Chapter 77. Return.

Chapter 77. Return.

"Theo!"

Sejun instinctively ran to protect Theo from the collapsing pile of debris.

But

"...Meow?!"

"...Huh?!"

Their eyes met, Theo's and Sejun's.

As Sejun ran, Theo was quickly escaping from the collapsing pile of debris. Upon reflection, Theo's speed was incredibly fast.

‘Who was worried about whom!’

Sejun, the weakest on the 99th floor, smiled sadly as he looked at Theo.

"President Park!!!"

Theo hurriedly stopped and called out to Sejun, but

Crash.

The pile of debris began to cover Sejun.

At that moment,

"Lord Sejun!"

"Lord Sejun!"

Elka and Hegel jumped into the pile of debris, using their massive bodies to protect Sejun.

Thud.

At the same time, a 3-meter-tall gray rock, which seemed to have been placed there by Gweung, hit the wolves and fell to the ground.

If not for the wolves, Sejun would have suffered under the rock.

"Phew. Elka, Hegel, thank you."

Sejun expressed his gratitude to the two giant wolves.

"No, it's an honor to protect the great black dragon!"

"Me too!"

The wolves wagged their tails, pleased by Sejun's praise.

"President Park! Were you trying to save me just now?"

Theo, moved by Sejun's attempt to save him, ran over and examined Sejun's body.

"Are you okay?! Any injuries?!"

He focused particularly on Sejun's knees.

"I'm fine. But what were you trying to get?"

"Right here!"

Theo pointed at the giant rock and exclaimed.

"This rock?!"

"Yes! I felt an incredible pull from it for the first time ever!!"

"Really?!"

Sejun, who knew Theo's golden front paws better than anyone, quickly got up and examined the rock. On the surface, it was just an ordinary rock, showing no special qualities.

[??? Fragment]

???

"Wow!"

This item was different from the others. The name itself was a question mark.

"Iona, use appraisal magic."

"Yes."

"Quickly, please! This is my victory!"

"Heh heh heh. You think you can beat me with such a rock?"

Iona, mocking Theo, used appraisal magic on the rock.

But

[??? Fragment]

???

"Huh?!"

Even with Iona's appraisal magic, no information about the item appeared.

"Meow-!"

Angry that her magic didn't work, Iona pulled out the Staff of Catastrophe from her back.

Then

"Eye of Truth!"

She used the highest-level appraisal magic.

Flash.

A bright light from Iona's staff seeped into the gray rock.

[??? Fragment]

This is the ninth fragment of ???.

Divine power is flowing out.

Level: ???

This time, there was a small but noticeable change.

"Lord Sejun, I'm sorry I couldn't help much. This is the limit of my abilities."

Iona said with a sad face.

"It's okay."

"At least it doesn't seem to be a cursed item since divine power is flowing out."

The fact that Iona couldn't appraise it meant the item was of an incredibly high level. Sejun was satisfied to confirm it wasn't cursed.

'I'll have to ask Eilin to appraise it later.'

Sejun decided to take the rock to the 99th floor for Eilin to check later. Eilin, lacking in mana, could neither see nor send messages outside the 99th floor through the crystal ball.

"Kwak... President Theo, I lost."

Iona admitted her defeat to Theo. The fact that the item's information didn't fully appear even with the Eye of Truth was proof that the rock was at least a legendary item.

"Puha ha ha. Iona, don't be too sad! It's only natural that you can't beat me! Now, stamp the contract!"

Theo, feeling proud, naturally pulled out the contract.

"Stamp?!"

"Yes! The loser must do what the winner asks!"

'Theo, nice!'

Sejun, standing behind, quietly gave Theo a thumbs up.

A moment later

"President Park, here's the contract!"

Theo, holding a contract with a cute hamster paw stamp, confidently climbed onto Sejun's knee and lay down, showing his belly.

“...What? Pet me!”

When Sejun didn't move, Theo placed Sejun's hand on his belly.

"Sure."

As a reward for his efforts, Sejun decided to pet him.

Pet pet.

"Meow meow meow. I'm so happy..."

Just as Theo was about to fall asleep from Sejun's petting,

Crash!

Gweung!

Black Rabbit and Gweung came up with new treasures.

"Theo, anything else pulling you?"

Sejun asked, somewhat hopeful.

“Meow...”

Theo, lying down with his eyes closed, extended his front paws and activated his detector.

But

"Nothing's pulling me. They're all useless."

Theo waved his front paws.

Thud.

Crash...

Gweung...

Our treasures are useless?! Black Rabbit and Gweung were shocked by Theo's words.

Gweung!

“Meow?!”

Gweung grabbed Theo by the collar and dragged him to their treasures.

Then

Crash!

Gweung!

Are you saying these are useless? Listen carefully! Black Rabbit and Gweung sat Theo between them and began to explain their treasures in detail.

***

"Ugh... It's hot."

Sejun, who had fallen asleep while watching Theo being harassed by Black Rabbit and Gweung, woke up due to the stifling heat.

By now, Gweung was sleeping on Sejun's back, and Theo and Black Rabbit were on his knees.

Snore.

Snore.

Snore. Snore.

"Huh?"

At first, Sejun thought he was hearing Gweung's snoring incorrectly.

But

Snore.

Snore.

Snore.

Snore.

There were four snoring sounds. When Sejun looked, he saw Iona sleeping with Theo's tail as a blanket. Now, even the head of the Mage Guild was charmed by Sejun's knees.

'Should I go back to sleep?'

Not wanting to wake the sleeping animals, Sejun closed his eyes to go back to sleep when

"Excuse me..."

Someone called out to Sejun.

"Huh? When did you guys get here?"

They were the interns who had gone home with Theo's permission.

"There's nothing to do now, so just rest."

"But there's something I need to tell you..."

Bill the intern hesitated to speak.

"What is it?"

"Wait a moment. Kids, come out!"

When Bill called out,

Thud thud thud.

Thirty cats, waiting in the distance, ran over.

"Hello! We'll work hard if you give us grilled fish!"

"Grilled fish?"

The cats from Granier Village, suffering from a food shortage, had followed the interns to find Sejun and earn grilled fish.

At that moment,

[Tower 75th Floor Zenka Lake Blue Carp Extinction: Remaining Cause Found.]

[A second intermediate manager quest has been generated.]

[Second Intermediate Manager Quest: Prevent the cats from Granier Village from hunting blue carp in Zenka Lake for one year.]

Reward: 15,000 experience points, 1,500 Tower Coins

Failure: You cannot return to your original location until the quest is completed.

A new quest appeared.

"Theo, wake up."

Sejun woke up the sleeping Theo.

"What?"

"Sign the contract."

Sejun hired the cats as guards to prevent them from hunting blue carp in Zenka Lake for one year, offering them three grilled fish per day as payment.

Then

[Second Intermediate Manager Quest Completed.]

[15,000 experience points obtained as a reward for completing the second intermediate manager quest.]

[1,500 Tower Coins obtained as a reward for completing the second intermediate manager quest.]

The second quest was completed.

***

Day 249 of the ordeal. Three days had passed since hunting the Prog.

Prog 2243/2291

"Where are they hiding?"

Sejun, checking the remaining Prog count, said.

There were only 48 Prog left, but he couldn't find where they were hiding. Since yesterday, he had been conducting a large-scale search for the remaining 48 Prog, but with no success.

However, there was another achievement. While Black Rabbit and Gweung were searching for treasures, they found the hiding place of the blue carp, which had been avoiding the Prog. There were 10 blue carp left in the hiding place.

Sejun, to prevent the extinction of the blue carp, had the cats he hired as guards take turns patrolling around the hiding place.

While continuing the Prog search, Gweung picked up a flat rock about 10 meters wide from the bottom of the lake.

Sejun, thinking there might be other fragments at the bottom of the lake, had instructed Gweung to bring up any suspicious rocks.

Crack.

When Gweung lifted the flat rock,

(Gweung?)

Snap. Snap.

Gweung's eyes met those of the Prog crouched beneath the rock. The Prog had been hiding under the rock, which is why they hadn't been found.

Boom!

(Gweung!)

Gweung put the rock down and called the surrounding wolves.

***

"Line up!"

When it was mealtime, Theo lined up the guards of Zenka Lake and gave each of them three grilled fish.

Upon hearing that the food situation in Granier Village was not good, Sejun, thinking of the cats' families, decided to triple their daily pay, giving them nine grilled fish per day.

Since the 99th floor pond was full of piranhas, the interns and wolves went to the 99th floor to get piranhas to make up for the shortage of grilled fish Theo had brought.

While sitting on the ??? Fragment and looking around,

"Found them!"

Splash!

The wolves, moving busily, jumped into Zenka Lake.

A moment later,

Splat.

The wolves came out of the lake, each carrying a Prog in their mouths and standing in front of Sejun.

Then

"All 48 Prog have been found."

Hegel, representing the wolves, reported to Sejun.

"Good job. Gather everyone."

Sejun called all the animals.

When all the animals gathered, Sejun killed the Prog.

[Intermediate Manager Quest Completed.]

[15,000 experience points obtained as a reward for completing the intermediate manager quest.]

[1,500 Tower Coins obtained as a reward for completing the intermediate manager quest.]

[Intermediate Manager Duties Completed.]

[Returning to the 99th floor in 30 seconds.]

"Gweung, pick up the rock."

Gweung!

Following Sejun's instructions, Gweung picked up the rock item.

"Good job, everyone.

Sejun hurriedly said goodbye to the animals, as he was about to return.

"Theo, take the interns to the 38th floor and come back to the 99th floor, Hegel."

"Got it! I'll finish quickly and come back!"

"I'll hurry and follow you!"

"Kwak kwak kwak. I'll visit you soon."

When Iona, looking at Sejun's knee, said,

"Iona, don't come!"

Theo, wary of the new competitor, shouted.

"Meow! I don't want to! It's my choice!"

Flash.

While they were arguing, Sejun and Black Rabbit Gweung disappeared.

***

In the Tower Manager Area.

"Kraa! It's been three days since the clever human left, why hasn't he come back yet?!"

Eilin, unable to know the situation on the 75th floor, was frustrated by the lack of news about Sejun.

"Kraa. Is he hurt anywhere?"

She was most worried that the weak Sejun might be injured somewhere.

While Eilin was worrying about Sejun,

[Intermediate Manager Tower Farmer Park Sejun has completed his mission.]

[Returning to the 99th floor.]

"Kraa kraa! The clever human is back!"

Eilin, now able to see Sejun again, was delighted and looked at the 99th floor through the crystal ball.

"What?! No! Another unappraised item! It's dangerous! The clever human really can't do without me! Kraa kraa."

Eilin smiled brightly at the giant unappraised rock item Gweung had put down. It was her moment to shine.

"Kraa kraa. I need to show the great black dragon."

Eilin, seizing the opportunity to show off, was about to speak to Sejun when the black dragon statue got there first.