“Just like last time, it’s 1,000 Tower Coins for a single draw, and you can only take one item.”
The same conditions as before.
“Got it, meow! Here are 1,000 Tower Coins, meow!”
Theo coolly handed over the money, accepting Taru’s conditions.
“Good. I wish you luck.”
Creak.
After receiving the payment, Taru opened the door to the storage that was filled with only junk.
“Puhuhut. I don’t need luck, meow!”
Theo confidently entered the lost-and-found storage.
A moment later…
“Meow! What is this, meow?!!!”
Crash!
From inside the storage, the sound of things breaking and Theo’s shriek echoed.
“What happened?”
Taru, about to rush in to help, stopped.
“Come to think of it, I heard there’s a ghost in here…”
Quietly, Taru stepped back, creating distance from the door, and waited for Theo.
***
“Meow! What a mess in here, meow!”
Theo looked around the storage, which resembled a vast sea of junk. The entrance of the storage had stairs leading downward, with an entirely open structure. It seemed the constant piling of items resulted in its current state.
“But every time I look at it from the outside, the inside seems more spacious, meow!”
Theo mused as he walked over the heap of items, towards the attraction on his front paw.
Then…
-Hehehehe.
-Give me your body!
-I won’t hand over my item!
Rustle. Rustle.
With a sinister voice, items began levitating,
Whoosh.
and began rapidly flying towards Theo.
“Meow! What’s happening, meow?!!!”
A flustered Theo dodged the flying objects while shouting.
Bang! Crash!
Items fell and broke everywhere. But Theo soon regained his composure, noting the objects weren’t faster than him, and started looking around again.
And then,
“Meow?”
He noticed black shadowy figures appearing and disappearing as the items were thrown. What were those, meow?
Just as Theo grew curious about these entities,
– Master, those are evil spirits!
Gaeron informed Theo.
“What’s an Evil spirit, meow?”
– They are souls filled with grudges or attachments to certain items. If continuously exposed to negative energy, they turn into such evil spirits. Summon me! I can subdue them.
“Got it, meow! My servant Gaeron, come forth, meow!”
Upon summoning, a small frog the size of Theo’s foot emerged from a swamp on the floor. Gaeron had chosen a smaller size to avoid breaking things around.
Ribbit!
When Gaeron croaked,
-Kiiyip!
The evil spirits screamed in panic and started to flee. Gaeron was once a divine being. The spirits panicked due to the divine aura emitted by Gaeron’s soul. As they tried to escape, Gaeron began hunting them down.
Zap. Zap.
Each time Gaeron extended his tongue, spirits got stuck to it and were sucked into his mouth.
While Gaeron busily hunted the spirits,
“Here, meow?”
Theo, following the attraction on his front paw, started digging in the pile of items.
And then,
“It’s below here, meow!”
Upon reaching the spot his front paw pointed to, Theo began digging through the items to reach the source of the attraction.
However,
Rumble.
The item was buried deeper than Theo had anticipated, making his search in the newly dug hole more challenging, as the surrounding items kept on dropping into the hole Theo had dug.
“When will I find it at this rate, meow?”
Theo’s motivation was quickly waning.
Then,
“Meow! That’s it, meow!”
An idea struck Theo. The Evil Spirits can levitate items, meow!
“Puhuhut. I, Vice Chairman Theo, am truly a genius, meow! Gaeron, stop eating, meow!”
After praising himself for the brilliant idea, Theo spoke to Gaeron, who was still busy gobbling up spirits.
-Huh? Why all of a sudden?
“I have a use for the evil spirits, meow! Spirits, listen up, meow! Quickly come here and find the item I want, meow! Otherwise, Gaeron will eat you, meow!”
-If we just find the item, you won’t let him eat us?, right?
One of the black spirits cautiously approached and asked.
“That’s right, meow! The rest of you, come over here now, meow!”
When one spirit approached without harm, the other spirits began to gather around Theo one by one. There were about 1000 spirits in total. It was no exaggeration to call this a cursed storage.
“You all, fetch items from the spots I point to, meow!”
Theo pointed to five locations he felt his front paw drawn to and instructed the spirits, who replied,
-Yes!
The spirits then began to lift items from the locations Theo had pointed out and brought them to him.
Then,
Each item was inspected by Theo.
“Not this one, meow!”
Swoosh.
Items Theo rejected were discarded in a non-attractive zone, ensuring no mix-ups.
2 hours later,
“Found it, meow!”
Theo exclaimed as he touched a leather document. He felt a pull from it.
-Finally!
-It’s over!
The relieved spirits cheered. Their two hours of labor had almost sent some of them to eternal rest. It wasn’t a joke; some of the weaker spirits had completely expended their energy and faded away.
“Make sure to keep these safe, meow!”
Theo said, pointing to the three items he’d found before finding the document.
-Keep these safe? For what?
The spirits asked, taken aback by Theo’s statement. Was he planning to return?
“That’s right, meow! See you next time, meow!”
Theo waved goodbye and left the storage.
-Oh… I wish I had disappeared…
-Me too…
The remaining spirits envied their departed comrades.
***
Once Sejun confirmed that the Black Rabbit was safe, he resumed his farming work.
Sejun worked diligently until evening.
Gurgle.
Finally, hunger struck.
“Hehehe. Cuengi, let’s eat!”
Now able to eat ramen, Sejun hurriedly called out to Cuengi, who was playing nearby, and ran to the kitchen.
Krueng!
[Okay!]
Cuengi quickly followed Sejun.
Once they arrived in the kitchen, Sejun said,
“Cuengi, keep an eye on Black Rabbit and wait a bit while I prepare.”
Krueng!
[Alright!]
Upon Sejun’s instruction, Cuengi infused magic power into the bronze mirror to check on Black Rabbit.
“Shall I get started then?”
Sejun took out two pots and, using the 500ml water bottle he had since he was stranded, carefully measured the required amount of water.
Just as a soldier who fails to execute a mission can be forgiven but one who fails to be vigilant can’t, a chef who fails in water measurement for ramen can’t be forgiven.
Sejun poured water for one serving of ramen in the right pot and two servings in the left pot and began boiling. .
The right pot was for Sejun, the left for Cuengi. Jjajang ramen was reserved for Aileen, and extremely spicy chicken ramen was saved for Black Rabbit when he returned.
While the water was boiling,
Shake, shake, shake.
Sejun added the soup seasoning.
And as the water bubbled,
“It’s boiling.”
Sejun added one noodle pack to the right pot and two to the left. He discreetly poured any broken bits into the right pot without letting Cuengi see.
While the noodles cooked,
Chop, chop, chop.
Sejun quickly chopped green onions and green chili peppers and added them to both pots.
As the ramen was almost ready,
Sniff, sniff.
Krueng!
[It smells delicious!]
The aroma of ramen spread throughout the cooking area, making Cuengi happily jump in delight.
“How’s Black Rabbit?”
Krueng! Krueng!
[Big brother is fine! He’s currently chasing someone trying to escape secretly!]
“Really?” .
A quick peek into the mirror showed Black Rabbit, arms crossed, standing atop the head of the Giant Rock Salt Snake, chasing after a mine worker. Wherever he learned it from, he was doing a good job.
“Alright. Let’s eat.”
Sejun placed a pot in front of each of them and began to eat.
Slurp.
First, he took a sip of the broth with his spoon. Ah! This is it! The taste he missed!
Slurp. Slurp.
After savoring the broth about five times,
“Hoo! Hoo!”
Sejun cooled the noodles by blowing on them.
Then,
Slurrrrp.
He slurped up the noodles.
A moment later,
“Ah! Huh?!”
While engrossed in his meal, Sejun came to his senses after sipping the last bit of broth. It was truly a satisfying meal.
However,
Lick. Lick.
Cuengi, seemingly still hungry, pressed his face against the pot, licking its bottom. Indeed, the portion wasn’t enough to satisfy Cuengi.
‘I’ll feed you more later.’
Thinking ahead, Sejun decided not to give baeksulgi (rice cake) to Cuengi just yet. Instead, he chose to mix honey into the baeksulgi and sprinkle it with boiled five-colored beans. Having had his ramen, he suddenly craved a hint of sweetness.
Krueng!
[It’s rice cake!]
Upon seeing Sejun start making a new dish, Cuengi joyfully danced, wagging his tail.
‘He’ll probably get hungry again soon…’
Sejun worriedly looked at Cuengi. After all, noodles digest quickly.
Then,
Gurgle.
Krueng!
[Dad! Cuengi is hungry!]
Sure enough, Cuengi, having quickly digested the ramen, was on the verge of turning into a ferocious baby beast.
“Can’t you wait for 10 minutes? Alright, Cuengi, eat this.”
Sejun quickly fed Cuengi the leftover honeyed beans from the baeksulgi preparation.
Krueng!
[It’s delicious!]
Wiggle…
“Come here, Cuengi.”
Seeing Cuengi wanting to dance with joy again, Sejun swiftly lifted him onto his lap and gently rocked him, satisfying his enthusiasm.
If he hadn’t done so, Cuengi might have endlessly repeated this ritual before the rice cakes were even ready.
***
“Meow, meow, meow.”
After successfully completing the draw, Theo left the Wandering Merchant Association’s headquarters humming a cheerful tune.
“There’s a land document auction at the Wandering Merchant Association’s headquarters today!”
“Really?”
“Yes. A lot of land deeds are being auctioned this time. If we’re lucky, we might get one.”
“I don’t know. The big shots will probably sweep them up.”
“Who knows? Let’s go check it out.”
Theo overheard this intriguing conversation between merchants. He was already somewhat uneasy with just one land deed. He thought, I need to participate in the land deed auction, meow! With that thought, Theo turned around and followed the merchants who had just conversed.
However,
“You can’t enter here.”
“Meow?”
An employee at the entrance stopped Theo, who had been following the merchants.
“What, meow?! Why are you stopping me, meow?!”
Theo yelled at the employee. The merchants ahead were allowed to pass, but he was stopped. How dare they obstruct the path of Theo, the deadly Yellow Cat under the command of the Black Dragon!
“Get out of my way, meow!”
“This isn’t a place where just anyone can enter!”
Responding to Theo’s demand, the staff member, Paeten, responded in an irritated tone, thinking Theo was just an novice wandering merchant causing trouble.
“Meow?! Not for everyone?! Why were those merchants allowed in then, meow?!”
Theo demanded an answer.
“The merchants ahead are well-known elite wandering merchants that I recognize.”
As Paeten gave Theo a condescending look that seemed to say ‘just go away,’
“The auction is about to begin!”
A voice announced the commencement of the auction from inside.
Snap.
Theo hurriedly showed his golden badge, proving he was an elite wandering merchant. He wanted to reprimand this rude employee, but the auction was his priority.
“Wha-! A gold badge?!”
“Paeten, right? I’ll remember your name, meow. Now move aside, meow.”
“…”
At Theo’s words, Paeten stepped aside without a word.
‘Why is my luck so bad today…’
Paeten was concerned about potential demotion or reprimand, unaware that a much more severe punishment awaited him. It was going to be a tough future for Paeten.
‘Puhuhut. I was so cool just now, meow.’
Feeling proud of himself, Theo entered the auction hall.
****
Updated from .𝘤𝘰