Chapter 17: Resolve

TL: Hanguk

After selling out and running tirelessly, Theo had arrived.

However,

Wang! Wang!

The baby poison honeybees had drawn their stingers and surrounded Theo. Since Theo wasnt there when the baby poison honeybees were born, it was natural for them to regard Theo as an enemy.

Please dont do this meow. Were on the same side meow. Sejun, please tell the poison honeybees not to attack meow!

Theo wrapped his head with his front paws, crouched down, and asked Sejun for help.

Its okay. Were family.

Wang Wang.

At Sejuns words, the baby poison honeybees put their stingers away and began sucking honey from the cherry tomato flowers again.

Phew. Thank you, Sejun-hyung.

What? Sejun-hyung?

Why meow? Arent we family meow?

Youre just an employee, where do you get off calling me that?!

Sejun lightly pinched Theos cheek with both hands as an immediate punishment.

Ouch! It hurts meow! Im sorry meow!

Theo screamed even though Sejun didnt pinch him hard.

Sly.

Sejuns hand tightened on Theos soft cheeks.

To be honest, he needed an excuse to hold onto them longer. The feeling of Theos cheeks stretching like cheese was irresistible.

Hehehe, it feels good.

No! He should be angry now.

Sejun barely let go of the magical cheeks that melted his heart and composed himself. He held back the corners of his mouth that were trying to rise and put on a stern face again.

Theo, lets settle the accounts first. Show me the money from the cherry tomato sales.

Here it is meow.

Theo handed the money to Sejun with a firm shoulder.

75 tower coins.

Thats right meow!!!

A confident voice.

Eyes that didnt avoid Sejuns gaze. Ears standing up straight. Theo was brimming with confidence. Something was suspicious.

At that moment,

[The tower administrator reports that Theo is lying.]

[The tower administrator reports that Theo sold each magical cherry tomato for 0.07 tower coins.]

[The tower administrator looks forward to seeing the terrifying side of you.]

A timely message. The tower administrator had been watching Theo as well. A new fact came to light.

Is that so?

Sejun looked at Theo closely.

Its not that hes embezzling

Theos personality wouldnt allow him to act so confidently if he had embezzled money. If he had done something wrong, it would have shown on his face.

Then what? No way?!

As Sejun was thinking about Theos confident attitude,

Surprise meow! Since humans have been waiting for days to buy the magical cherry tomatoes, I charged an extra 0.02 tower coins each meow. Did I do well?

Theo took out an additional 30 tower coins and said, aiming for a dramatic effect by unexpectedly taking out more money.

However,

Heres your incentive.

Sejun, who had already learned the information, was not surprised. Sejun handed 4.2 tower coins to Theo.

Huh? Thats it meow? I did well, but you wont promote me meow?

No way with just this. Theo, work harder.

Got it meow.

Theo decided to work harder since becoming a representative was difficult.

Sejun, Im out of grilled fish meow. Give me my salary meow.

Alright, wait.

Sejun approached the dark pond. When the Black Rabbit hunted by swimming, he turned off the torch to prevent piranhas from gathering.

As Sejun approached the pond,

Splish.

There were no piranhas in the pond, and the Black Rabbit was swimming alone.

Instead, ten piranhas were neatly piled up next to the pond. They were the piranhas that the Black Rabbit had caught while swimming.

Splish.

As Sejun approached the pond, the Black Rabbit came out of the water and shook off its body.

Black Rabbit, its hunting time.

Sejun held up two dead piranhas while talking to the Black Rabbit.

Bang!

At Sejuns words, the Black Rabbit stood in the pond with a serious expression and took a stance.

There was a way to lure piranhas using a torch, but there was an even faster and more intense method to attract piranhas.

Sejun stabbed a piranhas teeth into the body of another piranha, then pulled them out. He pressed the body of the piranha with its teeth stuck in it and dropped a few drops of blood into the pond and waited.

And in less than a minute, dozens of piranhas that smelled the blood entered the pond through the hole. The pond quickly became half water, half fish.

After that, as usual, Sejun shook the torch and

Splish! Splish!

Seeing the torch, the piranhas jumped, and the Black Rabbit quickly hunted them down with a hammer.

As they were making grilled fish with the caught piranhas at the fire,

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

A strange sound came. Sejun looked to where the sound was coming from and saw Theo busily licking something.

Theo, whats that?

This, meow? Its Churu meow.

Churu?! Where did you get that?

I got it from humans by taking pictures with them meow. This one is tuna flavored and

Theo started bragging, taking out the Churu he had received, sorted by flavor.

They were all Churu. All of them!

There was nothing for himself.

Dealing with people and only bringing back Churu

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

Eating something delicious alone. Somehow, it made him angry.

Churu confiscation.

Sejun confiscated all the Churu he had taken out.

Huh?! Why meow? I got these by taking pictures with humans meow!

When the Churu was confiscated, Theo strongly protested with foam in his mouth. Even innocent Theo was becoming defiant. Churu really was cat-specific drugs.

However, Sejun had a legitimate right to confiscate the Churu.

Thats right. You got it through a trade by taking pictures, right?

Thats right meow!

Special Provisions 3. Party B cannot establish additional trade partners without Party As permission.. This is a clear breach of contract.

Sejun said, showing the contract.

Huh! Is that so meow?!

Yes. You secretly establish additional trade.

Theo was shocked by the fact that he had to lose his Churu.

Dont be too disappointed. Lets talk about our new trading method, Representative Theo

Huh?! Did I become a representative meow?

Ill let you be one for an hour. If you do well in future trades, Ill give you an hour-long Representative Theo pass.

Sounds good meow! Call me that again meow.

Representative Theo.

Hehehe. One more time meow.

Representative Theo.

Theo was happy to sit in the Representative s seat, even if just for an hour. Theo quickly took a seat on Sejuns lap.

I want to eat Churu too meow.

Alright.

Sejun took out a Churu and offered it to Theo.

Chirp, chirp, chirp.Folll0w current novls on n/o/v/3l/b((in).(co/m)

Being fed was a nice perk of being a representative.

As Sejun stroked Theos head, who was completely won over, they talked about a new business using Theos picture rights. It seemed like there would be a way to bring in things from outside the tower sooner than expected.

There are two ways for items from outside to enter the tower.

One is through vanishing. At this time, you can bring the items you are holding directly into the tower. However, you dont know when or where you will be vanished, and since you are summoned to the first floor, the trade is already over there.

The other is when an awakened hunter enters the tower with the items.

When a hunter enters the tower, they can only bring in about 1kg of outside items. Items(Tower Items) are excluded from the weight limit. And when they leave, they can take items without restrictions.

When hunters usually enter the tower, they bring simple things like a hunters smartphone called a Hunterphone and simple instant food.

Hunter phones are essential items for hunters because, in addition to the features of existing smartphones, they also had solar charging functions that took into account the always-sunny environment of the Tower and the ability to communicate with team members in close range.

Although we cant bring much due to the weight limit, we can at least bring some simple seasonings or coffee. Do you understand? Employee Theo?

Huh? What are you talking about? And why am I suddenly Employee Theo?

As Sejuns hand stopped, Theo, who was dozing off while eating Churu, asked.

Your one hour is over.

Already?

Theo, disappointed, took the remaining Churu and left Sejuns lap. Theo had misunderstood sitting on Sejuns lap and being petted as a privilege of being a representative.

Next time, bring something useful, and youll be Representative Theo again.

Got it, meow!

At that moment,

Theo, how can you go up to the 38th floor without fighting monsters?

Sometimes, he was curious but tried not to care.

He didnt want to care about the outside. There was no way out anyway.

So he had been trying to ignore it, but when he thought he could get things from outside, his curiosity about the outside popped out unconsciously.

Its because I have a Wandering Merchants license, meow.

A Wandering Merchants license?

Thats right, meow.

Theo raised both hands to his waist and spoke proudly.

A Wandering Merchants license requires an expensive annual fee to be paid to the Wandering Merchant Association to maintain qualification.

And as the grade increases, so does the annual fee. On the other hand, the benefits received also increase.

Merchants who pay the fee are protected by the Wandering Merchant Association and can use various convenience facilities. Thats why they are not attacked by monsters.

So, Theo, can you bring hunters here?

Thats impossible, meow. Monsters only dont attack wandering merchants, meow. Besides, hunters cannot use merchant routes, meow.

Merchant routes?

Thats right, meow. Its a shortcut that merchants take, meow. A Wandering Merchants license is required for merchant routes, meow.

A shortcut?

Thats right, meow. Its impossible to get here from the 38th floor in just 5 days without using the merchant route, meow.

What floor is this?

Sejun asked, then realized he shouldnt have asked.

Its the 99th floor, meow.

Theo answered with a bright voice.

What?!

In the end, he found out what he least wanted to know.

Here is the 99th floor, meow. Didnt you know, meow?

Theo kindly repeated his answer and even confirmed it, just in case Sejun had misheard.

Theo went down to the 38th floor in just 5 days, which relieved Sejun.

He thought that if Theo, who couldnt use waypoints like hunters, could travel back and forth in just 10 days, this place wouldnt be far from the 38th floor.

So he asked without much thought and it completely hit the sore spot.

His enthusiasm for the new business deal had disappeared.

While Sejun was spacing out for a moment,

Sejun! My weekly salary is burning!

Theo, who was quietly licking the remaining Churu, urgently called Sejun when he smelled the burning fish.

Ah?! Oh!

Sejun came to his senses at Theos cry.

I cant lose focus!

Nothing has changed. Its just knowing which floor this place is on.

Sejun comforted himself and took out the grilled fish from the fire. He got a slight burn on his hand while doing so, but he didnt even know it hurt.

And he thought of another breakthrough.

Theo, is it possible for me to become a wandering merchant?

If Theos words were true, it meant that one could safely descend the tower just by becoming a wandering merchant.

However,

Sejun cannot become one. Only beings born in the tower can become wandering merchants.

Another blocked breakthrough.

Damn it! Damn it-!

Sejun screamed in anger at the impossible reality.

Hiccup! Why arehiccup! you doing this?

Startled by Sejuns scream, Theo hiccuped. The rabbits and the venom bees were no different.

The rabbits raised their ears and looked at Sejun with wide eyes, while the venom bees flew around busily flapping their wings. Even the queen bee peeked her head out of the hive to see what was going on.

Phew. Sorry for screaming.

Sejun apologized to his cave family. Still, screaming helped calm his heart a bit.

And Sejun made up his mind.

Ill eat well and live well here!

*****

TL: I only managed to work on one chapter today because I am tired from working overtime. I will go to sleep now and try to translate more later.

Chapter end