“Wow. This is delicious.”
Sejun beamed with happiness as he ate the carrot cake.
Sweet bread studded with carrot pieces and layers of thick, smooth, slightly tangy cream cheese in between.
Yum yum.
All these elements melded together perfectly in his mouth.
And,
Crunch. Crunch.
The crisp texture of the carrot pieces added another layer of enjoyment.
“If only I had coffee to go with this…”
Sejun spoke in a voice filled with regret. At this moment, he really missed having coffee.
“I’ll buy 1000 slices of carrot cake!”
So, planning to enjoy it later with coffee, Sejun ordered a large quantity of carrot cake.
With his void storage, there was no worry of it going bad, and at 0.3 Tower Coins per slice, it was a affordable price for Sejun.
“Are you really ordering 1000 slices of carrot cake?!”
The salesperson, shocked by the large order, asked again to make sure he had heard correctly.
Just then,
Krueng!
[This is delicious!]
Cuengi was seen in Sejun’s view, quickly devouring carrot cake behind the salesperson and grinning with satisfaction.
‘No, 1000 slices won’t last even a day.’
Thanks to this, Sejun changed his mind.
“No, I’ll buy all the remaining carrot cakes!”
So, he decided to buy all the remaining carrot cakes. Cuengi would surely ask for some too, so no matter how much he bought, it would never be enough.
“There are 10,010 slices left. Are you sure you want to buy them all?”
“Yes. How much will that be?”
“I won’t charge you for 10 slices. Just 3000 Tower Coins, please.”
“Okay.”
As Sejun was about to pay,
Sparkling.
Theo looked up at Sejun with shining eyes.
“Vice Chairman Theo, what is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Puhuhut. I’m excited to see how well Chairman Park can haggle, meow!”
“What?!”
Sejun was taken aback by Theo’s innocent comment, devoid of any malice.
Theo watched Sejun’s every move with the eagerness of a baby bird learning from its mother, not wanting to miss any of Sejun’s bargaining skills.
Tap. Tap.
“Chairman Park, don’t mind me, Meow!”
Theo spoke while tapping on Sejun’s leg.
But,
Burning gaze.
Feeling immense pressure from Theo’s intense gaze, Sejun felt a huge burden.
He felt compelled to show Theo a cool side of himself. What to do?
“Cough… Since it’s a bulk purchase, how about a discount?”
Sejun started haggling, using the bulk purchase as an excuse, but
“I’m sorry, but we’ve already given you a discount for 10 slices of the carrot cake.”
The salesperson was a tough nut to crack.
“But if you can’t sell all these carrot cakes today, they’ll go bad. So, how about a discount?”
Sejun then tried to leverage the expiration date, but
“Do you think we’d let these cakes go bad?”
The salesperson glanced at the pigs transporting food. We can handle them before they go bad, so no need to worry. Thus, no discount.
“Um…”
Sejun was slightly flustered as both attempts at bargaining failed.
However,
Burning gaze.
Chairman Park is amazing, meow! He will surely show something incredible, meow! Theo continued to look at Sejun with eyes full of strong trust.
‘Pull yourself together, Park Sejun! Theo is watching!’
Motivated by Theo’s trust, Sejun regained his focus.
And,
“Then let’s do this.”
Sejun started haggling again.
A short while later,
“Please put the cakes in here.”
Clank.
Sejun said as he opened the void storage.
“Okay.”
As the salespeople were putting the carrot cakes into the void storage,
“Hehehe. Vice Chairman Theo, did you see my bargaining skills?”
Sejun started bragging to Theo,
“Puhuhut. I saw it, meow! How did you think of that, meow?! You bought the goods, and you actually made money, meow! Chairman Park is truly amazing, meow!”
Theo looked at Sejun with admiration, praising him.
As Sejun and Theo were talking,
“All 10,000 slices of carrot cake have been transferred. But are you sure you won’t regret this?”
The salesperson approached, having finished the task, and asked.
“Of course. We even signed a contract. Just make sure to have the money ready to pay later.”
“Hehehe. That won’t be necessary.”
The salesperson left with a laugh,
“But where did they get ingredients like flour and dairy products for the cake?”
Suddenly, Sejun became curious about the source of the carrot cake’s ingredients.
At that moment,
Ugh…
“I give up… Ugh!!”
The last participant struggling to eat the carrot cake finally conceded.
“Now, there are 63 participants left. Let’s prepare the fifth and final appetizer!”
The announcer called for the next appetizer. A giant orange lump in a transparent glass bowl began to be placed in front of the participants.
Wisps of smoke.
The smoke rising from the orange lump.
But it wasn’t smoke from heat; it was smoke from cold.
“What’s that?!”
Sejun quickly recognized the identity of the fifth appetizer and hurriedly prepared to order.
And,
“Participants, please eat the final appetizer! Audience members can now order the same carrot ice cream the participants are eating!”
With the announcer’s announcement, sales of carrot ice cream began.
***
In the Black Tower’s Administrator Area.
Bang! Bang!
-Please, let’s just talk…
After being stomped on numerous times by Aileen, the heart of Dark, the god of darkness, became slightly more humble and requested a dialogue.
However,
“Swear an oath to obey our Sejun.”
-What?! Who is this Sejun?
The heart insolently questioned Aileen’s demand to swear an oath to Sejun, and it was not the response Aileen was looking for.
Bang! Bang!
Aileen started stomping on it again.
“Submit to Sejun!”
-But who is Sejun?! At least let me meet him!
“Submit first!”
Bang! Bang!
The heart, being stomped on without understanding the situation, cried out in injustice, feeling wronged, but Aileen could not allow the heart of the Dark, God of Darkness, to meet Sejun.
‘That’s too dangerous for Sejun.’
A holy stone is dangerous enough, but this heart is hundreds of times more dangerous than that.
If the heart of Dark met Sejun, it would likely try to kill him or take over his body. Aileen’s only option was to keep stomping until the heart submitted.
So, Aileen was determined to keep stepping on it until she got the answer she wanted.
As Aileen was taming the heart,
“Aileen, your grandpa is here! But what are you doing… wait, who is this?!”
Kaiser, who came looking for Aileen, recognized the heart she was stomping on.
“Do you know what this is, Grandpa?”
-Of course! Hahaha. Where did you find this?
“Theo brought it to us.”
-Theo? That fascinating fellow. Hahaha. Dark, nice to see you again!
Crack.
Despite laughing, Kaiser, in the form of a black dragon statue, gripped the heart so tightly it almost broke. It was definitely not a friendly gesture.
-Wha-?! I’m not the god of darkness Dark himself; I’m his heart!
-Humph! Think I’ll let you off for that?
Kaiser glared at the heart as if he would kill it.
And,
-In the past…
Kaiser began a story from the past.
200 years ago, when Aileen was just born,
“What? Aileen’s dragon heart isn’t functioning?!”
To save Aileen, Kaiser approached the god of darkness Dark to make a proposal to save Aileen.
-So, you want me to enter your granddaughter’s dragon heart and move its magic power in its place?”
“That’s right! You got it.”
Dark’s magic was similar to that of the black dragon, so it wouldn’t cause significant side effects if it resided in a dragon heart.
-Without any price?
“The price is your life.”
-Would you do it?
With those words, Dark fled,
“Stop right there!”
Kaiser chased after Dark.
-But I had to return because I received word that Aileen’s condition was critical, and I lost track of Dark.
Thus, the Dark that Kaiser let slip away 200 years ago suddenly appeared here, with only his heart remaining.
-Hahaha. Dark, you scoundrel! Time to pay for running away back then!
Recalling the annoyance of that time, Kaiser, as the black dragon statue was about to swallow the heart. He intended to destroy it, as he had stated 200 years ago.
Then,
“Grandpa, no! That’s for Sejun!”
Aileen quickly intervened to stop Kaiser.
-What?! This?!
“Yes!”
-Hmm. It’s too dangerous for Sejun…
Kaiser expressed his concern in a worried tone.
Although he didn’t know the full story, the heart of Dark, the god of darkness, had appeared out of nowhere.
Despite its claim to be just the heart of Dark, the fact that it possessed the divinity of the god of darkness remained unchanged.
-Sejun could die trying to withstand its divine power. Maybe it’s better to just destroy it…
Crack.
Kaiser gripped the heart tightly as he spoke.
“Should we do that?”
Aileen, who thought a loyalty oath would suffice, started to be persuaded by Kaiser’s words.
-Please spare me! I, the heart of the god of darkness Dark, pledge allegiance to Sejun! And I will seal my divinity so as not to harm Sejun~nim.
Realizing that being taken away meant death, the heart hurriedly swore an allegiance oath to Sejun for survival.
And,
-Is this enough?
After making its oath, the heart quickly sealed its divinity, leaving only about 10% unsealed.
Then,
-Are you crazy?!
Kaiser erupted in anger.
-Ah. I’m sorry. I disrespected Sejun~nim too much…
-Are you trying to kill our Sejun, huh?! Reduce it to one hundredth of that!
-What?!
One-hundredth would mean 0.1%. If sealed to this extent, the heart would barely be able to speak.
-Do it! Now!
-Yes…
Under Kaiser’s pressure, the heart of Dark sealed 99.99% of its divinity.
‘Did I really just swear an oath to obey a being of this level?’
The heart had a late realization.
***
“Wow! Delicious! I should buy all of these too.”
After tasting the carrot ice cream, Sejun decided to buy all the remaining ones.
“There are 37 participants left!”
26 people were eliminated during the last appetizer, the carrot ice cream.
“Participants, you’ve waited long! Now, we will bring out the main course!”
With the announcer’s announcement, pigs carrying plates covered with giant lids came out and placed one in front of each participant.
And,
“Now, let’s reveal today’s menu! Assistants, please open the lids!”
Oink!
Thump. Thump.
Upon the announcer’s command, the pigs, enlarged to 5 meters in size, opened the lids. It seemed that the pigs could shrink and enlarge their bodies.
Inside were 100 steamed fish carrot stews, each with a fish stuffed inside a carrot the size of a thigh, arranged neatly in a 10×10 grid.
“Wow. Looks delicious.”
While Sejun admired the food,
Thump. Thump.
The pigs who opened the lids made their exit.
‘But seeing those pigs enlarge like that, Uren must not originally have that body, right?’
Sejun thought of Uren while watching the pigs leave.
‘This is a bit tricky.’
Sejun looked uneasy. If this went wrong, he wouldn’t be able to get back the 30,000 Tower Coins deposit he had paid while signing the contract.
Sejun’s negotiation with the salesperson was based on a contract where he put up 30,000 Tower Coins as a deposit. which equaled ten times the price of the carrot cake.
If Uren won, the salesperson would keep the deposit; and if Cuengi won, Sejun would receive double the contract deposit.
Of course, Sejun wasn’t worried about losing the 30,000 Tower Coins.
“Puhuhut. Chairman Park is a genius, meow!”
It was because of Theo, who looked up to him. He didn’t want to disappoint Theo, who had such strong faith in him.
Then,
“Now, participants, please enjoy the main course! The main course will be refilled endlessly until only one participant remains!”
As the announcer announced, the remaining 37 participants started eating the main dish, steamed fish carrot stew.
“Cuengi, fighting!”
Sejun energetically cheered for Cuengi, who was eating the food. Everything depended on Cuengi!
And,
Krueng! Krueng!
[Dad is cheering for Cuengi! Cuengi will win!]
With Sejun’s enthusiastic support, Cuengi’s body began to glow red.
Krueng! Krueng!
[This will be refilled endlessly! So no need to hold back!]
Cuengi activated his talent for gluttony to 100%, which he had been restraining until now.
*****
