[You have achieved the feat of making the first spicy and refreshing freshwater shrimp soup in the tower.]

[The recipe for spicy and refreshing freshwater shrimp soup is registered under Cooking Lv. 6.]

[Your proficiency for Cooking Lv. 6 greatly increases.]

[Your proficiency for Cooking Lv. 6 is filled, and the level increases.]

An achievement message appeared as the shrimp soup made with the freshwater shrimp caught by Theo was completed.

“Hehehe. Nice.”

Furthermore, with the message that his cooking level had increased, Sejun smiled contentedly and took a spoonful of the shrimp soup to taste it.

Slurp.

“Ah, so refreshing.”

Sejun made a satisfied expression after tasting the shrimp soup. The flavor of the shrimp soup was spicy yet refreshing, and the more he chewed the shrimp, the more the savory taste came out. With this, the shrimp bait was completed.

“Guys, let’s have breakfast.”

Sejun called the animals.

Krueng?!

[Daddy, is this edible?!]

Cuengi looked at the shrimp in the shrimp soup Sejun was offering and asked. He had seen shrimps while picking balanidae, but he thought they were too small to eat.

“Yes. Give it a try.”

Krueng!

[Okay!]

Trusting Sejun’s words, Cuengi started eating the shrimp soup without doubt, and

Peng!

The penguins, who had already tasted it before, eagerly ate the shrimp soup with the freshwater shrimp.

“How is it? Delicious, right? If you guys catch shrimp, I’ll make another tasty dish with freshwater shrimp for lunch.”

This was the reason Sejun had worked hard to make shrimp soup since morning. He couldn’t see the hidden freshwater shrimp himself, so he was making animals catch the shrimp for him, using the shrimp soup as bait.

Krueng!

[Understood!]

Peng!

Cuengi and the penguins nodded enthusiastically at Sejun’s words.

“Now let’s eat too.”

Slurp.

Chomp chomp.

Gulp.

After successfully assigning the shrimp-catching task to the animals, Sejun fed Theo homemade churu and ate his shrimp soup.

While they were having breakfast,

“Huh?!”

Next to Sejun, Kona and the other penguins who were eating shrimp soup started to become transparent one by one and disappeared.

“Chairman Park, what’s wrong, meow?”

Theo stopped eating his churu and asked Sejun, who looked panicked.

“Vice Chairman Theo, suddenly Kona and the penguins… they disappeared…”

“What are you talking about, meow? Can’t you see Kona right here, meow?”

Theo looked next to him and said, seeing Kona still eating shrimp soup just fine.

“They’re still there?”

When Sejun cautiously reached out to where Kona was, his hand touched something in mid-air.

“Peng? Lord Sejun, what’s the matter?”

Kona, who had been engrossed in eating soup, asked Sejun.

“Is that you, Kona?”

“Yes.”

“I suddenly couldn’t see you.”

“You couldn’t see me?”

“Yes.”

Kona looked puzzled by Sejun’s words because Kona hadn’t done anything.

“Ah!”

Realization dawned on Sejun, and he hurriedly checked the soup’s options.

[Spicy and Refreshing Freshwater Shrimp Soup]

→ Made with freshwater shrimp that hide and live only in clean water, combined with detoxifying green onions, stamina radish, and cheongyang green peppers.

→ The addition of radish enhances the refreshing taste of the broth.

→ When consumed, stamina increases by 3 for 10 minutes.

→ Special effect: Stealth

→ Chef: Tower farmer Park Sejun

→ Expiration date: 30 days

→ Grade: B

“As I thought…”

Sejun realized that the shrimp’s unique property was transferred as a special effect in the soup, making the penguins invisible to him.

“Oh! Does that mean I can become invisible too?”

Sejun hurriedly ate the shrimp soup,

[You have consumed the Spicy and Refreshing Freshwater Shrimp Soup.]

[Stamina increases by 1.]

[Special effect: Stealth makes you invisible for 30 minutes.]

Sejun’s body became transparent.

However,

“Huh?! I can’t see myself either!”

Sejun, who didn’t have the ability to see through stealth, was in a peculiar situation where other animals could see their bodies, but he couldn’t see his own.

“Let’s work hard today to catch a lot of balanidae and shrimp!”

Krueng!

[Got it!]

Peng!

In response to Sejun’s words, the animals, now invisible due to the stealth effect energetically replied and headed into the lake.

“Aren’t you going?”

Sejun asked Theo, who was hanging on his knee.

“I’m tired of removing balanidae now, meow! I will join Chairman Park later, meow! And Iona needs to sleep too, meow!”

Theo, who didn’t want to be separated from Sejun, sold out Iona who was in his tail.

Even though Iona was able to sleep comfortably underwater using magic when Theo entered the water,

“I understand.”

Sejun accepted Theo’s argument. Honestly, it was a bit boring to work alone.

“Absorb!”

[Talent: Friend of Fire absorbs a faint flame energy.]

Sejun began the barnacle removal work while Theo was attached to his leg.

A little later,

Krueng!

[Cuengi caught a lot of shrimps!]

Peng!

While catching balanidae, Cuengi, along with some penguins who had caught shrimp intermittently while removing balanidae, brought the freshwater shrimp they caught to Sejun.

“Put the freshwater shrimps in here.”

Sejun had them put the shrimp into a large pot filled with water, first to remove any impurities.

After about two hours,

“Kyoouoooot!”

Iona woke up, stretching.

And then,

“I’ve been away from the wizard tower too long, I should go now. Sejun, this is for you.”

Ssssh.

Iona handed Sejun the bronze coins she had collected from defeating the Apostles of Destruction during her raid on the Three Head Society’s hideouts.

“Bronze coins? Iona, you fought the Apostles of Destruction?”

There were a whopping 35 bronze coins. Sejun could tell that Iona had battled many Apostles of Destruction.

“Kyoot-kyoot-kyoot. Yes. With Aileen…”

Iona briefly mentioned how she and Aileen had smashed the Three Head Society’s hideout.

“I see. Thank you.”

“Kyoot-kyoot-kyoot. No problem. I’m glad I could help you, Sejun! I’ll be going now. Vice Chairman Theo, take care.”

“Iona, take care, meow!”

“Goodbye!”

“Kyoot-kyoot-kyoot. Yes!”

Woo-woong. owns this.

Waving goodbye to Sejun and Theo, Iona disappeared swiftly using flying magic.

***

Gangnam, Korea.

“Huh? What’s this?”

A hunter who was about to enter the tower noticed something on the ground. It was grass growing through the asphalt.

Normally, this would have seemed strange, but

“It’s because of the sturdy blade green onions, isn’t it?”

Seeing the sturdy blade green onions around, the grass growing on the asphalt didn’t seem so unusual. They thought it was possible because they had dug up the asphalt around the tower to plant the green onions.

Recently, the sturdy blade green onions planted around the towers on Earth, which initially had been planted by the Earth Defense Force, were now directly managed and planted by the governments of various countries, due to the Brasília incident.

Governments were shocked when the tower in Brasília disappeared, and hunters who entered through the vanished tower couldn’t return to Earth.

Hunters climbing the towers symbolized a nation’s power. And for these hunters not to come out of the tower? It meant a massive loss of national power.

As a result, governments around the world strove not to lose their towers, and the Earth Defense Force’s role was greatly reduced. They only had to transport the sturdy blade green onions to the first floor and hand them over to each government.

“Jae-min, come on!”

“Uh! Coming!”

The hunter who had been looking at the grass on the ground left at the call of a colleague

Crack. Crack.

There was a sound of something growing from the ground. It was the root of Flamie, which had been moving steadily ever since hearing about the threats to Sejun’s family.

The root of Flamie, that started to take root in Korea was moving to find Sejun’s family, to protect them.

However, the roots that had appeared in other countries had a completely different purpose: vengeance.

Flamie’s revenge was slow, but persistent and destructive.

***

Chii-eek.

As Sejun was preparing a new dish using the freshwater shrimps, which he had promised to the animals,

Krueng!

[Daddy, Cuengi is hungry!]

Cuengi, who had been removing balanidae, came up from the lake.

“Yeah. Just wait a moment.”

Sejun spoke as he took out the freshwater shrimps fried in tuna oil. This time, since no other crops were used, no cooking achievement was unlocked.

“But that’s not what’s important.”

What mattered was that he had fried them.

“Guys, let’s have lunch!”

Sejun called the animals and filled their bowls with a generous serving of fried freshwater shrimp.

“Dip this in the sauce; it’ll taste even better.”

Sejun took out all the small packets of soy sauce and thought, ‘Once all of this is used up, I won’t be able to have soy sauce for a while, but I can’t just eat the fried food haphazardly, it’s been so long since I’ve had it.’

Crunch.

Krueng! Krueng!

[It’s delicious! I’m so excited!]

Cuengi, unable to contain his excitement, grabbed a handful of fried freshwater shrimp with its front paws and put them into his mouth, and began to shake its hips slightly.

Peng?

On the other hand, the penguins, who were trying fried food for the first time in their lives, cautiously put the fried freshwater shrimp in their mouths.

Crunch.

Peng!

The eyes of the penguins who tasted the fried food widened. The texture was unfamiliar, but it was too good.

Dum-dum.

“Pffft.”

Sejun burst into laughter, watching Cuengi and the penguins eating the fried freshwater shrimp and shaking their hips without realizing it.

“I should try some too.”

Sejun tasted the fried shrimp.

Crunch.

As soon as he ate it, the rice batter and the shrimp shell crunched pleasantly. Following that, the richness of the fat and the savory taste of the shrimp delighted Sejun’s mouth.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Throughout lunch, everyone was so engrossed in their food that only the sound of crunching could be heard.

A while later,

Kuroong.

Pherorong.

After having a full lunch, the animals started to take a nap,

Shoosh.

Sejun began salting the freshwater shrimp in a pot. He was making salted shrimp paste.

“Hehehe. By the time this is ready, the cabbages and other vegetables I’ve planted should have grown…”

Sejun smiled contentedly at the thought of being able to eat kimchi that he had personally prepared.

“Alright, let’s get back to work!”

After finishing salting the shrimp, Sejun woke the napping animals to resume removing the balanidae.

As everyone worked hard, evening came,

[You have removed all the balanidae from the lake turtle.]

[You have completed the mid-level administrator quest.]

[You’ve gained 100,000 experience points as a reward for completing the mid-level administrator quest.]

[You’ve obtained 10,000 Tower Coins as a reward for completing the mid-level administrator quest.]

[As a reward for completing the Intermediate Manager Quest, the lake turtle, a species at risk of extinction in 100 years, will be able to lay eggs safely and thrive.]

The mid-level administrator quest was completed.

Puang… Puang…

[Mid-level administrator, I’m so sleepy… Please check on me when I wake up…]

“Alright, see you when you wake up.”

Sejun said goodbye to the lake turtle, thinking he might not be there when it woke up.

Splash.

As the lake turtle disappeared into the depths of the lake for a nap,

“Let’s rest for today.”

Sejun decided to let the animals rest as he planned to register at the waypoint on the 44th floor tomorrow and then ascend to the 99th floor.

The next morning,

“Guys, I’m leaving now. See you next time.”

As Sejun was saying farewell to the penguins,

“Lord Sejun, this is for you!”

To bid him farewell, the penguins collectively presented Sejun with a massive 2-meter-long sword, made from balanidae shells, which about fifty penguins brought over, holding it above their heads.

“Huh? A Greatsword?”

Sejun examined the greatsword he received.

[Amplifying Greatsword]

→ A greatsword made with balanidae shells containing the essence of fire, made using the blue-backed penguin tribe’s unique ice forging technique.

→ The powers of ice and fire harmonize to amplify the attack power when wielding the greatsword.

→ Usage Restriction: Lv. 50 or higher, Strength 100 or higher, Magic 100 or higher.

→ Maker: Blue-backed Penguin Tribe

→ Grade: S+

An impressive S+ grade item!

“Thanks, guys.”

Sejun was moved as he equipped the weapon. Finally, he had a suitable weapon of his own.

“Just equip this and you can carry the great sword.”

Kona sensibly passed him the gear to hold the sword as well.

“Yeah. Thank you.”

Click.

Sejun equipped the gear and slung the greatsword on his back with a good feeling.

However,

“Huh?!”

The sword hung clumsily down his back, dragging along. It wasn’t the cool look he had imagined.

“…”

Sejun now had one more tool useful for cutting grass.