed his belly, and carried him into the cave.
And then,
[Pedro of the Piercing Steel Quills]
"Ah."
So that's why he was faking it.
Now Sejun could see why Blackie had been pretending to be sick.
To give Pedro a good headbutting lesson, he'd have to headbutt him, but he was afraid Pedro's quills would hurt, and his pride wouldn't let him admit he couldn't do it, so he'd faked being sick instead.
Good grief. You hopeless thing.
Sejun gave Blackie one good look of exasperation, then
"Hi. I'm Park Sejun."
"Puhuhut. This body is known as Theo, meow!"
spoke to Pedro. The plan was to try talking it out first, and if that didn't work, he and Theo would enter Pedro's mental world.
But
"Yes. Hello. I'm Pedro."
Pedro was incredibly polite and gentle, to the point where there was hardly any need to talk sense into him.
Is it an act?
When Sejun stared at Pedro with suspicious eyes,
"Wh...why? Did I do something wrong? I'm sorry!"
Pedro went pale and started rambling incoherently, and his quills began to grow longer.
"No! Pedro, you didn't do anything wrong!"
Sejun waved his hands frantically, slightly flustered by Pedro's reaction.
"Aah! Don't hit me!"
This time, Pedro was terrified by Sejun's big movements. Once again, as Pedro's reaction grew extreme, his quills grew out.
Now Sejun could see why others called Pedro the Overreacting King.
What do I do?
Sejun smiled so Pedro wouldn't get scared and thought it over. If he made a serious expression here, Pedro would misunderstand and think Sejun was angry at him, which would make the quills grow again.
It would be easier if he were a bad guy since I could just beat him up, but a Glass Mentality...
'Let me try feeding him first and getting closer that way.'
Sejun decided to use his specialty to lower Pedro's guard.
"Gwe gwe gwe. It's delicious."
Fortunately, once he ate some tasty food, Pedro's guard toward Sejun and his companions dropped, and he let out a strange laugh.
"Ah. My laugh sounds weird, right? S...sorry!"
Of course, Glass Mentality Pedro immediately started watching everyone's reactions.
"No way. What's wrong with 'gwe gwe gwe'? I laugh like 'hehehe.'"
Sejun acted like it was nothing and created the most comfortable atmosphere he could.
And then,
"The thing is, whenever someone even smiles a little, I feel like they're mocking me, and when they frown, I feel like they're angry at me. So being around others makes me anxious."
Sejun listened to Pedro's worries and searched for a clue on how to counsel him and return his Twisted Causality to normal.
"Yeah. That can happen. I look at people's faces sometimes too."
Sejun responded to Pedro's words with his own honest thoughts.
"Meow?! You watched people's faces too, Chairman Park?!"
"Of course. When I first came to the tower, you have no idea how much I watched Aileen's and the floor bosses' faces. I seriously thought I was going to die back then."
"Puhuhut. It wasn't just 'thought you were going to die,' Chairman Park, you really almost did die, meow!"
"Yeah. Thanks for letting me know."
"Gwe gwe gwe."
Pedro laughed at Sejun and Theo's conversation. It seemed he now trusted that Sejun wouldn't get angry over something like this, since he didn't even apologize.
And then,
"So what did you do, Sejun-nim?"
Inch. Inch.
While talking, Pedro slowly edged closer to Sejun, closing the distance little by little.
Good. We've gotten a lot closer now.
Sejun also subtly shifted his body toward Pedro, closing the gap together.
Just then,
Prick.
One of Pedro's quills pricked the back of Sejun's hand.
I can't let Pedro get startled.
Sejun acted like nothing happened so Pedro wouldn't panic, but a single drop of blood seeped from the wound.
"I...I'm sorry! I didn't do it on purpose...! Please don't hate me!"
Glass Mentality Pedro fell into a panic again, and his quills began to lengthen rapidly.
"It's okay, Pedro."
Sejun boldly stroked Pedro's sharp, hard quills. While wearing gloves made of dragon hide coated with dragon scales.
They were pot-holder gloves he'd made for grabbing hot pots.
"Don't touch me! You'll get hurt again!"
Pedro flinched and tried to retreat and run away, but
"Pedro, look. I'm not hurt."
Sejun showed his gloved hand and calmed Pedro down.
"Huh? You're really not."
Relieved that his quills couldn't hurt Sejun, Pedro began to settle down.
"Pedro, someone might look at you and laugh at you, or curse at you, or get angry at you. But that doesn't mean you did anything wrong."
"It's not my fault?"
"Right. Those are their thoughts. Don't let their thoughts control you."
"Pedro, you need to have your own thoughts. That's the only way you won't be swayed by what others think."
"My own thoughts...."
As Sejun continued to stroke Pedro with his gloved hand while speaking, Pedro's quills gradually shrank.
How much time passed like that?
Snooore.
Pedro, his tension completely dissolved by Sejun's words, fell fast asleep.
[You have successfully talked sense into Pedro in the Level 5 world <Lumir>.]
...
..
.
A quest completion message appeared before Sejun.
And then,
[Hero of Lumir: The Resolute, Gentle Yet Strong Pedro]
Before anyone noticed, Pedro's name had changed, and he had become a hero of <Lumir>. It seemed that as the Twisted Causality returned to normal, it had also boosted Pedro's abilities.
It was certainly something to celebrate, but
"Wow. What did he even do to become a hero?"
I did all the work, and yet...
Watching that, Sejun felt a twinge of bitterness. No. A big twinge of bitterness.
A moment later.
"Mmm."
Pedro woke up.
"Pedro, you'd better know this is all thanks to me."
"Puhuhut. That's right, meow! Everything is thanks to the great hybrid Chairman Park, meow!"
Sejun and Theo puffed themselves up as much as they could.
However,
"I don't think so? I became a hero because I did well."
Pedro had become far too resolute.
But there was something Pedro didn't know.
"Heh. Pedro, you've really grown."
"Puhuhut. Pedro, how insolent, meow!"
That a Pedro without Glass Mentality was a Pedro they could smack.
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