Part 2 Chapter 109: Santa Part-Time Job (2)/ 833
TL: Hanguk
[You have arrived at the 7th-level world Kman.]
"Let's finish this quickly and move on to the next world."
"Puhuhut. Sounds good, meow!"
Sejun hurriedly delivered the presents while riding the sleigh pulled by his party.
A little while later.
"Alright. This is the last house now."
Perhaps due to having gained experience, the delivery went smoothly this time without any particular issues.
And so, Sejun entered the final house to deliver the present.
[Elpa]
-5 years old
-25 good deeds saved this year (excellent member)
-Present: Crystal sphere containing the movie ‘Petty Love’
Hmm. The kid’s quite mature for their age.
When he took the video crystal sphere from the present sack and placed it beside Elpa's head
Vwoong.
...?
Suddenly, a black energy appeared and swallowed the crystal sphere.
"What the?!"
As Sejun panicked
"Kyoo-Kyoo-Kyoo-Sejun-nim, I just felt an evil force throughout the entire Kman. It's a magic power..."
Iona frowned and began a magic search. After being treated like a thief at Myolbak’s house, Sejun had been moving with his party, and naturally, Iona, who clung to Theo’s tail, came along as well.
"The entire region? Then that means all the other kids' presents are gone too?"
As Sejun worried
"Haak! How dare someone steal the present of the great hybrid Santa, Chairman Park? Unforgivable, meow!"
Kueng!
Kking!
"Taecho is angry!"
His party was also enraged.
"Kyoo-I found it!"
Iona tracked the magic wave and pinpointed the location of the evil wizard who had stolen the children's Christmas presents.
"Kyoo-let's chase immediately. Power of space..."
Using Iona's space teleportation magic, they quickly pursued the fiend.
***
Inside a gloomy cave.
"Kekeke. I did it!"
A short man wearing a black robe much larger than his body shouted in triumph with an evil grin. His face looked, at best, about seven years old.
"Last year I didn't get any Christmas presents, but this year, all the Christmas presents belong to me, Enrat! Kekeke."
The fiend who had stolen the Christmas presents was Enrat, a magical prodigy who earned the title of Archmage at the youngest age in <Kman>.
Thanks to his genius magical talent, Enrat was always adored by those around him.
And for Enrat, who believed the world revolved around him, last Christmas was a huge shock.
A genius mage like me didn’t get a Christmas present? Why?!
Because he was the only one around who didn’t receive a Christmas present.
Devastated, Enrat locked himself in his room for about a week and didn’t come out. Judging by the frequent sounds of him sniffling, he must’ve cried a lot.
And on the day he finally came out of his room a week later,
If I can’t get a Christmas present, I’ll just take the ones the other kids got!
Enrat resolved to create a new magic and devoted himself to developing it.
Doing a few good deeds in the time it takes to create a spell would be a much faster way to receive presents, but
A mage proves themselves through magic!
Enrat had become stubborn.
So, he spent an entire year developing magic to steal Christmas presents and finally completed the spell just a few days before Christmas.
"Kekeke. Why bother doing good deeds? I can just take them like this."
While smugly admiring the mountain of Christmas presents piled up in front of him
"So it was you. The one who stole the other kids' Christmas presents."
"Puhuhut. How dare you steal the present of the great hybrid Santa, Chairman Park, who is a friend of Vice Chairman Theo? Unforgivable, meow! Prepare to be stamped, meow!"
Kueng! Kueng!
[It’s bad to take someone else’s present, you know! Then you can’t save good deeds or get presents!]
Kihihit. Kking! Kking!
[Hehe. Santa butler! Great Blackdolph will take care of this! Prepare five roasted and dried sweet potatoes!]
"Santa Dad, prepare five for Taecho too!"
Sejun and his party appeared.
"Who are you?! These are the possessions of me, the genius mage Enrat! I won’t give them to anyone! Power of magic..."
As Enrat began chanting a spell to attack Sejun and the others
"Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Cancel."
Iona reversed Enrat’s magic pattern and canceled it far too easily. Enrat might be a genius, but Iona was an even greater genius. With plenty of experience, she had also gained finesse.
“Huh?! My magic... eek! Power of magic...”
Enrat, upset that his magic was canceled, tried casting again,
“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Cancel.”
Iona effortlessly canceled it again.
“Power of magic...”
“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Cancel.”
“Power of magic...”
“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Cancel.”
After several such back-and-forth exchanges,
“My magic... hwaaah...”
Enrat eventually plopped down on the floor and burst into tears.
He’s talented and even has a decent amount of persistence.
With just a bit of training, he could quickly be useful.
Watching Enrat, Iona's eyes sparkled.
Blackster had recently been complaining about being overwhelmed with too much work and had requested support. Iona had been agonizing over whether she should leave Theo’s side to help out, but now it seemed this kid could be sent in her place. It was perfect timing.
“Puhuhut. When you do something wrong, you must receive a stamp, meow!”
Thump.
Theo grinned wickedly and stamped the back of the despairing Enrat’s head as he cried.
“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Power of magic...”
In the meantime, Iona analyzed Enrat’s magic and reversed it, sending the stolen Christmas presents back to their original places.
Once everything was settled,
“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Enrat, are you interested in learning magic properly?”
Iona approached and asked Enrat with a voice full of kindness.
“Yes! If you teach me, I’ll do my best!”
Enrat agreed right away. After all, he had seen with his own eyes how Iona effortlessly canceled his magic with incredible skill.
“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Alright. Then go and study well.”
“Huh? Go and study...? What do you mean by...?”
Enrat asked urgently in confusion,
“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Power of dimensions...”
But Iona was already in the middle of chanting a dimensional teleportation spell.
Moments later.
Vwoong.
Enrat vanished.
“Paespaes, let’s head to the next world.”
(Pip-pip. Okay!)
Sejun and his party began delivering Christmas presents once again.
***
99th Floor of the Black Tower.
Tower Master Chamber of the Park-Ai Black Wizard Tower.
“Kyuui... I feel like I’m gonna die...”
“I just want to sleep for a minute...”
“I’d take even 10 seconds...”
Kyuui...
Kyuui...
Blackster, the Vice Tower Masters, and the hamsters from <Hamk> that had been dragged in by Iona were all working with exhaustion written across their faces.
At that moment,
Vwoong.
A child in a black robe suddenly appeared before them.
“Who’s there...?”
Blackster asked in a voice barely alive.
And then,
“I’m... Enrat. Iona-nim sent me.”
“Iona-nim...? Oh! Welcome!”
“Come sit here.”
“Want something to eat?”
At Enrat’s reply, everyone’s faces suddenly lit up.
No doubt Santa Sejun-nim has granted our wish to sleep!
They began taking care of Enrat. After all, a new youngest had arrived.
“I’m all done!”
Fortunately, Enrat was very good at the job, and thanks to that, the remaining workload quickly decreased.
And so, they were finally able to get the sleep they had so desperately wished for. A whole 10 minutes a day. It was said to be the sweetest sleep ever.
***
[You have arrived at the 6th-level world Dankana.]
Sejun arrived at the fourth world where he would deliver Christmas presents.
“Huh? Is this a quarry?”
He looked around and spoke. All around the massive basin were signs that stone had been mined.
“Ah. This isn’t the time for this.”
Sejun hurried toward the village at the center of the basin to deliver the Christmas presents.
And when he entered the first house,
[Arki]
-7 years old
-103 good deeds saved this year (VIP member)
-Present: Top-grade mana stone
-Suspected of dishonest good deed accumulation. Investigation needed.
“Huh? Dishonest suspicion?”
Can someone really accumulate good deeds dishonestly?
He looked at the child’s information, which had different wording than usual, and felt puzzled.
Let’s skip this one for now.
Sejun decided to come back later after delivering presents to the other children and moved on to the next house.
However.
[Urmi]
-5 years old
-100 good deeds saved this year (VIP member)
-Present: Top-grade mana stone
-Suspected of dishonest good deed accumulation. Investigation needed.
The child in the next house also seemed to have accumulated good deeds through dishonest means.
Could it be... the other kids too?
Sejun visited a few more homes and found that all of the children were flagged with suspicion of dishonesty.
This is too strange.
There were several other suspicious signs as well.
First, the number of good deeds was extremely high, and there was an odd absence of many things in the homes. There were no cooking tools or food, and above all, not a single adult was seen to be taking care of the children.
And also...
Why do they all want top-grade mana stones as presents?
All of them wanted the same gift. Considering how unpredictable and varied children’s minds usually are, this was impossible.
“Something smells fishy.”
“Puhuhut. That’s right, meow! It’s time for the great Sherlock Sejun and the excellent assistant detectives Theoson and Ionason to step up, meow!”
At Sejun’s words, Theo instantly jumped into detective role-play.
“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Ionason is ready!”
Couple assistants, this is the best!
Iona smiled brightly, delighted that Theo included her.
Kuehehehe. Kueng!
[Hehehe. Detective Cunan is ready too!]
Kihihit. Kking!
[Hehe. Sherlock Sejun! Great detective Kapang will catch the culprit, so prepare roasted and dried sweet potatoes!]
“Great detective Taechoping is ready too! Please prepare Taecho’s portion too!”
The other companions also began their detective role-play and started searching the area.
While the group spread out and conducted their investigation.
Tap.
Sejun placed his hand on a child’s forehead and closed his eyes. He intended to enter the child’s mental world and ask directly.
However.
...?!
A red, chilling energy blocked Sejun from entering the child’s mind.
What is this?
“Theoson, help me.”
“Puhuhut. Got it, meow! Just leave it to your great assistant detective Theoson, meow!”
This time, Sejun entered the child’s mental world with Theo. The chilling energy quickly vanished, as if fleeing from Theo’s aura.
“What is this place?”
“Something’s wrong, meow!”
Sejun, Theo, and Iona were faced with a desolate space that couldn’t possibly be called a child’s mental world.
And then.
“If I mine a lot of mana stones, I won’t starve to death. And I have to do lots of good deeds. That way, I can get a top-grade mana stone and eat lots of delicious food...”
In the middle of the barren space, they found a child murmuring to themselves with a vacant expression.
“Hi. Can we talk?”
“If I mine a lot of mana stones, I won’t starve to death. And I have to do lots of good deeds...”
“Hey... can you hear me?”
Even as Sejun spoke to the child, they continued muttering to themselves.
“Haak! How dare you ignore Chairman Park’s words, meow! Receive your stamp, meow!”
As Theo became furious at the child’s disregard for Sejun’s words.
“Kyoo- There are traces of a strong brainwashing spell.”
Iona, who had been observing the surroundings, spoke up.
“Really? Iona, undo the brainwashing spell first.”
“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Yes.”
While Iona began dispelling the brainwashing magic.
Kihihit. Kking! Kking! Kking!
[Hehe. Detective Taechoping! Over here! Great detective Kapang has found a suspicious hole! Let’s investigate!]
Blackie had discovered a small hole in the wall of the basin.
“Got it! Detective Kapang! Detective Taechoping is on the way!”
Kihihit. Kking!
[Hehe. This is exciting!]
“Heehee. This is fun!”
Excited by the cave exploration game, the two of them crawled into the small hole.
Kuehehehe.
Taking care of younger siblings counts as accumulating good deeds!
Cuengi quietly followed them from behind to look after his younger siblings.