Chapter 647: "You Have Quite the Stomach"

 

[You have arrived on the 1st floor of the Blue Tower.]

Sejun arrived at the Blue Tower.

Clank.

He quickly opened his subspace storage.

"Fufufu. Chairman Park, I’ve been waiting for you, nyan!"

Theo, lounging in a loaf pose by the storage door, darted out immediately.

Querolong.

Dangling from Theo’s tail was Iona, fast asleep.

Iona could sleep soundly in any situation when wrapped in Theo’s soft, fluffy tail.

"Nyan!"

As soon as Theo clung to Sejun’s knee, he activated his talent, Aura Absorption, at full power, eagerly drawing Sejun’s energy.

Queng!

Quack!

Meanwhile, Queng and Kamangi also rushed out of the subspace storage and leapt into Sejun’s arms.

"You all did well."

Sejun patted Theo’s head in praise, then turned to Queng and Kamangi to give their heads a gentle rub as well.

He knew if he didn’t, they’d beg for attention too.

At this, Theo exclaimed, "Fufufu. This body does everything perfectly, nyan!"

Not to be outdone—

Kukukuku. Queng!
[Hehehe! Queng knows Queng is amazing!]

Heeheehee. Quack!
[Heehee. The great Kamangi is invincible!]

Both Queng and Kamangi wore smug expressions, brimming with confidence.

They’re so full of themselves.

Sejun couldn’t let such arrogance slide.

Well then, time to teach them some humility, he thought with a sly smile, as he stretched their cheeks mercilessly.

"Hohoho."

"Fufufu."

Kukukuku.

Heeheehee.

Though it didn’t seem to instill humility, everyone appeared satisfied, and that was good enough for Sejun.

After indulging in his cheek-stretching spree—

"Let’s get moving."

As they passed through the shop street on the first floor of the tower on their way to the private corridor—

"Chairman Sejun! Greetings!"

Someone called out to him.

"Huh? Tobas?"

It was Tobas, nicknamed "Hutang's Tobas," known for his pivotal role in stamping Bochel’s seal of approval as the merchant lord of the Blue Tower.

"Tobas, what are you doing here?"

"Haha. What else would a merchant do but sell goods?"

"I see…"

But for a merchant, there were surprisingly few customers around Tobas’s stall.

The area around his display was eerily quiet.

Curious, Sejun decided to take a look at what Tobas was selling, intending to help him by buying something.

However—

"Ugh. How do you expect to sell this stuff?"

His stall was full of bananas on the verge of rotting.

The fruit was overripe from poor storage. It was no wonder Tobas earned his nickname "Hutang's Tobas."

"This won’t do. Queng, bring out some strawberries."

Queng!

Sejun decided to help Tobas out with his business.

Then he added, "Iona, make some ice."

Kukukuku. Yes!

"And what about me, Chairman Park? What should I do, nyan?"

"Theo Vice President, use your dragon claws to blend the strawberries, bananas, and ice together."

"Fufufu. Got it, nyan! These dragon claws are sharp enough to do a perfect job, nyan!"

"Queng, peel the bananas, and Kamangi, remove the strawberry stems."

Queng!

Quack!

After delegating tasks to his team, Sejun supervised their efforts.

"Fufufu. Chairman Park, it’s all blended perfectly, nyan!"

"Good job."

Without doing anything himself, Sejun took the perfectly blended strawberry-banana smoothie prepared by Theo and—

Gulp. Gulp.

Drank it down.

"Wow. Queng, you should try it."

Queng!

Queng, who had been salivating since the enticing aroma of blended strawberries and bananas filled the air, eagerly grabbed a glass of the smoothie and drank it.

Queng! Queng!
[Sweet and delicious! Dad is a genius!]

"Hehehe."

Sejun grinned at the compliment.

"Tobas, let’s sell this. You won’t lose money with it."

He suggested that Tobas start selling strawberry-banana smoothies.

By selling these smoothies, Tobas could put the overly ripe bananas to good use and make a profit at the same time.

"Are you really helping me out?"

"No, we’ll just supply the strawberries and ice and then leave."

Despite how it seemed, Sejun and his companions were all highly skilled individuals. Even if Tobas sold the smoothies for 10,000 tower coins each, their labor costs would far exceed the revenue.

Still, in Sejun’s case, it was practically a luxury lifestyle to have such a talented crew preparing smoothies.

Thus, Tobas was reborn from "Hutang's Tobas" to "Tobas the Smoothie Merchant."

"Good luck selling them."

"Thank you very much!"

As they left Tobas’s stall, they browsed other shops and sampled various foods.

"Huh?! What’s that? That looks interesting. What is it?"

Sejun tried different dishes, all under the guise of culinary research.

It’s not because I’m hungry; it’s for creating new recipes, he justified.

"Queng, want to try this?"

Queng!
[I want to eat it!]

With Queng as his excellent food-tasting partner, Sejun visited nearly every food stall, sampling dishes as they moved along.

"Oh, this is so tender."

Sejun was enjoying his meal at a restaurant when suddenly—

[Talent: Gourmet Challenge has activated.]

[You have an extraordinary stomach!]

[All stats have increased by 30.]

A message popped up in front of him.

"Extraordinary stomach?"

It would’ve been better if he’d just eaten without knowing…

Thanks to System 371, Sejun realized he had eaten something unusual.

"Excuse me. What is this dish made of?"

Unable to suppress his curiosity, he called a staff member over to ask about the ingredients.

"Ah, this is made with giant blue fly meat—"

"What?! What did you say?!"

"Fly. You know, the kind that buzzes like this."

The server, as if trying to be helpful, flapped their arms to mimic a fly’s wings, making the explanation painfully vivid.

Not some anthropomorphic fly-person, but actual flying flies?!

Sejun was even more shocked. The moment he imagined the image of a fly in his mind, he could no longer stomach the food.

Nod.

He gave a small nod to the server, signaling that he understood, and they left the table.

Spit, spit.

"Queng, spit it out, now."

Sejun spat out the remaining food in his mouth and whispered to Queng.

He wanted to shout, "That’s disgusting!" but refrained from disrupting someone else’s business.

Queng?

Spit, spit.

Confused but obedient, Queng followed Sejun’s lead and spat out the food.

Afterward—

"My apologies. I’d like to settle the bill."

Sejun apologized to the staff, quickly paid, and ushered his party out of the restaurant.

Although Gourmet Challenge activated a few more times, overall, the experience was enjoyable.

Ah, I’m full.

As they neared the end of the shop district after their hearty dinner—

Thud.

"Stand still, will you?! I told you, if I have to come out, you’re dead meat!"

From a nearby alley, the sound of violence accompanied by a stereotypical thug threat reached their ears.

Twitch.

It instantly caught the attention of Theo, the master pickpocket and troublemaker.

"Fufufu. Chairman Park, let’s head over there, nyan!"

"Alright."

Sejun followed Theo’s lead toward the commotion.

"Huh? Those guys?"

Sejun spotted some frogfolk, residents of the Level 3 world <Lesia>, cowering against a wall in fear.

"Next time we catch you even looking our way, you’re done for. We’ll feed you poison straight away."

Large toads were threatening the frogs.

"Hiss! Hiss! Everyone, stop right now, nyan!"

Theo hissed in fury, instantly switching to his Level 2 Rage Mode.

<Lesia> was under the protection of the Frog Jewel God, who was also Theo’s subordinate deity.

The residents of <Lesia> being harassed meant an affront to Theo’s followers, which in turn was an insult to Theo as the Vice President of Sejun Company.

And insulting Theo was equivalent to disrespecting Sejun, the company’s Chairman.

"You dare disregard the great hybrid Chairman Park, nyan?!"

Theo interpreted it as a direct attack on Sejun.

"Kyuu-kyuu-kyuu-kyuu!"

Iona joined in, roaring her Level 4 Kyu Rage.

Thud, thud, thud.

While Theo was busy stamping the backs of the unconscious giant toads with his seal—

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you."

"But who are those guys?"

Sejun asked the frogs about the toads’ identities.

"Those toads… they came from <Buspo>, a Level 6 world recently connected to the Blue Tower. As soon as they arrived, they began oppressing us frogs from <Lesia>, calling us inferior."

"Don’t worry. You’ll be fine from now on."

Sejun reassured the frogs.

He planned to pay <Buspo> a visit and "politely" handle the toads there.

As the situation settled—

"You’ve made a mistake!"

The largest of the toads regained consciousness and shouted.

He’s not about to pull that ‘Do you know who my father is?’ line, is he?

As Sejun anticipated the cliché, the toad blurted out—

"Do you know who my father is?! He’s the Emperor of the Kherma Empire!"

There it was.

Kukukuku. Queng! Queng!
[Hehehe! Do you know who Queng’s dad is?! Queng’s dad is Chairman Park Sejun of Sejun Company!]

Queng fired back with a smug tone, proudly boasting about his father.

Finally, I got to brag about Dad!

His voice was filled with pride.

"Man, why does this make me so emotional?"

Sejun felt a swell of satisfaction watching Queng boast about him.

I’m the kind of dad Queng can proudly brag about. That’s something.

While Sejun basked in happiness—

"Fufufu. Your dad is an emperor, nyan?!"

Theo laughed as he asked the toad.

Thinking Theo was trying to curry favor, the toad smirked and began to answer—

"Kehahaha. That’s righ—"

Thud.

Before he could finish, Theo smacked him on the back of the head, knocking him out again. It was just a routine check.

"Fufufu. Chairman Park, let’s take this one to his dad, nyan!"

Theo suggested with glee.

"Hehehe. Alright."

Of course, Sejun was also delighted.

An empire, not just a kingdom? Imagine the wealth!

Thanks to recent profits, Sejun had managed to save 300 quintillion tower coins out of the 1,000 quintillion needed to establish new world rules.

Let’s wrap this up quickly and save enough to go home.

With a new source of funds identified, Sejun left a note for the toad to wait in the empire and headed for the private corridor.

 

99th Floor of the Black Tower

"It’s almost time to head out."

The time for Torongi’s field trip was approaching.

Veeeng!

[Lord Torongi, have a safe trip!]

Sweetie sent Torongi off with a cheerful farewell.

"Alright, I’ll be back soon."

[Transferring to the Gods’ Prison, Tartarus.]

Torongi began his field trip to Tartarus.

Meanwhile, at Sejun’s Brewery

"…?"

Sejun 12 discovered that a quarter of the brewery’s alcohol stock was missing.

Where did it go?

He tilted his head in confusion, but, brushing it off, resumed brewing more alcohol. After all, if it’s gone, he could always replenish it.

Tartarus

"Here, drink up!"

Torongi was offering alcohol to the gods of Tartarus.

The culprit behind the missing alcohol was none other than Torongi. Of course, he had received permission from Sejun beforehand.

The reason Torongi had brought so much alcohol was that Sejun’s brews were known to enhance divine powers.

"Ahh, this is great. Torongi, where was I in my story again?"

"You were talking about how you were searching for a place to hide the treasure you stole."

"Ah, right. So, where I ended up hiding the treasure was…"

The alcohol was incredibly effective for extracting information.

Especially in Tartarus, where both the guards and the prisoners hadn’t had a drink in at least 10,000 years. Just a little was enough to get them thoroughly drunk, and soon they were spilling their secrets.

"Oh! Really?!"

"Ah, your glass is empty. Let me pour you some more."

"You’re truly amazing!"

With nothing more than refilling glasses and offering the occasional compliment, Torongi managed to uncover the locations of treasures, artifacts, and rare items with ease.

I have to remember all of this and report it to Chairman Sejun.

Torongi focused intently, memorizing every detail of the information he received so that nothing would be forgotten.