Chapter 75 – Having a Match

Inside the warehouse filled with the treasures Israel had gathered throughout his life,

Rustle.

Theo was scanning the items in the warehouse with his front paw.

“Representative Theo, what are you doing?”

Iona asked as she watched Theo move here and there, raising his front paw.

“I am looking for a pull, meow?”

“A pull?”

“That’s right, meow. I am looking for an item that my front paw is pulled to, meow!”

“Ah!”

Iona had heard about it from Se-jun. About Theo’s golden front paws.

And

‘Kyut. In the end, it’s just a hunch. It can’t match my high-dimensional magic.’

Feeling jealous of Theo, who was praised by Se-jun, Iona felt a competitive spirit arise as a mage.

“Representative Theo, let us have a match!”

“What kind of match, meow?”

“A match where the one who finds a higher-grade item wins!”

“Good, meow!”

Although the opponent was the president of the Mage Association, Theo was not intimidated at all. The source of Theo’s confidence was Se-jun, not himself.

‘Puhut. Victory is mine, meow! Because Park Se-jun said my front paws are amazing, meow.’

Like that, Theo and Iona’s treasure hunting match began.

***

Lake Zenka on the 75th floor of the tower.

Swoosh.

[You arrived at Lake Zenka on the 75th floor of the tower.]

[From now on, find and eliminate the cause that threatens the Blue Carp with extinction.]

Se-jun, the Black Rabbit, and Cuengi appeared.

“Wow! It is a different floor!”

Pyak!!!

Kku-e-eng!!!

Neither Se-jun, the Black Rabbit, nor Cuengi cared about the mission at all. All three of them were novices leaving the 99th floor of the tower for the first time. Everything was just amazing.

“What is this?

Se-jun began to examine the grass around the lake,

Squeak!

Kkueng!

while the Black Rabbit and Cuengi marvelled at the wide and blue lake they were seeing for the first time and immediately jumped into it.

As Se-jun was looking at the plants while walking about a round around the lake like that, a plant with a shape all too familiar to his eyes appeared.

In the middle of the widely spread leaves was a fruit shaped like a giant pinecone, with a green top sprouting above it! It was a pineapple.

“Hehehe. Why is a pineapple here?”

Slice.

Se-jun engrossed himself and sliced the pineapple with his dagger.

And

Thud.

he plucked off the top and packed it into the bag he brought. Since planting the top allowed growing the pineapple again, he intended to take it to the 99th floor of the tower to plant it.

Slice.

He cut the pineapple into four pieces, picked up one piece for now, and tasted it.

“Mmmph!”

At first, a shiver ran through his whole body due to the sour taste, but the more he chewed the flesh, the less sour and the sweeter it became.

“Wow! Delicious!”

Having eaten an entire pineapple in an instant, Se-jun marvelled and stood up. It was to count how many pineapples there were.

However,

“There are 12 in total.”

It was not that many.

Slice. Slice.

Se-jun harvested all the pineapples for now.

And while he was eating the second pineapple deliciously,

Footsteps. Footsteps.

something was approaching from behind Se-jun.

“Huh?”

When Se-jun turned around,

Croak, croak.

a 3-meter-tall bipedal frog was drooling while looking at Se-jun.

[Frog]

Why does a frog walk on two legs?! While Se-jun was flustered,

Croak.

Swoosh.

the Frog opened its mouth and attacked Se-jun with its tongue.

“Hmph! Even though I look like this, I am someone who rolled around on the 99th floor of the tower!”

Se-jun avoided the Frog’s tongue, took out the hand axe, and threw it at the Frog.

Thud!

The hand axe lodged precisely in the Frog’s head.

[You defeated the Frog.]

[You gained 500 experience points.]

“Hph. This much is nothing to me. Retrieve!”

Although facing a water monster on land was already taking a significant advantage, Se-jun was still proud of himself.

When Se-jun was in high spirits,

[Subordinate 1 defeated a Frog.]

[Subordinate 2 defeated a Frog.]

it seemed the Black Rabbit and Cuengi were also fighting in the water.

[You found one cause of the extinction of the Blue Carp in Lake Zenka on the 75th floor of the tower.]

[A middle manager quest occurred.]

[Middle Manager Quest: Defeat all 2,291 Frogs in Lake Zenka.]

Frogs: 0/2,291

Reward: 10,000 experience points, 1,000 tower coins

Upon Failure: You cannot return to your original place until you complete the quest.

“There are over 2,000 of these frogs?!”

Se-jun hurriedly ran to Lake Zenka, put his face in the water, and looked inside.

In the water, the Black Rabbit and Cuengi were seen eagerly chasing the fleeing Frogs. Although their swimming skills, trained in the pond, were top-class, the Frogs were water monsters. Even though the number of Frogs was large, it took immense effort to hunt a single Frog.

‘At this rate, when will they catch them all?’

While watching the Black Rabbit and Cuengi’s fight like that,

“By the way, what do these things taste like?”

suddenly, Se-jun became curious about the taste of the Frog meat.

Therefore, he lit a fire and began preparing a dish using Frog meat.

***

While Theo and Iona were having a match in the warehouse, a black wolf who had been examining Lake Zenka ran over.

“Chieftain Hegel, we have a big problem.”

“What is it?”

Having already experienced a near-death situation under Iona, Hegel was not very moved by his subordinate’s report.

“Suspicious guys have appeared at Lake Zenka.”

“Suspicious guys?”

“Yes… they are grilling Frogs.”

“What?! Grilling Frogs?!”

“Yes! But the taste is too good! Slurp.”

The black wolf said, smacking his lips.

“Taste? What kind of talk is that again? Surely you didn’t eat Frog meat?”

The subordinate seemed out of his mind. Frog meat had poison in it, so it could not be eaten.

“Let’s go for now!”

The wolf, who wanted to quickly return to Lake Zenka, urged Hegel.

“Ahem. Elka, I will go to Lake Zenka for a bit, so please speak well to Representative Theo.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Hegel hurriedly ran to Lake Zenka.

***

“Here they are, Lord Se-jun.”

The wolves coming out of the water bit the necks of the fainted Frogs and dragged them to Se-jun.

“Thank you.”

Thud! Thud!

[You defeated the Frog.]

[You gained 500 experience points.]

[You defeated the Frog.]

[You gained 500 experience points.]

Se-jun defeated the two Frogs with his hand axe and handed the Frog Green Onion Rolls to the wolves.

Munch, munch.

“It is really chewy!”

“It is delicious!”

The wolves entered the water again after eating the dish.

An hour ago.

Becoming curious about the taste of the Frog, Se-jun lit a fire, prepared the Frog meat, placed the Detoxifying Green Onion in the middle, rolled it up, and began to grill it.

Considering safety, Se-jun always packed the Detoxifying Green Onion like emergency medicine because he did not know what poison might be in the ingredients.

When the dish was completed like that,

[You achieved the achievement of making the Frog Green Onion Roll for the first time in the tower.]

[The recipe for the Frog Green Onion Roll was registered in Cooking Lv. 3.]

[The proficiency of Cooking Lv. 3 increased significantly.]

[The proficiency of Cooking Lv. 3 was filled, and the level increased.]

Se-jun’s Cooking level increased.

And

[Due to the effect of Cooking Lv. 4, a special effect: Comfortable Underwater Movement was granted to the Frog Green Onion Roll.]

“A special effect?”

A special effect was granted to the dish. It was a new content added as the Cooking level became 4.

Se-jun checked the completed dish.

[Frog Green Onion Roll]

Detoxifying Green Onion wrapped in Frog meat and grilled.

With skillful cooking, the Frog meat and the Detoxifying Green Onion were well grilled, and the taste was very good.

The Detoxifying Green Onion detoxified the poison in the Frog meat.

Special Effect: Comfortable Underwater Movement

Cook: Tower Farmer Park Se-jun

Expiration Date: 5 days

Grade: C+

While Se-jun was checking the options of the Frog Green Onion Roll like that,

Squeak…

Kkueng…

the Black Rabbit and Cuengi, tired of constantly chasing the Frogs, came up from the water.

And

Squeak!

Kkueng!

the hungry two ate the Frog Green Onion Rolls and got excited, shrugging their shoulders.

“Should I try some too?”

Se-jun also picked up the grilled Frog and put it in his mouth.

Chomp.

‘This also tastes like chicken.’

The texture was tender, but the taste was just like unseasoned chicken.

Gulp.

[You consumed the Frog Green Onion Roll.]

[Due to the effect of the Special Effect: Comfortable Underwater Movement, your movement in water became comfortable for 30 minutes.]

“I should have brought salt…”

It was a bit regrettable for Se-jun.

At that moment,

“Grrr. You must not!”

five black wolves approached while shouting.

“What is it?”

Squeak!

Kkueng!

Se-jun and the animals raised their weapons, keeping alert of the black wolves.

“There is poison in the Frog meat.”

“That’s right! Spit it out quickly!”

The black wolves looked at the three with worried expressions.

“Ah! Thanks. This is detoxified. Do you guys want to try one too?”

Se-jun ate a bite of the Frog Green Onion Roll while speaking to the black wolves.

“……”

As Se-jun ate the third Frog Green Onion Roll like that,

Gulp.

“I… will eat just one.”

“Me too…”

“Here.”

The black wolves received and ate the Frog Green Onion Rolls from Se-jun.

And

“Huh?! Movement in water becomes comfortable?”

The black wolves were surprised to see the message that appeared after eating the Frog Green Onion Roll.

“With this…”

To confirm the effect of the message, the black wolves jumped into Lake Zenka. With this, they might be able to solve the requests comfortably.

After a moment,

the black wolves, who succeeded in hunting Frogs, came up to the land biting the necks of the Frogs.

Awoo!

A black wolf called his companions.

“Where is the tasty restaurant?!”

Patter, patter.

The black wolves swarmed to eat Se-jun’s dish.

***

“This is…”

Hegel could not speak while watching the sight unfolding at Lake Zenka.

When the wolves hunted Frogs in the lake and brought them to the black-haired human, the man ended the Frogs’ lives.

And the wolves that received and ate the meat from the man entered the water again.

At that moment,

“Chieftain Hegel!”

Vice Chieftain Palka ran over.

“Vice Chieftain Palka, what happened here?”

“Please try eating this first.”

Palka handed the Frog Green Onion Roll he was biting to Hegel.

Munch, munch.

“Oh! To think there is such delicious meat!”

Hegel said as he ate the Frog Green Onion Roll. It felt like he was eating meat-like meat for the first time since coming here for the request.

Gulp.

And the message that appeared.

“No way?! Is it because of this dish that our wolves can hunt the Frogs?”

“Yes. Thanks to that human’s dish, it seems we will be able to complete the request successfully.”

Palka pointed to Se-jun.

“Really? Then I must express my gratitude.”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Palka guided Hegel to Se-jun.

And

“Lord Se-jun, here is Hegel, the chieftain of our Black Wolf tribe.”

‘Se-jun?’

At Palka’s words, Hegel’s mind went blank.

The Great Black Dragon’s name that Elka had told him, Park Se-jun.

And the black dragon tattoo visible on the back of Se-jun’s right hand. That was a tattoo allowed only for the black dragon family.

He is the Great Black Dragon!

“I greet the Great Black Dragon!!!”

Hegel hurriedly prostrated himself in front of Se-jun.

And

“I greet the Great Black Dragon!!!”

The other black wolves followed Hegel and prostrated themselves in front of Se-jun.

Pyarorong.

Kkurorong.

The extremely tired Black Rabbit and Cuengi slept, taking a nap regardless of the loud shouting of the black wolves.

***

“Meow?!”

Theo, who was examining the items in the warehouse, received a strange feeling.

‘I feel Park Se-jun’s lap nearby, meow!’

Although it was incomprehensible, Theo believed in his ability to detect Se-jun’s lap.

“Iona, I must go out, meow!”

Theo hurriedly ran out of the warehouse.

“Kyut, kyut, kyut. It is my victory.”

Iona raised a B-grade item she found in the warehouse, making a victor’s sign. Who the true winner was would only be known after time passed.