Chapter 612: You’re in Big Trouble When Your Caretaker Arrives!

 

Blue Tower, Floor 77.

“I can’t see it anywhere…”

Sejun and his companions had been searching the ocean for hours since morning, but the Creator’s monument was nowhere to be found.

Guess it’s time to eat.

“Hey, everyone, let’s have a competition to see who can catch the best catch!”

As lunchtime neared, Sejun suggested a hunting competition to his companions. Now that the mutant seaweed was gone, the creatures hiding in the sand and under rocks had come out, providing plenty of prey.

“Puhuhu. I, Vice-Chairman Theo, will take first place, nya!”

Kueng!

[Kuengi will catch the most!]

Kehihit! Ngh!

[Kehihit! The Great Kamangi will win!]

Inspired by Sejun’s suggestion, his companions scattered with enthusiasm, while Sejun headed off to retrieve something he’d spotted earlier.

“Hehehe. I know exactly where to look.”

With that, victory’s mine!

Sejun had actually proposed the contest with the intention of taking first place himself.

A short while later.

Thunk.

“Puhuhu. Chairman Park, look at this! I caught something amazing, nya!”

As Sejun rested, chatting with Flame, Theo arrived and dropped a giant clam with a shimmering shell of various colors.

Guess I lost…

[Gemstone Pen Shell]

Just the gemstones on its shell alone could easily sell for billions of Tower Coins.

Hehe. Plus, I can make buttered scallops from this.

“Oh! Well done, Vice-Chairman! That’s amazing!” Sejun praised Theo while envisioning the dishes he’d make with the pen shell.

“Puhuhu. I know, nya! I, Vice-Chairman Theo, am always great, nya!” Theo responded proudly, rubbing his head eagerly against Sejun’s hand.

Just then,

Kueng!

[Dad, Kuengi caught lots of good stuff!]

Thud!

Kuengi arrived, carrying an enormous pile of clams with telekinesis. There were so many clams, cockles, mussels, and other shellfish that the pile easily weighed over 10 tons.

Sejun’s mind filled with ideas for clam stew, grilled shellfish, and more.

“Oh! That’s my boy!”

Overjoyed, Sejun ruffled Kuengi’s head with both hands.

Khehehe.

Kuengi laughed, delighted by Sejun’s praise.

“But where’s Kamangi?” Sejun wondered aloud, growing a bit concerned as he looked toward the ocean.

Ng! Ng!

[Caretaker! Help! Help!]

Kamangi called out, whining.

“Kamangi!”

Sejun ran toward the sound and found Kamangi’s family struggling against an octopus the size of an arm.

They had attempted to use the youngest, Kabulto, as bait to catch the octopus, only to end up being hunted by it instead.

“Pfft!”

Sejun struggled to contain his laughter at the sight of the Kamangi family’s comically desperate struggle and quickly rescued them from the octopus.

With everyone gathered with their catches,

“Heh. This here is the ginseng of the sea, a sea cucumber,” Sejun boasted, proudly displaying a sea cucumber he’d found.

Long, bumpy, and squirmy—it looked more repulsive than anything else.

“Nya?! What is that, nya?!”

Kueng?!

Theo and Kuengi grimaced at the strange appearance of the sea cucumber.

Ngh!

[This time, I win!]

Kamangi, still trying to recover from earlier defeat, lunged at the sea cucumber and bit into it.

“Hey! That thing’s poisonous!”

Ngh…

Sejun quickly pulled the paralyzed-tongued Kamangi away from the sea cucumber and began cooking with the ingredients his companions had brought.

The competition was quickly forgotten.

“Puhuhu. It smells like delicious grilled fish, nya!”

Khehehe. Kueng!

[Khehehe. There are so many dishes today!]

Kehihit! Ngh!

[Kehihit! The Great Kamangi won against the sea cucumber!]

Watching Sejun cook, the companions waited eagerly for their meal.

With the abundant ingredients his companions had gathered, Sejun prepared a grand lunch.

“Alright, everyone, let’s eat!”

They gathered and enjoyed their meal together.

“Oh! This is delicious.”

Khehehe. Kueng!

[Khehehe. It sure is!]

Of course, only Kuengi appreciated all the dishes Sejun prepared.

Theo and Kamangi’s family stuck to grilled fish and roasted sweet potato jerky.

After lunch,

Slurp.

Sejun lay back on a sunbed, sipping coffee that Kuengi had made, relishing the moment.

Just then,

[Master Sejun… I think I need to go back.]

Flame spoke in a gloomy voice. Podo-ri, a sapling trying to hold back its evolution into a dimensional tree, had reached its limit.

Honestly, it was a miracle Podo-ri had held out this long, and Sejun couldn’t ask him to endure any further.

“Alright? Then let’s head back quickly.”

Hearing Flame’s words, Sejun hurried back to the Black Tower to allow Flame to rest on Floor 99, where he could connect with the ground.

He left everything behind, planning to return later to continue the search for the monument.

“Return.”

With urgency, Sejun activated the Return Bracelet of Dragon Horn.

Woong.

The golden letters engraved on the bracelet began to glow.

[Activating the return magic embedded in the Return Bracelet of Dragon Horn.]

[Calculating the distance between current coordinates and return location.]

[Returning to the designated place.]

Sejun disappeared from Blue Tower’s Floor 77.

 

[Arrived on Floor 99 of the Black Tower.]

Returning home,

[Master Sejun, see you next time.]

Flame stretched his leaves wide as he embraced Sejun.

“Yeah. See you. Next time, I’ll stock up on more elixirs.”

[Hehe. You don’t have to, but…]

Sejun patted Flame’s forehead, easing the sadness of parting.

[Alright then! Goodbye, Master Sejun!]

Trying hard to hide his sadness, knowing he might not see Sejun for a long time, Flame bid him farewell in a cheerful voice before disappearing into the ground.

[Finally! I don’t have to hold back anymore!]

At that moment, Podo-ri, who had been holding back, began his evolution into a dimensional tree.

Rumble.

After restraining himself for ten days, Podo-ri’s roots burst forth, spreading swiftly across different realms.

When a dimensional tree usually evolves, it initially connects to five realms, but because Podo-ri had held back, he planted roots in seven realms at once.

This was an incredible feat, like achieving centuries of growth in a moment, and practically a discovery of a new method of growth.

Tremble.

Watching Podo-ri, Sausage trembled. He felt he might be next to test this new growth method.

At that moment,

[Sejun Company has established a new infrastructure.]

[A World Tree communication network has been set up within Sejun Company.]

[All World Trees affiliated with Sejun Company can now communicate with each other.]

A message appeared before the World Trees that Flame had cultivated.

Perhaps it was fortunate that Sausage wasn’t the only one facing this test.

What a relief.

Feeling comforted by the presence of new allies, Sausage relaxed a little.

But then,

[World Tree “Budlet” of Floor 79 of the Black Tower, budding to nurture new life: Hello! I’m Budlet, an aspiring dimensional tree!]

[World Tree “Pose” of Floor 82 of the Silver Tower, an aspiring dimensional tree: Hi! I’m Pose, also dreaming of becoming a dimensional tree!]

[World Tree “Earthworm-Eater” of <Earthworm>, destruction-devouring tree: I’m Erath-Eater! Let’s grow together and aim to become dimensional trees!]

[World Tree “Generous Scallion” of <Omid>, giving its all: I’m Omipase! Master Sejun named me! Let’s all work hard!]

The World Trees on the network weren’t exactly ordinary.

As each tree introduced itself and shared the mutual goal of becoming dimensional trees,

[Sejun Company’s World Tree Podo-ri has planted roots in seven realms.]

[The sub-channel of the employee network for the seven realms has been newly opened.]

A message appeared, announcing the opening of the sub-channel on the Sejun Company employee network.

And then,

[<Channel Manager> God of Axes Buko, Combat Shop Headquarters: What?! We have a dimensional tree in the company?! Wow! Our company is amazing!]

[<Channel Manager> God of Peanuts Pipi, Seed Shop Headquarters: A dimensional tree! As expected of Mutda-bak! Let’s all chant Mutda-bak!]

[<Channel Manager> God of Walnuts Wal, Seed Shop Headquarters: Mutda-bak!]

[<Channel Manager> God of Stones Toga, Seed Shop Headquarters: Mutda-bak!]

…

A silent chant of “Mutda-bak!” resounded within the employee network as the non-combat gods praised Sejun.

Sejun Company continued to flourish each day.

“Rest well, Flame.”

Sejun softly touched the spot where Flame had vanished.

Then,

“Since I’m back, I might as well get some work done.”

Having lingered on Blue Tower’s Floor 77 to make memories with Flame, Sejun visited the 10th Tower and <Earthworm> to catch up on overdue tasks.

Nothing much happened in the 10th Tower, so he just planted the seeds he’d gathered.

In <Earthworm>, which he accessed through a dimensional gate, Sejun found ten new drops of Destruction’s Tears waiting for him.

Drip, drip.

The Destruction’s Tears transformed into Sejun’s likeness.

Now, ten Destruction Sejuns tirelessly planted seeds of the Devourer of Destruction in his stead.

Ptooey.

The Devourers of Destruction, now familiar with Destruction Sejun, spat out seeds naturally, ensuring work continued smoothly in Sejun’s absence.

The seven previous Destruction Sejuns had been completely purified and transformed into seven drops of the immature Creator’s Tears.

“Here you go.”

Sejun immediately sent the newly acquired drops to Emilia and received 35 drops of the Elixir of Grand Growth in return.

Gulp.

He drank all 35 drops in one go, raising the levels of his Farming Tool Mastery, Slash-and-Burn, and Crop Miniaturization skills by one.

Finishing up his work, Sejun returned to the Black Tower.

–Big Brother!

Ace greeted him.

–Big Brother! Here’s the harvest from early this morning!

Ace proudly presented blue crops.

“Oh, right, it was a Blue Moon last night.”

They were crops harvested during the Blue Moon.

–Please cook something with these, Big Brother!

Ace looked up at Sejun, eyes full of excitement. Crops harvested during the Blue Moon had a uniquely enhanced flavor.

“Alright.”

Time to show what I can do!

Sejun, eager to meet Ace’s high expectations, took the crops to the kitchen and began cooking.

A short while later,

–Oh! Sejun, when did you arrive?!

–Sejun, you seem so busy lately. Take it easy.

The members of the Four Dragons Club quietly sat at the dining table, eager to try Sejun’s cooking.

Then,

–Hohoho. Hello, Sejun.

–Sejun, how have you been?

Even the dragons of the Five Dragons Association, who usually ignored the Four Dragons Club, greeted Sejun and sat across from them.

Glare.

The dragons, seated at the table, exchanged icy glares.

At that moment,

–Sejun, are you doing well at the Blue Tower? If anything bothers you, just let me know.

The Great Blue Dragon Kin spoke to Sejun, attempting to flaunt his close relationship with him.

“Yes. I think I’ll need to head back tomorrow morning. The Creator God informed me of the monument’s location, so I need to find it.”

–Oh! Our Sejun even converses with the Creator God? Truly remarkable!

–Wait! While it’s true that Sejun is impressive, what do you mean “our Sejun”? Kin, Sejun is my grandson-in-law!

–Indeed! And he’s a sworn brother to Ajax!

–Yes! Only we have the right to call him “our Sejun”!

–That’s right!

The Four Dragons Club dragons insisted that only they could call him “our Sejun,” aiming their words at the Five Dragons Association.

–What?! He isn’t married yet, so how is he a son-in-law?! Sejun, how about meeting our Ophelia?!

–And there’s our Silvia, too!

The Five Dragons Association dragons began making proposals to deepen their connection with Sejun.

But,

“No, I’m fully devoted to Eilin.”

Contrary to his usual indecisiveness, Sejun firmly declined such proposals.

He showed no hesitation or awkwardness in refusing.

Khehehe. That’s our Sejun! I knew he’d stay true!

They breathed a sigh of relief. If Sejun had even pretended to hesitate…

My friends, thank you.

Sejun raised his glass toward the stars, shining particularly brightly tonight, expressing his gratitude.