NoveLight ™
<Epithet: Accomplice to Talent Slayer>
Effect:
When the Talent Slayer eliminates a talent burdened by evil karma, all stats increase by 10. If the eliminated talent is connected to other talents, they are strengthened.
If the talent is reformed instead, the stat increase is even greater.
Evil karma?
Reformation?
“Is that even possible?”
How?
How can you kill or reform a talent when you can neither see nor touch it?
Of course, this wasn’t really Sejun’s problem.
“Puhuhut. The great hybrid Chairman Park, I, Vice Chairman Theo, put that insolent talent in its place, meow!”
Theo would handle it.
“Good job.”
“Puhuhut. I, Vice Chairman Theo, always do great things, meow!”
“Kwiit kwiit kwiit. That’s right! Theo-nim is amazing at everything!”
“Puhuhut.”
Theo, puffed up with pride from Sejun’s compliment, swelled even more at Iona’s praise.
“Vice Chairman Theo, by the way, what effect does your new epithet have?”
“Puhuhut. Every time I eliminate a talent, all my stats increase by 1,000, and related talents are strengthened, meow!”
Wow. Seriously, system? He’s the slayer, and I’m the accomplice?!
“Why do I only get 10 per elimination...?”
System 371 had forcibly linked Sejun to the event, giving him crumbs of rewards, but Sejun didn’t know that.
After cursing the system under his breath, Sejun turned his thoughts to Yuren.
What’s going to happen to him?
“Uhehe. That was exhausting.”
Sejun looked sympathetically at Yuren, who had collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.
Yuren’s role had always been "an unfortunate, wealthy, gullible pig," but with both misfortune and wealth gone, he was now just a gullible pig.
Still, at least the wealth and gullibility hadn’t disappeared entirely—otherwise, he’d be nothing but an unfortunate pig. Heh.
As Sejun vacillated between pity and amusement:
“Huh?!”
He noticed a pickpocket rabbit targeting Yuren’s pocket in the commotion. Even without Hand of Midas, Yuren was still plagued by misfortune.
Sejun had a sudden realization.
Was misfortune just his default?
Until now, Sejun had blamed Hand of Midas for Yuren’s bad luck, but the talent had only been a contributing factor.
Yuren had been born a naturally unfortunate pig.
Thinking back, even before awakening his talent, Yuren had been scammed far too often, no matter how naive he was.
“So, it was just misfortune all along.”
With his talent gone, Yuren could no longer use it as an excuse. He was truly the king of bad luck now.
“Mohehe. So tasty.”
Poyo, happily licking Yuren, seemed to confirm Sejun’s thoughts.
So nothing’s really changed, huh?
Unlucky, still inheriting the Damon family’s wealth, and still gullible.
“Yuren, congratulations.”
When Sejun congratulated Yuren on maintaining his position, Yuren responded:
“Uhehe. Thank you. But for what?”
Grinning foolishly, he asked, “Why are you congratulating me?”
It seemed Yuren hadn’t realized his talent was gone. Not that it mattered either way.
“It’s just... something.”
“Uhehe. Okay.”
While Sejun and Yuren chatted:
Beep!
["Let go of me!"]
“Puhuhut. Just hold still and accept the stamp, meow!”
Theo had caught the pickpocket rabbit and was stamping it.
Beak?!
["Boss, where did you catch that one?!"]
Black Moonbok, shocked to see the pickpocket, rushed over to Theo.
“Puhuhut. It was trying to pick Yuren’s pocket just now, meow!”
Beak! Beak!
["Boss, please hand it over to me! This rascal has been causing chaos in the Red Ribbon Kingdom lately."]
“Puhuhut. Alright, meow! But now that it’s a Sejun Company employee, no killing it, meow!”
Beak! Beak!
["Understood! Also, here’s a certificate stating you can claim a bounty at any of the three major associations."]
Black Moonbok handed over proof of a 10-billion Tower Coin bounty.
Theo and Yuren’s synergy was fantastic.
Everything was falling back into place.
Except...
“Huh?!”
What’s going on?
Sejun noticed the odd tension between Pochi and Lara, watching uncomfortably.
Pochi is supposed to be the top solo member! I have to protect the Solo Squad!
In Sejun’s eyes, this was disrupting the natural order.
Beep.
["Mr. Pochi, thank you for saving me."]
Lara, blushing from Pochi’s impressive swordsmanship, expressed her gratitude.
In response:
Kwek!
["Miss Lara, if you’re this thankful, how about marrying me?!"]
Pochi wasted no time and proposed on the spot.
Beep!
["You lunatic...!"]
The mood shifted exactly as Sejun had hoped.
Three hundred years as a solo warrior, and it seemed Pochi wasn’t ready for a warm spring breeze in his life just yet.
Later:
“Well, we’re busy, so we’ll be heading out.”
Sejun and his group moved on to the 99th floor of the Tower.
“Uhehe. Then I’ll go find another restaurant.”
Yuren attempted to head to a different eatery, but:
Piyot!
["Yuren-nim, have some shame and leave already!"]
“Mohehehe. Yuren-nim, even I think this is too much.”
Piyot and Poyo dragged Yuren off, forcing him to depart the floor.
On the way to their next destination:
Next time someone acts out of line, I’ll just send Yuren there.
Sejun, realizing Yuren’s potential as a strategic weapon, chuckled mischievously.
“Meow! Chairman Park, your face looks seriously rotten, meow!”
Theo, noticing Sejun’s expression, began kneading his face urgently.
Kkuhehehe. Kkuengk!
["Hehe. Queng will help fix Dad’s face too!"]
Kkihit! Kking!
["Hihi! The great Kamangi will lend a hand!"]
Queng and the Kamangi family joined in, turning face-kneading into a game.
“...”
Sejun quietly let them do as they pleased, while the savory aroma of his face filled the air.
[You have arrived at the Green Tower, 99th Floor.]
Green Tower, 99th Floor
Clank.
As soon as Sejun arrived at the 99th floor of the Green Tower, he hurriedly opened his subspace warehouse.
“Puhuhut. Chairman Park, I’ve missed you, meow!”
Theo dashed out and latched onto Sejun’s knee, activating his talent: Energy Absorber, in full swing.
Kkuengk!
Kkihit!
Next, Queng and the Kamangi family emerged, and Sejun welcomed them all.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been here. Let’s check on the shop and see how it’s doing.”
“Puhuhut. Sounds good, meow!”
Together, Sejun and his companions headed to the marketplace run by the Ururu tribe.
And then:
“Wow.”
They discovered a massive market district.
Originally, Sejun’s shop had been a single building, but now dozens of additional structures had been built on either side, where the Ururu tribe was selling Sejun’s crops.
The crops had been shipped as part of a deal with Ophelia—alongside the snacks Sejun sent her, he included surplus crops. Ophelia had then delivered them to the first floor of the Green Tower.
Even the bosses of the 99th, 98th, and 97th floors—Agni, Cerberus, and Egel—were still working diligently.
Wait, are they even getting paid for this?
Sejun suddenly realized he’d never discussed wages with them.
“Vice Chairman Theo, do they get paid?”
“Puhuhut. They don’t, meow! I haven’t stamped them, so they aren’t Sejun Company employees, meow!”
“Really?”
Even so, they should be paid. I’ll have to ask Ophelia to handle that.
“Ophelia—”
Before Sejun could summon her:
“Dad! Chairman Park is here!”
“Vice Chairman Theo is here too!”
The Ururu tribe’s children, who had been playing in the marketplace, spotted Sejun and the others. They hurried to inform their parents.
“Chairman Park, welcome!”
“Vice Chairman Theo, welcome!”
The Ururu tribe members came rushing out to greet them.
And then:
“Sejun-nim, I want to join Sejun Company as a full-time employee!”
“Please hire me!”
“I want to work for Sejun Company too!”
Even Agni, Cerberus, and Egel came running, pleading to become full-time employees of Sejun Company.
Recently, all the hot news about the Green Tower had been spreading through the company’s full-time employee network. They wanted access to that network and its benefits.
“Guys, any updates from the 78th floor?”
“Ugh, so bothersome…”
“Come on. You know doing good deeds leads to gifts from Santa Sejun, right?”
“But we’ve already done plenty of good deeds.”
“Hey, the more good deeds you do, the better. I’ll even throw in some roasted corn.”
Sejun decided he’d had enough of coaxing information out of the Ururu tribe kids with scoldings.
“Puhuhut. Excellent, meow! Talented individuals like you are always welcome at Sejun Company, meow!”
Stamp. Stamp. Stamp.
With that, the three bosses received Theo’s stamp and officially became full-time employees of Sejun Company.
Oh! So this is the full-time employee network?!
Hahaha! Greetings, Green Tower full-time employees!
Hohoho! With this, I can learn everything about the Tower without lifting a finger!
They quickly began enjoying the benefits of the network, which included access to Tower-wide information and a salary.
After wrapping up at the marketplace, Sejun used a private passageway to place his hand on a green portal.
[There are three locations you can travel to.]
[Please select your destination.]
Two options appeared.
“Migros.”
When Sejun selected Migros, the system began calculating the travel cost.
“31 trillion?”
That’s higher than I expected.
It was slightly above his anticipated 30 trillion, a result of Sejun and his companions growing stronger in the interim.
Of course, Sejun wasn’t worried. The cost would be covered by Brachio Iolg, the administrator of the Green Tower and leader of the Great Green Dragons.
[Traveling to <Migros>.]
Sejun and his group stepped into the portal and left the Tower.
Temple of the Creator God
“My second apostle, Amur.”
“Yes, Creator God?”
“When will Sejun arrive?”
The Creator God asked Amur. A portal scroll had been given to him, but there was still no sign of Sejun.
Should I go look for him again?
Visiting Sejun’s dreams consumed a lot of power, but it might be necessary. The situation was urgent.
“He should’ve arrived long ago, but…”
“Did you attach any strange conditions to the portal scroll?”
“Of course not! I made it as easy as possible—he only needs 50,000 pure mana to activate it!”
What?!
The Creator God’s expression darkened upon realizing that Amur had required 50,000 pure mana from Sejun, who couldn’t possibly meet that condition.
“…Amur, I think you need to head over there now.”
“Pardon? I didn’t quite catch that.”
“Don’t play dumb! Get to the Wastelands of Destruction right now!”
“But I just went there yesterday…”
“Go. Now.”
“Yes…”
Reluctantly, Amur left for the Wastelands of Destruction, with Emila glaring daggers at him.
Two hours later:
“Huff… huff…”
Both returned, drenched in blood and utterly exhausted.
<Migros>
When Sejun arrived at Migros, he immediately surveyed the surroundings.
“What?!”
There’s no ground!
Realizing he was falling, Sejun panicked.
Kkuengk!
Queng quickly used telekinesis to halt their fall.
“What… is this place?”
Sejun looked around to find enormous whales swimming through the sky.
This was a world without land, where only the sky existed.
“Alright, let’s find the disaster first.”
At Sejun’s command, the group began searching for the source of the disaster.
“Kwiit kwiit kwiit. I found it!”
Iona located the disaster’s position.
And then:
“Kwiit kwiit kwiit. Gravity’s might… Meteor!”
Iona immediately summoned meteors, obliterating the disaster. Repeatedly.
Shortly after:
“It’s done?”
With Iona’s relentless meteor barrage, the disaster in Migros was eradicated.
“Let’s move on.”
Sejun prepared to leave right away.
But:
“Meow?! Chairman Park, I want to try that super-giant grilled fish, meow!”
Theo, drooling as he gazed at the massive sky whales, made his desire clear.
To be fair, considering their size, it was understandable.
Sejun understood Theo’s temptation. Still, it wasn’t right.
They can talk, after all.
“Theo, do you want a super-giant grilled fish or exclusive lap privileges for a day?”
Sejun gave Theo a choice between the fish and spending a day monopolizing his lap.
“Puhuhut. Of course, I’ll choose the exclusive lap privileges of the great hybrid Chairman Park, meow!”
With that, Theo chose Sejun’s lap over the sky whale.
“Fuhuhut.”
Sejun couldn’t help but feel smug about Theo’s decision.