Chapter 290 – I’ll Ask of You Again Next Time for Dad’s Long and Healthy Life, Da-yo!

In front of the Hannam-dong Black Tower where Se-jun’s family lived.

“What about the kimchi?!”

“We confirmed 500 containers, each weighing 1 kg including the container!”

“What about the side dishes?!”

“We prepared 50 containers of each of the 10 types of side dishes Se-jun usually enjoyed, including stir-fried anchovies, stir-fried sausage and vegetables, and braised beef in soy sauce, filled to 1 kg per container, totaling 500 containers!”

“Good. Finally, what about the recipes?!”

“We recorded all of Kim Mi-ran’s recipes for kimchi, kimchi stew, and side dishes!”

At Kim Dong-sik’s questions, the Awakened Association employees replied.

And,

“Master, the preparations are all finished!”

Having finished the verification, Kim Dong-sik made his final report to Han Tae-jun.

“Good! Then, we move to the tower!”

“Yes!”

With Han Tae-jun’s words, 1,000 members of the Earth Defense Force, each holding either a kimchi container or a side dish container, entered the Black Tower,

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

and Han Tae-jun and Kim Dong-sik, each holding a recipe book, entered the Black Tower last.

***

The 75th floor of the tower.

Tap. Tap.

Ppiyot!

[Please line up properly!]

Toward the roughly 300 people lined up to buy invitations, Ppiyot flew around busily and shouted.

Even though the price of a single party invitation was 1 billion Tower Coins, and most of those standing in line were powerful figures, influential people of the floors, or wealthy merchants,

‘I am Lord Theo’s next right front paw! I won’t be intimidated!’

Ppiyot did not lose courage and controlled them.

‘Phehehe. I will work hard and be recognized by Lord Theo!’

Like that, Ppiyot diligently looked around with the thought of receiving praise from Theo.

The people standing in line also willingly followed Ppiyot’s control, as they did not want to cause a disturbance and fall out of Theo’s favor.

However…

not everyone was like that.

Step.

“Hey. It’s been a while.”

A hyena beastman slung his arm around the shoulder of the merchant in front of him, pretending to be close.

“Yes? Wh-…”

As the merchant was about to ask who he was without reading the room,

Squeeze.

“Ugh!”

“My dad is Keruja, the boss of the 88th floor of the tower… Let’s swap places.”

He pressed hard on the merchant’s shoulder, using strength and his status to threaten the opponent,

Swoosh!

and naturally stood in that spot while pulling the opponent back. It was line-cutting.

And,

Ppiyot! Ppiyot!

[Hey, no cutting in line there! Please get back in line properly right now!]

Naturally, he was caught red-handed by Ppiyot, who was watching with a hawk’s eye.

However,

“What?! Why is your attitude toward customers like this?!”

Hachar, the son of Keruja, the boss of the 88th floor of the tower, questioned Ppiyot’s attitude despite having cut in line.

Normally, when he spoke like this, most would back down,

Ppiyot! Ppiyot!

[You’re not the only customer! Others are customers too, so please line up properly!]

Ppiyot was not a soft chick.

‘Urgh! If this were the 88th floor of the tower, you wouldn’t even be a single bite!’

Hachar, who had always lived as he pleased on the 88th floor of the tower relying on his father’s authority, was extremely annoyed by the current situation.

Still, since this was not his territory on the 88th floor of the tower, Hachar held back, trying his best not to use violence.

“Urgh! How old are you?!”

Ppiyot!

[I’ve lived long enough!]

“So, how old are you?!”

Ppiyot!

[I’ve lived for 47 days!]

“What?!”

You little brat whose blood hasn’t even dried on your head!!!

Snap.

At Ppiyot’s reply, Hachar lost his thread of reason.

Grind.

Hachar transformed into his combat form, growing his body.

“Grrr. I’ll kill you!”

Hachar, who had transformed into a giant 3-meter size, opened his mouth and tried to pounce on Ppiyot.

…!

Ppiyot’s body froze at the attack filled with murderous intent.

Just as Ppiyot was about to be torn to shreds by Hachar’s sharp teeth,

“Shield.”

Bang!

a blue translucent wall appeared in front of Ppiyot, blocking Hachar’s attack.

“Grrr. Who is it?!”

Hachar looked for the entity that blocked him.

And,

“Kyu-kyu, Ppiyot, are you okay?”

Ppiyot! Ppiyot!

[Yes! Thank you!]

In Hachar’s eyes, a pure white hamster talking to Ppiyot was visible.

Although he had heard of Iona before,

‘Who is it?’

Hachar could not recall.

However,

“It’s stage 2 of the angry Kyu!”

“Flee quickly!”

“Ah! Lord Theo is here!”

“Right! Tell Lord Theo quickly!”

Those who knew Iona’s identity panicked and hurriedly called Theo,

“Iona, did you come, meow?”

Trot. Trot. Trot.

At the words that Iona had arrived, Theo ran over.

“Kyut-kyut-kyut. Lord Theo!”

Upon seeing Theo, Iona’s anger melted away like snow.

Swoosh.

Snuggle.

Iona hurriedly flew to Theo and buried herself in his tail.

“Iona, but why were you angry, meow?”

“Kyut-kyut-kyut. How dare that guy try to kill Ppiyot, Lord Theo’s next right front paw!”

“You mean Ppiyot, meow?!”

At Iona’s words, Theo looked at Hachar.

‘What is this?’

Hachar realized too late that the atmosphere was flowing strangely, but it was already too late.

“Stamp your paw here, meow!”

Theo shoved the contract toward Hachar.

The contract stated that he would work as a slave until he paid off Ppiyot’s life value of 10 billion Tower Coins.

“10 billion Tower Coins?! What nonsense… There’s no way that bird’s life value is that expensive?!”

Hachar denied the content of the contract.

However,

“Puhuhut. No, meow! Ppiyot’s life value is very expensive, meow! Because he is the next right front paw of me, Vice Chairman Theo, meow! So stamp your paw print quickly, meow!”

If Theo said so, then it was so.

Thanks to that, rumors about Ppiyot, the subordinate of the golden cat Theo Park, began to spread.

In addition, those who recognized the Cobb Kingdom diplomat badge on Ppiyot’s chest spread rumors that Cobb Kingdom, along with the Red Ribbon Kingdom, had come under the protection of the dragon.

However, such things were not important to Ppiyot.

Ppiyot! Ppiyot!

[Slave! Stamp it quickly!]

Peck. Peck.

Ppiyot, who had stamped his foot print on the employer’s section of the contract and became high and mighty, pecked at Hachar’s head with his beak and urged him. Phehehe. He is the official subordinate number 1 of Pirrrr Yacht!

Press.

Like that, Hachar became Ppiyot’s official subordinate number 1 after throwing a temper tantrum just once.

***

The 99th floor of the tower.

Tap. Tap.

[You have obtained corn seeds.]

[Your job experience increases slightly.]

[The proficiency of Seed Harvesting Lv. 8 increases slightly.]

[You must use the Seed Harvesting skill 910,023 more times to complete the job quest.]

…

..

.

While Se-jun was diligently pulling off corn kernels to complete his job quest,

Thud. Thud.

the Bull Demon King and the Black Minotaurs came to visit Se-jun’s farm from afar.

“Bull Demon King, you came early?”

Thinking they had come after receiving Theo’s invitation, Se-jun spoke as he looked at the Bull Demon King.

Moo!

[We came to help because we thought you would be busy preparing for the party!]

“Preparing? Then first, could you go to the 98th floor of the tower and bring back a few melons?”

Moo! Moo!

[Yes! Let’s go, guys!]

Thud. Thud.

At Se-jun’s words, the Bull Demon King led all the Black Minotaurs downstairs.

“Only one of them needed to go… why?”

Se-jun, unaware that the news of the party had spread all over the Black Tower,

looked wonderingly at the retreating back of the Bull Demon King who was taking all of the Black Minotaurs.

Se-jun thought of a modest party, while the Bull Demon King thought of a grand party.

The quantity of “a few” that the two had in mind was vastly different.

“I’m a bit hungry.”

Nom.

Se-jun, who was watching the departing Black Minotaurs, ate the meat that Aileen had given him.

[You have consumed Aileen’s Healthier Fist Meat piece.]

[The effect will manifest only when you eat all of the food.]

[455 pieces remaining.]

A feeling of fullness was felt along with the message. It was useful to fill his stomach when it was too troublesome to pack a meal.

After filling his stomach like that,

Tap. Tap.

Se-jun harvested seeds without realizing how time flew.

“Oh?! It’s already evening, so why isn’t Cuengi coming? Toryong-i!”

Se-jun rode Toryong-i toward the western forest to find Cuengi, who had not returned even though evening had passed.

However,

“Cuengi! Where are you?!”

……

No matter how much Se-jun called for Cuengi after arriving at the western forest, Cuengi did not appear.

“Where did Cuengi go? Aileen, please find Cuengi for me.”

So Se-jun requested help from Aileen,

[The Tower Administrator says that Cuengi is on the 88th floor of the tower.]

“Eh? The 88th floor of the tower? Why is Cuengi there…?”

He learned that Cuengi was on the 88th floor of the tower.

***

The 88th floor of the tower.

(Brother Cuengi, is it correct that there are herbs here?)

The Golden Bat, looking around from the sky, asked Cuengi.

It was because the surroundings were all wasteland, with only lots of gray rocks visible. No plants were in sight.

Kkueng! Kkueng!

[That’s right, da-yo! Just trust me, da-yo!]

Bang!

Cuengi, who was flying alongside him, replied in a confident voice and increased his speed.

Flutter. Flutter.

(Wait for me!)

The Golden Bat flapped his wings diligently and chased after Cuengi.

A moment later,

Kkuhehehe. Kkueng!

[Hehehe. It’s here, da-yo!]

He spoke, looking at a giant red rock sitting all alone in the middle of the wasteland.

Bat?

At Cuengi’s words, the Golden Bat tilted his head.

At that moment,

Bang!

when Cuengi threw a rock at the red rock with telekinesis,

Screech!

the flower bud that was disguised as a rock opened wide and let out a shriek that confused the opponent’s sense of balance.

And,

Wiggle. Wiggle.

hundreds of tentacles inside the flower bud whipped through the air, trying to bind their prey.

It was trying to eat the rock thrown by Cuengi, thinking of it as prey.

At the same time, the name appeared above the monster’s head.

[Red Rock Corpse Flower]

It was a monster that could even hide its name with disguise.

Kkueng!

[Come up, da-yo!]

Having confirmed the target, Cuengi floated the body of the Red Rock Corpse Flower into the sky with telekinesis.

At that,

Rumble.

the ground vibrated, and the roots of the Red Rock Corpse Flower began to be pulled out.

Screech! Screech!

The Red Rock Corpse Flower, flustered as its roots were pulled out, kept shrieking.

Once it was completely pulled out to its roots like that,

Squeeze.

Cuengi stretched his front paw into the air and clenched it tight,

Squeeze.

and the extraction of juice from the roots of the Red Rock Corpse Flower began.

Kkueng!

[You must not miss even a single drop, da-yo!]

(Yes!)

The Golden Bat held a glass bottle underneath and diligently collected the juice of the Red Rock Corpse Flower.

A moment later,

Thump.

the Red Rock Corpse Flower, squeezed by Cuengi, was planted back into the ground.

Kkueng! Kkueng!

[For Dad’s long and healthy life, I’ll ask of you again next time, da-yo! Golden Bat, let’s go, da-yo!]

Cuengi told the Red Rock Corpse Flower that he would come again next time and flew toward the 99th floor of the tower.

Screech…

The Red Rock Corpse Flower hurriedly fled to another place.

***

While Theo was making Hachar Ppiyot’s subordinate,

Purr.

Whimper…

[I’m hungry…]

Fenril, who was sleeping on top of Theo’s bundle, opened his eyes in hunger.

Whimper…

[Those guys are not here…]

Fenril looked around and confirmed that Theo and Ppiyot were not there,

Toddle.

and when he moved a step to run away in a hurry,

Growl.

his stomach clock rang loudly.

Whimper… Whimper…

[I’m hungry… those wicked bastards didn’t even give me food…]

The dignity of Fenril, the God-Hunting Wolf and the 1st Seat of the Apostles of Destruction, was in ruins.

Sniff. Sniff.

Whimper…

[A delicious smell is coming from over there…]

Toddle. Toddle.

Fenril quickened his steps and hurriedly headed toward the place where the smell was coming from,

Thump! Thump!

but it was too crowded here for Fenril to navigate.

Whimper! Whimper!

He was bumped this way and that by the feet of passersby dozens of times.

Whimper…

[I’ve arrived…]

Gulp.

Fenril, who barely arrived by following the smell, gulped as he looked at the item held in a merchant’s hand.

And,

Whimper!

[I shall eat this well!]

Hop.

He jumped toward the item in the merchant’s hand.

However,

Hop. Hop.

no matter how much he jumped, his body did not leave the ground.

Whimper… Whimper…

[I’m too tired now… won’t that just fall…]

As the exhausted Fenril lay down on the ground in frustration and wished the item in the merchant’s hand would drop,

“Oh? It’s a puppy?”

the merchant lowered his posture upon seeing Fenril, who had rolled over at his feet exposing his belly.

‘This is it! This meant submitting to me!’

Fenril exposed his belly even more.

And,

Reach.

as the merchant squatted completely,

Snatch.

Fenril bit the item in the merchant’s hand and ran off with it.