Chapter 53 of 100
Chapter 53: Making Mud Bricks
8 min read1,928 words
Chapter 53: Making Mud Bricks
On the 67th floor of the tower, the surroundings were a swamp.
Thud. Thud.
Splash.
A Lizardman hunter hit the head of a giant frog, about 1 meter in size, with an arrow.
Croak.
The Lizardman hunter, who had successfully hunted a large prey after a long time, laughed happily. From the 61st to the 70th floor of the tower, it was the territory of the Lizardmen, who lived by catching and eating giant frogs and snakes from the swamp.
Then,
Crunch.
A red locust about 20 cm in size landed on the body of the frog the Lizardman hunter had hunted.
And,
Crunch. Crunch.
The red locust began to eat the frog's skin, cutting it like scissors with its large jaws.
Croak!
When the Lizardman hunter saw the locust eating his prey, he ran over and killed the red locust with a dagger.
And,
Crunch. Crunch.
The Lizardman hunter tasted one of the red locust's legs to see if it was edible.
Croak.
Finding it surprisingly tasty, the Lizardman hunter laughed happily.
Meanwhile,
Crunch. Crunch.
More red locusts flew over and started eating the giant frog and the body of their kin.
The red locusts were so focused on eating that they didn't notice the Lizardman hunter, who easily hunted them.
But,
Crunch. Crunch.
More red locusts flew in to eat the frog and the bodies of their kin, and their numbers swelled to hundreds.
Croak...
Feeling fear as the number of red locusts increased, the Lizardman hunter tried to return home when the sky turned red.
Croak?
The Lizardman hunter, sensing something strange, looked up to see swarms of red locusts flying in the sky, so many that the sun was obscured.
Then,
Crunch. Crunch.
About 100,000 red locusts from the swarm flew toward the swamp where the Lizardman hunter was.
And after a while, nothing was left there.
***
The Black Rabbit prepared a meal as usual, catching piranhas and crayfish in a net and lifting them up.
Today, at Kuengi's request, the Black Rabbit showed his authority by moving the eel meat several times in the net, as Kuengi wanted to eat eels to her heart's content.
While descending the stream again,
Boom.
A small vibration and a sound occurred.
Huh?
The Black Rabbit looked at the source of the sound.
What? What's that?
A green light flowed out and disappeared from the gap between the giant electric eel and the wall.
Curious, the Black Rabbit started cutting the eel's body blocking the wall where the green light was flowing out.
And,
Squish. Squish.
As the harpoon cut the opposite side of the giant electric eel's skin, creating a hole,
Whoosh.
Green light flowed in through the hole.
Then,
Boom.
Huh!
The calm water flow suddenly became fierce, and the Black Rabbit was sucked into the hole in the eel's body.
But,
Splash.
The Black Rabbit's legs got tangled in the net. It was really fortunate; otherwise, the Black Rabbit would have been swept away by the stream instantly.
The Black Rabbit, confirming his safety, looked closely at the source of the green light.
What?!
Behind where the giant electric eel had blocked, there was an underwater cave. The green light was flowing out from beyond the underwater cave.
After a while, as the water flow stopped and the green light disappeared, the Black Rabbit pulled the rope twice.
***
"Black Rabbit!"
Sejun pulled the rope, lifting the Black Rabbit and the net. He was worried because of the strong force he had used to pull the rope earlier.
Sejun quickly untied the Black Rabbit's legs from the net and carefully placed the Black Rabbit on his palms.
Huh...
[There's a cave connecting to another place below...]
The Black Rabbit, exhausted, said while in Sejun's hands.
"A cave?"
Huh. Huh.
[Yes, a green-lit underwater cave.]
"Green-lit underwater cave? Aileen, do you know anything about it?"
Sejun asked Aileen, the tower's manager.
[The tower's manager says it's a passage connecting to the Sea of Dimensions.]
"Sea of Dimensions?"
[The tower's manager says the tower is connected through the Sea of Dimensions.]
[The tower's manager says there are very scary underwater monsters in the Sea of Dimensions.]
[The tower's manager says if the Black Rabbit had been swept into the Sea of Dimensions, he would have lost his life.]
"Is that so?"
Sejun was relieved that the Black Rabbit had returned safely.
They ate the seafood the Black Rabbit had risked his life to bring back for lunch.
Kueng!
Kuengi ate the eel meat whole, chewing it. Thanks, bro!
Huh!
The Black Rabbit gave a cool thumbs-up. I told you to trust me.
Even though he had almost died just now, the Black Rabbit valued his authority more.
After lunch, the Black Rabbit, Kuengi, and Sejun took a break and practiced making dark clouds.
When they came down to harvest the cave tomatoes,
"Hey?!"
Splash. Splash.
The pond was teeming with underwater monsters. The giant electric eel's body, which had blocked the underwater cave, had disappeared, allowing the water to flow properly and bringing in monsters from the Sea of Dimensions.
Huh!
The Black Rabbit, excited by the appearance of piranhas that would provide experience and protein, jumped into the pond.
And,
"Hey, you...nice to meet you!!!"
A new monster had also entered the pond. It had a rocket-like pointed end, a long body as thick as an arm, and ten legs.
Nice, Black Rabbit! Sejun also rushed into the pond and hunted the new monster.
[Squid defeated.]
[3 experience points gained.]
Today's lunch is squid sashimi and stir-fried squid!
Sejun thought that perhaps the very scary underwater monsters might mean even more delicious food. He became interested in the Sea of Dimensions, a sea filled with all kinds of rare and delicious fish.
But,
"It's too difficult for now."
To venture into the Sea of Dimensions, thorough preparation was necessary. Sejun focused on hunting squids, planning to do it later.
***
[New notification.]
"Kreeng?"
Sejun, who had been monitoring in case he went to the Sea of Dimensions, pressed the ominous red notification that appeared on the crystal ball screen.
[5.312813712 billion red locusts have invaded the 67th floor of the tower.]
"Red locusts?!"
Aileen was greatly surprised by the alarm. The last time locusts invaded the tower was almost 100 years ago, and at that time, her grandfather had dealt with it since Aileen couldn't leave the manager's room.
"What should I do?"
Aileen couldn't open the passages connecting the tower to the outside.
While Aileen was in a dilemma,
[0.01% of the 67th floor has been devastated by red locusts.]
...
..
.
[1.2% of the 67th floor has been devastated by red locusts.]
The alarms appeared rapidly. The red locusts invading the 67th floor were devouring everything alive.
***
Day 218 of the ordeal.
"If only we had some gochujang or mayonnaise."
Chew. Chew.
Sejun, chewing on the semi-dried squid, said regretfully.
Since the underwater cave connecting to the Sea of Dimensions had opened, the pond was teeming with piranhas and squids.
Sejun had caught the squids and skewered them with leaves to make semi-dried squid. A new snack had been added after the sweet potato jerky.
"How is it?"
Sejun asked the Architect Rabbit, who was examining the sticky mud. Sejun was currently touring the Black Minotaur territory with the Black Rabbit and the Architect Rabbit.
Beep!
The Architect Rabbit nodded. This is enough!
The reason Sejun came to the Black Minotaur territory despite his busy farming schedule was for the mud.
Sejun had thought about making mud bricks when he saw the mud here before, and with the Architect Rabbit's help, he decided to start making mud bricks seriously.
"Good."
Sejun filled the brick mold made by the Woodcraft Rabbit with mud. The wood was obtained from his mother, the Crimson Giant Bear.
When Sejun asked his mother for wood, she brought two trees almost as thick as Sejun's body the next day. Although the inside of the trees was dark red like blood, the gray rabbits said it was good wood.
Squish.
Sejun filled the mold with mud and smoothed it out with his hands.
When he removed the mold,
Squish.
The mud maintained its shape, forming a neat mud brick. Now, he just needed to dry the mud bricks until they hardened. The mud bricks were made so easily.
"Shall we make about 100,000 first?"
Sejun casually mentioned a number that would take several days of hard work. It was natural since he wasn't the one making them.
There were plenty of idle laborers around, rolling mud in their mouths, so there was no need for him to do it himself.
Sejun made a new deal with Uma-oh and the leaves to receive a supply of mud bricks. The large brick molds for the Black Minotaurs were already prepared, and he planned to send them with the Black Minotaurs returning today.
"What should we build first?"
Sejun, like playing Minecraft, happily imagined what to build with the bricks as he returned to the cave.
When he was about to start the afternoon work after having grilled fish and stir-fried squid for lunch,
"Ah!"
Sejun remembered he hadn't planted the Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes.
"I need to plant them quickly and harvest the cherry tomatoes."
Sejun went to the storage to collect the Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes he had harvested.
But,
"What? Where did they all go?"
The Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes stored in the storage were all gone.
***
On the rooftop of the Korean Awakened Association building next to the black tower, two muscular men were looking down at Gangnam.
"Hmm. Which forces have made contact with Park Sejun's family?"
Association President Han Tae-joon, puffing on a cigarette, asked his first disciple, Cha Si-hyuk.
"23 countries, including the United States, Japan, and China, are monitoring Park Sejun's family. I quietly dealt with the people from the three countries that attempted kidnappings."
"Good. Is it Kim Dong-sik's shift to guard now?"
"Yes."
"Tell him to stop by me when he's off duty."
Han Tae-joon planned to send Kim Dong-sik to fetch the magic cherry tomatoes.
Eating the magic cherry tomatoes Kim Dong-sik provided increased his mana, making it easier to resist the Curse of Flames, allowing him to move around more freely.
And most importantly, they were delicious.
"Yes."
While talking for about 10 minutes,
Sizzle.
Han Tae-joon's finger burned, forming blisters and scorch marks.
"Ugh! Damn this curse..."
"Master, are you okay?!"
"It's nothing. Let's go inside."
"Yes."
Cha Si-hyuk looked at his master, Han Tae-joon, descending the rooftop with concern. He used to be able to be active outside for about an hour, but now even 20 minutes was difficult.
"There must be a way!"
Cha Si-hyuk resolved to find a way to lift his master's curse.
***
"Why is this here?"
Theo, checking his backpack while riding on Elka's back, had a troubled look when he saw the Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes glowing in his backpack. Sejun had clearly said he would plant the Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes.
They must have been packed in the backpack without thought.
"Mr. Theo, is something wrong?"
"Nothing! There's no problem!"
Elka asked, and Theo quickly answered.
'I can't show any weakness to my subordinates! I am the perfect Mr. Theo!'
While Theo was thinking about how to deal with the Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes, Elka entered the entrance of the merchant passage connecting the 60th and 50th floors.