[Guard Pink-fur has killed the Fire Ant Warrior.]

[You have gained 750 experience points, 50% of the experience points earned by Guard Pink-fur.]

[Guard Cuengi has killed the Fire Ant Warrior.]

[You have gained 750 experience points, 50% of the experience points earned by Guard Cuengi.]

…

..

.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have acquired 1 bonus stat.]

“Good.”

Sejun, who has reached level 55 after leveling up twice with the help of Pink-fur and Cuengi, smiled with satisfaction. He then invested the bonus stats in strength and stamina.

In a game, this kind of stat distribution might make you a jack-of-all-trades, but in reality, it’s how a jack-of-all-trades survives.

Thus, Sejun, who had won the battle against the fire ants, led the way back to the farm, where 7000 mushroom ants greeted them. It was their way of showing gratitude.

The number of mushroom ants had increased by about 2000 as they had been joined by additional ants, avoiding the fire ants for several days.

Then

Kkwek!

One of the mushroom ants approached Sejun, carrying a small mushroom on its back.

“Huh?! That’s an King oyster mushroom, isn’t it? Why?”

Sejun recognized the mushroom. Aside from being slightly smaller and shinier than a typical King oyster mushroom, it didn’t look much different.

Kkwek!

The mushroom ant brought it closer to Sejun as if to say, ‘Try harvesting it, then you’ll see.’ It was full of confidence.

“You mean I’ll understand once I see it? Alright.”

Pluck.

Sejun harvested the mushroom.

[You have acquired Elixir: King Oyster Mushroom.]

[Your job experience has increased slightly.]

[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 6 has increased slightly.]

[You have gained 250 experience point.]

“Elixir?”

Sejun examined the king oyster mushroom.

[Elixir: King Oyster Mushroom]

→ This king oyster mushroom, cultivated by Tower Farmer Park Sejun’s tenant farmer mushroom ant, has absorbed all the nutrients around it, growing into an Elixir.

→ It boasts an exceptional taste and aroma.

→ Upon consumption, all stats +1

→ Grower: Tower Farmer Park Sejun’s tenant farmer mushroom ant

→ Expiration Date: 90 days

→ Grade: C

“It increases all stats by 1?”

And it has an exceptional taste and aroma?! The mushroom ant’s confident attitude made sense now.

Kkwek?

The mushroom ant seemed to ask how it was.

“You did well.”

As Sejun petted the mushroom ant’s head,

Kkwek!

It made a strange noise, showing that it liked it.

Kkwek!

[It’s all thanks to you, master! I just worked hard to grow it!]

“Ah, come on, what did I do? You guys worked hard to grow it.”

Kkwek. Kkwek…

[Really, master. It’s all thanks to you…]

Sejun thought it was just a polite remark from the mushroom ant, but they originally had no ability to grow Elixirs. If they had, they would have worked hard to grow and consume them to fend off the fire ants themselves.

Only the tenant-farmer mushroom ants among them could grow Elixirs.

Although they were not yet ready for harvest, five tenant-farmer mushroom ants were growing Elixirs on their backs, receiving focused care from the other ants.

Sniff, sniff.

Kreong!

Cuengi sniffed eagerly at the king oyster mushroom in Sejun’s hand. It smells delicious!

“Be patient. Let’s cook it first.”

Sejun headed to the kitchen with the animals.

“Lunch is king oyster mushrooms! Crop Gigantification.”

Sejun used the skill on the Elixir: King Oyster Mushroom.

Doing so would remove the consumption effect but leave the taste and aroma unchanged, only increasing the quantity.

However,

[You have used Crop Gigantification Lv. 2 on the king oyster mushroom.]

[The crop is a Elixir and contains an enormous amount of nutrients.]

[The degree of Crop Gigantification is greatly increased.]

“Huh?!”

Puff.

The Elixir’s enlargement was much greater than Sejun anticipated.

Thump!

The enlarged king oyster mushroom broke through the kitchen roof, growing even larger.

“Everybody, get out!”

Sejun hurriedly shouted as they exited. Fortunately, thanks to the sturdy construction by the Gray Rabbit and Black Minotaurs, the kitchen didn’t collapse.

“Wow!”

Sejun marveled at the giant king oyster mushroom from outside the kitchen. It was the first time he had seen such a large mushroom since Anton’s mushroom cloud¹.

Kooeong!

Looking at the 10m tall king oyster mushroom, Pink-fur felt delighted. It seemed like it would have a chewy texture.

“Pink-fur, move the mushroom somewhere else.”

The mushroom was too big to do anything with it inside the kitchen.

Kooeong!

Woosh.

The mushroom was moved, and now, the feasting could begin.

Pink-fur pulled the giant king oyster mushroom from the kitchen and moved it to the empty ground.

“Okay. Now, divide it into five pieces vertically.”

Kooeong!

At Sejun’s words, Pink-fur conjured mana and injected into its claws, creating four magical claws.

Then

Swoosh.

Pink-fur swung its magical claws from top to bottom towards the giant king oyster mushroom, and in an instant, it was divided into five parts.

Kooewong.

Pink-fur held the giant mushroom so it wouldn’t fall and laid it on the ground.

And so began the king oyster mushroom party.

As Pink-fur ate the top part and the mushroom ants began to eat the bottom,

Munch munch!

The scent flowing from the king oyster mushrooms tempted the Black Minotaurs. They approached, drooling.

“You guys take one too and eat it with Minotaur King.”

Sejun gave one of the five pieces to the Black Minotaur.

Chomp!

The Minotaurs used their horn, infused with magic like a knife, to cut the mushroom and carried it away.

“Let’s eat, too.”

After distributing the mushrooms, Sejun, Cuengi, and the rabbits ate the king oyster mushrooms. They ate them raw at first, then made steamed mushrooms and grilled mushrooms when they got tired of the raw taste.

-It’s a pity… If only there were alcohol… I would have paired it right away…

-Thinking about alcohol again?

Kellion scolded Kaiser, who was feeling regretful while looking at the king oyster mushrooms.

“Kellion, do you want more?”

-No, I’ve eaten a lot.

Unlike Aileen, the two dragons did not eat much.

“Aileen, want more?”

[The Tower’s Administrator says she’s full now.]

“Really? You used to say you had to eat a whole large pot to feel slightly full, remember?! You’re not sick, are you?”

Naturally, if a child who used to eat a bowl of rice suddenly eats only half a bowl, you’d worry that something might be wrong. Sejun was worried about Aileen.

[The Tower’s Administrator says you should worry about yourself first.]

“Okay.”

He worried about others again.

[The Tower’s Administrator says she’s happy that you’re worried about her.]

“Really? I’ll keep worrying about Aileen from now on.”

[……]

“Aileen?”

The conversation was cut off again.

“But what about this?”

Despite everyone’s efforts to eat a lot, one of the five divided pieces was left.

“We’ll have to eat this tomorrow.”

Sejun thought he would eat the remaining king oyster mushroom tomorrow when

Kreong!

Cuengi lay on the king oyster mushroom and called Sejun. It’s nap time, Daddy!

“Shall we rest then?”

They were feeling drowsy after eating so much.

Sejun lay down next to Cuengi. The king oyster mushroom’s flesh sank in, swallowing Sejun’s body.

“Wow, this is totally like latex.”

Sejun spoke, admiring the recovery of the king oyster mushroom that bounced back after he got up.

“I have to cut this up and take it home later.”

It seemed like it would be a good substitute for a mattress.

Kreong!

Kreook.

Cuengi pushed Sejun’s chest gently, urging him to lie down quickly. Using one of his front paws. It was heavy, but since there was only one front paw, it was bearable.

And

Flap flap.

The golden bat, which likes dark places, nestled between Sejun and Cuengi.

Snore.

Zzz.

Brrr.

The three fell asleep like that.

30 minutes later.

Kooeong!!!

The sudden roar of Pink-fur startled Sejun, Cuengi, and the golden bat, awake.

“What’s going on?! What happening?!”

Sejun quickly looked around.

Kiiiieek!

They were surrounded by nearly a million fire ant warriors and workers. The rich scent of king oyster mushrooms had spread to where the fire ants were, attracting them.

“That’s too many?”

If those fire ants started using fire, there would be no way to protect the farm.

Then

-Hey, go and pay for the food. I’m out of magic power.

-Ahem. I’ll step in.

At Kaiser’s words, Kellion flew towards the fire ants.

Then

-Insects, take your lives!

With a word, he returned.

Whirr.

At Kellion’s words, the fire ants burned themselves to death. No fire ant screamed or resisted; they embraced death without hesitation, as if it were a natural thing.

“Ah…”

Killing a million fire ants with a single word, a dragon was indeed a dragon. Sometimes they might look silly, but at times like this, they were terrifying.

‘I need to get along with them.’

Sejun resolved not to mess with the get closer to the dragons in the future.

***

91st floor of the Tower, Wizard’s Association Headquarters.

“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. How far along is the excavation of the Holy Stone?”

Iona, who had rushed over after receiving the association’s message, asked as she sat in the chair at the head of the conference room table.

“Judging by the detector’s intensity, it’s within 100 meters.”

Gonova, having the appearance of a hyena, answered.

Iona had rushed over here after receiving a message that a Holy Stone had been detected in the mana stone mine on the 77th floor of the tower managed by the Wizard Tower.

It is known that the Holy Stone is a fallen star from the sky, and once acknowledged as its master, its special power protects the owner.

‘I should give it to Sejun.’

As soon as Iona received the message, she thought of giving the holy stone to Sejun. She had known for some time that Sejun was not a great black dragon.

At first, she thought it was a game where he pretended to be weak, but she was no fool. Watching Sejun and other animals by his side, she couldn’t help but notice.

What’s more, the dragon statues were worrying about Sejun? Comparing the power emanating from Sejun and the dragon statues, it was even more clear. Sejun’s power was similar to that of the hunters who had recently begun entering the tower.

At first, she was slightly angry about being deceived, but what did that matter? It was fun to be together, and as long as she could sleep without nightmares, that was all that mattered.

Therefore, Sejun’s safety was more important than anything, even if he was as weak as a sunfish², all for the sake of her good sleep.

While Iona was thinking of giving the Holy Stone to Sejun,

“Let’s head to the mine quickly, Iona.”

“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Yes.”

Gonova guided Iona to a magic circle connected to the mana stone mine.

“Then let’s depart.”

When Gonova activated the magic circle,

Whoosh.

The two vanished. Gonova’s eyes, watching Iona, were cold and fierce.

***

“Shall we check how Black Rabbit is doing?”

Sejun used the Guardian Rabbit statue to inspect the Red Ribbon Kingdom’s treasure vault. Since Sejun put in rice flour, Black Rabbit had been making dough whenever he had time.

[Current list of items available for withdrawal from the Red Ribbon Kingdom’s treasure vault (total 23,911,814 items)]

→ Dough 1kg X 5

→ Gold bars X 10,000

→ Silver bars X 50,000

→ Land deed for the 77th-floor farm

→ Land deed for the 83rd-floor farm

…

..

.

Sejun had withdrawn the Tower Coins and deposited them in the Seed Bank, and the Mithril ore was given to Iona for her magical experiments.

“But what are these farm land deeds?”

Kreong?

[Let’s take it out first! It might be something to eat!]

“Then shall we take out the land deed for the 77th floor?”

Sejun decided to take out the land deed to examine it.

[Withdrawing 1 land deed of the 77th-floor farm from the Red Ribbon Kingdom’s treasure vault.]

Poof.

A roundly rolled-up leather document appeared in Sejun’s hand.

Then,

[The summoning function for the initial engraving of the land deed for the 77th-floor farm has been activated.]

“Huh?!”

Sejun suddenly vanished.

And then,

Kreooooong!

[Daddy’s gone!]

Cuengi cried out, searching for the suddenly vanished Sejun.

*****

TL Notes:

1) If you’ve forgotten, he is referring to the time when Anton killed the Corrupted Ent imbued with Blue Moon’s energy. (Chapter 72)

2) Sejun is being compared to a Sunfish here, and this comparison will continue in future chapters as well. For readers who are not familiar with the Sunfish, I have attached a ranking of various ways a Sunfish might die. When you read this, you will grasp the basic idea of why he is being compared to a Sunfish and why it’s funny. Additionally, since the ranking is in Japanese, I have included a translated image here as well: https://ranking.goo.ne.jp/ranking/42898/