Chapter 319: Unlocking the Mental Strength Stat
TL: Hanguk
Mmmm
After a simple breakfast, Sejun sat blankly.
Puhuhut.
Kuehehehe.
Eehee.
[Hehe.]
Next to Sejun, Theo, Cuengi, Ajax, and Flamie took their places,
Pat-pat.
receiving Sejuns strokes.
Eehee. Its my turn now.
[Its my turn now.]
In turns.
Ajax brought Sejuns left hand, which was petting Cuengis belly, to his own tail,
Hop.
and Flamie moved Sejuns right hand, which was stroking Theos belly, to her head.
Pat-pat.
Hehehe
[Hehe]
Ajax and Flamie smiled broadly as they were petted by Sejun.
As time passed,
Puhuhut. Its my turn now, meow!
Kueng!
[Its Cuengis turn now!]
Theo and Cuengi brought Sejuns hand back to them.
Sejuns hand moved back and forth several times,
Huh? Why am I doing this?
Sejun came to his senses from his blank state.
And then,
Swoosh.
As Sejuns hand stopped momentarily,
Mmmm
Sejuns consciousness became increasingly distant. He felt strangely empty and lacked motivation.
Chairman Park, move your hand, meow!
Kueng!
[Cuengi still wants more!]
Pat-pat.
Theo and Cuengi forcibly moved Sejuns hand to pet their bellies.
Hmm
As his hand moved, Sejun regained his consciousness.
Yesterday, Sejun almost had his mind destroyed by a Nightwalker.
Although Fenrir had quickly saved him, Sejuns soul was wounded in the process.
And through that injury, his soul was dispersing.
Sejuns soul continued to scatter since yesterday.
By morning, Sejuns soul condition worsened, but fortunately, petting the four with strong mental strength was healing his souls wounds.
The energy emitted from the souls of the four flowed towards Sejuns soul, replenishing it as they were petted.
Pat-pat.
By the time Sejun had been patting the four well past lunchtime,
[The wounds in your soul have been healed.]
[Talent: The soul that healed its wounds awakens.]
A message appeared in front of Sejun, indicating that a talent had awakened.
Huh?
I had a wound in my soul?! Sejun was surprised by the message.
He realized that the lethargy that had suddenly dominated his whole body had greatly disappeared.
Have I been weak lately? Judging from the nightmare last night, my body must have weakened.
I need to eat something nutritious today. But what kind of talent is it?
Sejun thought about eating something good for his body as he checked the talent.
[Talent: The Soul That Healed Its Wounds]
A talent that can only be possessed by those who have been wounded in the soul and healed.
The special stat Mental Strength is unlocked.
Mental Strength +10
Mental Strength Potential +500
Your Mental Strength will increase by 1 every time you do something that enriches the soul.
Mental Strength has been unlocked?
When Sejun checked his stats,
Stats: Strength (921/943) Stamina (1319/1396) Agility (929/958) Magic Power (1323/2279) Mental Strength (10/500)
the Mental Strength stat was added as described.
But what do I use Mental Strength for?
Pat-pat.
As Sejun was curiously petting Ajax and Flamie,
Sejun hyung, you got the Mental Strength stat?! Ahem! Let me tell you what Mental Strength stat is! Its
Ajax explained with pride.
And then,
So, adults said its a good stat to have?
Yes! They said its good but hard to explain in words!
Its not some kind of energy supplement, and its good but indescribable in words
Ill have to ask Kaiser~nim later.
He wanted to ask right away, but
Sparkle-sparkle.
Eehee. I told Sejun hyung about it! Ajax was proud to have shared something with Sejun, so he couldnt just ask.
Then,
Rumble-rumble-!
Cuengis belly clock, signaling dinner, loudly rang.
Oh?! Its already evening.
Looking at the slightly darkened sky, Sejun realized why Cuengis belly clock sounded louder than usual.
Because they hadnt eaten lunch.
Are you hungry? Kids, could you catch some seafood from the pond for me?
The dinner menu was seafood and mushroom shabu-shabu. He asked the children to fetch the seafood.
Kueng!
[Okay!]
Okay! Hyung!
Cuengi and Ajax hurriedly ran to the pond upon Sejuns request,
Puhuhut. I dont want to, meow.
Theo, who disliked water and didnt want to leave Sejuns lap, continued to cling to Sejuns leg.
And then,
[Hehe. Master, but what do you think Cuengi and Ajax should catch?]
Flamie, from Sejuns shoulder, extracted information about what Sejun wanted to catch.
Well, I wish we had octopus for todays nutritious mealbut I wonder if well find any?
[Octopus? What does that look like?]
Octopus? Hmm It has 8 legs and a somewhat round head.
Sejun explained as best as he could in response to Flamies question.
[Oh! I see!]
Thanks to Sejun, Flamie received the data about octopus.
Lets find octopus!
Flamies roots in the dimensional sea diligently searched for octopus, herding them towards the pond.
Shortly after,
Kuehehehe. Kueng!
[Hehehe. We caught a bunch of creatures with many legs!]
Eehee! Sejun hyung will like this, right?
Squirm. Squirm.
Cuengi and Ajax emerged from the pond, arms full of the octopuses sent by Flamie.
And then,
Boom.
Attached to their waists by one of its legs, a giant octopus was dragged up
-You bastards, how dare you treat me like this!
Instead of an octopus, a fragment of the 6th seat of the Apostles of Destruction, the monstrous Kraken, devourer of the sea, was dragged up.
They brought it alive because it turns into coins when killed.
Of course, they tied the remaining six legs tightly to prevent it from moving.
Unfortunately, the Kraken also had 8 legs.
Kueng?!
[But is this really a nutritious meal?!]
If Sejun hyung said so, it must be right.
The two were doubtful if it was okay to eat an Apostle of Destruction, but if Sejun said it was nutritious, then it was.
Of course, Sejun had never thought they would bring up a Kraken.
***
This stubborn guy, really doesnt want to leave Sejun
Tier, who had been watching Theo all day to naturally pass on the deed to the 83rd floor of the White Tower.
However, Theo never left Sejuns side, sticking to him like glue.
Just when Tiers patience was nearly exhausted,
-Huh?! Whats this energy?!
Tier felt the energy of destruction. The audacity of the power of destruction!
Tier hurriedly flew towards the source of the destructive energy.
-You! How dare an Apostle of Destruction show itself here?! Kids, Ill save you!
Tier shouted upon seeing Cuengi and Ajax, their waists tied with the Krakens legs.
To Tier, it looked as if Cuengi and Ajax were being taken away by the Kraken.
And then,
Melt!
Swoosh.
Tier melted the Kraken.
-Come back.
Of course, he absorbed the poison back into his body, making sure to clean up properly. He didnt want Sejun to get poisoned.
Clang.
The Kraken turned into ten gray coins.
Kweeeng-!
[Dad, the nutritious meal disappeared-!]
Eehing! Sejun hyung, I was going to give it to you-!
Cuengi and Ajax burst into tears over the disappearance of the Kraken they had worked hard to bring,
Why is our Cuengi crying?!
-Who made my grandson cry?!
Sejun and Kellion hurried over upon hearing their crying.
-Uhthats
As a result, Tier found himself having to explain the situation to the four, even though he had done nothing wrong.
Huh? A Kraken?
-Why an Apostle of Destruction?
Upon Tiers explanation, Sejun and Kellion looked towards Cuengi and Ajax.
Then,
Kueng!
[Dad wanted to eat a nutritious meal with an octopus that has 8 legs and a round head, so we caught it!]
Yeah! Sejun hyung wanted to eat octopus as a nutritious meal!
The two earnestly explained why they had caught the Kraken.
However,
Huh? Who told you guys I wanted to eat octopus as a nutritious meal?
In their heightened emotion, they ended up revealing more than they should have.
At that moment,
Ah. I happened to hear it on my way and informed the two of them.
Veronica emerged from the pond and responded.
Oh?! Veronica, were you at the pond too?
Yes. I suddenly wanted to swim
Veronica, who had been connecting the area where the Ents were to the pond under Flamies orders.
[Veronica, hurry to the pond and relay what I said to Master Sejun!]
Yes! Glorious Moonlight Slash!
Kwaang!
Following Flamies orders, she quickly connected the tunnel and came up to the pond.
Thanks to her, Flamies identity was protected.
Lets go have dinner now.
Sejun went to the kitchen with Cuengi and Ajax to prepare for dinner,
Swiftly preparing the shabu-shabu broth he had prepared in advance and quickly handling the octopus. (TL: If you are wondering where the octopus came from, they caught multiple creatures, not just a kraken, as mentioned by them initially when they came out of the pond.)
Warururur.
He added the octopus and various mushrooms to the broth.
A moment later,
[You have achieved the feat of making the first ever Energizing Octopus Mushroom Shabu-shabu in the tower.]
[The recipe for Energizing Octopus Mushroom Shabu-shabu is registered at Cooking Lv. 8.]
[Your proficiency in Cooking Lv. 8 has slightly increased.]
A message appeared indicating the completion of the dish.
Lets eat. Dip it in here.
As Sejun took out soy sauce,
Kueng!
[Thank you for the food!]
Hyung-nim, Thank you for the meal!
Thank you for the meal!
Cuengi, Ajax, and Veronica began to eat the octopus and mushrooms, dipping them in soy sauce.
And then,
You guys eat too.
Sejun took care of Theo, Piyot, and Blackies meals, providing Churu, peanuts, and dried sweet potatoes.
Sejun also enjoyed the shabu-shabu, picking out octopus and mushrooms. As expected, the octopus was chewy and delicious.
While everyone was enjoying their dinner,
Kking!
Im done eating!
Fenrir quickly finished eating the dried sweet potatoes.
Surely what hes eating must taste better?
Fenrir eyed what Sejun was eating.
Squirm squirm.
Sejun had set aside some live octopus to add later.
Plop.
Im going to eat it all!
Fenrir launched himself towards the bowl containing the live octopus.
However,
Kking! Kking!
Hey! Save me! I cant move!
Instead of eating, Fenrir ended up being tightly wrapped by the live octopus and sent an SOS to Sejun.
Hey! If you wanted to eat, you should have called me! Why go in there?!
Fenrir ended up just being scolded by Sejun.
Kking!
You always eat the delicious stuff by yourself!
Blackie, did you want this? Here.
Despite Fenrirs complaints, he managed to get a piece of boiled octopus.
And then,
Chap. Chap. Chap.
Hurriedly eating the octopus Sejun gave him,
Kking Kking
Im full Pet me
He sent another SOS to Sejun.
Ugh.
Pat-pat.
Sejun stroked Fenrirs plump belly,
Burp.
And made him burp.
After the dinner was over,
[You have obtained a Ginkgo Seed.]
[Your Job Experience have slightly increased.]
[Your proficiency in Seed Harvesting Lv. 8 has slightly increased.]
[You need to use the Seed Harvesting skill 603,716 more times to complete the Job Quest.]
..
.
Sejun spent his time harvesting ginkgo seeds until bedtime.
Crackle. Crackle.
Under the night sky, in front of a campfire.
Sejun was busy harvesting ginkgo for a while like that.
I did quite a lot.
Seeing the pile of peeled ginkgo that had accumulated before he knew it, he felt good. It was rewarding.
Then,
[Your soul feels fulfilled.]
[Your Mental Strength increases by 1.]
His Mental Strength increased by 1 along with the message.
Since they say its good to have it high
Sejun felt proud of his growth today and fell asleep.
The next morning.
Lets go find some pears today!
Sejun, who had completely regained his motivation, decided to go look for pears.
Kueng?!
[Are we looking for a new Cuengi vessel?!] (TL: The Korean of pear also translates as boat/ship)
No. Not a sailing ship, but the fruit pear. Get inside.
After sending his companions into the void storage,
Swoosh.
He unfolded the land deed for the 81st floor of the Black Tower and disappeared from his spot.
*****
TL Note: The new stat, (Mental Strength), if we take it in gaming terms, translates to the Spirit stat, like the one in WoW.
*****
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