Chapter 168

After being bathed by Sejun without a drop of water left on him, Theo felt refreshed and happy. Even though he had taken a bath, his fur remained fluffy. There would be no more occasions for Chairman Park to see his wet fur!

“Meow meow meow!”

After the bath, Theo, clinging to Sejun’s lap, hummed a cheerful tune.

Then,

“I wonder where Cuengi is?”

Sejun, with Theo clinging to him, descended the fountain and headed towards the area where the young animals were snacking.

Cuengi had obviously rolled in the rice cake earlier, so Sejun intended to bathe him as well.

‘I should remove it before the rice cake hardens.’

Sejun arrived at the place where the young animals were snacking.

However,

“Why is the atmosphere like this?”

The atmosphere around the young animals felt strangely tense.

Moo...

There were five young Black Minotaurs, each about 3 meters tall, lying on the ground, and

Krueng!

Cuengi was roaring, fists raised, in front of them.

Behind Cuengi, there were several frozen baby rabbits and a crying young Black Minotaur about 1 meter tall.

‘Did our Cuengi do this?’

In a flash, an image played in his mind of Cuengi tormenting the other animals, and the five Black Minotaurs trying to stop him.

Sejun wondered if he had spoiled Cuengi too much, but he had never known Cuengi to strike first. The Cuengi he knew was a very kind and not the first to start a fight.

‘No way! Our Cuengi wouldn’t do that!’

As Sejun solidified his belief in Cuengi,

Krueng!

Cuengi snatched a steamed corn from the hand of the fallen Black Minotaur.

“What?! Did he steal their snack?”

Sejun’s trust in Cuengi began to waver instantly. It was indeed a very fragile trust.

Then,

Krueng!

Cuengi handed the stolen steamed corn to the crying baby Black Minotaur.

“Ah!”

Then Sejun understood the situation. The older Black Minotaurs tried to take food from the younger one, so Cuengi intervened and scolded them.

“Hehehe. Our Cuengi is awesome.”

A proud Sejun chuckled.

The baby Black Minotaur who received the steamed corn looked at Cuengi with eyes full of admiration. Receiving such admiring gazes, Cuengi approached the fallen Black Minotaurs.

Then,

Krueng!

The enlarged Cuengi helped them up and shared snacks from his snack pocket.

Krueng!

As the saying goes, you get closer through fights; Cuengi and the Black Minotaurs quickly became friends. It was a heartwarming scene fit for a children’s comic.

“Hehehe. Whoever raised him did a good job.”

Sejun looked at Cuengi with satisfaction.

Then,

Krueng!

Spotting Sejun, Cuengi ran towards him.

And,

Krueng! Krueng!

[Cuengi’s snack pocket is empty! Cuengi will fill it up from Dad’s storage!]

Cuengi boldly requested to take food from Sejun’s storage. Hmm... Cuengi was certainly not an attacker, but why couldn’t Sejun shake off the feeling that he was?

With a confused expression, Sejun obediently opened his storage. Perhaps for those heartwarming moments in comics to occur frequently, a parent’s wallet needs to be full? Sejun thought.

As Cuengi was filling up his snack pocket from the storage,

“Vice Chairman Theo, please heal the kids.”

Today was everyone’s birthday. Hoping for everyone’s happiness, Sejun asked Theo to heal the young Black Minotaurs. Although their black skin didn’t show marks, they surely would have bruises from Cuengi’s blows.

“Understood, meow! Come here, meow.”Aall newest chapters on n.o./velbi/n/(.)com

Theo proceeded to heal the young Black Minotaurs.

“Consider it an honor that Vice Chairman Theo is healing you personally, meow! But you guys look like you could carry heavy loads, meow! Would you consider becoming my subordinates, meow?”

Of course, in the midst of all this, Theo didn’t neglect his responsibilities as Vice Chairman of Sejun’s farm, trying to recruit helpers to sell more crops.

Krueng!

[All filled up!]

In the meantime, Cuengi filled up his snack pocket. For reference, thanks to Iona’s spatial expansion feature, Cuengi’s snack pocket now had the capacity to hold as much as a small room.

“Let’s go for a bath, Cuengi.”

Krueng!

[Understood!]

Originally fond of baths, Cuengi did not resist at all and followed Sejun obediently to the fountain to bathe. Of course, Theo, who had acquired the water affinity, entered the water while hanging onto Sejun’s knee.

The presence of 5,000 grade-A cherry tomatoes, although not as influential as a blue moon, still affected the monsters.

“Meow?! No, meow! Don’t eat, meow!”

Theo rushed to block the oncoming monsters.

***

“Phew. That was close.”

Sejun, who fortunately made it safely to the restroom, relaxed and leisurely checked his magic stats.

The restroom was enchanted with a soundproofing spell, making it an excellent space to think as no sound from inside would leak out, and no external noise could be heard.

Magic (157.94)

“How sad...”

Sejun spoke with a desolate expression after checking his magic stat. Before eating the grade-A cherry tomatoes, Sejun’s magic power stat was 112. Meaning, he was full after consuming only 5 out of 5,000 grade A cherry tomatoes.

He couldn’t even digest 50, let alone the modest expectation of 10,000. What was even sadder was that no matter how many of the remaining over 4,000 grade-A cherry tomatoes he ate, they wouldn’t be absorbed and would just be excreted as waste.

“But my magic stat potential was 99.”

From the magic stat displayed, Sejun calculated the remaining stat after deducting the effect of Talent: Enhanced Magic Circuit (+6%) and <Power: Strong Magic> which increased his magic by 50.

He would have to check later, but he had a feeling that the potential for his other stats was also 99. Perhaps 99 was the potential of humans. Yes, that must be it. It’s a human characteristic.

With that, Sejun concluded that his characteristic was a universal human one.

“Then, on Earth, I must have the highest magic stat.”

Even with the help of talents or items, there’s a limit to increasing a stat beyond a potential of 99.

“Hehehe.”

Shifting his view from the 99th floor of the tower to Earth, Sejun felt a profound sense of grandeur.

With that lofty heart, Sejun stepped outside.

“Huh? Where did everything go?”

Not a single one of the previously abundant white cherry tomatoes was in sight.

Then,

“Chairman Park, over here, meow.”

The voice of Theo came from below.

“Huh?”

Looking down, Sejun saw Theo hiding under the stairs of the house.

“Vice Chairman Theo, what are you doing there?”

Sejun naturally knelt down and asked.

“I was guarding your cherry tomatoes, meow!”

Theo emerged from under the stairs, looking around cautiously, and clung to Sejun’s knee.

“Guarding the cherry tomatoes?”

“Yes, meow! After Chairman Park went to the restroom...”

Theo began explaining what had happened after Sejun went to the restroom.

“So, you’re saying the animals suddenly got excited and rushed over?”

“Yes, meow! So I hid the remaining cherry tomatoes in my bag... but I couldn’t save them all, meow.”

Theo said with a gloomy voice. The animals had unexpectedly rushed over, and around 3,000 of them were eaten.

“It’s okay. Bring out the contract. Vice Chairman Theo, let’s get to work.”

“Hehehe. Understood, meow!”

Theo, revitalized by Sejun’s words, sinisterly smiled and pulled out a bundle of blank contracts from his bag. They’re all going to be under my control now, meow!

And then,

“Cuengi, wake up.”

Sejun woke Cuengi, who was soundly sleeping amidst all the commotion, for catching the culprits.

Krueng?

[Why did you wake me?]

Sejun popped a grade-A cherry tomato into the yawning Cuengi’s mouth.

Krueng! Krueng!

[It’s delicious! Cuengi feels energized!]

After eating the grade-A cherry tomato, Cuengi quickly stood up.

“Cuengi, find the animals that smell like what you just ate.”

Krueng!

[Got it!]

Sniff. Sniff.

Krueng!

[Found them!]

“Oh! Already?!”

Krueng! Krueng?!

[The scent from Dad’s mouth is even stronger than mine! How many did Dad eat?!]

“Huh?! Not me, but...”

Sejun, who was trying to catch the animals that ate the grade-A cherry tomatoes, got caught himself instead.

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