Chapter 179: I Thought I was Going to Get Caught

TL: Hanguk

"Meow meow meow."

Theo boldly entered the room on the far right, the fourth from the end of the hallway in the Lost and Found storage. Inside, there was a massive pile of junk, about the size of Pink-fur.

Splash!

Theo boldly jumped into the pile of junk. Now that he could use his water affinity ability, he could clean himself comfortably, so he had no reason to shy away from the dust.

"Where is it, meow?"

Theo moved around inside the pile of junk as if swimming, following the pull of his front paw.

And then,

"This is it, meow!"

Theo picked up a palm-sized bronze plaque, and with this, he felt that Chairman Park's satisfaction level would reach close to a perfect 10! Chairman Park's satisfaction level was a new metric Theo had derived from observing Sejun all this while.

"Puhuhut, Chairman Park will be grateful to me, meow!"

Theo happily left the Lost and Found storage holding the bronze plaque.

"You're really going with that?"

Taru looked at Theo, who had come out covered in dust for the sake of a single tarnished bronze plaque, and asked. Although he knew that asking wouldn't change Theo's mind, he couldn't help but feel pity.

"Yes, meow!"

As expected, Theo firmly answered. Maybe he didn't realize he was wasting money here.

"Alright, see you again."

"Meow? I won't come back, meow!"

To Taru's words, Theo gave an unexpected reply.

"Huh? Why?!"

Taru was taken aback. When told not to come, he would repeatedly come, but when told to come, he wouldn't?

"There's nothing left for me to take from here, meow!"

Always taking junk? He seemed to have his own standards.

"Then, next time, I'll let you into a different Lost and Found storage."

Noticing that Theo had a peculiar taste for items in bad condition, Taru enticed him with another storage full of discarded items and items deemed unnecessary for the Lost and Found were kept.

There were also many junk items there, so Taru thought Theo would definitely be interested.

"Meow?! There's another Lost and Found storage, meow?!"

As expected, Theo reacted.

"Yes. So come back again next time."

"Got it, meow! See you next time, meow!"

Theo left the Lost and Found storage and quickly moved to the 40th floor.

***

"Land Moving."

[You have planted 500 magical cherry tomato seeds in the magic power-infused soil.]

[Due to the effect of Magic Seed Sowing Lv. 6, the probability of the magical cherry tomato seeds taking root increases.]

[Due to the effect of Magic Seed Sowing Lv. 6, the growth speed of the magical cherry tomato seeds will increase for 24 hours.]

[You have 7733817 times left until job quest completion.]

After sending Theo off, Sejun was diligently planting tomatoes to complete his job quest.

Then,

Krueng?

[Dad! Where's Cuengi's Grandma?]

Suddenly, Cuengi started looking for grandma.

"Grandma? My mom?!"

Krueng!

[Yes! Cuengi's grandma is Dad's mom!]

"Why are you suddenly looking for grandma?"

Krueng!

[The monkey uncles told me that if there's a grandma, she'd give lots of tasty snacks and tell fun stories!]

It seemed like Cuengi had heard something from the monkeys, but Cuengi, were you lacking snacks? Sejun felt a little sad that Cuengi was still looking for more snacks even though he had given him so much.

And apart from that------

"Grandma..."

Sejun was reminded of his family by Cuengi's words. Lately, he's been secretly sending money and checking on their well-being. This is because there were forces trying to approach his family to get the crops he sells.

While most just observed from afar, some had malicious intentions.

So, Sejun asked Han Tea-jun to protect his family, and using one of Theo's favors, Theo had Han Tea-jun ensure the safety of Sejun's family.

Thanks to that, security personnel, disguised as neighbors were living in the apartments next to, above, and below Sejun's apartment. Additionally, guards disguised as apartment security and cleaners were on duty.

Of course, guards in disguise were also stationed at the workplace of Sejun's father, Park Chun-ho, and at the school of Sejun's younger brother, Park Se-dol.

While hiring all these people would usually cost a fortune, selling a few of Sejun's crops would easily sustain a security force 100 times the current size.

"I miss the kimchi stew my mom used to make."

Sejun said in a longing voice, He often got irritated at his mother for serving kimchi stew every day, but now, that very kimchi stew was what he craved the most.

Krueng?

[Does Cuengi not have a grandmother?]

It seemed Cuengi misunderstood Sejun's expression.

"Why wouldn't you have one? It's just that you can't see her right now. You have a grandmother, a grandfather, and a younger dad."

Krueng? Krueng!

[Really? That's exciting!]

Hearing Sejun's words, Cuengi joyfully danced, shaking both his tail and shoulders. There were now more people to give Cuengi snacks!

"Shall we practice how to greet your grandmother when we meet her?"

Krueng!

[Yes!]

Cuengi nodded vigorously at Sejun's suggestion. First impressions are crucial! Cuengi started special training to get more snacks from grandma.

"Now, bow at a 90-degree angle like this and say, 'Hello, Grandma. I'm Cuengi,' Dad will demonstrate."

Sejun placed his hand on his belly and bowed 90 degrees.

Krueng! Krueng!

[Hello, Grandma! I am Cuengi!]

Cuengi, mimicking Sejun, placed his front paws on his belly and bowed 90 degrees.

However,

As he lowered his head, his center of gravity shifted too far forward. Cuengi thought, He couldn't fall! If he failed, he might not get snacks.

Krueng!

With a determined look, Cuengi dug his toes into the ground, solving a small problem through his sheer physical prowess.

"Good job."

Krueng?

[Is that it?]

Cuengi looked puzzled at Sejun's praise.

"Yes. If you do just that, your grandmother might just faint from cuteness."

Sejun's mother, Kim Mi-ran, had a weak spot for cute animals. And now the cutest creature, Cuengi, greeted her like that? It was a sure-fire way to capture her heart.

Then,

Krueng! Krueng!

[Cuengi won't do that! Even if Dad dislikes Grandma, Cuengi won't hurt her!]

Cuengi seemed to have misunderstood Sejun's words, thinking Sejun wanted to use him to hurt his grandmother because he didn't like her.

"What?! Hahaha!"

Sejun burst into laughter at Cuengi's misunderstood words. The way Cuengi thought was just too cute.

Krueng!

[Cuengi is serious! If you hate Grandma, then you're a bad person!]

Angry, Cuengi took out his branch stick.

"Whoa! No, that's not what I meant..."

Sejun quickly tried to calm Cuengi down and explain.

Krueng?

[Will grandma really be that happy to see Cuengi?]

"Yes, for sure. She might keep giving you snacks until Cuengi asks her to stop."

Krueng?! Krueng!

[Really?! Cuengi wants to see Grandma soon!]

Hearing Sejun's words, Cuengi wished he could meet his grandmother sooner.

Later,

Kuehehehe.

Was Cuengi imagining meeting his grandmother?  Cuengi chuckled to himself.

"Cuengi, play around here."

Krueng!

[Okay!]

Sejun let Cuengi play and went back to planting cherry tomatoes.

As lunchtime approached,

"That's enough for now."

Sejun decided to make a move before Cuengi's belly-clock rang its hunger alarm.

While Sejun was on his way to the kitchen,

Thud.

A vibration shook the ground. It came from the cave where Flamie was.

"What's going on, Flamie?"

Descending into the cave, Sejun asked.

[Master! Another tuna suddenly appeared in the pond today!]

Flamie pointed at the tuna that had appeared in the pond using a leaf.

"Oh! Really? We can have it for lunch."

But what's going on here? Why does the tuna keep coming up on its own.... Sejun marveled as he examined the tuna. Although smaller than the last one, it was still about 10 meters in length.

"I need to cut it up and store it in the freezer in void storage."

While Sejun was diligently processing the tuna,

Clang clang.

Something fell from the tuna's mouth, making a series of cheerful sounds.

"Huh?!"

When Sejun looked toward the source of the noise, there were one gray coin and two green coins, a total of 3 coins lying on the ground.

[Kraken's Gray Coin]

???

[Leviathan's Green Coin]

???

At first glance, these were the coins dropped when an Apostle of Destruction died.

"Why are these here?"

Sejun felt something was amiss. Did the tuna eat the Apostle of Destruction? It didn't make sense. Even for a tuna, this one was weak without any inner core. Of course, even with an inner core, it would've still been impossible.

So did the tuna just swallow these coins? And all three of them? It seemed very odd...

As Sejun was lost in thought,

Krueng!

[Daddy, Cuengi's hungry!]

Feeling hungry, Cuengi started looking for Sejun.

"Alright! Just wait a bit."

Sejun quickly put the coins in his pocket and stored the remaining tuna in the void storage, and said,

"Flamie, I'm going up."

[Yes! Enjoy your lunch.]

"Mm."

As Sejun hurriedly went up to prepare lunch,

[Whew. I thought I was going to get caught.]

Flame heaved a sigh of relief.

***

"Meow meow meow."

Theo, having found an item of a 10-point on Chairman Park's satisfaction level, cheerfully hummed as he arrived on the 40th floor of the tower.

"Puhuhut. Today, I'll plunder the humans' pockets again, meow!"

Theo confidently walked towards the hunters' camp.

Then,

"Surround him!"

Suddenly, about 100 hunters wearing black masks appeared out of nowhere and surrounded Theo.

"What, meow?"

Theo asked, looking at the masked figures that surrounded him. Why are they blocking his path?

"Are you Theo?"

Among the masked men, one with the number '2' on his mask asked, staring at Theo.

The man was shirtless beneath his mask, revealing a tattoo of three snakes from the Three Head Society clearly on his muscular left chest. Among the three snake tattoos, one was colored blue.

"No, I'm not, meow!"

Theo responded confidently.

"What? Don't lie! We know you're the wandering cat merchant named Theo!"

The masked man, unperturbed by Theo's calm response, yelled in exasperation.

"You're wrong, meow! I am the mighty subordinate of the great Black Dragon, the deadly Dragon-Clawed Yellow Cat, Theo Park, meow!"

Snap!

Theo corrected the masked man's mistake and drew out his dragon claw.

"It's the same thing! It's him! Grab him!"

"Yes!"

The masked men rushed towards Theo. However, they were dealing with Theo, armed with a dragon claw and a being from the 75th floor of the tower, who had become incredibly stronger after eating Sejun's nourishing meal.

Swish swish.

With just a few swings of his front paws, none of the assailants remained. The masked men, along with the surrounding ground, were sliced apart by the powerful magic blade emanating from the dragon claw.

"This is what happens when you interfere with Chairman Park's work, meow!"

Theo, pleased with himself for taking down the forces that had been hindering Sejun, shouted triumphantly. Oddly, his body felt over-energized and a bit uncomfortable, but using his strength made him feel slightly better.

Just then,

- You're quite something.

From the corpse of the masked man with the number 2, a giant blue snake emerged.

Crackle.

The surrounding ground began to freeze centered around the blue snake.

***

"Come to think of it, did Theo go to the bathroom after eating the nourishing meal?"

Sejun, while grilling tuna, recalled the events of yesterday. For Theo's hangover, Sejun made a tuna porridge, adding about 50 'Elixir-grade Tomatoes' that held immense magic power.

Its color was white, so even if a lot was added, it wasn't noticeable. So, Theo had consumed a nourishing meal that could increase one's magic power by 500, provided the potential was there,

"He must've done it when I wasn't there, right?"

Sejun thought it was unlikely. If Theo had fully digested it, his stomach would have probably hurt a bit.

*****

3/5