: I NEED A CORE!
TL: Hanguk
Downtown Houston, USA.
Keeaak!
The city was filled with Flesh Eaters.
Despite the efforts of 100,000 Hunters fighting the Flesh Eaters, the defensive line, which had barely been maintained, eventually collapsed due to the uneliminated seeds of the Flesh Eaters.
As soon as the evacuation of 7 million citizens of Houston was completed, the Hunters retreated according to a pre-planned retreat operation.
White House, USA.
“Mr. President, the Hunters’ retreat operation has just been completed.”
The Secretary of Defense reported to the President.
“I see. What are the casualties?”
“During the operation, 125 Hunters and 1,129 soldiers died.”
“Hm. The damage is greater than expected.”
“That’s because mutant individuals suddenly appeared…”
“Mutant individuals?”
“Yes. Please take a look at the screen.”
The Secretary of Defense played a video on his tablet.
The screen showed thousands of monsters with human-like bodies and cherry tomato heads attacking the Hunters and soldiers.
Unlike the Flesh Eaters, their movement speed was so fast that even the Hunters and soldiers had difficulty responding.
“Fortunately, the mutated entities die on their own over time, and they don’t have seeds in their heads.”
“That’s a relief. So, where are they moving now?”
“The Flesh Eaters that have occupied Houston are splitting up and moving along the coastline to the east and west.”
“Then to the east is Louisiana, and to the west is Mexico?”
“Yes. So we plan to set up a defensive line in Lafayette, Louisiana, to buy time and send Mage Hunters to the tower.”
“What?! You couldn’t stop them with 100,000 Hunters, and now you want to send Mages to the tower?! Are you crazy?!”
The President erupted in anger at the Secretary of Defense’s words.
“Mr. President, please calm down. We must send the Mages to the tower in order to defeat them.”
The Secretary of Defense hurriedly reported the information about the newly emerged job, the Bomb Mage, from the tower.
“So… they’re selling Pineapple Bombs cultivated by Park Sejun in the tower?”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”
The President wore an expression of utter disbelief. The Secretary of Defense swallowed his laughter as he answered.
He himself had only believed it after seeing the Pineapple Bombs firsthand.
“The effect is certain, right?”
“Yes. Within a 50-meter radius of the explosion, even the seeds of the Flesh Eaters are turned to powder.”
The Secretary of Defense further explained the job traits that could be obtained by becoming a Bomb Mage.
[Explosion is Art – Inject mana into bombs to increase explosion range and power by 10%]
[Bomb Timer – Installs a timer magic on bombs to schedule explosion within 10 minutes]
[Precision Bomb Throwing – Increases bomb throwing accuracy by 20%]
“Alright. Proceed. And make sure to secure as many Pineapple Bombs as possible.”
“Yes, sir!”
The United States began moving to secure Screaming Pineapples.
***
“Puhuhut. I’ll sell a total of 10 million Sturdy Blade Green Onions, 100,000 at a time, meow!”
“10 million Tower Coins for 100,000!”
“15 million Tower Coins!”
At Theo’s words, the Hunters of the Neta Tribe began to competitively raise their bids.
There was no hesitation since the Sturdy Blade Green Onions were certified by the great Green Dragon to eradicate the Locusts.
“19.1 million Tower Coins!”
“19.3 million Tower Coins!”
“20 million Tower Coins!”
After the final bid,
…
When no one else raised their bid,
“Sold, meow!”
Theo pointed his front paw at the Hunter who made the final bid and shouted.
“Woohoo!!! Long live the Deer Tribe!”
“The Deer Tribe won!”
With Theo’s words, some of the Hunters cheered.
In Neta, there were hundreds of subtribes so large that they could be called nations.
And the recent auction was like a national competition for them. Since they won, it was natural for them to cheer.
“19.3 million Tower Coins!”
“Sold, meow!”
As the auction continued and the bids began to decrease slightly,
“Are they really selling something that can eradicate the Locusts here?!”
“What the hell? Why is the Tiger Tribe here?”
“And why is the Lion Tribe loitering around here?”
Hunters from two tribes approached the shop, growling at each other.
They had descended from the upper floors upon hearing the news of the auction.
When the two tribes appeared, other Hunters stepped aside to make room for them.
This alone indicated the formidable presence of the Tiger Tribe and the Lion Tribe.
“Let’s start again, meow!”
When the auction resumed,
“19 million.”
“30 million.”
“40 million.”
Representatives of the two tribes began to raise the bids like madmen.
“50 million!”
“Kuk! 55 million!”
“Eeek! 60 million!”
The representatives of the two tribes glared at each other while calling out their bids.
Other tribes dared not intervene in the pride battle between the Tiger Tribe and the Lion Tribe and watched with bated breath.
And then,
Hehe.
Theo also smiled brightly, covering his mouth with his front paw as he looked at the two tribes. Puhuhut. The big suckers have arrived, meow!
A moment later,
“It’s sold out, meow!”
All the remaining Sturdy Blade Green Onions were sold to the Tiger Tribe and the Lion Tribe, earning 3.6 billion Tower Coins.
“Puhuhut. As expected, auctions are the way to make money, meow!”
Though, by Theo’s standards, it was still far from sufficient revenue, it was almost 120,000 times higher compared to the shop’s sales yesterday.
“I should reinvest this money, meow!”
Chairman Park said he believes in me, meow! To repay Chairman Park’s trust, I need more money, meow!
While Theo was contemplating how to use the 3.6 billion Tower Coins,
“Hey, next time, hand over all the goods to our Tiger Tribe.”
The Tiger Tribe’s representative, Theseus, approached Theo with a menacing expression, threatening him.
“Puhuhut. Did you just threaten me, Vice Chairman Theo, meow?”
“That’s right. Hand over all the Sturdy Blade Green Onions while I’m being nice.”
“Puhuhut.”
Smack.
Theo laughed and swung his front paw at the back of Theseus’s head. Just because they were both felines didn’t mean he would go easy on him.
Then,
“Lord Theseus!”
Other Tigers rushed towards Theo,
Smack. Smack.
Theo delightedly struck the back of their heads.
And then,
Stamp. Stamp.
He began stamping them.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
***
99th floor of the Black Tower.
[You have gained one slave.]
[All stats increase by 0.01 due to the effect of the
…
..
.
“What’s going on?”
Was this what he meant by trusting only him?
“Hehe. Thanks, Vice Chairman Theo.”
Sejun smiled contentedly as he watched his stats increase.
Pluck.
[You have harvested a cherry.]
[Your job experience has slightly increased.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 8 has slightly increased.]
[You have gained 1 experience point.]
Sejun harvested the cherries.
Recently, due to the Earth’s Jewels depleting the land’s fertility, about 10% of the fruits that grew rapidly with the Harvest Elixir were underdeveloped.
So he harvested them belatedly like this.
“I should use some Power soon.”
Sejun thought he should use the Power: Abundance on the land soon while continuing to harvest cherries.
At that moment,
[You have harvested Scorching Cherries.]
[Your job experience has slightly increased.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 8 has slightly increased.]
[You have gained 70 experience points.]
“Huh?”
Scorching Cherries?
Sejun had harvested a cherry with a prefix attached.
[You have achieved the feat of creating a new variety in the tower.]
[The tower acknowledges your exclusive cultivation rights to the new variety.]
[No one can cultivate Scorching Cherries without your permission.]
[Your job experience has increased greatly.]
[Due to your job trait, all stats increase by 10.]
Sejun had harvested his 24th new variety.
“Oh! A new variety!”
Sejun hurriedly checked the options of the cherry.
[Scorching Cherry]
→ A cherry grown inside the Black Tower, it is delicious as it has absorbed ample nutrients.
→ The seed contains the energy of fire, and it will explode and burns hotly when magic is infused.
→ When consumed, it provides strong resistance to cold for 1 hour.
→ Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
→ Shelf Life: 120
→ Grade: A
Although the options were somewhat impractical, Sejun decided to be satisfied with having another new variety.
“At least it tastes better.”
Hehehe. I should duplicate it and plant them tomorrow.
While Sejun was putting the harvested cherries into the Golden Box of Abundance,
Kking?
[Who touched my secret stash again?]
Blackie tilted his head as he looked at his secret stash.
Not only was the first secret stash filled with food, but the second one was also packed with food.
Theo, Cuengi, and Paespaes had filled the youngest’s secret stash.
However,
Did someone confuse it with another storage?
Kikihit. Kking!
[Heheh. Then I’ll eat it all and pretend I don’t know!]
Unaware of this, Blackie started eating the food diligently in case it was taken back.
But,
Kking…
[I’m full…]
Compared to his overflowing greed, his stomach was pitifully small.
This won’t do! I need a core!
Up until now, Blackie hadn’t made a core, thinking he would find his own core eventually.
Because if he made a new core, there would be a conflict between the two cores when he found his original core later.
But now, he didn’t want to find his original core anymore.
If he found his core, he wouldn’t be able to play with them or eat roasted sweet potatoes!
Now, he liked this place more. No, saying he liked it more was strange.
Because…
When he was an Apostle of Destruction, his heart was always full of anger.
He had never been happy.
But here, even just sleeping in his arms made him excited! So, he decided to make a new core!
Having made up his mind to create a new core,
Kking!
[Gather!]
The food he had just eaten quickly digested and formed a tiny core the size of a grain of sand.
Kikihit. Kking! Kking!
[Khehehe. I have a core now! I can eat a lot!]
Blackie began to grow the size of the core by repeatedly eating and absorbing food.
Super sunfish Blackie trying to surpass sunfish Sejun.
But,
“Blackie, who said you could snack before meals?!”
Sunfish Sejun wouldn’t just let it slide.
Kking!
“Where did you learn to run away with food in your mouth?! Come here!”
Sejun yelled and slowly chased after Blackie.
Kikihit. Kking! Kking!
[Heheh. With a core, my steps are light! He can’t catch up to me!]
Unaware of this, Blackie was happy thinking he had outrun Sejun.
***
1st Floor of the Green Tower.
“Puhuhut. Do you have a Wandering Merchant Association here too, meow?”
Theo, pondering how to increase his wealth, asked while grilling fish with the fire emanating from Agni’s body.
“Yes, we do. There’s also a Wizard Association and a Mercenary Association.”
“Puhuhut. Excellent, meow!”
Shortly after,
“Slaves 1 to 105, gather, meow!”
Theo, having finished grilling the fish, went outside and called the trolls.
“Yes!”
In response to Theo’s call, trolls from slave 1 to slave 105 gathered.
“Line up in order from slave 1, meow!”
“Yes!”
At Theo’s command, the trolls quickly lined up, with Krrta, the youngest of the Immortal Clan and slave 1, standing at the very front.
‘Is this a case of the youngest being in charge?’
Krrta felt proud to be at the front, having surpassed his seniors, and looked at Theo with respect.
‘I am now in Theo-nim’s team!’
While Krrta pledged his loyalty to Theo in his heart,
“Puhuhut. From now on, you will become wandering merchants, meow! Slave No. 1 will manage the money as the representative, meow!”
Theo gave Krrta, the representative, money to join the Wandering Merchant Association.
Theo planned to turn the trolls into wandering merchants to promote Sejun’s crops in the Green Tower.
“Puhuhut. Now go, meow!”
Theo sent the trolls off,
“Chairman Park, I’m back, meow!”
and returned to the Black Tower for the night.
*****
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