Chapter 264: Another One?!

"Wow!"

Sejun admired the completed family portrait on the giant canvas. He especially liked how handsomely he was portrayed.

Well, since the others were animals, it was true that Sejun was the most handsome by human standards.

"Hehehe. Am I not overly beautified here?"

Sejun, still not accustomed to his face beautified by Theo's massage, asked with a shy voice.

Then,

Peep peep.

[We didn't do anything. It's because His Majesty's uncle has such a splendid appearance.]

"Hehehe. Well, I guess I am that splendid..."

The representative of the painter rabbits, skilled in social etiquette, complimented Sejun's appearance once more, making him feel even better.

"No, well... it's just a bit... Alright, you've worked hard. Here's your payment, go and enjoy some good food."

Thanks to this, they earned a generous amount for a celebratory meal.

A little later,

Peep!

[Move the painting!]

The servants carefully moved the completed royal family portrait to the White Castle lobby.

And then,

Ppyak!

[Uncle, I'll be busy for a while due to the founding ceremony of the Red Ribbon Kingdom happening in three days!]

Black Rabbit and ChuChu had to leave for the preparation of the founding ceremony right after their honeymoon.

"Let's go home for a bit."

No matter how delicious the royal food and how comfortable the servants made things, it wasn't as relaxing as being at home.

"Let's go quickly, meow!"

Krueng!

[Even Cuengi wants to go home!]

Theo and Cuengi seemed eager to go home just like Sejun.

However,

"Kyoot kyoot kyoot. I have work left here and can't go."

Iona emerged from Theo's tail, taking out a Theo-ball, and spoke in a gloomy voice.

Iona, the master of the Black Tower's wizard tower, had meetings scheduled with other faction leaders at the tower.

Such an opportunity for all faction leaders to meet wasn't easy to come by.

"Okay, then. Let's meet again in three days."

"Kyoo kyoo kyoo. Yes! See you then, Vice Chairman Theo."

"Understood, meow!"

Having said goodbye to Iona, Sejun moved to the plaza in front of White Castle, where the Waypoint to the 55th floor of the tower was.

"Alright, get inside."

Clank.

Sejun put the animals into the void storage and placed his hand on the red crystal.

[Loading waypoints to other floors.]

A message appeared along with the waypoints to the floors Sejun could travel to.

[Stored Waypoints]

- 99th floor of the Tower

- 85th floor of the Tower

- 83rd floor of the Tower

...

Sejun chose the 99th floor to return home.

***

[Arrived at the 99th floor of the Black Tower.]

Bang!

With the message of arrival at the 99th floor, there was a loud noise from behind Sejun.

Startled by the loud noise, Sejun quickly turned his head to look back.

"A toad?!"

Beyond the Ice wall created by Ice Cube for Sejun's protection, he saw a giant toad.

In the absence of the Minotaur King, some strange creature had taken over the Waypoint.

'That was a close call...'

Currently, Theo, Cuengi, and the golden bat were all inside the void storage. Without the Ice Cube, he might have been directly attacked by it.

Well, with the Black Dragon's scales and the <Power: Indestructible Body>, he wouldn't have died...

But considering the guts and power of the creature that had taken over the 99th floor Waypoint, it would have been quite dangerous.

"Summon Void Storage."

As Sejun was about to open the void storage to call the animals,

Slurp.

The toad, having failed its initial attack, stuck out its tongue again to attack Sejun.

"Ice Cube!"

Sejun used the Ice Cube to protect himself from the toad's tongue attack.

However,

Whoosh.

The toad's tongue, initially flying straight, curved around the Ice Cube and attacked Sejun from another angle.

"What?!"

Sejun was startled by the unexpected attack.

Then,

Crackle.

Another Ice Cube appeared, protecting Sejun. The holy stone Ice Cube was working hard, fearing that it might be called back by Aileen if something happened to Sejun.

Clank.

"Come out, guys."

Meanwhile, Sejun opened the void storage door and called out to the animals.

***

Clank.

"Alright, stay inside."

As the void storage door closed,

Krueng!

[Snack time!]

Cuengi enthusiastically filled his snack bag while roaming around the warehouse,

(Pip-pip.)

and the golden bat, having returned to its old home after a long time, settled down in its usual spot and closed its eyes.

Then,

"Chairman Park, when are you coming, meow...?"

Eager to see Sejun's lap as soon as possible, Theo waited in front of the void storage door, ready to rush out at any moment, while making biscuits.

As time passed,

Clank.

The void storage door opened, revealing Sejun's face. It's Chairman Park, meow!

Excited Theo was about to rush to Sejun, putting strength into his hind legs,

"Meow?!"

Theo's eyes caught a giant toad raising its front legs to attack Sejun.

"How dare you attack Chairman Park, meow?! Chairman Park, I, Vice Chairman Theo, will protect you, meow!"

As soon as there was a chance, Theo quickly dashed out,

Thump!

"Ugh!"

He stepped on Sejun's face and leaped into the air,

Snap!

"Meow meow~Fist!"

and with his dragon claws out, he swiftly dealt with the giant toad.

[Guard Theo has defeated the Giant Poison Toad Doobi.]

[Guard Theo has earned 20 million experience points, which is 50% of the total.]

"It was indeed a dangerous creature."

With poison and a name... Sejun realized from the enemy's name in the message that it was not an easy opponent.

And then,

Pat. pat.

Sejun stroked Theo's belly, who was now focused on grooming on Sejun's lap. Thank you.

While petting Theo, Sejun took out the Holy Stone Ice Cube to examine it closely.

He didn't know how it was trained, but the performance of the holy stone had improved greatly.

It autonomously created an Ice Cube to protect Sejun, and the sturdiness of the Ice Cube had changed from before.

[Holy Stone Ice Shield Cube]

→ A stone formed from a star falling from the sky.

→ The Holy Stone Ice Cube has evolved, gaining additional shield power, making the ice even harder.

→ If you are recognized as the owner, you supply magic power to the holy stone to create ice in the shape of a cube.

→ When the owner is in danger, the holy stone automatically creates ice cubes around the owner for protection.

→ Owner: Tower Farmer Park Sejun

→ Grade: SS

→ Usage restriction: Magic power 321 or higher

"Ice Shield Cube? The holy stone can evolve too..."

It was a result of surviving Aileen's harsh training.

Sejun read the description and took out the Holy Stone Piercing. Maybe I should ask Aileen to train this one too?

Shiver, shiver.

As if reading Sejun's thoughts, the Holy Stone Piercing trembled.

Then,

"Chairman Park, pet here too, meow!"

Theo raised his chin, requesting Sejun to stroke under his chin.

"Alright."

Sejun put the Holy Stone Piercing in his pocket and stroked Theo's chin.

Thanks to Theo, the Holy Stone Piercing overcame the crisis.

- Must evolve!

The Holy Stone Piercing entered special training for evolution.

Stroking gently.

While Sejun was petting Theo's chin and belly with both hands,

Kuehehehe. Krueng!

[Hehehe. All filled up!]

Cuengi, having filled his snack bag to the brim, came out of the void storage with a proud expression.

Krueng?

Cuengi saw Sejun, who was lying down petting Theo's chin and belly.

Dada dada.

Cuengi hurriedly ran to Sejun's legs.

Then,

Snap.

Krueng!

[Cuengi loves dad's patting too!]

Cuengi climbed onto Sejun's lap and grabbed one of Sejun's hands petting Theo, placing it on his head.

'Puhaha. The greatest bliss is receiving Chairman Park's touch on Chairman Park's lap...'

"Meow?!"

Theo's happiness, who was enjoying Sejun's strokes with closed eyes, diminished.

Who's that, meow?! Annoyed, Theo opened his narrowed eyes to find the culprit disturbing his bliss,

Krueng!

and saw Cuengi holding Sejun's hand with his front paws and placing it on his head.

'Cuengi, what are you doing, meow?!'

'Big brother, Cuengi will take just one of dad's hands!'

'Alright, meow!'

Through their eyes, a conversation passed between the two, quickly reaching an agreement.

However,

"Let's go."

"Meow?"

Krueng?

As Sejun stood up, their agreement became moot.

Krueng!

Upon arriving at the farm, mushroom ants working in the field greeted Sejun.

"Good, you've been well?"

Sejun received a warm welcome from the mushroom ants as he headed home.

Then,

Flap, flap.

The dragon statues in front of Sejun's house, which had been waiting for Sejun's return, flew towards him to greet him.

-Kahaha! Our Sejun has arrived, hasn't he?

-Sejun! You finally came?!

-Hahaha. Welcome, Tower Farmer of the Black Tower! I am the great Red Dragon Ramter Zahir!

"Yes... Hello. I am Park Sejun, the Tower Farmer of the Black Tower."

Seeing the red dragon statue for the first time, Sejun moved closer to Kaiser and Kellion before greeting them.

He was sure that Kaiser and Kellion wouldn't harm him, but he wasn't sure about this red dragon.

-Hmm! Let's get along well from now on.

Although Ramter was displeased with Sejun's cautious attitude, he decided to tolerate it as he was in need.

As Sejun greeted Ramter,

-Sejun, take this.

Kaiser handed over a heavy bag of money.

"Huh?! 25 billion Tower Coins?! Are you going to reserve half Samyangju and half grape wine with this money?"

Seeing the enormous amount of Tower Coins in the bag, Sejun asked Kaiser, assuming it was meant for reserving alcohol.

However,

-That's the price for the black beans.

"What? Black beans?"

A sudden mention of a crop in Kaiser's statement caught Sejun off guard.

-Yes. I...

Kaiser explained that he had eaten the black beans he received from the mushroom ants due to an unavoidable situation.

"So black beans do yield..."

The only one of the five-colored beans that Sejun had never harvested. He had been wondering if they actually bore fruit, but now his question was answered.

'But who knew black beans had such an effect...'

The ability to increase all stats ninefold when eaten with other beans. It would be incredibly effective even for himself.

But if dragons received the same effect from it... it was unimaginable. A realm beyond Sejun's imagination.

"What a shame."

If he had been there, he could have put the black beans in the Box of Abundance and harvested two black beans every day.

"Thank you. I'll use it well."

It was already a thing of the past. Sejun put his regret behind him and took the money.

-Right. Next time there are black beans, I'll be the first to buy them.

-That's not fair!

-Right! We need to discuss this amongst ourselves!

Kellion and Ramter protested Kaiser's statement.

As the dragons argued over who would buy the black beans,

Swoosh.

Sejun quietly stood up. They always end up drinking together after such fights. No point in staying and getting caught in a dragon fight.

"Hehehe. I'll use this money to ask Aileen for powers."

As Sejun distanced himself from the dragons and was about to call Aileen,

Kkwek!

The mushroom ant that had gifted the black beans to Kaiser approached Sejun confidently with its antennae raised.

Then,

Thump.

It placed a single bean on Sejun's palm.

"Huh?! What's this?!"

Sejun was surprised to see the black bean on his palm. There's another one?!

Kkwek!

The mushroom ant looked smug at Sejun's expression. It hadn't harvested just one black bean. There was one extra, so it had gifted one to Kaiser.

*****