The Buffs I Raised Are Too Strong - Chapter 16

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 16.
“Damn it!!”
Thud!!
Hyun Chae-rin’s foot drove hard against the floor.
So much force went into it that several tiles cracked and scattered in all directions.
One flew toward a nearby potted plant.
Another…….
“Aaaah!!”
“……Oh.”
It grazed the cheek of the female staff member who had been waiting quietly nearby.
“I’m—I’m so sorry…… Yu-jin.”
“Ah, ha ha…… it’s fine…….”
Hyun Chae-rin didn’t know what to do with herself.
She hadn’t even thought to change out of her ruined clothes.
She hurried toward Yu-jin.
The only one from the support team who had stayed by her side after the others left.
The only ally she had among the guild members, apart from the guild master himself.
‘What a mess this is.’
The conquest had failed.
And she couldn’t even accept it.
To lash out in frustration and accidentally wound someone who was simply standing by—waiting.
As she used a tissue to staunch the bleeding scratch on the cheek,
Yu-jin asked softly,
“You… failed, didn’t you?”
“……Yes. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay! I’m sure you’ll clear it next time!”
“…Thank you.”
The same encouragement as always.
Despite the mounting failures,
she had always smiled brightly and offered words of support.
A thin line of blood traced down her cheek.
The staff member left Hyun Chae-rin’s side.
“Sigh…….”
She tossed the tissue in her hand toward a nearby waste bin.
It landed short.
It didn’t go in.
The 40th floor conquest.
Fifth failure already.
‘At this rate, I’ll end up like Jeong So-hyun…….’
She had failed twelve times,
but at this pace, it wouldn’t take much longer to catch up.
Jeong So-hyun had at least managed to break through that wall somehow.
Whether she herself could do the same remained uncertain.
According to the contract with Baekryeon, any guild member who failed to produce results for more than two years would have their contract forcibly terminated.
It was only natural—the guild wasn’t running a charity.
When she’d first learned of it, she’d thought it had nothing to do with her.
Two years meant twenty-four months.
Twenty-four attempts at the tower.
Not climb a single floor in twenty-four attempts?
Could someone like that really be called a proper Awakener?
But already, five months had passed.
Time flew, and growth lagged behind.
‘……I didn’t know then. That each floor’s difficulty increases exponentially.’
Even when she’d begged the guild master for a new Buffer, the result was the same.
The 40th floor. That damn 40th floor.
‘……Is it the limit of my ability?’
Hyun Chae-rin stared at the Short Sword rolling across the floor.
She stared at her legs, honed through awakening and training.
The 40th floor was known among those who’d conquered it by a nickname—the proving ground.
There was only one reason.
Before and after the 40th floor,
the monsters’ defense grew dramatically different.
Up to the 39th floor, the Short Sword would pierce clean through them.
From the 40th floor onward, not even a scratch.
Not with kicks.
Not even charging full speed and ramming hard enough to shatter bone.
That lump of stone barely flinched.
“……Why do I have to have this ability.”
Jeong So-hyun.
Born with that rare Martial Arts Ability, she’d breezed through the 40th floor without any trouble.
The rumor was she wielded a ridiculously enormous greatsword.
‘The 40th floor? ……Was it really any different from before?’
“……Damn it.”
Her mood soured.
The relationship between her and Jeong So-hyun was impossible to call good, not even by a stretch.
The woman had talent and spoke down to everyone because of it.
How were they supposed to get close?
Worse, Jeong So-hyun was partly to blame for the failure to clear the 40th floor.
The Buffers who’d joined Baekryeon just watching her.
When Jeong So-hyun hit that wall, how many Buffers ended up leaving the guild?
“Ugh…….”
She picked up the Short Sword from the ground and headed out.
Training.
When everything else failed, there was only training.
She had to cool her heated mind.
On the way to the Training Room,
“Who is it?”
“Hyun Chae-rin. It’s Hyun Chae-rin.”
‘……?’
She instinctively concealed herself.
Her name.
Her own name had just been spoken aloud.
‘……Who’s that?’
Suppressing her presence, she carefully turned toward the source of the voice.
She’d always been confident in hiding her footsteps.
There was no way she’d be spotted.
And then.
“…!”
Her knees nearly buckled where she stood.
“We didn’t clear it again, can you believe it? And the team leader forced this whole mess on me out of nowhere, so what is this supposed to be.”
“Mmm… I mean, everyone already knows Hyun Chae-rin’s growth has stalled. There’s nothing we can do until the team leader leaves the guild anyway. But why is that one like that?”
“I don’t know! She got angry about the failed clear and just took it out on me!?”
“……Really? Shouldn’t we tell the guild master about that?”
“God, you’re stupid. If they’re going to kick anyone out, they’ll kick out Hyun Chae-rin, not me. I mean, she’s supposedly some mid-tier clearer but….”
“Eesh…… If she hadn’t awakened in the first place, this is how she’d be living anyway. Still, Baekryeon’s pay is decent.”
Yu-jin.
The person who’d always greeted her with a smile.
“…….”
She slipped away without saying a word.
Nausea clawed at her throat, but she swallowed it down.
‘You already knew.’
She’d always known that Yu-jin talked behind her back.
She’d known her reputation wasn’t good around the guild.
But hearing it like this, directly….
It felt strange.
* * *
Four days had passed.
“Kyaa∼!”
Seedlings had sprouted from the soil in just one day.
Before long, the Rooftop Room was bathed in a lush green landscape.
“Is this the joy of farming?”
It was different from when I’d tended the Cherry Tomatoes or the Tower’s plants.
The emotion born from their sheer size.
Every single one had grown healthy without exception—there was no end to my satisfaction.
With gladness in my heart, I reached down and plucked the one lettuce I’d planted closest to the gate.
‘This one’s form is different from an ordinary vegetable too.’
A normal lettuce’s shape would be
leaves like jagged rose petals, spread wide.
But the lettuce I’d grown had elongated leaves like a roaring campfire.
They even seemed to have a reddish tint.
‘It looks like it might be spicy…….’
I was curious about the taste.
I almost brought it to my mouth without thinking.
I barely stopped my hand before my lips touched it.
“……First things first.”
I needed to check the basic information.
‘Who knows what might happen, just like with the Azure Breeze last time.’
[Jeong So-hyuk’s Lettuce]
―Rank: R (Rare)
―Freshness: Supreme
―Blessing Type: Heat Immunity
“Heat immunity……?”
It wasn’t a simple buff like ‘Strength’ or ‘Mana’.
‘……Should I test it?’
Carefully, I tore off a single leaf.
With a crisp snap, the leaf came away cleanly.
Then.
“Oh!”
The leaf, which had been a reddish-tinged green,
transformed instantly into a bright orange, like a matchstick flame.
I held the sensation of gripping a living flame.
“……I humbly accept.”
Honestly, the green version would have been easier to put in my mouth.
I squeezed my eyes shut and bit down.
Crunch!
“Mmm…… Mm……?”
With each bite, an enormous amount of juice burst forth.
It felt like eating watermelon.
The flavor was
‘slightly sweet…… spicy and tangy at once…….’
“……Kimchi?”
No, it was a bit different.
The texture was no different from ordinary lettuce.
“The taste isn’t bad, though…….”
Crunch.
Munch, munch.
If the blessed Cherry Tomato had been an overwhelming sweetness I couldn’t get enough of,
then this lettuce was…… addictive, somehow.
Yes, it had an addictive quality to its flavor.
“……Ah.”
Before I knew it, I’d eaten the entire lettuce plant that had been in my hand.
Including even the soil clinging to it.
“Ugh, blegh, blegh! Ah…… tastes like dirt…….”
Why hadn’t I noticed while eating?
My mouth felt unpleasant.
The earthy, musty taste was only now making itself known.
Just as I turned to head inside and rinse my mouth,
[Entity: Jeong So-hyuk’s Lettuce]
[Buff Type: Heat Immunity]
[Incompatible with your body.]
“Huh?”
A status window appeared.
‘Like with the Azure Breeze….’
So now it immediately tells me whether something’s compatible or not.
As my ability evolves, the status window seems to be changing too.
The difference from the Azure Breeze, though…
‘…incompatible.’
Not exactly a pleasant feeling.
I’d been counting on this.
‘Why is it incompatible?’
Cherry tomato, lettuce.
The difference from Azure Breeze.
‘Plants from the tower.’
Could it be that only tower plants work?
Is that why my mana increase was higher than my sister’s?
“Ugh….”
I should test the rest of them too, but
I doubt the results will be any different from the lettuce.
“In a situation like this….”
‘I have no choice but to call her.’
I pulled out my phone and searched for my sister’s contact.
After all, I’d started growing these plants at her request in the first place.
She’d be thrilled to come running.
That was when.
“…Huh?”
Just before I could press the call button,
my phone rang directly.
‘…Not my sister?’
An unknown number.
An uneasy feeling crept over me.
“…Gulp.”
Beep—.
After a moment’s hesitation, I pressed accept.
A voice came through the phone.
—Hey! So-hyuk?
“…Guild Master?”
The person on the other end was none other than Baek Yul-heon.
“How did you get this number…?”
—Had some business, so I borrowed a company phone! Anyway, you free right now?
“Um… it’s not like I have nothing to do….”
—Perfect! I’m near your villa right now, so get ready!
Click.
The call ended.
“…What?”
Near where, exactly?
That’s when it happened.
Honk—!!
“Erk!?”
A horn blast so loud the villa shook.
Thinking there’d been a car accident, I quickly leaned down to look outside.
“…That car.”
I recognized it.
I’d even ridden in it before.
It was Baek Yul-heon’s car.
And the car door opened.
“It’s Baek Yul-heon….”
His forehead gleamed in the reflected sunlight.
Even from above, that silhouette was unmistakably his.
“Oh, So-hyuk!”
He was waving at me.
The Buffer I Raised Is Too Strong
Author |
Naengmyeon-hwachae
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Chief Editor |
Editorial Department
Published by |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books
Address |
7F Gwangseong Building, 28 Bongeunsa-ro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260731072
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter (X) |
@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————