Chapter 622: Late Because of Eating

Silver Tower Manager’s Area

[You have exceeded the requirement to weaken the winds of the Silver Tower by 50%, one of the conditions for the Silver Great Tower’s growth.]

[All 8 conditions for the Silver Tower’s growth have been met.]

[The Silver Tower begins its transformation into the Silver Great Tower.]

The Silver Tower was finally evolving into the Silver Great Tower.

“Yes!”

Crisela cheered, looking at the alert on her crystal orb. Her joy was boundless.

Just then—

“Mother, what’s going on?”

Stella, who had just woken up from a leisurely nap, came to find Crisela. She had been on vacation for a month, idling about daily.

“Stella, our Silver Tower has finally become the Silver Great Tower.”

“Really?! Congratulations, Mother!”

“Hahaha, it’s all thanks to Sejun. Stella, if you ever meet Sejun, make sure to be nice to him, alright?”

“Yes. But when will I get to meet Sejun…?”

“Well… Sejun is still quite weak…”

“Yes.”

The atmosphere suddenly turned somber.

“Mother, shouldn’t we have a party to celebrate on a day as wonderful as this?”

Stella suggested throwing a celebration for the growth of the Silver Tower, lifting the mood.

“Haha, of course. Stella, go to YongYong Market and get some drinks and snacks!”

“Yes! I’ll be back soon!”

Crisela’s smile returned as she watched Stella leave.

The party to celebrate the Silver Great Tower’s growth took place at the Silver Dragon’s den, boosting sales at YongYong Market, and once again, Sejun made a profit.

 

Silver Great Tower, 82nd Floor

“Everyone, wake up.”

Sejun roused his companions in the morning.

Today was the day to go home. With the Silver Great Tower’s growth complete, it was time to return to the Black Tower.

Of course, Sejun planned to hire any remaining Silver Tower residents who’d arrived late on the 82nd floor upon hearing about the Sejun Company recruitment.

Since his stat potential was still ample, he saw no reason to be selective.

After breakfast—

“Haha! Come and get stamped, meow!”

While Theo stamped the Silver Tower residents who wished to join Sejun Company—

[The Silver Tower manager says this is the reward as promised.]

Sejun received a completion bonus from Crisela, amounting to triple the advance payment.

He now had 3.6 trillion Tower Coins, 36 liters of Great Silver Dragon’s blood, 18,000 scales, and 3.6 kg of claws.

“Hehehe, that’s a nice haul.”

Sejun smiled brightly as he stored Crisela’s reward in his dimensional warehouse.

But it still wasn’t enough.

“Lady Crisela, since Charlie attacked us and got stamped, could you send another boss for us to stamp?”

Charlie, overhearing this, felt wronged.

[The Silver Tower manager apologizes, saying she sent the calmest boss, not expecting this.]

[The Silver Tower manager expresses her disapproval of the boss’s disrespect toward you.]

[The Silver Tower manager says she will eliminate the boss if that’s what you wish.]

Now Charlie faced the threat of erasure.

“What?! Elimination?”

Destruction, not just death?

“No, please, that’s not necessary!”

Sejun quickly responded, alarmed by Crisela’s words.

Though the dragons usually felt like neighborhood elders, times like these reminded him of the terrifying pride of these Great Dragons.

‘At least I’m not despised by them.’

Sejun felt a sense of relief, unaware that he was both a source of sympathy and a significant concern to the Great Dragons.

[The Silver Tower manager says she will send two additional bosses for stamping instead.]

‘Oh! Two of them?!’

Theo will be thrilled!

“Hehehe, thank you, Lady Crisela!”

Sejun expressed his gratitude, and Crisela commanded two Silver Tower bosses to go to the 82nd floor and receive Theo’s stamp.

This delayed Sejun and his companions' return to the Black Tower a bit longer.

 

Black Tower, 99th Floor

“Is this the place? The home of the Black Tower’s richest, Chairman Park of Sejun Company?”

“What’s with the shabby building?”

“Are you dumb?! That’s obviously a disguise. The real luxury is underground!”

“Man, I’m starving.”

“Enough chatter! Let’s get this done and get out of here!”

Five sugar gliders, their legs outstretched like wings, were gliding over Sejun’s farm, scouting from above.

They were a recently released gang of five burglars, specializing in empty houses, and had snuck onto the 99th floor to make a big score.

Why risk the dangerous 99th floor for living expenses when there were other places to rob?

If we pull this off, we’ll be set for life!

It was simply because they were hardcore gamblers with a taste for one last big job.

“Just watch out for the guy with the sword, the poison bees, and the mushroom ants.”

“Alright, let’s split up.”

“Got it.”

The sugar gliders landed, moving quickly and quietly as they surveyed Sejun’s house, the kitchen, and storage areas.

But—

“What the…? There’s no way down to a basement?”

“That’s it…? No way!”

“Didn’t they say he’s sitting on a fortune…?”

No matter where they searched, they couldn’t find the treasure they’d hoped for.

And that was no surprise—Sejun didn’t have much saved up.

Whenever he managed to save some money, an event would occur, or Theo would burn it for some ability.

With no valuable-looking items in sight, the thieves grew anxious.

“Don’t worry. Since Shriek from storage hasn’t returned, there must be something there.”

“Right?”

“Let’s head to the storage room too.”

Just as they were about to move—

“Hey, check this out. These are seriously tasty.”

Shriek, who had been checking the storage, returned with a stash of corn kernels in his arms. His belly was visibly swollen from munching on corn before rejoining them.

So he’s late because he was stuffing his face.

Realizing there was nothing of value in the storage room either, the other sugar gliders felt their hopes dashed.

Just then—

“Ouch!”

Shriek tripped on a small stone and fell with a thud.

And—

[Sword of Amplification]

A sword lay right in front of him.

What’s this? An item just lying on the ground?

Picking it up, Shriek checked the sword’s properties.

“What?! Hey, guys, this is an S+ grade item!”

He urgently called his friends over.

“What?! That thing looks totally abandoned.”

“Right. If anything, it’s C-grade at best.”

“I’m serious! It’s S+ grade!”

Doubtfully, the other sugar gliders inspected the sword.

“What?! It’s really S+ grade…”

“An S+ grade sword just lying around?!”

“Then what about the other stuff?!”

Realizing the truth, they hurriedly scattered, searching through Sejun’s house again.

“What the…? Everything here is S-grade!”

To their shock, every item around Sejun’s house and farm—though they looked ordinary—was at least S-grade.

Over time, the dragons had made almost all of Sejun’s household items S-grade or above.

Items worth tens of millions of Tower Coins lay scattered around.

[Eomdol’s Durable Stone Pot]

“This… this is a mythical-grade Sacred Item!”

“So, real rich people actually use money as kindling…”

“Do all rich people live like this?”

Excited, the sugar gliders gathered up items lying on the ground.

“Alright, let’s go!”

“With this, we each get at least 10 billion Tower Coins!”

“10 billion? We could easily clear 100 billion!”

“Let’s just buy an entire floor for ourselves.”

“Yeah, why not?”

Dreaming of their blue-sky future, the thieves flew out of the farm, loaded with their loot.

But since they had taken so much, they couldn’t fly very high.

…?!

Waiting for them wasn’t the bright future they imagined but the dark shadow of Pink Fur.

Roar!

Pink Fur blocked their path, letting out a terrifying roar.

The poison bees had reported the intruders to Aileen, who sent Pink Fur to capture the thieves.

[The Tower’s administrator instructs Pink Fur to handle this without letting Sejun find out.]

The sugar gliders vanished without a trace from the 99th floor.

Squeak!

The mushroom ants quietly returned all stolen items to their original places, as if nothing had happened.

 

Silver Great Tower, 95th Floor

“What?! Byurin, you have to get stamped by that guy Theo?!”

“Yes, that’s the Great Silver Dragon’s command.”

“Unacceptable! That Theo… how dare he touch my wife!”

Hojin, Byurin’s husband and the leader of the mercenary group Silver Lightning, stomped off in fury.

“He can’t be stopped.”

Byurin sighed, watching Hojin with a faint smile.

She had married him for his fiery personality, so she couldn’t complain.

“A couple entry into the company…”

She didn’t worry much about Hojin’s fate.

Theo was a notorious “slave hunter,” known across the Nine Towers.

Though he subjugated challengers as his subordinates, he didn’t take their lives.

“I’d better get going too.”

Gathering her things, Byurin hurried off to follow her husband to the 82nd floor.

 

Silver Great Tower, 82nd Floor

“Haha! Come and get stamped, meow!”

Theo stamped employees on Sejun’s lap while Sejun relaxed in a cross-legged position.

“Haha! Chairman Park, give me my treats, meow!”

“Sure thing.”

“Haha! Chairman Park, rub my belly, meow!”

“Alright.”

Theo made demands while diligently working, and Sejun happily fulfilled them, willing to do more if needed.

Hehehe. Dad, here’s some coffee!

Kuengi brought Sejun a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

“Only my son takes such good care of me.”

Sejun praised Kuengi and took a sip of coffee.

Hehehe.

Kuengi clung quietly to Sejun’s side, concentrating. Absorbing Windron’s power yesterday had sparked something within him.

Heehee! Servant! Bring the Great Kamangi his roasted sweet potato snack!

Kamangi, following Theo’s example, made his own demands.

“Alright.”

Kamangi took a bite, only to spit it out immediately.

[Servant! This isn’t sweet potato, it’s a green onion!]

What Sejun had given him was a detoxifying green onion.

“Revenge for the sword incident.”

[It wasn’t my fault it was weak!]

While Sejun teased Kamangi—

“Greetings. I am Kadan, a boss of the Silver Tower.”

A massive hawk swooped down and introduced himself to Sejun and Theo.

“Welcome, Kadan.”

“Haha! Kadan, pleased to meet you, meow!”

Thud.

After introductions, Sejun and Theo officially welcomed Kadan as an employee of Sejun Company.

“This is just a small token of my appreciation.”

Kadan handed Theo a heavy pouch of coins and flew away.

“Just one more, and we can go home.”

“Haha! Understood, meow!”

As Sejun and Theo chatted and increased their employee count—

“Who’s this Theo? Show yourself!”

A three-meter-tall warrior of the tiger tribe, Hojin, appeared, roaring in anger, followed by his 10,000 troops.

Silver Lightning was the largest mercenary group in the Silver Tower, wielding considerable influence.

“Haha! I am the deadly Hybrid Golden Cat, Theo, the right-hand of the great Hybrid Chairman Park!”

Having challenged Theo, Hojin’s influence quickly became Sejun Company’s.

A moment later—

Thud, thud, thud.

[Sejun Company has surpassed 10,000 employees from the Silver Tower.]

[Sejun Company’s influence in the Silver Tower has increased significantly.]

[The employee communication network of Sejun Company has expanded.]

[Communication between employees in the Black Tower and the Silver Tower is now possible.]

The Silver Tower employee network merged with the Black Tower’s.

“Greetings. I am Byurin, a boss of the Silver Tower. My husband has a good heart but a hasty personality. Thank you for sparing him. Please accept this token of my gratitude.”

Byurin checked on her husband as she expressed her thanks.

Unconscious, Hojin wore a proud expression. Losing to a strong opponent was a source of honor, not shame.

“Haha! Yes, Hojin seems quite nice, meow! He gave a lot of money, meow!”

“What?! My husband had money?”

“Haha! He had 10 billion Tower Coins, meow!”

“Oh, really?”

Byurin’s smile faded as she shot a cold glare at Hojin.

Hojin, who only had pocket money, couldn’t have amassed such a sum. It was obvious he had taken on a job in secret to save up.

With a sharp gaze, Byurin approached Hojin.

‘Was it a secret fund?’

Sejun realized that the money must have been a secret stash, judging by Byurin’s reaction.

If your wife’s a boss, why hoard cash? Just ask her!

‘What could he need it for?’

There was only one likely reason.

To buy a collector’s item his wife would never approve of!

I have to help!

“Wait, maybe it wasn’t Hojin’s money. Right, Vice President Theo?”

“Meow?! Right! Probably not his money, meow!”

Feeling a sense of camaraderie with Hojin, Sejun signaled Theo to help.

“Hmph. Saving up 10 billion Tower Coins behind my back?”

By then, Byurin was already standing over Hojin with conviction.

Smirking slightly, she placed 10 billion Tower Coins into Hojin’s pocket. She knew why he was saving, after all.

“Our anniversary is coming up. Please keep this a secret from my husband.”

Byurin returned to her stoic demeanor after a faint smile.

“Huh?”

Sejun, who’d hoped for a different outcome, felt oddly betrayed.