Gravity Wizard Tower, 90th Floor of the tower.
“Tower Lord Iona has passed away in an accident at the Mana Stone mine.”
As soon as Iona was buried in the Mana Stone mine, Gonova returned to the Gravity Wizard Tower and convened a meeting to announce Iona’s death.
“Vice Tower Lord Gonova, what are you talking about?”
“The Tower Lord… That’s impossible!”
“Tell me the location of the Mana Stone mine! I’ll go and check myself!”
The elder council of wizards at the Gravity Wizard Tower rejected Gonova’s words. The Tower Lord Iona they knew couldn’t have died from a mere explosion at the Mana Stone mine.
Moreover,
“If Tower Lord Iona has passed away, then this sealing stone should have turned red!”
“That’s right. The sealing stone hasn’t changed, has it!”
At the top floor of the Tower, where the meeting was being held, a black crystal in the ceiling remained unchanged. It proved that Iona was still alive.
But,
Swoosh.
As if to contradict the elder council of wizards, a red mist began to circulate around the black crystal.
“That… That is…”
“It can’t be… The curse of the nightmare has returned.”
“Tower Lord Iona has passed away…”
The elder council of wizards, who had been denying Iona’s death until now, accepted it after seeing the red mist.
It was because the curse of the nightmare, borne by the Tower Lord until their death, had returned after losing its master.
Although Iona’s entry into the Dimension Shield had resulted in the return of part of the Demon King’s soul, the other wizards could not discern it.
The curse of the nightmare was a symbol and a shackle passed down from the first Tower Lord of Gravity Wizard Tower, a curse that sealed the ancient Demon King Nightmare’s soul within one’s body.
The cursed one suffers terrible nightmares every time they sleep. In return, they can borrow the tremendous power of the Demon King Nightmare’s soul.
Since the founding Tower Lord trapped the ancient Demon King Nightmare on the top floor of the Gravity Wizard Tower, successive Tower Lords have inherited the curse.
It was to prevent the Demon King’s seal from breaking and to maintain the Gravity Wizard Tower’s reputation.
‘These fools! Once I become the Tower Lord, I’ll drive them all out!’
Gonova gritted his teeth, watching the elder council of wizards, who only accepted Iona’s death after the demon king’s soul had returned.
Although it was the result of his own past actions, Gonova only thought that the elder wizards were ignoring him.
“Since Tower Lord Iona has died, according to the tower’s laws, I, the Vice Tower Lord, will become the next Lord of the Gravity Wizard Tower.”
“Fly!”
As Gonova confidently spoke and flew towards the red mist,
-Hehehehe. To be so blinded by greed and accept my curse, how foolish.
The voice of the Demon King Nightmare resounded in Gonova’s head.
“Yes. Hurry up and curse me, ancient Demon King.”
Gonova spoke boastfully, thinking the tales of the nightmare were exaggerated. What’s the big deal with dreaming a mere nightmare? If only he could become Tower Lord…
-Well, I have been bored lately. See if you can handle my curse, arrogant hyena.
Swish.
At the same time, the red mist was absorbed into Gonova’s body.
“Hahaha! I’m overflowing with power!”
Gonova was thrilled with the terrifying power he felt in his body.
“Elders, listen up. Prepare my Tower Lord inauguration ceremony at once!”
“Yes… Tower Lord.”
The elder council of wizards reluctantly acknowledged Gonova as the Tower Lord, as he had been chosen by the curse of the nightmare and had become the Tower Lord according to the laws of the tower.
“Hahaha.”
Gonova reveled in pleasure, watching the elder wizards follow his commands obediently.
“Hehe, this is the taste.”
Gonova, enchanted by the power of the Tower Lord, enjoyed all the privileges and pleasures of the day as the Tower Lord. When night came, Gonova felt tired.
It was only natural, as he had been running around receiving the treatment of the Tower Lord.
“I’m tired. I need some sleep.”
Even though he’d have nightmares, it was a small price to pay for becoming the Tower Lord. Gonova thought nothing of it and fell asleep.
And
-The power of this curse is only one-hundredth of my original curse. You should last a few days.
In the dream, Nightmare’s voice was heard again.
“Hmph! It’s just a dream, isn’t it?”
-Hehehe. Enjoy your arrogance now. It will soon turn into screams.
As Nightmare’s words ended,
Kraaaaa!
A black, human-shaped monster appeared.
“Hmph! Is this all you’ve got? Fireball!”
Gonova easily defeated the enemy.
Kraaaak!
But as time passed, the number of enemies increased, and they even became stronger.
Around the time morning came,
“AAAARGH!”
Gonova woke up, screaming.
Shudder, shudder.
The memories of dying in the nightmare were too vivid. He could feel the pain right up until his death. The enemies had deliberately tortured Gonova, slowly killing him. He had begged to be killed quickly.
“Ugh… I have to go through this every time I sleep… Bring me some alcohol!”
To erase the dreadful memory of the nightmare, Gonova drank heavily from the morning.
***
Sejun started healing the banana tree right after breakfast.
[The Farmer’s Warm Touch Lv. 4 is activated.]
[The banana tree’s disease is slowly healed by your touch.]
While Sejun was healing the banana tree,
Flap, flap.
The golden bat sang as it did yesterday, boosting the energy of the banana tree.
And then,
“Meow meow meow.”
Theo, feeling a tremendous attraction in his front paw since yesterday, moved secretly away from the other animals. He thought of taking advantage of it all by himself, without anyone knowing.
And if he brought it to Sejun…
‘It will be me who monopolizes President Park’s affection, meow!’
Just as Theo was heading to where he felt the attraction was, thinking of eating a churu on Sejun’s lap and receiving affection,
Squeak!
Kreong!
Suddenly, Black Rabbit and Cuengi appeared in front of Theo, blocking his way. The two had been suspiciously watching Theo, who had been sneaking glances at the volcano that appeared yesterday.
Theo thought he hadn’t given anything away, but leaving Sejun’s lap in itself was very suspicious behavior.
Kreong?
[Big brother, where are you going?]
“Puhuhu. I’m going treasure hunting, meow! Follow me, you two, meow!”
Now that he was caught, Theo decided to take his younger siblings with him. Honestly, going alone would be boring, and there might be something they could do.
Squeak!!!
Kreong!!!
Their eyes gleamed at the word ‘treasure’, and the black rabbit and Cuengi nodded vigorously, as if saying, ‘We’ll follow you!’
“Follow me, meow!”
Squeak!
Kreong!
So, black rabbit and Cuengi followed Theo and arrived at the entrance of the volcano created by the explosion of the mana stone mine.
Squeak!
Kreong!
Seeing the faintly glowing blue stones around the volcano, black rabbit and Cuengi thought they were treasures and began to rush to pick them up.
“That’s not the treasure, meow!”!”
Theo, who had been focusing on the attraction, hurriedly stopped the two.
The faintly blue-glowing stones were just rocks that had absorbed the mana when it was released en masse from the mana stone mine. They would return to ordinary stones in a day or two, so they were useless.
‘It was good to bring them, meow.’
Upon arriving, the attraction felt was not coming from one source but dozens. Several attractions seemed to have combined, making it feel stronger. If he hadn’t brought them, he would have been running around alone.
“Follow me, meow!”
Theo led them to the nearest place, following the attraction in his front paw.
And then,
“Black rabbit, break this rock, meow!”
Theo pointed to a giant rock in front of him and spoke.
Squeak!
At Theo’s command, the black rabbit swung a hammer at the rock.
Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!
Crunch.
The rock split under the black rabbit’s hammering.
And a purple stone the size of a golf ball appeared from inside the rock.
“This is the treasure, meow!”
Theo said, pointing to the purple stone.
“Now what I’m saying is…”
Squeak!
Kreong!
Before Theo could finish, black rabbit and Cuengi shouted. It’s a competition to see who can find more treasure! Start!
With that shout, the two excitedly began smashing the surrounding rocks.
“Puhuhu. It’s not going to come out just like that, meow. The victory is mine anyway, meow.”
Theo mockingly watched the two, leisurely moving according to the attraction in his front paw.
But
“Meow?”
Theo’s leisure disappeared after only a few purple stones were mined.
Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!
Krueng!
Compared to Theo, the excavation speed of black rabbit and Cuengi was too fast. Especially Cuengi, was really cheating.
Kueng!
When Cuengi struck the ground with his fist,
Krueng!
All the rocks within a 10m radius around Cuengi turned to dust. Cuengi was imitating the technique that his mother had used.
Kueng!
In this way, as they smashed the ground and found purple stones from the broken rocks, they were much faster than Theo, who searched one by one.
In the end, the winner of the treasure hunt was Cuengi, who found 23 purple stones. Theo found 15, and the black rabbit found 7.
Kueng! Kueng!
[I won! When Daddy uses this, he’ll become stronger!]
Theo thought that Cuengi had randomly destroyed things to find the purple stone, but Cuengi had its own intuition for finding objects.
It was an intuition for things that would make Sejun stronger. It was a skill created by Cuengi’s earnest desire to protect his weak father.
Thus, Theo, Black rabbit, and Cuengi confidently returned to Sejun with 45 purple stones.
When they returned, it was lunchtime.
“Where have you all been?”
Sejun, who had been preparing lunch, asked.
“We brought something that can help President Park, meow!”
Squeak!
Kreong!
Sizzle.
Theo, Black rabbit, and Cuengi poured the purple stones they had in front of Sejun. They were all different sizes, ranging from the size of a fingernail to the size of a fist.
“What’s this?”
Sejun picked up a golf-ball-sized purple stone and examined it.
[Intermediate Skill Stone]
→ Using it increases skill proficiency by using the energy contained in the stone by 50 of the desired skill.
→ Grade: C
“What?!”
He had no idea something like this existed! He never knew that skill proficiency could be increased with an item like this.
“Thank you, kids!”
Sejun praised the trio that brought the skill stone.
“Then give me Churu quickly, meow!”
Squeak!
[Let me play with Uncle for a week, please!]
Kreong!
[I’ll eat on Daddy’s lap too!]
They each expressed what they wanted and rushed at Sejun in response to his praise.
And then
Thud!
Sejun had to take the day off from work.
Kreong…
[Daddy, please get stronger and play with me…]
Cuengi looked after the unconscious Sejun, feeling sad.
***
“Welcome.”
Gonova warmly greeted the tower lords of the Fire Wizard Tower, Destruction Wizard Tower, and Meteor Wizard Tower, who had supported him.
“Gonova, why does your face look so beaten?”
The other tower lords asked, looking at Gonova’s pallid face.
“Ahem. I’ve been busy lately…”
“Aha, of course. You must have a lot to do since you suddenly became a tower lord.”
“But you should take care of your body.”
“You must. After all, you have to be the chairman of the Wizards’ Association, don’t you?”
“Hahaha. It will be fine once the work is over.”
Gonova found the solution in Iona’s diary while looking for a way to solve the nightmare.
‘First, I’ll stall as much as possible to prevent stronger enemies from appearing.’
Then,
“We will prepare the meal.”
The servants began to bring out the food.
And then,
“Let’s eat and talk.”
Gonova, who was hungry, spoke to the other tower lords, and as he lifted the lid covering the food,
“······?!”
A being that should never be there was staring at Gonova.
“Kyoo-Kyoo-Kyoo-Kyoo-”
It was the manifestation of a waking nightmare.
