Chapter 143 – Eating Popcorn

“I-I want it!”

Urchi answered as if possessed, staring at the black dragon tattoo on the sole of Theo’s paw.

The mark of being a subordinate of the great black dragon. If he could have it, it would be the honor of his family—no, the honor of the entire tribe.

And if he could achieve that, he would become a great king whose name would go down in the history of the Black Orc tribe for a long time to come.

“Then listen to me well from now on, meow!”

Theo put his hands on his hips and spoke arrogantly. He thought that if Urchi listened to him well, he would later ask Se-jun to bring a scale of Kaiser.

“Of course! If the subordinate of the great black dragon speaks, we will only follow!”

“No, meow!”

“Yes?!”

“Listen carefully, meow! I am the subordinate of the great black dragon, the deadly yellow cat, Theo Park-nim, meow!”

“Ah! Yes! The subordinate of the great black dragon, the deadly cat, Theo Park-nim!”

“Puhuhut. That’s it, meow!”

Theo felt very good hearing his introduction from someone else’s mouth.

“The subordinate of the great black dragon, the deadly cat, Theo Park-nim! Please grant us the honor of using the mark of the great black dragon!”

“Meow?! What do you mean by using the mark, meow?”

“We have a way. Luken!”

As Urchi shouted,

“Yes!”

A huge Black Orc entered. He held a staff decorated with a skull in his hand.

“Luken, the shaman of our Black Orc tribe, will copy the mark on the sole of the great black dragon’s subordinate, the deadly cat, Theo Park-nim.”

“Copy, meow?”

“Yes! There will be absolutely no damage to the mark of the great black dragon’s subordinate, the deadly cat, Theo Park-nim.”

“Then it’s fine, meow!”

“Thank you! The subordinate of the great black dragon, the deadly cat, Theo Park-nim!”

“Urchi, just call me by name from now on.”

As the modifiers became too long, Theo himself felt uncomfortable.

“Yes! Theo-nim!”

“Urchi-nim, where will you engrave the mark?”

Luken asked Urchi.

“The great black dragon is a supreme being! It is impossible for me to be above him! I will engrave the mark on the crown of my head!”

“Yes! Understood. Then please place the mark on top of your head!”

“Got it!”

Thump!

Urchi prostrated himself before Theo.

“Theo-nim, please place the mark on the crown of my head!”

“Like this, meow?!”

Place.

In response to Urchi’s request, Theo placed his tattooed paw on the crown of Urchi’s head. Somehow, it became an odd picture as if a thug was stepping on the head of a person who was prostrating and begging.

“Please stay like that for just a moment!”

Thump! Thump!

When Luken tapped the ground with his staff and used his shamanic magic,

Hum.

A red light flowed out between the sole of Theo’s paw and the crown of Urchi’s head.

“It is finished!”

“Thank you for your hard work, Theo-nim!”

“Good job to Urchi too, meow!”

Theo answered Urchi’s words without changing his posture.

“……You may remove it now.”

“Got it, meow!”

Only then did Theo remove his paw from the crown of Urchi’s head. Then, the black dragon tattoo properly engraved on the crown of Urchi’s head was revealed.

At that moment,

“Meow?!”

Theo discovered that something else had been copied too. Round shapes surrounding the black dragon tattoo. Theo’s paw print had been engraved on the crown of Urchi’s head along with the black dragon tattoo.

But

“Luken, from now on, I will make this mark the flag of our Black Orc Kingdom!”

“Yes! Understood!”

The Black Orcs thought that the mark of the great black dragon originally looked like that.

‘It’s not my fault, meow!’

Theo quietly shut his mouth. Thus, the drawing in which the mark of the great black dragon and Theo’s paw print were engraved together became the national flag of the new Black Orc Kingdom.

***

Late night in the cave on the 99th floor of the tower.

Crackle. Crackle.

The sound of firewood burning was heard. And Se-jun, Flamie, Cuengi, the Golden Bat, and Iona surrounding the campfire.

“So, just in case, the man opened the lid……”

Gulp.

Everyone swallowed their saliva and focused on what Se-jun was saying.

“Another dumpling had vanished!”

Se-jun was playing, telling a scary story by the campfire.

Cueng!!!

[Dad, it’s scary!!!]

At the mysterious phenomenon of food disappearing without anyone eating it, Cuengi clung tightly to Se-jun’s side. There was no situation more terrifying to Cuengi than food disappearing for no reason.

At that moment,

Growl.

A loud rumble was heard from Cuengi’s stomach.

Cueng!

[Talking about food makes me hungry!]

The terrified expression from just a moment ago vanished somewhere, and Cuengi made a pitiful face looking at Se-jun. Originally, he should sleep early and wake up early, but today was a special situation. A late-night snack required the permission of a mother or father.

“Then shall we eat popcorn?”

Cueng!

[Excited!]

Although he did not know what popcorn was, Cuengi cheered at Se-jun’s words that they were eating.

“Hold on.”

Se-jun stood up and placed two wide pots made from the backplate of a fire ant worker onto the campfire.

And,

Pour.

He poured red corn kernels into the two pots. It was the Exploding Corn of Stamina that he had taken out in advance before planting to eat later.

A moment later,

Pop. Pop.

Water vapor created from inside the corn kernels that absorbed the hot heat began to burst the corn kernels and escape. As a result, the inside of the two pots quickly filled with white snowflakes.

“First, I’ll make salted popcorn……”

In one of the two pots filled with popcorn, Se-jun added salt and mixed it evenly to season it.

And,

“Here. Take this.”

Se-jun rolled up green onion leaves to make them like ice cream cones and filled them with popcorn. He did not give a lot. Just enough to whet the appetite.

Crunch.

Cueng!

[Delicious!]

(It’s delicious!)

“Kyu-kyu-kyu!”

The animals became addicted to the savory and salty taste and began to eat the popcorn frantically.

Meanwhile,

Bubble. Bubble.

Se-jun took out a new pot, added water and honey together, and began to simmer it.

Cueng!

Cuengi watched anxiously as the honey turned brown. If you’re going to burn the honey like that, I want to eat it!

“I’m not burning it. Just wait a moment.”

Once the honey was simmered to some extent, Se-jun poured the unseasoned popcorn over it and stirred diligently so that the honey mixed evenly with the popcorn, making honey popcorn.

Cueng?

[Is it still far from done?]

Having finished all the popcorn Se-jun gave him and completely captivated by the scent of honey spreading from the pot, Cuengi hovered around the pot where the honey popcorn was being made and nagged Se-jun.

“Cuengi, wait.”

As Se-jun spoke sternly to Cuengi, who was roaming around the hot fire,

Cueng!

[Cuengi will wait at his spot!]

Cuengi hurriedly sat at his spot as he had learned when he was young, waiting patiently for the food.

‘It’s almost done.’

“Iona, please use drying magic weakly.”

Looking at the popcorn well-mixed with honey, Se-jun asked Iona for a spell to blow away the moisture from the popcorn in the two pots. For popcorn, taste was taste, but texture was also really important.

“Kyu-kyu-kyu. Yes! Dry!”

Iona hurriedly used the drying magic. Iona also wanted to eat the popcorn quickly because of the sweet smell rising from it.

When the honey popcorn was completed like that,

“Eat whichever flavor you want to eat.”

Se-jun let the animals eat whichever they wanted between the salted popcorn and honey popcorn, and he also scooped some popcorn for himself.

“Hehehe. I’m half-and-half.”

Se-jun put salted popcorn and honey popcorn half-and-half in the leaf cone cup, blocked the opening, and shook it to mix.

And,

Grab.

He grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoved it into his mouth.

Crunch.

‘Ah! This is it!’

Se-jun thrilled at the taste felt in his mouth. With each chew, the salted popcorn and the honey popcorn were chewed alternately, completing the combination of sweet and salty that one would never grow tired of.

On top of that,

Crunch. Crunch.

As the honey hardened, the crispy texture of the honey popcorn felt every time he chewed added to the fun of eating.

Cueng?

Cuengi, who had been focusing on attacking the honey popcorn containing honey, saw what Se-jun was eating and mixed the popcorn to eat it himself too. Since following Se-jun was always successful, Cuengi trusted Se-jun implicitly.

And,

Cueng!

[Delicious!]

This time too, his trust was rewarded.

Cueng!

Munch. Munch.

Cuengi held salted popcorn in one hand and honey popcorn in the other hand, starting to devour them alternately.

Thus, the night of the 295th day of being stranded passed.

***

-Find and protect the Golden Bat! Without fail!

Han Tae-jun, who had received Theo’s message and instructed his subordinates to find the Golden Bat. He was moving toward the tower in a hurry upon hearing that Theo was looking for him.

At that moment,

Hum.

The secretary’s smartphone began to ring.

“Hello. Is that so? Really? Send the link right away.”

Click.

The secretary hung up the phone.

And,

“Association President, they say they found the Golden Bat.”

“Really? How?”

“Take a look at this.”

The secretary played the video on the tablet. And the “What on Earth” broadcast edited by Bae Jung-ho came out.

“Hmm…… it has already been broadcast. The location?”

“Halla Building next to our association.”

“The building next door? Was it that close? How much was the Halla Building?”

“Well…… the original market price is around 200 billion won, but because of the broadcast about a bat appearing in the building, we should be able to cut the price a lot.”

“Buy it immediately.”

“Yes!”

Since Tae-jun had been asked by Theo to look into the building where the Golden Bat appeared, he intended to give it to Theo as a gift.

‘Hehehe. I’ll write off one favor with this.’

Just in time, the owner of the Halla Building wanted to sell the building urgently, so Han Tae-jun was able to enter the tower with the building contract purchased in Se-jun’s name.

***

“Ugh……”

When Se-jun woke up in the morning, the surroundings were a mess. Popcorn spilled while eating yesterday was scattered on the floor, and

Kkurorong.

Baerorong.

Cuengi was sleeping inside the pot while hugging the Golden Bat. Iona had woken up early and gone to check the construction site of the magic tower.

[Master, are you awake?]

“Yes.”

Flamie greeted Se-jun, who was looking around, with a morning greeting.

“Did you sleep well too, Flamie?”

[Yes. Yesterday, it was nice because the night wasn’t quiet!]

Had our Flamie been lonely all this time? Se-jun thought he should play in the cave often in the future.

And leaving Cuengi and the Golden Bat, who were still sleeping, he went outside.

At that moment,

Kke-ek!

A mushroom ant approached Se-jun majestically.

“Hehehe. Welcome.”

When a mushroom ant was this confident, it usually grew an elixir mushroom on its back, so Se-jun welcomed the mushroom ant warmly.

Kke-ek!

The mushroom ant showed its back at Se-jun’s warm welcome. Just as Se-jun expected, there was only one elixir mushroom on the mushroom ant’s back. It was a black, stone-like mushroom he was seeing for the first time.

“Thank you for your hard work growing it.”

Se-jun stroked the mushroom ant’s back and praised it.

And,

Pluck.

He picked the mushroom.

[You have harvested an Advanced Elixir: Black Truffle.]

[Job experience points increase slightly.]

[The proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 6 increases slightly.]

[You have gained 250 experience points.]

“Huh?! Black Truffle?”

It was a mushroom he had only heard of on Earth.

“Isn’t this extremely expensive?”

Se-jun hurriedly checked the options.

[Advanced Elixir: Black Truffle]

The Black Truffle, grown by the tower farmer’s tenant farmer mushroom ant, has absorbed all surrounding nutrients alone for a long time and grown into an elixir.

Boasts a powerful aroma.

Upon consumption, all stats +3

Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Se-jun’s tenant farmer mushroom ant

Expiration Date: 150 days

Grade: C+

“Oh!”

All stats were increased by 3. (Wait! Raw says ” 3 .” -> It was an advanced elixir that increased all stats by 3. My translation had: “It was an advanced elixir that increased all stats by 3.” Let’s check it. In the code content block: “It was an advanced elixir that increased all stats by 3.” This is correct.)

‘I will eat and get rid of it before Cuengi wakes up!’

Munch. Munch.

Se-jun hurriedly put the Black Truffle in his mouth and chewed. It was obvious that if Cuengi saw it, he would ask for it. I have to live too! He could not keep being treated as the weakest.

[You have consumed the Advanced Elixir: Black Truffle.]

[All stats increase by 3.]

“Good.”

Se-jun, who had become stronger than his yesterday self, started the morning in a good mood.

At that moment,

Cueng!

[Good morning!]

Cuengi, who woke up from hunger, greeted the morning energetically.

Sniff. Sniff.

Cueng! Cueng?!

[A nice smell is coming from Dad’s mouth! Did you eat something alone?!]

Cuengi, who was approaching Se-jun, began to sniff around Se-jun’s mouth and discovered with uncanny accuracy that Se-jun had eaten something alone. Coincidentally, eating the truffle, famous for its intense aroma, was the problem.

“Huh?! No! I didn’t eat anything?!”

Se-jun hurriedly covered his mouth so the scent wouldn’t spread, but

Cueng?! Cueng!!!

[Then why did you cover your mouth?! Dad said that if one lies, they are a bad guy, and Dad is lying right now!!!]

That only raised Cuengi’s suspicion.

“No. Dad didn’t eat anything?”

The more he denied it, the more the truffle scent spread thickly from Se-jun’s mouth, making Se-jun confess that he had eaten it alone.