Chapter 203: Can We Mine That?

As Sejun had expected, Theo and Cuengi immediately started competing as soon as they entered the lake.

"Puhuhut. Cuengi can't beat me, because Vice Chairman Theo is not afraid of water, meow!"

Splash. Splash.

Theo created a path through the water and using that path began to swiftly catch fish. He was utilizing his aquatic talent more dynamically than anyone else.

"Lord Theo, you are amazing..."

Kona, who was seated next to Sejun and preparing the fish, admired Theo's swimming skills. To the others, it appeared as though Theo was effortlessly swimming through the water with incredible skill.

And then,

Krueng!

[Cuengi will catch more than big brother!]

Boom!

Spurred by Theo's fishing skills, Cuengi struck the water hard, not wanting to lose.

Pop-pop.

Due to the shockwaves, unconscious fish began to float to the surface.

Kuehehehe. Krueng!

[Hehehe. Cuengi will win!]

Cuengi started eagerly catching the unconscious fish.

"Peng..."

Among them were penguins knocked unconscious by Cuengi's shockwaves.

"Cuengi, that's one warning for you. You even knocked out the penguins. One more warning and you're out."

Sejun sternly warned Cuengi. Fishing like Cuengi would not only harm the penguins but could quickly lead to the extinction of the fish in the lake.

Krueng?!

[Cuengi get a warning for catching them like this?!]

Thanks to that, Cuengi also started to swim and catch fish like Theo. Cuengi's swimming was also top-notch, making no significant difference from the speed at which Theo was catching fish.

While the two were catching fish for about an hour,

"Stop catching the catfish now!"

Sejun, worried about overfishing, checked the fish they had caught and stopped them from catching too many, as he didn't want them to go extinct.

"Maybe it's time to tell them to come out."

Sejun said, looking at the pile of fish next to him. At a glance, it seemed to easily exceed a thousand.

"You guys, stop..."

Just as Sejun was about to call them out,

Whoosh!

A giant turtle's head emerged from the lake.

And then,

[A Mid-level Administrator quest has been triggered.]

[Mid-level Administrator Quest: The lake turtle, which spawns once every 1000 years, has awakened 100 years earlier than its spawning period. Pacify the lake turtle and put it back to sleep within 5 days.]

→ There is only one lake turtle in the Black Tower.

→ If the lake turtle dies or fails to spawn, it will become extinct.

→ If the lake turtle goes extinct, the prestige of the Black Tower will decrease.

→ Lake turtles to be put back to sleep: 0/1

Reward: 100,000 experience points, 10,000 tower coins, flourishing of the lake turtle, an endangered species, in 100 years.

After a long time, a Mid-level Administrator quest message appeared.

"Huh? I have to put the turtle to sleep?"

Endangered lake turtle. But how does one put it back to sleep?

"Do we need to put that turtle to sleep, meow?"

Krueng?

[We just have to put the turtle to sleep?]

Theo and Cuengi, who had caused the major incident of awakening the endangered lake turtle, were now standing next to Sejun and asked.

Krueng!

[Cuengi can put it to sleep!]

Cuengi said confidently, clenching his fist.

"No, Cuengi. Daddy will handle this."

Sejun hurriedly stopped him. Somehow, he felt that if Cuengi were to try to put the lake turtle to sleep with a punch, they would probably never see another lake turtle in the Black Tower again.

"Let's go, guys."

Sejun, with Theo and Cuengi equipped on each knee to protect him, approached the head of the lake turtle,

Huff... Huff...

The lake turtle was panting heavily.

"What's wrong?"

Sensing something was off, Sejun hurried towards the lake turtle.

Pwaaang!

[Don't come any closer!]

The lake turtle warned Sejun. It had a cute way of speaking for its size.

"Hello. I'm a Mid-level Administrator of the Black Tower. Are you uncomfortable with something?"

Sejun introduced himself, showing the Mid-level Administrator tattoo on his right hand, ensuring the turtle wouldn't feel threatened.

Puang? Puang.

[You're the Mid-level Administrator? It's really hot.]

"Hot?"

Sejun thought that maybe the lake turtle had woken up not because of Theo and Cuengi but because it was too hot.

"I'll make some ice for you to cool down. Ice Cube."

As Sejun created ice around the lake turtle to help it cool down,

Crunch. Crunch.

The lake turtle hastily began to chew on the ice Sejun had created on the water's surface.

And then,

Puang. Puang.

[Thank you. I feel much cooler now.]

After eating about 50 ice cubes, it finally looked satisfied and re-entered the water. However, no message appeared to indicate that the quest was completed.

Then,

Gurgle.

Krueng!

[Daddy Cuengi is hungry!]

He heard the voice of Cuengi, about to transform into a fierce hungry beast.

"Okay. Just wait a moment."

Sejun quickly grilled the fish that Kona had prepared.

A little while later,

Kuehehehe. Krueng!

[Hehehe. It's all Cuengi's!]

Cuengi was delighted to see hundreds of grilled fishes laid out in front of him. Thanks to the penguins helping to grill the fish, they could finish quickly.

"Puhuhut. Grilled fish cooked just 10 minutes on each side at 183 degrees is my favorite, Kona, you're fantastic, meow."

"Thank you!"

Kona, who had personally grilled the fish, was happy with Theo's praise.

"Let's eat now."

"I'll enjoy the meal, meow!"

Krueng!

[I'll enjoy the meal too!]

At Sejun's words, Theo and Cuengi began to eat. And thus, the intense day passed.

***

Korean Awakened Association, Cyber Security Team.

Tap-tap-tap.

While the employees were nervously typing codes and watching the monitors,

"Khm... Are we still far off?"

From behind the employees, Han Tae-jun, with his massive build, asked with his arms crossed. He had given the Hunter phone that Theo had provided to the security team members, instructing them to extract the data.

"Al...Almost done, sir."

"Is that so? Take your time, no pressure."

Please go back to your office! Just having Han Tae-jun here was a huge pressure in itself.

But,

"Yes!"

There was no brave soul who would dare to honestly express their inner thoughts to Han Tae-jun, the chairman of the Korean Awakened Association and an S-rank hunter.

Tap-tap-tap.

The employees were typing the codes frantically, almost as if they were about to break the keyboards, desperately trying to get out of this situation.

About an hour passed when,

"It's done! We've extracted the data!"

They had finally extracted the data from the Hunter phone.

"Is that so? Good work. Now, send the data to my email. And since you haven't had dinner because of me, I'll buy dinner tonight. Who's the youngest here?"

"Me."

The employees perked up. One of the security team members raised his hand in response to Han Tae-jun's question.

"Uhuhuhu! So you're the youngest. Tell me what you want to eat."

The employees strongly signaled with their eyes to choose the fastest meal they could eat.

"Chairman, I would like to have ramen."

Fortunately, the youngest was perceptive.

However,

"Oh! You've got quite a taste. Ramen with beef is excellent."

Han Tae-jun had already decided on the menu. It is said that the cyber security team ended up having dinner and all suffered indigestion.

After the meal, Han Tae-jun, who had entered his office, began to examine the data on the Hunter phone in earnest.

And then,

"Huh?!"

He discovered a photo of a business card with GPS coordinates. Although the designs were different, there were pictures of business cards with the same GPS coordinates on other Hunter phones.

Tap-tap.

When Han Tae-jun opened a web browser and entered the GPS coordinates, a location was marked.

"Where is this?!"

A small island called Niue in the middle of the Pacific Ocean was marked on the map.

***

The next morning.

"Ice cube."

As soon as Sejun finished his breakfast, he went to the Ice Island and started freezing the island again.

While Sejun was diligently freezing the island,

"Master Sejun, this..."

One penguin approached cautiously and handed over something it had been hiding on its back.

"Huh?! Oh... it's a sickle? Are you giving it to me?"

"Yes."

Sejun was momentarily surprised at the sight of the penguin pulling out a sickle, then carefully took it and examined it. The handle was made of smooth wood, providing a good grip, and it was a sickle with a sharp curved blade.

[Sickle of Freshness]

→ This sickle is made using the Blue-backed Penguin Tribe's unique ice refining technique.

→ The sharp blade increases cutting power.

→ Cold energy embedded in the sickle extends the expiration date of harvested crops by five days.

→ Usage restriction: Lv. 10 or higher, magic power 10 or above

→ Creator: Blacksmith Kobi (of the Blue-backed Penguin Tribe)

→ Grade: C+

"Nice."

Sejun was satisfied with the sickle's option of extending the expiration date by 5 days.

"Thank you, Kobi."

"Yes~!"

Kobi replied shyly, running away as Sejun thanked him.

Then,

"Ice cube."

Thump. Thump.

Equipment began to pile up behind Sejun, who was freezing the island. Kobi, who had handed him the equipment earlier, was relatively less shy.

The other penguins, hiding their bodies, were throwing equipment they had made, like swords and shields, near Sejun. But they also had to see Sejun pick up the equipment, so they couldn't leave and were just stretching their heads out while hiding.

"How cute. I'll use them well."

As Sejun expressed his gratitude while picking up the equipment thrown by the penguins,

Whoosh.

The penguins, feeling shy, quickly disappeared.

"But why are they giving me equipment?"

"We have a custom of gifting equipment that we made ourselves to those who have done us a favor."

Kona, who hadn't left like the others, answered Sejun's curiosity.

"But why are the equipment grades like this, meow?! I don't see any grade A, meow!"

Theo, who had sold equipment on behalf of Kona, asked while examining the equipment Sejun had received. Most of the equipment grades were C or C+.

"There's no sincerity, meow! Bring better equipment for our Chairman Park, meow!"

"We ran out of materials to make grade A equipment..."

Kona replied, looking disheartened at Theo's words.

"Materials?"

"Yes. We've used up all the good materials we had to make money."

Kona responded to Sejun's words.

"It's okay as it is."

Sejun said, patting the gloomy Kona on the head. He wasn't greedy for equipment. He already had the Dragon Warrior helmet and Kaiser's scales for armor, and Myler's hoe, which was legendary equipment.

He was grateful for what he was given, but he didn't necessarily need it.

However,

"Don't worry, meow! I'll find the materials to make equipment for Chairman Park, meow!"

Theo exclaimed, raising his front paw, seemingly eager to find new A-grade materials for Sejun.

"Do you feel something pulling on your front paw?"

"It's not, meow! But if I wish for it earnestly, there will be an attraction, meow!"

Then,

Puuang!

[Hot, so hot!]

The lake turtle, exhausted from the heat, reappeared, sticking its head out of the water.

And,

Puuang!

[Mid-level Administrator, I want to eat ice!]

Spotting Sejun, it requested ice.

"Here you go. Ice cube."

Sejun made ice for the lake turtle.

Crunch. Crunch.

While the lake turtle was joyfully eating the ice,

"Puhuhut. I found a good material, meow! Kona, can we mine that, meow?"

Theo, noticing the lake turtle's shell slightly above the water, asked Kona. Luckily, the lake turtle was preoccupied with eating the ice Sejun had made.

"It seems possible."

Kona replied, holding a pickaxe.