TL: Hanguk
Kweesi! Kweesi!
[Here it is! I’ve brought the most delicious head especially for you!]
Around the time when Cuengi was about to fill his snack bag with chestnuts, Godori proudly presented a snake’s head, the size of a fist, to Sejun. It seemed freshly killed as blood dripped from it.
“Ah! Sorry… I forgot I had eaten a little while ago.”
Kweesi… Kweesi!
[Oh… Then please take it and eat it when you are hungry!]
Godori pushed the snake’s head towards Sejun.
“No! That’s never going to happen!!!”
Sejun exclaimed, stepping back.
Kweesi…?
[Could it be… you’re not pleased with our hospitality…?]
Godori asked, looking anxious.
“Ah… No, it’s not that…”
Just as Sejun struggled to articulate himself,
“Sir Sejun, I am… I am sorry!”
Hegel and the Black Wolf tribe’s wolves rushed over and apologized, bowing down. They had hurried back after hearing from the golden bat that Sejun was looking for them after finishing their conversation with the boss at the 83rd floor waypoint.
Hegel’s eyes widened at the sight of the hedgehogs surrounding Sejun.
‘There were monsters?!’
“Sir Sejun! Please, let me take full responsibility for this!”
Hegel was restless because he didn’t know there was a monster hiding. He had no excuses. He had to take responsibility for his mistake, even if it cost his life.
“It’s okay. But be more careful next time.”
Honestly, Sejun was just relieved they were hedgehogs. It could’ve ended much worse had they been other monsters.
“Yes! Thank you for your forgiveness! I will take Sir Sejun’s words to heart.”
“Alright. But Hegel, you look very hungry? Running all the way here must’ve made you hungry, right? Very, very hungry, right? Here, eat this.”
Sejun pointed at the snake head, insisting Hegel should be hungry.
“Wha… Sir Sejun…”
Sejun was desperately trying to get rid of the snake’s head,
‘He’s giving this delicious treat to someone like me who made a mistake!’
Hegel was deeply moved that day.
“Alright! Let’s get to work!”
Sejun, who handed the snake’s head to Hegel, quickly started harvesting chestnuts.
Kweesi!
The hedgehogs climbed the trees and dropped the chestnut burrs, which Cuengi and Sejun would then peel to extract the chestnuts.
Krueng!
While Cuengi easily cracked the chestnut burrs brought by the hedgehogs by hand while sitting on the ground,
“Land Moving!”
Sejun used a skill to put 100 chestnut burrs underground at once, a somewhat cumbersome method, but he had no other choice; he couldn’t crack them by hand.
By the time they had cleaned about half of the chestnut tree of its burrs,
Gurgle.
Krueng!
[Daddy, I’m hungry!]
Cuengi’s stomach growled. It was dinner time.
Kweesi!
[We will catch dinner for Master Cuengi!]
Upon hearing Cuengi’s proclamation of hunger, Godori reacted as if it was a serious situation, getting ready to set out.
“No! You guys have worked hard too. Let’s eat something different today.”
Kweesi…
[No, but we really…]
Godori looked uneasy.
“No! Just stay put! Otherwise, I’ll kick you out of the farm!”
Sejun spoke firmly, even threatening the hedgehogs. He really didn’t want the snake’s head.
Kweesi!
[We will stay put!]
The hedgehogs froze at Sejun’s words. ‘No, guys, that’s not what he meant.’ Sejun explained that he meant they didn’t need to go hunt for dinner, and then started preparing dinner.
Dinner consisted of chestnut porridge and roasted chestnuts made from the chestnuts they harvested that day.
Swish swish swish.
Sejun went to the stream near the farm and diligently washed the chestnuts. They had harvested about 100,000 chestnuts today, and he washed 5,000 of them.
“Alright! Wash them thoroughly!”
Kweesi!
Of course, the hedgehogs helped. Since there were many hedgehogs, washing 5,000 chestnuts was quick even if each hedgehog washed only one.
After washing the chestnuts, Sejun started boiling 3,000 of them in a pot.
And then,
“You guys, make a cut in the chestnuts.”
(Yes!)
“Yes! Leave it to us!”
He instructed the golden bat and the wolves to make cuts into the remaining 2,000 chestnuts for roasting. This would make peeling them easier later on.
Swoosh.
Next, Sejun then poured rice flour into the pot, added water, and continuously stirred while boiling.
Then,
Krueng?
[Is there nothing for Cuengi to do?]
Cuengi, who usually just slept in the back, asked today if there was any work to do.
“Of course there is. Just keep stirring this.”
Sejun didn’t miss the opportunity and tossed his work to Cuengi .
“Hegel, find out the way to waypoint. I’ll be going up to the 99th floor right after harvesting the chestnuts.”
Sejun utilized the brief free time to instruct Hegel to find the route to the waypoint in advance for a swift return to the 99th floor.
The return to the 99th floor was delayed as the chestnut harvesting took more time than expected.
“Yes! I have already finished talking to the boss guarding the waypoint.”
The Black Mongoose, the boss guarding the waypoint, was preparing for a grand party with its subordinates upon hearing from Hegel that the great black dragon would be visiting the waypoint.
‘I hope it’s not a giant snake head.’
Sejun checked a chestnut to see if it was well-cooked, pushing aside his ominous feeling.
Swoosh.
He sliced a chestnut in half with his dagger and tasted its soft inside.
“It’s well-cooked. Guys, now, peel these.”
Sejun instructed the resting golden bats and wolves to peel the boiled chestnuts.
Kweesi!
[We will do it!]
Feeling left out, Godori stepped forward.
“How will you peel it?”
Ping!
In response to Sejun’s question, Godori plucked one of its steel spikes.
And then,
Kwishushushush.
Adopting a fencing en garde posture, it stabbed towards the boiled chestnut.
Kweesi?
[How is it?]
Godori asked with a confident expression.
“I heard all the sounds you made with your mouth, you know. I told you to peel the chestnut, not to make a hole in it!”
Kweesi……
[I’m sorry…]
“No, you don’t have to be sorry……”
While Sejun did reprimand Godori for not doing the job properly, he couldn’t be too harsh.
‘What if it gets annoyed and stabs me?’
Godori’s stabbing attack was extraordinarily powerful. It might even pierce Sejun’s bone armor.
“Just stay quiet, pick the chestnuts.”
Kweesi!
[Yes!]
So, the hedgehogs picked chestnuts again until dinner was ready.
And then,
“Let’s eat dinner!”
Sejun and the animals feasted on roasted chestnuts and chestnut porridge until they were full and fell asleep.
***
‘I doubt the box he took last time had anything valuable……’
Taru was confused seeing Theo confidently handing over 1000 tower coins.
‘Is he not the type to give up after failing once?’
Theo came to draw again after succeeding, but Taru thought of Theo as a persistent cat merchant.
“What are you waiting for? Take the money, meow!”
Theo urged Taru to take the money. Theo wanted to draw quickly and go to Sejun. Or more precisely, Sejun’s lap.
“Fine. Remember, you can only take one item out.”
Thud.
Taru opened the door to the lost and found storage.
“I know, meow! I’m going in, meow! Meow meow meow!”
Theo entered the lost and found storage humming to himself. The storage had a central corridor with four rooms on each side, totaling eight rooms.
“This way, meow.”
Theo stretched out his front paw and followed the attraction pull. He ended up in the third room on the left. Inside the room was a massive pile of miscellaneous items that had accumulated over time.
Dust had accumulated on the pile of miscellaneous items, indicating how long they had been neglected. To find an item, he would have to sift through the dust.
Originally, the attraction pull on his front paws was strongest here. However, Theo, who disliked getting dirty, had always avoided it.
“Looks like it’s finally time to search here, meow!”
Theo started digging through the pile of miscellaneous items. There was one more attraction, hinting at another item in a different room, but it was weaker than the one here.
After an hour of digging through the pile,
“I found it, meow!”
Theo, covered in dust, picked up a black stone piece that fit perfectly into his front paw.
“But what is this, meow?”
Theo examined the stone piece carefully. No matter how he looked at it, it was just an ordinary stone. But determining its significance wasn’t his job.
“Aileen will appraise this, meow!”
And once it was appraised…
“Puhuhut. An extension to my Vice Chairman’s term, meow!”
Theo exited the lost and found storage triumphantly.
“You really intend to take that?”
Taru asked Theo, who came out of the lost and found storage holding just a piece of black stone, as it took him over an hour and he thought Theo might bring something significant.
“Yes, meow!”
Theo, however, replied too innocently while holding just a piece of stone. It was hard not to feel sympathetic.
Taru felt more and more guilty. Last time it was a shabby box, this time it was a piece of stone that could to be found everywhere on the roadside.
‘If you wanted such a stone, you should have just searched the ground! Don’t make me feel guilty for no reason!’
“Then, I’ll be off, meow!”
“Alright.”
As Theo turned to leave, Taru barely resisted the urge to call him back and return his money.
‘He took that piece of stone, so he probably won’t come back, right?’
Taru felt a pang of sadness at the thought that Theo might not return.
Bang!
With a mix of emotions, Taru closed the storage room door.
***
The next morning.
“Cha!”
Sejun woke up, feeling refreshed. It was natural since he slept atop the soft belly of Cuengi, who had enlarged to a size of 3 meters.
Sejun carefully got off Cuengi’s belly and prepared breakfast. He decided on honey sirutteok (TL: a type of rice cakes) for the menu.
He added a little water to the rice flour, sieved it through a fine strainer, steamed half of it, sprinkled honey in the middle, and then added the remaining rice flour and steamed it. It didn’t take much effort.
About 20 minutes later, as the rice cakes were nearly done,
Sniff, sniff.
Krueng?
[Is that the scent of honey sirutteok about to be done?]
Cuengi swiftly caught the aroma and woke up. After eating the honey sirutteok for breakfast, they resumed their chestnut harvesting again.
Then,
“Sir Sejun, leave it to us now! We will handle everything!”
Hegel, showing off his skills at peeling chestnuts, spoke to Sejun, who was using his Land-moving skill to extract chestnuts.
The wolves had been practicing something in the corner since yesterday, and it seemed they were practicing peeling chestnuts.
“You worked hard. But I also need to practice… so let’s just do it together.”
“Yes!”
Sejun was practicing his ‘Land Moving’ skill while harvesting chestnuts. Thanks to that, he made some progress. Yesterday, he could extract chestnuts from about 100 chestnut burrs at once, but today he could do it from about 120.
With the wolves joining in peeling the chestnuts, the harvest was completed faster than expected.
“Godori, please continue to take good care of the chestnut farm.”
Kweesi!
[Leave it to me! I’ll give my life for it!]
Godori responded to Sejun’s words with a grave expression.
“No, if it’s too dangerous, you can run away. Just report to the 99th floor of the tower. Don’t risk your life.”
Sejun instructed Godori and set off for the waypoint.
“Let’s go!”
After about an hour’s journey on the backs of the wolves, Sejun arrived at the waypoint.
[83rd Floor Boss, Black Mongoose Monggu]
Yip yip!
The Black Mongoose Monggu, the boss of the 83rd floor, about 1 meter in size, and its subordinate Black Mongooses greeted Sejun with a bow.
‘Just as I thought…’
As Sejun expected, behind the Black Mongooses, a giant snake head was being roasted for him.
“I’m not hungry, so don’t leave any for me, eat it all!”
Before Monggu could offer the snake head, Sejun preemptively spoke.
“Yes! Guys, let’s go!”
Yip?!
At first, the Black Mongooses were confused by the command to eat the snake head, but as soon as the wolves started eating, they hurriedly began to feast as well.
Krueng!
“Cuengi, you can’t!”
Sejun stopped Cuengi, who was about to run after the wolves.
And then,
[Waypoint of the 83rd floor of the tower has been saved.]
[Loading other floor’s saved waypoint.]
[Saved waypoint (2)]
– 99th floor
– 77th floor
Sejun registered the waypoint.
“Now let’s go. Cuengi and Golden Bat, go into the void storage.”
As Sejun was about to move to the 99th floor through the waypoint,
“Huh?! Theo is nearby?”
Sniff, sniff.
Flap, flap…
At Sejun’s words, Cuengi and Golden Bat focused on the smell and sound.
A moment later,
Krueng!
[I smell Big Bro!]
(I hear Big Bro’s footsteps!)
Both sensed that Theo was nearby and looked at Sejun in amazement. Sejun felt the same.
“But how did I sense him?”
It seemed as if Sejun had developed an ability to detect Theo, just like Theo had a Sejun’s lap detector.
After waiting for about 30 minutes,
“Chairman Park, I’m here, meow!”
Theo, the crafty Mogul, appeared and clung to Sejun’s knee. Thanks to that, they could return to the 99th floor together.
And then,
“Chairman Park, this isn’t right, meow! As a Vice Chairman, I refuse to take a bath, meow!”
“I refuse too.”
Splash.
As soon as they arrived, Sejun headed straight for the fountain to take a bath.
*****
1/5
