Chapter 94 of 100
Chapter 94: Gaining Authority
7 min read1,837 words
Chapter 94: Gaining Authority
"Elka, how did you know I was here?"
Sejun asked Elka. He had moved to the 67th floor of the tower without telling anyone.
"I heard from the golden bat."
"Oh..."
Sejun realized he had forgotten about the golden bat.
The golden bat, perhaps because it had been imprisoned for a long time, liked to hide in dark places, and Sejun often forgot about its existence. It was a bat with a weak presence.
At that moment,
Keruk. Keruk.
Lizardmen followed the wolves and entered.
"Sir Sejun, I am Tamuro, the Great Lizardman Warrior responsible for the 67th floor of this tower."
Elka introduced a lizardman who was a head taller than the others to Sejun.
"Hello. I am Tamuro!"
Tamuro bowed 90 degrees to Sejun. He had heard from Elka that Sejun was going to meet the Great Black Dragon and wanted to make a good impression.
However, the timing was not good.
"How are you managing the 67th floor?! Because of you, our President Park is suffering!"
Theo, who had climbed onto Sejun's knee and was in a state of agitation, shouted at Tamuro. He looked ready to strike with his front paws at any moment.
And then,
Ching?!
Gweong?!
The black rabbit and Gweong, following their big brother, shouted at Tamuro. They carried a hammer and a branch on their shoulders to scare Tamuro.
'What is this?'
Tamuro was flustered, unable to get angry at the great Black Dragon or the playful creatures.
But if he had known that Sejun was the only one he could defeat here, he would have been even more flustered.
At that moment,
"Quack, quack, Sir Tamuro, how did you manage this floor? The number of Red Locusts was clearly decreasing thanks to Sejun's blade leaves."
Iona, the president of the Mage Association, questioned Tamuro.
"I'm sorry. In fact..."
Tamuro, who could not lie to Iona, who was in a state of anger level 2, bowed his head and admitted that he had taken money from Tariq, the head of the Chau Caravan, and allowed him to act independently.
"Every time Tariq went out with other wandering merchants, the number of Red Locusts increased significantly?"
"Yes. I don't know why he did such a crazy thing, but it seems he was feeding the Red Locusts."
"Are you sure about that? Do you have any evidence or witnesses that Tariq fed the Red Locusts?"
Iona asked in detail. Tariq, who led the Chau Caravan, was one of the members of the board with strong influence over the Wandering Merchant Association.
"If I attack a wandering merchant of the Wandering Merchant Association without evidence or witnesses, the situation could get complicated."
"There isn't...any."
He had not thought about creating evidence and had not created other witnesses to keep the money for himself.
At that moment,
"If there's no evidence or witnesses, we can create them. But..."
Sejun, who had been listening, spoke.
Chak.
Sejun extended his hand to Tamuro.
"...?"
"Hand over the money you received from Tariq. All of it."
Sejun and the animals were suffering because of the money Tamuro had received. He intended to take everything he could.
And then,
Rustle.
Theo was taking out a contract from his backpack beside Sejun. He was indeed a worthy successor to Sejun.
***
In the office of Grid, the landlord of the 55th floor of the tower.
Bang!
"Why is there still no news?!"
Grid, in a fit of rage, broke the armrest of the chair he was sitting in. He should have received news that the locusts had moved to the 68th floor by now.
"That... That's because we scattered over 100,000 monster corpses on the 67th floor and confirmed that they had turned into Purple Locusts. It's just that the troops on the 67th floor are fighting too well."
Shred, Grid's right-hand man, answered cautiously, reading the anger in Grid's eyes.
"What?! Fighting well? Is that what you're saying?!"
"I'm sorry."
"Useless! Tell Tariq to scatter more monster corpses on the 67th floor right now!"
"Yes, I understand."
Tariq, who received Grid's order, headed back to the 67th floor.
***
Gweong.
"Here. Manage your subordinates well."
Sejun handed the contract, stamped with Tamuro's seal, to Theo.
"Don't worry! I'll keep an eye on you! Tariq!"
Theo glared at Tamuro.
"Yes..."
'How did it come to this?'
As Tamuro worried about his uncertain future,
[Your crops have eliminated pests.]
[You have gained 1 experience point.]
...
..
.
[You have leveled up.]
[You have gained 1 bonus stat point.]
The antidote in the Giant Leek was killing the Purple Locusts, and Sejun kept leveling up.
And then,
[A quest has been triggered.]
[Job Quest: Realize the Joy of Harvesting.]
Use the Harvest skill 100,000 times (0/100,000)
Reward: Level 51 unlock, 50,000 Tower Coins, all Tower Farmer job skills +1 level
Sejun reached level 50.
"Oh!"
The reward of all Tower Farmer job skills +1 level caught Sejun's attention.
Sejun currently had four job skills: Sowing (Lv. 5), Harvesting (Lv. 4), Seed Shop (Lv. 2), and Seed Collection (Lv. 3).
While Sowing and Harvesting did not have significant effects at higher levels, Seed Shop and Seed Collection were promising.
Especially the Seed Shop, which would increase in grade as its level increased, was highly anticipated.
However, to receive the reward...
"Phew. 100,000 times."
The number made him sigh. Even if this were the 99th floor, it would take 20-30 days.
But this was the 67th floor. Apart from the Giant Leek that Sejun had planted, there were no crops left to harvest after the locusts had swept through.
At that moment,
[The Purple Locusts have evolved into Red Locusts.]
[The quest has been updated.]
[Your previous efforts have been reflected in the quest reward.]
[Intermediate Manager Quest: Eradicate the Purple Locusts on the 67th floor.]
Red Locusts: 0/699,762,1289
Reward: 1,500,000 experience points, 15,000 Tower Coins
Failure: You cannot return to your original location until the quest is completed.
"Wha?!"
As the number of locusts decreased, they turned red again.
***
[The number of Purple Locusts on the 67th floor has decreased to less than 7 billion.]
[The Purple Locusts on the 67th floor have met the conditions for regression.]
[The Purple Locusts on the 67th floor have regressed to Red Locusts.]
"Hehehe. Just as expected, Sejun!"
Eileen laughed as she saw the alert in the crystal ball.
"Oh! This isn't the time for that."
Eileen had been reviewing the authorities she could grant to Sejun's Intermediate Manager emblem. She had learned this information while studying the duties of a manager from Kaiser.
<Authority: Unexhausted Mana>
<Authority: Master of the Wind>
...
..
.
<Authority: Indestructible Body>
While pondering which authorities to grant to Sejun for hours,
[The number of Red Locusts on the 67th floor has decreased to less than 6 billion.]
The number of Red Locusts was rapidly decreasing.
"Sejun is weak, so this would be best, right?"
Eileen chose the authority to grant to Sejun's Intermediate Manager emblem.
[Grant <Authority: Indestructible Body> to the Intermediate Manager emblem of the tower.]
Eileen, who was always worried about Sejun's weak body, made the decision.
***
"Elka and Tamuro, go back and spread the news that the number of locusts has decreased. If Tariq comes, catch him on the spot."
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Since it was not difficult to eliminate the locusts without the help of the lizardmen or wolves, Sejun instructed them to catch Tariq, who had worsened the situation by feeding the Red Locusts.
"Use this to record evidence."
Iona handed a small necklace to Tamuro.
After sending the wolves and lizardmen back to the waypoint,
"Come on."
Sejun and the animals, who had been resting, went to bed. It had been a long day, starting with the morning hunt in the western forest.
The next morning.
"Ugh..."
Sejun woke up feeling heavy.
He started to move the things that were making his body heavy.
"Ugh."
First, he untangled Gweong's hands, which were holding him from behind.
Then he removed the black rabbit and Kkyu, who were sleeping on his stomach, and Theo and Iona, who were on his knees.
Seeing the black rabbit and Kkyu sleeping together, he felt a sense of betrayal but ignored it.
"Ugh."
Sejun placed the animals he had removed on Gweong's body and got up.
At that moment,
Thump.
"Huh?"
Sejun lifted his leg, feeling something touch his knee.
"Meow."
Theo, who was clinging to Sejun's knee even in his sleep, followed him up.
And then,
"Quack."
Iona, who was holding onto Theo's tail as if not to let go, also climbed up.
Dangling.
"Haha."
Sejun burst out laughing at the sight of the two hanging from him even in their sleep. They were too cute.
Chak.
Sejun grabbed Theo's neck and made sure he was hanging properly from his knee.
Just as he was about to go outside to check on the Giant Leek,
[The Intermediate Manager of the tower has granted <Authority: Indestructible Body> to the Intermediate Manager emblem.]
"Indestructible Body?"
Sejun checked the black dragon tattoo on the back of his hand.
[Black Tower Intermediate Manager Emblem]
A symbol proving that the bearer is an Intermediate Manager of the Black Tower
Grants the authority to manage the Black Tower.
Authority: <Indestructible Body>
<Authority: Indestructible Body>
The body cannot be destroyed.
"Cannot be destroyed?"
Sejun took out a dagger to test the authority.
But,
"What if it hurts?"
The fear overcame his curiosity when he was about to cut his arm to test it.
Swish.
Sejun put the dagger away and
"Ahem. This isn't the time for that."
He pretended to be busy and moved to where the Giant Leek was planted.
"Wow."
When he arrived at the spot where he had planted 5,000 Giant Leeks, he saw many of them with upgraded grades, their leaves turning dark green.
"Good."
Sejun started harvesting the upgraded leeks.
[Harvested Giant Leek that exterminated a swarm of poisonous insects.]
[99,999 times left to complete the job quest.]
[Job experience increased slightly.]
[Proficiency in Harvesting (Lv. 4) increased slightly.]
[30 experience points gained.]
While he was harvesting the leeks,
"Meow? President Park, where are we?"
Theo woke up.
And then,
Rubbing.
"Meow?"
Theo noticed Iona, who was rubbing her tail while sleeping.
Buzz.
Theo tried to shake Iona off by swinging his tail, but Iona, who was using an adhesive spell, did not budge.
"Meep!"
While Theo was trying to shake Iona off, Sejun finished harvesting the leeks.
"I'll make something with this for breakfast today."
Sejun looked at the 1,000 leeks he had harvested and said proudly.
Sejun, who believed that higher-grade crops tasted better, imagined that cooking with these would result in a more delicious and better-optimized dish.
While he was imagining the taste of the dish and heading back to the cave,
Ching!!!
Gweong!!!
The black rabbit and Gweong, who had woken up and found Sejun gone, were frantically calling for him and rushing out.