Chapter 418: Blackie, Does it Feel Refreshing?

[You have arrived at the 99th floor of the Black Tower.]

"Home!"

Moo.

[Hello, Sejun nim.]

As Park Sejun appeared at the waypoint, the Minotaur King greeted him.

"Yeah. Hi. By the way, is my Cuengi doing well in special training?"

Moo. Moo!

[Of course. You'll see great results soon!]

The Minotaur King answered Sejun's question with a confident voice.

Great results? What kind of great results?

Our Cuengi is already strong, isn't he?

Feeling uneasy, Sejun wanted to ask more, but it was too late.

Rumble.

Under the dark sky, the Black Minotaurs were lying on the ground, snoring as they slept.

It was already too late due to harvesting pears on the way back at the pear farm.

It seemed the parent-teacher conference would have to wait for next time.

After greeting the Minotaur King,

"Toryong... "

Sejun quietly summoned Toryong.

- Yes...

Understanding Sejun's intention, Toryong quietly appeared.

Thus, Sejun climbed onto Toryong's head to go home.

But why aren't they coming out?

Normally, as soon as they arrived, Theo, Cuengi, and Blackie would have jumped out of the Void Storage.

Piyot and Uren had left again to collect Uren's debt.

Clank...

As Sejun carefully opened the Void Storage,

Gororong.

Kurorong.

He saw Theo and Cuengi sleeping, half-buried in treasure and hugging each other.

Kking...

And Blackie, squeezed between them and struggling to breathe, was whimpering as he slept.

Hehe, How cute.

Watching the three of them sleep, Sejun first separated Theo and Cuengi for Blackie's comfortable sleep,

Plop.

"Puuhut."

Theo was placed on his knee,

Hug.

Kuehehehe.

Cuengi was held in his arms,

Swoosh.

Kkihit.

And Blackie was put into the sling bag.

After organizing his companions, Sejun was about to leave the Void Storage,

Chirp... Chirp...

He heard a sound from the corner of the storage.

"Huh?!"

Looking at the source of the sound, he saw Loon, who had transformed into a cicada, trapped in a jewelry box.

It seemed it was locked inside to prevent it from escaping.

Wouldn't it die if it transformed further?

Sejun took out the cicada and placed it on the ground, putting a gold coin on its body to prevent it from running away.

A while later,

- Master, we've arrived.

"...Yeah. Thanks."

Sejun, who was dozing off on Toryong's head, quickly raised his head, pretending not to have slept, and opened his mouth.

Sejun got off Toryong's head and said,

"Cuengi, wake up. You need to sleep with mommy."

He woke Cuengi and sent him to Pink-fur.

Kueng... Kueng...

[Okay... Dad, have a good night...]

Cuengi, with his eyes half-closed, waved his front paws as a farewell and flew to where Pink-fur was using telekinesis.

Then, Sejun entered the kitchen to prepare the pears and other fruits he had harvested today.

And then,

"Now it's time to sleep."

He went to bed,

Kking...

Took Blackie out of the sling bag and placed him on his chest,

Gulp.

[You have consumed Medicinal Mugwort.]

[All stats increase by 20.]

[Your lifespan increases by 3 months.]

[You have consumed a bitter-tasting medicine.]

[Talent: A Medicine That's Bitter is Good for Stamina is activated.]

[Stamina increases by 9.]

He passed out after eating the Medicinal Mugwort. The bitter taste was still something he couldn't get used to.

About two hours after Sejun passed out,

Pae-aas-!

Paespaes, who had been hiding on Sejun's forehead, stretched and got up.

It was later than his usual wake-up time. Today, he had slept in later than usual because he had woken up in the middle to protect Sejun.

(Pip-pip! Good night, everyone!)

Paespaes quietly greeted Sejun, Theo, and Blackie, and left the bedroom.

Then,

Flap. Flap.

He went to the kitchen to eat.

(Pip-pip! There's pears today!)

Paespaes looked at the pristine white pear slices Sejun had prepared and excitedly jumped towards them.

Ssup Ssup.

(Pip-pip! It's so sweet!)

Having drunk all the juice from the pear slices,

Pip-pip?

Only then did he notice the note placed next to the fruit plate.

[Paespaes, deliver this to Iona - Sejun]

It was an errand from Sejun.

Pip-pip!!!

Paespaes got excited after seeing Sejun's errand note.

(Finally, I can get a five-star stamp!)

I've been preparing for this day!

Paespaes, smiling brightly, pulled out a small bundle of paper that he had carefully kept hidden in his fur.

Flip. Flip. Flip.

As he unfolded the paper that had been folded dozens of times, there was a bat drawing that Paespaes had meticulously drawn, with ten empty circles inside.

Paespaes.

Paespaes looked at the paper with satisfaction, then folded it back up dozens of times and tucked it into his fur.

(Pip Step!)

He flew towards the Black Wizard Tower located in the southern part of the farm.

***

Top floor of the Black Wizard Tower.

"Kyoo- there's too much work!"

Iona was angry about the overwhelming workload again today.

As the tower master of the Black Wizard Tower and also the chairman of the Wizard Association, she had to handle both responsibilities, leaving her extremely busy.

Recently, she had even appointed ten vice chairman to assist her, but all of them had fled within a few days. All ten of them.

"Kyoo-kyoo- I won't let them off easy if they come back!"

Iona angrily flipped through the documents, cursing the vice chairmans who had run away.

At that moment,

(Pip-pip... Iona nim, can I come in?)

Paespaes poked his head through a crack in the window, cautiously checking Iona's mood.

"Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Come in quickly!"

Iona hurriedly put down the documents and welcomed Paespaes.

(Pip-pip. Thank you!)

With Iona's permission, Paespaes expressed his gratitude and entered the room.

Then,

(Pip-pip! This is from Sejun nim!)

He handed Sejun's note to Iona.

"Kyoot? A note?"

Iona quickly unfolded the note and began reading it.

"Kyoot?!"

You caught the Faceless Thief Loon?!

Iona was shocked after reading the note.

The Faceless Thief Loon was someone the Wandering Merchants Association, the Wizard Association, and the Free Mercenaries Association had been chasing for a year without success.

The note mentioned that Loon had been caught at his hideout and provided the location of the hideout, along with a request to collect the items in the laboratory.

"Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. I had to go to the 81st floor of the tower anyway, so this is perfect!"

The 81st floor of the tower was where one of her slaves... no, one of the vice chairman who had fled was hiding.

"Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. By the way, what is Theo nim doing these days?"

(Pip-pip! Big brother goes to work at the Green Tower every morning...)

Paespaes eagerly shared what he knew in response to Iona's question.

A moment later.

"Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Thank you. You can go back now. I'll head to the 81st floor of the tower right away!"

(Pip-pip. Yes. Goodbye!)

Relieved by the conversation about Theo, Iona sent Paespaes off and set out to chase, no, to retrieve the vice chairman who had run away.

***

"Alright."

Sejun opened his eyes as morning came.

[The seal of the Earth's Jewel has been broken.]

[Rokh, the God of Rocks, who was sealed in the Earth's Jewel, is released from the seal.]

[Rokh, the God of Rocks, repays the favor to the one who released his seal.]

[Rokh, the God of Rocks, repays the favor by creating a rock path on 3.3 square meters of land.]

[During sleep, 10% of your life force has been stored.]

[Life Orb is 8.69% complete.]

[0.1 magic power has been accumulated over 24 hours.]

[Magic power increases by 0.1.]

"Great."

A rock path? Is it a golden rock?

Confirming the messages, Sejun quickly got up, taking Theo and Blackie.

Then,

Swoosh.

He marked the date on the bedroom wall and went outside to find the golden rock path.

104.28.193.250

But,

"Oh! It's bread!"

Contrary to Sejun's expectations, it wasn't a golden rock but a brown loaf of bread. Although it wasn't what he expected, he liked it even more.

Finally, it seemed the gods were getting the hang of it.

"Hehe. French toast for breakfast... huh?!"

Sejun's excited face stiffened as he grabbed the loaf of bread.

Why is it so hard?

The bread was as hard as a rock. However, it wasn't an actual rock. If it had been, it would have been a real disaster.

"I'll have to grind this into breadcrumbs."

Rokh~nim needs to try harder. Rokh~nim's score is 0.66 square meters out of 33.3 square meters.

[Rokh Road]

-Rokh, the God of Rocks, who repaid us with bread so hard it could break their teeth. Bad.

Sejun created a 0.66 square Rokh Road at the entrance of the farm and then headed to the kitchen.

"Huh?"

When he got to the kitchen, he saw the remains of the fruit Paespaes had eaten on the table, along with a tattered piece of paper that had been folded dozens of times.

[Sejun nim, since I did the errand, please give me a five-star stamp - Paespaes]

It was written in Paespaes' handwriting.

"Puhah."

When did Paespaes make this? Hehe, how cute.

"Alright."

Sejun took out the five-star stamp and stamped Paespaes' stamp paper, then folded it carefully and put it in his pocket.

A little later,

Kueng!

[Dad, good morning!]

Cuengi entered the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah. Cuengi, did you sleep well?"

Kueng! Kueng!

[Yes!]

"Good."

It seemed so.

Cuengi's right front paw and the fur around his mouth were sticky, showing traces of honey he had eaten during the night.

I should wash him after breakfast.

"Sit down and wait a little."

Kueng! Kueng!

[No! Cuengi will set the table with utensils and milk!]

Cuengi refused Sejun's words and set the utensils and milk at each place.

Then,

Kuehehehe. Kueng.

[Hehehe. If Cuengi get the five star stamp today, Cuengi can get pocket money again.]

Cuengi sat in his place, looking at the stamp paper with nine stamps and waiting eagerly for Sejun to finish cooking and give him the stamp.

However,

"Alright. Let's eat now."

When Sejun placed the Sweet Potato Mattang on the table for breakfast,

Kueng! Kueng!

[It's Mattang! I'll eat well!]

Cuengi started devouring the Mattang, forgetting all about getting the stamp.

"Here, Blackie, you eat too."

Sejun put some Mattang pieces in Blackie's bowl.

Kking?!

[There's another sweet potato dish?!]

Blackie was astonished at the new sweet potato dish.

Kkihit. Kking!

[Hehe. It's delicious!]

After a brief moment of shock, Blackie started eating the Sweet Potato Mattang delightfully.

"Vice Chairman Theo, have some grilled fish."

"Got it, meow!"

While everyone was enjoying their delicious breakfast,

Thump.

Sejun stamped Cuengi's stamp paper.

"My Cuengi has collected 10 stamps?"

Kueng! Kueng?

[That's right! Can Cuengi get pocket money now?]

At Sejun's words, Cuengi nodded quickly, looking at Sejun with sparkling eyes.

"Yes. Here you go. Your pocket money."

Sejun gave Cuengi 1000 Tower Coins.

Kueng!

[Thank you, Dad!]

Cuengi accepted the allowance with both front paws politely, bowing at a 90-degree angle.

Then,

Kuehehehe.

He took out his money pouch and put the pocket money in, feeling proud.

After finishing breakfast,

"Chairman Park, I'm off to work, meow!"

Theo left for work on the 1st floor of the Green Tower.

"Cuengi and Blackie, let's go wash up."

Sejun took the two of them to the fountain to wash them.

Kking!

[I don't want to!]

Of course, Blackie tried to escape,

Kueng!

[Blackie, come here!]

Kking...

[I'll come...]

But he had to return due to the scary scolding of his small, stern elder brother, who took out a stick.

"Okay. It's done."

As Sejun finished washing the two and was drying Cuengi's fur with a towel

Kueng?

[Blackie, does it feel refreshing?]

Kkiyaya!

Cuengi used Kueng-fooo to dry Blackie's fur. Although it was hard to hear his response clearly due to the wind, he seemed to like it, judging by his cheers.

While watching the cheering Blackie, Sejun was drying Cuengi's fur when suddenly,

[You have exterminated the first calamity of destruction, the locusts, sent to Neta.]

[As a reward for your great achievement, the first calamity of destruction, the locusts, cannot invade Neta.]

"Huh?!"

Sejun achieved another great achievement by exterminating Locust once again.

*****