TL: Hanguk
Jeras’s Office.
“Currently, there are signs of a rebellion brewing in the Lizard Kingdom.”
An agent from the Secret Inspection Bureau of the Wandering Merchants Association was reporting to Jeras.
“Rebellion? Who’s behind it?”
“It’s the Black Shield special forces.”
“The Black Shield? But they were disbanded…”
The Lizard Kingdom’s special forces, Black Shield.
They were highly skilled, but their overconfidence in their abilities led them to commit numerous atrocities, which eventually resulted in their disbandment by the Lizard Kingdom, and the members were arrested.
“Harboring resentment towards the kingdom for abandoning them, Captain Ulkan and his escaped members are leading the rebellion, and several residents of the Tower have joined them.”
“Hmm. I understand for now.”
“Yes, then I’ll take my leave.”
Swoosh.
With a polite bow, the agent from the Secret Inspection Bureau disappeared.
“Looks like I won’t be going home tonight.”
Jeras sighed, realizing he’d be working overtime to prepare a report on this new information.
***
Black Tower, 75th Floor.
“Puhuhut. For obstructing my little brother Cuengi and angering the Great Hybrid Chairman Park, you’re now a permanent employee, meow!”
Press.
Theo pressed the Nine Dragons’ Employee Contract Seal onto the forehead of a Black Lizardman who had been knocked unconscious by Sejun himself.
Then
[The Nine Dragons’ Employee Contract Seal has been stamped.]
[The Eternal Contract has been activated.]
[You have formed an eternal employee contract with the target.]
Messages appeared before Theo.
[An alliance has been established with the Black Tower’s Administrator, the Great Black Dragon Aileen Pritani.]
[From now on, Aileen Pritani, the Great Black Dragon Administrator of the Black Tower, will oversee and protect the allied employee.]
Unlike usual, an additional message had appeared.
It was an alliance message with Aileen.
Only targets subdued by Sejun, who was recognized by the Great Nine Dragons, could form alliances with the Tower Administrators and become allied employees.
“Puhuhut. It feels good to work in sync with the great hybrid Chairman Park, meow!”
Theo cheered as he looked at the message. Not because he had gained an alliance employee, but because he had achieved something alongside Sejun.
‘Hehe, how about that? Pretty good, right?’
Unaware of Theo’s thoughts, Sejun, who had just dealt with the Black Lizardmen, smugly extended his palm toward Theo.
“Indeed, Chairman Park is amazing, meow!”
Theo responded by extending his front paw, pressing it against Sejun’s palm.
Clap!
It was a cheerful high-five between Sejun and Theo.
And then…
Kueng!
[Dad! Cuengi wants a high-five too!]
Kking!
[Hey, butler! Do it for me too!]
Naturally, as if it were their turn, Cuengi and Blackie extended their front paws toward Sejun.
Clap.
Clap.
Sejun also gave high-fives to their front paws.
Once the high-fives were done…
“Sejun-nim, thank you so much for your help.”
Olivo, who had finally recovered, bowed his head to Sejun to express his gratitude.
“But who are these guys? They seemed to know you, Olivo-nim.”
“They’re subordinates of Haerova-nim, the lord who collects taxes from our village. They probably came here on some business and then targeted me when they saw that you, Sejun-nim, were giving me a large sum of money.”
“Is that so? It’s already late, so I think you should stay at a hotel tonight and leave tomorrow. I’ll book a room for you.”
Sejun took Olivo to the best hotel on the 75th floor of the Tower, the Golden Ship, and booked a room for him.
Since it was run by Mimyr, Sejun and his party could use it for free anytime.
After booking Olivo’s room and returning…
“Meow! Chairman Park, these guys are broke, meow! They hardly have any money, meow!”
Theo, who had searched through the Black Lizardmen’s possessions, was angry.
Kking?! Kking?!
[Dog fur?! What’s wrong with dogs?!] (TL: So Theo used 개털 which is a slang for Broke but taken literally means Dog fur)
Blackie barked in indignation at Theo’s words.
“Blackie, you’re a wolf, though.”
Sejun corrected Blackie’s sense of identity.
Kking! Kking! Kking!
[That’s right! Great Blackie is a noble wolf! Great Blackie, you’re a noble wolf!]
Blackie, who came to his senses at Sejun’s words, seemed angry at himself for getting upset about dogs and growled to himself.
“What are you mad about now?”
Sejun patted the huffing Blackie before placing him into the sling bag.
“Let’s go to Jeras.”
With his companions, five delinquent raccoons, and ten Black Lizardmen, Sejun returned to Jeras.
When they arrived at Jeras’s office,
“Sejun-nim, you’re back again!”
Jeras welcomed them enthusiastically.
That’s because Sejun and his party had brought individuals who looked like criminals.
Another case to solve? Looks like working overtime tonight wasn’t such a bad idea.
While Jeras was filled with anticipation,
“Jeras, do these guys have any bounties on their heads?”
Sejun asked.
“Let me check. These ones… They’re just petty criminals, so there’s no bounty on them.”
Jeras shook his head after checking the raccoons’ faces.
“What about these guys then?”
Sejun pointed at the Black Lizardmen.
“Hmm…”
Jeras carefully examined the Black Lizardmen.
At that moment,
“Hm?”
Through a torn section on the back of one of their armors, a portion of a tattoo was visible.
It looks familiar…
To confirm, Jeras removed the Black Lizardman’s armor, revealing a tattoo, a massive shield with a square top and pointed bottom, with two swords crossing in an X-shape at the center.
“This is?!”
Jeras exclaimed in shock after identifying the tattoo.
It was the symbol of the Black Shield special forces, which he had been busily drawing in his report just moments ago.
As expected of the Sejun Family!
Jeras rejoiced internally. It seemed like he might not have to write the report after all.
“Jeras, do you recognize the tattoo?”
Sejun asked expectantly.
“Just a moment. These guys are members of Black Shield… Ah, here it is. Each of them has a bounty of 10 million Tower Coins, making the total bounty 100 million Tower Coins.”
“Hehehe. Really?”
“Puhuhut. This is great, meow!”
Sejun and Theo grinned at Jeras’s reply.
“For reference, the bounty for Ulkan, the captain of Black Shield, is 350 billion Tower Coins, and the bounty for the vice-captain, Motius, is 150 billion Tower Coins.”
Jeras dangled an even bigger bait in front of the two, but
“Shall we go get some sleep now?”
“Puhuhut. Sounds good, meow! I’m sleepy, meow…”
Kueng…
Kking…
The Sejun Family didn’t react.
They had only captured these wanted criminals because they had picked a fight with them first, but actively seeking them out was a different matter.
“And if you retrieve the seal ring stolen by Ulkan from the Lizardman Kingdom, they’ve offered an additional 1.5 trillion Tower Coins as a reward.”
“Where is Ulkan?”
“Where is he, meow?!”
Of course, if the amount was significant, the story changed.
Catching the captain and vice-captain, along with recovering the seal ring, would bring the total reward to 2 trillion Tower Coins.
It was an amount worth the effort.
“He’s on the 65th floor of the Tower.”
“Is that so? But we don’t have a land deed for that floor…”
“Puhuhut. Great hybrid Chairman Park, leave it to me, Vice Chairman Theo, meow!”
“Alright. We’ll figure it out. Jeras, just leave it to us.”
“Yes! I’ll trust the Sejun Family! In the meantime, we’ll also try to get the land deed!”
At Sejun’s words, Jeras shouted happily.
“Well then, we’ll get going.”
“Have a good night!”
With that, Sejun and his companions left Jeras’s office. They headed to the Golden Ship to sleep.
On their way to the hotel,
Thud!
Uren bumped into a drunken, giant hippopotamus.
“Ack!”
The hippo fell down.
Eek! You pig bastard!
Believing in his own strength, the hippo had collided with full force, only to find Uren’s strength far superior, making him fall flat on his back in a comical fashion.
“Do you know who I am?! I’m Kaba, the richest man on the 71st floor of the Tower! Apologize to me immediately!”
Kaba showed off his wealth and raged at Uren despite being the one who picked a fight and lost, but
“Shut up! I’m Uren, the Legendary Merchant!”
In the face of Uren’s wealth, Kaba’s bragging seemed insignificant.
Moreover, Uren was no longer the pushover he used to be.
Thud.
“Ugh!”
Uren delivered a sidekick to Kaba’s face, knocking him unconscious.
“Puhuhut. We’ve got another employee, meow!”
Press.
Theo stamped Kaba’s unconscious body with the employee contract seal and rummaged through his belongings.
Since Kaba hadn’t been subdued by Sejun himself, he didn’t qualify as an alliance employee.
As Theo searched Kaba’s belongings,
“Puhuhut. This guy’s loaded, meow!”
Theo gleefully exclaimed upon discovering 3 trillion Tower Coins in Kaba’s Void Storage pouch.
The money Kaba had was an astonishingly large sum, far beyond what someone of his stature as a wealthy man on the 71st floor of the Tower should possess.
In reality, it was military funding meant to be delivered to the Black Shield members that Sejun had handed over to Jeras earlier.
At that moment,
“Meow?”
Theo pulled out two land deeds from Kaba’s possessions. They were none other than the land deeds for the 63rd and 65th floors of the Tower, exactly what Sejun needed.
As expected, the synergy between Theo, the King of Luck, and Uren, the King of Misfortune, was truly incredible.
“Puhuhut. Great Hybrid Chairman Park, I, Vice Chairman Theo have done it, meow!”
Holding the money and the land deeds, Theo leapt onto Sejun’s lap.
“Oh! Vice Chairman Theo, great work!”
When Sejun praised Theo after confirming the money and land deeds,
“Puhuhut. Of course, I, Vice Chairman Theo, always do well, meow! Didn’t I tell you to just leave it to me, meow? Or did I not? Chairman Park, give me some Churu! I want a late-night snack today, meow!”
Theo boasted loudly, puffing himself up. He was in such a good mood that he even asked for a late-night snack, which he usually didn’t eat.
“Alright.”
Since he did something praiseworthy today, Sejun indulged Theo’s bragging and patted his head.
And then,
Kuehehehe. Kueng!
[Hehehe. Cuengi wants a late-night snack too!]
Kihihit. Kking!
[Hehe. Butler! Me too, late-night snack!]
Piyihihi. Piyo!
[Pyuhuhut. If Vice Chairman Theo eats a snack, as his right front paw, I can’t just sit still!]
“Uheheh. Are we having a late-night snacks?”
Even the rest of the group became excited at the mention of late-night snacks.
“First, let’s take this guy back to Jeras.”
Dragging Kaba behind them, Sejun and the group made their way back to Jeras’s office.
“Hmm. So this is Kaba, the nouveau riche of the 71st floor. Unfortunately, this guy doesn’t have a bounty. He’s settled all his disputes with money.”
There was no bounty.
“Is that so? What a shame.”
“What a shame, meow…”
Despite having taken 3 trillion Tower Coins from Kaba, both Sejun and Theo looked regretful.
Dragging Kaba back out, Sejun and the group left him lying by the main gate of the Wandering Merchants Association headquarters.
“This is for your fare, meow!”
Theo kindly placed 1 Tower Coin tightly in Kaba’s hand, making sure it wouldn’t slip out.
Theo was unusually generous today.
After leaving Kaba behind, Sejun and the group entered the Golden Ship and were guided to the best room available.
“Alright. Let’s wash up.”
Eager to soak in hot water for the first time in a while, Sejun led the group into a large bathhouse filled with rising steam.
“Come on. Over here.”
He washed each of his companions one by one as they played in the water.
A short while later.
“Whew. That feels refreshing.”
Sejun, the last to finish washing up, emerged from the bath.
Gororong.
Kurorong.
Kkirorong.
…
..
.
Theo, Cuengi, Blackie, Piyot, Uren, and the rest of the family were all bundled up together, fast asleep.
It had taken so long to wash everyone that they had fallen asleep while waiting for Sejun to finish.
“I guess I’ll have to eat the late-night snack by myself.”
How about something simple, like ramen?
Clink…
Sejun carefully boiled some water and opened his Void Storage as quietly as possible.
(Pip-pip. Sejun-nim, good evening!)
Paespaes woke up and greeted Sejun.
“My Paespaes is awake? Are you hungry? Wait a moment.”
Sejun quickly took out some fruit and began preparing it.
(Pip-pip. Thank you for the meal!)
Slurp. Slurp.
While Paespaes sipped the juice of the pear,
What kind of ramen should I have?
Sejun briefly contemplated which ramen to eat for his late-night snack before choosing black bean noodle ramen and opening its packet.
Rustle. Rustle.
Although he tried to be as quiet as possible, the sound of the ramen packet was unavoidable.
…
In an instant, the sound of snoring from the bed stopped.
“Guys, want to eat together?”
Sejun turned his head and asked his companions, who were staring at him with eyes full of betrayal as if saying ‘Why are you eating alone?’
Dada-da.
The well-rested group hurriedly rushed to Sejun, joining him for the late-night snack.
Then,
104.28.193.250
Kuik!
Uren, who was eating ramen, bit his tongue and screamed.
The night deepened, but it seemed Uren’s streak of misfortune wasn’t over yet.
And then,
“Over there?!”
“Yes, Vice-Captain!”
In the distance, figures wearing black hoods were seen approaching the Golden Ship.