Chapter 243 – Participating in the Food Fighter Selection

“Kyu-kyu-kyu-kyu-kyu—”

It was just before Iona exploded.

“Iona, calm down, meow!”

Calling out to Iona, Theo gently wrapped his two front paws around Iona’s body, which was wrapped around his tail, and brought her in front of himself.

Iona met eyes with Theo at a distance of only a few centimeters.

“Kyup?!”

Flustered by Theo’s sudden action, Iona made a strange sound, unable to either get angry or laugh.

And,

Seuk. Seuk. Seuk.

“Iona, it is fine even if you are not close with Mimir, meow!”

Theo said while stroking Iona’s head.

“Kyu-kyu-kyu-kyu—”

Iona’s anger decreased slightly at Theo’s stroking.

“Come to think of it, Mimir relies entirely on her wool, meow!”

Mimir’s appearance was a mess for him to carry her around as his subordinate. Of course, the reason Mimir’s appearance became a mess was because of Theo’s terrible grooming skills.

It was a statement Mimir would have found extremely unfair if she had heard it, but there was no being here to tell her that,

“Kyu—yes! Mimir, she does rely on her wool a bit.”

Thanks to that, Iona’s anger index dropped significantly.

As the atmosphere turned good like that,

“Iona, by the way, where is the Theo Ball?”

Se-jun stepped forward and changed the subject. The Theo Ball, which she always carried by her side, was nowhere to be seen.

“The Theo Ball? Kyung kyung. That… on the way, the Apostle of Destruction…”

Iona became gloomy when the Theo Ball was mentioned.

“That is good. I will give you a newly made Theo Ball.”

“Kyut kyut kyut. Really?!”

Iona rejoiced at the news that she could obtain the Theo Ball again.

“Yeah. Here.”

Se-jun pulled out the Theo Ball No. 2 he had made and gave it to Iona,

“Kyut kyut kyut. Thank you. I will give you this too.”

Iona handed fifty white coins, which had come out from defeating the Apostle of Destruction fragment, to Se-jun, and then put the Theo Ball into her sub-space pocket.

And,

Ssok.

Iona clung to Theo’s tail again. Although the Theo Ball was good, it could not compare to the main body.

“Shall we sightsee the city?”

As the atmosphere turned good, Se-jun spoke quickly before Theo could ruin the atmosphere again with nonsense.

Kkueng!

[Cuengi also wants to sightsee the city!]

At Se-jun’s words, Cuengi immediately clung to Se-jun’s leg.

“If Chairman Park goes, I go too, meow!”

Theo also hurriedly clung to Se-jun’s leg.

“Now. Let’s go.”

“Departure, meow!”

Kkueng!

[Going to play!]

Se-jun and the animals left White Castle and headed to Rabbit City.

***

Pyak?

[How can there be no trace?]

Although he came to the scene of the incident, the Black Rabbit could not find any evidence. The missing person disappeared as if they had evaporated. There was no record of leaving the city, nor was there a corpse of the missing person.

Moreover, there were no missing items either. If it had not been for the report from the companion, no one would have known that the missing person had disappeared.

Pyak?

[Why on earth?]

The beings who suddenly went missing.

If this fact became known, the Red Ribbon Kingdom would gain the disgrace of having poor public security at the same time as its founding. That was a huge fatal blow to the kingdom.

This incident had to be resolved before the founding ceremony and the wedding ceremony began. It was no exaggeration to say that the very survival of the nation was at stake, with a bit of exaggeration.

However, there were too few clues. There was no connection between the missing persons, and there was no common point among the missing persons.

At that moment,

Ppak?

[Is there any item that disappeared when your father disappeared?]

In the Black Rabbit’s ears, he heard a soldier asking the son of the missing person, who was the initial reporter, various questions for confirmation.

Ukki. Ukki!

[No. Ah… the land deed!]

Ppak? Ppak?

[The land deed? What land deed is it?]

Ukki.

[It is the land deed of the grapefruit tree farm on the 73rd floor of the tower, which my family has managed for generations.]

Pyak?!

[The land deed?!]

The head of the Black Rabbit, who was listening to the conversation, flashed. That was it! Although he thought there were no stolen items, the culprit might have stolen the land deed.

Pyak!

[Find out if the other missing persons also possessed land deeds!]

Ppak!

[Yes!]

The Black Rabbit hurriedly instructed the soldier beside him.

And,

Pyak?

[Come to think of it, Uncle also possesses land deeds, so he should be fine, right?]

The Black Rabbit worried about Se-jun.

***

When Se-jun walked a few steps after leaving the castle,

Kyurorong.

Iona’s snoring sound was heard. As the conditions for a deep sleep, from Se-jun’s lap to Theo’s tail, were satisfied, Iona fell fast asleep as if she had taken sleeping pills.

Walking toward the city while listening to Iona’s snoring sound like that, shops began to appear one by one.

“Oh! Weapons! Clothes!”

Almost a year since entering the tower. Somehow, Se-jun was excited about his first shopping trip inside the tower.

“This sword is cool.”

Pyat! Pyat…

[You have a good eye! Speaking of this sword…]

When Se-jun showed interest in the sword, the gray rabbit merchant selling the sword began to explain enthusiastically.

Kkueng!

[Cuengi also wants to see the sword!]

Cuengi showed interest in the sword Se-jun was holding.

“Would you like to?”

When Se-jun handed the sword to Cuengi,

Kkueng!

[Cuengi will test if it is sturdy enough for Dad to use!]

Cuengi, saying he would see if the sword was sturdy, folded the sword in half.

Snap.

Kkueng!

[This sword is too weak!]

Cuengi said, breaking the sword so easily. The sword was not weak; he was strong.

Probably, no matter what famous sword they brought, it would most likely not pass Cuengi’s strength test.

Pyat… Pyat…

[This shouldn’t be the case… It was made of extremely expensive materials…]

The gray rabbit was shocked when the sword he made broke so helplessly.

“I am sorry. I will compensate for the price of the sword.”

Feeling sorry for breaking the gray rabbit’s dreams and hopes, Se-jun paid double the price of the sword.

Pyat! Pyat!

[Thank you! Next time, I will make a sturdier sword!]

Thanks to that, the gray rabbit regained his motivation to make a good sword.

Pyat! Pyat!

[Good-bye! Please come again!]

Another shop they entered under the sword merchant’s send-off.

“Oh! The armor is cool!”

“I, Vice President Theo, will test the armor Chairman Park will wear, meow!”

Chwaak!

This time, Theo tore the armor to shreds with his dragon claws.

“Oh! A shield!”

Kkueng!

[Cuengi will see if it is sturdy!]

As the subsequent shopping trips also continued with Theo and Cuengi destroying the items Se-jun was interested in to test their sturdiness, the end of shopping always finished with Se-jun paying for the items.

Since the prices of the goods were not that expensive at around 10,000 tower coins, Se-jun simply thought of it as playing and continued to look around the shops.

As they entered the busy street while paying compensation to the shops like that,

Ummeo!

“Waaaa!”

Along with the cry of the Black Minotaur, a tremendous shout was heard.

***

“It is an immense signal!”

Reto, who was checking the land deed detector to process the target and find a new target, was surprised to see the signal that appeared on the detector.

It was a signal of a size seen for the first time on the detector, wondering how many land deeds they possessed.

“Where is it?”

Reto hurriedly headed toward the place where the signal was coming from.

And,

“Huh?”

Reto spotted the animals clinging to the body of Se-jun, who was looking around the shops.

“But who possesses the land deeds? The cat? The bear? The hamster? The bat?”

Reto was confused as he looked at the animals.

Moreover,

“Everyone is too strong…”

Every single one of them was a powerhouse.

“This won’t do.”

Reto realized that he was no match and quickly retreated.

Thanks to the Talent: Insignificant Presence and the massive presence of the other animals, Se-jun was not noticed by Reto’s eyes at all.

***

“What is it?”

Se-jun walked for a long time toward the direction where the sound came from, but nothing was visible, blocked by the onlookers.

At that moment,

“Se-jun-nim! Hello!”

Someone called Se-jun from behind.

“Huh? You guys are…”

As Se-jun turned his head, Black Orcs were seen. They had also come to participate in the Black Rabbit’s wedding.

“If you want to watch the contest, we will guide you to a good spot! Out of the way! Se-jun-nim has arrived!”

A contest? The Black Orcs guided Se-jun to the place where the Black Minotaurs and Black Orcs were gathered.

When they went to the very front row like that,

Ummeo?!

“Se-jun-nim?!”

The Bull Demon King and Urchi were sitting together in a friendly manner.

“What are you doing here?”

Ummeo!

[We are eating food.]

Point.

The Bull Demon King answered Se-jun’s question and pointed forward.

“Over there?”

As Se-jun looked at the place the Bull Demon King was pointing to,

Munch. Munch.

There, Black Minotaurs, Black Orcs, and many others were aggressively eating dishes made of carrots, and

“Yes! Contestant number 128 has almost emptied the 101st plate! Staff members, please bring the next plate quickly.”

Pigs were diligently carrying food.

And a giant banner was hung in front of them.

-Food Fighter Selection.

The Black Minotaurs and Black Orcs were using the Food Fighter Selection like a restaurant. It was understandable, since they could save a huge amount of food by saving even one meal like this.

“Food Fighter Selection?”

As soon as Se-jun heard the word Food Fighter, he recalled one being. Indeed, Cuengi.

Kkueng!

[Dad, Cuengi also wants to eat that!]

Like a true food fighter, Cuengi was already drooling and burning with fighting spirit.

But the contest was already in progress.

“We won’t be able to enter now…”

While Se-jun was troubled looking at Cuengi, whose eyes were shining brightly,

Bip!

“The 3rd preliminary round is over! Soon the 4th preliminary round will begin. Those who wish to participate, please come out!”

Fortunately, the host said that the next preliminary round would begin.

Ummeo!

“Waaaa!”

Along with the announcement that the preliminary round was over, the preliminary qualifiers let out a shout. It seemed the sound Se-jun heard earlier was this.

“Cuengi, let’s go out!”

Se-jun, who wanted to participate in the eating contest once, spoke as he detached Theo, who was stuck to his leg.

“Meow? Chairman Park, are you not taking me, meow?”

“Just wait a moment. I will be right back.”

Because he might be misunderstood as cheating if he went out to the contest with Theo attached, Se-jun set Theo aside and took a spot next to Cuengi.

After a while,

“We will set up the food.”

Along with the host’s guidance, dishes began to come out on plates.

“Then, we will begin the 4th preliminary round! Start!”

With the host’s signal, the participants began to eat the food rapidly. Se-jun and Cuengi also ate hurriedly.

However,

Kkuhehehe. Kkueng!

[Hehehe. It is delicious!]

Unlike Cuengi, who continued to eat deliciously as if it were his first time,

Burp.

Se-jun quickly reached his limit.

“Vitality.”

[You have used Vitality Lv. 1.]

[Rapidly digests food in the stomach.]

For 30 minutes, all stats increase by 1%.]

Se-jun used the skill to digest the food.

Thanks to that, Se-jun, who had room to eat again, began to eat the food again.

As Se-jun picked up his pace again like that,

“Those who passed the preliminary round must take the finals ticket after it is over to participate in the finals held tomorrow lunch.”

The host explained the schedule after the preliminary round.

“In the finals, the Great Merchant Yuren-nim will personally participate in the contest, and the winner who defeats Yuren-nim can receive tremendous rewards, so please be sure to participate.”

Yuren? Was he talking about that pink pig pushover Yuren that Theo mentioned? Since it was said that there were only three Great Merchants, it seemed correct.

When Se-jun heard Yuren’s name while eating the food, Theo also heard Yuren’s name.

“Puhuhut. As expected, Yuren has no luck, meow!”

Because he would lose the food fight contest to Cuengi, and if he met Se-jun, he would be fleeced far more than when he met himself.

“He is a fellow I wonder how he became a Great Merchant, meow!”

Theo spoke, thinking of Yuren, who always had no luck. For Theo, who was always overflowing with luck, the fact itself that Yuren became a Great Merchant was a mystery.