Chapter 78 of 100
Chapter 78. Discovering a Trace
8 min read1,911 words
Chapter 78. Discovering a Trace
[You have arrived at the 99th floor of the tower.]
"It's home!"
When Sejun, who had returned from the 75th floor of the tower, raised his arms and shouted,
Squish!
Gweung!
Black Rabbit and Gweung also shouted, following Sejun. Although they had only been away for three days, they were very happy to be back home.
Gweung?
Gweung asked Sejun what to do with the rock he was holding. He seemed eager to put it down quickly and go to his mother.
"Just leave it there."
Gweung!
Thud!
Following Sejun's words, Gweung immediately threw the rock aside and
Gweeeng!
ran towards his mother, the Crimson Giant Bear.
Squish!
Black Rabbit also ran to his family to let them know he had returned.
"Let's plant the pineapples first."
Sejun, who was left alone, took out 12 pineapple tops from his bag and planted them in the field. Then he looked at the corrupted Ent's reinforced seed, which was left alone in the corner of the bag.
[Corrupted Ent's Reinforced Seed (Purification Rate 50%)]
'If it receives the Flame of Purification one more time, it will be completely purified.'
While Sejun was looking at the seed,
Flap. Flap.
A black dragon statue flew over.
-Kukukuku. Park Sejun, you're incompetent for not being able to appraise items!
Kaiser, seeing the unappraised rock, said with a triumphant voice.
-Kukukuku. The great black dragon, Kaiser Pretania, will appraise it for you.
Without being asked, Kaiser took the lead, wanting to show his greatness. He also wanted to appear as a cool grandfather to Eilin, who was surely watching Sejun through the crystal ball.
As the black dragon statue sat on the rock,
Flash.
A strong light exploded from the rock.
Flash.
The light exploded again.
At that moment,
[The tower's manager is upset that Grandfather took the initiative to appraise the item before he could.]
[The tower's manager says he won't talk to Grandfather anymore and asks you to convey his message to Grandfather.]
Eilin, who had her chance to shine taken away, was upset with Kaiser.
"Lord Kaiser, Eilin says she won't talk to Grandfather anymore."
-...What?! Eilin! Let's talk, Eilin~!
While Kaiser desperately called out to Eilin, Sejun checked the options of the appraised rock.
[Fragment of a Sacred Stele]
This is the ninth fragment of a sacred stele.
It emits a holy power that benefits the surroundings.
The holy power becomes stronger as more fragments are collected.
Grade: S
"Holy power that benefits the surroundings?"
He closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, but didn't feel much. The item's options didn't seem impressive compared to its grade.
"Still, it's an S-grade item."
Sejun was satisfied with having an S-grade item in his front yard.
He then looked around the farm to see if anything special had happened while he was away.
"Huh?"
Sejun saw something he hadn't seen before. A wooden trough, cut in half and hollowed out, connected from the fountain to the field.
The fountain was 1 meter high, so the water in the wooden trough flowed from the fountain to the field along the slope.
"Oh! Did the gray rabbits make a water channel?"
Even when he wasn't around, everyone was doing well. Sejun walked around the field, letting the animals know he had returned, and then went down to the cave to check the stored crops.
"Flame! I'm here!"
When Sejun called Flame, who was basking in the warm sunlight in the center of the cave,
[Master! Welcome back!]
Flame greeted Sejun with a spirited voice.
"Did you do well?"
[Yes! Master, but what's new outside? I've been feeling a warm energy since a little while ago, and it's making me feel powerful and happy!]
It seemed the S-grade stele was having an effect.
[Oh! I'm happy to see you, Master, but the warm energy is making me even happier! Seeing you makes me much happier!]
Flame emphasized that he was happy to see Sejun, in case Sejun misunderstood.
"Sure."
Sejun stroked Flame's leaves. It was impossible not to be pleased with such a sweet response.
After talking with Flame, Sejun checked the stored crops and went to bed early.
***
In front of the portal connecting to the Black Tower.
"Hmm..."
Kaiser sat at the table with a serious expression, resting his chin on his hand, lost in thought.
'Is he fighting with Eilin again?'
Anton, who had gone out to take care of some business and just returned, saw Kaiser's serious expression and thought.
"Lord, what's the matter?"
It didn't seem like a big deal, but he asked just in case.
"Son, I found a trace of the Creator God."
"Wh-What?!"
Anton, who usually didn't show much emotion, broke his poker face at Kaiser's unexpected response.
"Kukukuku. I knew it. I was really surprised at first too."
Kaiser laughed, seeing Anton's flustered face.
"Where? Where was the trace of the Creator God found?"
Anton asked excitedly. The Creator God was the being who created the tower they managed. The dragons had been searching for the Creator God's traces for over 3000 years.
3000 years ago.
"Find my traces and rebuild the world."
The Creator God left these words and completely disappeared from the world. As a result, their world was destroyed. Or rather, many worlds were destroyed.
They wanted to know why the Creator God created the tower and why he entrusted them with its management.
"The trace of the Creator God came from the Black Tower we manage."
"Wh-What?!"
"The fragment of a stele that Park Sejun found in the lake on the 75th floor of the tower."
"From the tower?!"
Anton was flustered by Kaiser's words. They had been searching hard outside for the Creator God's traces, but they were inside the tower?
It was really dark under the lamp.
"What was written on the stele?"
"Nothing. It was just a fragment."
"Nothing?"
"The fragment was the end part, so there was nothing written on it."
"Oh...Oh! Is Park Sejun safe?"
Anton asked urgently. The trace of the Creator God could harm ordinary beings just by being near it.
Sejun was the one who could help Eilin with her dragon heart treatment. There shouldn't be any problems with Sejun's well-being.
"Kukukuku. Who am I?! I am the head of the great black dragon clan, Kaiser Pretania. I..."
Kaiser began to tell the story of how he appraised the rock Sejun brought.
"When I appraised it, I could feel the Creator God's holy power stirring inside the rock."
"And then?"
Anton asked, swallowing hard.
"The moment the seal on the rock was broken, I thought Sejun and the others nearby would die. So I quickly resealed it with a fancy name. How about that? My quick thinking? Kukukuku!"
Kaiser said, looking proud.
"Phew. Well done."
Anton said, relieved. He didn't like Kaiser's proud look, but he had to admit it.
Re-sealing an item containing the Creator God's holy power was not an easy task. If it weren't for Kaiser, it could have been a disaster.
"Son, there's something more important than that."
"What is it?"
"Our Eilin doesn't want to talk to me. Can you help mediate?"
Kaiser, with his immense power, found it almost impossible to resolve his granddaughter's anger.
And
"I'm busy..."
It was the same for Anton.
***
2nd Floor of the Tower.
The land, which was once a barren wasteland, had turned green, covering more than 1000 square meters.
People were walking between the fields, each 100 square meters.
"Welcome to Gagel's Experience Farm."
A Gagel guide welcomed the hunters.
"Really, just cutting this will give experience like a monster?"
A male hunter in his mid-teens, armed with high-end equipment, asked, looking at the wriggling cherry tomatoes.
The man had paid 100 million to use the experience farm and came here.
"Of course. This is a plant-type monster that Gagel found by chance. Thanks to our researchers, we can now grow it in large quantities."
Gagel didn't want people to have a bad impression if they called it a mutant, so they even lied to their employees, calling it a plant-type monster found in the tower.
"Mr. David, try cutting one."
The guide pointed to the base of a cherry tomato and said to David.
Squish.
David cut the base of the cherry tomato with his sword, and it was easily severed.
[Defeated a contaminated cherry tomato.]
[Obtained 33 experience points.]
He gained experience points.
"Oh! Really?"
"Of course. Now, experience why this is called an experience farm."
The guide handed David a torch.
"Just burn them all."
"Great!"
Whoosh.
Following the guide's words, David started burning the contaminated cherry tomatoes with a bright smile.
Burning all 100 square meters would yield approximately 5,000 to 7,000 experience points.
Gagel charges 100 million for the experience gained from 100 square meters of the farm, but wealthy hunters who want to gain experience safely and quickly are waiting in line to use Gagel's experience farm.
"How long does it take for the crops to grow back?"
"About a month should be enough."
"Thomas, increase the farm's size by 100 times."
"Yes!"
Michael gave Thomas the order while watching the field burn.
***
"Ah!"
Sejun opened his eyes and got up. He felt very refreshed, having slept well for the first time in a while.
Squish!
Hearing Sejun get up, Black Rabbit came out of the wooden box house and greeted him.
"Sure. Good morning."
Sejun wrote on the bedroom wall with a stick after getting up.
[250]
It was the 250th day of being stranded. He planned to mark the days on the wall of the brick house from now on.
"Let's go out."
As Sejun and Black Rabbit went outside, the rabbits were gradually coming out of the cave and onto the ground.
Squeak!
Squeak!
Squeak!
"Sure. Good morning."
Sejun greeted the rabbits.
Breakfast was solved with Chef's soup, which had been simmering for 24 hours, and steamed potatoes.
As Sejun walked to the field to harvest the cherry tomatoes,
Squeak!
Squeak!
He heard the cheerful screams of the rabbits behind him, and they quickly passed him, riding on wooden boats.
Splash!
The water splashed on Sejun as the rabbits' boat passed by.
"Huh?!"
Is that...hydro slide?!
The field had become so large that the rabbits were using boats on the water channels to save time moving to the field.
"Jealous!"
He was very jealous. I want to...no, I need a mode of transportation!
Gweung?
Gweung wasn't the only one envious of the rabbits' mode of transportation.
Gweung!
Gweung shouted, watching the rabbits ride the wooden boats. I want to ride too!
Gweung!
Gweung climbed up to the fountain with a wooden plank and boldly laid it on the water channel.
But
Snap.
The pillars of the water channel, which were not designed to support Gweung's weight, snapped like twigs, and
Crash!
a major accident occurred as the wooden trough collapsed with Gweung.
Gweeeng...
Gweung, who fell with the wooden trough, looked at the broken water channel with a bewildered expression.
Snap.
"It's okay."
Sejun placed his hand on Gweung's head to comfort him.
Gweeeng...
[I want to ride a boat too...]
"Don't worry. I'll take you."
Thanks to Gweung, Sejun had a reason to rebuild the water channel.
"Everyone, gather!"
Sejun called the gray rabbits and the Black Minotaur to start a major construction project to build a sturdy water channel.