Chapter 353: Hehehe. What a commendable slave

"Hehehe."

Shake shake.

While Cuengi, Ajax, and Fenrir were playing in the water, Sejun was humming a tune and busily shaking a tumbler in the cooking area.

And then,

"Is it ready?"

He poured the liquid from the container into a cup and drank it. It was a thick yellow liquid, banana shake made by mixing bananas and milk.

Although he couldn't achieve the taste of the ones he had outside, he still wanted to enjoy the feeling of drinking banana shake after a bath.

"Is it a bit less sweet?"

Glug.

Sejun added a dollop of honey to the banana milk and drank it again.

"Mmm. Good."

With the addition of honey, the sweetness intensified, creating a delicious banana shake.

After making enough banana shake for everyone and cooling it down, he put it in the void storage and headed back to the bathhouse.

"Now that I think about it, my senses aren't as sharp as earlier?"

Sejun noted that his senses had dulled a bit compared to earlier.

Breathing became slightly difficult, and his vision seemed blurred, and the ability to visualize just by hearing sounds had disappeared before he knew it.

He might not have noticed before, but having experienced enhanced senses once, Sejun clearly distinguished the difference between before and after.

"What's going on?"

While Sejun was puzzled,

"Meow! Chairman Park, your face has rotted again, meow!"

Theo, hanging on Sejun's knee, pointed at Sejun's face with his front paws and exclaimed.

'100 billion Tower Coins won't be nearly enough, meow...'

Theo shook his head in resignation, seemingly dejected.

It was somewhat annoying.

No, it was just plain annoying.

This damn cat!

So, Sejun pinched Theo's cheeks as a form of punishment.

"Chairman Park, it hurts, meow!"

"Are you going to say it's rotten again or not?"

"I fon't, meow! I can't lie in fwont of you with youw gweat knees, meow!"

Theo responded decisively to Sejun's question, unable to lie in front of Sejun's great knees.

"Then change it from 'rotten' to something else!"

"That would be..."

Theo pondered for a moment.

"Alright, meow! From now on, instead of 'rotten,' I'll say 'decayed,' meow!"

"No... just don't change it..."

Sejun had gotten used to 'rotten,' and he didn't want to adapt to 'decayed.'

Ultimately, Sejun gained nothing from the exchange.

Moving back to the bathhouse,

kking...Kikiking. Kking...

'Huff...huff. Today too, I was majestic...'

After tiring from swimming, Fenrir came out of the bathhouse and, unable to support his wet weight, flopped onto the ground.

kking...kking...

'It's tiring... I want to sleep now...'

Fenrir closed his eyes.

However,

"Blackie, you haven't even washed yet, why are you coming out?"

Fenrir, who hadn't washed yet, was not supposed to leave the water.

Sejun dipped Fenrir back into the tub and scrubbed his body with his hands.

Kikiking...heehee. Kking...Kking...

'Hee...hee. That feels cool... Scrub more...'

Fenrir entrusted his body to Sejun and was experiencing paradise.

A short while later,

Kkirorong.

Fenrir, with the moisture wiped off by a towel, collapsed onto a dry towel and fell asleep snoring.

"Okay. Next."

Kueng!

[It's Cuengi's turn now!]

At Sejun's call, Cuengi stood in front of him, raising his hands in a cheer as Sejun scrubbed and washed his body.

Kuehehehe. Kueng!

[Hehehe. It feels great!]

Cuengi was ecstatic under Sejun's touch.

After Sejun finished washing all of Cuengi's body,

"All done."

Sejun covered Cuengi with a huge towel and wiped all the moisture from his body.

"Cuengi, wait quietly next to Blackie."

Kueng!

[Understood!]

Cuengi settled on the dry towel next to Fenrir.

"Hyung! It's my turn now!"

Next in line, Ajax also cheered and stood in front of Sejun.

Sejun carefully wiped Ajax's body along the direction of his scales with his hands.

'I have to be careful.'

Unlike Fenrir and Cuengi, Sejun was extremely cautious. He must never accidentally move his hands against the direction of the scales.

Dragon scales are so sharp that the skin would just get cut off.

Thus, Sejun carefully washed Ajax.

"Done."

After removing the moisture from Ajax, Sejun said,

"Ajax, you wait too."

"Yes, hyung!"

Responding to Sejun, Ajax sat down next to Cuengi.

Kurorong.

Before long, Cuengi, unable to resist the post-bath drowsiness, started nodding off.

"Okay, next is..."

Snap.

Sejun grabbed the scruff of Theo, who was busily licking his hind leg fur with a seductive pose.

"Meow? Chairman Park, what is it, meow?"

"What do you mean, what? It's time for a bath."

Sejun replied as he dunked Theo into the water.

Theo, due to his water-attribute talent, could absolutely avoid getting wet, which made him smell worse than anyone.

"Puhuhut. I, Vice Chairman Theo, will never get wet, meow!"

Theo scoffed at Sejun's words. Indeed, Theo's fur remained completely dry.

However, Sejun had an invincible weapon to disable Theo's waterproof ability.

"If you take a bath, you get an extra day of exclusive lap privileges."

"Got it, meow!"

Naturally, Theo chose Sejun's lap. Simultaneously, Theo released his waterproof ability, and his fur dissolved in the water like paint.

Sejun scrubbed and washed Theo's body and, while at it, washed the sleeping Iona who was on Theo's tail.

"Kyoot kyoot kyoot."

Even in her sleep, Iona made content sounds under Sejun's touch during the bath.

However,

"Meeeow..."

If I could just endure this, he could monopolize Chairman Park's lap for another day, meow! Theo grimaced, hoping for the bath to end quickly.

"Done."

"Get off me, meow!"

At Sejun's words, Theo turned on his waterproof ability again and shook off the water.

"Vice Chairman Theo, go rest with Iona."

"Got it, meow!"

Theo climbed onto a dry towel as Sejun began washing himself.

Like that, when the bath was over,

"What? They're all sleeping?"

Gororong.

Kyurorong.

Kurorong.

Aerorong.

Kiroorong.

Everyone was sleeping well, stacked on top of each other.

"Keuh. Good. Aileen, you have some too."

[The Tower Administrator says thank you.]

[The Tower Administrator says it is sweet and delicious.]

Unable to wake the sleeping ones, Sejun shared the cool banana shake with Aileen.

And then,

"At this rate, you guys are going to catch a cold."

Sejun spoke while embracing everyone in his arms. Ah, will only I catch it? I worried needlessly again.

"No. Blackie can catch it."

Because Blackie is weaker than me.

"Hehehe."

Feeling inexplicably happy, Sejun chuckled as he headed to the bedroom.

***

Green Tower 99th Floor

Thud.

"What is it? Why isn't that Park Sejun giving me any work?"

Ophelia planted carrot seeds into the ground with irritation.

She was annoyed when Sejun gave her work, but now that he wasn't giving her any, she was annoyed about that too.

It felt like she was being ignored.

"My farming skills are so good! Grow."

With confidence, Ophelia used her skill on the carrot seeds.

Crunch.

The carrot seeds quickly took root and grew.

Shortly after,

"Alright, time to harvest."

Swoosh, swoosh.

Ophelia pulled up the carrot stems that had grown tall above the ground, each pull yielding a carrot the size of a radish.

Carrots, being root plants, didn't fail to produce like cherry tomatoes might. However, they still lacked flavor.

"Ahem. If you try this, you'll see how skilled I am. Transport."

Ophelia, feeling proud, sent 1000 of the carrots she harvested to Sejun, paying 8 million Tower Coins for inter-tower transportation.

***

Kueng!

[It's the smell of pancakes, yay!]

Cuengi, awakened by the delicious scent, got up from the bed.

Sniff, sniff.

Following the scent to the kitchen, Cuengi found Sejun cooking pancakes for dinner.

"Cuengi, you're up?"

Kueng! Kueng!

[Yes! It was a sweet sleep!]

Cuengi responded with a beaming smile to Sejun's question.

"Dinner's ready. Can you bring the others?"

Kueng! Kueng!

[Got it! Leave it to Cuengi!]

A moment later,

Float. Float.

Cuengi used telekinesis to bring the sleeping ones to their places at the table.

Then,

"Meow?"

"Huh? It smells delicious."

Kking?

'Is it time to eat?'

One by one, they woke up to the scent of food, stretching and getting ready to eat.

"You're hungry, right? Let's eat quickly."

Sejun placed plates with pancakes and glasses filled with banana shake in front of everyone.

Kueng!

[Thanks for the food!]

"Hyung, I'll eat well!"

Kking! Kking!

"Hey! I'm sitting here! Hurry up and give me mine!"

Fenrir barked, eagerly making it known that he was waiting right below them.

"Alright, let's feed our Blackie too."

Sejun served mini five-stack pancakes and a small bowl of banana shake for Blackie.

And so, the meal began.

Kuehehehe. Kueng!

[Hehehe. Dad the cooking genius made something amazing again!]

Cuengi took a sip of banana shake, looking at Sejun thinking, 'As expected of our dad,'

"Uhhihi. As expected of Sejun hyungnim!"

Ajax looked at Sejun with admiration, respectfully calling him 'hyungnim.'

And then,

Kking! Kking? Kking!

"Hey! You can't run away anywhere! You remember I saved you, right? You're my servant forever!'

Fenrir kept a watchful eye to make sure his skilled servant wouldn't escape.

"Puhuhut. Chairman Park, I'm hungry too, meow!"

"Here."

Sejun fed Theo homemade Churu with his left hand while starting to eat his pancakes with his right.

Then,

Flash.

[1000 Agility Carrots Infused with Vitality have arrived.]

A bright pillar of light fell in front of Sejun, revealing 1000 radish-sized carrots.

Thanks to that, Sejun's pancake was completely smashed.

"What the?!"

Sejun frowned as he examined the carrots that had suddenly appeared before him.

[Agility Carrots Infused with Vitality]

→ These are carrots that have grown quickly by absorbing high amounts of magic power and vitality.

→ They are cultivated by a novice farmer who barely knows the 'Fa' in farming, hence they lack flavor.

→ Consumption permanently increases Stamina and Agility by 1.

→ Cultivator: Green Tower's Tower Farmer Ophelia

→ Shelf life: 100 years

→ Grade: C+

"Green Tower's Tower Farmer Ophelia?"

Last time, it was said she didn't even know the 'farm' in farming, but now it seems she at least knows the 'fa'? Did she actually improve?

"But why did she send these to me?"

Sejun pondered Ophelia's intentions for sending him the carrots.

The first thought that came to mind was,

"Carrot terrorism?"

Since it indeed ruined his dinner, it seemed like an act of terrorism.

Moreover, sending tasteless carrots that only boost stats seemed like a message saying, 'Eat these tasteless carrots and get stronger, you weakling.'

"Wow, this really annoys me."

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Retribution it is!

Just as Sejun was about to unleash a fiery retribution on Ophelia, who hated heat,

[The slave of the Green Tower is asking if you acknowledged her farming skills.]

Ophelia spoke to him.

"I did. Very much so."

And he was about to scold her for it.

[The slave of the Green Tower asks why you won't give her work despite seeing her farming skills.]

"Huh? Why am I not giving you work? Isn't it obvious? Because you're really bad at it."

[The slave of the Green Tower is infuriated.]

"Why, it's the truth though?"

Ophelia was enraged by Sejun's words.

[The slave of the Green Tower says she cannot accept this and challenges you to a contest to see who can farm better.]

She challenged Sejun to a farming contest.

"Alright. If that's what you want."

Sejun was confident, especially if the contest was about farming.

[A quest has occurred.]

[Quest: The foolish slave of the Green Tower has challenged you, an excellent farmer, to a farming contest. Win the contest.]

Defeat: Release of the slave of the Green Tower

Victory: Extend slave period by +500 years

A quest message appeared alongside Sejun's words.

"To think she's willing to work 500 more years as a slave on her own... Hehehe. What a commendable slave."

Sejun chuckled contentedly and walked out of the cooking area.

*****

3/5