Chapter 394: Hehehe. Now it begins.

Black Tower, Administrator's Area.

"Khehehe. It's complete!"

Aileen smiled brightly as she opened the lid of the pot. Inside, the black liquid had disappeared, leaving only a single black lump.

"Khehehe. It turned out just as I thought."

Though it was unclear what she had intended to make, the black lump before her looked like a definite culinary failure if it was supposed to be food, but Aileen seemed satisfied with the result.

"Let's cut it into small pieces so Sejun can eat it easily!"

Tok. Tok.

Aileen meticulously cut the black lump into uniform pieces. Although it was fine to eat in one go, the medicinal effect was too strong for Sejun's digestion.

A little while later.

"Khehehe. Sejun, take this."

Aileen sent her health dish, cut into 1,000 pieces, to Sejun.

***

99th Floor of the Black Tower.

"Ah, this is nice!"

Lying on a stone platform after dinner, Sejun spoke as he gazed at the early evening sky, with a nice blend of light and darkness.

'Hehehe. I should just relax and eat well for a while.'

Balance is important in everything. Having worked for several days, it was now time to relax.

Kuehehehe.

Kkihihit.

On either side of Sejun, Cuengi and Fenrir were lying down, pressing their bottoms against Sejun's, enjoying his petting.

Kkihihit. Kking! Kking?

'Hihi. As expected, I was right! Where can I find more fragments of my core?'

Fenrir, having eaten the cheese egg roll that Sejun made for dinner, was once again convinced of his thoughts.

If something as delicious as a cheese egg roll came up again, it seemed worth giving another fragment of his core.

While Sejun, Cuengi, and Fenrir were enjoying the post-meal satisfaction,

[The tower's administrator announces with a confident voice that she have completed a dish for you.]

"Huh?! Tha...thank you."

I thought she had forgotten...

Sejun, with a flustered expression, thanked Aileen and opened the pouch that appeared on his hand.

Inside the pouch were cube-shaped, almost charcoal-black pieces that were hard to call food.

[Aileen's Special Nutritional Cookie Piece]

This is called a cookie?

Until he saw the name, he never would have guessed this was supposed to be a cookie.

Honestly, even after seeing the name, he would believe it if someone said it was coal, given its appearance.

Aileen, being a Great Black Dragon, seemed to really like the color black. It wasn't burnt; it was deliberately made black. That must be it, right?

Sejun picked up a black cookie piece and checked its options.

[Aileen's Special Nutritional Cookie Piece]

→ A special nutritional cookie made by the Great Black Dragon Aileen Pritani, containing top-grade elixirs, specifically for Park Sejun, the Black Tower's farmer. The cookie has been divided into 1,000 pieces for Park Sejun's safety.

→ Due to the immense heat and pressure applied in its making, the efficacy of the elixirs is nearly intact, but the cookie has become hard enough to break diamonds.

→ Consumption increases all stats by 0.5.

→ Consuming all 1,000 pieces of Aileen's special nutritional cookies increases all stats by 500.

→ Usage Restriction: All stats 1500 or above

→ Cook: Great Black Dragon Aileen Pritani

→ Shelf Life: None

→ Grade: SS+

Previously, Aileen's healthier meatball piece was said to be as hard as diamond...

Now, this was said to be hard enough to break diamonds.

Aileen's skills were improving daily. She had created an even more formidable weapon... no, dish.

The dish seemed to match Aileen's confidence in its greatness.

"Vitality."

Sejun first emptied his stomach with a skill,

Nom.

and then put one piece of Aileen's special nutritional cookie into his mouth.

Sejun tried to dissolve the cookie piece in his mouth, but it was so densely packed that it had no taste.

Realizing that biting into it might break his teeth, Sejun immediately swallowed it.

Then,

[You have consumed Aileen's Special Nutritional Cookie Piece.]

[The medicinal properties within Aileen's Special Nutritional Cookie Piece are densely packed.]

[It will take 20 hours to fully digest Aileen's Special Nutritional Cookie Piece.]

Messages appeared.

"Oh! This doesn't make me feel full?"

It just took a long time to digest.

So, can I eat a lot at once?

Sejun picked up the cookie pieces and slowly put them in his mouth one by one. Nothing happened until he reached the fifth piece.

"It seems okay."

Gulp.

Gaining confidence, Sejun began swallowing two to three pieces at a time quickly.

"Hehehe. Good."

At this rate, I can eat 100 pieces a day and finish all 1,000 pieces in ten days.

Just as Sejun, full of confidence, swallowed the fifteenth piece,

[The strong medicinal properties inside your body are turning into poison.]

[A Grade-S poison will form in 30 seconds.]

"Huh? Poison?"

Grade-S poison?!

Green Onion!!!

Sejun hurriedly ran into his Void Storage and chewed on an S-grade Detoxifying Green Onion.

Then,

[You have consumed a Detoxifying Green Onion.]

[For 1 hour, you will detoxify any poison of Grade-S or below.]

[No poison will be created in your body.]

Messages appeared.

"Phew."

Sejun let out a sigh of relief. If he had been just a bit slower...

Had he not harvested the S-grade Detoxifying Green Onion as a reward for detoxifying Tier's deadly poison in the past, he would have been in big trouble.

'From now on, I'll safely eat only 10 pieces.'

Even though he could detoxify while eating more, the medicine transformed into poison would also be detoxified.

It's like spending a lot of money on nutritious food and then taking diet pills that block nutrient absorption.

[You have survived a deadly crisis.]

[Talent: Sturdy Vitality activates.]

[Stamina increases by 1.]

"I know that too."

Annoyed, Sejun snapped at the message, feeling frustrated for almost dying from his own greed when there was no danger around.

Thus, Sejun survived another day.

Kueng? Kueng?

[Dad, why did you suddenly get up? Are you going to eat snacks?]

Kking?! Kking!

'Why only you?! Give me some too!'

Cuengi and Fenrir, who had been calm while Sejun ate Aileen's cookies, followed him into the Void Storage.

Thanks to this, they had another snack time.

"Hmm?"

Sejun sensed Theo's presence from afar. Did he already get the land deed?

At that moment,

"Puhuhut. Chairman Park, I missed you, meow!"

Theo suddenly appeared, clinging to Sejun's face and rubbing his own face against Sejun's head.

Theo's new technique, Meowmeow Step, allowed him to move a few kilometers almost instantaneously, although it was limited to moving towards Sejun.

"Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Hello, Sejun~nim!"

Iona's voice was heard in his ear.

"Meow..."

"Yeah. Iona, hello."

Sejun greeted Iona after pulling Theo off his face by the scruff of his neck.

"Vice Chairman Theo, did you get all the land deeds?"

He asked while setting Theo on his lap.

"No, meow! I only got the land deed for the 75th floor, meow! So, let's go get the land deed for the 68th floor right away, meow!"

Theo said, hugging Sejun's lap tightly.

"Eh?! Me too?!"

"Puhuhut. Yes, meow! I'm going with Chairman Park to the 70th floor, meow!"

"Why the 70th floor? We've already been there."

"The sealed capital of the Lizard Kingdom, Dino, on the 70th floor, has the land deed for the 68th floor, meow!"

"On the 70th floor?"

When we looked around before, there was definitely nothing there.

"Alright. Then let's sleep and go in the morning."

"No, meow! We're leaving right now, meow!"

'The journey is waiting for us, meow!'

"It'll get dark soon anyway."

"If Chairman Park says so, I understand, meow! Then let's go to sleep, meow!"

Despite initially insisting strongly, Theo calmed down immediately at Sejun's words.

The next morning.

"Puhuhut. Then let's depart, meow!"

Sejun and his companions set off for the 70th floor of the tower.

As Sejun headed to the 70th floor, the second dragon meeting was starting in the Red Dragon's territory.

"Pahahaha. It's been a long time since so many dragons have gathered like this."

Ramter said with a bright expression, looking at the dragons filling the Red Dragon's territory.

It's almost impossible to mobilize this many dragons outside of wartime.

But today, a total of 20,000 dragons had gathered, with 4,000 Great Red Dragons and 2,000 dragons each from other tribes.

Moreover, the dragons, who perceive a day as just a second, were not late at all to the appointed time.

The large number of attendees was a sign of respect for the dragon hosting the meeting, so Ramter puffed out his chest with pride.

"Then let's start the meeting."

At Ramter's words, the meeting began.

"Within a 1000km radius of each tower, only the dragons managing that tower should hunt the Red Mist, and other dragons are forbidden to hunt there!"

"I think 2000km would be better!"

"Then there would be overlapping areas! Are you trying to take over the area around the Golden Tower?!"

Unlike the first dragon meeting, the second meeting was fiercely contentious.

And,

What on earth is going on?

Artemis Yul, the leader of the Great Golden Dragons, and other Great Golden Dragons could not understand the current situation.

Dragons fighting over who gets to hunt the Red Mist?

They were also irritated. The atmosphere clearly showed that the dragons were blatantly targeting the areas around the Golden Tower.

"We'll handle our tower ourselves! And any dragons wanting to hunt in our territory must get separate permission!"

Thus, Artemis quickly stepped in to organize the situation, and thanks to that, the meeting ended swiftly.

"Good. Since the meeting is over, any dragons who wish to return may do so."

"······."

At Ramter's words, not a single dragon left. Everyone was waiting for something.

Puhuhuhu. Of course, no one would leave.

"Pahahaha. Then, since we have prepared some modest food for the dragons attending the meeting, please enjoy it."

With Ramter's words, food appeared in the center, and the dragons began to fill their bowls with food.

Since the food was unfamiliar, no one took a lot at first,

"Garaetteok and honey!"

"It's sweet potato soup!"

The hatchlings who had already tasted Sejun's food filled their bowls to the brim.

"Hocus, let's pack some in our dimensional storage too!"

"Yes! Hakun hyung!"

"I'll pack some for Sylvia too!"

Apparently not satisfied, the hatchlings even stashed extra food in their dimensional storage for later.

While the dragons were filling their bowls with Sejun's food,

"Here. Take a glass each!"

Ramter brought out a bottle filled with golden Samyangju.

What a pity, if it weren't for the contract with Sejun, I would drink it all by myself.

Ramter licked his lips as he looked at the bottle in his hand. Sejun had only given him one bottle of the golden Samyangju.

Sejun had a feeling that this golden Samyangju was something extraordinary, so he provided only one bottle to complete the quest.

Additionally, he made sure to draw up a separate contract stipulating that each leader of the dragon clans must drink a glass so that Ramter wouldn't drink it all by himself.

Gurgle.

As Ramter tilted the bottle, the golden liquid flowed out, accompanied by a rich aroma.

"When did our Sejun make something like this?"

"No way... What kind of alcohol is this?!"

"That sneaky Ramter... Did he receive new alcohol from Sejun all for himself?"

Kaiser, Kellion, and Tier, who drank Sejun's Samyangju daily, could tell just by the aroma that this was different from the usual Samyangju.

"To the Great Dragon Clans!"

By then, Ramter had filled the other leaders' glasses with the golden Samyangju and raised his glass.

"Cheers!"

The other leaders also raised their glasses and drank in unison.

Gulp.

"Oh!"

The leaders marveled at the taste.

At that moment,

[You have consumed the Golden Samyangju.]

[The Curse of Forgetfulness is lifted.]

The Curse of Forgetfulness that had been cast on the leaders of the nine dragon clans was completely removed.

And then,

[The Great Black Dragon Kaiser Pritani has drunk a glass of Golden Samyangju.]

[The Great White Dragon Kellion Mamebe has drunk a glass of Golden Samyangju.]

...

..

.

"Hehehe. Now it begins."

Sejun watched the messages, eagerly anticipating the flood of rewards that would follow.

*****