Combat Shop Headquarters.

“There isn’t a warrior to my liking.”

Thunder, the God of Storms, grumbled as he surveyed the warriors who had entered the tower.

Unlike other gods of war, Thunder, who was especially proud, only sold weapons and skills to warriors he approved of.

Then,

[A being who has awakened the power of the storm on their own and obtained <Power: Calm Before the Storm> has appeared in the tower.]

A message appeared before Thunder.

“What?!”

They obtained <Power: Calm Before the Storm> on their own?!

In his tens of thousands of years of life, he had never seen a talent who gained a power on their own through enlightenment.

“Where are they?!”

Thunder hurriedly began to search for the warrior mentioned in the message, fearing that other war gods might snatch them away.

Thus, Thunder quickly sought out the warrior with <Power: Calm Before the Storm> and

“Found them!”

He found Cuengi on the 99th floor of the Black Tower.

The rough energy and giant body that made one think they were born to be a warrior.

“You’re the talent I’ve been searching for!”

Seeing Cuengi in person, Thunder became even more certain.

You were born to be a warrior! Hahaha! I will train you to be the greatest warrior!

“I am Thunder, the God of Storms. Warrior, what is your name?”

When Thunder asked Cuengi in a solemn voice,

-Thunder~nim, greetings! Cuengi’s name is Cuengi Park! Nice to meet you!

Cuengi, who had been well-educated in manners, responded politely.

“Alright. Nice to meet you too. Cuengi Park, I’ll specially give you the chance to buy my weapons and skills!”

True to his warrior nature, Thunder got straight to the point.

He then showed his divine weapons and skills, but…

-Then give me a discount!

Cuengi, who had learned from Sejun and Theo that items should be bargained for three times before buying, asked Thunder for a discount.

What?! A discount?!

“Hey now! A warrior should not disgrace themselves by haggling!”

-It’s okay! Cuengi isn’t a warrior, Cuengi is an herbalist! So give me a discount!

“…A herbalist?!”

You have the ability to become the greatest warrior, but you’re an herbalist?!

“Cuengi Park, why are you wasting your talent?! Quit being a herbalist immediately! Become the greatest warrior!”

-No! Thunder~nim, you insulted herbalists! I won’t talk to you anymore!

“Cuengi!”

[Cuengi Park has blocked conversations for 3 days.]

…Did I just get rejected?

“No way!”

Cuengi, you are destined to be a warrior!!!

At Thunder’s desperate cry, the sky darkened with storm clouds and a storm began.

And then,

Rumble.

“Huh? Why did it suddenly get dark?”

I was almost done…

Leah, who was focusing on crafting the divine relic for Sejun, looked outside.

The sky was gloomy, as if a thunderbolt could fall at any moment.

“Did someone anger Thunder again?”

Leah muttered as she looked at the sky, then went back to crafting the divine relic.

***

99th floor of the Black Tower.

Thunder~nim insulted herbalists! Thunder~nim is bad!

Cuengi, who had blocked Thunder for belittling herbalists.

Kuehehehe. I should quickly brag to Dad!

As Cuengi laughed and looked around to find Sejun, he saw Pink-fur and Sejun hiding behind Pink-fur.

Pink-fur stood in front to block Cuengi’s overwhelming aura, protecting the struggling Sejun.

Kueng! Kueng!

[Mom, Dad! Cuengi got a power! Cuengi can now control his strength!]

Kuoooong!

Pink-fur tightly hugged Cuengi, who was proudly announcing his achievement.

“That’s… great… congratulations, my son…”

Sejun, who was exhausted from enduring Cuengi’s energy release, congratulated Cuengi in a weak voice and checked the power Cuengi had obtained.

<Power: Calm Before the Storm>

→ Maintains a state of calm, compressing power without letting it leak, and then releases it all at once to amplify the power like a storm.

→ The longer the state of calm is maintained, the greater the amplification due to the expansion of power when released. (The maximum amplification is 100 times.)

“Wow…”

Cuengi is so lucky.

Sejun sighed with envy as he examined the power.

It was a power that could amplify strength by compressing energy, storing it up, and releasing it at the desired moment.

I wish I could store up energy too…

While Sejun was enviously looking at Cuengi,

Growl.

A loud sound came from Cuengi’s stomach. Since he had been up since dawn for special training, he was hungrier than usual.

Kueng!

[Dad, Cuengi is hungry!]

“Alright. Let’s eat.”

Hehe. I’ll also throw a party to celebrate obtaining your power later tonight.

As Sejun planned the party for the evening, he began to take out food in front of Cuengi and Pink-fur.

He gave Pink-fur 100 pieces each of pizza, hamburgers, and chicken.

It wasn’t enough to make them full but just enough to taste.

The rest was managed by using the Crop Gigantification skill to provide quantity.

And then,

“Here. This is for Cuengi.”

Kueng! Kueng!

[So excited! It’s Jjajangmyeon and Tangsuyuk !]

Cuengi and Sejun ate Jajangmyeon and Tangsuyuk for breakfast.

While the three of them were enjoying their breakfast,

Haaak!

Kkyaaak!

They heard the angry cries of Theo and Blackie from the direction of the house.

“Pfft!”

Looks like they just woke up.

Sejun burst into laughter, imagining Theo and Blackie surprised by each other’s faces.

A little later,

“Chairman Park, I missed you, meow!”

Theo, who had used Meow-meow Step to find Sejun, appeared in an instant and clung to Sejun’s face.

Grab.

“Meow…”

As Sejun grabbed Theo’s neck from his face and put him on his knee,

Thump. Thump.

Kking! Kking?!

[Hey! Take care of me too! Huh?! Did you eat delicious food without me?!]

Blackie, who was late, also ran towards Sejun, barking angrily.

“You can eat too.”

When Sejun stuffed a piece of Tangsuyuk into Blackie’s mouth,

Heehee.

Blackie immediately started laughing.

Hehe. Easy fellow.

Sejun also smiled as he continued eating, giving Theo some Churu.

***

Merchant passage connecting the 70th and 80th floors of the Black Tower.

-I must find Fenrir~nim quickly!

Unlike other Apostles of Destruction, Krueger’s fragment had infiltrated again to inform that the Apostles of Destruction were targeting Fenrir.

But no matter how much he searched the tower, he couldn’t find any clues about Fenrir.

At that moment,

Piyo! Piyo!

Kkuik! Kkuik!

Piyot and Uren, singing happily, passed by Krueger who was disguised as a rock.

The two were tracking down those who had swindled Uren’s money again today.

‘They’re Fenrir~nim’s companions!’

If I follow them, I should be able to meet Fenrir~nim, right?

Krueger, recognizing the two, cautiously tailed them.

And then,

‘What’s with that guy?’

Krueger, who was following the two, was greatly surprised by Uren, who seemed to find only places with robbers, traps, and other Apostles of Destruction.

-An incredible talent.

If that guy was thrown into a normal dimension, it seemed he could easily destroy a planet by attracting all sorts of misfortunes without even having to send calamities.

‘Should I recruit him as an Apostle of Destruction?’

Later, Krueger thought to recommend Uren as a candidate for Apostle of Destruction while continuing to follow the two.

Then,

Thump.

Unable to get a rest for a moment, the two disappeared into Jǫrmungandr’s mouth.

-As expected, he’s a talent.

Krueger hid himself and waited for the two to come out.

***

Seed Shop Headquarters.

“Finally, it’s complete!”

Leah, God of Abundance, cheered as she finished creating the divine relic.

And then,

“My believer!”

She called the ungrateful believer King of Farming, who hadn’t been praying often lately, and made him go find Sejun to deliver the relic.

Although there were other ways to send the divine relic, Leah deliberately sent the King of Farming to the 99th floor of the tower.

She absolutely didn’t have any ill feelings.

“Hehehe. It’s only through such hardships that faith grows. Indeed, that’s right.”

Well, maybe just a little bit.

Thus, Leah imposed the tremendous ordeal of going to the 99th floor of the tower on the King of Farming.

“Shall I go see Hel after all these years?”

Leah left her quarters and went to a secluded corner of the Seed Shop Headquarters.

In the corner was a small side door. When Leah opened the side door and stepped outside, she saw a splendid building made of gold.

A small, splendid building nestled between the large, magnificent Combat Shop Headquarters and the large, shabby Seed Shop Headquarters.

Slide.

When Leah opened the door of the building made of gold and went inside,

“Aack! Why do you keep offering money?! Theo, you fool!”

She saw a blonde woman fuming with anger.

“Hel, what’s going on?”

Leah hurriedly asked Hel, recognizing the familiar name.

“Leah? What brings you here? Did you come to borrow some divine power?”

“Hehe. No, we are now earning our own divine power!”

“Really?! Congratulations!”

“Hehe. Thank you.”

“But how are you earning it?”

“Oh, that’s…”

Leah explained the process by which she obtained the divine power.

“What?! That rascal Park Sejun is building temples for you?!”

“Yes. Hel, do you know Park Sejun?”

“Of course I know him! He’s the wicked guy exploiting the naive Theo!”

“What?! Park Sejun is exploiting Theo?!”

“Yeah! Leah, listen to me! That rascal Park Sejun…”

Hel, her face red with anger, started to complain to Leah.

Hel, God of Merchants, cherished talented merchants.

To Hel, Theo was an oddball.

Initially, she thought Theo had no talent, but soon he began making money with remarkable skill.

At first, she found it endearing that Theo, who seemed untalented, grew into an excellent merchant.

However, seeing Theo offering all his earnings to Sejun, a farmer, made her uncomfortable.

She was sure that the rascal Park Sejun was exploiting Theo by sweet-talking him.

Otherwise, it didn’t make sense for a merchant to give all his money away.

Moreover, she became even more enraged seeing him use Theo to exploit Uren and Mimyr, whom she cherished, as subordinates.

Thus, during the Legendary Merchant exam, she even interfered by making them obtain impossible ingredients to prevent further exploitation, but

But Park Sejun, showing off, provided Theo with the necessary ingredients, ultimately making Theo a Legendary Merchant.

He was now extending his evil clutches to other towers and exploiting even more severely.

Hel didn’t like how Sejun was exploiting the Legendary Merchants.

“Hel, you’re misunderstanding. Park Sejun is a kind and capable farmer. And it would be good for you to side with Park Sejun too?”

“What?! Park Sejun, a kind guy?! That can’t be true, but even if it were, I’m the God of Merchants! I have my pride. How can I, the God of Merchants, side with a farmer?!”

“Does pride put food on the table? As the God of Merchants, you should know better. Helping during tough times brings greater rewards. Park Sejun is someone who will become great! He’s still in the baby steps stage! You have to grab to him before he takes off!”

Leah strongly defended Sejun and tried to persuade Hel. If Hel stepped in, it would be a great help to Sejun.

I’ll have to tell Park Sejun later that I persuaded her.

Leah, hoping to receive an even larger temple from Sejun, spoke more fervently.

“Hmm, really?”

It seemed Leah’s persuasion was working as Hel began to ponder.

“Yes. Trust me and invest in him a little.”

“Hmm. If Leah is so insistent…maybe I’ll invest a little.”

The god of abundance is the one who governs prosperity. If she was this insistent, it was worth doing.

“A farmer, huh? This should be good.”

Hel took a glass vial containing the Harvest Elixir from the items displayed on the wall.

“Yes! That would be great!”

Leah nodded with a smile.

The Growth Elixir Hel possessed was an item Leah had pawned while borrowing divine power, but had failed to reclaim on time.

The wall was full of items that other gods had put up as collateral and lost for failing to repay divine power.

“Legendary Merchant Theo, receive my item and deliver it to Park Sejun!”

Hel sent 10 drops of the Harvest Elixir to Theo.

And then,

[Black Tower’s Legendary Merchant Theo Park demands more, saying 10 drops are too stingy.]

What?! Stingy?!

“This guy is too shameless.”

Was he really being exploited by Park Sejun?

Hel, who had felt sorry for Theo, began to doubt him.