Chapter 237: Fool Me Once, Shame on You. Fool Me Twice?

The Territory of the Silver Dragons.

Thud. Thud.

Ten Black Dragons had arrived. Surrounding them were the territory's owners, the Silver Dragons, along with White, Green, Blue, Red, and Golden Dragons who had arrived earlier.

These dragons were part of the expedition to explore the tenth tower, and most were around the same age, roughly 10,000 years old. They were already acquainted with each other, so there was no awkwardness among them.

"Miles Pritani, you're here?"

"Yeah. Ricardo Ajax, you arrived early."

Miles, the lead Black Dragon, was greeted by Ricardo, a White Dragon. Both were born around the same time and had developed a close friendship while fighting against destruction.

"I didn't come early because I wanted to. Grandpa Kellion told us to arrive before the Black Dragons. He said not to lose to them. You know how he is competitive with Grandpa Kaiser? Sigh... it's exhausting."

"Just the same for us. If Grandpa Kaiser hears that we lost to the White Dragons, we can't let him see us that day."

"Hahaha. You too, huh?"

While they were conversing,

Thud. Thud.

Other dragons started arriving.

Amidst the conversation,

"I wonder who will be the Center this time?"

The conversation topic shifted to who would be the Center of the hatchlings a year from now. Every 1,000 years, the dragons would grant the strongest of the hatchlings the right to lead the others.

The one receiving this authority was called the Center. The role of the Center was short, only 100 years, and since young hatchlings rarely gathered, the Center rarely had to lead.

However, for the proud dragons, whether their hatchlings became the Center was a matter of great importance.

"Obviously, it'll be Ophelia, the best farmer among the hatchlings!"

The Green Dragons stated.

"What are you talking about?! Have you seen how strong our Perion is?! He started making essence of fire at 500 years old!"

The Red Dragons retorted.

"Our Hakun made essence of water at 499 years old!"

"Hmph! That's all? Our Nemea made essence of earth at 498 years old!"

Each clan boasted about the strength of their own hatchlings.

But two dragon clans remained quiet: the Black and White Dragons. The Black Dragons had recently heard about Aileen's miraculous recovery of her Dragon Heart from Kaiser and didn't have high expectations.

'We should stay quiet.'

The White Dragons, having heard from Kellion about Ajax losing to the much younger Aileen at 300 years old, remained silent.

They feared mentioning it could lead the black dragons to bring up Ajax's defeat to Aileen.

Aileen's magic had already reached the level of adult dragons, so Ajax losing was inevitable, but they couldn't proudly speak about losing to a dragon 300 years his junior.

Unlike the Black Dragons, who were unaware of Aileen's strength, the White Dragons knew. This situation arose because Aileen, who wanted to continue as the Black Tower's administrator, asked Kaiser to keep her strength a secret.

Naturally, Kaiser, being doting on his granddaughter, agreed to Aileen's request.

Then,

"Hey, Miles. Is your hatchling still whimpering?"

Killa Peten, leader of the Purple Dragons, taunted the Black Dragons, picking a fight.

"What?! Whimpering?! Our Aileen has almost fully healed her Dragon Heart!"

"So what?! She hasn't fully healed yet. And even if she does, she's no match for our Pobi!"

"What did you say?! That old geezer Pobi is nothing compared to Aileen when she reaches 500!"

"Pffft! Worry about what happens a year from now."

"Eek..."

Miles was infuriated by Killa's words but couldn't retort.

However,

"Miles, you cruel bastard. Saving this."

Ricardo, aware of Aileen's strength, thought Miles was acting to bait Killa and recorded the scene.

"Hehehe. I'll create a dark history for you, Killa."

Imagining Pobi getting mercilessly defeated by Aileen a year later, Ricardo laughed gleefully.

***

"Growing well, aren't they?"

After seeing Theo off, Sejun looked at the rice planted in a pot under the golden tree of abundance and said with a bright expression.

Sejun had transplanted about 300 stalks of rice that had been growing in the field for 20 days into pots immediately after harvesting.

"We'll be able to eat rice soon."

As Sejun observed the rice stalks,

"Now, how much more do I need to raise all my stats to 300?"

Sejun recalled the first trial of the 10th tower and opened his status window.

[Park Sejun Lv. 67]

→ Talents: Beyond Mediocre, Friend of Nature, Myriad Landlord, Enhanced Magic Circuit, Friend of Fire, Sturdiness, Sturdy Vitality, A Medicine That's Bitter is Good for Stamina, Zapp, Insignificant Presence, (Talent: Favored by the Earth)

→ Stats/Potential: Strength (323/493), Stamina (566/705), Agility (215/448), Magic (316/547)

→ Job: Tower Farmer (A)

→ Skills: Magic Seed Sowing Lv. 8, Harvesting Lv. 7, Seed Shop Lv. 3, Seed Harvesting Lv. 7, Farmer's Warm Touch Lv. 4, Crop Gigantification Lv. 5, Fire Field Lv. 4, You're a Field! Lv. 2, Greenhouse Lv. 3, Beekeeping Lv. 8, Rain Thunder Lv. 3, Cooking Lv. 7

All stats except Agility had already surpassed 300. The only one left to increase was Agility.

"I need to increase Agility by 85..."

Sejun, unaware of this, had been using his level-up bonus stats to increase only his Stamina. It made sense as he always seemed to need more Stamina.

"Now I need to focus on increasing Agility."

Sejun decided to invest his future level-up bonus stats in Agility and closed his status window. Although the number was too high to be covered by bonus stats alone, he had no immediate way to increase his Agility.

Thump. Thump.

Sejun began kneading dough to make rice noodles for the Black Rabbit's wedding ceremony.

***

"Meowmeowmeow~ I'm the deadly yellow cat off to make money! Vice Chairman Theo, at your service, meow!"

Theo, excited at the thought of extorting money from Uren and bringing it back to Sejun, hummed a tune and cheerfully descended the tower.

Then,

"Meow?! Another fork in the road, meow!"

Two paths appeared before Theo.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice? Puhuhut. I am the smart cat, Vice Chairman Theo! I won't be fooled this time, meow!"

After inspecting the paths, Theo chose the one different from the original and with a different floor pattern.

Shortly after,

Thud.

The path closed behind Theo as he entered. It was another fragment of the world-devouring serpent, Jǫrmungandr. Theo had chosen the wrong path again.

But sometimes, the wrong path can lead to the right destination.

"Meow?! Why is the path so weird, meow? Ah! Isn't that Pink Pi... no, Uren, meow?!"

Walking down an endless path, Theo encountered merchant Uren, who had also chosen the same path and got trapped.

"Puhuhut. I was on my way to find you anyway, and here you are, making things easy for me, meow!"

Unaware that he had entered the wrong path, Theo approached Uren with a smile.

"Uren, good to see you, meow!"

"Oh! Theo~sama, please help me!"

Uren, who had been trapped for days, immediately asked Theo for help.

"Meow?! Help you, what do you mean, meow?!"

"Theo, didn't you know?! It seems we are inside the body of that serpent!"

Frustrated by Uren's words, Theo felt annoyed. Smart me, got fooled by the apostle of destruction again, meow?! This makes me angry, meow!

"Uren, give me some money, meow!"

"Yes! Here it is!"

Following Theo's request, Uren handed over all the money bags he had.

"Is this all, meow?"

Theo nonchalantly stuffed the ten money pouches handed over by Uren into his bag and asked.

"Yes. I didn't expect to get trapped again on my way home..."

On his way back home, Uren was stranded again. It was a wonder how such an unlucky person became a Legendary Merchant.

"It's okay, meow! I'll want more later, meow! You owe me double this time, including from last time, meow!"

"Of course! I have plenty of money."

Theo made a deal with Uren to get more money later.

"Puhuhut. Just trust me, meow! Stick to the wall, meow!"

Theo confidently stood in the middle of the path and

Snap.

took out the Dragon Claws,

"Meow!"

and swiftly swung his paw from top to bottom.

Zzzzt.

Simultaneously, five lines appeared on the path, dividing it into six sections. It was Theo's new skill, developed after gaining insight from releasing 900 million tower coins' worth of energy.

"Puhuhut. I shall name this skill 'One-Meow Slash', meow!"

As Theo named his new skill,

Sssss.

the fragment of Jǫrmungandr, divided into six parts from head to tail, died and turned to ash.

White Coins and trapped merchants began to fall.

Clang.

"Aaah! Oh?!"

Fortunately, there was a flat merchant's passage right below, so all the white coins and merchants landed safely.

A short while later, after Theo collected all the white coins,

Scrape.

he made a hole in the merchant's passage, allowing the trapped merchants to enter.

"Thank you, Theo, for saving my life twice."

Uren, now inside the merchant passage, thanked Theo for saving his life.

"Puhuhut. Next time, watch where you're going, meow!"

"Yes. Theo, come with me to the 65th floor of the tower. I want to reward you for saving my life!"

Uren, wanting to repay Theo, invited him to his home on the 65th floor of the tower.

Theo's original destination.

But,

"Puhuhut. I'll visit Uren's home later, meow!"

Theo declined Uren's offer. He realized that bringing large amounts of money to Sejun at once was less effective than bringing smaller amounts more frequently to receive praise multiple times. Puhuhut. I am indeed smart, meow!

"Too bad. Then, please visit me later."

"Got it, meow! Uren, see you later, meow! But don't forget to include interest, meow!"

Theo, already calculating interest on the money he hadn't yet received, packed nine money pouches containing 1 billion Tower Coins each and headed to the 99th floor of the tower.

After Theo left,

"Ah. I'm hungry."

The tension released, Uren felt hungry and took out a snack pouch from his pocket, but

"Huh?! Why is the money here?!"

He belatedly realized that one of the money pouches had been swapped with his snack pouch.

"My garlic..."

Disappointed that his snack was gone, Uren trudged back home.

***

When it was time for dinner,

Krueng!

[Dad, Cuengi is back!]

Cuengi, who had gone to the herb garden, returned.

Krueng!

[Here, Dad!]

Cuengi offered Sejun ten blue kudzu roots.

"Thanks."

Chomp. Chomp.

As Sejun ate the kudzu roots,

Click.

"Here, Cuengi, have some honey."

He opened a jar of honey and gave it to Cuengi.

Kuehehehe. Krueng!

[Hehehe. Thank you for the meal!]

"Huh?!"

Krueng?

[Dad, why are you surprised?]

"No... nothing."

Did I hear wrong? I swear Cuengi spoke more formally just now... (TL: Cuengi added 습니다 (seumnida) which is a formal way for saying 'Thank you' in korean)

Chomp. Chomp.

Sejun continued eating the kudzu roots, thinking he must have imagined it.

[You have consumed the Blue Kudzu root of Potential.]

[All stats potential increased by 5.]

...

..

.

After eating all ten kudzu roots,

Lick. Lick.

Sejun waited until Cuengi finished the honey.

Then, as Cuengi finished,

"Cuengi, let's make noodles."

Krueng!

[Okay!]

Sejun and Cuengi started making rice noodles by putting dough into the noodle machine.

That's when,

"Chairman Park, I'm back, meow!"

Theo, with nine money pouches containing 1 billion tower coins each and one snack bag filled with garlic, announced his return by leaping towards Sejun's face.

*****