Chapter 13. Writing a Contract

Chapter 13. Writing a Contract

Theo is from the 75th floor, one of the neutral zones in the tower.

Theo, who had long admired Maril, the most beautiful woman in Granier Village.

"Theo, confess! You're good enough!"

"Yeah. The brave get the beauty."

"Confess! Confess!"

Encouraged by Oren, the son of the richest family in the village, and his friends, Theo finally confessed his hidden love.

"Maril, I actually like you! Will you go out with me?"

But

"Hmph! Know your place. How dare you look at me!"

"Yeah. Theo, know your place. Sorry, but Maril and I are dating. Hehehe."

Oren kissed Maril on the lips and mocked Theo.

"Hehehe. Theo, look at that dumbstruck face."

"Hahaha. How will he ever show his face in Granier Village again?!"

The smiles Maril had given him over the past few days,

the encouragement from his so-called friends, were all a setup to humiliate the naive Theo.

Encouraged to show his bravery by confessing in the village square, Theo was publicly rejected in front of many people, leaving him unable to hold his head high in the village.

Shocked, Theo stayed indoors for several days, then fled to become a wandering merchant with the thought of "I'll get rich and take revenge!"

Using the 50 Tower Coins he had saved up from working hard all his life, Theo bought the necessary qualifications and equipment to become a wandering merchant, and was about to buy goods to sell when

"Theo, this is a great deal, and I'll only sell it to you."

The goblin wandering merchant Scaram, who had given Theo various advice on being a wandering merchant, approached him secretly.

"What is it?"

Since Scaram had been so kind and helpful, Theo didn't doubt him at all.

The items Scaram took out were a tumbler, a mini fan, and a portable hand warmer.

"These are items from outside the tower."

"Items from outside the tower?"

"Yeah. If you take these to the upper floors, you can sell them for a very high price. The beings living up there collect such items as a hobby."

"Really?! I'll buy them!"

"This is a map showing the location of a new member of the Seed Shop. As a new member, you might be able to haggle the price down."

Believing Scaram's words, Theo followed the map to climb the tower.

However, since he had given almost all his money to Scaram for the items, he couldn't buy enough food. So Theo arrived at Sejun's location, starving.

***

"What?! You want me to work with you?"

"Yeah. And the items you brought are all junk."

Sejun first shook Theo's confidence with a blunt statement.

"What?! Junk? That's impossible!"

Sejun's words made Theo agitated. It was understandable, given that he had spent all his savings on items he believed were magical, as Scaram had told him.

"There's no magic on these at all. This tumbler blocks external contact to prevent heat transfer, and the mini fan and portable hand warmer will stop working after a few hours. Look."

Sejun demonstrated by turning on the mini fan and placing it on the ground.

"No! How would you know, Mr. Park Sejun?! Scaram said there's magic on them!"

"I came from outside the tower."

"What?!"

That explained everything.

"Scaram probably tricked you."

"That... can't be. He was so kind to me..."

While Theo was in shock, muttering to himself in denial,

Squeak!

Squeak!

Bam!

The white rabbits started farming,

Splash!

Thud!

Crunch!

Sejun and the black rabbit caught piranhas and made grilled fish.

Meanwhile, the mini fan stopped working less than an hour after it was turned on.

"Sniff! Scaram, you evil goblin brat!"

"Why am I always tricked?!"

"What do I do now?!"

Theo began to cry loudly, and his Granier dialect, which he had practiced for a long time, slipped out.

"Theo, calm down. Let's eat some grilled fish and talk about the future."

"Sniff...gulp. You'll just ask for money after feeding me, right? Sniff...I'm not a fool."

Theo swallowed hard at the sight of the grilled fish but didn't fall for it. He was naive but not foolish enough to fall for the same trick twice. Sejun had no intention of asking for money.

"No. The grilled fish is free, just like before."

Now that he had shaken Theo's confidence, it was time to comfort him. Sejun had bigger plans.

"Really?!"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Listen to my story while we eat."

Sejun held out a piece of grilled fish to Theo's front paw and began to talk about the partnership.

"Okay."

Nom nom.

Theo, listening to Sejun, ate the grilled fish voraciously. When he finished the last piece,

Thump.

"Huh?!"

He realized his left paw had already stamped the contract.

Thump.

The contract showed a clear imprint of his paw.

The contract was titled "Lifetime Distribution Contract."

"What is this doing here?"

Why was the contract, which should have been in his bag, in front of him?

Theo quickly read the contract.

"Lifetime Distribution Contract"

[Purpose and Content of the Contract]

1. This contract aims to promote the sale of Party A's agricultural products through mutual cooperation between Party A and Party B, thereby benefiting both parties.

2. Party B will sell Party A's agricultural products for life and bring back the sales proceeds.

[Compensation]

1. Party A will provide Party B with 25 grilled fish or an equivalent amount as a weekly salary.

2. Party A will give Party B 3-5% of the sales proceeds as an incentive.

[Special Clauses]

1. Party B can terminate the contract if the total sales amount from the initial transaction is 5 Tower Coins or less within one month.

2. Party B must sell the agricultural products for at least the amount specified by Party A.

3. Party B cannot create additional sales channels without Party A's permission.

4. Party B must use the Granier dialect when making transactions.

[Party A: Park Sejun]

[Party B: Theo]

At the bottom of the contract, Sejun's seal and Theo's paw print were clearly imprinted.

The first special clause was designed to give Theo an escape route to make him sign the contract.

The second and third special clauses were included to prevent Theo, who was a large target, from being taken advantage of again. The fourth special clause was based on the belief that Earthlings would definitely prefer Theo's dialect.

"What is this?"

"Let's work well together, Theo."

Sejun patted Theo's head.

"Not yet. There's the first special clause."

Theo pushed Sejun's hand away and said coolly.

"Got it. Still, we're doing business, right, Theo?"

"Hmph! That's true."

Theo answered and glanced at Sejun's hand.

Pat pat.

Sejun patted Theo's head again.

A moment later,

Snore. Snore.

Theo, who seemed tired, fell asleep while being patted by Sejun.

"Sleep well, Theo."

Sejun laid the sleeping Theo down in the cave and stood up.

'As planned.'

This way, Sejun had secured a means to earn Tower Coins.

"Ahem. It smells good, nya. No! It smells good."

Theo corrected his unconscious dialect while rubbing his eyes and waking up.

"Are you awake?"

Sejun asked while grilling fish and leeks for breakfast. A pile of freshly grilled fish was already on the side, caught by Sejun and the black rabbit that morning.

"Yes. How long did I sleep?"

"From yesterday's lunch until now."

It was the 129th day of the disaster, and Theo had slept through the morning.

"But what's that?"

Theo sniffed and asked about the pile of grilled fish.

"This week's salary. The grilled fish is getting cold. Pack it quickly."

"Okay. Thank you."

Theo briefly wondered why he was receiving a salary in a partnership but quickly started packing the grilled fish into his bag, enticed by the smell.

The bag item, essential for wandering merchants who travel through multiple floors, was enchanted with preservation, space expansion, and weight reduction spells, allowing it to store many items in their original condition for a long time.

"Let's eat breakfast!"

Squeak!

Bam!

At Sejun's call, the rabbits rushed over and started eating breakfast.

After the noisy breakfast,

"Mr. Park Sejun."

Theo called out to Sejun.

"Just call me Sejun."

"Okay. Mr. Sejun, what are you planning to sell?"

"Cherry tomatoes."

"Huh?"

Snap.

"Like this."

Sejun picked a ripe cherry tomato from the cherry tomato plant and showed it to Theo.

"These?"

Theo looked at the cherry tomatoes with skepticism.

"Take a look."

Sejun handed the cherry tomato to Theo.

"Huh? A mana cherry tomato? Is this an item?!"

"Yeah. Not bad, right?"

"How much will you sell it for?"

10 minutes of 0.1 mana increase and 10g fat breakdown.

When Theo saw the item's stats, he thought it could fetch about 0.01 Tower Coins per unit from the tower's Awakened, equivalent to 10,000 won per cherry tomato, a high price.

However,

"0.05 Tower Coins per unit."

Sejun quoted a price five times higher than Theo's estimate.

"Huh?!"

Theo looked at the cherry tomato in his paw with doubt, thinking, "Will this sell?"

Sejun was confident that his cherry tomatoes would sell at a high price. These cherry tomatoes were not for the Awakened.

While the mana cherry tomatoes provided fat breakdown and mana increase to the Awakened, the effect was minimal because their bodies were already optimized to some extent by their awakening.

However, for the non-Awakened outside the tower, the cherry tomatoes provided immediate 10g fat breakdown and a boost of energy without side effects, and they tasted excellent, making them a surefire product.

Considering the initial scarcity, Sejun believed he could even get 0.1 Tower Coins per unit.

Sejun trusted Earth's dieters. They would respond positively.

"Got it. Since it's a contract."

Theo thought it was for the best. If the total sales amount from this transaction was less than 5 Tower Coins, he could receive the grilled fish and terminate the contract.

"How many will you take?"

"About 1,000?"

Sejun pointed to the storage he had built in the corner of the cave, where cherry tomatoes were piled up.

Sejun and the rabbits helped Theo pack the cherry tomatoes into his bag.

"Then I'll be back."

Theo slung his bag over his shoulder and left the cave.

***

Five days later, on the 38th floor of the tower.

In the dark cave, 10 elite hunters from the Phoenix Guild were struggling to clear the 38th floor, but the possibility of success was still distant.

While searching the cave,

Squeak!

Spider monsters approached.

"15 spiders! Diamond formation!"

At the leader's command, the hunters quickly formed their formation.

Squeak!

The spider monsters' attack began as soon as the formation was set.

"Keep checking the rear to avoid being surrounded!"

"Got it!"

As elite hunters from the best guild on Earth, they were flawless in their teamwork.

A moment later, the battle ended.

"Phew. Good job. Collect the spider corpses and rest here for a bit."

"Okay."

As the hunters were about to collect the spider corpses and sit down to rest,

"Human, come look at these good items, nya."

A chiznyang called out to them.