Chapter 200: Who Dared To Mess With Our Cuengi?
Tower's 99th Floor Waypoint.
Thump, thump, thump, thump!
From afar, the Minotaur 1003 rushed over.
"Minotaur 1003, what's all this commotion?"
The Minotaur King, who was guarding the waypoint, asked with a displeased look.
"Your Majesty Minotaur King! Sejun is angry!"
"What?! Sejun is angry?"
The Minotaur King was taken aback. He had never heard of Sejun getting angry before.
While Sejun never dared show anger towards the terrifying creatures of the 99th floor, the other animals misunderstood it as Sejun's patience and thought he seldom got mad.
"Yes! And he even cursed with such rage."
"Who dared to anger Sejun to the point of cursing? I'll have to go see for myself!"
To them, Sejun was a benevolent being who provided delicious grass when they were only eating dirt.
Emuoo!
Thump, thump!
The Minotaur King, wielding his legendary weapon, the Red Bone, dashed more frantically than anyone else towards Sejun's farm.
***
[The Tower's Administrator says she will hunt down and devour whoever dared to harm your family.]
Upon hearing that his family was threatened, Aileen became agitated.
"Aileen, calm down. Otherwise, you might strain your Dragon Heart."
Kaiser, concerned, tried to soothe the agitated Aileen.
While Aileen had become powerful with immense magic power despite her young age, she still lacked control. When her emotions surged, her magic power could become unstable.
[The Tower's Administrator is furious, asking how she could remain calm knowing someone threatened Sejun's family.]
-Well... I understand, but still...
"Relax, Aileen, Kaiser is right. Calm down. I don't want to see you get hurt."
[The Tower's Administrator says if you put it that way, she'll calm down.]
While Aileen disregarded Kaiser's words, she immediately listened to Sejun.
"Aileen, for now, find the Three Head Society inside the tower."
[The Tower's Administrator tells you to leave it to her.]
Upon Sejun's request, Aileen started searching for the Three Head Society through the crystal orb.
-When this old man speaks, she gets angry, but when Sejun speaks...
While Kaiser was mumbling out his frustrations jealously,
Thump! Thump!
Creating a massive dust storm, the Minotaur King arrived.
Then,
Emuoo?
Kruong!
Emuoo!!!
Upon hearing why Sejun was furious, Pink-Fur began raging at the Three Head Society.
Then,
"Minotaur King, may I borrow the Black Minotaurs?"
Sejun asked the Minotaur King if he could borrow his subordinates.
Emuoo! Emuoo!
[Use them as you see fit! No, this time, I shall personally join!]
Clank.
In response to Sejun's request, the Minotaur King, with his Red Bone weapon slung over his shoulder, declared his participation.
The Minotaur King, who had guarded the waypoint for 300 years, felt it was time to reestablish the tower's discipline.
"Thank you, Minotaur King. So, with your help..."
Sejun began crafting a plan to completely obliterate the Three Head Society with the help of the Minotaur King.
There was another being here, simmering with rage.
[How dare they target Master's family! I won't let them go!]
Flamie, shaking its leaves seethed with anger.
***
-Hmm... I've been underestimating him too much.
Watching Sejun give orders to the animals, Kaiser spoke. Busy with farming and being sidelined by the neighboring animals had led them to disregard the power Sejun possessed.
Thinking about it, no world since the tower's inception had ever managed to fend off the first calamity, the Locusts, so effortlessly, and without major casualties.
Currently, Sejun's Sturdy Blade Green Onions were effectively fending off the locusts outside the tower. The Apostle of Destruction would have been significantly taken aback since they had never faced such an opponent before.
It was only natural for the Three Head Society, which had ties to the Apostles of Destruction, to target Sejun's family. On the contrary, he had become so accustomed to worlds disappearing that he failed to notice these changes.
At some point, the dragons had given up on protecting the world itself and focused solely on accepting survivors inside the tower and maintaining it.
How did it come to this?
When the dragons first started managing the tower, they fought and strategized to protect the worlds. However, after repeated failures, a pervasive sentiment among the dragons emerged, thinking that fighting was futile.
They had grown accustomed to failure.
-We've grown accustomed to failure?!!!
Kaiser was shocked by his own realization. How could the magnificent Black Dragon, the glorious Dragon race, become accustomed to failure and give up fighting?
Something must have influenced this shift. Something had eroded their spirits. The situation was more serious than he thought.
-Kellion, let's talk for a moment.
-Hm? Why?
Kaiser called Kellion and they moved to a more secluded location.
***
On a lake on the 44th floor of the tower, there was a small ice island melting within.
And then,
"Here... I've brought 1,000 Tower coins. Please freeze the lake for me."
Kona, who had earned a significant amount selling equipment on the 41st floor with Theo's help, handed over a pouch of coins to a man by the lake.
"Hehehe. Starting from today, my price has gone up."
The man noticed the considerable sum in Kona's pouch and spoke with a sly tone.
He was impressed that this naive fool had managed to gather this amount, but surprisingly, he had earned more than expected. So, he felt inclined to reward the effort.
"So, how much will it be...?"
"Hmm... about 10,000 Tower coins?"
Th...That much?!"
Kona was taken aback by the man's demand. Kona had earned a sizable amount and intended to buy food for the penguins in the village, but...
"Here... take it."
Kona handed over the coins to the man. Protecting the island was more critical than food. Without the ice island, the penguins wouldn't survive a day.
"Hehehe. Good job, little guy. Ice Blast!"
Using his ability, the man stopped the melting of the ice island, and the surrounding water began to freeze, causing the island to expand slightly.
"Next time, bring another 10,000 Tower coins."
The man instructed Kona before heading into a small cave near the lake.
Thud. Thud.
The man went deep inside the cave, approaching another man who seemed to be directing others in a large open area.
"Master Togan, I've come back."
"Vincent, how much did you get?"
"10,000 Tower coins."
"What?! Really?!"
At Vincent's words, Togan was astonished.
"Yes. This is all thanks to your brilliant idea, Master Togan."
"Hehehe, of course. Thanks to that, we'll have a considerable amount left even after paying tribute to Mister One."
Vincent's flattery made Togan smirk. The cave they were in served as the Three Head Society's hideout. Togan had discovered penguins living nearby and hatched a plan to exploit them for money. By melting the ice island with Togan's fire ability and then having Vincent refreeze it for a price, they had found a way to extort money.
***
Bang!
"Chairman! We have a problem!"
A subordinate burst into the wandering merchant association chairman's office.
"What's the matter?!"
"The Black Minotaurs from the 99th floor have started descending again!"
"What? They'll probably ascend soon just like last time."
Having experienced the descent of the Black Minotaurs once, Chairman Mason replied nonchalantly. Nothing had happened then, so why would it be different now?
But this time, it was different.
"The Minotaur King is also on the move."
"What?! The Minotaur King?!"
"Yes! The Minotaur King is personally leading 3,000 Black Minotaurs down the tower."
"Then we can't just keep standing around here! Gather the executives and deploy all the agents from the Secret Inspection Bureau to find out why the Minotaur King is moving!"
The alarmed Mason quickly issued orders. 300 years ago, when the Minotaur King descended the tower, almost ten floors suffered devastating losses. It was unimaginable how severe the damage might be this time.
"Yes!"
Bang!
The subordinate hurriedly closed the door and left.
"Whew... The Minotaur King is on the move... A storm of blood is coming to the tower..."
Mason sighed heavily, filled with worry.
***
"Chairman Park, I've packed everything, meow!"
Krueng!
[Cuengi's done packing too!]
Theo and Cuengi rushed towards Sejun, who was surveying the farm. Sejun had instructed the Minotaur King to thoroughly search each floor from the top as they descended.
Sejun decided to check the most likely place for the Three Head Society to be within the floors he could access. He couldn't just wait for Aileen or the Minotaur King to locate the Three Head Society.
Once everything was ready,
"Guys, stay inside."
Sejun put Theo and Cuengi into the void storage and took out a land deed.
[Black Tower 44th Floor Lake Land Deed]
Swoosh.
Sejun disappeared as he unfolded the Land Deed.
***
[You have arrived at the lake on the 44th floor of the Black Tower.]
[You have moved from the top floor, the 99th floor, to the 44th floor.]
[You have descended 55 floors.]
[Due to the effect of <Title: Retrogressor>, all stats have increased by 55.]
His stats increased by a whopping 220 in an instant.
"Wow!"
Sejun felt an overwhelming surge of strength and surveyed his surroundings. As mentioned in the land deed, there was a lake in front of him.
"Huh? Is that ice?"
The odd thing was the presence of an ice island in the center of the lake.
Clank.
"Come on out, guys."
Sejun called out Theo and Cuengi.
"Understood, meow!"
Snap.
Upon Sejun's call, Theo immediately emerged and clung to Sejun's knee.
However,
Krueng!
[Cuengi will come out a bit later!]
Cuengi, whose snack pouch wasn't yet full, refused to come out.
"Alright, take your time."
Leaving the void storage open, Sejun looked around.
Then,
[A quest has been triggered.]
[Quest: Lower the raised temperature of the lake and reclaim the lake's rights.]
Reward: Recognition as the rightful owner of the Land Deed.
As expected, a quest to obtain the land's rights appeared again this time.
"So, is there always a quest like this in order to gain Land Deed rights? Ice Cube."
Sejun wondered briefly before freezing the water and moving to the ice island in the lake's center. He had a feeling the ice island held the clue.
Thud.
And so, Sejun set foot on the Ice Island.
"Theo, do you hear anything?"
"I hear a knocking sound from inside, meow!"
"Really? Where is it coming from?"
"Over there, meow!"
Following where Theo pointed,
"Stairs?"
Sejun saw stairs descending, made of ice. Clearly, someone was definitely there.
As he descended,
Clang! Clang!
Sejun also began to hear a sound as if something was being struck. It was the sound of metal being hit.
"What's that?"
Sejun continued to follow the sound.
"Huh? Penguins?"
Sejun saw small blue penguins busily striking at the metal, creating something.
What was truly fascinating was that they weren't heating and striking the metal, but that
Drip, drip.
they were freezing the metal with ice before striking it.
"That's Kona, meow!"
Theo cried out when he saw Kona among the penguins, crafting some equipment.
Then,
"Huh? Theo?"
Kona looked up at the familiar voice and spotted Theo.
Zing. Zing. Zing.
With joy, Kona rushed towards Theo.
But then,
Kruuueng!!!
A furious roar filled with rage from Ceungi echoed from outside.
"Who dared to mess with our Cuengi?"
Messing with Cuengi... such bad luck. Sejun prayed for the offender's soul as he headed outside.