Chapter 343: Now, I'm Not a Bully, Am I?

Kking!

'That's mine! That's my core!'

Boing. Boing.

Fenrir eagerly jumped towards the fragment of his core held in Theo's front paws.

However,

"Meow? Blackie, you can't have this, meow! This belongs to Chairman Park, meow!"

Theo, with no intention of giving it up, chuckled. I'll give this to Chairman Park and get praised, meow!

"...But that's mine..."

Uren's frustrated voice from behind was so small it could barely be heard.

Kking...

'I'm tired...'

As Fenrir got tired after a few jumps and sprawled on the floor,

"Puhuhut. Chairman Park, here it is, meow!"

Theo, with a 'Did I do well, meow?' look, handed the fragment of Fenrir's core to Sejun.

"Yes, you did well."

Pat. Pat.

Sejun petted Theo's head as he took the core fragment the size of a walnut.

However,

......

There was no reaction like before.

"It's not here."

It was a core fragment that did not contain a piece of the gate leading to the 10th tower.

Sejun looked at the core fragment in his hand with a disappointed expression.

[1st Seat of Apostle of Destruction, Fenrir's Core Fragment]

→ This is a fragment of Fenrir's core, the 1st Seat among the Apostles of Destruction.

→ It contains 1% of the total power.

→ If the power of destruction within is not removed, you will be consumed by it.

There was no need to get it appraise separately, as Sejun had already obtained a fragment of Fenrir's core before or because he was carrying it on his person.

However, purification seemed necessary.

"What? There is 1% power in this?!"

Sejun was shocked by the power contained in the core fragment.

Croker had managed to block Ajax's breath with just 0.01% of Fenrir's power.

"But if it's 1%..."

It was really fortunate that it was Uren.

Until just now, Sejun had felt sympathy for Uren being exploited daily by Theo, but now he felt relieved.

"But Uren, how did you get this?"

Sejun became curious about how Uren managed to find Fenrir's core fragment on the 62nd floor of the tower.

"Just... on my way to the 75th floor, I heard a whisper calling me."

"A whisper?"

"Yes. It's still calling me. It's telling me to kill the dragon together..."

"What?! Dare to kill a dragon?!"

Ajax was infuriated by Uren's words.

"Ah... it's not me, it's this thing..."

Uren timidly pointed at Fenrir's core fragment, avoiding Ajax's glare.

Then,

"Hehe... alright..."

Swoosh.

Uren, as if mesmerized, quickly reached out his paw towards the core fragment in Sejun's hand.

Intent on snatching Fenrir's core fragment.

However,

"Puhuhut. Not a chance, meow!"

Slap!

Iron-wall defense Theo blocked Uren's thick paw with his right front paw. How dare you target our Chairman Park's item, meow?!

And,

"Uren, get a hold of yourself, meow!"

Slap!

With a slap of his left front paw, Theo brought Uren back to his senses.

"Huh? What did I just do..."

Awakened by Theo's slap, Uren realized his actions and was flustered.

"I'm sorry. At least take this..."

Uren rummaged through his pouch and pulled out a purse.

"It's okay. It can happen."

Sejun accepted the money pouch with a look of forgiveness. I forgive you completely.

After securing the money pouch,

Click.

Sejun showed the fragment of Fenrir's core to Uren again.

"Hehehe..."

Swoosh.

Slap. Slap.

"Ah! I did it again..."

Another pouch came in.

"Vice Chairman Theo, nice."

"Puhuhut. Chairman Park is pretty good too, meow!"

In this way, Sejun and Theo received 20 money pouches from Uren.

"Ugh! I don't want to be hit anymore..."

Thanks to that, Uren no longer succumbed to the temptation of Fenrir's core fragment. Indeed, there's no business in front of beatings.

"But do you guys also hear the whisper?"

Sejun pressed his ear to Fenrir's core fragment and looked at Theo, Cuengi, and Ajax, asking, I don't hear anything, do you?

"I don't hear it, meow!"

Kueng!

[Cuengi don't hear it either!]

"I don't hear it"

For some reason, only Uren could hear the whisper coming from Fenrir's core fragment.

"What is it?"

It was understandable for Ajax since he is a dragon, but Theo and Cuengi should have heard it too.

Especially since he was weaker than Uren, he should have heard something...

But there was nothing.

"Is it only audible to those who are mentally weak?"

That seemed plausible. I am mentally strong, after all.

"...I don't think so..."

"What?"

"Never mind..."

At Sejun's retort, Uren quickly shut his mouth.

Then,

Kking! Kking!

'Hey! That's mine! Didn't I give you one already?'

Fenrir, having regained his strength, barked while hopping towards the core fragment in Sejun's hand.

And,

"Could it be?! Blackie, did you hear the whisper from here too?"

Sejun misunderstood that Fenrir had heard the whisper from the core fragment. This could be dangerous for Blackie!

"Aileen, please purify this."

He quickly sent the core fragment to Aileen.

[The Tower's Administrator says to leave it to her.]

[The Tower's Administrator says she will purify it thoroughly.]

"Thanks."

After finishing his talk with Aileen,

Kking...

'My core...'

As the core fragment disappeared, Fenrir, with his ears and tail drooping, turned his back on Sejun.

Hehehe. Our Blackie looks totally defeated. Cute.

"Come on, Blackie, let's eat something tasty."

Sejun, with a pleased smile, took out two dried sweet potatoes to cheer up Fenrir.

However,

Kking!

'I won't eat!'

Fenrir, perhaps heartbroken, immediately turned his head away even from the dried sweet potatoes he usually loved.

"Even this?"

Sejun then took out two more dried sweet potatoes,

...Kking!

'...Four chewy, yellow ones!'

Fenrir, who had never eaten four dried sweet potatoes at once, hesitated for a moment but then turned his head away.

A noble wolf has its pride. He couldn't be swayed by just that.

"Hehehe. Can you also refuse this?"

Chuck.

Sejun started peeling a banana.

Kking?! Kking?

'What's that?! Why does it smell so good?'

Drawn by the unusual sweet scent different from the dried sweet potatoes, Fenrir not only turned his head but his entire body around.

Wag wag.

His tail wagging vigorously as he drooled.

Kking! Kking!

'Hurry up and peel it! Give it to me quickly!'

"Okay, here."

As Sejun hurriedly fed the eager Fenrir a banana,

Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.

Fenrir began to eat earnestly.

And then,

Staaare.

Cuengi and Ajax were staring at Sejun with heated gazes. It was a silent signal that they also wanted bananas.

"Alright, here. Let's eat this and then continue."

Thus began an unexpected snack time.

"I...I also..."

"Puhuhut. If you want a banana, you need to pay up, meow!"

Theo, in his usual sly manner, watched Uren asking for a banana and tried to get more money from him.

"Yes! I will pay!"

Uren, after already being fleeced of 20 money bags, yet again took out more money.

"I'll just give this one for free."

Sejun gave a bunch of bananas to Uren for free.

'Hehe. I am quite generous.'

Feeling satisfied with himself.

Now, I'm not a bully, am I? Sejun was late in trying to clean up his image.

***

Black Tower's Administrator Area.

"Keeheehee. Let's purify this quickly and return it to our Sejun! Grandpas, gather up quickly!"

Aileen, full of enthusiasm, called out to Kaiser, Kellion, Ramter, and Tier.

Due to her own power being insufficient to purify even 1% of the destructive power contained in Fenrir's core fragment.

A moment later,

-Kahaha! My granddaughter! Did you call grandpa?

Kaiser and other dragons from the dragon council gathered.

And then,

-Huh?! What's that?!

-It's bigger than the last one?!

-Oh! Are we going to make a ton of money?!

-Dwahaha! What shall we buy from Sejun this time?

They got excited at the sight of the walnut-sized fragment of Fenrir's core that Aileen was holding, thinking about the money they could make.

However,

"Grandpas, first you need to pay me back for the black beans you used last time."

They had debts to repay.

-Ahem. How much is it?

-100 billion Tower Coins.

-What?!

-That's too expensive!

The dragons were taken aback by Aileen's response.

The black beans had improved from 12 to 16 times their effectiveness, a 33.33% increase, while the price had jumped 300% from 25 billion to 100 billion Tower Coins, which was indeed shocking.

"Keeheehee. Sejun said that performance and price aren't necessarily proportional."

-Ahem. If our Sejun says so...

-Here it is.

The dragons handed over the money they had to Aileen.

"Keeheehee. Thank you."

After receiving the money, Aileen began to explain to the four dragons.

"Since it will take too long to purify this, so take turns using your main bodies to purify it."

-Alright. Know that it won't be fun if you guys cheat!

-If anyone is caught cheating, they're out!

-Why not just swear a oath it in our name!

-We also need to decide the order!

Following Aileen's suggestion, the dragons wrote a contract and decided who would purify Fenrir's core fragment first.

The agreed order was Kaiser, Tier, Ramter, and Kellion.

-Kahaha! Then I'm first.

The black dragon statue swallowed Fenrir's core fragment.

***

Pluck.

[You have harvested Tenacious Mugwort.]

[Your job experience has slightly increased.]

[Your proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 8 has slightly increased.]

[You have gained 70 experience points.]

After snack time, Sejun diligently harvested mugwort again,

Kueng!

[Your hands smell like mugwort!]

"It kind of smells nice the more you smell it, doesn't it?"

"...Why me...?"

Cuengi, Ajax, and Uren also helped with harvesting mugwort.

"Shall we sleep here tonight?"

Sejun swallowed a fragment of meat while looking at the darkening sky.

[You have consumed Aileen's Healthier Meatball Piece.]

[You must eat all the Pieces to get the effect.]

[150 pieces left.]

"I've been eating 20 pieces a day earnestly..."

There were still 150 pieces left.

However, thanks to him diligently eating the meat pieces, his Vitality skill had reached level 7.

Kueng!

[It's campfire time!]

"Eeheehee! A campfire!"

At the mention of sleeping outside, Cuengi and Ajax quickly went into the void storage to bring out green onion leaves, sweet potatoes, and potatoes.

And then,

Sejun, Theo, Cuengi, Ajax, Uren.

The five began to wrap sweet potatoes and potatoes with green onion leaves together.

A short while later.

Crackle. Crackle.

Chew. Chew.

The sounds of burning wood and chewing filled the mugwort farm.

After finishing the quiet dinner like that,

"Puhuhut. That was delicious, meow! Chairman Park's fish grilling skills are getting better, meow!"

Meow meow meow. Theo, who had eaten his fill of Sejun's grilled fish, lay sprawled on Sejun's lap.

And,

Kuehehehe. Kueng!

[Hehehe. It was a delicious dinner!]

"Eeheehee. I always get to eat delicious things when I'm with Sejun, hyung."

Cuengi and Ajax snuggled against Sejun's side, rubbing their bellies.

Plop.

Kking... Kking...

'My stomach hurts... Rub my belly...'

Lastly, Fenrir, having overeaten, lay in front of Sejun with his bloated belly sticking out, asking for help.

"Sigh. I told you to eat moderately."

He knew it from the moment Fenrir ran off with a whole sweet potato earlier that this would happen.

Swish.

Sejun carefully picked up Fenrir,

Pat. Pat.

and petted Fenrir's belly. Meanwhile,

Gororong.

Kurorong.

Arorong.

Kkironrong.

All four of them fell asleep using Sejun's body as a pillow.

"I should sleep too."

Sejun looked around to lie down.

But...

"Why does he sleep like that?"

Hnngh... Hnngh...

Sejun spotted Uren lying curled up on the ground by himself. Despite being a wealthy legendary merchant, why does he look so pitiful?

Swish.

Sejun covered Uren with green onion leaves and laid down himself.

Day 378 in the tower. Today also, was another uneventful day...

Clatter. Clatter.

Or did something happen?

Suddenly, a skeleton appeared.

Clatter.

The King of Farming, who had come up from the 4th floor to meet Sejun, bowed his head and greeted Sejun.

*****

4/5