Chapter 256: Don't Come Any Closer!!!
‘Who is Aileen?’
Immortal was puzzled as he watched Se-Jun calling out to someone and pointing at himself.
Then suddenly,
“Uhk!”
His vision blurred, and a massive force began to press down on Immortal.
And then,
“Is it you? The one who defied our Sejun?!”
A voice filled with blazing anger resonated.
“What?!”
Immortal, looking towards where the voice came from, exclaimed in shock,
“What?! A… Dragon?!”
He was horrified to see a gigantic being looking down at him. Never had he expected to encounter a Dragon, the mightiest creature of the Titan Continent, so abruptly.
However,
“What? A Dragon?”
Just resembling one didn’t equate to being a Dragon. Dragons were beings of a different caliber.
“How dare you call me, the great Black Dragon Aileen Pritani, just a Dragon?!”
Immortal’s words only intensified Aileen’s fury.
How dare you defy our Se-Jun?
How dare you call me a dragon?
Crunch!
Thus, Immortal, having doubly infuriated Aileen, met a futile end under her left foot, unable to control her strength.
Shivering.
– Absolute obedience to Lady Aileen! Absolute obedience to Lord Sejun!
The evolving Ice Cube under Aileen’s right foot cried out in fear.
***
4th Floor of the Tower.
Not long after Immortal’s demise,
[The Tower’s Administrator, the great Black Dragon Aileen Pritani, has annihilated the Undying Lich King.]
[The Mid-level Administrator Quest has been completed.]
Messages appeared indicating the completion of the quest appeared. As expected of Aileen, she seemed to have dealt with Immortal right after taking him away.
“Hehehe. You should have listened to me.”
Sejun was mourning the ‘liberated’ (?) Immortal, waiting for his quest reward,
[The Tower’s Administrator says she is pleased that you and she have completed this quest together.]
Aileen conveyed to Sejun.
“Right. We did solve it together.”
The word ‘together’ tickled him, giving a pleasant feeling.
[The Tower’s Administrator says she hopes to continue solving quests with you.]
“Sure. Let’s do that.”
While Sejun was conversing with Aileen,
[As a quest completion reward, the Black Skeletons are saved.]
The awaited quest completion reward began.
However,
[The quest completion rewards, including experience points and Tower Coins, will be distributed based on the contribution rate of the Black Dragon Aileen Pritani and the Tower Farmer Park Sejun.]
[Evaluating the quest contribution rate.]
[Great Black Dragon Aileen Pritani – 99%]
[Tower Farmer Park Sejun – 1%]
The rewards were divided based on their completion of the quest.
“I only contributed 1%…?”
Sejun exclaimed in an aggrieved tone after seeing the message.
No! If we did it together, it should be exactly 50-50! Why is my contribution only 1%?! Huh?! How hard I… I mean, we worked!
Conscious of the animals’ help without which Immortal could never have been captured, Sejun couldn’t claim to have done it alone.
And then,
[You have acquired 1 million experience points as 1% of the quest completion reward.]
[You have acquired 1.5 million Tower Coins as 1% of the quest completion reward.]
Regardless of Sejun’s feelings, the rewards were distributed.
At that moment,
“Chairman Park! Your face is getting ugly again, meow!”
Theo, quick to notice Sejun’s frustration showing on his face, swiftly climbed onto his shoulder and started,
Press. Press.
to push on Se-Jun’s face with his front paws.
“Don’t worry, meow! I’ll quickly restore your face to its normal state, meow!”
“No, I… Ptui. My face isn’t rotten…”
Sejun tried to deny it while spitting out Theo’s fur that got into his mouth, but
Thump. Thump.
“Meow?! Chairman Park, stay still, meow! Your face is getting more ugly, meow!”
Press. Press.
Theo kneaded Sejun’s face fiercely, pressing hard on it.
“Sigh… Alright, do what you want.”
“Puhuhut. Just wait a little, meow!”
Press. Press.
While Se-Jun was receiving Theo’s massage,
[The Tower’s Administrator says she’s sorry for taking all the rewards.]
Aileen, who had inadvertently taken 99% of the quest rewards, apologized to Sejun.
“No, it’s not your fault, Aileen…”
Seeing Aileen’s attitude made Sejun feel somewhat small-minded and petty.
Honestly, neither experience points nor Tower Coins were significant rewards for Sejun. They were things he could do with or without. It was just the fact that he got only 1% that upset him.
As Sejun’s pettiness faded away,
“Puhuhut. I, Vice Chairman Theo, have fixed Chairman Park’s face, meow! Now, Chairman Park’s face is no longer ugly, meow!”
Click.
Theo patted his forehead with his front paw, hanging from Sejun’s leg again with a proud expression.
Then,
[The Tower’s Administrator says this item, which emerged after she killed Immortal, will be given to you.]
Aileen handed Sejun an item she obtained after killing Immortal.
Thud.
A black cross appeared in the palm of Sejun’s hand.
“Thank you, Aileen. And I’m sorry for being so narrow-minded.”
Sejun expressed his gratitude and apology to Aileen.
[The Tower’s Administrator says if you’re okay, she’s okay.]
As Sejun and Aileen were having a friendly conversation again,
[A new Mid-level Administrator Quest has been activated.]
[Mid-level Administrator Quest: Plant the Cross of Death in the ground to declare a domain of death where Black Skeletons can thrive. Protect the area until 1000 Black Skeletons gather.]
Reward: 10 million experience points, 10 million Tower Coins
Failure: You cannot return to your original location until the quest is completed.
A new quest appeared.
Come to think of it, Sejun should have already returned, but it seems he hasn’t because there are still remaining quests.
“So, I just plant this and wait? This quest seems easy.”
Sejun examined the black cross he was holding after checking the quest.
[Cross of Death]
→ Originally a divine artifact of the God of Death, Des, it lost its divine power after Immortal, a former priest who served the God of Death, absorbed the power into his body.
→ Planting the Cross of Death in the ground immediately declares a 1km radius domain of death around it.
→ The Cross of Death absorbs souls within its domain and resurrects them as Black Skeletons.
→ Currently, 10 souls are waiting for resurrection inside the Cross of Death.
→ Usage Restriction: Magic power of 300 or more
→ Creator: God of Death, Des
→ Grade: A+
Thunk.
Since there was nothing special in the description, Sejun immediately planted the Cross of Death.
Then,
[The Cross of Death has been planted in the ground.]
[A domain of death is declared within a 1km radius centered on the Cross of Death.]
[Souls wandering nearby feel the power of death and approach the domain of death.]
[The Cross of Death absorbs the souls within its domain.]
With these messages, the domain of death was declared. Without the messages, it would have been hard to notice any changes.
Then,
[The Cross of Death resurrects the 10 stored souls as Black Skeletons.]
[10 Black Skeletons have gathered.]
Rattle. Rattle.
With these messages, 10 unarmed, bare Black Skeletons resurrected from the ground.
And then,
Rattle. Rattle.
“Lord Sejun, thank you for freeing our souls from Immortal’s control!”
The Black Skeletons knelt before Sejun, showing their respect. They were the souls of 10 individuals, like Philip and Onik, who had not been freed until Immortal’s demise.
A little while later,
Rattle. Rattle.
[The Cross of Death resurrects 2 more absorbed souls as Black Skeletons.]
…
..
.
[15 Black Skeletons have now gathered.]
As time passed, the Cross of Death absorbed more souls and gradually began resurrecting them as Black Skeletons.
During this time,
“……”
“……”
With nothing else to do, Sejun and the Black Skeletons just stood there, staring blankly at each other.
“Bored?”
Sejun had to wait until 1000 Black Skeletons gathered, and he was growing restless just standing around.
Moreover, looking at the vast land, he felt the urge to sow seeds. Perhaps it was a kind of occupational disease?
“Let’s make a field while we wait.”
So, Sejun decided to plant grape seeds he had collected and eaten, creating a small(?) vineyard, while waiting for 1,000 Black Skeletons to gather.
“But have you guys ever farmed?”
Of course, the Black Skeletons were included. Not for any particular reason, they just looked bored?
“Us? Farming?”
The Black Skeletons were bewildered by Sejun’s question.
“Ah, you haven’t tried it before? Don’t worry. I’ll teach you from the beginning. It’s really easy. Let’s start by making a field.”
Sejun began teaching the Black Skeletons how to farm.
***
“Surely he hasn’t left already?”
Having arrived on the 4th floor of the tower, Kim Dong-sik hurried to the location where Theo and Cuengi were last seen, quietly searching for Sejun.
Skeletons are monsters that despise the living. If they hear the voice of the living, nearby skeletons would swarm over and become a nuisance, so Dong-sik was careful to make no noise.
While searching for Theo, Kim Dong-sik thought,
“Black Skeletons, huh.”
He saw hundreds of Black Skeletons gathered in the distance. He had reached the boundary of the Black Graveyard.
Shhh.
Knowing that Black Skeletons were much stronger than ordinary skeletons, Dong-sik drew his sword, ready to fight at any moment.
And then,
Swish. Swish.
He quietly moved towards the Black Skeletons.
However,
“What’s this?”
As Dong-sik approached the Black Skeletons, an overwhelming sense of oppression weighed down on him.
***
[The Cross of Death resurrects absorbed souls as Black Skeletons.]
[700 Black Skeletons have now gathered.]
As another Black Skeleton rose,
“Come here, rookie! I am the first hoe, Philip. From now on, I will teach you the basics of farming, starting with field making and planting.”
Philip, who had transformed from a sword to a hoe, began teaching the new Black Skeleton how to farm.
After teaching the Black Skeletons how to make fields and plant seeds, Sejun delegated the task of instructing the newcomers to those who understood his instructions best.
The 10 Black Skeletons who understood Sejun the best were the knights who had been freed from Immortal.
As the knights, now turned into hoes from first to tenth, taught the new Black Skeletons how to plant, sending them to the fields,
[You have planted Vitality-Infused Fragrant Grapes seeds in the land imbued with magic power.]
[Your job experience has increased slightly.]
[Due to the effect of Magic Seed Sowing Lv. 8, the chance of acquiring new varieties increases by 5 times.]
[Your proficiency in Magic Seed Sowing Lv. 8 has slightly increased.]
Sejun was completely engrossed in farming.
Then,
“Meow?! Dong-sik is nearby, meow!”
Krueng!
[Someone is coming!]
Theo and Cuengi sensed the approaching Dong-sik.
“Dong-sik? Vice Chairman Theo, who is Dong-sik?”
Sejun, who was planting grapes, stopped his work and asked after hearing Theo and Cuengi’s remarks.
“He’s the Dong-sik who made a contract with Chairman Park, meow!”
“What?! If it’s the Dong-sik who made a contract with me… Kim Dong-sik? Vice Chairman Theo, is Dong-sik~nim nearby?”
“Yes, meow! Over there, meow!”
Responding to Sejun’s question, Theo pointed in the direction where Dong-sik was.
“Really?!”
Sejun hurriedly ran in the direction Theo pointed. Meeting a human for the first time in nearly a year felt somewhat emotional.
“Ah?! Is that Dong-sik~nim over there?”
As Sejun ran with a heart full of emotion, he began to see Kim Dong-sik in the distance.
And then,
“Dong-sik~nim!”
As Sejun joyfully called out Kim Dong-sik’s name and was about to run faster towards him,
“Don’t come any closer!!!”
Kim Dong-sik desperately shouted, forming an ‘X’ with his hands towards Sejun.
Sssss.
The overwhelming presence Sejun was familiar with, like breathing, was too much for Dong-sik to handle – it was Cuengi’s energy.
*****