Ppyak?! Ppyak!
[Uncle, why are you doing this? Cuengi, let go!]
Struggling
The black rabbit struggled with all his might to break free from Cuengi’s firm grip, but
Krueng! Krueng!
[Can’t let go! Big brother needs to eat this!]
Cuengi held on tight, unwilling to let go. It was inevitable; after all, who would voluntarily eat something bitter?
Then
Swoop.
“Black rabbit, this is for your own good. Make sure to chew it well.”
Sejun swiftly slipped a white kudzu root into the black rabbit’s mouth as he spoke.
Ppyak?
Chew. Chew.
The Black Rabbit automatically chewed what was put in his mouth.
“That’s right. It’s very bitter, isn’t it? But it’s good for you, so bear with it. We went through a lot of trouble to dig these up for you. I swear, we are not enjoying seeing you suffer. Hehehe.”
Kuehehehe. Krueng!
[Hehehe. That’s right!]
Sejun and Cuengi keenly watched the black rabbit’s face, their expressions filled with anticipation.
But
Chew. Chew.
Chew. Chew.
Contrary to their expectations, the black rabbit nonchalantly chewed on the kudzu root without any issue.
Gulp.
Even more, he swallowed it completely.
“What?! It’s not bitter?”
Ppyak? Ppyak!
[It’s quite edible. Can I have another one, please?]
The Black Rabbit asked for more kudzu roots, opening his mouth wide.
“What?! It’s edible?!”
Krueng?!
[You can eat that?!]
Sejun and Cuengi were shocked by the Black Rabbit’s response.
“Here.”
Obliging the black rabbit’s request, Sejun handed over another white kudzu root.
Chew. Chew.
Chew. Chew.
The black rabbit comfortably ate it.
Ppyak! Ppyak!
[Cuengi, let go! Let me eat properly!]
Krueng! Krueng!
[Okay! Big brother is amazing!]
Cuengi, convinced by the black rabbit’s commitment to eating the kudzu root, unsuspectingly released him.
However,
Hop.
As soon as the black rabbit was freed, he distanced himself from them.
And then
Ptui! Ptui!
Ppyak!
[You’re both dead!]
“Uh?!”
Krueng?
The Black Rabbit spat vigorously to rid his mouth of the bitter taste, then picked up his weapon, the thumping hammer. He had learned to hide his feelings while living in the royal family.
Krueng!
[Dad, Big brother is angry!]
Cuengi sensed the black rabbit’s fury and quickly hid behind Sejun’s legs, shouting out. I know that… But shouldn’t you be protecting me, Cuengi?
“Dear nephew, how about we talk this over?”
Forced to the front line thanks to Cuengi, Sejun looked at the black rabbit and suggested a dialogue, but
Ppyak! Ppyak?!
[No way! Do you know how bitter that was?!]
The black rabbit was not willing to forgive the two who had forced him to eat the kudzu root.
Shiver. Shiver.
The bitter taste still lingered on his tongue.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The black rabbit, tapping the head of the hammer, slowly approached Sejun.
***
“Kyoot, kyoot, kyoot. The two rabbits should not fight…”
Iona, who had agreed to officiate the wedding of the Black Rabbit and ChuChu, was practicing her speech as she descended to the 55th floor of the tower, rolling the Theo Ball with her front paws.
Then,
Roll. Roll.
“Ah!”
While Iona was focused on her speech, the Theoball rolled away quickly, seemingly due to a slope on the path.
“Kyoot, kyoot, kyoot.”
Feeling like she was playing with a ball, Iona happily chased after the Theoball. As she followed it for about ten minutes, a fork in the path appeared before Iona.
“Kyoot? Was there a fork here before?”
Iona hesitated upon seeing the fork that had not been there before.
“Kyoot? I feel a strange magical presence here.”
Feeling a strange magic from the right path, Iona was inspecting it when
Roll. Roll.
The Theo Ball rolled down the right path.
And then,
Thud.
The right path closed. It seemed that the Theo Ball was mistaken for bait.
“Kyoot?!”
-Huh?! Was there someone else with you?
Iona and a fragment of Jǫrmungandr locked eyes.
-Hmph! Consider yourself lucky.
Rumble.
The fragment of Jǫrmungandr, finding it bothersome to eat Iona, retracted its head, planning to find another spot.
But
“Kyoo-kyoo-kyoo-kyoo! My Theo Ball… Give it back… Power of the meteorite…”
Angered by her Theo Ball being swallowed, Iona began chanting a spell. She had no intention of letting the Jǫrmungandr fragment that swallowed her Theo Ball go easily.
-Hmph! Ungrateful creature… making such strange noises.
Calling her words ‘strange noises’?! If only it knew about the wrath of the great destructive wizard Iona, it would never dare to say such a thing. Especially not when Iona’s wrath was at its 4th stage…
Creeak.
The fragment of Jǫrmungandr opened its mouth to swallow Iona, who was emitting killing intent.
“Fall upon the enemy. Meteor.”
In the meantime, Iona had completed her spell. Since they were not inside the tower, Iona used a more destructive magic.
Whooosh.
Suddenly, a black hole opened above Jǫrmungandr’s head and
Boom.
A giant meteorite shot out of the black hole at high speed.
The meteorite plummeted vertically, quickly nearing the head of Jǫrmungandr fragment and
Boom!
It collided, cleanly erasing the head and part of the body of the Jǫrmungandr fragment.
Sssss.
The fragment of Jǫrmungandr turned to ash and disappeared,
Clink.
and white coins started falling.
“Wind’s power, heed my call. Lift what I desire. Levitation.”
Iona used magic to collect the falling white coins.
“Kyoo-kyoo-kyoo. Suddenly, I feel tired.”
Iona, still not completely over her anger, muttered to herself tiredly. Whether it was from using powerful magic suddenly or the loss of her Theo Ball, she felt exhausted.
“Kyoo-kyoo-kyoo. I need to curl up on Vice Chairman Theo’s tail and sleep on Sejun’s lap. Power of the wind, show me your path. Wind’s Decision.”
Iona quickly traveled to the 55th floor of the tower, following the trail in the wind.
***
Ppyak!
[Uncle and Cuengi, if you both eat too, I’ll forgive you!]
The black rabbit offered to forgive Sejun and Cuengi if they also ate the kudzu roots fairly.
“What?!”
Me, eat that kudzu root?! Sejun was bewildered by the black rabbit’s suggestion.
However,
Krueng? Krueng!
[What should I eat? Cuengi is good at eating!]
Unlike Sejun, Cuengi eagerly awaited his share, cluelessly. Cuengi, it’s not that….
While Sejun pondered whether to tell Cuengi the truth when,
Krueng!
[Cuengi will eat Dad’s share too!]
Cuengi volunteered to eat Sejun’s portion as well.
Yay! Thanks, Cuengi! Suddenly, it seemed like a halo shone behind Cuengi. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten.
“Cuengi, close your eyes. Dad will feed you.”
Sejun told Cuengi to close his eyes, so he wouldn’t refuse to eat knowing it was a kudzu root.
Krueng!
[Okay!]
Cuengi obediently opened his mouth and closed his eyes as Sejun had instructed.
“Here comes the food.”
Krueng!
Swoosh.
Swoosh.
Sejun swiftly put two white kudzu roots into Cuengi’s mouth.
Cuengi, who usually avoided bitter things, ended up eating them anyway. It was all your own doing. Hehehe.
Delighted by not having to eat the kudzu roots himself, Sejun watched.
Chew. Chew.
Oblivious, Cuengi diligently chewed on the kudzu roots.
But
Krueng?!
Chew… Chew…
As the bitter taste of the kudzu roots hit, Cuengi’s chewing slowed down, and then
Gulp.
He swallowed the two kudzu roots whole.
Then
Krueng! Krueng…
[Dad tricked Cuengi! Cuengi is angry…]
Swoop.
Before the furious Cuengi could react, Sejun quickly stuffed a handful of prepared honey jelly into his mouth.
“Here. Black rabbit, you eat too.”
Sejun fed the black rabbit an incomplete platinum royal jelly from the poisonous queen bee, enhancing all stats by 30 and forcibly awakening a talent.
Yum. Yum.
Krueng!
[Delicious!]
Ppyak!
[Sweet!]
Thankfully, the honey jelly melting in their mouths dissolved their anger as well.
If only he had given the honey jelly to the black rabbit earlier, this situation might have been avoided…
“But what talent did you get, Black Rabbit?”
Sejun regretted his actions and asked the Black Rabbit what talent he had awakened, harboring a glimmer of hope.
However,
Ppyak! Ppyak!
[I’ve awakened the talent ‘King of Fights’! It says I’ll become stronger every time I win a fight!]
Indeed, the world was unfair.
“King of Fights?!”
Wow. That sounded cool… right from the name itself.
As Sejun envied the black rabbit’s talent,
“Puhuhut. If the black rabbit is the King of Fights, then I, Vice Chairman Theo, am the King of Knees!”
Theo declared himself a king too. Puhuhut. Sejun’s lap belongs to me, meow!
Then
Krueng… Krueng?
[Then what about Cuengi… Dad, what kind of king is Cuengi?]
Cuengi, wanting to be a king like his brothers, pondered for a moment before seeking Sejun’s help.
“Cuengi? Cuengi is the King of Gluttony.”
Kuehehehe. Krueng!
[Hehehe. Brothers, Cuengi is the King of Gluttony!]
Cuengi proudly approached his brothers, announcing his royal title bestowed by Sejun.
(Pip-pip. What about me, Sejun~nim?)
The golden bat hanging behind Sejun also timidly asked.
“You, Golden Bat, are the King of Singers.”
Sejun responded with the first thing that came to his mind.
(Pip-pip! Thank you! Brothers! I am the King of Singers!)
The golden bat too went to where its brothers were gathered and proudly announced its royal title.
“Should I be a king too?”
Watching the animals playing king, Sejun also felt like joining in.
“I should be the King of Kings.”
Sejun pondered over his own royal title. The king of kings. The king who rules over all other kings. Cool, isn’t it?
“Guys, I am the king…”
Before Sejun could declare his title,
“Sejun, hang in there, meow! I’ll make you a king later, meow! Just trust me, meow!”
Krueng! Krueng!
[Cuengi will help too! Cuengi will make Dad a king!]
(Pip-pip. I’ll help too. Stay strong.)
The animals talked about making Sejun a king. For Sejun, becoming a king was the first step.
***
99th Floor of the Tower.
-Hahaha! The great Red Dragon, Ramter Zahir, has arrived! The Tower Farmer of the Black Tower, come out and greet me!
The red full-body armor controlled by the Red Dragon Ramter shouted with a laugh,
-What’s all this noise… you’re here?
Kaiser came out upon hearing the noise.
-But where’s the statue?
-There were some complications. But where is the Tower Farmer? How dare he ignore my call, the great Red Dragon Ramter Zahir…
-Would you hurry up? Sejun isn’t here right now.
When Ramter asked for Sejun, Kaiser informed him that Sejun wasn’t around.
-What?! Where did he go?!
Ramter, who was eager to buy Samyangju, asked anxiously.
-55th floor of the Tower. He’ll be back in a few days, so wait. Oh, and the payment method has changed.
-To what?
-Well… I can’t really say it outright. Give me some tower coins and I’ll tell you.
Kaiser, having spent all his tower coins on Samyangju and grape wine, was eyeing Ramter’s money.
-Tower coins? Why would I need those useless things? Here, take them.
Easily deceived Ramter. Having no real use for tower coins, Ramter took out all the tower coins from his storage and gave them to Kaiser.
Thus, Ramter was completely swindled out of 500 million tower coins without realizing it.
-Hehehe. Tower coins.
Kaiser informed Ramter with a laugh.
-What?
-Tower coins are the new currency.
-You…!
Ramter realized too late that he had been tricked by Kaiser. As a result, Ramter had to go out of the Red Dragon’s territory to earn tower coins himself.
While Ramter was being swindled by Kaiser on the surface,
[I’ll let you extend your roots here.]
[Thank you, Flamie~nim!]
[Here, eat this too.]
[Yes, thank you.]
Underground, Flamie was generously extending her roots to provide space for Podori to grow and even feeding it nutrients.
[Podori, you need to grow into a World Tree fast!]
[Yes! I’ll grow diligently!]
Podori, under the hard training of Flamie, was being nurtured to become a World Tree.
*****
3/5
