TL: Hanguk

The Great Black Dragon, Aelin Pritani, had been in a great mood lately. The human who had entered her lair due to her own mistake turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

‘I want to brag, but I have to hold back.’

She couldn’t risk exposing her mistake.

“Kroong. Kroong. Kroong.”

Aelin hummed a tune as she went to the collection warehouse, where the Pritani family had stored items they had collected for generations. The warehouse was enchanted with a preservation spell, so the items inside would always maintain their current state.

Creak.

Aelin opened the door to the warehouse. On the shelves inside were items worth billions once they were unleashed on Earth.

Aelin walked past the displayed items and stood in front of an empty shelf.

Then,

Rustle. Rustle.

She carefully placed her item on the shelf, making sure it wouldn’t break, and looked at it with pride.

The newly added collection was labeled in Korean as “Yeosan Washed Apples.”

It was the bag of washed apples that Se-jun had used to hold the dried sweet potatoes. The Yeosan Washed Apples bag had earned the honor of occupying a spot in the collection room of the Pritani family, which boasted a history of millions of years.

“Heheh. I should check what delicious food the human is making now.”

Aelin left the warehouse and sat in front of the crystal ball, watching Se-jun’s cave.

“Oh! The cat merchant has returned. That cunning fellow, just try to deceive our human again, hmph!”

The Black Dragon, Aelin Pritani, stared intently at the crystal ball, wondering if Theo would deceive Se-jun.

***

Buzz.

Announcing his arrival, Theo jumped down from the cave’s ceiling hole as soon as he heard the buzzing of the poison bees.

“We’re on the same side, meow!”

He shouted and ran, slipping into Sejun’s clothes. Then, Theo poked his head out of Sejun’s collar.

“What? You’re stretching my collar.”

“Poisonous bees are scary, meow.”

“Don’t worry. They won’t come.”

The adult poisonous bees told their offspring that Theo was on their side, so it was fine.

“Phew, that’s a relief, meow.”

Theo finally came out of Sejun’s clothes after confirming the poison bees didn’t pull out their stingers.

“Did you do what I asked?”

“Of course, meow! I completed all tasks and sold everything, meow!”

Theo answered confidently.

“So, the contract to send news to my family went well?”

“It should have, meow. Here’s the contract, meow.”

Theo handed the contract to Sejun.

As Sejun grabbed the contract,

Whirr.

At that moment, the contract burned with a blue flame, indicating it had been fulfilled. It meant that Sejun’s wellbeing and 50 million won had been successfully sent to his family.

“Good job. Let’s settle our accounts first.”

“Here it is, meow! 50 Tower coins for the contract and 14.2 Tower coins spent for the store errands, meow.”

Theo handed Sejun the amounts spent and reported.

“208.8 Tower coins?!”

Sejun was surprised by the amount, which was more than double what he had expected.

“I met a sucker this time and sold everything at a high price, meow!”

What? If a sucker is called a sucker by Theo, how much of a sucker are they?

Not knowing the trading situation, Sejun was confused about whether to believe Theo’s words.

“Alright, here’s the incentive. It’s originally 10.92 Tower coins, but I’m giving a bit more.”

Sejun playfully handed over 15 Tower coins to Theo.

“Thank you, Sejun! And I have this too!”

Theo, seemingly wanting more praise, quickly stood up and shook out the contents of his bag.

Thud.

Seasonings, churu, and items Sejun had asked Theo to run errands for spilled out of the bag.

“What’s this?!”

Sejun carefully tasted the powder in a transparent bag.

‘Salty!’

A wave of saltiness filled his mouth.

‘With this… grilled fish…’

Sejun was mentally simulating various ways to use the salt when Theo asked:

“How is it?”

Theo confidently climbed onto Sejun’s lap.

“Huh?!”

“Am I a representative now?”

Only then did Sejun come to his senses and pat Theo’s head while examining the items Theo had spilled out.

There were only two seasonings: salt and pepper. And 15 coffee mix packets. At a glance, it seemed like Theo could get about 20 one-hour representative coupons.

“Alright. I’ll appoint you as the representative for 24 hours.”

Since Theo had taken care of his request without any issues, Sejun decided to spend a little more time.

“Great!”

“Representative Theo, good job.”

Sejun picked up a dropped tuna-flavored churu, tore open the end, and held it out in front of Theo.

Chomp, chomp, chomp.

While Theo ate the churu, Sejun examined the items he had asked Theo to buy.

Pot, ladle, bowl, spoon, dagger. They were items for cooking and eating.

Sejun first picked up the pot to examine it.

[Cast Iron Pot]

Made of cast iron, it’s sturdy.

The handle is wrapped in wood for comfortable use.

Usage restrictions: None

Maker: Private

Grade: D

“Private?”

Sejun also picked up the ladle to examine it.

[Cast Iron Ladle]

Made of cast iron, it’s sturdy.

The handle is wrapped in wood for comfortable use.

Usage restrictions: None

Maker: Private

Grade: D

The rest of the bowls and spoons were the same. All private.

“That’s strange.”

Chew, chew, chew.

Theo’s churu-eating speed slowed significantly as he observed Sejun’s reactions.

Sejun finally picked up the dagger to examine it. He intended to ask Theo why the maker was private after checking this item too.

The dagger was heavier than Sejun had thought.

[Dagger]

???

Usage restrictions: Lv 10 or above, Strength 5 or above

Maker: Private

Grade: E

“Huh? Why are there question marks?”

Where there should have been a description of the item, there were only three question marks.

Snap.

Sejun, meeting the usage restrictions, gripped the dagger and cut some dried leaves laid out for bedding.

Slice.

Although thin, the dried leaves, which became as hard as wood when dry, were cut too easily. It seemed sufficient for cooking.

“Representative Theo, where did you get this?”

“Huh?! I bought it from the blacksmith’s lucky draw corner.”

Theo was flustered as Sejun asked about something other than the private maker.

“Lucky draw corner?”

“That’s right. The blacksmith was selling it at a discount, so I bought it there.”

The blacksmith owner told Theo to pick one from the lucky draw corner, a collection of equipment that they couldn’t appraise when Theo asked for a knife to use while cooking.

“Give me a discount!”

Theo, having learned from Sejun, tried to bargain for a discount three times at the lucky draw corner and managed to reduce the price from 20 Tower coins per draw to 13 Tower coins, obtaining a single knife.

“Good job.”

It didn’t matter what kind of knife it was. As long as it was cheap and worked.

It was heavy, but as long as it cut well, that was enough.

At that moment,

[The Tower’s administrator says that using unidentified items could cause trouble and offers to appraise it for you.]

“Really? Then do it.”

[A quest occurs.]

[Quest: Send the unidentified knife to the Tower’s administrator.]

Reward: None.

If rejected: Unable to appraise

[An additional quest occurs.]

[Quest: Give the Tower’s administrator dried sweet potato as a gift.]

Reward: Appraised knife

If rejected: Unable to receive the knife

“…Do we have to do this?”

[The Tower’s administrator says that using a quest is necessary for the items to be sent and received.]

[The Tower’s administrator strongly denies that they want to eat dried sweet potato.]

A strong denial is a confirmation, isn’t it?

[The Tower’s administrator wipes away their drool.]

[…!!!]

I knew it.

[The Tower’s administrator admits that while they have a little desire for dried sweet potato, it’s also true that a quest is necessary.]

“Fine.”

Sejun decided to have the knife appraised. Listening to the Tower’s administrator made him feel uneasy about using an item with unknown information, and giving away a few dried sweet potatoes wasn’t a difficult task.

‘I was going to give them more later, but this should be enough.’

“Take it.”

The knife disappeared from Sejun’s hand.

[You have completed the quest.]

[The Tower’s administrator uses an appraisal skill on the knife.]

[The Tower’s administrator says that, fortunately, it’s not an item that causes harm.]

“Really?”

Sejun took a handful of dried sweet potatoes from the leather pouch where he kept his potatoes.

“Here you go.”

As the dried sweet potatoes disappeared from Sejun’s hand, the knife appeared.

[You have completed the quest.]

[As a quest completion reward, you have acquired the appraised knife – Keinz’s Training Dagger.]

“Keinz’s Training Dagger?!”

The equipment now had a name. Then this must be a named equipment!

Outside, the starting price for named equipment is in the hundreds of millions. Sejun hurriedly checked the dagger.

[Keinz’s Training Dagger]

This is a dagger used for training by the Red Mountain Ranger Keinz.

It’s heavy for a dagger, using black iron to give it a sense of weight.

When crafting the dagger, a small amount of mithril is mixed in so that the sharpness lasts longer after being sharpened once.

Usage restrictions: Lv 10 or higher, Strength 5 or higher

Creator: Blacksmith Revn (Black Hammer Dwarf)

Grade: B

Skill: [Proficiency Increase Lv. 1]

[Proficiency Increase Lv. 1]

The proficiency of all skills used with this dagger increases by 5% faster.

All information, including the information about the creator that was restricted by the Wandering Merchant Association due to the powerful appraisal skill used by the tower administrator, was revealed.

Thanks to this, Sejun’s thoughts of asking Theo about the creator disappeared.

Chop chop chop.

Theo’s Churu-eating speed picked up again. He must have felt Sejun’s good mood.

And

“Sejun-nim, please scratch my back too, meow.”

Theo boldly requested.

“Alright.”

Pat pat.

Sejun, who was mesmerized by Keinz’s training dagger, scratched Theo’s back and looked at Theo again with newfound appreciation.

What’s this? I thought this guy was just a pushover…but Theo had other talents.

To have such a golden hand, no, a golden front paw… The world is indeed fair.

Suddenly, Theo’s front paws looked so pretty.

“Representative Theo, do you want more Churu?”

Sejun touched Theo’s plump front paw and asked.

“Of course, meow. Hurry up and give me more, meow!”

Theo arrogantly replied. Sejun had touched his front paw first, which he had been saving as his secret weapon. And then the voice full of affection followed.

‘Phoohoot. As expected, Park Sejun, you’re human after all, I knew you’d do this, meow.’

He fell for it. As expected, all humans kneel before his front paws, meow.

What’s this? This cheeky attitude?

Sejun became uncomfortable with Theo’s cocky attitude.

And his thoughts of permanently reinstating Theo as representative began to fade.

Theo missed the opportunity to become Representative Theo right in front of him.

Chop chop chop.

Unaware that he had just missed the chance to become representative, Theo diligently licked Churu.

At that moment, a presence approached Theo, who was sitting on Sejun’s lap, with discomfort.

Peang!

The black rabbit glared at Theo and shouted. That’s my spot!

“What are you talking about, meow? This is the representative’s seat, meow!”

Peang!

The black rabbit took out his hammer and replied. I don’t know! Get out right now!

A battle of nerves began between Theo and the black rabbit on Sejun’s lap.

“Hehehe. Cute creatures.”

Watching their battle of nerves was fun, but now it was time to sleep.

Whirl.

“Let’s all sleep together.”

Sejun laid down on the spot, holding Theo and the black rabbit tightly so they couldn’t escape.

“What, meow?!”

Peang?!

At first, they struggled to escape from Sejun’s chest, but soon both of them fell into a deep sleep while listening to Sejun’s heartbeat.

On the 161st day of being stranded, Sejun, Theo, and the black rabbit shared warmth and enjoyed a good night’s sleep.

*****

That’s all for today. I’m going to sleep now. Goodnight, or have a good day!