Chapter 203 – Can We Mine That, Meow

As Se-jun expected, Theo and Cuengi began to compete with each other as soon as they entered the lake.

“Puhahat. Cuengi cannot defeat me, who is not afraid of water, meow!”

Splash. Splash.

Theo made a passage without water between the waters and began to quickly snatch fish while running along the passage. He was Theo, using his water-attribute talent in a more non-hydrophilic way than anyone.

“Lord Theo, you are amazing…”

Kona, who was sitting next to Se-jun and gutting fish, admired Theo’s swimming skills. In the eyes of others, it looked as if Theo was swimming through the water with incredible swimming skills.

And,

Kkueng!

[Cuengi will catch more than Big Brother!]

Boom!

Stimulated by Theo’s fish-catching skills, Cuengi struck the water hard to avoid losing to Theo,

Floating.

and fish stunned by the shockwave began to float to the surface of the water.

Kkuhehehe. Kkueng!

[Hehehe. Cuengi wins!]

Cuengi began to diligently catch the stunned fish.

“Peng…”

Among them, there were also penguins who were stunned after being hit by Cuengi’s shockwave.

“Cuengi, one warning. Even the penguins got stunned. Two warnings and you’re out.”

Se-jun gave Cuengi a stern warning. Catching them like Cuengi did would not only harm the penguins, but also cause the fish in the lake to go extinct quickly.

Kkueng?!

[Is it a warning if I catch them like this?!]

Thanks to that, Cuengi also began to catch fish while swimming like Theo. Since Cuengi’s swimming skills were also top-notch, there was no big difference from the speed at which Theo caught fish.

While the two caught fish for about an hour like that,

“Stop catching catfish now!”

Se-jun checked the fish the two had caught, fearing that some species might go extinct, and made them stop catching the fish they had caught too much of.

“Should I tell them to come out now.”

Se-jun said, looking at the fish piled high next to him. At a rough glance, it easily exceeded 1,000 fish.

“Guys, now…”

Just as Se-jun was about to call the two like that,

Ppuaaaang!

the head of a giant turtle rose from inside the lake.

And,

[A Middle Administrator quest occurs.]

[Middle Administrator Quest: The lake turtle, which spawns once every 1,000 years, has woken up 100 years earlier than its spawning period. Persuade the lake turtle and put it back to sleep within 5 days.]

[The lake turtle is the only individual in the Black Tower.]

[If the lake turtle dies or fails to spawn, the lake turtle will go extinct.]

[If the lake turtle goes extinct, the status of the Black Tower will decrease.]

Lake turtle to put to sleep: 0/1

Reward: 100,000 experience points, 10,000 Tower Coins, thriving of the endangered lake turtle 100 years later

After a long time, a Middle Administrator quest message appeared.

“Huh? Put a turtle to sleep?”

The endangered animal, the lake turtle. But how was he supposed to put it to sleep?

“Do we have to put that turtle to sleep, meow?”

Kkueng?

[We just need to put the turtle to sleep?]

Theo and Cuengi, who had caused a major accident by waking the endangered lake turtle, stood by Se-jun’s side before he knew it and asked.

Kkueng!

[Cuengi can put it to sleep!]

Cuengi said confidently, clenching his fist.

“No. Cuengi, Dad will handle it.”

Se-jun hurriedly stopped Cuengi. For some reason, the moment Cuengi put the lake turtle to sleep with his fist, it felt like they would never see the lake turtle in the Black Tower again.

“Guys, let’s go.”

Step. Step.

As Se-jun approached the lake turtle’s head with Theo and Cuengi attached to his knees to protect him,

Ppua… Ppua…

The lake turtle was panting heavily.

“What is it?”

Feeling something strange, as Se-jun hurriedly approached the lake turtle,

Ppuaang!

[Don’t come close, ppu!]

The lake turtle threatened Se-jun. Its tone was cute compared to its size.

“Hello. I am the Middle Administrator of the Black Tower. What is bothering you?”

Standing in place so that the lake turtle would not be wary, Se-jun introduced himself by showing the Middle Administrator tattoo on his right hand.

Ppuang? Ppuang.

[Are you the Middle Administrator, ppu? I am too hot, ppu.]

“You’re hot?”

He thought that perhaps the lake turtle woke up not because of Theo and Cuengi, but because it was hot.

“I will make some ice for you, so cool down first. Ice Cube.”

When Se-jun made ice around the lake turtle to help it cool down,

Crunch. Crunch.

the lake turtle began to greedily chew and eat the ice Se-jun made floating on the water.

And,

Ppuang. Ppuang.

[Thank you, ppu. The heat has subsided a bit now, ppu.]

Only after eating about 50 Ice Cubes did it go back into the water with a satisfied expression. However, the message that the quest was completed did not appear.

At that moment,

Growl.

Kkueng!

[Dad, Cuengi is hungry!]

The voice of Cuengi, who was about to turn into a fierce beast, was heard.

“Yeah. Wait a moment.”

Se-jun hurriedly grilled the fish gutted by Kona.

After a while,

Kkuehehehe. Kkueng!

[Hehehe. They are all Cuengi’s!]

Cuengi was delighted to see hundreds of grilled fish placed in front of him. Thanks to the penguins helping with the fish grilling, it could be finished quickly.

“Puhahat. Grilled fish cooked for exactly 10 minutes on each side at 183 degrees, which is my favorite temperature—Kona is very excellent, meow!”

“Thank you!”

Kona, who had personally grilled Theo’s fish, was pleased with Theo’s compliment.

“Let’s eat now.”

“I will eat well, meow!”

Kkueng!

[I will eat well!]

At Se-jun’s words, Theo and Cuengi began to eat the food. Like that, a fierce day passed.

***

Cyber Security Team of the Korean Awakened Association.

Clack, clack. Clack, clack.

While the employees were typing codes looking at the monitors in tension,

“Ahem… is there still a long way to go?”

Behind the employee, Han Tae-jun, with his massive size, stood with his arms crossed and asked. Han Tae-jun had given the HunterPhones Theo had brought to the security team employees and instructed them to extract the data inside.

“We… we are almost done.”

“Really? Don’t feel pressured and take your time.”

Then please return to the President’s office! The president Han Tae-jun being here was a huge burden in itself.

However,

“Yes!”

There was no brave soul with the courage to honestly spit out their inner thoughts to Han Tae-jun, the president of the Korean Awakened Association and an S-rank hunter.

Clack, clack, clack.

The employees quickly entered codes as if they were going to break the keyboards, desperately trying to escape from this situation.

When about an hour had passed like that,

“It’s done! We have extracted the data!”

Finally, they extracted the data inside the HunterPhones.

“Really? Good job. Then send the data to my email. And since you guys haven’t eaten dinner yet because of me, I will buy dinner tonight. Who is the youngest here?”

“It’s me.”

The employees turned cold. At Han Tae-jun’s question, one of the security team employees raised his hand and answered.

“Uahaha! You are the youngest. Now tell me what you want to eat.”

The employees sent strong signals with their eyes, telling him to say the menu that could be eaten the fastest.

“President, I want to eat ramen.”

Fortunately, the youngest was quick-witted.

However,

“Oh! You know a thing or two. And ramen eaten with beef is also fantastic.”

Han Tae-jun had already decided on the menu. It was said that the cyber security team ended up with indigestion after eating dinner.

After eating dinner and returning to the president’s office, Han Tae-jun began to examine the data in the HunterPhones in earnest.

And,

“Huh?!”

He was able to find a photo of a business card with GPS coordinates written on it. Other HunterPhones also had photos of business cards with the same GPS coordinates, though the designs were different.

Clack, clack.

When Han Tae-jun opened the internet browser and entered the GPS coordinates, a single point was marked.

“Here?!”

A small island called Niue in the middle of the Pacific Ocean was displayed on the map.

***

The next morning.

“Ice Cube.”

As soon as Se-jun finished breakfast, he went to the ice island and began freezing the island again.

While Se-jun was freezing the island diligently like that,

“Se-jun-nim, this…”

a penguin approached cautiously and handed over an object he had been hiding behind his back.

“Huh?! Uh… it’s a sickle? Are you giving it to me?”

“Yes.”

Se-jun was surprised for a moment, seeing the penguin pulling out the sickle, and carefully received the sickle to examine it. The handle was made of soft wood, giving a good grip, and it was a sickle with a sharp curved blade.

[Sickle of Freshness]

This is a sickle made using ice refining, a unique skill of the Blue-backed Penguin tribe.

The blade is sharp, increasing cutting power.

Coldness is imbued in the sickle, increasing the shelf life by 5 days when harvesting crops.

Use Restriction: Lv. 10 or higher, 10 or higher Magic Power

Creator: Blacksmith Kobi (Blue-backed Penguin Tribe)

Grade: C+

“It’s good.”

Se-jun was satisfied with the option of the sickle that extended the shelf life by 5 days.

“Thank you, Kobi.”

“Yes~!”

As if Se-jun’s thanks were embarrassing, Kobi ran away as he replied.

And,

“Ice Cube.”

Thud. Thud.

Behind Se-jun, who was freezing the island, equipment began to pile up one by one. At least Kobi, who had handed the equipment to Se-jun earlier, was on the less shy side.

The other penguins were hiding their bodies and throwing equipment they had made, like swords and shields, around Se-jun. But since they also had to watch Se-jun gather the equipment, the penguins couldn’t leave and only poked their heads out while hiding.

“Cute. I will use them well.”

When Se-jun gathered the equipment the penguins had thrown and expressed his gratitude,

Scurry.

the penguins felt embarrassed and quickly disappeared.

“But why are they giving me equipment?”

“We have a custom of gifting equipment we made to someone we are indebted to.”

Unlike the other penguins, Kona, who had not left, resolved Se-jun’s curiosity.

“But why are the equipment grades like this, meow?! I don’t see any A-grade, meow!”

Theo, who had experience selling equipment on Kona’s behalf, examined the equipment Se-jun had obtained and asked. Most of the equipment grades were C or C+.

“There’s no sincerity, meow! Bring better equipment to our Chairman Park, meow!”

“Well… we ran out of materials to make A-grade equipment…”

Kona became disheartened at Theo’s words.

“Materials?”

“Yes. To earn money, we used up all the good materials we had.”

Kona answered at Se-jun’s words.

“Even this much is fine.”

Se-jun stroked Kona’s head and said. Se-jun had no greed for equipment. He already had the Dragon Tooth Soldier Helmet and Kaiser’s Scale for armor, and for tools, he had Myler’s Hoe, a legendary-grade tool.

He was thankful if they gave them, but they were not that necessary.

However,

“Don’t worry, meow! I will find materials to make Chairman Park’s equipment, meow!”

Whether he wanted to provide Se-jun with new A-grade equipment, Theo raised his front paw and shouted.

“Is your front paw drawn to something?”

“No, meow! But if I wish earnestly, there will be a pull, meow!”

At that moment,

Ppuaaaang!

[Hot, ppu!]

Exhausted by the heat, the lake turtle appeared again, sticking its head out above the lake.

And,

Ppuaaaang!

[Middle Administrator, I want to eat ice, ppu!]

Spotting Se-jun, it requested ice.

“Here you go. Ice Cube.”

Se-jun made ice for the lake turtle.

Crunch. Crunch.

While the lake turtle was excitedly eating the ice like that,

“Puhahat. I found good materials, meow! Kona, can we mine that, meow?”

Theo asked Kona while looking at the shell of the lake turtle that had slightly risen to the water’s surface. Fortunately, the lake turtle was too distracted eating the ice Se-jun made.

“I think it’s possible?”

Kona answered, picking up a pickaxe.