“Chairman Park, you should change your claws to dragon claws like me, meow!”
Swoosh.
As Sejun pondered what to get from the dragons in exchange for Samyangju, Theo proudly showed off his dragon claws and spoke.
“No, I can’t. I can’t retract my claws like Vice Chairman Theo does.”
Sejun feared that he might accidentally scratch an itch while half-asleep with dragon claws; he might bleed to death and never wake up.
“Meow… Why can’t Chairman Park retract his claws, meow?”
Theo, who had hoped Sejun would get dragon claws like his, was disappointed as he retracted and extended his own claws.
Swoosh. Swoosh.
Sejun silently stroked Theo’s head to comfort him.
Then,
“Chairman Park, I prefer you to stroke here, not my head, meow! Stroke here, meow!”
Theo boldly laid on his back, exposing his belly, seizing the perfect moment to be pampered by Chairman Park. He didn’t miss his chance.
“Alright.”
Unaware of Theo’s intentions, Sejun stroked his pink belly.
A while later,
“Chairman Park, I’m hungry, meow! I want Churu, meow!”
Having his belly stroked made Theo hungry, so he asked for a Churu.
“Alright.”
Clank.
Sejun took out a glass jar containing Churu from the void storage and spooned some homemade Churu in front of Theo.
Slurp. Slurp. Slurp.
“Puhuhut. As expected, the Churu made with Chairman Park’s sincerity tastes the best, meow!”
While Theo enjoyed the homemade Churu,
[A job quest has occurred.]This belongs to - ©.
[Quest: Dragons are gradually going insane due to the power of destruction, unknowingly. Provide 30,000 bottles of Samyangju to each dragon tribe within 100 days to delay the deterioration of their minds.]
Brown Dragon (0/30,000 bottles)
Black Dragon (0/30,000 bottles)
Green Dragon (0/30,000 bottles)
…
…
…
Reward: A large amount of job experience, +100 to all stat potentials, the 10th Tower’s trial
[99 completed bottles of Samyangju will be distributed among the tower administrators, 11 bottles each.]
Along with the quest notification, the 99 bottles of Samyangju in front of Sejun disappeared, leaving only one bottle he had just poured.
“What?!”
This can’t be happening! That’s my alcohol! Who’s taking them?! You need to pay a price to take it!
Sejun was furious at whoever took his Samyangju without permission, but there was no way to know exactly who issued the quest, so he could only grin and bear it.
Then,
Slurp. Slurp. Slurp.
“Chairman Park! Your face is red, it’s ugly, meow!”
Theo, who was eating Churu, suddenly stood up on his front paws and pointed at Sejun’s angry face.
“It’s not ugly!”
“Puhuhut. Don’t worry, meow! I will take care of it, meow!”
Despite Sejun’s denial, Theo, having made up his mind, insistently kneaded Sejun’s face with his front paws, leaving Sejun speechless.
Press. Press.
He just gave in to Theo’s paws, walked out of the brewery to cool down and calm his anger.
***
In the White Tower’s management area.
“Ahh, that’s good! Huh?! It’s gone?”
Kellion, marveling at the Samyang given by Sejun, felt something vanish from his mind. His head felt crystal clear.
Then,
“Huh?! Samyangju?!”
[Ensure all dragons drink a glass of the received Samyangju.]
11 bottles of Samyangju appeared in front of Kellion along with an alert in the crystal ball. Kellion had already wanted the other white dragons to drink Samyangju.
“Only those over 50,000 years old, assemble!”
Kellion first called over the core white dragons of the White Tower, those over 50,000 years old.
And,
“Just drink one glass each! If you get caught lining up again, know that you will die!”
He started pouring the drink while threatening the dragons.
‘Just one glass! Not a drop more!’
Kellion poured the drinks very precisely, hoping to save some for himself.
***
In the Black Dragon’s territory.
“I should ask Sejun for more.”
As Kaiser was about to move the dragon statue to get more alcohol for himself and to share with the other dragons,
Woong.
A portal began to open in front of Kaiser.
And,
“Grandpa, Dad, I’m here!”
Aileen came through the portal herself, carrying 11 bottles of Samyangju.
“Oh! My granddaughter, did you receive this from Sejun?! That’s great! I needed it…”
“Just a moment!”
“Huh?! Why…?”
“It’s not for free!”
Aileen stretched out her hand, stopping Kaiser from reaching for the samyangju. Give and take!
***
“Phew.”
After calming down a bit from Theo’s massage, Sejun decided to check the quest rewards, hoping they would be good.
But
“What is the trial of the 10th tower? Was there a 10th tower?”
Sejun’s expression soured again as he saw the last reward. A trial as a reward?! Are they out of their minds?! Sejun felt his anger rising again toward the being that issued him this quest.
“Chairman Park’s face is turning red and ugly again, meow!”
“It’s not ugly!”
“Puhuhut, don’t worry, meow! I will fix your face to look normal, meow!”
Ignoring Sejun’s words, Theo continued to knead Sejun’s face with his front paw.
Then
Krueng!
[Cuengi will also help massage daddy’s ugly face!]
Cuengi, who had woken up from his nap after lunch, approached energetically.
“No, daddy’s face isn’t ugly! Right?! Vice Chairman Theo?”
Sejun, whose face had turned pale, quickly signaled for help to Theo as Cuengi could accidentally use too much strength… which could be dangerous!
However
“No, meow! Chairman Park’s face is now turning blue and still ugly now, meow!”
Theo, burning with a sense of mission to fix Sejun’s face, ignored Sejun’s call for help.
Krueng! Krueng!
[Lie down here, daddy! You have to stay still, or you might get hurt!]
Eventually, due to Theo’s non-cooperation, Sejun was dragged by Cuengi and ended up lying between Cuengi’s legs, his face being held.
And
“Argh! Aaah!”
Sejun’s screams continued as he received a massage from Theo and Cuengi’s front paws.
A while later
“It’s refreshing than I thought, huh?! Has the swelling gone down? I look a bit slimmer!”
Sejun admired the effect of the massage as he checked his face in the bronze mirror. Of course, he had no desire to receive it again.
“Then, let’s go make some alcohol.”
Sejun, whose face was back to normal, went back to the brewery.
As the massage from Theo and Cuengi calmed his anger, Sejun began to see the reality that had been obscured by his rage.
The dragons’ minds were deteriorating. In other words, they were becoming mad dragons, weren’t they? Upon reflection, it was a very serious situation. The image of mad dragons firing breath attacks without distinguishing between friend or foe… It was terrifying even to imagine.
And then,
[The tower’s administrator says to trust her as she will never give your alcohol for free.]
There was the reliable support of Aileen. At the very least, it seemed that he could receive payment from the black dragons for the samyangju.
“Right! From today, we only make samyangju! Are you guys ready?!”
Ook!
Ook!
The monkeys responded energetically to Sejun’s words.
“Good. Let’s start!”
Sejun added Tower Coins to the Relic: Wealth-devouring Rice Dough to get rice flour.
Swish.
As 2 kg of rice flour filled each jar,
Ook!
Ook!
The monkeys poured hot water into the jar and stirred, making the base liquor. Meanwhile, Sejun filled the remaining empty jars with rice flour, followed by pouring hot water and stirring the flour in the jars like the monkeys.
“It’s done, meow!”
Krueng!
[It’s all done!]
Theo and Cuengi, who were allowed to enter the brewery just for the day, also helped Sejun stir the rice dough in the jars.
After 4 hours, they managed to complete the base liquor work for 300 jars. Since 100 bottles of samyangju could be produced from one jar, if all went well, 30,000 bottles of samyangju would be completed in a week.
By doing this 9 more times, they could produce 270,000 bottles of samyangju. It seemed that the quest could be completed in about 63 days.
However
“Vice Chairman Theo, go and buy 3000 jars more.”
Sejun, wanting to complete the quest faster, asked Theo to buy more jars. He also needed samyangju to take to the black rabbit’s wedding, which was only about 20 days away.
“Meow?! Can’t I go tomorrow, meow?”
Theo, who wanted to sleep on Sejun’s knee and go the next morning, whined.
‘No, that won’t do,’ Sejun thought, wanting to get back at him for not responding to his help request earlier, but he thought, ‘Still, I should let him sleep.’
Moved by Theo’s gaze, Sejun’s heart softened.
“Alright, then go tomorrow.”
“Got it, meow!”
With Theo and Cuengi attached to his legs.
“But why have Kaiser and Kellion been silent until now?”
Sejun wondered, looking at the two motionless dragon statues.
Then,
Grrrrumble.
Krueng!
[Daddy, Cuengi is hungry!]
Cuengi, with his belly clock ringing, urged Sejun on.
“Alright, let’s eat this first.”
Sejun created a giant sweet potato with his skill and gave it to Cuengi, then headed to the kitchen area.
***
The next morning.
“Chairman Park, I’m off, meow!”
“Kyoo kyoo kyoo. I’m going too!”
Theo and Iona went down to the 75th floor of the tower. Iona, having come two days ago and slept like the dead, woke up this morning and decided to hang onto Theo’s tail and accompany him after hearing that he was going to buy jars.
A little later,
“Meow meow meow. Iona, here we are, meow! Take care, meow!”
“Kyoo Kyoo Kyoo! Vice Chairman Theo, see you later!”
Having arrived at the 75th floor of the tower in less than an hour via the light-speed merchant passage, Theo parted with Iona, as they each had different errands.
Theo, having separated from Iona, first went to the general store to buy 3,000 jars as Sejun had asked for.
“Welcome!”
“I’d like 3,000 jars, meow!”
“What?! 3,000?! Just a moment, please!”
The general store owner hurried to check the stock in response to Theo’s bulk order.
“Sorry, but we only have 300 jars in stock right now. However, since you’re buying in bulk, I’ll give you a discount from the original 450 Tower Coins to 440.”
The owner, having checked the stock, proposed a discount since he could only sell 300 and
“Give me more discount, meow!”
As if the discount was nowhere near enough, Theo used his haggling skill three times and got the jars for 420 Tower Coins.
“Puhuhut. My skills have not rusted, meow!”
Theo felt proud as he packed the purchased jars into his bag and left the general store.
And after going around to other general stores to buy more jars,
“I’ve only managed to buy 1,500, meow!”
There were still too few jars. It would take three days for new stock to come in.
“So depressing, meow…”
Eager to make a quick purchase and get back to Sejun’s lap, Theo headed to the ghost storage to cheer himself up with a draw.
“Taru, long time no see, meow!”
“Oh! You’ve come.”
When Theo visited the lost and found storage, Taru greeted him warmly.
“Here’s 1,000 Tower Coins, meow! I want to cheer up with a draw quickly, meow!”
“Is something bothering you?”
Taru asked as they walked to the lost and found storage with the ghosts.
“Yes, meow! I bought all the jars at the general store, but there still aren’t enough, meow!”
“Jars?! How many do you need?”
“1,500, meow!”
“That’s a lot missing… Would it be okay if I introduce you to a place that sells jars?”
“Really, meow?!”
“Yes. My friend makes jars on the 97th floor of the tower.”
“Really, meow?!”
“Yes. If it’s urgent, let’s go right now.”
Hearing Theo’s urgent need, Taru quickly turned to leave.
Then,
“Just wait a moment, meow!”
Theo held Taru back.
“Vice Chairman Theo, why?”
“I still want to do the draw before we go, meow!”
Theo hurriedly entered into the ghost warehouse and came out with an item.
*****
TL Notes:
1) Keen-eyed among you might have noticed the ‘Kyoo’ instead of ‘Kyoot,’ which, I assure you, isn’t a mistake, as it is like this in the raw Korean chapter. It could be either a mistake by the author or probably Iona being irritated/angry about parting with Theo’s tail or angry due to someone or something not mentioned now.
*****