The Buffs I Raised Are Too Strong - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 21.
Before entering the second floor.
There was something I needed to do.
“This is it.”
Roll.
A single seed sitting alone on the desk.
“It looks different from the last one.”
Azure Breeze.
From inside that suitcase my sister had given me.
A seed wrapped with care, tinged with a deep blue hue.
At the time, I didn’t know what value that single seed held,
but now I do.
“I wonder how this one will grow.”
The preparations for planting the seed were already finished.
The disaster from last time.
To prevent a repeat of the incident where it had consumed an entire wall of the building.
I’d decided to plant it on the first floor.
“All right.”
Creak.
I opened the door to Unit 102 on the first floor.
A place where no one had moved in for a long time.
The state of cleanliness was predictably a complete mess.
“Hmm… does it matter?”
The cobwebs on the ceiling bothered me a little,
but I decided to put it off for later.
Narrow as it was, cleaning an entire house wouldn’t finish in a day.
And I had a feeling I wouldn’t be satisfied until I planted this thing today.
“Hngh…!”
I grabbed the new Soil Bag I’d ordered online and tore open the top.
Then I scattered the soil across the floor, much like the Rooftop Garden.
Premium-quality earth I’d specially ordered.
Since it was precious, I thought I should give it special treatment.
As for another form of special treatment,
I’d be using an entire house for this thing.
‘Since I don’t know how large it might grow.’
If I planted other things alongside it and something like a tree ended up sprouting, it would be a disaster.
It might have a negative effect on the growth of this plant too.
“That’s done.”
I gently dug into the top of the soil, placed the seed inside, and covered it.
And then.
“Blessing of the World Tree.”
Cast the blessing and it’s finished.
I was standing there, gazing at the seed with satisfaction,
Wriggle—
“Huh?”
The soil writhed.
On its own.
“What—what is that? An earthworm…?”
I’d bought it in good faith because they said it was premium soil, and now there was an earthworm in it?
Right exactly where I’d planted the seed, no less.
“For crying out loud….”
I reached down to dig out the soil and remove the earthworm.
The soil thrashed increasingly violent.
For a moment I worried it might eat the seed,
“…Huh?”
Whoosh!
Suddenly the soil shot upward.
My clothes were covered in dirt as a result.
Fortunately, my eyes closed instinctively, so dirt didn’t get in them.
“What—hey!”
I quickly stumbled backward, rubbing my eyes.
Carefully, I opened them again.
Given the considerable range of scattered soil, whatever had emerged was no ordinary creature.
And yet.
‘That thing came out of the Soil Bag?’
It had certainly been heavy enough.
But I’d never imagined anything besides soil lay packed inside.
Still, I managed to identify it.
“……!”
And what came into view was—
“Ugh, uuuaahhh……!”
Thump!
Startled beyond measure, my feet tangled together and I toppled backward.
The soil cushioned my fall, so the impact wasn’t severe.
‘That’s not the problem…….’
I couldn’t tear my gaze from what lay before me.
Sweat refused to stop beading on my palms and soles.
“This is…….”
Slowly, I pushed myself up and crept toward it.
With utmost care.
I extended my right hand.
Prick!
“Hngh……!”
A few drops of blood seeped from my right hand where something had pierced it.
The wound was shallow.
My fingertip had been pricked as lightly as a needle.
Cautiously, I spoke the name aloud.
“……It’s a cactus.”
A cactus.
A plant that sprouted spines instead of leaves to protect itself in barren surroundings.
Yes.
My fingertip had been pierced by cactus spines.
But.
‘There’s no way blood would seep from a prick by an ordinary cactus.’
This plant before my eyes was no mere cactus.
Though it did possess a rounded body and sharp spines.
Its form was far too unusual to classify simply as a cactus.
It was as large as an adult man.
If I had to describe it—
it was—
‘A living mass of thorns.’
That’s right.
This thing was alive.
Not in the sense of “all plants are living organisms” or anything like that.
It was alive in the truest sense.
“……The spines moved.”
The moment I brought my hand near, spines erupted from its body in response.
Not enough to claim a life.
As if to threaten, they drew just enough blood to show.
“What would happen if I went all the way in?”
I could endure a prick or two from spines.
But if I were to push my hand in until it touched the body itself—
“……I don’t want to find out.”
If those few droplets on my fingertip were a warning—
then crossing that threshold would surely spell death.
My skin had torn the moment I made contact.
Could my heart possibly withstand it?
A spine merely extended to my chest would be enough to end me.
“Sigh…… a bust this time.”
I’d heard of this before.
On certain floors of the tower, plants apparently attack Awakeners directly.
This must be one of those cases.
With my current strength, eating this cactus is impossible.
“Well, even if it’s a bust, I’ve got to try.”
Plant information.
I widened my eyes and stared at the creature.
A blue window materialized before me.
[Berna Spine]
─Grade: SR (Super Rare)
─Freshness: Excellent
─Blessing Classification: ???
“What? Almost everything’s showing?”
Unlike the Azure Breeze, which had revealed almost no information when I first planted it.
This one had everything unlocked except the Blessing Classification.
“Does that mean it’s already in its Mature Form?”
The Azure Breeze had taken about a week to reach that state.
But this one was in its Mature Form the moment I planted it.
If this had been any plant other than a cactus, I would’ve jumped for joy.
“The description, then…….”
I read the additional text written below.
─A plant inhabiting the Mid-layer of the tower. Its entire body is covered in spines of exceptional piercing power. Upon sensing a threat, it reflexively repels intruders.
“Yeah, it’s all stuff I already know.”
Apart from the fact that it dwells in the Mid-layer, there’s not much use in it.
“Hmm.”
Everything, that is, except the final line.
─The spines are both leaf and fruit.
“Ah, so I need to eat the spines themselves?”
I’m not sure how to get those pointed things into my mouth,
but the difficulty seems to have dropped a little.
“If all it takes is extracting just the spines, that’s manageable, isn’t it?”
Not by me, of course.
But someone else’s strength?
“Heh, heheheh.”
Wait just a bit longer, cactus.
* * *
“……So that’s why you called me?”
“Yeah.”
My older sister stood with her arms crossed, glaring at me.
I beamed and pointed at the cactus.
“Harvest it for me. Just enough to eat. Don’t kill it.”
“……You’re something else.”
My sister’s eyes narrowed,
but she soon began to limber up.
“I just need to pull the spines out, right?”
“Yeah. About three of them?”
“Since I’m doing the harvesting, naturally I get to eat some too, right?”
“Of course.”
My sister walked toward the cactus with confidence.
“That thing over there—I actually know it.”
“That one…… A cactus?”
“Yeah, I’ve seen it in the tower before.”
My sister spoke as though it were nothing special.
‘She said it inhabits the Mid-layer.’
My sister is an Awakener who operates in the Mid-layer herself,
so it makes sense she’d have encountered one.
“What did you do with it back then?”
“What would I do? How could a cactus spine possibly pierce an Awakener’s body? I just ignored it and moved on.”
“I see.”
I felt a bit relieved.
I’d been worried what I’d do if she couldn’t pierce through it either.
If it couldn’t pierce her body at all, there’d be nothing to worry about.
“It does look a bit bigger than the one we saw in the tower back then, but it’s not a problem.”
My sister grinned and took her stance.
Then.
“Hgh―!”
She simply reached out her hand.
I watched the scene unfold with satisfaction.
A creature that couldn’t even touch her skin, now defenseless against an overwhelming force, having its spines torn out.
It was exhilarating.
It should have been exhilarating.
“……What?”
My mouth fell open in an instant.
“Ugh……!”
Blood dripped.
Crimson blood streamed down her leg and soaked into the soil.
My sister let out a pained groan.
“How, why…….”
Step, step.
My sister slowly backed away.
The spines stopped extending any further.
As my sister retreated, the spine withdrew from her body.
“……Ugh!”
A wet sound.
As the spine pulled free entirely, blood spurted from the punctured wound.
She needed to stop the bleeding.
“Sister!!”
I rushed over and pressed my outer robe against her wound to apply pressure.
Right leg, palm, side.
Because the spines were thin, the wounds weren’t large, but that didn’t mean the bleeding stopped quickly.
“I’m, I’m fine…… I was just surprised.”
My sister’s face twisted in pain.
Looking at where she’d been pierced.
“Hgh……!”
A flex.
Thick veins bulged near the wound, and then the bleeding stopped.
“How much have I suffered at the hands of monsters until now? This isn’t even worth calling a wound.”
“You’re really sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. There doesn’t seem to be any poison either.”
My sister flashed a grin.
“Since when did my brother start worrying about me?”
“……What are you talking about? I was just startled.”
“……So you’re not worried?”
“What are you trying to do here?”
“Ha ha ha! Of course you worry while getting teased about it.”
Thanks to my sister’s composed reaction, the tension eased.
The wound had almost completely sealed.
‘So this is a Mid-layer Awakener’s regeneration.’
Once I reached the Mid-layer, would I stop caring about wounds like this entirely?
I couldn’t quite imagine it.
“Anyway.”
My sister brushed dirt from her pants and stood up.
“What do we do with this thing.”
The spine still stained with my sister’s blood.
It overwhelmed me with the sharp presence of something that could strike at any moment if I approached.
“You said you saw something like this in the tower before? Is this a different species?”
“No, it’s exactly the same. This one just seems a bit larger.”
“But…… you said last time it couldn’t pierce your skin?”
“I can only explain it as this creature being special. It’s probably your ability. The plant has been strengthened.”
“Strengthened……?”
A spine with unexpected power that had pierced through my sister’s body—something that should have been impenetrable.
Just like the cherry tomatoes, perilla leaves, and lettuce that had changed form.
Does it apply to the Tower’s plants as well?
“Your sister’s in real trouble. With so many carnivorous plants in the Tower, if they all get strengthened, you’ll end up getting eaten by the ones you’ve been growing yourself, won’t you?”
“…Don’t say such inauspicious things.”
The plants I’ve cultivated eating me?
That would probably be the most pathetic death in the world.
“Well, that’s a problem for the future anyway.”
My sister pulled out her phone from her pocket.
“Right now, it’s this one.”
“You’re calling who?”
“The Guild Master.”
“…Why?”
“I know someone who’s an expert at thorn extraction.”
“…An expert?”
“Oh right, you’ve met them before too. My memory, honestly.”
“Met them before?”
Who on earth is it?
My Grown-Up Buff Is Just Too Strong
Author |
Naepmyeon-hwachae
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Editorial Director |
Editorial Department
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Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books
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7th Floor, Gwangseong Building, 28 Bongeunsa-ro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260731072
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blog.naver.com/dreambookss
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@dreambookss
Submissions |
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No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. – Dream Books.

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