Chapter 404 – Not Theo, but Me

Inside the White Bone Castle on the 96th floor of the Black Tower.

“Golden Cat Theo Park, how dare you interfere with the work of Lord Regius, the holy bone of holy bones!”

Bang!

At the report from his subordinate that the Phoenix capture operation had failed, Bone Knight, the leader of the Four Heavenly Kings, slammed his fist on the desk and raged.

The Four Heavenly Kings were the strongest skeletons among the holy bones who followed Regius, consisting of four: Bone Knight, Bone Mage, Bone Archer, and Bone Tanker.

“There is still a chance. The Phoenix will return to its nest anyway, so from there…”

Bone Knight did not yet know that his subordinates on the 95th floor of the tower had been defeated.

This was because the information had not been transmitted as Theo turned all the skeletons lying in ambush at the Phoenix’s nest on the 95th floor of the tower into slaves.

At that moment,

“Lord Bone Knight, Theo Park has arrived outside!”

“What?! He is fearless. How dare he, where does he think this is!”

“But… the soldiers of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th divisions followed Theo Park.”

“What? Why are the guys who should be guarding the Phoenix’s nest here?!”

At the subordinate’s report, Bone Knight sprang to his feet.

“All Four Heavenly Kings and soldiers, gather in front of the castle gate!”

Bone Knight headed toward the castle gate while summoning the Four Heavenly Kings.

***

“Puhuhut. Open the gate, meow!”

Even though he had come to fight Regius, the master of the White Bone Castle, Theo calmly went to the guard guarding the castle gate and asked him to open it.

“Please tell us your name first.”

When the guard asked Theo for his name,

“Puhuhut. If you ask who this body is, it is only right to answer…”

Just as Theo, who had got a self-introduction time, was about to answer in an excited voice,

Thud. Thud.

“Theo Park, not only did you interfere with Lord Regius’s work, but you even dared to come here! Your arrogance ends today!”

Bone Knight appeared, leading the other three Heavenly Kings and 500,000 soldiers.

However, the timing was too bad.

“Hiss. Hiss.”

‘You interfered with the self-introduction of me, Vice President Theo, who became a great merchant, meow! I will punish you, meow!’

As Theo glared at Bone Knight in anger,

“Bone Knight, we will take care of the rest.”

“Yeah. We should play too. I wanted to fight Iona.”

“They have four and we have four, so it’s four-on-four. Perfect.”

The remaining Heavenly Kings stepped forward and said. Since they were the strongest among the holy bones, they were full of confidence.

And,

“Kyut-kyut-kyut.”

Phehehet.

“Uhehe.”

The same went for this side, which was overflowing with confidence.

Thus, the battle began.

“Meow!”

Bone Knight, who blocked Theo’s One Meow Slash with his sword, was cut into six pieces along with his sword,

“Kyut-kyut-kyut. Power of the meteor… Meteor.”

Iona turned the cute junior mage attacking her into dust.

And,

Piyot!

[Messenger Bird Secret Art: Rapid Delivery!]

Piyot moved quickly, dodging the arrows shot by Bone Archer, and soared high into the sky,

Piyot!

[Messenger Bird Secret Art: Descent!]

Falling from the sky at high speed, he made a hole in Bone Archer’s head.

“Kkuik! Kkuik!”

Finally, Yuren was beaten miserably by Bone Tanker.

However,

Just a little more.

He did not just get beaten.

Yuren gradually narrowed the distance between himself and Bone Tanker.

He did it.

As the distance closed,

“Uhehe. Turn into gold.”

He reached out his hand toward Bone Tanker and turned him into gold.

Unlike inanimate objects, moving beings returned to normal quickly, but that brief moment was enough in a fight.

Because everything would be over.

“Lord Theo, please help me!”

Not Yuren, but Theo.

“Puhuhut. I understand, meow!”

Theo, who had received Bone Knight’s stamp, moved with Meow Step, defeated Bone Tanker, and then took Bone Tanker’s golden shield.

Because the shield remained gold.

Thus, Theo and his party defeated the Four Heavenly Kings so easily.

“Puhuhut. If you want to eat this, stamp here, meow!”

As Theo held up a fish bone and shouted while looking at the 500,000 soldiers who followed the Four Heavenly Kings,

Piyot!

[Now. If you just stamp, you can eat one fish bone every day!]

Piyot flew around and did business diligently,

Clatter. Clatter.

Theo’s 300,000 skeletons, who were already slaves, also tempted the 500,000 skeletons by explaining the taste of fish bones.

Clatter.

Perhaps their sales pitch worked, as one by one, the 500,000 skeletons began to raise their hands.

“Puhuhut. You won’t regret it, meow!”

While the skeletons were stamping their contracts like that,

“What is this commotion?!”

Regius, the Lord of Bones, who was resting in his palace, appeared.

“Lord Regius…”

The skeletons bowed as they looked at Regius, as if they had seen an unapproachable being. The same went for Theo’s slaves.

And,

[Regius, the Lord of Bones, subjugates all bones.]

It also affected Theo and his party, who possessed bones.

“Meow!”

‘No one but Chairman Park can rule me, meow!’

Theo tensed his entire body, resisting the force trying to subjugate his bones.

[You have successfully resisted.]

While Theo used half of his strength to resist Regius’s power,

“Kyut-kyut-kyut. Power of the meteor… Meteor.”

Iona, who had already successfully resisted, dropped a meteor toward Regius.

Piyot!

[Overcame it!]

Piyot pulled up all his strength and barely succeeded in resisting,

“Kkuik! I lost!”

Thud.

Yuren fell to his knees and bowed to Regius’s power.

Meanwhile,

Bang!

Iona’s Meteor fell toward Regius.

However,

“It is useless.”

When Regius held up a golden staff that had appeared in his hand before anyone noticed,

Hummm.

A golden barrier appeared at the end of the staff, blocking the meteor.

Flash.

“Puhuhut.”

Instead, he missed Theo, who shone with a golden light while burning offerings,

“Nyanyanyang! Nyanyanyang!”

He took Meow Meow Storm Fist to the back of his head and turned into dust. Into dust that could never return…

“Meow! I can just give this to Iona, meow!”

Theo was excited as he picked up the staff Regius had been holding.

However,

“Meow?”

At the end of the staff, a black bead was surrounded by three gems, but only one slot was empty.

It was a staff that had not yet been completed.

In fact, the remaining slot was where the Phoenix’s heart was supposed to go.

That was why Regius had tried to catch the Phoenix.

And,

“This is a fragment of Fenrir’s Core, meow!”

There was one more problem. The black bead embedded at the end of the staff was a fragment of Fenrir’s Core.

It seemed Regius had tried to control the fragment of Fenrir’s Core using the other gems embedded in the staff.

“For now, I must show this to Chairman Park, meow!”

‘I must bring this fragment of Fenrir’s Core to Chairman Park first, meow!’

Thus, Theo took Regius’s staff.

“Puhuhut. Now it’s treasure hunting time, meow! Iona, let’s go, meow!”

“Kyut-kyut-kyut. Yes!”

He and Iona began to raid Regius’s safe,

Piyot!

[If you don’t want to turn into dust, stamp quickly!]

“You can stamp here.”

Piyot, Yuren, and Theo’s skeleton slaves held the slave contracts and collected the stamps.

A moment later,

[You have achieved the achievement of hunting 1 million slaves.]

[By achieving the achievement, you have acquired the .]

Theo, who hunted 1 million slaves, obtained the title,

[You have hunted 1 slave.]

[Due to the effect of , all stats increase by 1.]

And grew even stronger due to the effect of the title.

“Puhuhut. I must brag to Chairman Park, meow! You guys, get all the stamps here and come, meow!”

Theo ran excitedly toward the 99th floor of the tower with Iona.

***

The 99th floor of the Black Tower.

“Heave-ho.”

Se-jun opened his eyes, welcoming the morning of his 402nd day in the tower.

[You have achieved the great achievement of leading 1 million slaves.]

[As a reward for the great achievement, you have acquired the .]

[Due to the effect of , a monthly tax of 1 million Tower Coins is collected from the slaves.]

He checked the messages that had appeared while he was asleep.

“Huh? Slave King?”

‘Not Theo, but me?!’

When Theo made contracts, he always wrote Se-jun’s name alongside his own.

And Se-jun was Theo’s employer.

Thus, the system judged Se-jun to be the actual owner of the slaves.

‘A Slave King… isn’t that too much like a villain?’

While Se-jun was reluctant to accept the newly obtained title,

[You have led 100 slaves.]

[Due to the effect of , all stats increase by 1.]

His stats increased along with the message.

‘To think stats rise just by increasing slaves.’

“Hehehe. This is nice.”

Thanks to that, Se-jun readily decided to accept the title. He just wouldn’t tell anyone.

“I should prepare breakfast.”

Se-jun stood up from his spot,

Kkirorong.

He covered the still-sleeping Fenrir with a blanket, and then headed to the kitchen.

And he quickly began making So-tteok So-tteok.

He had intended to give So-tteok So-tteok to Aileen yesterday too, but he forgot.

By the time Se-jun remembered, Cuengi was doing the dishes, diligently licking even the sauce left on the plate that had contained the So-tteok So-tteok.

A moment later.

“Aileen, eat this.”

Se-jun filled a plate with So-tteok So-tteok and sent it to Aileen.

[The Tower Administrator says she will eat it well.]

“Yeah. Enjoy it.”

Se-jun chatted with Aileen for a moment and then prepared today’s breakfast.

Breakfast was simply fried eggs and stir-fried sausages.

Naturally, he made cuts in the sausages to make octopus legs.

Sizzle.

While Se-jun was making breakfast,

Kkueng!

[Dad, good morning, yo!]

Kking!

‘Serve breakfast!’

Cuengi and Fenrir entered the kitchen side by side.

Kkueng! Kkueng!

[Dad is a genius, yo! I feel good because it feels like we are eating octopus together, yo!]

Kking!

‘This makes hunting worth it!’

The two of them liked the octopus-shaped sausages very much.

After eating breakfast like that,

“Ferment.”

Se-jun stopped by the brewery, stirred the alcohol inside the jar, used the fermentation skill, and harvested the crops that bore fruit.

It was a day no different from usual… though it was not anymore.

“Huhut. I should go shopping.”

To the 75th floor of the tower.

This was to visit Mason to ask about the land deed of the Golden Tower, and to eat street food at the shopping street.

“Cuengi, let’s go together.”

Of course, because it was scary to walk around alone, he went with Cuengi.

Kkueng!

[Shopping is good, yo!]

Se-jun headed toward the waypoint, taking Cuengi and Fenrir along.

On the way to the waypoint.

“Aileen, can you by any chance change the location of the waypoint?”

Se-jun asked Aileen.

As he had more reasons to go to other floors, walking from the house to the waypoint took up quite a bit of time.

[The Tower Administrator says it is possible.]

[The Tower Administrator says she can move the waypoint by 1 km per day.]

“Really? Then from today, please move it by 1 km toward our house.”

[The Tower Administrator says to leave it to her.]

[The Tower Administrator says she has just moved it by 1 km.]

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Se-jun expressed his gratitude to Aileen.

At that moment,

“Huh? Vice President Theo, you’re back?”

Se-jun felt Theo’s energy approaching rapidly from afar.

And,

“Chairman Park, I have returned, meow!”

Before he knew it, Theo appeared and hugged Se-jun’s face.

“Yeah. Glad to see you.”

Se-jun replied as he pulled Theo off his face.

“But Chairman Park, where are you going, meow?”

“To the 75th floor of the tower.”

“Puhuhut. Then look at this while we go, meow!”

Theo opened his bundle and showed off the items he raided from the 96th floor of the tower.

“This is the best one, meow!”

Theo pulled Regius’s staff out of his bundle and handed it to Se-jun.

“This is?”

[Staff of Destruction]

Just looking at the name, he felt like he knew who he should give it to.

‘But why is he giving it to me?’

Just as Se-jun was about to grab the staff,

[A fragment of Fenrir’s Core (15%) has been detected right in front of you.]

The message that appeared.

Kking!

‘My core!’

At the same time, Fenrir threw his body toward the staff.