Tower Floor 55.
On the way to visit the rabbit couple, founding members of the cave farm.
Kking! Kking!
Fenrir, who had been sleeping soundly on Theo’s back and even drooling, suddenly started crying out.
“Why is the little Whiny suddenly like this, meow?!”
Theo, taken aback.
Piyo. Piyo.
[Well, let’s just knock him out for now.]
“That’s a good idea, meow!”
Thump!
Theo knocked Fenrir out cold by hitting him on the back of the head.
Kking…
‘These guys, I’m just hungry…’
Fenrir was forcibly put into a sleep mode.
Carrying the unconscious Fenrir, Theo moved on.
“Puhuhut. Is the leader rabbit here, meow?”
Looking at the giant carrot field, Theo asked Coco.
Ppak! Ppak!
[Yes! The father of the Black Rabbit, the Supreme King, is staying here!]
Coco answered Theo’s question.
The father rabbit was here, farming carrots with his wife and other children.
“Meow? But if the leader rabbit’s son is a king, why is he farming, meow?”
Theo, whose daily life was all about leisure, asked in a voice filled with incomprehension.
“It’s because he said he finds farming more comfortable than living luxuriously in the royal palace, so he moved here.”
“Puhuhut. That sounds similar to Chairman Park, meow!”
Theo said, reminiscing about Sejun, who worked hard every day without a day off. Suddenly, I miss Chairman Park, meow!
Then
Peek!
Peep!
Pwee!
Pang!
The rabbits, having heard Theo’s voice, came rushing out to greet him. Indeed, rabbits have excellent hearing.
“Puhuhut. It’s nice to see you guys, meow!”
Theo greeted the rabbits.
And then
“You guys come to Chairman Park’s party, meow !”
He invited them to Sejun’s one-year survival anniversary party.
Peek!
[Of course, we must go!]
Peep!
[Kids, pack your things!]
Scatter.
At the rabbit couple’s command, the rabbits quickly dispersed to prepare for departure.
“Now, let’s go find the Minotaur King, meow!”
Ppak!
[The Minotaur King has heard about the party and went up to the 99th floor of the tower.]
Coco informed Theo of the Minotaur King’s whereabouts following Theo’s remark.
“Do you also know Elka’s location, meow?”
Ppak! Ppak!
[Yes! Elka~nim is also on his way to the 99th floor of the tower right now.]
“Puhuhut. Then my errand for Chairman Park is done, meow! Piyot! Let’s go to the 75th floor, meow!”
Piyo!
[Yes!]
From now on, Theo planned to do things not assigned by Sejun.
***
“Alright! Huh?”
Sejun woke up and looked down at his empty spot where his legs were.
“What? Vice Chairman Theo hasn’t returned yet?”
Sejun spoke with a worried voice. He thought Theo would have returned by dawn at the latest…
“It’s ominous. Vice Chairman Theo, where could that guy be causing trouble?”
Sejun wasn’t worried about Theo but worried that Theo might be getting into trouble.
Suddenly.
Sejun kicked off the bed and got up
Swoosh.
And marked the 364th day morning on the wall.
And then
“Huh?!”
Outside the house, Sejun saw the enormously grown Podori and the ents that were supposed to be in the western forest.
Crunch. Crunch.
The ents were slowly walking around Podori, seemingly protecting it.
“Why are the ents acting like that?”
[Hehe. Maybe they think Podori will become the World Tree.]
At Sejun’s question, Flamie, who was photosynthesizing outside, cheerfully responded. Finally, Podori has become useful!
However
‘Flamie, how heartbroken must you feel looking at Podori?’
Sejun thought Flamie was pretending to be bright on purpose.
Flamie was once a candidate for the World Tree, but not anymore. It was different now.
‘She must be very envious on the inside?’
Pat. Pat.
Sejun comforted Flamie by stroking its leaves and
[Hehe. I feel good.]
Flamie thoroughly enjoyed Sejun’s touch.
While Sejun was stroking Flamie,
Whirring!
The sound of the Poisonous Honeybee Queen’s wings fluttering was heard around.
“Huh? What’s that?”
Looking towards the source of the sound,
Whirr!
[Good morning, Sejun~nim!]
Rubbing.
The Poisonous Honeybee Queen, a founding member of Sejun’s cave farm, greeted Sejun by rubbing her body against his face.
“Uh, good morning.”
The Poisonous Honeybee Queen had recently been chosen as one of the successors to the Poisonous Queen Bee in the western forest, receiving knowledge from her.
Whirr! Whirr!
[Sejun~nim, please try this! It’s royal jelly I made during today’s practice!]
The Poisonous Honeybee Queen placed a piece of black royal jelly she made herself into Sejun’s mouth.
Swoosh.
The royal jelly, melting in Sejun’s mouth like cotton candy, emitted a floral fragrance.
Then,
“…?!”
Sejun’s face stiffened.
‘This is made from honey, why does it taste bitter?’
Because he felt an unexpectedly bitter taste on his tongue.
Whirr?!
[It’s delicious, isn’t it?!]
The Poisonous Honeybee Queen, unaware, was full of anticipation in front of him.
He couldn’t spit it out on a smiling face.
“Uh… It’s delicious.”
Sejun forced a smile, lifting the corners of his mouth.
And then,
[You have consumed poorly made royal jelly.]
[All stats increase by 3.]
[You have consumed a bitter medicine.]
[Talent: A Medicine That’s Bitter is Good for Stamina has been activated.]
[Stamina increases by 3.]
The messages appeared.
‘My stamina increased by 3?!’
Thanks to that, Sejun could tell that the black royal jelly he ate was quite bitter.
Whirr! Whirr!
[Here’s another one! I’ll make it tastier next time!]
“Okay.”
Make sure it’s tasty. Sejun swallowed his inner thoughts and accepted the black royal jelly given by the Poisonous Honeybee Queen.
Whirr!
[Then, I’m going to rest a bit!]
As the Poisonous Honeybee Queen entered her hive,
Crunch. Crunch.
Sejun hurriedly ate a Blue Kudzu Root to neutralize the bitterness in his mouth.
Once the bitterness in his mouth subsided somewhat,
“Let’s go make some food. Flamie, let’s go.”
[Yes!]
Sejun placed Flamie on his shoulder and headed to the cooking area.
A little later,
Kueng! Kueng!
[Dad Cuengi is hungry!]
Cuengi, who woke up, came into the cooking area, patting his stomach.
“Just wait a bit, eat this while you wait.”
Sejun handed Cuengi the black royal jelly. Hehehe. Let’s see you handle this.
However,
Swipe.
Cuengi used his front paw to block the black royal jelly, as if he instinctively knew it was bitter.
Kueng! Kueng!
[Dad Cuengi is sensitive because he’s hungry! No jokes!]
Cuengi said, frowning deeply. Why are you joking about food?!
“Ah… Ah, sorry. I got it confused. Just wait, I’ll make food quickly.”
Sejun pretended to make a mistake and hurriedly took out another honey jelly for Cuengi. Such an exaggerated act.
Kueng…
Cuengi felt sad looking at Sejun. Cuengi was too stern… Dad is doing strange things because of Cuengi.
‘Cuengi will help Dad!’
So, feeling sorry, he decided to help Sejun.
Kueng! Kueng!
[Cuengi will help Dad! Cuengi will put the cutlery!]
“Oh?! Really?! It would be nice if Cuengi helps!”
Sejun was so focused on Cuengi’s sudden offer to help that he overlooked Cuengi’s polite speech.
Meeting an irresponsible father, the child starts to mature on his own.
***
Tower Floor 75.
“Puhuhut. We’ve arrived, meow!”
Piyo? Piyo?
[Theo~nim, why are we here? Are we doing another draw?]
Piyot asked Theo.
“No, meow! We’re here to distribute invitations to Chairman Park’s party, meow!”
Piyo? Piyo?
[Party invitations? Did we have such a thing?]
“Puhuhut. We’re going to make them now, meow!”
Theo responded and entered the general store,
“Give me 1000 sheets of paper, meow!”
Theo bought 1000 sheets of palm-sized paper from the general store owner.
“1000 sheets of paper will be 1 Tower Coin.”
For Theo, 1 Tower Coin was almost like 10 won,
“Give me a discount, meow!”
Theo bargained three times. Chairman Park said you must bargain three times when buying something, meow!
Theo, who never forgot and always abided by Sejun’s teachings.
“Alright. Then I’ll give it to you for 0.7 Tower Coins.”
Thanks to that, he was able to purchase it for 0.3 Tower Coins cheaper.
Having bought the paper, Theo sat down on the steps of the general store and started stamping his paw print on the paper.
Piyo?
[Theo~nim, is that the invitation?]
“Puhuhut. That’s right, meow! Piyot, pass these over, meow!”
Piyo!
[Yes!]
By having Piyot pass over the stamped papers, the work was divided, and the invitations were completed more quickly.
A little later,
“Puhuhut. The invitations are complete, meow!”
Theo completed 1000 invitations and proudly walked to the center of the shopping district.
“Puhuhut. This place looks good, meow!”
Theo settled in the center of the street.
Snap.
“I invite you to Chairman Park’s party, meow!”
Theo handed out invitations to passing pedestrians like flyers.
However,
Swoosh. Swoosh.
They avoided the invitations from Theo and just passed by.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh.
“What, meow… Why won’t they accept Chairman Park’s party invitations, meow?”
When Theo was about to despair after dozens of attempts with no one accepting the invitations,
“What are you doing here, Theo~nim?”
Mimyr, the legendary merchant who had finished trading and was exploring the shopping district, found Theo.
“Mimyr, long time no see, meow! I am distributing invitations for Chairman Park’s one-year survival anniversary party…”
“Are you selling them?!!!”
“Meow?! Ye… Yes, meow!”
Caught off guard by Mimyr’s enthusiastic reaction, Theo quickly changed his response from “I was just handing them out, meow” to agree with her.
“Really?! Theo~nim, I want to buy an invitation! How much?!”
Mimyr exclaimed with excitement at Theo’s response.
To attend a party hosted by the great Black Dragon?! It would be an honor for generations!
“Puhuhut. It’s 1 billion Tower Coins per invitation, meow!”
“Yes! I’ll buy 10!”
Mimyr happily paid 10 billion Tower Coins and took 10 invitations.
The invitations that were just being handed out for free a moment ago. Suddenly, their value skyrocketed to 1 billion Tower Coins each.
And then,
“What’s the legendary merchant Mimyr buying?”
“What is she buying?”
The entities around started to show interest and gather one by one.
“Uh?! What’s that?”
“Let’s go see.”
This attracted the attention of passing pedestrians again,
“What’s going on?”
“They’re selling party invitations?”
“I just heard that the legendary merchant Mimyr bought 10 invitations to the great Black Dragon’s 1st anniversary party for 10 billion Tower Coins!”
“Really?!”
The rumor that one needed an invitation to attend the great Black Dragon’s 1st anniversary party spread quickly.
***
Tower Floor 99, Western Forest.
Kuehehehe. Kueng!
[Hehehe. It’s something good for dad!]
Swoosh.
While Cuengi was tending to the herbs in the kudzu field, searching for herbs to give to Sejun,
Flap. Flap.
(Brother Cuengi, there’s big trouble!)
The golden bat hurriedly flew to Cuengi.
Kueng?! Kueng?!
[What’s the matter? Is dad in danger?!]
Cuengi quickly got up.
(No, Sejun~nim is having a party in two days!)
The golden bat answered after overhearing the conversation of the Black Minotaurs who had arrived on the 99th floor.
Kueng?
[What party?]
(It’s a party to celebrate Sejun~nim’s one-year survival anniversary.)
Sejun, planning to keep it simple, had not yet mentioned it to the two.
However,
Kueng! Kueng!
[Then it’s a very important party! Cuengi must prepare a gift for dad!]
To Cuengi, Sejun’s one-year survival anniversary wasn’t an event to be taken lightly. It was a tremendous miracle that their incredibly weak dad survived a whole year!
(What will you prepare?)
Kueng! Kueng!
[Cuengi has something in mind! Follow me!]
Dadada.
Cuengi started to run, speaking out. There was a herb he had noticed before but hadn’t harvested because it was on a different floor.
Cuengi, who until now had not descended the tower unless he was searching for Sejun or with Sejun,
For the first time, Cuengi went down the tower even though Sejun was on the 99th floor.
*****
8/10
