Chapter 621: So You Think I’m Easy to Handle?!

Temple of the God of Creation

"Another big batch today."

Swish.

Emila poured a handful of glittering, sand-like beads into a container. They were byproducts from the process of converting the immature Creation God’s tears into the Elixir of Great Growth.

The God of Creation himself didn’t know the true nature of these beads, so Emila had been keeping them stored, thinking they might be useful someday.

"Maybe they’ll come in handy eventually."

Just then—

Snap.

The new beads Emila had added fused with the ones already in the container.

"Huh?!"

Emila picked up the fused beads and inspected them closely.

"What is this?"

There wasn’t anything particularly unusual about them, except that they stuck together as if they were a perfect match.

She could separate the two with force, but as soon as she brought them close, they snapped back together like magnets.

Maybe the other beads too?

Emila picked up the container filled with beads and gave it a shake.

Click, click, click.

The beads started to combine with each other.

After a while, when it seemed they had all paired off, Emila looked into the container.

Some beads still hadn’t found a match, but many had combined, forming thin, flat plates. The beads could only combine in two dimensions.

Emila picked up one of the plates for a closer look.

"Is this… a picture?"

Emila noticed there was something drawn on the plate.

But the largest plate was smaller than her palm, with holes scattered across it, making it impossible to tell what the image represented or how large the full picture might be.

The only thing she could make out was the dark, gloomy tone, giving the image an overwhelmingly somber feeling.

Maybe the God of Creation would know more?

"Lord of Creation, take a look at this!"

Emila rushed over to the God of Creation with the container of beads.

And then—

"This… is that child’s memory."

At a glance, the God of Creation recognized the drawing on the plate as a memory of destruction.

From just a handful of beads, he couldn’t have known. It was an enormous memory, constructed from hundreds of billions of pieces.

Clearly, it was both hidden from prying eyes and crafted for someone to see.

"That child always did love puzzles."

Could he still be holding on?

As he thought of the child who used to play puzzle games with him, the God of Creation tried arranging the plates in various ways.

But—

"I have no idea."

He couldn’t even guess what memory it might be.

What happened to you, I wonder?

The God of Creation stared sadly at the empty spaces among the beads.

The gaps felt as vast and distant as the separation between him and Destruction, yet full of so many memories.

Black Tower, 99th Floor

"Alright, everyone, keep the place safe."

Bzzz!

Squeak!

In response to Sejun’s instructions, the poison bees and mushroom ants buzzed with determination, pledging to guard the place.

Moo!

The black minotaurs joined in too.

It was highly unlikely that anyone would dare to rob the 99th floor of the tower, but Sejun had always been taught to lock things down before heading out.

Just then—

[The Tower’s administrator reassures you in a solemn voice that she will keep a close watch, so you needn’t worry.]

Aileen answered Sejun.

"Alright. I’m counting on you, Aileen."

Sejun exchanged farewells with Aileen and moved to the waypoint with his companions.

[Arrived on the 99th floor of the Silver Tower.]

"Lord Sejun, welcome!"

Having been informed by Crisela of Sejun’s visit, the boss of the 99th floor of the Silver Tower, the Giant Silver Monkey Darius, greeted him with enthusiasm.

"Hello."

Sejun exchanged greetings with Darius.

"Alright, let’s go."

He moved on to the 82nd floor of the tower.

Yesterday, while gathering information on how to weaken the Silver Tower’s winds—

[Me! I know something!]

Posei claimed to know something.

[Arrived on the 82nd floor of the Silver Tower.]

Upon Sejun’s arrival—

[Lord Sejun, welcome!]

One of Posei’s massive vines swayed in greeting, while the Silver Tower residents around him were busily picking grapes from Posei’s vines.

Posei was still following Sejun’s policy of giving three grapes for every thousand bunches harvested.

"You’ve been doing well, Posei?"

[Yes! I’ve been… uh… miserable without Lord Sejun!]

Posei, on the verge of mentioning the Flame, hurriedly changed his words.

"Hehehe, no need to be that miserable."

Sejun’s spirits lifted from Posei’s comment, and he scratched his head.

"Haha! Chairman Park, got an itch? You must wash up properly! Where? I, Vice President Theo, will give you a special grooming service, meow!"

Theo quickly hopped up and began licking Sejun’s hair.

"Hey! Get off! I already washed my hair today!"

"Meow! Trust me, I can do it well, meow!"

Despite Theo’s persistence, he didn’t manage much before Sejun shooed him away.

Posei, now free from trouble, began explaining what he knew.

[I overheard from some of the staff that there’s a storm that appears and vanishes suddenly!]

"A storm?"

[Yes! Every time it appears, it’s strong enough to devastate the surroundings. If we get rid of that storm, maybe we can weaken the Silver Tower’s winds!]

Posei’s idea sounded quite plausible.

Plus—

Hehehe. These grapes are delicious!

[Really? Have as many as you like, Lord Kuengi!]

Over here was Kuengi, who wielded the power of storms.

Hehe. A storm is no problem.

"So, do I just wait for the storm to appear?"

Sejun was contemplating how to deal with the storm when—

"Greetings! I am Charlie of the Silver Tower!"

A silver-furred weasel appeared.

‘Since he’ll be working for me eventually, I’d better make a good impression.’

Charlie approached eagerly, aiming to join as an official employee.

But—

"Nice to meet you, Charlie. I’m Park Sejun."

"It’s Charlie, not Charlie! Please don’t change my name!"

He couldn’t stand anyone altering his name.

"How dare you raise your voice to our great Hybrid Chairman Park?! Unforgivable! Admit your wrongdoing and come receive your stamp, meow!"

"But… it was just because Lord Sejun—"

"Hiss!"

"Fine…"

Thud.

And so, Charlie became an official employee, albeit reluctantly.

"Haha! Charlie, if you have money, hand it over to me, meow!"

"It’s Charlie, not Char—"

"Hiss!"

"Yes…"

In no time, Charlie was off to fetch his savings.

Meanwhile—

"If I play this right, we might complete two of the Great Accomplishments."

Sejun, while waiting for the storm, began planning how to fulfill other conditions for the Silver Tower.

Previously, he had achieved a Great Accomplishment by leading a million employees and feeding them all to satisfaction.

With his current 1.7 million employees, he only needed 300,000 more to reach the next milestone.

And here, many residents wanted to join Sejun Company.

He could achieve the Great Accomplishment quickly.

"Vice President Theo, let’s start hiring."

"Haha! Understood, meow! From now, Sejun Company is hiring! Come and get your stamp, meow!"

Excited by Sejun’s instruction, Theo shouted.

"What?! They’re hiring at Sejun Company?"

"Does that mean I can finally eat as many grapes as I want?!"

The Silver Tower residents, busy harvesting Posei’s grapes, quickly lined up in front of Theo.

Thud, thud.

One by one, they received their stamp from Theo, becoming temporary employees for a year.

[You have acquired 1 slave.]

[Title <Slave King> effect: All stats increase by 0.01.]

Through this process, Sejun achieved a Great Accomplishment while also raising his stats and hiring more staff, yielding a triple benefit.

"Everyone, gather here to eat. Kuengi, let’s get started."

As Sejun called out while cooking—

"Quack!"

Kuengi distributed the food Sejun had prepared to the employees.

Heehee! Servant, the Great Kamangi will help! I know how to make rice balls!

Kamangi excitedly stomped the rice, trying to shape it into balls, though it was in vain.

"Kamangi, you can eat that for lunch."

[The Great Kamangi didn’t make it to eat it himself...]

Kamangi ended up eating the rice he had stomped.

After a few hours—

"Vice President Theo, I’m back with the money. Here."

Charlie returned with his savings and handed them to Theo.

"Haha! Good work, Char— I mean, Charlie! Now, go help Chairman Park, meow!"

"But my name isn’t Char—"

"Hiss!"

"Yes…"

Charlie resigned to assisting Sejun with food distribution.

The supply rate increased thanks to his help.

"Thank you for your help, Charlie."

"Sure…"

Charlie decided to let go of his name correction efforts.

The following afternoon—

[You have achieved a Great Accomplishment by leading 2 million slaves.]

And two days later, late at night—

[You have achieved a Great Accomplishment by feeding 2 million people to satisfaction.]

Both Great Accomplishments were completed.

As a reward, Sejun’s titles, <Slave King> and <Saint of the Well-Fed>, doubled in effect.

In addition, Sejun’s stats increased by around 10,000 from the title effects during the process.

Sweet. So sweet.

The effort was exhausting, leaving Sejun feeling a sugary aftertaste in his mouth.

"Alright, everyone, let’s take a break."

When Sejun lay back with a sigh—

"Haha!"

Hehehe.

Heehee.

His companions climbed up onto him one by one, and Charlie, cautiously looking for a spot, curled up beside Sejun.

Too tired to even wash up, they all soon fell asleep.

Snore… Snore…

As they drifted off into a deep, exhausted sleep—

Whoooosh.

A refreshing wind suddenly blew.

And then—

[Lord Sejun, wake up! A storm has appeared!]

Posei urgently woke Sejun.

The storm they had been waiting for had finally arrived.

"Mm… A storm?! Alright, time to catch it. Let’s go, Kuengi!"

Shaking off his sleep, Sejun rubbed his eyes.

Grabbing Kuengi by both sides, he lifted him up and sprinted toward the storm.

Quaaack!

Kuengi, yawning, took up his Thunder Rod and roared toward the storm.

But then—

"Huh?! Hey! Why are you running away?!"

[It’s coming for me!]

The storm crept backward, avoiding Kuengi.

"Stop right there, meow! Let’s catch it and go back to sleep, meow!"

[Stop! Our Lord Sejun needs his sleep!]

Theo and the recently-awakened Betbet joined forces to corner the storm, preventing its escape.

Theo used his <Title: Controller of the Winds> effect, and Betbet countered it with a headwind.

[You’re keeping the Great Kamangi from sleeping! Servant, hurry! I’ll headbutt it!]

Kamangi, furious over his interrupted sleep, barked with anger.

The storm, now surrounded by Sejun’s enraged companions, began to shrink in size.

[The ruthless tyrant Windron, King of Storms, who imprisoned the free spirits of the wind.]

Much like the Purple Tower’s dark Nekma, Windron transformed into a small silver bead.

He was trying to make himself smaller to escape.

But—

Slurp.

-No!!!

Whoosh.

Here was Kuengi, capable of swallowing anything.

Kuengi promptly gulped down Windron.

[You’re all free now!]

Burp.

He burped, releasing the trapped wind spirits.

[Intermediate Herbalist Park Kuengi has defeated the tyrant Windron, King of Storms, who imprisoned the free spirits of the wind.]

[You gain 50% of Intermediate Herbalist Park Kuengi’s experience, totaling 130 billion.]

Simultaneously, a message appeared before Sejun.

[You have acquired the enchanted sword Stormbringer, which lay dormant inside Windron, King of Storms.]

A message also appeared for Kuengi, who had obtained a magic sword.

Stormbringer, despite its title of "magic sword," appeared calm.

"Oh. Kuengi, what’s that?"

Sejun asked, admiring the cool sword in Kuengi’s grip.

[Windron gave it to me when I swallowed him! Here, Dad, you take it!]

"Hehe, thank you. I’ll put it to good use."

With a happy expression, Sejun accepted Stormbringer from Kuengi.

But—

Whir.

When Sejun took it, unlike with Kuengi, Stormbringer exuded a deadly aura, resisting him fiercely.

Oh, so you think I’m easy to handle, huh?!

"Kamangi, discipline it."

[Heehee! Leave it to the Great Kamangi! The Great Kamangi will train it!]

Thud.

Kamangi headbutted the sword’s hilt.

However—

[Sorry… I didn’t mean to destroy it…]

Kamangi’s enthusiasm had gone too far, and Stormbringer’s spirit shattered, leaving it an ordinary sword.

Ah, my Kamangi is no ordinary wolf.

Sejun once again realized that Kamangi was far more dangerous than he appeared.