Chapter 165 – What If I Had Eaten It All!

[Summoning Ajax Mamuve, the Tower Farmer of the White Tower.]

About 10 seconds after the message appeared,

*Thump.*

The massive 20-meter white dragon Ajax appeared before Se-jun.

“Groan. What is this? Where is this place?”

Just as Ajax, who had finally regained consciousness, looked around and spoke,

“Ah… Ajax! Go back!”

Se-jun cried out in a hurry, feeling his consciousness fade. Just by enduring the magic power that Ajax radiated while simply breathing, Se-jun was on the verge of fainting. Although he had acquired a 200-year dragon slave, Se-jun was unable to use him properly.

[Unsummoning Ajax Mamuve, the Tower Farmer of the White Tower.]

“Fhew.”

Having unsummoned Ajax, Se-jun let out a sigh of relief.

“Did the dragon just come and go, meow?”

Cueng!

[It was the white dragon!]

Theo and Cuengi, who had been watching Ajax, spoke. Since the two already knew the details of the contract with Ajax, they had not been very worried.

“Hahaha. Did you see? The white dragon coming running at my summon?”

Se-jun boasted loudly, wanting to protect his last bit of pride.

However,

“Chairman Park, are we strangers, meow?”

Cueng!

[That’s right! It’s okay if Cuengi’s dad is weak!]

He had pretended to be strong for no reason, only to receive comfort from the animals instead.

“……Yeah. Thanks.”

Come to think of it, it wasn’t just a day or two that he had shown them this side of him, so there was nothing to be ashamed of.

‘I didn’t faint in front of a dragon!’

Strictly speaking, he had only endured Ajax’s magic power for a few seconds, but it was still a praiseworthy feat. Compared to the past, he had grown incredibly strong. It was just that it wasn’t very noticeable because of the kids around him.

“Go to work, slave.”

Se-jun first issued an instruction to Ajax to harvest the cherry tomatoes, then steamed rice cakes again. It was a repetition of setting the rice cakes to steam and waiting.

Just when he was starting to get a little bored,

*Growl.*

A sound came from the stomach of Cuengi, who was lying between Se-jun’s legs and receiving Se-jun’s stretching massage.

“Shall Cuengi eat some honey popcorn?”

Cueng!

[I’d love to!]

It was a needless question. Since it was impossible for Cuengi to refuse food containing honey.

At that moment,

“Chairman Park, I request the development of Churu-flavored popcorn, meow!”

Theo, who wanted to eat popcorn with Se-jun, demanded the development of a new popcorn flavor.

“Churu flavor?”

Popcorn with Churu in it? Just imagining it made Se-jun’s brow furrow naturally. ‘Wouldn’t it be extremely fishy?’

“I’ll try making it first.”

Se-jun first made popcorn using the Corn of Exploding Stamina. Then, he divided the popcorn into three parts and entered the process of sauce making.

He brought out two pots, mixing and boiling down water and honey in one, and Churu and water in the other. The sweet scent and the fishy scent rose gradually.

“A delicious smell is coming, meow!”

Cueng!

[A delicious smell is coming!]

Cuengi and Theo sniffed their noses in front of the pot where the Churu was boiling down.

‘Is it not fishy?’

Although it was too fishy for Se-jun, it seemed to be perceived as a delicious smell by Theo and Cuengi. Thus, the three flavors of popcorn—salted, honey, and Churu—were completed. Se-jun, Theo, and Cuengi began to eat the popcorn.

And,

“Chairman Park, try one of these, meow!”

“I’m fine… Vice Chairman Theo, eat a lot.”

“Chairman Park! Are you ignoring my sincerity right now, meow?”

“No. That cannot be… I just feel bad about eating what Theo likes.”

“I am especially allowing Chairman Park to eat it, meow!”

Theo kept offering the Churu-flavored popcorn.

‘I said I’m fine!’

If Theo had said, ‘Chairman Park, eat this Churu-flavored popcorn and suffer, meow!’ with bad intentions, he would have refused flatly.

But since he offered the Churu-flavored popcorn to Se-jun with an expression that said, ‘It’s such a waste to give this… but I’m giving it because it’s you, meow!’, it was hard to bring himself to refuse.

Cueng!

[Big brother, I also want to eat Churu-flavored popcorn!]

“Cuengi, you have eaten a lot, so stop eating, meow!”

Had it not been for Cuengi reducing the amount of Churu-flavored popcorn, the amount of Churu-flavored popcorn that went to Se-jun would have been even greater.

In that way, suffering from the fishy smell coming from his mouth while steaming the rice cakes, Se-jun met the target quantity of rice cakes and went to bed.

***

The 99th floor of the White Tower.

“This bastard!!! How dare he summon me and send me back?!”

Ajax was furious with Se-jun, who had summoned him at will and then kicked him out again.

At that moment,

*Rustle.*

He saw a document rolled up between his claws.

“Huh? What is this?”

Ajax unrolled the document and read down the contents.

And,

“W-What is this?!!! When did I stamp my seal here? Don’t tell me Aileen did it?!”

Looking at his footprint stamped on the contract stating that he could absolutely never refuse Se-jun’s commands for 200 years, Ajax was flustered and suspected Aileen.

Ajax was someone who could not possibly imagine that his grandfather, Kellion, had done it.

At that moment,

[Park Se-jun, the Tower Farmer of the Black Tower, has instructed you to harvest and offer Elixir: Cherry Tomatoes Containing Powerful Magic Power.]

Se-jun’s instruction appeared.

“Grrr!”

Ajax wanted to refuse, but a dragon’s contract was slightly different from contracts with other beings. Just failing to perform the contract faithfully caused damage to one’s existence.

Receiving damage to one’s existence was a fatal matter for dragons. Thus, Ajax had no choice but to follow the contract strictly.

Thanks to that, Ajax finally got dirt on his hands and began to work properly. Of course, his face was full of signs of not wanting to do it.

“! !!!”

Grinding his teeth, Ajax called out Se-jun’s name.

***

“Heave-ho!”

Se-jun stood up as soon as he opened his eyes. Since he fell asleep at dawn, he wanted to sleep more, but because he had to complete the rice cake cake today, he could not oversleep.

*Grab.*

“Nyaang……..”

Se-jun grabbed Theo’s sides, stood up, mounted him on his lap, and

*Scratch.*

Added a stroke to the bedroom wall, starting the morning of the 316th day of distress.

“Haa. Ugh… It still smells.”

Se-jun blew into his hand to smell his breath and frowned. Although he had rinsed his mouth several times before going to sleep, the fishy smell had still not disappeared.

At that moment,

*Kke-ek.*

A mushroom ant with stiffly raised antennae approached Se-jun majestically and offered its back. And on the mushroom ant’s back was a single, appetizing mushroom. It was an elixir.

*Pluck.*

Se-jun plucked the mushroom, which looked similar to a black truffle but was white in color.

[You have harvested Advanced Elixir: White Truffle.]

[Your job experience increases slightly.]

[The proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 7 increases slightly.]

[You have gained 250 experience points.]

And,

*Swoosh, swoosh.*

Quickly looking around, Se-jun swallowed the mushroom.

[You have consumed Advanced Elixir: White Truffle.]

[All stats increase by 3.]

A strong truffle aroma dominated his mouth, driving away the fishy smell in an instant.

“Haa. The fishy smell is gone now. Thanks. Good job growing it.”

*Kke-ek!*

The mushroom ant responded coolly to Se-jun’s praise and departed. Just as Se-jun finished the successful rendezvous and was hurrying to eat honey and honey jelly to erase the smell of the elixir,

Cueng!

[Dad! I’m hungry!]

The baby beast Cuengi, who was highly sensitive due to hunger, came to find Se-jun.

*Gulp.*

“Oh… you’re here?”

Nervous, Se-jun swallowed his saliva without realizing it and pretended to be calm. However, anyone could see that his voice and eye contact were awkward.

Cueng!

[Dad is suspicious!]

Naturally, it was too clumsy an act to fool the highly sensitive baby beast.

*Sniff, sniff.*

Cuengi, noticing Se-jun’s strange behavior, began to sniff around Se-jun’s mouth.

‘The smell won’t come out anyway since I ate honey.’

“Sorry. Dad was hungry, so I ate some honey. Shall I give Cuengi honey too?”

Cueng!

[I want to eat it!]

At Se-jun’s words, Cuengi’s focus shifted to the honey. Just when Se-jun thought he had perfectly fooled Cuengi today as well,

*Click.*

Cueng!

[Dad’s hand smells delicious!]

Although he had erased the smell of his mouth, Se-jun forgot to erase the smell remaining on his hand. As he opened the glass jar, the aroma of the truffle entered Cuengi’s nose.

?!

[Did Dad eat something delicious all by himself?!]

Cuengi began to interrogate Se-jun. Today, he failed to eat the elixir behind Cuengi’s back.

While he was being interrogated by Cuengi since morning about what he ate alone,

-Se-jun, come up for a moment.

Kaiser called Se-jun to the fountain in a serious voice.

“Yes! I’m coming! Cuengi, eat this while you wait. Alright?”

Se-jun, who got a chance to escape thanks to Kaiser, gave Cuengi a bowl of chestnuts he had peeled in advance so he wouldn’t be hungry while waiting, and went to Kaiser.

Cueng! Cueng!

[Understood. Cuengi will wait while eating chestnuts!]

*Crunch.*

Cuengi plopped down on the ground, waving a forepaw at Se-jun, and began to pick up and eat chestnuts with the other forepaw.

“Lord Kaiser, what is it?”

-Take this.

Kaiser handed Se-jun a black stone of unknown identity in a gruff voice. Perhaps because its density was high, it was quite heavy.

“Lord Kaiser, what is this?”

-What do you think?! It’s food! Eat it quickly!

Although it was surprising that this stone was food…

“……You want me to eat this?!”

Se-jun asked again, thinking he had misheard.

-Yes! Eat it! Consider yourself blessed! To eat food made by Aileen!

Kaiser, thinking of Aileen who had fallen asleep exhausted after making the food, got worked up again and flew into a fiery rage.

However,

“What?! This is a dish made by Aileen?!”

At Kaiser’s words, Se-jun gasped and turned pale. And he hurriedly examined the food that didn’t look like food at all.

[Aileen’s Healthy Fist Meat]

The great Black Dragon Aileen Pritani mixed various elixirs and meat, steamed them with high heat and high pressure, and rolled them into a ball.

Due to the excessive pressure and heat, the meat was compressed and became as hard as diamond, but the effect was outstanding.

With the help of the great Black Dragon Kaiser Pritani, the toxicity of the elixirs was neutralized, resolving most side effects upon consumption.

Upon consumption, all stats increased by 100.

Cook: The Great Black Dragon Aileen Pritani

Expiration Date: None

Rating: S+

“Fhew.”

Fortunately, this time, thanks to Kaiser, there was no poison.

“But all stats increase by 100?!”

Once he confirmed there was no poison, Se-jun was finally able to see the other details. It was thanks to Aileen cooking with materials from the family’s elixir storehouse after receiving special permission from Kaiser.

‘But can I eat this?’

Just in case, Se-jun carefully bit Aileen’s dish with his front teeth,

*Click.*

As expected, it was a complete stone. Se-jun’s teeth looked ready to break before the meat would. The name ‘fist axe’ seemed more fitting than ‘fist meat’.

‘That’s a shame.’

Since this dish did not contain any mentions of bad taste or poison, it seemed like it would be okay to eat, but… it was too hard.

-Tsk, tsk. Where is he going to use that… Give it here. Crush.

Ultimately, unable to watch any longer, Kaiser broke Aileen’s dish into 100 pieces and gave them to Se-jun.

“Thank you, Lord Kaiser.”

-Forget it! When Aileen wakes up later, tell her thank you then!

“Yes.”

*Flutter, flutter.*

Kaiser went back to drink alcohol after finishing those words.

And,

“Shall I try eating it?”

Se-jun carefully put one pill-sized piece of meat he received from Kaiser into his mouth. Fortunately, the taste was just a slight saltiness.

*Gulp.*

When Se-jun swallowed the piece of meat,

[You have consumed a piece of Aileen’s Healthy Fist Meat.]

[You must eat all of the food to manifest the effect.]

[99 pieces remaining.]

A message appeared stating that it could not show any effect separately.

“It would be nice if each piece increased stats by 1…”

Still, he decided to be grateful that he could eat it even in this manner. Though inconvenient, he just had to eat 100 pieces of meat.

Just as Se-jun was about to eat the next piece,

[The clumped meat swells, maintaining satiety for 24 hours.]

Along with the message, he felt his stomach grow full. Aileen’s compressed dish had swelled inside Se-jun’s stomach.

“Huh?! What if I had eaten all of this?!”

Just imagining it made cold sweat run down Se-jun’s forehead.