Chapter 126
After bringing the seed and the sap home, I headed straight for the refrigerator first.
Clunk.
When I opened the refrigerator door, I saw a black liquid.
It was the Black Mage Cola, the kind that raised your rank if you drank it by mistake.
"Wake up, children of darkness."
[Kraaaagh….]
As I shook the plastic bottle wildly, the black mage screamed and sat up.
"How long are you planning to keep this body locked up in here...! You clearly promised you'd let me out of the ice storage!"
"Ah, right."
I placed the plastic bottle on the desk and fell into thought about the black mage's new home.
Since a promise is a promise.
"An aquarium would be good."
[You mean the kind you keep fish in?]
"I'll even put in an aerator and a few aquatic plants."
[That's all well and good, but why a fish tank?]
"I recently learned that magic doesn't work very well underwater, you know? Especially Mist Form."
[...Have you been researching my weakness all this time...?]
"Don't be ridiculous. When would I even have time to research that?"
I shook the plastic bottle to make a whirlpool.
"All you have to do is shake it once or twice like this."
[You vile bastard...!]
Ignoring its grumbling, I took the World Tree sap out of my pocket.
"Here, take a look at this."
[This is...! You really got it? World Tree sap?]
"I told you it was possible."
[Amazing, truly amazing.... Even I am seeing the real thing for the first time.]
It stared hard at the bottle of sap as if it couldn't believe it.
"That takes care of the ink too, right?"
[Yes, we've secured the most important ingredient.]
"And take a look at this too."
I showed it the seed I had found in Makkakcheong's fireplace.
"Do you know what this is?"
The black mage pressed its eye right up against the surface of the plastic bottle.
[Hmm.... A burned seed.]
"I know that already. I'm asking what kind of seed it is."
[I don't know.]
"Sigh, I'm the idiot for expecting anything."
[Of course. I am a black mage, not a botanist.]
I let out a sigh.
"Come to think of it, if even the elf didn't know, how would this thing know?"
[What? You met an elf and even talked to them?]
"Well, of course. I got the sap from them."
[I assumed you'd stolen it in secret. You're that kind of guy.]
"……."
[Hmm, by any chance, could you bring me an elf corpse? It's a material I've never been able to get....]
"What?"
[What is it! Why are you putting me in that blender again...! Gyaaaah!]
Right. I'd almost forgotten, but this guy was a high-level black mage.
It was only natural that its way of thinking was grotesquely twisted compared to ordinary people.
There was no way someone like this could ever be reformed.
While I kept the black mage spinning in the blender, I got on with my own work.
Namely, planting the mysterious seed.
"Let's see, a flowerpot...."
I soon found an empty flowerpot.
That was when it happened.
Chohogi darted forward, spread its arms, and blocked my way.
"No, you're still sleeping here these days?"
The creature nodded.
I had no choice but to look for another flowerpot.
Naturally, since I didn't have the hobby of growing flowers, I didn't have any pots either.
"I guess I'll make one."
I carved a rock down into a flowerpot.
Then all that was left was to roughly fill it with soil from the yard.
I dug a hole with my finger and planted the seed.
"I wonder if it'll even grow."
A seed scorched by fire.
But since it was what the compass pointed to, it had to be something.
The elf elder had told me to try growing it too.
I took the chance to water it generously, then moved the pot to a sunny spot so it could photosynthesize.
"So the only thing left was the Dimensional Stone?"
The final material needed to make the gate-closing scroll.
A Dimensional Stone said to contain spatial coordinates.
With just this, I could start crafting the scroll right away.
I turned on the computer and logged into the Mage Gallery.
It was time to ask Pungdeongi about the progress.
[Title: How's the situation in Mexico?]
Comments came in as soon as I posted.
ㄴPungdeongi: Flying every three days is killing me.
ㄴPungdeongi: It's just an airline-mileage duplication event.
ㄴㅇㅇ(44P.4P4): If you just fly with magic, isn't it free?
ㄴPungdeongi: If I do that, I'd get hit by a missile....
ㄴPungdeongi: And don't think about digging underground to another country either.
ㄴPungdeongi: I'm worried you'd actually do it, so don't.
"No, what do you take me for...."
Even so, I'm not that much of an idiot.
It's surrounded by sea on three sides—how am I supposed to tunnel through the ground?
ㄴㅇㅇ(44P.4P4): Anyway, did you find that thing from before?
ㄴPungdeongi: The thing called a Dimensional Stone?
ㄴPungdeongi: Couldn't find it.
I clicked my tongue.
As expected, it wasn't easy.
Pungdeongi continued.
ㄴPungdeongi: We finished clearing one gate for now, but no matter how much I searched around, it still didn't show up.
ㄴPungdeongi : I'm not the only one looking. We're all searching for something special, and still nothing.
ㄴPungdeongi: We'll probably reach another gate in a few days, so I'll look again then.
"Even with a skill, you still can't find it?"
The skill I used to have: Insight.
It was a passive skill that let me roughly read the flow of mana.
If Pungdeongi, with the same skill, couldn't find it, then it really must be hidden deep.
ㄴPungdeongi: The environment near the gate is bad.
ㄴPungdeongi: I get dizzy whenever I come here, and my skill doesn't work properly either.
ㄴPungdeongi: Even the professional investigators are dry-heaving; it's a total mess.
"Looks like it's difficult after all...."
ㄴㅇㅇ(44P.4P4): Okay okay, don't overdo it.
ㄴPungdeongi: But what is this used for?
I rested my hand on the keyboard and thought for a moment.
"Should I tell him the truth?"
"That I was going to make a scroll that could close gates."
But I hadn't succeeded yet, and I still hadn't gathered all the materials.
There was nothing more embarrassing than hyping it up too soon and then failing.
Still, saying nothing at all wouldn't be polite either.
After thinking for a moment, I typed out one sentence.
ㄴㅇㅇ(44P.4P4): I'm preparing a mega event that'll make the world tremble.
ㄴㅇㅇ(44P.4P4): It's a good thing for everyone, so trust me.
ㄴPungdeongi: Someone I know said the exact same thing.
ㄴㅇㅇ(44P.4P4): ?
ㄴPungdeongi: A guy named Demigod said the exact same thing, creepily enough, when he proposed this operation.
ㄴPungdeongi: Are you brothers?
"That's pretty harsh."
To compare me to that attention-seeking nuisance.
Could there be any greater humiliation?
The only thing Demigod and I had in common was that we were both number one in the world rankings.
"Take that back...."
ㄴPungdeongi: Cancel.
After finishing the chat, I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling.
"So it's still not ready after all."
The only material I could obtain on Earth: the Dimensional Stone.
Even though its acquisition difficulty was the lowest of the three, it had somehow become the last hurdle.
I couldn't just wait around forever.
At the very least, I should learn about the other components and the crafting process.
"How would I use the scroll once I got it?"
Even announcing that it was possible would cause an uproar across the world.
I had to think about how to let the world know in the most effective way.
Sneaking in to close it and coming back wasn't an option.
Besides, the scroll would be too precious to waste.
"I'll think about it after I get the Dimensional Stone."
I got up and headed to the basement.
There was one last reward to check.
The gold skill book I got by spinning the reward wheel after clearing Floor 42.
[Conductor.]
[Passive]
[The mana conduction rate between particles increases.]
Since the description was so simple, I had to test it myself.
I scooped up just a fingernail's worth of sand from the floor and placed it on my hand.
When I infused it with mana, the grains of sand began to move.
I could tell right away what was different.
"Oh?"
When I focused, mana flowed into each grain of sand.
It felt like coating them with mana.
Now each grain of sand felt as large as a marble.
If I maintained my focus to the extreme, I felt like I could move them grain by grain.
"Pretty decent, huh?"
The downside was the massive drain on concentration.
I let my focus drop.
This time, I tried making various shapes out of the sand in my hand.
Practicing rapid shape-switching, like turning an upvote button into a downvote button.
It was several times faster than before.
"I can make complex shapes in no time now, and mana consumption has gone down too...."
A skill that boosted my overall level in every way.
It was exactly the sort of skill you'd expect from a gold rank.
"Maybe it could have a similar effect underwater too?"
I had definitely felt it on the previous floor too, but water was my bane.
Maybe this skill could help me.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a pool at home, so I couldn't check right away.
"I might as well check it tomorrow when I climb Floor 43."
Before I knew it, the sun was setting.
***
"Yawn...."
The next morning, I got up from bed while stretching.
Breakfast was cup ramen, as always.
When I went into the living room, I saw Chohogi sitting on the table.
Whoosh whoosh.
The moment it saw me, it sprang up and waved.
"Did you sleep well?"
On reflex, I reached out to pat its head.
"......?"
Something touched my fingertips.
The crown of Chohogi's head.
There was an unfamiliar object sprouting from that spot, which should have been rough and scratchy.
A fresh, bright green.
"What is this."
I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
It wasn't a sleepy hallucination.
At the very top of Chohogi's head, a tiny cute sprout had bloomed.
Two seed leaves jutting up like antennae,
"What's that on your head?"
"?"
Tilt?
Chohogi tilted its head, as if it didn't understand a thing.
The sprout on its head swayed with the movement.
I reached out and grabbed the sprout.
"I'll just pull it out."
I gave the sprout a light tug.
But it didn't come out, and it didn't break either.
The sprout was fixed in place as if it were one with the head.
"It won't come out?"
Just as I was about to put a little more force into it,
Chohogi clutched its head in alarm.
I hurriedly let go.
"What, it's really attached?"
And judging by Chohogi's reaction, it didn't even seem stuck on the surface.
It felt like the roots were buried deep inside.
Why did something like this suddenly grow?
"No way...."
A bad premonition flashed through my mind.
I immediately headed for the flowerpot where I'd planted the seed yesterday.
The new pot I had placed beside Chohogi's bed pot.
"………."
The pot was completely empty.
There were even clear signs that the soil had been dug up.
I slowly turned my head and glared at Chohogi.
"Hey."
"………."
Chohogi averted its gaze.
It pretended not to notice, clasping its hands behind its back and staring into the air.
"Did you eat this?"
"...!!"
Chohogi recoiled in surprise and stepped back.
Chohogi shook its head desperately.
But it was obvious to me that it was lying.
"Hey! Do you have any idea how precious that is? You just picked it up and ate it!"
I ended up shouting without meaning to.
The seed from Makkakcheong's house.
Even if it had been thrown away like trash, the compass had pointed to it, so it had to be a valuable item.
And you swallowed it whole in a single day.
And you even dug it out of the soil just to eat it?
"Come here and sit down. Hands up."
I made Chohogi sit down and take its punishment.
Chohogi, without a word, knelt with a sulky face and raised both hands.
The sprout on its head drooped too.
"Why on earth did you eat it?"
No matter how I thought about it, it was strange, so I pressed it for answers.
Chohogi desperately made excuses with gestures.
After deciphering its faint telepathy and body language, I could tell what it meant.
It had been sleeping beside the pot when it suddenly felt an irresistible pull.
By the time it came to, the sand was already in its mouth.
"It's not like it was a midnight snack or anything...."
That expression reminded me of myself waking up in the middle of the night to order jokbal.
"Haa.... What's done is done. It's not like I can make it throw it back up by getting angry."
I sighed and let Chohogi off the hook.
The bigger problem was the side effect.
Of all places, it was taking root and growing on its head, so I was seriously worried.
"What if its head splits open like this?"
[Sand Worm advises that, in situations like this, you should discipline it more harshly to fix the habit.]
"Come on, this is fine."
[Sand Worm points out that you are too soft.]
"Hmm...."
But I really was worried about Chohogi.
If the plant ended up taking over its body, we'd be in big trouble.
Still worried, I decided to seek an expert's advice.
Because they had clearly told me to come by once it sprouted.