Chapter 237 – Will I Be Fooled Twice, Meow

Silver Dragon territory.

Thud, thud.

Ten Black Dragons arrived. Around them, the owners of this place, the Silver Dragons, and the already arrived White Dragons, Green Dragons, Blue Dragons, Red Dragons, and Golden Dragons were gathered and conversing.

They were the vanguard to investigate the 10th tower, and most of them were dragons of similar ages, around 10,000 years old. Since they already knew each other, they mingled without any awkwardness.

“Miles Pritani, you’re here?”

“Yeah. Ricardo Ajax, you arrived early.”

Ricardo Ajax acknowledged Miles, who was at the front of the Black Dragons. The two were born around the same time and had built a friendship while fighting against destruction, so they were close friends now.

“It’s not that I wanted to come early. Grandpa Kellion told me to go quickly. He told me not to lose to the Black Dragons. You know, right? That Grandpa Kellion has a sense of rivalry toward Lord Kaiser? Sigh… it’s exhausting…”

“That’s the same for us. If we hear Grandpa Kaiser say we lost to the White Dragons, we must never catch Grandpa Kaiser’s eye that day.”

“Hahaha. You too?”

While the two were talking like that,

Thud, thud.

other dragons arrived too.

And while they were mingling and talking with the other dragons,

“By the way, who will be the center this time?”

the topic of conversation shifted to choosing the hatchlings’ center, which would take place in a year. Every 1,000 years, the dragons grant the strongest dragon among the hatchlings the authority to lead the rest of the hatchlings.

And the hatchling who received that authority was called the center. The center’s authority was very short, only 100 years, and since there was rarely an occasion for young hatchlings to gather, the center would hardly ever lead the other hatchlings anyway.

However, to the prideful dragons, whether their hatchling became the center or not was a highly important issue.

“Of course, it’s Ophelia, who is the best at farming among the hatchlings!”

When the Green Dragons said this,

“What you are talking about?! How strong is our Perion?! He already started creating the essence of fire at the age of 500!”

the Red Dragons replied in irritation.

“Our Hakun also created the essence of water when he was 499 years old!”

“Hmph! Just that much? Our Nimea created the essence of earth at the age of 498!”

Each clan shouted that the hatchling of their own clan was the strongest.

However, there were two dragon clans that could not join in.

The Black Dragons and the White Dragons. The Black Dragons did not have high expectations because they had recently heard from Kaiser that Aileen’s Dragon Heart was miraculously recovering,

‘I should just stay quiet.’

and the White Dragons stayed quiet because they had heard from Kellion that Ajax had been beaten by Aileen, who was 300 years younger.

If they spoke up for no reason and the Black Dragons also chimed in, the story of Ajax being beaten by Aileen might be brought up.

It was natural for Ajax to lose since Aileen’s mana had already become as strong as an adult dragon’s, but still, they could not proudly speak of him getting beaten up by a dragon 300 years younger.

The Black Dragons, who did not know of Aileen’s strength, and conversely, the White Dragons, who knew of her strength. The situation had become like this because Aileen, who wanted to continue as the administrator of the Black Tower, had asked Kaiser to hide her strength.

Naturally, Kaiser, who was a fool for his granddaughter, granted Aileen’s request.

At that moment,

“Hey, Miles. Is your hatchling still weak?”

Killa Peten, the leader of the Purple Dragons, picked a fight, hitting a nerve of the Black Dragons.

“What?! Weak?! Our Aileen has almost fully repaired her Dragon Heart now!”

“So what?! It’s not fully repaired yet anyway. And even if she does, she won’t be a match for our Pobi anyway, right?”

“What?! Our Aileen could suppress someone who is just old like her even if she were only 500 years old!”

“Pfft! Just worry about what will happen in a year first.”

“Ugh…”

Miles was angry at Killa’s words, but he could not say anything.

But,

“Miles, you cruel bastard. Save.”

Ricardo, who knew of Aileen’s strength, thought Miles was acting to bait Killa, and saved that scene.

‘Hehehe. Killa, I will create your dark history.’

Ricardo laughed in a good mood, imagining Pobi getting beaten up mercilessly by Aileen in a year.

***

“It’s growing well.”

After sending Theo down, Se-jun said with a bright expression as he looked at the rice planted in the Golden Tree Stump of Abundance pot.

Se-jun had transplanted 300 rice plants that had grown for about twenty days in the paddy field into the pot immediately after harvesting the rice.

“I’ll be able to eat rice again soon.”

Se-jun, who was looking at the rice like that,

“By the way, how much is left until all my stats reach 300?”

Se-jun recalled the first trial of the 10th tower and opened his status window.

[Park Se-jun Lv. 67]

Talent: Extraordinary Ordinary Person, Friend of Nature, Ten-Thousand-bag Grain Owner, Overflowing Mana Circuit, Friend of Fire, Sturdiness, Tough Vitality, Good Medicine Tastes Bitter, Crackle, Insignificant Presence, (Talent: Beloved of the Earth)

Stats/Potential: Strength (323/493), Stamina (566/705), Agility (215/448), Mana (316/547)

Class: Tower Farmer (A)

Skills: Mana Sowing Lv. 8, Harvesting Lv. 7, Seed Shop Lv. 3, Seed Harvesting Lv. 7, Farmer’s Warm Touch Lv. 4, Crop Giantization Lv. 5, Fire Fallow Lv. 4, You Are a Field! Lv. 2, Greenhouse Lv. 3, Beekeeping Lv. 8, Thunder Rain () Lv. 3, Cooking Lv. 7

The other stats, excluding Agility, had already exceeded 300. The only one lacking was Agility.

“I have to raise Agility by 85…”

Unaware of that, Se-jun had kept raising only Stamina with the bonus stats obtained from leveling up. Well, since Stamina always felt lacking no matter how much he raised it, it was understandable.

“I should only raise Agility from now on.”

Se-jun closed the status window, thinking he should invest the bonus stats received from leveling up into Agility in the future. Although it was not a number that could be resolved by bonus stats alone, he did not have a way to raise Agility right now either.

Thud, thud.

Se-jun began to make dough to prepare the rice noodles he would bring to the Black Rabbit’s wedding.

***

“Meow-meow-meow~ I am the deadly yellow cat going to earn money! Vice President Theo is heading out, meow!”

Excited at the thought of extorting money from Great Merchant Yuren and bringing it to Se-jun, Theo hummed a tune and diligently headed down the tower.

At that moment,

“Meow?! It’s a fork in the road again, meow!”

Theo’s front path split into two paths.

“Will I get fooled twice, meow? Puhuhut. I am the smart cat, Vice President Theo, meow! I won’t ever be fooled this time, meow!”

Theo, who examined the path, this time headed toward a path whose floor shape was different from the original path.

As Theo entered, the path closed.

Thud.

This time as well, it was the fragment of Jormungandr, the snake that swallows the world. Theo had chosen the wrong path consecutively.

However, there were cases where the wrong path turned out to be the right path.

“Meow?! Why is the path so long, meow? Huh?! Isn’t that the pink suck… no, Yuren, meow?!”

In front of Theo, who was walking down the endless path, the merchant group of Great Merchant Yuren came into view. Yuren had also chosen the path in the same manner as Theo and ended up trapped.

‘Puhuhut. Even though I was on my way to find him anyway, things are turning out easily, meow!’

Theo, who did not know yet that he had entered the wrong path, approached Yuren with a smile.

“Yuren, nice to meet you, meow!”

“Oh! Mr. Theo, please save me!”

Yuren, who had been trapped for several days, spotted Theo and immediately requested rescue.

“Meow?! What do you mean by save you, meow?!”

“Mr. Theo, didn’t you know?! I think this place is also inside that snake’s body!”

Theo grew irritated at Yuren’s words. ‘The smart me was fooled by the Apostle of Destruction again, meow?! I am angry, meow!’

“Yuren, give me some money, meow!”

“Yes! Here it is!”

At Theo’s words, Yuren handed over all the coin pouches he had in his bosom to Theo.

“Is this all, meow?”

Theo asked, naturally packing the ten coin pouches Yuren handed him into his bundle.

“Yes. I also didn’t think I would be trapped again like this…”

It was Yuren, who was stranded again on his way back home. It was mysterious how he became a Great Merchant with such bad luck.

“It’s fine, meow! Give me more later, meow! You have to give double, including the last one, meow!”

“Of course! Since I have plenty of money anyway.”

Thus, Theo, who decided to receive additional money from Yuren,

“Puhuhut. Then just trust me, meow! Cling to the wall, meow!”

Theo stood boldly in the middle of the path,

Shring.

extended his Dragon Claws,

“Meow!”

and quickly swung his front paw from top to bottom.

Tear.

At the same time, five lines were drawn on the path, and the path began to split into six pieces. It was Theo’s new technique, which he had gained some enlightenment on while releasing the energy of the 900 million Tower Coins.

“Puhuhut. The name of this technique shall be One Meow Slash, meow!”

Just as Theo decided on the name of the technique,

Sss.

the Jormungandr fragment, cut into six pieces from head to tail, died and turned into ash.

And the falling white coins and merchants.

Clink.

“Argh! Huh?!”

Fortunately, there was a flat merchant passage directly below, so the white coins and the merchants were all safe.

A moment later, after Theo packed all the white coins,

Slice.

he cut a hole in the merchant passage to let the merchants inside.

“Mr. Theo, thank you for saving my life twice.”

Entering the merchant passage, Yuren expressed his gratitude to Theo, who had saved his life.

“Puhuhut. Watch where you are going in the future, meow!”

“Yes. Mr. Theo, let’s go straight to the 65th floor of the tower with me. I want to give you the reward for saving my life!”

Yuren, who wanted to repay Theo, suggested going to his house on the 65th floor of the tower.

Theo’s original destination.

But,

“Puhuhut. I will go to Yuren’s house later, meow!”

Theo rejected Yuren’s offer. He thought that rather than bringing a large sum of money to Se-jun all at once, bringing it in small amounts frequently would get him praised multiple times. ‘Puhuhut. As expected, I am smart, meow!’

“That’s a pity. Then please visit later.”

“I understand, meow! Yuren, see you later, meow! Make sure to take care of the interest, though, meow!”

Theo spoke of adding interest to the amount he had not even received yet, packed 1 billion Tower Coins, and headed up toward the 99th floor of the tower.

After Theo left,

“Ah. I’m hungry.”

As the tension relaxed, Yuren, who felt hungry, pulled out a snack pouch from his bosom, but

“Huh?! Why is the money here?!”

only then did Yuren find out that one of his coin pouches had been swapped with the snack pouch.

“My garlic…”

Disappointed that his snacks had disappeared, Yuren trudged back home.

***

When it was time for dinner,

Kkueng!

[Dad, Cuengi is back!]

Cuengi, who had gone to the herb garden, returned.

Kkueng!

[Here is Dad’s!]

Cuengi handed ten blue kudzu roots to Se-jun.

“Yes. Thank you.”

Munch, munch.

Se-jun ate the kudzu roots and,

Click.

“Here. Cuengi, you eat honey too.”

He opened the lid of the honey glass jar and gave it to Cuengi.

Kuhehehe. Kkueng!

[Hehehe. I will eat well!]

“Huh?!”

Kkueng?

[Dad, why are you doing that?]

“Nothing…”

‘Did I mishear? Surely, Cuengi said something close to polite speech…’

Munch, munch.

Se-jun thought he had mistaken it and chewed the kudzu root.

[You have consumed the Kudzu Root of Blue Potential.]

[All stat potentials increase by 5.]

…

..

.

After eating all ten kudzu roots like that,

Lick, lick.

he waited until Cuengi finished eating the honey.

And when Cuengi finished eating the honey,

“Cuengi, let’s make noodles.”

Kkueng!

[I understand!]

Se-jun put the dough into the noodle press with Cuengi and began to make rice noodles.

At that moment,

“Chairman Park, I have returned, meow!”

Theo, who had brought nine coin pouches containing 100 million Tower Coins each and one snack pouch containing garlic, announced his return by throwing himself toward Se-jun’s face.