I examined the quest window.
[Yodel Ranger Vice-Captain Kancho's Birthday Party!]
Hero Card Promotion Quest.Start Condition: Card Level 120 achieved.
Clear Condition: Kancho's complete satisfaction.
Prepare so that Kancho can have a happy and satisfying birthday!
If Kancho is not satisfied, you must wait until next year.
Next year?!
I swallowed dryly.
Even considering that experience points accumulate without being wasted, that's too long to wait.
If all the other friends are promoting while I'm the only one who can't, I'll end up moping.
No way.
I absolutely refuse to let Kancho mope!
I quietly glanced to the side.
Kancho was diligently molding clay today as usual.
Swoosh. Knead knead. Swoosh. Fiddle fiddle.
It's amazing every time I see it.
A body smaller than the adorable Momo.
What kind of structure is his body made of, that explosive clay keeps coming out endlessly?
'He probably doesn't know.'
It seems he doesn't remember his own birthday.
That's actually better.
After all, the real charm of a birthday is a surprise party.
"Momo is going to draw the lake and flowers, so Seira, you draw a butterfly!"
Was the flight time boring?
Momo had taken out crayons, colored pencils, and a sketchbook and started drawing.
Seira, sitting next to her, also began drawing something intently.
And not long after.
"What kind of moth is that!!" Momo's shout rang out.
"It's a butterfly."
"Where is there a butterfly like this!"
I stood up.
If this continued, Seira might get upset again.
To help my master, I naturally approached.
Art is supposed to contain each person's individuality.
Seira's drawing might be unusual, but it must have some resemblance to a butterfly.
I turned my eyes to the sketchbook and opened my mouth.
"Momo. This is a butterfly, right..."
It's a moth.
My pupils shook.
No matter how I looked at it, it was a moth.
Why is the color so yellow in the first place!?
Normal butterflies are painted brightly!?
Scrape.
Seira got up from her seat and walked to a corner of the plane.
She crouched down and buried her head in the wall.
Seeing that, I made a firm resolve.
If a drawing-related trait ever appears, I'll definitely give it to Seira.
Anyway.
"Momo."
"What do you want!"
"Shh!"
I gently wrapped my arm around her chubby self.
"What is it, what is it, is it a secret mission?"
"Yeah. We have to move very secretly."
I pointed my finger at the clay artisan, Kancho.
"Today is Kancho's birthday. So we're going to prepare a surprise party."
Momo clenched her Doraemon-like fist and snorted roughly.
"It sounds totally fun!"
"I'm going to do some reconnaissance before the preparations. So, keep Kancho company for a bit. Make sure he can't follow us."
Momo, Kancho's best friend.
Only Momo can handle this role.
If Eliana or Kamela took it, the plane would crash, forget the birthday.
"Momo totally understands! You mean tie his feet so he can't go anywhere, right!"
"Exactly right."
Momo gave a thumbs up and jumped up.
She seemed ready to act immediately.
She quietly crept towards Kancho, who was molding clay.
"Iyaaaaaa!!!"
She went straight for a tackle.
"Guhuk!"
Kancho rolled head over heels and crashed into the sofa.
Gulp!
I guess that's what she meant by tying his feet.
I thought they'd mold clay together or play console games.
She's a rougher friend than I thought.
"What are you doing...?!"
Before Kancho could even finish lifting his head, Momo lunged.
She grabbed his pointy ears right away.
A true pointy-ear hunter, indeed.
Thump thump thump thump!
The two friends pummeled each other with clay and Doraemon fists.
Whatever the method, she's keeping him well occupied, so it's fine.
I checked the ticket storage.
Spare tickets: 2 for the Tower of Myth, 2 for the Tower of Despair.
Let's head to the 16th floor first.
[Entering the 16th floor of the Tower of Myth, 'World of Toys'!]
[Tickets are not consumed upon re-entry until the first clear!]
[Remaining Tower of Myth tickets: 1]
I looked around the constructed space.
Lego blocks were piled up everywhere my eyes could see.
Calling it the World of Lego rather than the World of Toys would be more fitting.
"Hm? What's this place? No monsters, just weird stuff."
"Hooooo. Are they toys?"
I informed the friends who arrived after me about the purpose of visiting this floor.
"Satan's birthday, huh. Do we need to catch a goat or something?"
"I think there's a Baphomet's head in the Star Workshop, should we look for it?"
"Let's think of him as the fluffy little one, not Satan."
That's the more reasonable judgment.
If it were the former, the 16th floor would have turned into a demon worship altar, not a World of Toys.
'Anyway, it's unfriendly again today.'
I furrowed my brow.
The system brings us to a world and says nothing.
I want to punch it once.
Clang!
One Lego block whizzed past my face.
The goblin Renya walked over, twitching his fist.
"Peculiar. It feels alive."
"What."
I approached and examined the Lego block.
The texture was pure Lego, but it gave off a strange energy.
Ding!
[A block that can make anything! Action power is granted according to the completed shape!]
I assembled a few blocks to make a little soldier.
As soon as it was completed, the soldier started walking at right angles.
It creaked, but it was quite impressive.
Next, I made a small house with windows.
Beyond the window, it brightened even though no electricity was connected.
What a fascinating floor.
"This is incredible! We can make anything, right?"
"So we just make what that Satan wants with this?"
Kamela blew out smoke and shrugged.
"But what does Satan want?"
A brief silence flowed.
Then Jinhyuk spoke.
"Grandpa Toto told me before. Even at his first birthday party, Kancho grabbed a cannonball."
"Why would that be at a first birthday party?"
"Beats me. A Yodel Forest tradition? Anyway. The important thing is that Kancho has loved explosions since the day he was born."
I recalled memories of the past.
When was Yodel Ranger Vice-Captain Kancho the happiest?
When did he laugh the loudest, "Puhehehehehehe!!!"?
It was when he was gleefully blowing something up.
The more things there were to blow up, the longer he could shoot freely, the louder his laughter grew.
Seira approached and nodded.
"The master is right. Once, Kancho looked at the city skyline at night and said his dream was to blow up an entire city without any worries."
"That's kind of dangerous, isn't it?! That friend is dreaming something really dangerous!"
Cold sweat ran down my back.
He probably wouldn't actually do it, but anyway, I should make his dream come true this time.
Jinhyuk put on a solemn expression.
"We're going to build a city from now on. So Kancho can blow it up to his heart's content!"
"We can just build it roughly."
"No. It has to look like a city for it to be satisfying to destroy."
"But can we build a decent city? It'll probably be a mess, right?"
Elia offered a reasonable opinion, and I looked around at my friends.
A 3,271-year-old elf, a chain-smoking goddess, a dark goblin, a knight who's good with a sword but lacks dexterity, and an undying one from Frostheim.
They're usually incredibly reliable friends, but for some reason, in this World of Toys, their reliability rating plummets.
"We need the help of Teacher Momo."
"Hmm! I agree with that. We need a friend with nimble hands, right?"
"Then we need someone to hold Kancho back in Momo's place."
Dark, who had been quiet, raised his hand.
"I think the person who would be least helpful in building the city should take that role."
A reasonable suggestion.
If possible, we need to finish before we get off the plane.
But how do we judge who is the least helpful... Huh?
Dark's eyes were fixed somewhere.
"Why are you looking at me when you say that? Sandbag."
"You're not asking because you don't know, are you? Chief."
"The only thing I'm bad at is drawing."
"Then let's make one each. The one who does worse will play with our Yodel friend."
Seira and Dark walked towards the Lego pile.
Seira's expression was more solemn than ever.
Gulp!
My friends, including Jinhyuk, swallowed dryly.
It was more tense than when climbing the Tower of Despair.
Poke poke poke poke.
Jinhyuk poked Renya in the side.
"What is it?"
"Renya, you judge."
"Why me?"
"I can't."
Renya shrugged and walked over to the two.
Soon, two Lego soldiers were completed.
Renya's deliberation didn't take long.
Crunch!
A soldier—no, something that was intended to be a soldier but had become a grotesque something—was punched and shattered into pieces.
"Nutcracker Number Oooone!!"
Seira slumped onto the debris.
"Kick!"
Leaving behind a sneer, Dark turned around.
There's no helping this.
He made it too well.
Almost at the level of Michelangelo incarnate.
Jinhyuk quickly ran over and hugged Seira.
"It's okay. Seira is good with a sword."
"That's not comforting. Can I get one more chance?"
"Of course."
Jinhyuk helped Seira up.
"Next year."
"As expected, the world of competition is cold."
"Play nicely with Kancho."
"Understood."
"Then let's step out for a bit. Time to switch."
[Exiting the 16th floor of the Tower of Myth!]
* * *
Several hours later.
Inside the private jet.
"Battalion Commander Seira! I have a question!"
"Huh? What is it?"
"Why are you suddenly making me practice swordsmanship!? I'm a Yodel Ranger!"
Seira opened her mouth with a devout expression.
"Because you are my most outstanding squad member. I want you to excel in every aspect."
Kancho's eyes sparkled intensely.
He couldn't let down the expectations of his respected superior.
"Hup-two! Hup-two-three! Two-three! Three!"
He swung his wooden sword diligently for a long time.
Jinhyuk, who had disappeared somewhere, appeared.
He approached and quickly lifted Kancho up.
"Huh?"
[Entering the 16th floor of the Tower of Myth!]
Kancho, suddenly kidnapped, looked around for a moment.
Firecrackers went off on both sides, and a giant whipped cream cake appeared.
It was a Kancho cake with his pointy ears well represented.
"Happy birthday, Kancho."
I put Kancho down and patted him vigorously.
My friends came over one by one and congratulated him.
Kancho, who had been stunned for a moment, broke into a smile.
"That's right! Today is my birthday! So that's why you marked me!"
"That's right. It had to be a surprise party."
"I'm glad! I thought I was being trained all day!"
Kancho wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Come to think of it, his clothes, fur, and pointy ears were all a mess.
He must have had a hard time, being tormented by Momo and then trained by Seira.
Well, let's call it birthday punishment.
"But that's not all we prepared. We made something special just for you..."
Ding!
[Kancho is completely satisfied! Happiness level: Maximum! The 16th floor of the Tower of Myth is cleared!]
Huh!?
[Promotion Quest Cleared!]
[Yodel Ranger Vice-Captain Kancho promotes from Unique to Epic grade!]
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T/N:
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