Chapter 96: Bringing What You're Drawn To

Thud.

As Iona used magic, the ground began to tremble, and the cave slowly sank.

A moment later

[Intermediate Manager Quest completed.]

[Received 3 million experience points as a reward for completing the Intermediate Manager Quest.]

[Received 50,000 Tower Coins as a reward for completing the Intermediate Manager Quest.]

The quest completion message appeared, and Iona received the quest rewards as everything returned to normal. The Locusts had been annihilated by Iona's mini black hole spell.

[Completed the task as an Intermediate Manager.]

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

A message appeared, indicating that the task was complete and Iona would return to the 99th floor of the Tower.

"Iona, I'll go first."

Sejun hurriedly greeted Iona.

"Yes?"

Unfortunately, Iona, who was not designated as a subordinate, could not go with them.

Squish!

Gweong!

Kwee-kwee...

The animals waved to Iona as they said goodbye. The black rabbit and Gweong's greetings were bright, while Kwee-kwee was sad to part with his teacher.

Then,

"Pu-hu-hu. Iona, take care, kitty. President Park's lap is now mine, kitty!"

Theo, who could now monopolize Sejun's lap, taunted Iona and disappeared.

"Kwee-kwee-kwee-kwee-my sweet sleep!!!"

Iona, who couldn't get her sweet sleep, entered a state of rage at level 4.

Kwee-oo-oo!

The black hole grew with Iona's anger. It wasn't until the Nabi Swamp was erased that Iona regained her senses and hurriedly moved.

***

In the Tower's management area.

[The number of Yellow Locusts on the 67th floor of the Tower has exceeded 3 billion.]

[The number of Yellow Locusts on the 67th floor of the Tower has met the evolution conditions.]

...

..

.

[The number of Blue Locusts on the 67th floor of the Tower has exceeded 5 billion.]

...

..

.

[The Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the Tower are evolving into Purple Locusts.]

"Kueong?!"

Ailin was taken aback as the number of Locusts, which had been decreasing, suddenly increased rapidly.

"Is something happening to our Sejun?!"

Despite giving him a powerful authority to protect his body, he was still quite weak, which made her anxious.

As Ailin's worry increased,

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

[Returning to the 99th floor of the Tower.]

"Kuhihihi. So you tried to get a higher reward? Indeed, a commendable human! I knew you could do it!"

Ailin quickly looked for Sejun through the crystal ball. She had missed him after not seeing him for a few days.

***

[Arrived at the 99th floor of the Tower.]

Sejun completed his task on the 67th floor and returned to his house on the 99th floor of the Tower.

Gweong!

Gweong immediately ran to her mother upon arrival,

Squish!

Kwee-kwee.

The rabbits went to see other rabbits.

"I should check the farm, too."

"Another job, kitty? Just rest, kitty!"

Theo, who was about to rest comfortably on Sejun's lap, was annoyed that Sejun was going to work again.

"It'll be quick."

Now a complete farmer, Sejun wanted to quickly check if anything was wrong with the farm while he was away.

Then,

[The Tower's manager says you worked very hard.]

"Thanks. And thanks for the authority. I owe my life to Ailin."

[...The Tower's manager says she...she gave it to you because she was worried about you being weak before seeing you, so you don't need to be so grateful.]

Ailin, flustered by the praise, said something she didn't mean.

"But thinking you might die made me miss Ailin a lot."

To be precise, he wanted to see her at least once before dying, but Sejun's awkward phrasing made the atmosphere strange.

[......]

"Ailin?"

Sejun's words made Ailin hide, blushing.

And,

-Park Sejun, you should acknowledge me a little.

The black dragon statue on the fountain nodded.

***

After finishing his conversation with Ailin, Sejun toured the farm.

"Indeed, it's going well."

The fields of cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots on the ground were well-maintained by the white rabbits, who were farming specialists.

The harvest was successful, and the farm had grown significantly with new fields.

As Sejun inspected the farm and reached the end of the fields, he saw black soil.

"This place is almost done, too."

The Black Minotaurs had already turned about 90% of the wasteland into fertile black soil, where anything could grow well.

After inspecting the ground fields, Sejun went down to the cave.

"Flame, how are you?"

[Yes! Master! I'm so glad to see you!]

Flame, who had been waiting for Sejun, waved her leaves enthusiastically.

"Hey? The Ents have grown more?"

Sejun noticed the 10 Ents that had grown to his chest height.

[Yes! The Ents keep making and planting seeds in the western forest!]

"Really? I should go see."

As Sejun stroked Flame's leaves,

[Farmer's Touch Lv. 2 activated.]

[The growth of the apple tree is slightly accelerated while the touch is applied.]

The skill activated, promoting Flame's growth.

[Hehehe. Master! I'm growing!]

"Really."

Although there was no visible difference, Sejun didn't want to ruin Flame's good mood by saying so.

After talking with Flame, Sejun went to bed.

And,

"Meow-meow-meow."

Theo, excited to monopolize Sejun's lap after a long time, sang a happy tune. She was too happy to sleep.

Then,

(Theo! Are you here?)

"Meow!"

Theo was startled by the golden bat's greeting from the corner of the bedroom.

(I'm sorry if I startled you.)

The golden bat quickly apologized.

However,

"Meow? What do you mean, meow? I wasn't startled, meow! How are you, golden bat, meow?"

Theo, who couldn't show weakness to the youngest, pretended to be fine and asked about the golden bat's well-being.

(Yes, but I have a problem, meow.)

"Meow? What is it, meow? I'll give you advice, meow!"

Theo's breathing quickened with the expectation of being able to give advice.

(What should I bring from outside the Tower to make Sejun happy?)

The golden bat, who was soon to go outside the Tower again, was wondering what to bring to make Sejun happy.

"That's easy, meow!"

Fortunately, the golden bat's problem was in Theo's area of expertise.

(Is it easy, meow?)

"Just bring what you're drawn to, meow! Pu-hu-hu. I always get a lot of affection from Park Sejun when I bring what I'm drawn to, meow!"

(Ooh! I'm envious, meow! But how do you know what you're drawn to, meow?)

"Just know, meow!"

It was not a very helpful piece of advice.

***

Bang!

Iona used wind magic to forcefully open the door to the itinerant merchant guild's president's office and entered.

"Kwee-kwee-kwee! President Mason! I'm going to report the crimes of Tarik, the head of the Chau Caravan and the best itinerant merchant!"

"Tarik?"

'What did he do this time?'

Seeing Iona in a rage at level 3, Mason thought Tarik must have caused a significant problem this time.

"Ms. Iona, would you like some tea while we talk?"

"No. I have a busy day today. The evidence is here."

Iona, who needed to move quickly to the 99th floor to get some sweet sleep, refused Mason's offer and handed him a necklace.

"What is this?"

"A necklace with a video storage spell."

"Oh. Then I'll watch the video and decide the level of punishment for Tarik."

"I've already done that."

"What?"

"I've already punished Tarik. With the death penalty."

"What?!!!"

Iona's answer shocked Mason. Tarik was a subordinate of Grid, the landowner and chief of the boar race. Mason couldn't do anything about Tarik because of Grid, who used food as a weapon.

"Ms. Iona! No matter how big a mistake Tarik made, how could you ignore the itinerant merchant guild and kill an itinerant merchant?!"

Mason burst into a rage. The situation was now beyond repair.

"Tarik fed the Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the Tower, increasing their numbers. This is a threat to the Tower's safety. As the president of the Mage Guild, I have the authority to conduct a summary trial. The video contains all the evidence, so please check it."

"Is that true?"

Mason quickly began to verify the video. The video showed Tarik giving bribes multiple times and disposing of monster corpses. It also showed him trying to escape by mentioning Grid.

Meanwhile, Iona hurriedly went up to the 99th floor of the Tower.

'With this, I can involve Grid.'

Everything always needs a reason. The reason for punishing someone who endangered the Tower was excellent.

'If I'm lucky, I can end Grid with this video.'

At the end of the video, an additional clip Iona had stored appeared.

-President Mason, let's confiscate the Chau Caravan's assets and use them to cover the costs of the itinerant merchant guild, the free mercenary guild, and the Mage Guild. The remaining money will be given to the excellent itinerant merchant, Theo, for the reconstruction of the 67th floor of the Tower.

"Theo?"

Mason called one of his subordinates to bring information about Theo.

***

"Ugh."

Sejun woke up.

And,

Goro-lon.

Kwee-lon.

"Huh? Iona?"

Sejun quickly looked at his lap, hearing Iona's snoring.

And,

"When did she come up?"

Iona, who had covered Theo's tail, was visible. As soon as Sejun left, Iona had quickly moved through the merchant passage and arrived an hour ago, managing to get a brief sweet sleep on Sejun's lap.

Then,

Flap. Flap.

The golden bat appeared in front of Sejun.

(Sejun! What do you think of this? I was drawn to it because it felt good in my hand!)

The golden bat, having taken Theo's advice, handed the item it had brought to Sejun.

"Is this a wireless microphone? Did you go outside the Tower?"

(Yes! This time, I listened to Theo and brought what I was drawn to!)

The golden bat looked at Sejun with hopeful eyes.

'Meow-meow. Am I going to get affection too?'

Theo had clearly boasted about getting affection from Sejun for bringing what she was drawn to.

However,

"Golden bat, that only works for Theo."

Theo was a talent.

(Yes...)

The golden bat was disappointed by Sejun's words.

"It's okay. At least I know you appeared in a karaoke room with a wireless microphone. Let's start by teaching you how to write."

Sejun planned to teach the golden bat how to write so it could bring back information about the places it visited.

(Yes! I'll work hard!)

"This is the letter 'g'."

Swoosh.

Sejun picked up a stick and wrote 'g' on the ground.

Swoosh.

(G.)

The golden bat held a stick and copied the letter Sejun had written, reading it aloud.

On day 264 of the ordeal, Sejun began teaching the golden bat how to write in Korean.

***

In a coin karaoke room in Seoul.

"Black limo... huh?!"

The microphone suddenly disappeared from the man's hand as he was singing.

A moment later,

"Is there nothing to steal, so you stole the microphone! Pay for it quickly! Or I'll call the police!"

"But I really didn't steal it! Check the CCTV!"

The man, feeling wronged, asked to see the CCTV footage as the karaoke room owner pressed him.

And,

"Huh?!"

"Right?! I didn't steal it!"

The CCTV footage showed the microphone suddenly disappearing from the man's hand.

As the video was slowed down, a golden something was seen quickly moving and taking the microphone from the man's hand.

"Let's send this to 'Unbelievable But True'."

"Should we?"

By coincidence, both were avid viewers of 'Unbelievable But True'.