: IT'S OKAY TO TOUCH THE BELLY, MEOW!
TL: Hanguk
Thousands of years ago, in the ancient times.
A powerful necromancer appeared on the Titan continent.
Immortal King Immortal¹.
Immortal King Immortal raised the dead from the northernmost part of the Titan continent and moved southward. All living beings on the continent fought to drive away Immortal.
Fortunately, the war ended in victory for the living beings as they sealed Immortal King Immortal.
“We are beings cursed with immortality. We will forever guard this place to ensure that the Immortal King does not emerge again.”
Tens of thousands of knights who had died and been resurrected by Immortal.
The knights, freed from the control of Immortal upon his sealing, vowed to become guardians of the seal.
However, not many could withstand the vast stretch of time.
As time flowed, their weapons and armor crumbled, unable to withstand the years, and their bodies and spirits wore down as well.
“Ensure that no one approaches the king’s tomb!”
They had forgotten who was sealed in the tomb, why they needed to guard it, and even who they were, but they kept their knight’s oath to guard the king’s tomb.
Then, one day, as they were guarding the tomb as usual.
“Where is this?”
Clink, clank.
They found themselves in a strange place, surrounded by skeletons unlike them.
And then,
“This is the fourth floor of the Black Tower?”
“Yes, that seems to be the case.”
They realized that they were in a place called the Black Tower.
However,
“No matter where we are, our duty is to guard the king’s tomb!”
Their oath didn’t fade just because their location changed. They continued to guard the tomb as per their vow.
***
“Where did everyone go?”
Zibik, the guild master of the Crash Guild, looked around. There were no Black Skeletons in sight.
This was because all the Black Skeletons had gathered where Sejun was,
“Maybe they went to the other guys?”
“Seems like it.”
Zibik thought that the Black Skeletons were lured to another team as he had divided his men into groups of five to find the king’s tomb.
During their search,
“Is this the place?”
Zibik discovered a giant door engraved with strange characters.
“Open it.”
“Yes, sir!”
At Zibik’s command, the guild members opened the door.
Creeeak.
The door opened with a loud noise.
“Let’s see…”
As the door opened, Zibik entered first, expecting to find the king’s lavish burial items.
But,
“What’s this?!”
Inside the room, made of giant square bricks, there was only a sarcophagus bound by a single line of golden chains.
“Search for any hidden places.”
“Yes!”
As Zibik instructed his subordinates,
“Let’s at least take this.”
Bang!
Zibik cut the golden chain around the sarcophagus with his axe.
And then,
“Maybe there’s something inside?”
Scrape.
Zibik pushed the lid of the sarcophagus, opening it since he had already broken the golden chains.
“Uh?!”
There was no body inside the sarcophagus, only tattered and decayed pieces of cloth.
“Ugh. What kind of king’s tomb is this?”
Zibik wasn’t curious why there was no corpse; he was just disappointed that there were no valuable items inside.
“This looks somewhat expensive.”
Zibik noticed a golden necklace with a red gem among the cloth pieces and reached out to grab it.
Just then,
Puff, puff.
Red smoke began to emanate from the red gem and started to envelop Zibik’s body.
***
“Huh?! Why did the rewards suddenly get so much better?”
This is worrying, isn’t it? Sejun felt uneasy as the quest updated with better rewards. Bigger rewards usually meant more difficult quests.
Then,
“Chairman Park!”
Krueng!
[Dad, Cuengi is here!]
Theo and Cuengi came looking for Sejun and clung to his knees. They had returned to protect Sejun as they sensed an unusual atmosphere around.
Feeling the comforting weight on his legs, Sejun felt reassured. With Theo and Cuengi by his side, he felt ready to face any foe.
“What about Iona?”
“Iona will come after burning down the experience farm, meow!”
“Really?”
Looking up at the sky, a tremendous number of flames filled the air, falling towards the ground. Judging by the firepower, it seemed Iona would return soon.
“Guys, we need to find the sealed king first.”
“Puhuhut. Leave it to me, meow! Guys, come out, meow!”
At Sejun’s words, Theo puffed up with pride and spoke to Sejun’s shadow.
Then,
Slink, slink.
Shadow minions began to detach from Sejun’s shadow and cling to Theo.
“Go and check if there’s anything suspicious, meow!”
Theo ordered the shadow minions to scout around.
Nod, nod.
Swoosh.
The shadow minions nodded at Theo’s command and scattered in all directions.
“I’m jealous.”
Even though they were his shadow minions… Sejun felt a bit sad that he could only watch Theo command them.
But then,
‘No! If it weren’t for Theo, I couldn’t have summoned them. This is better.’
Squish, squish.
Sejun quickly adopted a positive mindset and pinched Theo’s cheeks.
“Hehehe.”
The soft, mochi-like texture lifted Sejun’s spirits. There were absolutely no other emotions involved.
“Meow! Chairman Park, let go of my cheeks, meow!”
Struggling to escape from Sejun’s grasp, Theo wriggled about, and then
Krueng!
[Dad, Cuengi wants his cheeks touched too!]
Feeling left out as Sejun only touched his big brother’s cheeks, Cuengi pushed his face forward, asking for his cheeks to be touched as well.
“Alright.”
Letting go of the reluctant Theo’s cheeks, Sejun proceeded to touch Cuengi’s cheeks when,
Swoosh.
Theo, lying on Sejun’s lap, stealthily pulled Sejun’s right hand towards his belly. It’s okay to touch the belly, meow!
“Got it.”
As Sejun petted Theo’s belly and Cuengi’s cheeks,
Swoosh.
The shadow minions returned and clung to Theo again.
And then,
“Thank you, meow! Chairman Park, over there is someone emanating a strange aura, meow!”
Theo, having received the report from a shadow minion, raised his paw to point the way.
***
“Cough! Why…?”
A subordinate, who was searching for hidden places on Zibik’s orders, died with a puzzled look, a sword plunged into his side.
“Soul Drain.”
Zibik, or rather Immortal King Immortal, who had possessed Zibik’s body, watched the subordinate coldly, reciting the spell with eyes dyed bright red.
Puff, puff.
White smoke escaped from the corpse and was absorbed into Immortal’s mouth.
“Sigh. How long has it been since I tasted a soul steeped in despair… It’s delicious.”
Immortal, having absorbed the soul, showed an ecstatic expression, overwhelmed with joy.
Then,
“Boss, what’s going on?”
“Boss, why did you kill Royce?!”
Feeling the strange atmosphere, the subordinates who found Immortal next to their dead colleague approached him.
“Boss? Ah… Is that what you call this body?”
“What?!”
“What does that mean…?”
“But how rude. To not bow your head in the presence of the Immortal King, Immortal… I’ll have to cut off your heads. Arise, my first sword.”
Boom, boom.
At Immortal’s command, the ground split open, and a Black Skeleton appeared.
“You called, Immortal King. The king’s first sword greets you.”
Thump.
The Black Skeleton, equipped with a thick full-body armor emitting a dark sheen and a black sword radiating a deadly aura, kneeled and paid respects to Immortal. It looked different from when it was with Sejun.
“Yes, it has been a long time, my first sword.”
“Immortal King, give me your command.”
“Cut off their heads.”
“Yes, as the king commands.”
As the first sword stood up to carry out Immortal’s order,
“The boss is acting weird! Let’s subdue him!”
“Got it!”
The members of the Crash Guild, despite their grand words, relaxed their guard upon seeing just one Black Skeleton clad in armor and attacked it.
But then,
Scrape.
“What?!”
The Crash Guild members couldn’t even see the swing of the Black Skeleton’s sword before they saw their bodies falling to the ground.
“Soul Drain.”
Thus, Immortal King Immortal absorbed four souls from the heads severed by his first sword.
“Arise, my swords.”
Having regained strength by absorbing souls, Immortal summoned five more armed Black Skeletons.
And then,
“Detect Life. Over there.”
He began to hunt, sensing the presence of living beings nearby.
***
“To the left, meow!”
Following the guidance of the shadow minion, as relayed by Theo, Sejun moved in that direction.
“Huh?! Is that the sealed king?”
Soon, they could see Immortal King Immortal, protected by thirty armed Black Skeletons.
While Sejun was assessing his opponent,
“What are these animals? Kill them.”
Immortal ordered the death of Theo and Cuengi. Due to his talent of being an insignificant presence, Sejun was not noticed by Immortal.
“Yes, as the king commands.”
The Black Skeletons began to draw their swords to attack Theo and Cuengi.
But then,
Krueng!
[Dad, Cuengi will protect you as the King of Gluttony!]
Cuengi announced his own royal title upon facing the Immortal King.
And then,
Click.
With Cuengi’s cry, the Black Skeletons’ swords were forcefully sheathed back into their scabbards.
Cuengi had used telekinesis to re-sheath the knights’ swords back into their sheaths, preventing Sejun from getting caught in the attack.
In the meantime,
“Chairman Park’s enemies will be punished by Vice Chairman Theo, the Knee King, meow!”
Theo, also mentioning his own royal title, swung his front paw.
……
Without any sound or wind, Theo’s magic claws slashed through them.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
[Guard Theo has defeated the first sword of the Immortal King Immortal.]
[You have gained 500,000 experience points, 50% of what Guard Theo earned.]
…
..
.
Clatter.
The Black Skeletons were split into six parts and crumbled away. However, there was no message about defeating Immortal.
And then,
“Meow?”
“Kukukuku. Not bad.”
Immortal laughed while regenerating his wounds.
“Arise, my swords.”
Immortal raised the Black Skeletons again.
That moment,
Kuehehehe. Krueng!
[Hehehe. Big brother can’t fight well!]
Smack.
Cuengi laughed at Theo and clapped his hands.
Boom!
Simultaneously, Immortal and the Black Skeletons were crushed. Cuengi had used his telekinetic powers.
[Herbalist Cuengi has defeated the tenth sword of the Immortal King Immortal.]
[You have gained 100,000 experience points, 50% of what Herbalist Cuengi earned.]
…
..
.
But again, there was no message about defeating Immortal.
Crack.
“Kukukuku. That hurt a bit.”
Immortal’s pulped body began to regenerate again.
Krueng?
Cuengi was taken aback to see Immortal reviving even after his attack.
“Meow?! Chairman Park, what should we do, meow?”
Krueng?
[Dad, what should we do?]
Theo and Cuengi, having never encountered an enemy that didn’t die from their attacks, were perplexed and turned to Sejun for guidance.
“It’s okay. Cuengi, make sure he can’t move.”
Krueng!
[Understood!]
As Cuengi used his telekinesis to restrain Immortal,
“Throw Thunder.”
In the meantime, Sejun, who had conjured dense Thunder clouds in the sky, struck Immortal’s regenerating body with lightning.
Boom!
“Aaargh!”
Immortal screamed as his body was scorched by the lightning.
Had he been in full strength, he might not have been affected, but in his weakened state, Sejun’s skill could inflict damage.
“Hurts, doesn’t it? So, quickly summon more Black Skeletons.”
Hearing Immortal’s earlier comment about pain, Sejun pressured him to summon Black Skeletons while inflicting pain.
The Black Skeletons provided experience points even after being killed and resummoned.
Sejun planned to find a way to defeat Immortal while simultaneously earning experience points by defeating the Black Skeletons.
‘If I can’t resolve the situation by the time of the Black Rabbit’s wedding, I’ll just freeze him into an ice cube and send him to Aileen.’
Unaware that the holy stone ice cube was on the verge of being crushed under Aileen’s foot, Sejun pondered his next move.
*****
TL Notes:
1) Immortal King, Immortal: Here, the author has used the title ‘Immortal King,’ which is in Korean but used the name ‘Immortal,’ which is in English. So, to a Korean reader, this might not seem strange, but in English, it feels a bit odd. Anyway, if you guys want to switch, the other choice would be ‘Undying King, Immortal.’ Let me know in the comments or on Discord. (Note to free readers, I have selected Undying Lich King, Immortal)
*****
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