“Hoo. That was really delicious.”

Hanson, who had eaten three grilled sausages and was reaching out for the next one, put his hand down, showing an expression that he couldn’t eat anymore.

But…

I still want to eat more…

His eyes were filled with regret.

And…

You should eat more.

Such a pity, meow.

Sejun and Theo, who were watching Hanson, also had looks of regret in their eyes. After all, the more he ate, the longer his slavery period would extend.

“Um…”

As Hanson was about to speak,

Chuk.

“Puhuhut. There’s no such thing as a free meal in this world, meow! Pay up for the three grilled sausages, meow!”

“Huhut. And we don’t accept credit.”

Theo stretched out his front paw to stop Hanson from speaking, laughing like a villain, and Sejun, who was standing behind him with his arms crossed, also laughed villainously.

Become a worker at our grapefruit farm!

Become Chairman Park’s slave, meow!!

The two looked at Hanson with burning eyes.

However,

“Of course. There’s no way the food would be free. How much is it?”

“Meow?!”

104.28.193.250

“Huh?!”

Contrary to their expectations, Hanson took out his money pouch and tried to pay for the sausages.

Hanson had brought money to buy food in case he met a merchant caravan outside.

He’s actually paying for the food, meow?! This way, we can’t make him a slave, meow!

Theo, a veteran slave hunter with experience in enslaving hundreds of thousands, was encountering this situation for the first time.

Chairman Park, what do we do, meow?! The un-ugly faced slave is trying to escape, meow! Do something, meow!

Theo urgently pulled on Sejun’s pant, looking at him.

Vice Chairman Theo, don’t worry. Just watch me!

With a confident expression, Sejun stepped forward and gave a thumbs-up.

But…

Puhuhut. Chairman Park, got it, meow!

Whether he misinterpreted Sejun’s actions or not, Theo nodded vigorously.

“Huh? What did you go…”

Sejun didn’t have time to ask.

Thump.

Before he knew it, Theo had taken out the Five Towers’ Slave Seal and stamped it on Hanson’s hand.

“Huh?!”

On Hanson’s hand, a paw-shaped slave seal of Theo appeared.

[You have hunted 1 slave.]

[Due to the effect of the <Title: Slave Hunter>, all stats have increased by 1.]

[You now command 1 slave.]

[Due to the effect of the <Title: Slave King>, all stats have increased by 0.01.]

Thanks to gaining a new slave, Theo and Sejun’s stats increased, and Hanson was forcibly recruited into Sejun Company.

***

‘Such delicious food must be expensive, right?’

Hanson tensed up as he watched Sejun step forward.

The money I have right now is…

As he was mentally calculating his funds,

Thump.

Theo stamped a seal on his hand.

And…

[You have been stamped with the Five Towers’ Slave Seal.]

[A debt of 50 billion Tower Coins has been incurred, payable to Theo Park, the legendary merchant of the Black Tower.]

[If you cannot repay the 50 billion Tower Coins, you must work as a slave until the debt is cleared.]

[Your current 3,000 Tower Coins have been forcibly seized.]

[The remaining debt is now 49 billion 999 million 997 thousand Tower Coins.]

Hanson’s money vanished, and at the same time, an enormous debt was placed upon him.

“Puhuhut. Hanson is now a slave of the Grapefruit Farm until the debt is repaid, meow! Chairman Park, how much should we give him, meow?”

What the hell…

As Hanson was about to protest to Sejun and Theo,

“Hmm. Let’s set the wage at 100,000 Tower Coins, and I suppose we could give him about 150 Magical Cherry Tomatoes as daily food.”

Though the wage was higher than other places, it would all be seized anyway. However, he generously offered a lot of Magical Cherry Tomatoes, which the elves of the Golden Tower loved.

What?! 150 Magical Cherry Tomatoes?!

Hanson’s mind raced as he heard Sejun’s words.

Recently, they had reduced rations to the bare minimum, and an adult elf now consumed only five Magical Cherry Tomatoes per meal.

150 Magical Cherry Tomatoes could feed 30 adult elves.

If I can just hold out for a few days, we’ll be able to harvest some Magical Cherry Tomatoes…

“Uh… Sejun~nim, could you perhaps give me a month’s worth of Magical Cherry Tomatoes in advance?”

Hanson, in urgent need of food, pleaded with Sejun to let him receive a month’s worth of Cherry Tomatoes in advance. His eyes were full of desperation.

Getting 4,500 Cherry Tomatoes is tough, no matter how much money you have.

There’s been talk of a golden cart filled with millions of Cherry Tomatoes passing through other villages recently, but…

‘That’s probably just a false rumor.’

Hanson shook his head, recalling what an elf from another village had told him a few days ago while he was out searching for food.

The only place capable of selling that many Cherry Tomatoes in the Golden Tower would be the Daemon family.

“Alright. I’ll give them to you after we finish up here.”

“Yes! What should I do first?”

As expected of the Daemon family!

Upon receiving Sejun’s permission, Hanson quickly jumped up and looked for something to do.

Hanson still believed that Uren held the real power and that Sejun and Theo were just in charge of daily affairs.

“For now, gather the lightning-struck wood and lightning stones scattered around here and bring them over.”

“Yes.”

Following Sejun’s instructions, Hanson greeted the others and began moving the items to the Void Storage.

A few hours later.

“Hanson, good work. Do you have a place to sleep?”

“Yes. But… can I really take all of this with me?”

Even as he spoke, Hanson was swiftly packing the remaining roasted sweet potatoes, his hands moving so fast they were barely visible.

“Of course. Take everything.”

I roasted plenty on purpose so you could take them.

Seeing Hanson’s dire food situation, Sejun had intentionally prepared extra so that Hanson could take some with him.

“Alright. Then come back by morning. Here are 30 days’ worth of Cherry Tomatoes.”

Sejun handed Hanson a box containing 4,500 Cherry Tomatoes.

“Thank you, Sejun~nim!”

Having realized during the work that Sejun was the real power behind everything, Hanson expressed his gratitude and then carefully, but quickly, headed back to the village.

***

Golden Tower, 35th Floor.

Daemon Family’s Branch Office.

“Uren found out?”

Magin, who had been listening to his subordinate’s report with his eyes closed, opened them and asked.

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Uren, that sucker. Even if he found out, that sucker won’t be able to do anything. If he tries to confront us, it just gives us another chance to scam him. Now, what about the task I gave you?”

“We’re on the final steps.”

“Good. In just a little while, the elves on the 35th floor will starve to death.”

This is all because of what you brought upon yourselves.

Magin smiled wickedly as he imagined what was about to unfold.

In the past, when the world known as ‘Kroon’ was destroyed, the Elf tribe and the Pig tribe who had lived there together entered the tower.

Although both races had lived in the same world, their treatment was vastly different.

The gods only adored the elves, who possessed perfect beauty. However, they despised the Pig tribe, who were ugly, fat, and defecated everywhere.

Thus, the Pig tribe were always looked down upon.

But when they entered the tower, the situation reversed.

The gods who had been friendly towards the elves disappeared, and while the Pig tribe could roam freely in places struck by lightning, the elves could not.

As a result, the Pig tribe formed a trading group and traveled to the elves, who had built villages in caves to avoid the lightning. They sold what the elves needed at high prices and bought goods cheaply, accumulating vast wealth.

On top of that, the Pig tribe could replenish the fertility of the land by using manure as fertilizer. In contrast, the elves, who had no access to fertilizer, continued to plant crops in the caves, causing the land’s fertility to diminish over time and significantly lowering their production.

As the gap between the Elf tribe and the Pig tribe widened,

“Let’s take revenge on the elves for all they’ve done to us!”

Extremists among the Pig tribe began to emerge, advocating for the extermination of the elves who had looked down on them.

Magin Daemon was the leader of the extremist group Elf Killer, which called for the extinction of the elves.

“Good. Lead me to the place where the final step is being carried out.”

“Yes!”

Magin, planning to personally inspect the final step to exterminate the elves, followed his subordinate.

And the place they headed to was a huge basin that looked like an upside-down straw hat.

***

The next morning.

“Kyoot kyoot kyoot. Sejun~nim, the work is finished! I’m going to activate the magic circle! Start!”

Iona, who had been setting up a large lightning protection magic circle around the Grapefruit Farm since yesterday, infused the magic circle with her power.

Then,

Wooong.

A transparent, square-shaped barrier appeared 500 meters above the Grapefruit Farm.

Boom!

The barrier began to block the lightning bolts falling from the sky.

“Iona, good job.”

“Kyoot kyoot kyoot. Yes!”

“Then let’s eat breakfast and go to the waypoint first. Guys!”

Since they hadn’t found anything suspicious yesterday and discovered the waypoint, he decided to register it first.

Sejun had asked Hanson if he knew of any special places, but Hanson, who had never ventured far from the village due to the lightning, didn’t have any information.

“Puhuhut. Chairman Park, grill the fish quickly, meow!”

Kuehehehe. Kueng!

[Hehehe. Kuengi will help prepare breakfast!]

Kihihit. Kking!

[Hehe. Give me food!]

As Sejun called, his companions gathered around him.

A short while later…

While Sejun was enjoying breakfast with his companions,

“Sejun~nim, good morning.”

Hanson arrived for work.

“Huh? Who are those behind you?”

“I thought I might not be able to manage the Grapefruit Farm alone later on, so…”

Hanson had brought 20 elves with him.

All of them were prepared to become slaves if it meant their families wouldn’t starve.

Hehe. Since the chairman is so capable, naturally handsome employees are gathering.

Sejun was secretly pleased as he looked at them.

Meanwhile,

“Puhuhut.”

Thunk.

Theo stamped the elves with his seal, raising both Sejun’s and his own stats.

“If you haven’t eaten breakfast yet, come have some.”

“No, we’re fine…”

As Hanson was about to refuse the food Sejun offered,

Grrr.

“S-sorry!”

The sound came from the stomach of an elf standing behind Hanson.

The elves had eaten five Cherry Tomatoes for breakfast, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

“Eat plenty. You need to be full to work hard.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you for the food!”

The elves each took an ear of corn from Sejun and began eating hurriedly.

“Please take good care of the farm.”

“Yes. Leave it to us!”

After entrusting the farm to the Elves, Sejun moved to the waypoint with his companions.

“Who the hell are you?! Huh?! You’re… Uren?!”

Nellie, the red pig who was the boss of the 35th floor of the Golden Tower and third on Uren’s blacklist, was shocked to see Uren.

For the record, Nellie owed Uren 10 trillion Tower Coins.

“Uren, long time no see. By the way, does the family head know you came to the Golden Tower?”

Nellie, who was momentarily flustered upon seeing Uren, smirked slyly, thinking he had found Uren’s weakness.

“No… he doesn’t know…”

Uren’s voice grew quieter, confirming that he had indeed come in secret.

“I thought so. Uren, what are friends for? I’ll keep your visit to the Golden Tower a secret. But I’ve been wanting to buy something lately, and I’m short on funds…”

Pretending to care about Uren, Nellie asked him to lend him some money.

Of course, his plan was to run straight to Magin and report that Uren had returned to the Golden Tower as soon as he got the money.

However,

“Really? But I don’t have any money either.”

Uren, who had never deviated from Nellie’s expectations until now, gave a different response.

“What?”

“And there’s no chance of my father finding out that I’ve returned. Because, Nellie, you’re going to become a slave.”

He was no longer the King Sucker Uren of the past.

“What did you just say?! You dare to make me a slave?! I’ve been going easy on you because you’re a direct descendant! Now, I’ll show you how it feels to burn!”

Rumble.

Fwoosh.

As the enraged Nellie grew in size and became engulfed in intense flames,

“I never said I’d be the one to do it… Theo~nim, I’ll leave it to you. You know the 50-50 split, right?”

“Puhuhut. Don’t worry, meow!”

Theo, who had been loosening up while talking with Uren, got ready.

At that moment,

Kkueng!!!

Thud!

Kkuik!!

Giant Cuengi appeared and struck the enlarged Nellie with the Lightning Staff.

Kuehehehe. Kueng!

[Hehehe. Cuengi helped big brother, so give me 100 Tower Coins!]

Cuengi, who had knocked Nellie out cold, grinned brightly and extended his front paw to Theo.

“Puhuhut. Alright, meow!”

That’s a good deal, meow!

Theo handed 100 Tower Coins to Cuengi.

Kuehehe. Kueng!

[Hehehe. Cuengi earned 100 Tower Coins!]

As Cuengi happily placed the money he received from Theo into his pocket money pouch,

Puhuhut. Now, I’ll receive 5 trillion Tower Coins and get praised by Chairman Park, meow!

Stamp.

Theo stamped Nellie’s foot on the slave contract and smiled wickedly.

*****