Chapter 50 of 100
Chapter 50: Joining Forces
7 min read1,812 words
Elka and the wolves, having avoided the Blue Moon on the 99th floor of the tower, hurried to the 85th floor to inform the tribe's wolves that they were now working under the great black dragon. They then delivered the food that Sejun had prepared and returned to the 99th floor.
"Elka, Chief!"
A subordinate wolf called out to Elka.
"What is it?"
"Take a look over there."
The subordinate wolf pointed to something. There, on the road, three rabbits were begging.
'Are these rabbits the subordinates of the great black dragon?'
Though they looked dirty and emaciated, they were clearly rabbits. Elka thought they must have escaped from Sejun.
'How dare they run away from the great black dragon!'
"We will capture them and bring them to the great black dragon!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Thus, Elka and the wolves each grabbed a begging gray rabbit and brought them back to the 99th floor of the tower.
***
When Sejun and Theo ascended to the ground to check on the wolves,
Thump.
The wolves gently placed the three gray rabbits they had been carrying in front of Sejun.
Shiver, shiver.
The gray rabbits, who had been dragged there, were trembling in fear.
"Elka, what's this?"
"We have captured the escaped subordinates of the great black dragon."
"Escaped subordinates?"
Elka looked at Sejun with a "Did I do well?" expression, wagging his tail.
"You did well."
Sejun patted Elka's head.
'Where did you find these kids?'
[Builder Gray Rabbit]
[Wood Crafter Gray Rabbit]
[Leaf Crafter Gray Rabbit]
The wolves had brought the craftsmen.
***
Shiver, shiver.
What should we do, big brother?
I'm scared, big brother.
Even if we are taken by the dragon, we will survive as long as we stay conscious. Everyone, stay calm.
The builder rabbit, feeling the gaze of the human, cat, and wolves, tried to calm his trembling siblings. Though he was also anxious, showing fear would only worsen the situation.
We are the gray rabbits of the great rabbit kingdom!
The older brother rabbit stepped forward and declared this boldly, trying to shake off his anxiety.
At that moment,
Whoosh.
A human hand reached out toward him.
'Did I go too far?'
The older brother rabbit closed his eyes tightly, regretting his actions.
***
Beep!
The builder rabbit, the most robust of the three malnourished rabbits, seemed to have something to say. When Sejun extended his hand to communicate with the builder rabbit,
Beep!!
Beep!!
The other two gray rabbits lunged at Sejun's hand.
However,
"Grumble. How dare you approach the great black dragon!!!"
The wolves easily knocked out the gray rabbits with a swipe of their paws. With the situation under control, Sejun placed his hand on the builder rabbit's head.
And,
"Sorry, our wolves misunderstood."
Beep? Beep?
[Misunderstood? So, are you going to spare us?]
"Of course. Why would I kill you?"
Beep...
[Thank goodness...]
Relieved by Sejun's promise not to kill them, the builder rabbit fainted.
"Let them sleep and we'll talk tomorrow."
"Yes, great black dragon."
Sejun told the wolves and brought the gray rabbits down to the cave. He laid them down by the fire and covered them with leaves.
"Mr. Theo, let's get some sleep."
"Meow?! I'm the CEO, meow!"
"Time's up."
The extended CEO time for Theo had ended.
"Ah, I see, meow."
Sejun's words made Theo accept it and climb onto Sejun's stomach to sleep.
***
Gweong!
In the morning, Gweong came to play and woke everyone up.
"Ugh!"
Sejun got up, added a mark to the wall, and started the 213th day of his ordeal.
And,
Squeak!
Squeak!
The rabbit couple, coming out of the cave, were surprised to see the gray rabbits still sleeping. Their expressions showed that they recognized them.
"Do you know each other?"
Sejun asked, and the husband rabbit nodded.
And,
Click.
Squeak.
[Long ago, there was a great rabbit kingdom.]
The husband rabbit began his explanation, placing his hand on Sejun's body.
According to the husband rabbit, in the past, the rabbit kingdom was home to three rabbit tribes living together: the white rabbits who loved farming, the gray rabbits who were skilled at crafting, and the black rabbits who were good at fighting.
Squeak...
[But the day the red monsters covered the sky...]
The sudden invasion of the red monsters led to the fall of the rabbit kingdom, and the rabbits scattered in search of survival. The gray rabbits who were now unconscious were from the neighboring village.
While he was telling the story,
Crunch. Crunch.
The sound of slowly chewing leaves could be heard.
"Huh?"
Looking at the source of the sound, Sejun saw that the gray rabbits were eating the leaves he had covered them with, even in their sleep. They must have been very hungry.
"Let's wake them up, feed them, and put them back to sleep."
Squeak!
The rabbit couple, delighted by Sejun's words, quickly prepared more piranhas and leaves. They were happy to meet fellow kingdom members.
As breakfast was almost ready,
Sniff. Sniff.
The gray rabbits, following the delicious smell, woke up on their own.
And,
Beep?!
Beep?!
Beep?!
The gray rabbits, seeing the white and black rabbits moving around, shed tears, thinking they had died and were being welcomed by the rabbits in heaven.
But,
Rumble.
The sound from their stomachs woke the builder rabbit. If he were dead, his stomach wouldn't make noise.
At that moment,
Squeak!
The rabbit couple approached the now conscious gray rabbits.
Uncle!
Aunt!
How have you been?
The gray rabbits greeted the rabbit couple warmly and asked about their well-being.
Your parents?
They passed away protecting us from the red monsters.
...
The rabbit couple quietly hugged the gray rabbits.
At that moment,
Rumble.
The gray rabbits' stomachs rumbled again.
Squeak!
The rabbit couple quickly fed the gray rabbits breakfast.
This is our farm owner.
And these are our children.
While eating breakfast, the rabbit couple introduced Sejun and Theo to the gray rabbits, and they greeted each other.
After breakfast, the rabbits went to their respective tasks. The gray rabbits, wanting to earn their keep, started making something.
"Huh? What's this?!"
Sejun, coming to the fire to prepare lunch, found the gray rabbits working hard on something.
By the fire, a basket made of leaves was filled with neatly cut leaf pieces. There were also spoons and chopsticks made from nearby trees, which were of much higher quality than what Sejun had made.
"Do you need a job?"
He had planned to suggest it after getting to know them better, but seeing their skills, Sejun couldn't help but ask.
Beep!
Beep!
Beep!
The gray rabbits nodded vigorously. They had worked hard to impress the farm owner, Sejun.
If they could eat like this every morning, or even just have leaves every day, they would be satisfied.
Thus, the three gray rabbits joined Sejun's farm, significantly improving his living standards.
"From now on, the gray rabbits will live with us."
Sejun announced the gray rabbits' joining the farm during lunch.
After finishing lunch,
"Sleepy, meow. Give me your lap, meow..."
Crunch...
Gweong...
Theo and the black rabbit took Sejun's knees, and Gweong took his back, starting their afternoon nap.
"Cloud making."
Puffy puffy.
Sejun made a cloud to shade Gweong.
Snore.
Sejun sipped his coffee and examined the cloud he had made.
"But can it move?"
Thinking about moving the cloud,
Swoosh.
The cloud slowly moved to the side. It was slow, but it moved.
At that moment,
[The proficiency of <Cloud Making> has slightly increased.]
"Huh?!"
The proficiency of cloud making increased, but it was unclear if the overall skill proficiency of Thunderstorm (雨雷) had improved.
Gweong...
As the cloud moved to the side, the sudden bright sun made Gweong press his head closer to Sejun's back to avoid the light.
"Sorry, sorry."
Sejun patted Gweong's head and moved the cloud back to its original position.
He then tried changing the shape of the cloud. While he couldn't make detailed changes, he could make it thicker or thinner, wider or narrower.
Each time he changed the shape, the proficiency of cloud making increased.
"Alright, let's get up."
After a 30-minute nap, Sejun woke Theo, the black rabbit, and Gweong and started working again.
Thump.
Sejun grabbed Theo's nape as he tried to go to a quiet place for another nap.
"What, meow?"
"Our CEO Theo needs to set an example for the subordinates today."
"Is that so, meow? It's time to show my awesome self, meow! Wolves, follow me, meow!"
Paw!
With Sejun's words, Theo extended his claws and ran to the leek field.
And,
Grumble.
The wolves followed Theo to the leek field and started cutting the leaves with their sharp claws.
Sejun sent Theo and the wolves to the leek field and went down to the cave.
Cherry tomatoes, potatoes, and pumpkin sweet potatoes.
There was a lot to harvest today. Sejun had the scythe rabbit cut the sweet potato vines for later planting and started harvesting.
Snip. Snip.
Sejun quickly finished harvesting the cherry tomatoes and
Thud.
Pulled the potato plants to harvest the potatoes. The shovel rabbits dug the soil to find the remaining potatoes that weren't pulled out.
When Sejun was about to harvest the pumpkin sweet potatoes from the field where the sweet potato vines had been cut,
Thud thud.
Theo, looking weak, walked over and clung to Sejun's leg, who was cutting the leek leaves.
"CEO Theo, what's wrong?"
"The wolves are better at cutting leek leaves than me, meow..."
"Huh?"
Sejun went up to the ground to check on the wolves.
Swish.
With one swipe of a wolf's paw, a sharp wind cut 4-5 rows of leek leaves. Especially Elka's swipe cut almost 10 rows at once.
"Wow, that's impressive?"
Theo's confidence was shaken. But Sejun couldn't let Theo's spirit be crushed. He quickly tried to boost Theo's morale.
"Don't worry, CEO Theo. Your talent isn't in your claws."
"Then where is my talent, meow?"
"CEO Theo, your talent is in your paws."
"Is that so, meow?!"
Sejun's words gave Theo a great revelation.
'Puhuhu. Park Sejun is right, meow! I am a merchant! My talent is in my charming, bewitching paws that attract customers!'
The connection between his paws and other words sparked a creative idea.
Click.
With renewed spirit, Theo got off Sejun's leg and walked to a corner of the cave.
But,
Thump.
Theo was grabbed by the nape again.
"CEO Theo, you need to work."
"President Park, I'm tired, meow."
"Sure. Rest after the work is done."
Despite Theo's tired expression, Sejun firmly placed him in the sweet potato field where the vines hadn't been cut yet. Theo helped the scythe rabbit cut the vines.
A moment later,
Swish!
"See, meow! CEO Theo's awesome cutting!"
In the cave, Theo was still the strongest.