“Meow, meow, meow.”
Click.
Theo entered the auction house and took a seat at its very center. This was mainly because there weren’t many seats left, and the one he chose was the most lavish.
“Puhuhut. Comfy, meow~”
Theo comfortably settled into his seat, transforming his body into a loaf-like shape, and waited for the auction to begin.
At that moment,
“Who are you?”
A giant shadow loomed over Theo, asking in a commanding voice.
However,
“Move aside, meow! You’re blocking my view, meow!”
Theo, unfazed, expressed his annoyance at the creature blocking his view, a being with an impressive 5-meter tall eagle’s head. Having lived on the 99th floor of the tower, Theo was unimpressed by such size and grandeur.
He dealt with far more formidable beings every day, and of course, he wasn’t intimidated by a black minotaur or a dragon, especially when he was with Sejun’s lap.
“How dare you sit in my seat, and now you’re telling me to move?! You bastard!”
Enraged by Theo’s words, the eagle-headed being shouted.
“Hehe! I sat here first, so it’s my seat, meow!”
Theo refused to back down, retorting firmly.
“What did you say?!”
“Sir Jeto, what seems to be the problem?”
Hearing the commotion, Paeten rushed over.
Paeten had been eagerly waiting for such a disturbance after Theo blatantly sat in the seat reserved for the highest-ranking attendee. Especially since he knew that one of the top three figures, Sir Jeto, would be present.
‘If this cat angers Sir Jeto, I won’t have to face any disciplinary actions.’
He’d simply claim that he had tried to prevent such a troublemaker from causing trouble in the first place.
“Sir Jeto, I clearly told the elite wandering merchant, Theo Park, not to sit here. My apologies for not ensuring he heeded my advice.”
Pretending to apologize, Paeten informed Jeto that Theo was an elite wandering merchant, hinting that Jeto could rebuke him all he wanted.
“Please get down from there at once! That’s not your place, Mr. Theo Park!”
Paeten raised his voice at Theo, pretending to appease the situation.
However,
“Theo… Theo Park?!”
Upon hearing Paeten’s words, Jeto, instead of lashing out at Theo, looked startled. Jeto had heard of a cat merchant named Theo from Mason, the chairman of the Wandering Merchants Association, and was told to be cautious around him.
This being claimed to be the subordinate of the Great Black Dragon. The association’s secret inspection bureau had verified Theo’s claims with a 99.99% certainty through constant investigations.
Through cross-verification with the Black Wolf Tribe, the Silver Wolf Tribe, and the Black Orc Tribe, all of Theo’s words were confirmed to be true.
And after analyzing the helmets said to be gifted by the Great Black Dragon to the bosses of the 83rd, 77th, and 49th floors of the tower, were proven to be made from dragon bones.
But there was more to Theo’s identity.
He was also the elder brother of the Black Rabbit, the king of the Red Ribbon Kingdom on the 55th floor of the tower that would hold its founding ceremony in a month.
And he was also the object of unrequited love of the destructive wizard, Iona.
Every single identity aspect was nothing short of remarkable. The second misunderstanding occurred when seeing Iona following Theo around. However, Iona was currently engrossed in her research in the wizard tower.
“Sir… Sir Jeto?”
Paeten, sensing something off, cautiously addressed Jeto.
And then,
‘I’ve screwed up!’
Seeing the worried expression on Jeto’s face, Paeten realized he had backed the wrong horse. How could this seemingly ordinary cat merchant be more influential than Sir Jeto?!
“Ahem. I apologize. I didn’t recognize Mr. Theo Park and was inadvertently rude. To make amends, I’ll buy you one of the items from today’s auction.”
Jeto, not wanting to upset Theo, quickly apologized and tried to appease Theo with a gift.
However,
“Why not buy everything, meow?”
The subordinate of the Great Black Dragon, Theo Park, was a tad shameless.
“Ahem. Well… that’s a bit…”
“How about 5 items then, meow?!”
“How about 2 items?”
“Then, how about 5 items, meow?!”
“Excuse me?!”
Jeto, taken aback by the unexpected negotiation, thought he misheard. He had just offered two items instead of five, yet Theo was still pushing for five?
The same bewildered expression appeared on the faces of the surrounding merchants who were watching, expecting a fierce haggling battle. This wasn’t haggling; it was more akin to blackmail.
“5 items, meow!”
“How about 3?”
“No! 5 items, meow!”
“Then, how about 4…?”
Shake, shake.
Theo vigorously shook his head. The moment he entered the auction house, he felt drawn to five specific items. He needed all five!
“Sigh. Alright. Let’s settle for 5.”
“Puhuhut. Good! Come, sit next to me, meow!”
Without spending a penny of his own, Theo, pleased at having secured items to impress Sejun, shifted in his seat, making room for Jeto.
“Thank you.”
With that, Theo sat down with Jeto.
“Paeten, where do you think you’re going, meow?! Stay until the auction is over, meow!”
Theo caught Paeten trying to slip away. Not only did Paeten block him at the entrance, but he also tried to put Theo in a difficult position again. Puhuhut. You’re devious, meow! Thinking about how he would deal with Paeten in the future, Theo couldn’t help but laugh.
Just then,
“Today we have a total of 20 land deeds for auction. Let’s start the auction with the first land deed. The starting bid is 500,000 Tower coins.”
The auctioneer stepped forward and commenced the auction.
***
Administrator Area.
“Heeheehee. Let’s get to work!”
Aileen began the process of engraving magic into the dragon heart fragment of Kai-Ra using her magic power.
However,
“Khhhhh… grandma, it’s difficult.”
Just a minute after starting, she was already exhausted. Engraving the magic taught to her by Kai-Ra’s spirit required immense magical power. Aileen always started tasks with enthusiasm but got tired quickly.
“Nom, nom, nom.”
Whenever she felt drained, she would consume the elixir: cherry tomatoes that Sejun had given her, which contained powerful magic power, to recover. Normally, she would have rested, but she didn’t have that luxury now.
“Let’s try again! Sejun, wait a little longer. I’ll get you something even better than Emila!”
With newfound determination, Aileen resumed the engraving process on the dragon heart fragment.
***
“We will now auction the seventh land deed. The starting bid is 50,000 Tower coins!”
“That one, meow!”
Theo, who had until now had been nonchalantly licking his own body until now, shouted out.
“Are you sure about that one?”
Jeto questioned Theo’s choice. He was thankful, but he couldn’t understand why a merchant would want to buy such an unpopular land deed.
“Yes, meow!”
Theo firmly responded.
“Understood.”
Waste of money! Jeto thought, secretly amused. Theo’s desired land deeds were the least popular, and Jeto acquired the deed for a mere 200,000 Tower coins.
“That one, meow!”
“That one, meow!”
Theo then went on to successfully bid for all the land deeds from the eighth to the tenth. They were the least popular land deeds, often passed over during breaks. Jeto found it strange that Theo wanted such land deeds, but…
‘Puhuhut. You guys have no idea how happy Chairman Park will be when I bring these, meow!’
Unable to hide his excitement, Theo was giggling.
As the auction for the fifteenth land deed concluded,
“For added excitement, the remaining five land deeds have not been appraised. Each land deed will start at a bid of 100,000 Tower coins.”
The auctioneer began auctioning these unappraised land deeds – it was like a land deed lottery.
“110,000 Tower coins!”
“120,000 Tower coins!”
The merchants participating in the auction, enjoying the thrill, raised their bids. In this manner, four of the land deeds were sold, with prices mostly ranging between 200,000 and 250,000 Tower coins.
And finally, the last land deed was brought to the auction floor.
“This last land deed is a bit special. We originally prepared only 19 land deeds. However, this deed appeared suddenly via spatial movement.”
“What? The land deed performed spatial movement?”
Merchants murmured at the auctioneer’s revelation.
“Yes, as unbelievable as it sounds. Experts analyzed the magic and identified it as a land deed from the Green Tower. Since we acquired it for free, we’ll start the bidding at 10,000 Tower coins.”
“That one, meow!”
“Understood.”
Responding to Theo, Jeto successfully won the final land deed. With few merchants interested in the Green Tower’s land deed, it was acquired for just 30,000 Tower coins.
***
Thud.
[You have harvested 20 Power Potatoes.]
[Your job experience has increased slightly.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 7 has increased slightly.]
[You have 7,702,173 times left until the completion of your job quest.]
Sejun was moving around, harvesting potatoes to digest the ramen he had for dinner. It was a good plan to digest the ramen and then eat Aileen’s Healthy Meatball Piece.
“Hehehe. These potatoes have grown well. I’ll have potato soup tomorrow.”
Sejun said in a delighted voice as he observed the plump potatoes coming out along with the potato stems.
Thud.
Thud.
Now, with his increased strength, stamina, and agility, the harvesting process was incredibly fast. It only took him an hour to harvest 20,000 potatoes.
As the harvest of the 3300-square meters potato field was almost finished, he started feeling a bit hungry.
Munch.
Gulp.
[You have consumed a piece of Aileen’s Healthy Meatball.]
[You must eat all of it to gain the full effect.]
[77 pieces remain.]
Feeling some space in his stomach, Sejun swallowed a piece of the meatball.
And then,
Thud thud.
He harvested the remaining potatoes. There were only 10 left, so he decided to just finish them off.
As he was about to harvest the last remaining potatoes,
[You have harvested 20 Power Potatoes.]
[You have harvested a Poisonous Potato.]
[Your job experience has increased slightly.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 7 has increased slightly.]
[You have 7,702,173 times left to complete the job quest.]
Among the harvested potatoes, there was one that stood out. Among the yellow potatoes, a single dark-colored potato was noticeable.
“Huh? A poisonous Potato?”
When Sejun picked up the potato,
[You have achieved the achievement of creating a new variety in the tower.]
[You have exclusive rights to cultivate the Poisonous Potato in the Tower.]
[No one can cultivate the Poisonous Potato without your permission.]
[Your job experience increases greatly.]
[All stats increase by 10 due to your job characteristics.]
A message appeared about creating a new variety.
“Wow!”
Sejun cheered at the message that all his stats increased by 10. His magic stat didn’t benefit from it due to low potential, but he was still satisfied.
“But why is it named like this?”
Did I create something wrong? Sejun wondered, examining the black potato.
[Poisonous Potato]
→ A potato grown inside the Tower, it absorbed plenty of nutrients but, for some reason, stored only poisons.
→ It has a very bitter taste.
→ If consumed, you will be poisoned with Grade A paralytic poison.
→ If consumed, you will be poisoned with Grade A acidic poison.
→ If you endure its effects and digest it, you can gain the talent: Poison Resistance.
→ If planted, it contaminates the surrounding soil with poison.
→ If planted alongside detoxifying crops, it enhances the detoxifying ability of those crops.
→ Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
→ Expiration Date: 120 days
→ Grade: B
“Well, it has some uses, after all.”
He considered just throwing it away due to the very bitter taste and Grade A poison, but it seemed okay since planting it with detoxifying green onions would enhance the green onions’ abilities.
Sejun quartered the Poisonous Potato, ensuring each piece included an eye, and planted one piece in the middle of the detoxifying green onion field.
At that moment,
“Huh?”
Sejun spotted a land deed document on the ground of the detoxifying green onion field.
*****
