TL: Hanguk

Battler’s House

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“Ugh… I was just about to get some sleep…”

Battler, who had been plagued by nightmares and had only just managed to start drifting into a deep sleep, frowned and covered his ears with a pillow at the sound of knocking.

But,

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The persistent knocking continued, as if it wouldn’t stop until he got up.

“Ah! What is it?”

Finally unable to endure it anymore, Battler got up from bed and opened the door.

And there,

“Battler, you were sleeping? Meanwhile, I had to go through hell because of you.”

Hel, the God of Merchants, glared at Battler as she spoke.

And then,

“Why did you send a hamster to Theo?! Don’t you know Theo’s girlfriend is a hamster?! This is the divine power invoice for sending back the hamster you sent to Theo.”

Hel, true to her title as the God of Merchants, handed Battler an invoice for all the divine power she spent to return the hamster. Then she hurriedly left, practically fleeing.

[Total Divine Power Charge: 1,114,123]

“What… why is it so expensive?!”

Battler was horrified as he looked at the price on the invoice he’d received from Hel.

– Void Storage Synchronization Acceleration Cost: Divine Power 750,000

– Labor Fee for Hel’s Hard Work: Divine Power 350,000

In the middle of the receipt, there were unnecessary charges written in very tiny text, barely noticeable without closer look.

***

99th Floor of the White Tower

“Sejun-nim, I’m sorry.”

The Ogre King Les, the boss of the 99th floor of the White Tower, hastily apologized to Sejun, who was questioning him.

Of course, it wasn’t because he was afraid of Sejun’s gaze.

In fact, even now he was itching to speak the fact: ‘It’s because of your trashy talent, Sejun-nim!’

But,

You should’ve properly informed my hyung, Sejun!

Under the fierce gaze of Ajax, who was glaring at him with blazing eyes, Les had no choice but to bow his head like a guilty party.

It was a wise move befitting a king who ruled over ogres.

If Les had dared to voice his thoughts about Sejun’s talent being trash, or if he had shown defiance,

Boom!

It would have been like lighting a fuse on gunpowder, setting off a chain reaction of fury starting with Ajax, then Theo, Cuengi, and the rest of the Blackie family, all descending upon him. �

“Les, so now I can learn the technique to strengthen my body with battle aura?”

Sejun asked Les, who had barely managed to escape this dangerous situation.

“Yes! Absolutely! I’ll teach you the Ogre Secret Aura Technique – Muscle Strengthening Technique.”

Les, eager to escape this uncomfortable atmosphere, quickly decided to teach Sejun the battle aura technique and send him on his way.

“Muscle Strengthening Technique? Oh. Teach me quickly.”NôvelDrama.Org owns all © content.

Hehehe. Just the name sounds powerful.

Sejun’s eyes sparkled at Les’s words.

The Muscle Strengthening Technique was an essential foundational skill, that could be called both the beginning and end of battle aura techniques, enhancing every muscle in the body to its limits.

Since Ogre battle aura techniques generally put immense strain on the body, strong muscles were essential.

Knowing the importance of this technique, the ancestors of the ogres had devised a method over thousands of years to make learning the Muscle Strengthening Technique easy.

Now, even a five-year-old ogre could master the technique with just one demonstration.

Once someone guided the battle aura through the path, it would circulate throughout the body autonomously, strengthening all the muscles along the way.

This was why Les had confidently offered to teach Sejun. It was an unbreakable technique that couldn’t fail.

Once you get the flow going, stopping it is even harder.

There’s no easier battle aura technique than this.

“Then, I’ll teach you the Muscle Strengthening Technique. Sejun-nim, please sit here.”

“Okay.”

Les had Sejun sit in front of him and placed his hands on Sejun’s back.

Move.

Woong.

Using his own battle aura, Les guided Sejun’s battle aura along the path of the Muscle Strengthening Technique, circulating it.

Under Les’s guidance, Sejun’s battle aura started to circulate along the pathways between his skin and muscles.

After a moment, Les had completed one cycle of guiding Sejun’s battle aura through the path of the Muscle Strengthening Technique.

Normally, a single cycle would be enough for the battle aura to move perfectly along the path of the Muscle Strengthening Technique,

But just in case.

Les, feeling uneasy, circulated Sejun’s battle aura one more time. He simply couldn’t trust Sejun’s talent.

So, after guiding Sejun’s battle aura around the path twice,

“Sejun-nim, you can do it on your own now, right?”

He asked, removing his hands from Sejun’s back.

However,

“Do what?”

Sejun’s face showed he had no idea what Les was talking about. In fact, he looked somewhat aggrieved, as if to say, “Aren’t you supposed to teach me something first before asking if I can do it?”

Sigh.

“Alright, let’s try again.”

Les placed his hands on Sejun’s back and started circulating the battle aura once more.

But,

…?

Sejun’s expression remained one of complete bewilderment.

He still doesn’t get the Muscle Strengthening Technique, even though it’s as easy as breathing?!

“Is it… because of difference in species?”

Les finally acknowledged it. There was a significant gap between ogres and humans.

Things that ogres could do “just because” through instinct didn’t come naturally to Sejun, a human.

Realizing that teaching Sejun the Muscle Strengthening Technique wasn’t going to be easy, Les felt a pang of frustration.

He wanted to give up, but Ajax was watching closely from beside Sejun, with an intense glare that said, “You better do this properly!”

So, even though he knew it was pointless, Les guided Sejun’s battle aura again. At this point, he needed to at least show that he’d put in the effort.

Ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times.

Several hours passed like that.

Snore.

Sejun, overtaken by boredom, had fallen asleep outright.

Kurorong.

Gurorong.

Kirorong.

Arorong.

And his companions, who were leaning against Sejun’s body, had also fallen asleep beside him.

Woong.

Only Les remained, fully focused, continuing to circulate Sejun’s battle aura.

Wriggle.

Perhaps Les’s efforts paid off, as the battle aura finally began to move very slowly.

At last, the Muscle Strengthening Technique was imprinted onto Sejun’s body. The power of repetition was truly remarkable.

And then,

“Arghhhh!”

Sejun began to scream as all his muscles tore simultaneously from the pain. Pain was essential for muscle growth.

Muscle Strengthening Technique

It was a rigorous training method suited for the robust bodies of ogres, where battle aura would destroy the muscles and then regenerate them.

“You’ll probably be dealing with severe muscle pain for about a week.”

Les said, his lips curling into a slight smirk as he watched Sejun writhe in agony.

***

Seed Shop Headquarters

“This time, I’m definitely going to sell my seeds!”

“Hmph! Sorry, but I’m the one who’s going to be Trust-in-Park’s choice this time!”

“No way! It’ll be me! I’ve prepared a special seed just for today!”

“How laughable! That’s the same seed as last time.”

The non-combat gods were brimming with enthusiasm, preparing seeds to sell in the upcoming Seed Shop.

The fervor of the non-combat gods was growing stronger every day. It was only natural, considering the rewards from Sejun had risen significantly.

In the beginning, the rewards from Sejun were just ordinary temples, but now world proxy guardian positions had been added to the reward options.

Moreover, thanks to the divine power brought by the gods who had become proxy guardians, the Seed Shop Headquarters had visibly improved.

The non-combat gods could see with their own eyes the impact of the rewards Sejun provided.

Of course, it was still nowhere near as grand as the Combat Shop Headquarters.

However, just repairing the large holes in the ceiling, where they could once see the stars at night, and the drafty cracks in the walls made the non-combat gods happy.

“It’s a good sight to see.”

Chaos, the God of Chaos and one of the three executives of the Seed Shop Headquarters, watched the lively non-combat gods with a pleased smile.

“Indeed. It’s all thanks to ‘Trust-in-Park’.”

Order, the God of Order, smiled and agreed with Chaos’s comment.

She, too, was one of the three executives of the Seed Shop Headquarters, along with Chaos.

Chaos, Order, and Abundance.

These three gods acted as executives in the Seed Shop Headquarters, managing the Seed Shop and the non-combat gods.

Order joined Chaos in observing the non-combat gods boast about their seeds.

“Leah is lucky. She gets to sell the Seed of Abundance as a proxy guardian…”

Order murmured as she glanced at the residence of Leah, who was busy completing Inos’s quest.

Since meeting Sejun and the establishment of the Tower, Leah was experiencing the peak of her power.

The Seed of Abundance sold by Leah held a meaning that far surpassed other gods’ transcendence grade seeds.

Because they contained the power to bend the causality of the world.

Though it was difficult for the seed to hatch, once it sprouted, the reward that returned to the god who created it was substantial.

And for some reason it felt like ‘Trust-in-Park’ will easily make them sprout.

They didn’t know why, but it was just a feeling. Perhaps it was because they trusted Park Sejun that much.

“I’m starting to feel like making a seed myself.”

“Hold yourself back. Our seeds consume way too much divine power.”

Chaos held Order back with those words.

The Seeds of Chaos and Order, which twisted causality even more drastically than the Seed of Abundance, required an enormous amount of divine power.

With that kind of divine power, it was a better choice to distribute it among the other non-combat gods to further develop the Seed Shop Headquarters.

Just then,

“Chaos-nim, Order-nim, hello. It’s been a while.”

Hel approached them directly and greeted them.

“I’ve accumulated quite a bit of divine power recently, so how about receiving an investment from me? In return, create a seed with the invested divine power and give me a share of its equity.”

With the divine power she’d received from Battler, Hel proposed an investment to Chaos and Order.

Normally, she would have opted for a risk-free interest return rather than a share in equity, but

The future is with the Seed Shop Headquarters, where Park Sejun is!

With her foresight as the God of Merchants, Hel decided to invest in this place, where the future looked bright.

And,

“We’ll take the investment!”

Chaos and Order answered simultaneously.

Even if they had to give up a portion of the equity, creating seeds was more profitable.

Thus, with Hel’s investment, Chaos and Order also began creating their own seeds.

***

The next morning.

“Alr… aaagh!”

Sejun, who tried to get up energetically as usual, screamed in pain from muscle soreness.

“Ugh…”

Damn Muscle Strengthening Technique.

Groans escaped his mouth due to the aching pain all over his body.

“Vice Chairman Theo… Vice Chairman Theo… wake up…”

In a dying voice, Sejun called out to Theo. He couldn’t even shake his knee to wake him up because moving hurt so much.

After a few desperate calls from Sejun,

“Meow…”

104.28.193.250

Theo rubbed his eyes and got up.

Press. Press. Press.

With his eyes half-closed, Theo pressed down on Sejun’s body with his front paws.

“Hehehe. Ah. That feels good.”

Theo’s healing massage.

After receiving this, Sejun could manage a few hours without muscle pain.

Kihihit. Kking!

[Hehe. Butler! I’ll help too!]

Thump. Thump.

Blackie also tried to help by stepping on Sejun’s body with his paws, but

“Argh! Blackie, you stay still!”

It didn’t have the same healing effect as Theo’s.

Oh! The butler can’t move?

Instead, Blackie discovered Sejun’s weak spot.

Kihihit. Kking?! Kking?!

[Hehe. Are you going to give me lots of roasted and dried sweet potatoes from now on?! Or not?!]

Thump. Thump.

He began pressing his paws on Sejun’s body in a threatening manner.

Of course, Blackie’s pitiful attempt at blackmail was quickly thwarted when Sejun’s right hand, now recovered from Theo’s massage, grabbed him by the scruff.

And then,

“Blackie, take this and go stand in front of the house.”

Blackie had to face punishment for what he’d done.

Kking…

With a pet sign hanging around his neck, Blackie trudged outside.

Plop.

Following Sejun’s instructions, he sat down in front of the house and began nodding off, his head bobbing up and down as he dozed.

The sign around his neck swayed along with his nodding head.

The sign read:

-I am a bad wolf who went crazy over roasted and dried sweet potatoes and threatened my owner. Please don’t give me roasted and dried sweet potatoes.

And then,

Kueng?

Seeing the sign, Cuengi put the roasted and dried sweet potatoes he usually gave to his younger brother Blackie back into his snack pouch and returned inside the house.

Whoosh.

A sudden gust of wind blew by.

Thanks to that, Blackie’s appearance looked even more pitiful.

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