So youre telling me that Gagels people are attacking you because theyre trying to plant strange plants on the 4th floor of the tower, meow?!

Yes. Thats correct. They have already conquered the 2nd and 3rd floors of the tower and said they would continue ascending after conquering the 4th floor.

Hak! Hak! Unforgivable, meow! Ill teach Gagel a lesson, meow!

Theo, having heard the words of the Black Skeleton Onik, snarled in anger. It was because Gagel dared to try to conquer the tower.

The tower is already conquered by Chairman Park, meow!

To Theo, the highest rank in the tower belonged to Sejun. Therefore, Gagels actions were an invasion of the tower conquered by Sejun.

And thats an insult to me, Theo Park, the golden cat and right-hand man of Chairman Park, meow!

It was absolutely unacceptable for them to disrespect Sejun and him and try to take over the land arbitrarily.

Hak! Hak!

While the furious Theo struggled to calm his emotions,

Kyoo-kyoo-

There was another enraged being. It was Iona, who had been quietly listening from Theos tail.

How dare they mess with Sejun~nim!

In Ionas view, the highest rank in the tower belonged to the great Black Dragon, Aileen.

Although Iona didnt see Sejun as the highest authority in the Black Tower like Theo, messing with Sejun meant messing with Theo, Sejuns right-hand man.

And messing with Theo means messing with me!

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.

Kyoo-kyoo-kyoo-

As Ionas anger level rose,

Kyoo-kyoo-kyoo-

Whats that sound?

Paku suddenly asked another monster about the noise that had just started.

This This is the third stage of Kyoo of Rage! Were all doomed!

A monster, terrified, pointed at the small white hamster on Theos tail and responded.

Kyoo of Rage? Hey, why are you freaking out over one hamster

Huh?! A white hamster making a Kyoo sound?! Paku belatedly realized what the Kyoo of Rage meant.

It was the sound made by Iona, the wizard of destruction, when she became angry.

The third stage of Kyoo of Rage could at least destroy a city. Rabbit City was a metropolis, so it wouldnt be entirely destroyed.

However, since they were right next to her, there was no chance of survival for them.

At that moment,

Kyoo-kyoo-kyoo-

Goooo.

The magic of the angry Iona began to affect the surroundings, and small stones started to levitate.

Shiver-shiver.

Were all going to die.

As the monsters resigned themselves to their fate,

Meow? Iona, calm down, meow!

Kyoo-yes.

Fortunately, Theo, sensing something was wrong, calmed Iona down.

And then,

Onik, come with me, and the rest of you wait here, meow!

Yes!

The monsters, happy to be able to distance themselves from Iona, responded.

Clatter. Clatter.

Only Onik, trembling with fear, followed Theo and Iona towards the White Castle.

***

Our Cuengi ate a lot.

As Sejun took out a carrot cake,

Krueng!

[Cuengi will enjoy this meal!]

Thump. Thump.

Swoosh.

The carrot cake floated in the air and entered Cuengis mouth.

Nom-nom.

Kuhehehe. Krueng!

[Hehehe. Its delicious!]

Cuengi was happy eating the carrot cake.

Really fascinating. Try eating another one, Cuengi.

To observe Cuengis ability, Sejun kept offering more food.

Cuengi, who had been in a semi-conscious state adapting to his new power, woke up and unlocked a new talent. That ability was telekinesis.

Thump. Thump.

Thanks to this, Cuengi could now lift the carrot cake into his mouth without touching it.

And then,

Vitality.

[You have used Vitality Lv. 1.]

[It rapidly digests the food in your stomach.]

[All stats increase by 1% for 60 minutes.]

Sejun was feeding Cuengi while digesting the Aileens Healthy Meatball.

Although there was a limit to the maximum amount of food he could digest, requiring him to use the skill every hour, it was a minor inconvenience.

However, thanks to the Vitality skill, Sejun was now able to eat up to 5 of Aileens Healthy Meatball per day.

At that moment,

[Your proficiency in Vitality Lv. 1 has been filled, and the level has increased.]

The proficiency of the Vitality skill was filled, increasing its level.

[Skill: Vitality Lv. 2]

Quickly digests the remaining food in the stomach to gain vitality.

The speed of food digestion is doubled, and Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Magic Power are increased by 2%.

The duration is determined based on the amount of food remaining in the stomach. (Maximum 70 minutes)

Thanks to the enhanced Vitality skill, the amount of food Sejun could digest increased, and now it seemed he could eat ten of Aileens Healthy Meatball per day.

Sejun wasnt concerned about the 2% stat increase. After all, a slight increase in already weak stats would hardly make a noticeable difference.

Hehehe. Almost finished eating them all.

Sejun looked at the remaining Aileens Healthy Meatball.

There were 19 left. Once he ate all of them, he would be free from Aileens Healthy Meatball, and all his stats would increase by 100.

Hehehe.

Kuhehehe.

Thus, Sejun and Cuengi laughed for different reasons.

When Cuengi had eaten a few more carrot cakes,

Thud. Thud.

Krueng.

[Cuengi is sleepy.]

Cuengi, rubbing his eyes, snuggled up to Sejun. Still not accustomed to using telekinesis, Cuengi quickly felt tired.

Shall we sleep then?

Feeling full, Sejun quickly picked up Cuengi and lay down on the bed, making a pillow with his arm for Cuengi.

A little while later.

Snore.

Kurorong.

The room was filled only with the snoring sounds of Sejun and Cuengi.

Creak.

The door opened, and someone entered.

Meow? Chairman Park, are you sleeping, meow?

It was Theo.

Kyoot, kyoot, Vice Chairman Theo, were sleeping too!

Iona, whose original goal was to sleep, said.

Puhuhut. Lets do that, meow!

Theo, whose life goal was to claim Sejuns lap, quickly took his place on Sejuns lap following Ionas words.

Snore.

Gororong.

Kurorong.

Kyuorong.

The room was now filled with everyone sleeping snores.

Clatter

Black Skeleton Onik, left alone, carefully moved to lie on the floor without making noise.

And then,

Sneakily

Sejuns shadow began to move.

***

Alright!

Kurorong.

Sejun, waking up, carefully lifted Cuengis head resting on his arm and got up.

Gororong.

Kyuorong.

Huh? Theo and Iona?

He heard the snoring sounds of Theo and Iona.

As Sejuns gaze turned towards his lap, he saw Theo sleeping on his lap and Iona curled around Theos tail.

Where did he pick this up from?

Theos fur, which was yellow before sleep, had turned black.

As Sejun reached out to inspect what was on Theos fur,

Slither.

Uh?!

The black substances that Sejun touched started to be absorbed into his hand. More precisely, they merged with his shadow.

Whats this?!

While Sejun hesitated in confusion,

Sneakily

Small blobs of shadow about 5 cm in size began to detach from Sejuns shadow and began to stick back onto Theos fur one by one.

And the shadow blobs touching Theos fur. They moved somewhat cutely as they wriggled.

Aileen, what is this?

Sejun pointed at the shadow blobs with his finger, careful not to touch them with his shadow, and asked Aileen,

[The Towers administrator says that these are shadow minions, and they will not harm anything their master does not wish to harm, so you can rest assured.]

Aileen explained the nature of the shadow blobs.

Are these shadow minions?

But wasnt it said that summoning was impossible due to a lack of magic power?

Shadow minions.

Sejun attempted to summon the shadow minions again.

However,

[You lack the magic power to summon shadow minions.]

The summoning failed again.

Then what are these ones out here?

As Sejun wondered,

[The Towers administrator says that according to grandpa, Dark, God of Darkness, was a cat lover.]

[The Towers administrator says that the shadow minions influenced by God of Darkness, seem to be mimicking Darks behavior.]

So, they are like this because he liked cats?

Aileen clarified Sejuns question.

And then,

So even without enough magic power, I can summon shadow minions? Hi there, guys.

Sejun, happy to have found a way to summon shadow minions without using magic power, greeted them, but

The shadow minions ignored Sejuns words.

Do they not understand me?

As Sejun observed the shadow minions clinging to Theo,

Meow? Chairman Park, youre awake, meow?

Theo woke up and greeted Sejun.

And then,

Whats this, meow?! Get off me, meow!

Theo shouted at the shadow minions clinging to his body,

Slither.

The shadow minions distanced themselves from Theo.

Huh?

Thats when Sejun noticed something strange. Why did it seem like they understood speech?

Vice Chairman Theo, tell them to form a line.

Meow?! Okay, meow! Line up, meow!

Whoosh.

Following Theos command, the shadow minions neatly formed a line.

Whoa!

Look at these guys?

Hmph! They dont listen to me but follow Theos commands?

Sejun laughed, looking at the vexing shadow minions. Well then, lets put Theo to use and make the most of them!

Vice Chairman Theo, tell one of them to bring a spoon over there.

Understood, meow! You, go and bring that spoon, meow!

Whoosh.

Sure enough, the shadow minion obediently followed Theos command. Sejun, through Theo, tested and assessed the capabilities of the shadow minions.

Although they couldnt exert strong force, as they werent summoned by magic power, they were capable of running errands.

While testing what the shadow minions could do,

Clatter

The Black Skeleton Onik, who had been sleeping on the floor, hurriedly got up, thinking he needed to show prompt action as he was the lowest in the hierarchy there.

And then,

Aaah!

Sejun, startled by Oniks sudden appearance, screamed in shock.

Krueng?! Krueng?!

[Whats happening, Dad?! Did you scare my dad?!]

Hearing Sejuns scream, Cuengi quickly got up to check the surroundings and, perceiving Onik as the most hostile-looking, attempted to kill him using telekinesis.

Meow?! Cuengi, stop, meow!

Krueng?

Luckily, Theo, sensing Cuengis power, intervened and stopped Cuengi.

Greetings! I am Black Skeleton Onik, from the 4th floor of the Tower!

Thanks to this, Onik, unaware that an immense power had just passed by his shoulders moments ago, was able to kneel and greet Sejun.

Externally, he seemed the weakest, but given the surroundings and Theos demeanor, he appeared to be of the highest rank. Onik did have good sense.

Ahem. So, youre Onik?

Yes!

But why are you in our room?

Chairman Park, I brought him here, meow!

Theo answered Sejun, who was puzzled.

Vice Chairman Theo? Why?

Listen to what Onik has to say, meow! There are people we need to teach a lesson, meow!

People we need to teach a lesson?

Yes, meow! Onik, tell Chairman Park quickly, meow!

Yes. I am here because humans belonging to a place called Gagel

Onik explained the situation on the 4th floor of the tower.

So, Gagel is trying to take over the 4th floor, and you came here to gain the power to oppose them by obtaining the Dragon Warrior Helmet?

Yes!

Thats it, meow!

Hmm

Sejun fell into thought.

At that moment,

[The Towers administrator reports that a green alarm has appeared.]

Aileen spoke up.

A green alarm? Could it be the 4th floor?

[The Towers administrator confirms it.]

[The Towers administrator appoints you as the mid-level administrator of the tower to prevent the extinction of the Black Skeletons in the Black Graveyard of the 4th floor.]

[You will be transported to the Black Graveyard of the 4th floor in 30 seconds.]

[You may bring your subordinates with you.]

[Please designate which subordinates will accompany you.]

Got it.

Sejun quickly selected the animals and the Black Skeleton Onik, and

[Transporting to the Black Graveyard of the 4th floor.]

[You cannot leave more than 100 meters from the Black Graveyard.]

Sejun and the animals disappeared.

(Pip-pip?)

Leaving behind only the Golden Bat. Sejun, who hadnt seen the Golden Bat on his back, didnt notice.

Thanks to this, the Golden Bat was able to tell the others where Sejun had gone.

*****

TL: Poor Golden Bat. Always forgotten.

*****