Novel Lived
Chapter 574: Should I name the café Cu-Te Box?
TL: Hanguk
Black Tower, 99th Floor.
[The White Tower’s Honorary Employee say that the White Tower’s growth has been completed.][The White Tower’s Honorary Employee asks when you’re coming.]
“I’ll be there in 10 minutes.”
Sizzle.
Sejun replied to Ajax’s question while busily cooking.
Originally, this should have already been finished by now, but,
Flap, flap.
-Puhihihi. Brother-in-law, what are you making?
“Pancakes. Ajax likes pancakes.”-Huh?! You’re going to see Ajax hyung?
“Yeah, we’re going to throw a celebration party because the White Tower has become the Great White Tower.”
-I want to go too and celebrate with you, brother-in-law…
“You’re still too young, baby brother-in-law. Not this time.”
-I think it would be fun to meet Ajax hyung…
“When you grow up later, we’ll play together.”
Ace kept hovering around Sejun, subtly giving hints to bring him along. However, as Sejun gently coaxed Ace while continuing to cook, time dragged on longer than expected.
-Puhing. I just want to eat something delicious and have fun with everyone…
Ace’s eyes started glistening with tears as he realized Sejun’s unyielding stance wasn’t going to budge.
“Here, baby brother-in-law. Eat this and let’s meet Ajax another time.”
-Puhing. What is it?
“This is something Aileen loves, and I don’t give it to just anyone, but I’m making an exception because it’s you.”
To pacify Ace, Sejun presented him with a towering 10-layered whipped cream pancake topped with chocolate ice cream.
-Puhihihi. Really?! Give it to me quickly!”
The Black Dragon statue quickly devoured the pancake at Sejun’s words.
Thanks to that, Ace finally quieted down.
“Aileen, here’s your food.”
Sejun quickly finished cooking, sent food to Aileen as well, and
“Everyone, gather up!”
He stored the food and his companions in the Void Storage and moved to the 99th floor of the Great White Tower.
***
Administrator’s Area of the Black Tower.
“What’s this?”
Why has Dad been visiting my Sejun so often lately?
“He’s bothering my Sejun.”
Aileen, who had been monitoring Sejun through the crystal orb, frowned as she spotted Anton’s Black Dragon statue.
And when Anton even took the 10-layered whipped cream pancake topped with chocolate ice cream, her favorite,
“This won’t do.”
I can’t let this slide!
Aileen sprang to her feet, left the Administrator’s Area of the Black Tower, and went to find Anton.
She intended to give him a stern warning not to bother Sejun.
However,
“Was it really that bad back then?”
“I’m telling you, it was. Our son-in-law has gotten so much stronger now. Back in the day… oh dear.”
“Oh my. Just how weak was our son-in-law Park?”
Anton was chatting warmly with Elizabeth, reminiscing about Sejun’s ultra-super-weak sunfish days.
He was engaged in conversation and not moving the dragon statue around. Moreover, the pancakes, which would have been decisive evidence, were nowhere to be seen.
Then who was it?
Aileen stared into her crystal orb and pondered. (TL: If you forgot Aileen can only see from the crystal orb without any sound.)
Inside the crystal ball, Anton’s Black Dragon statue was rummaging through the kitchen where Sejun had cooked, looking for food.
“Who else could it be? Ace?”
Since only one suspect came to mind, Aileen immediately set off to find Ace.
To catch him in the act, she rushed to Ace’s room,
Bang!
She flung the door open.
And then,
“Huh?! N-noona… hic?”
Ace, startled, hiccuped loudly.
Hiccuping aside, the whipped cream smeared all around his mouth was damning evidence.
Both his hiccups and the cream left no doubt that Ace was the culprit.
And then,
“Ace! How many times have I told you not to bother my Sejun?!”
“Waaaah~! Noona, I’m sorry!”
Aileen’s scolding began.
***
[You have arrived at the 99th floor of the Great White Tower.]…
..
.
As Sejun arrived,
“Sejun hyung!”
Bang!
Ajax immediately greeted Sejun with an enthusiastic body attack.
[You have taken a critical hit.][You are in an invincible state.]
[You do not take any damage.]
Thanks to the 5 seconds of invincibility, he didn’t die.
It hurts.
Still, he couldn’t help but tear up a little.
At that moment,
Clink.
“Puhuhut. Great Hybrid Chairman Park, repor… Meow?! Chairman Park, what’s wrong, meow?! Your face looks absolutely ugly, meow!”
Theo came out of the Void Storage and started kneading Sejun’s face energetically, easing much of the pain he felt.
Although the impact had been to his chest, the fact that Theo was massaging his face was a mystery, but since it stopped hurting, Sejun didn’t mind.
Kueng!
Kking!
Next, Cuengi and Blackie also dashed out of the Void Storage and each found their place.
After Sejun, Theo, Cuengi, and even Blackie had all come out,
“Sejun hyung, it’s over there!”
“Okay.”
Ajax guided Sejun and the group to the party venue he had prepared.
This time, it wasn’t by a lake but at the summit of a mountain, offering a panoramic view of the surrounding scenery.
When they arrived at the party venue,
“Sejun-nim, greetings.”
The Ogre King, Les, who had been waiting while preparing for the party, lowered his massive white body and greeted Sejun.
And then,
“Huh?! Sejun-nim, your Muscle Strengthening Technique is…”
Les looked at Sejun in astonishment.
“Hahaha. My Muscle Strengthening Technique has indeed advanced a lot.”
Sejun, seeing Les’ reaction, replied proudly.
After all, his Battle Aura had improved by two levels, so he felt it was worth bragging about.
Of course, that was just Sejun’s perspective, and
He’s still only at that level?!
Les was actually shocked by how little Sejun had progressed.
The Muscle Strengthening Technique had a total of 10 levels, with 10 stages to overcome in each level.
In other words, Sejun had achieved only 3% of the entire 100-stage technique.
Considering that most ogres could reach level 3 within a month, Sejun’s progress was astoundingly slow.
Of course, even for ogres, the pace of mastery slows significantly after level 5, and most hit a plateau at level 8.
For reference, in the history of ogres, there were only a handful who had reached level 9.
And as for level 10, apart from the ogre who originally created the technique, no one had ever achieved it.
‘If only he’d reached level 3, I could’ve taught him other battle aura techniques…’
“Yes, you’re right. There’s nothing more I can teach you.”
Though it was because of Sejun’s low skill level, Les lied once again for the sake of his own survival.
“Hahaha. Well then, let’s take out the food.”
When Sejun spoke cheerfully in response to Les’ words, the group began taking food out of the Void Storage.
Starting with Ajax’s favorite pancakes, a variety of dishes emerged from the storage.
“Puhuhut. This grilled fish is delicious, meow!”
Kuehehehe. Cuengi!
[Hehehe. Of course, Garaetteok dipped in kudzu honey are the best!]
Kihihit. Kking!
[Hehe! It’s roasted and dried sweet potatoes!]
“As expected of Sejun hyung’s pancakes! They’re so delicious!”
“They really are delicious.”
The group enjoyed Sejun’s food with great enthusiasm.
A little while later, after the meal ended,
Kueng!
[Here’s Dad’s coffee!]
Cuengi brewed coffee and handed it to Sejun.
“Thanks.”
Slurp.
“Ahh! As expected, our Barista Cu’s coffee is the best!!”
The moment he took a sip, Sejun furrowed his brows in bliss and lavishly praised Cuengi’s coffee.
At first, it had been mere flattery to make Cuengi happy. But at some point, Cuengi’s coffee-brewing skills had become astonishingly refined, and Sejun’s compliments were now genuine.
When we return to Earth later, I’ll open a café with our Cuengi.
Then the money…
“Hehehe.”
Even though Sejun already had more money than he could spend in a lifetime, he still couldn’t help but fantasize about earning more.
‘Should I name the café Cu-Te Box?’ (TL: Cuengi + Theo)
While Sejun was contemplating the café’s name,
Kueng!
[Les, follow Cuengi!]
“Huh? Me?”
Cuengi led Les to a quiet area.
And then,
Goooo.
As Cuengi released his energy,
“What?!”
This is… Battle aura?!
Les was stunned.
Cuengi had not only mastered Battle aura and the Muscle Strengthening Technique on his own but had achieved a level far above Sejun’s.
“L-level 9?!”
In fact, Cuengi was higher than Les, who was at level 8.
Kueng!
[Les, teach Cuengi other battle aura techniques!]
Cuengi will learn first and teach Dad!
“Understood. Then let’s start with the Battle aura Muscle Amplification Technique.”
Kueng!n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
While Cuengi was busy learning battle aura techniques from Les,
Kuuuuh.
Sejun, who had been waiting for Cuengi, fell asleep, and
Gororong.
Arorong.
Theo and Ajax also found their spots on Sejun’s body and fell asleep.
At that moment,
Kihihit. Kking!
[Hehe. Time to make my treasure stash here too!]
Blackie, who had been waiting for everyone to fall asleep, grabbed a half-eaten roasted and dried sweet potato and started looking for a place to hide it.
The Void Storage would have been the ideal spot, but,
Can’t dig the ground there, so it won’t do!
By Blackie’s standards, it wasn’t acceptable.
And here was the Blackie family, burying dried sweet potato in a place they might never return to.
Kking!
[Guys, hurry and dig!]
“Yes!”
Kkiruk!
Sharalang!
…
..
.
Blackie’s subordinates, following his command, diligently dug into the ground.
Thud.
Hihi. I’ll eat it later.
Blackie buried half of the roasted and dried sweet potato he had been holding in his mouth.
Once the sweet potato was safely buried,
Kihihit. Kking!
[Hehe. Now let’s sleep!]
Da-da-da.
Blackie carried his underlings on his back and quickly dashed over, and
Kking! Kking!
[Butler! Lift great Blackie! Lift me now!]
He barked enthusiastically, while pawing at the sleeping Sejun’s hand.
“Mmm…”
With sleepy eyes, Sejun picked up Blackie and placed him into the sling bag.
Kuuuur.
He then fell back asleep.
Kkirorong.
…
..
.
The Blackie family also started taking their afternoon nap in earnest.
A little while later.
Kuehehehe. Kueng!
[Hehehe. Learned everything!]
Cuengi, who had learned all the battle aura techniques that Les knew in less than an hour, clung to Sejun’s side,
Kkurorong.
And joined him for afternoon nap.
“A dullard followed by geniuses…”
Les, standing vigilantly on watch of his own accord, marveled at the sight of Sejun surrounded by Theo, Cuengi, and Ajax as they all slept.
Kkirorong.
…
..
.
Of course, he saw the Blackie family too, but
104.28.193.250
Are they pets?
He just ignored them.
If Blackie had known he was being ignored, Les would’ve gotten a headbutt from great Blackie himself!
As Sejun and his companions enjoyed a pleasant nap,
Crack.
A giant crack appeared in the sky of the Level 10 World, <Earthworm>.
Kwadeudeuk.
Through the sky, massive white pillars began descending onto the ground.
These were the fangs of Jǫrmungandr, the world-devouring serpent and 3rd seat of the Apostle of Destruction, now the sole remaining Apostle.
“This is the destructive attack the Creator God spoke of!”
“Retreat underground!”
Earth dragons of various colors hurriedly hid their bodies underground.
They had been instructed to wait underground until reinforcements arrived from the Creator God.
However,
Gulp.
Jǫrmungandr swallowed the entire <Earthworm> whole.
“Burp. Kekeke. Did I eat too much?”
Jǫrmungandr burped after devouring <Earthworm>, his belly swollen, and then slithered back to the outskirts of destruction.
***
White Tower Administrator’s Area.
“Alright, today’s my treat, so drink up!”
To celebrate the White Tower’s transformation, Kellion was throwing a drinking party with other members of the Four Dragons Council.
At that moment,
Wooong!
Wooong!
The crystal orb began vibrating strongly.
“Huh?! Hold on a second!”
Kellion excused himself from the other dragons and quickly checked the crystal orb.
And,
[The destruction of <Earthworm> has begun.][<Earthworm> has been 35% destroyed by destruction.]
[If <Earthworm> is destroyed more than 70%, the 15,192 worlds supported by <Earthworm> will perish.]
“What?!”
It hadn’t even been an hour since the connection was established!
Kellion panicked as he read the crystal orb’s alerts.
However,
[Hydra, the Nine-headed snake and 10th seat of the Apostles of Destruction, has invaded <Earthworm>.][The destruction of <Earthworm> is accelerating.]
[<Earthworm> will be completely destroyed in 3 hours.]
There wasn’t even time to panic.
No time!
Kellion hurriedly began devising countermeasures.
“Sejun! Help!”
First, he called out to Sejun for help.
After all, when it came to the field of defeating Apostles of Destruction, Sejun was a recognized expert even among dragons.