“That’s… Theo~nim!”

The King of Farming recognized Theo coming from afar. I’m saved! I can go to Sejun~nim!

As the King of Farming rejoiced at the sight of Theo,

“Perfect! The Crying Pirates, move out!”

Koto and his followers dashed forward.

‘You fools! No!’

The King of Farming was horrified watching them. Because he had personally witnessed Theo’s strength while traveling with him up to the fourth floor of the tower.

Clatter. Clatter.

Nevertheless, having spent time together, he quickly ran to save Koto. If I speak up, Theo would surely listen.

And then,

“I can’t believe our youngest is so daring!”

Koto was pleased to see the King of Farming rushing ahead. He intended to let him take it easy since it was his first time, but he was working so hard…

‘I should let the youngest shine.’

With a pleased expression, Koto slowed down to allow the King of Farming to take the lead.

So the King of Farming was at the forefront.

When he got in front of the cat, instead of drawing a weapon, he tried to say something.

Then,

Thump.

Clatter. Clatter.

The youngest was struck by the front paw of the yellow cat and shattered.

“Youngest! Crying Skeleton Gang! Let’s avenge the youngest!”

“Yes!”

Koto and the other four skeletons rushed out to avenge the King of Farming,

Splutter.

Clatter. Clatter.

They all ended up the same as King of Farming.

***

“Meow meow meow.”

Piyo. Piyo.

Kkuik! Kkuik!

On the way to the target at the very bottom of Uren’s blacklist.

Clatter. Clatter.

“Puhuhut.”

Theo laughed brightly seeing the skeletons running towards him with swords drawn. They’re good slaves that work without food, meow!

Piyihihit.

Piyot also prepared a slave contract, ready to stamp it whenever Theo instructed.

And then,

Thump.

Splutter.

Theo knocked out the skeletons as they charged at him. The first skeleton tried to say something, but Theo just knocked him out.

‘I’ll make them slaves and listen later, meow!’

Unfortunately, all the skeletons looked alike to Theo, so he couldn’t recognize the King of Farming.

Piyo…

[The thumb bone…]

Piyot picked up the thumb bone from a shattered skeleton and stamped it on the contract.

As Piyot collected the finger bones of the skeletons and stamped the slave contract, gathering all the bones of the Crying Skeleton Gang,

“Meow?!”

Theo suddenly looked up with wide eyes, feeling extremely happy, his mouth corners lifted, and his tail flicking.

“Theo~nim, what’s wrong?”

“Chairman Park’s knees are very close, meow!”

Responding to Uren’s question, Theo shouted excitedly.

“Hurry and follow me, meow!”

Theo hurriedly ran towards where Sejun was,

Piyo!

[Yes!]

“Theo~nim, let’s go together!”

Piyot and Uren ran after him.

***

[You have arrived at the 44th floor of the Black Tower.]

[You moved from the 99th floor to the 44th floor of the tower.]

[You have descended 55 floors.]

[Due to the effect of <Title: Retrogressor>, all stats increase by 55.]

Sejun arrived at the waypoint of the 44th floor.

‘Theo is nearby.’

Just as Theo felt Sejun’s energy, Sejun also sensed Theo’s energy.

It seemed like he was coming closer to find him.

‘Maybe about 30 minutes?’

While Sejun was calculating the time for Theo’s arrival,

“Peng! Greetings to the great Black Dragon!”

The boss of the 44th floor, Emperor Penguin Gem, greeted Sejun.

“Gem, anything unusual on the 44th floor lately?”

Sejun asked as he received Gem’s greeting.

“Peng? Anything unusual?… I don’t think so.”

Gem thought for a moment before responding.

“Is that so? Toryong!”

-Yes, Master!

Upon Gem’s response, Sejun decided to call Toryong directly to search for the power of destruction. He chose the lake where the Blue-Backed Penguins lived as their destination.

Since he had come this far, he planned to catch freshwater shrimp to make both shrimp soup and shrimp sauce.

Along the way to the lake,

“But why aren’t these guys coming out?”

When Black Rabbit, Cuengi, Ajax, and Fenrir didn’t emerge from the Void Storage, Sejun, curious about what they were doing, opened it.

Then,

Baerorong.

Kurorong.

Aerorong.

On the floor, Black Rabbit, Cuengi, and Ajax were huddled together, sound asleep.

Cuengi was full, and Black Rabbit and Ajax seemed deeply asleep from exhaustion.

‘Hehehe. How cute.’

It was a scene so adorable he wanted to capture it in a photo.

Then, from the back of the storage, there was a rustling sound. It was obvious who it was.

‘The culprit is the one not in sight.’

As Sejun quietly approached the source of the noise,

Kyihihit. Kking!

‘Heheh. I need to put all this in my secret storage!’

As Sejun had guessed, there was Fenrir, surrounded by heaps of dried sweet potatoes and other snacks. A few were already eaten, as his belly was quite bloated.

Thus, Fenrir was happily gathering snacks.

“Our Blackie, what are you doing now?”

…!

Frozen by Sejun’s voice, Fenrir turned his head like a wind-up toy and then hurriedly ran away.

But his heavy, thumping steps were no match for Sejun’s grasp.

“Hehehe. Got you, you rascal.”

Fenrir was caught by the scruff by Sejun before he could get far.

“Blackie, you couldn’t hold back and caused trouble again? Huh?”

Fenrir had to endure a time of lecturing as he met Sejun’s eyes.

A little later.

“Ugh. This is all drooled on.”

After scolding Fenrir, Sejun cleaned up the snacks Fenrir had stashed away.

Kking…

[My snacks…]

Unable to bear watching his snacks disappear, Fenrir buried his head deep into his sling bag and promptly fell asleep.

Ppyak?

Kueng?

“What are you doing, hyung?”

In the meantime, Black Rabbit, Cuengi, and Ajax, who had woken up, helped Sejun pack the snacks into a box.

After finishing packing the snacks and moving on, they arrived at the lake farm.

“It’s Sejun~nim!”

“Sejun~nim has arrived!”

The Blue-Backed Penguins warmly welcomed Sejun.

***

“We’ve here, meow!”

Theo, delayed by encounters with one fragment of Jörmungandr and five robbers over four floors due to Uren’s misfortune, finally reached the 40th floor of the tower.

For reference, the Crying Skeleton Gang was not included among the robbers.

“Puhuhut. Chairman Park’s knees aren’t far now, meow!”

Just as Theo was about to hurry towards Sejun,

“Hehehe…Alright…”

Uren, with a slightly dazed expression, started muttering to himself and walked ahead.

It was a scene Theo had seen many times.

“Puhuhut. I can give Chairman Park something even better, meow!”

Theo, laughing, followed Uren.

“Yes… Let’s go kill a dragon together…”

Following Uren, just before he picked up a black orb,

Slap!

“Uren, snap out of it, meow!”

Theo slapped Uren’s cheek and quickly stuffed the black orb into his bundle.

“Eh? Theo~nim? What just…?”

“I saved you, so pay up, meow!”

“Okay!”

Thanks to Uren, Theo, who also made money and obtained a piece of Fenrir’s core, had another exceptionally lucky day.

“Puhuhut. Let’s go, meow!”

He quickly ran towards Sejun.

***

“Guys, herd them this way!”

Ppyak!

Kueng!

“Yes! Hyung!”

At Sejun’s call, Black Rabbit, Cuengi, and Ajax vigorously splashed the water, driving the freshwater shrimp towards the net Sejun was holding.

Sejun, waiting for the slower-than-expected Theo, continued catching freshwater shrimp.

While catching freshwater shrimp,

“···?!”

Something obscured Sejun’s view and stuck to his face. The familiar touch, the musky smell, and the energy—it was Theo.

He had been quite far away just moments before, but suddenly, he was right here.

“Chairman Park, I’m here, meow!”

“Bub-bub-bup.”

Instead of responding, Sejun blew raspberries.

“Puhuhut. It tickles, meow~!”

While Theo twisted his body in laughter, Sejun grabbed him by the scruff and plopped him onto his lap.

Then,

Snap.

Theo clung to Sejun’s knee.

“Vice Chairman Theo, did you have a good trip?”

“Puhuhut. Yes, meow!”

Theo answered and diligently rubbed his face against Sejun’s knee, and Sejun stroked Theo’s head in response.

“Chairman Park, sit down, meow!”

Theo, puffing out his chest with an arrogant expression, said to Sejun.

‘He has something.’

Recognizing Theo’s expression, which he only made when he had something great, Sejun complied.

“Alright.”

As Sejun sat on the floor as Theo said, Theo, standing on Sejun’s lap, turned his bundle upside down and shook it.

Then, money pouches and a black orb spilled out.

“Oh?! This is?!”

It wasn’t just the money that surprised Sejun, but also the sight of a fragment of Fenrir’s core. He had come here to search for this…

“Puhuhut. Chairman Park, please rub my belly, meow!”

Seeing the expression on Sejun’s face, Theo confidently rolled onto his back, presenting his pink belly, certain he had brought something significant.

It was a bit annoying, but since Theo had lessened his work, Sejun obediently rubbed Theo’s belly while picking up and examining the core fragment.

“It’s a 0.5% one. Aileen, please purify this too.”

Sejun entrusted the fragment of Fenrir’s core to Aileen.

While he was rubbing Theo’s belly,

Ppyak!

[Uncle, me too!]

Kueng!

[Cuengi wants belly rubs too!]

“Hyung! Rub my belly too!”

Suddenly at Sejun’s side, Black Rabbit, Cuengi, and Ajax also demanded their bellies be rubbed.

“Hmm.”

Sejun pondered. He only had two hands. He couldn’t stroke all four at the same time.

If he only stroked two, wouldn’t the other two feel left out?

Then…

“Hehehe. I’ll just hug you all. Come here.”

As Sejun embraced all four, initially, they fussed,

“Puhuhut.”

Ppyak-kyeek!

Kuehehehe.

“Eeheheh.”

Soon, the four were engulfed in the warmth of Sejun’s embrace, their laughter unceasing.

Kyihihit.

Even Fenrir, who was sleeping in the sling bag, felt more comfortable and curled his lips up in a smile.

“Hehehe.”

Sejun felt the same.

As Sejun and his companions were enjoying their happy time,

Piyo!

[Hello, Sejun~nim!]

“Hello, Sejun~nim.”

Piyot and Uren arrived, leading Theo’s slaves.

***

On the outskirts of destruction.

“But what is Fenrir doing?”

Halphas spoke while looking at the Black Tower. It had been 20 days since Fenrir entered the Black Tower, and there had been no contact.

Normally, being a loner, it was typical for him not to keep in touch, but lately, there had been strange talk among the other Apostles of Destruction.

They said that fragments of Fenrir’s core were wandering around the Black Tower.

Of course, since these were small pieces with little power, there wasn’t much concern.

He might be unlucky, but his skills were real.

It was unimaginable that Fenrir, the God-Hunting Wolf and the 1st Seat of Apostle of Destruction, could die.

“But why is there no progress here?”

Halphas, looking at the orb ‘Earth,’ which was only reddened at its tip, spoke in an annoyed tone.

There were hundreds of orbs quickly turning red around Earth, even though only disasters were sent there.

But Earth, peculiarly, was being consumed by destruction very slowly. It was almost at a standstill, even after he had sent his own fragment.

“Is there something there?”

Otherwise, there was no way that place alone could hold out so well.

“How unpleasant.”

Halphas felt his pride wounded as the situation didn’t improve even after sending his fragment.

So, Halphas decided to send a stronger fragment. It would mean a greater penalty, but it was tolerable.

Of course, many sacrifices were needed for his own descent, so Halphas was preparing to send a disaster to Earth.

The first disaster, Locust, which required the least sacrifice and was most effective out of the seven disasters.

However,

“What?”

Halphas found that the Locust could not been sent to Earth.

“Eek! Why can’t it be sent?!”

As Halphas struggled to send the Locust to Earth,

[You have exterminated the first disaster, Locusts sent by Apostle of Destruction.]

[You have achieved a great feat that has never been accomplished before.]

[As a reward for the great feat, the first disaster Locust can no longer invade Earth.]

“Locusts are extinct?”

Sejun was reading the message that had appeared before him.

Finally, all the locusts on Earth had been exterminated.

*****