: DINING WITH AILEEN
TL: Hanguk
Black Tower Administrator Area
[The Black Tower’s Tower Farmer, Park Sejun, says you can come now.]
“Okay. Just a moment! Weakness. The punishment of heavy iron chains. Feet trapped in a swamp. The curse of the magic leech…”
Aileen hurriedly cast 20 curses upon herself, each powerful but without affecting her surroundings, perfectly harmonizing with each other.
“Great. Perfect!”
Aileen smiled brightly, gauging her strength, now weakened by the curses.
Though her body had become heavy from the curses, her heart was filled with joy at the thought of meeting Sejun.
“Sejun, I’m coming now! Teleport!”
Aileen disappeared from the Administrator’s area.
***
“Aileen, welcome.”
Sejun greeted Aileen, who had appeared in front of him, with a bright smile.
She’s dazzling.
Today, too, Aileen’s beauty sparkled.
And…
I’m ugly.
The moment Sejun saw Aileen’s star-like beauty, his self-esteem plummeted underground.
It was like the moment you taste premium 1++ grade Korean beef and suddenly find the all-you-can-eat meat no longer tastes as good.
“Great Hybrid Chairman Park, have some confidence, meow! Today, you look the least ugly you’ve ever been, meow!”
Theo called out, trying to comfort Sejun in his own way.
Is that supposed to be comforting?!
It wasn’t comforting at all.
But thanks to that, Sejun regained his composure.
At that moment,
Kueng!
[Dad, cheer up!]
[Sejun-nim, cheer up! You’re the most capable man in the world, Park Sejun!]
(Pip-pip. Sejun-nim, you look great today!)
Whiirr! Whiirr!
[Cheer up! Sejun-nim, you’ve got that attractive pheromone!]
Behind Sejun, Cuengi, Flamie, Paespaes, and Sweetie were enthusiastically cheering him on.
By the way, the Blackie family, being sunfishes, were put in the void storage with 100 pieces of roasted and dried sweet potatoes.
That’s right. Looks aren’t everything!
Revived by the support of his companions, Sejun regained his self-esteem.
I have abilities!
The ability to stand before Aileen.
He recalled all the things he had prepared for this moment.
He had worked hard to raise his stats, borrowing 0.5% of the stats of the six Tower Farmers using his job trait, bringing his total stats to around 15,000.
With the effect of [Talent: Slightly Stronger Than You Look], all his stats were boosted by 10%, and the Black Bean Set amplified them 16 times, bringing his total stats close to 270,000.
On top of that, he had eaten the perfect platinum royal jelly given to him by Sweetie, which had awakened the talent [Talent: Endurance].
He had also equipped the Durable Spider Silk Camouflage Suit made by Ggomi, boosting his defense.
With the effect of [Talent: Strong Tenacity], his vitality was increased by 10%.
He had even reduced the gap between him and Aileen with the powers
He had intentionally eaten 99 golden grapes infused with the energy of the world, leaving just one more to eat so he could trigger a small miracle.
Lastly, he had the powers
As Sejun was reflecting on all the preparations he had made to meet Aileen…
[Bev, the God of Courage, is pleased with your courageous attempt to face an insurmountable opponent.]
[You have gained 1 achievements of Courage.]
Bev’s message appeared.
It would have been nice if it ended there…
[Bev, the God of Courage, says that a true warrior should face their opponent with nothing but their bare body, and suggests that next time you should come unprepared…]
Bev-nim, blocked.
[Your conversation with the Bev, the God of Courage, has been blocked for 3 days.]
Because of the unnecessary remark, Sejun ended up blocking him.
Thus, 5 seconds had passed since Sejun faced Aileen, and
Sejun didn’t faint!
“Sejun, I missed you!”
Aileen, who had been nervously glancing around, unable to make eye contact with Sejun for fear that he might faint, finally looked at him and spoke in a bright voice.
“Yeah. Me too.”
To think he could look at Aileen for this long.
Even as Sejun responded, this moment felt like a dream.
Of course, it was only possible because Theo was blocking about half of the energy that Aileen was directing towards Sejun.
“Sh-Should we eat first?”
“Yes! I’ve always wanted to see Sejun cook in person!”
“Then, let’s head to the kitchen.”
“Okay!”
As Sejun led Aileen to the kitchen,
Kuehehehe.
[Hehe.]
(Baehehe.)
Whiirr.
Naturally, Cuengi, Flamie, Paespaes, and Sweetie followed closely behind the two.
The four of them hid behind the kitchen wall, poking their heads out to sneak a peek inside.
-It’s fortunate that Kaiser isn’t here.
-This is a good time.
-Totally.
Kellion, Ramter, and Tier had also stationed themselves by the window, peeking in secretly.
After all, watching someone else’s romance was as entertaining as watching a fight.
A little later…
“It’s pizza and pasta. Try it.”
They say it’s suitable for a first date on TV.
Sejun placed the food on the table, and
“Thanks! I’ll enjoy it!”
For once, Aileen started eating Sejun’s food slowly, carefully chewing every bite.
Kehihihi. As expected, our Sejun’s food is delicious!
Today, it tasted even better because she could enjoy it while looking directly at Sejun, not through the crystal orb!
As Aileen savored the food…
Rip, rip.
…?!
She felt something tearing.
It wasn’t her clothes tearing from eating too much, but
‘A curse broke!’
Out of the 20 curses she had placed on herself, the weakest one, ‘Dulling Momentum’, had failed to withstand Aileen’s power and broke.
At the same time, Aileen’s dulled momentum sharpened and rushed toward Sejun.
“Meow!”
Theo, who was clinging to Sejun’s knee, let out a shout, blocking Aileen’s sharp momentum from reaching Sejun.
‘Theo, well done!’
‘Puhuhut. Aileen noona, just leave it to Hybrid Vice Chairman Theo, meow!’
Aileen and Theo exchanged glances secretly without Sejun noticing.
But the real problem started now.
With one of the 20 curses balancing Aileen’s power broken…
Oh no!
The rest of the curses began breaking in a chain reaction as they lost their balance.
While they continued eating, five more of Aileen’s curses broke, but thankfully, Theo managed to hold out.
The great Hybrid Chairman Park is amazing, meow! I, Hybrid Vice Chairman Theo, will support Chairman Park, meow!
[Your belief in Black Tower’s Tower Farmer Park Sejun cannot be measured.]
[Your potential is rising infinitely.]
Thanks to the effect of the Golden Boots of the One Who Believes in Miracles, Theo’s potential increased infinitely.
[Talent: Energy Absorber absorbs energy.]
[All stats increased by 1.]
[All stats increase by 10 by burning wealth (10 billion Tower Coins).]
…
..
.
Flash!
Theo absorbed Aileen’s energy and increased his stats by burning gold as much as his increased potential.
With this newfound strength, Theo successfully blocked Aileen’s energy from affecting Sejun, allowing Sejun to enjoy the meal with Aileen peacefully.
“Aileen, how about some dessert? Do you like ice cream?”
“Yes! I’d love that!”
“Then wait just a moment. I’ll make it for you right away.”
While Sejun was busy making strawberry ice cream,
‘Theo, thank you so much.’
‘Puhuhut. Aileen-noona, don’t worry, meow!’
Aileen gave Theo another thankful look.
At that moment…
[There’s no more money to burn.]
“Meow?!”
I’m out of money, meow!
Sejun’s entire fortune had been depleted far sooner than expected.
Even though the Golden Boots of the One Who Believes in Miracles were bringing in money with the built-in skill “Money Hug”
[Money Hug (Master) had activated.]
[You’ve earned 10,000 Tower Coins.]
…
..
.
Compared to the speed at which Theo was burning money, it was like pouring water into a bottomless pit.
And then,
Rip-rip-rip.
As if waiting for the money to run out, the remaining curses on Aileen began to break all at once.
This is bad.
Aileen tried to hurry back to the Administrator’s area to avoid causing any harm to Sejun, but
She couldn’t move because her power was entangled as the curses were destroyed.
This is really bad, meow! If this keeps up, I won’t be able to help the Great Hybrid Chairman Park or Aileen-noona, meow!
Seeing the situation, Theo realized he needed emergency funds.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.
‘Hel-nim, give me money, meow! Or else, I’ll push for your impeachment, meow!’
Theo, the demon of Serial Impeachment Threats, demanded money from Hel, the God of Merchants, who seemed the easiest target.
***
Hel’s Pawnshop.
[10,000 Mushroom Ants, tenant farmers of Black Tower’s Tower Farmer Park Sejun, have witnessed your temple.]
[Your Divine Power has increased by 2.]
…
..
.
“Good, this is sweet as honey.”
Chomp. Chomp.
Hel was happily munching away, recording his steady stream of divine power flowing in as usual.
At that moment,
[The Great Black Dragon and Administrator of the Black Tower, Aileen Pritani, has witnessed your temple.]
[Your Divine Power has increased by 50,000!]
A message appeared before Hel.
“What?!”
Why is a dragon appearing here?!
Frozen by the sight of the message, Hel panicked.
“Hehehe! Trust-in-Park! Trust-in-Park!”
As expected of Park Sejun! He even hangs out with dragons! His class is on another level!
Hel began chanting in excitement.
But while Hel was busy chanting,
[The legendary merchant of the Black Tower, Theo Park, asks you for some money.]
[The legendary merchant of the Black Tower, Theo Park, says if you refuse, he’ll push for your impeachment.]
Theo’s message appeared.
He’s not even asking to borrow it, just outright demanding money?
As expected of Theo, the cat-scoundrel, shamelessly extorting money. And from a god, no less.
Then,
[The legendary merchant of the Black Tower, Theo Park, says if you don’t respond within 3 seconds, he’ll immediately start an impeachment vote.]
“Fine! I’ll give it to you!”
Once again, Hel surrendered to the threat of impeachment and hurriedly sent the Tower Coins she had accumulated to Theo.
***
“Hmm hmm hmm.”
Will Aileen like this?
Unaware of the enormous surge of energy from Aileen’s broken curses behind him, Sejun was diligently making strawberry ice cream.
Just then,
[The Orb of Death’s Energy warns of imminent death.]
A foreboding red message appeared before Sejun.
“Huh?!”
A warning of death?!
Being the sensitive sunfish that he was, Sejun didn’t wonder why or how this was happening.
Nom.
[You have consumed the Golden Grape Infused with the Energy of the World.]
…
…
.
Sejun simply swallowed the Golden Grape Infused with the Energy of the World that he had prepared earlier, bracing for the impending danger.
At that moment,
Maybe eating the Lucky Strawberry will help too?
Sejun spotted the strawberries he had taken out to make strawberry ice cream.
[You have consumed a Lucky Strawberry.]
[Your luck will greatly increase for one hour.]
Even though the Lucky Strawberry hadn’t been giving him any luck lately, Sejun hurriedly ate it, hoping it would help even a little this time.
For reference, when he had fed a Lucky Strawberry to Uren before, Uren experienced a slight reduction in bad luck for an hour. However, once that hour passed, a massive wave of misfortune struck Uren, and ever since then, his face turned pale at the mere sight of strawberries.
While Sejun was preparing for danger with the help of the Orb of Death’s Energy,
[Hel, the God of Merchants, bestows 100 trillion Tower Coins.]
“Puhuhut. I’ve got money now, meow!”
Fwoosh.
Theo began burning the money he received from Hel.
And then,
[The energy of the world gathers, to create a small miracle.]
[An enormous power stirs.]
[Luck overflows.]
[A large amount of money is being burned.]
[Power, luck, and money combine to amplify the strength of the small miracle.]
An extraordinary miracle occurred.
[A miracle has occurred.]
[A safe zone, where you will not be affected by each other, has been created for one hour.]
A safe zone, which would normally cost 100 quadrillion Tower Coins for Aileen to create, had appeared on the 99th floor of the Black Tower for one hour.
Now I can go on a date with Sejun without worrying!
Aileen smiled brightly at the message.
However,
“Meow?! Chairman Park, wake up, meow!”
Slap. Slap.
It seemed like they needed to wake Sejun up first.
Just before the miracle occurred, in a split second, Sejun had been hit directly by Aileen’s energy and fainted.
*****
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