Mt. Bukhansan, South Korea.
“Let’s quickly reach Baekundae and then go down for a drink!” (TL: Baekundae = One of the three main peaks of Mt. Bukhansan)
“Heh, sounds good. Let’s do it.”
Two hikers, having sweated out their energy on their hike, excitedly entered the trailhead, looking forward to a lively drinking session afterwards.
Just a few steps in,
“Huh?! Isn’t that the Black Tower?”
“Yeah, it is. What’s it doing here on Mt. Bukhansan?”
They spotted the Black Tower, towering over Mt. Bukhansan. It was the 101st tower, which had appeared as the prestige of the Black Tower increased.
At that moment,
“I’m sorry, but this area is now restricted.”
“What?!”
The hikers were stopped by members of the Awakeners Association who were guarding the trail. The 101st tower, never before seen in the world, had prompted them to restrict civilian access, fearing something might emerge from the tower.
“There’s nothing we can do. Keep up the good work.”
“Thank you for your effort.”
The hikers, complying with the staff’s instructions, left.
“Ahh, of all places, a tower had to appear here…”
“I know, right… Just wanted to have a drink after sweating it out… Guess we’ll just drink anyway.”
“Hehe, nothing we can do about it then.”
With thoughts of morning drinks, the hikers laughed and headed straight to a shop at the entrance of the trail.
South Korea, now in possession of three towers. Neighboring countries were envious, but didn’t pay much attention. The towers were closely clustered in a narrow area and, apart from allowing hunters to enter, they had no other special powers.
Thus, the event of the 101st Black Tower appearing in South Korea quickly faded from public interest.
***
“Here you go.”
Sejun generously handed over 500 million Tower Coins to Theo, who had asked for a loan. Just as the saying goes that generosity comes from a full barn, Sejun’s generosity grew with two hefty money pouchs in his hands.
But,
“Thanks, meow! This much is enough for me, meow!”
Theo returned 400 million Tower Coins to Sejun, keeping only 100 million for himself. The maximum amount of money Theo could burn at once was 100 million tower coins.
Moreover, after spending money to enhance abilities, one needed time to adapt to the enhanced powers. This was learned from burning Uren’s money.
“Are you sure it’s enough?”
“Yes, meow!”
“Alright then.”
As Sejun was putting the returned money back into the money pouch,
[The tower’s administrator suggests using your money to purchase powers.]
“Powers? Ah, right!”
Sejun remembered that he too could become stronger by burning money..
“How much do I have?”
Sejun started counting the money in the money pouch given by Kaiser. After deducting the 100 million Tower Coins given to Theo, there were 1.4 billion Tower Coins in Kaiser’s bag.
Combined with the 1 billion Tower Coins from Kellion, Sejun had a total of 2.4 billion Tower Coins. It was a tremendous sum.
“Aileen, what powers can I get for 2.4 billion Tower Coins?”
[The tower’s administrator asks you to wait a moment.]
After a short while,
[Available Powers for Granting]
<Powers: Strong Strength>, <Powers: Strong Agility>
[Powers Available for Enhancement]
<Power: Strong Stamina>, <Power: Strong Magic Power>
Aileen showed Sejun the powers that could be granted and enhanced with his money.
“So, I can enhance the powers I already have. Aileen, is it possible to grant and enhance all these powers here?”
With 2.4 billion Tower Coins at his disposal, Sejun was confident.
Plus, knowing the cost for granting Strong Strength and Strong Agility was 100 million Tower Coins each, Sejun thought enhancing powers would cost at most 500 million Tower Coins.
However,
[The tower’s administrator says that would be difficult.]
[The tower’s administrator informs you that enhancing <Power: Strong Stamina> and <Power: Strong Magic Power> requires 2 billion tower coins each.]
The next level ‘Strong’ powers were much more expensive than Sejun had anticipated.
“Is that so? Then I’ll go with Strong Stamina, Strong Strength, and Strong Agility.”
Prioritizing survival, Sejun naturally chose Strong Stamina, which would prolong his lifeline, and then selected other powers with the remaining money.
[The tower’s administrator says she will begin granting the powers.]
[The tower’s administrator warns that it might be a bit painful.]
“What?!…”
It might be painful?! You didn’t say that before?! Before Sejun could finish his sentence, the granting of powers began.
[200 million Tower Coins deposited in the Seed Bank will be deducted.]
[The tower’s administrator grants <Power: Strong Strength> and <Power: Strong Agility> to the Black Tower’s mid-level administrator tattoo.]
[With the effect of <Power: Strong Strength>, your strength increases by 50.]
[With the effect of <Power: Strong Agility>, your agility increases by 50.]
[You can enhance <Power: Strong Strength> and <Power: Strong Agility> later using contribution points or tower coins.]
As Aileen had said, the first two powers were granted.
But,
“Huh? It doesn’t hurt?”
Contrary to Aileen’s words, there was no pain.
“Phew. That’s a relief.”
Sejun was relieved.
Then,
Woong.
The tattoo of the Black Tower’s mid-level administrator on Sejun’s right hand started to move.
Slither.
The black dragon tattoo under Sejun’s skin seemed to be absorbed into him.
[You have acquired all the most basic low-grade powers.]
[Your body is too frail to handle the next level of powers.]
[Body modification will begin to enable you to handle the next level of powers.]
At the same time, messages about body modification appeared. What… body modification?! Who decided this?! This isn’t right…!!!
Crack.
Contrary to Sejun’s will, his body began to forcibly remodel itself, and his muscles started twisting and contorting.
“Aaargh!”
Sejun writhed in pain as if needles were piercing his entire body.
“Chairman Park, what’s wrong, meow?! Where does it hurt, meow?!”
Press. Press.
As Sejun writhed in pain, Theo hurriedly began to massage Sejun’s body with his front paws.
Crack.
The body modification lasted about a minute before subsiding.
Snore.
In the meantime, Sejun, who had already fainted, slept, snoring.
Press. Press.
“What’s this smell, meow?!”
While massaging Sejun, Theo sniffed around, searching for the source of the foul odor.
And then,
“I got it, meow! This is Chairman Park’s poop smell, meow!”
Theo identified the source of the smell. It was Sejun. The stench came from Sejun. As his body was being remodeled, bad toxins in Sejun’s body were expelled along with sweat, causing the foul odor. It definitely wasn’t because he had pooped. Definitely not!
Normally, one would either wash him or move away from Sejun under such circumstances, but
Click.
For the sake of Sejun’s knees, Theo chose to endure the foul smell and continued to knead.
As Theo endured the odor and lay on Sejun’s knees in a bread-loaf position,
Purr.
Theo eventually fell asleep with his face buried in Sejun’s knees.
***
At the top floor of the Black Tower’s wizard tower.
“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Things are going well now that I have this.”
In the master’s room of the wizard tower, Iona was managing her duties while hugging with the Theo Ball made from Theo’s fur.
Then,
Knock. Knock.
Fren, the deputy master of the Black Tower’s wizard tower, entered. Fren, a member of the Red tribe, was originally an elder of the Destruction Wizard Tower but became one of the three deputy masters under Iona after the Black Tower’s wizard tower absorbed them.
“Fren, what brings you here?”
“I’ve come to get your signature on the payment documents for the cherry tomatoes bought from Sejun’s farm.”
“Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Here you go.”
Normally, Iona would scrutinize and question thoroughly before signing, but
Swoosh.
Today, she quietly inspected the documents and signed them immediately. She seemed to be in a very good mood.
“Right! Have you heard the rumor, Tower Master?”
So, Fren, who usually wouldn’t mention such things, blurted out a rumor.
“What rumor?”
“There’s a rumor going around that the Tower Master is dating a mere merchant. Preposterous, right?! How could you, of all people, be with a lowly merchant…”
As he spoke, Fren, who was angry, began to rant.
And,
Tremble. Tremble.
Iona too seemed to tremble with anger.
‘I knew the Tower Master would be furious!’
Fren, who had always liked Iona, was pleased to see her reaction.
‘As I thought, it’s just a rumor! There’s no way Iona would like that cat!’
Just as Fren was feeling relieved,
“Kyoo kyoo kyoo, what’s wrong with Theo?!!!”
Iona shouted, her anger surprisingly not directed at Theo, the cat, but at him. It was the third stage of her fury! A wrong word here could mean disappearing along with the tower, regardless of being a Deputy Tower Master or not.
“No… I didn’t mean that I said it… It’s just a rumor…”
Fren, desperate to save his life, hurriedly clarified.
***
One hour after Sejun had fainted, .𝘤𝘰
“Ugh… what’s this?!”
Sejun woke up, moving his body around in amazement. He had fainted feeling the agonizing pain of his muscles twisting, but now his body felt incredibly refreshed.
Sniff. Sniff.
“Ew! What’s that smell?”
Sejun frowned at the foul odor emanating from his body.
“Meow…”
He quickly took Theo, still sleeping on his knees, and headed towards the fountain.
Then,
Krueng? Krueng!
[Dad, where are you going? Cuengi brought you some good kudzu roots!]
Cuengi, who had returned from tending herbs in the western forest, spotted Sejun and approached with blue kudzu roots taken out from his snack pouch.
But,
Krueng?
Cuengi’s pace gradually slowed down.
Krueng…
[Dad, you smell like poop…]
Cuengi, holding his nose with his front paws, handed the kudzu root to Sejun while keeping a distance. Is this how you treat me?
“Do you want to bathe too, Cuengi?”
Krueng!
[Yes!]
Though knowing why Cuengi was acting that way, Sejun, feeling a bit slighted, lured Cuengi, who loved playing in water, into taking a bath.
Shortly after arriving at the fountain, Sejun thoroughly washed himself to get rid of the stench.
Snap.
Whoosh.
Using his talent, Friend of Fire, Sejun created flames on his fingers and turned the fountain into a hot bath and enjoyed a soak.
And then,
Splash. Splash.
Kuehehehe. Krueng!
[Hehehe. This is fun!]
Cuengi happily splashed around in the fountain.
“Aah, this is refreshing.”
Watching Cuengi play, Sejun happily sipped a drink when,
[The tower’s administrator says well done, and now it’s time to enhance your powers.]
Aileen, having been busy with other matters, only now realized that Sejun had woken up.
“What?! Can’t we not do it?”
Sejun recalled the pain he had experienced earlier.
[The tower’s administrator says your body has already adapted to withstand the next level of powers, so there won’t be any pain this time.]
“Really? Then let’s do it.”
Reassured by the promise of no pain, Sejun went ahead with enhancing his abilities.
[2 billion Tower Coins deposited in the Seed Bank will be deducted.]
[The tower’s administrator enhances <Power: Strong Stamina> granted to the Black Tower’s mid-level administrator tattoo to <Power: Mighty Stamina>.]
[With the effect of <Power: Mighty Stamina>, your stamina increases by an additional 100.]
Flash.
As the message about power enhancement appeared, this time the eyes of the black dragon tattoo on Sejun’s right hand briefly shone, indicating the completion of the enhancement.
And then,
Bubble. Bubble.
Theo, who had been hanging onto Sejun’s knees using his water affinity talent to stay submerged, thought,
‘Chairman Park just burned a ton of money, meow! So now he’s broke, meow! Puhuhut. It’s time for Vice Chairman Theo to step in, meow!’
Theo decided to immediately get up and go down to the 65th floor of the tower, where the pink piggy bank was.
But,
‘It’s too warm, meow… I feel like I’m melting, meow…’
The hot temperature of the hot bath hindered Theo’s determination.
Purr.
Eventually, Theo succumbed to the warmth of the bath and fell asleep as if he had fainted.
The next morning,
“Chairman Park, I’ll earn lots of money, meow!”
“Don’t get into any trouble.”
“Puhuhut. Just trust me, meow!”
Theo waved his front paws at Sejun, who saw him off, and then quickly ran off.
Trust him after telling him not to cause trouble?
“I have a bad feeling about this…”
Sejun watched Theo’s back as he boldly headed to the 65th floor of the tower, feeling uneasy.
*****
𝑖.𝘤ℴ𝘮