Farming In The Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 11

The black dragon, Aileen Fritani, found the sweet potatoes Sejun had hidden in the corner of the cave. Sejun asked Aileen many times to try the sweet potatoes. Finally, she agreed to take three sweet potatoes and their leaves as a challenge. She started to cook them in the fireplace.

Aileen watched Sejun make roasted sweet potatoes using her crystal ball. It looked very easy. He just wrapped them in leaves and put them in the fire.

“If a human can do it, then I, the great black dragon, can do it too!”

Aileen was confident she could do it.

But her first try burned the sweet potato completely. It became charcoal that she couldn’t eat. The second time, she took it out too soon, and the inside was still raw. But roasting sweet potatoes was harder than she thought. It needed patience.

“Hee hee hee. Is it ready?”

Aileen, her eyes full of hope, took out the last sweet potato from the fireplace. It smelled sweet and burnt. After failing twice, she learned a few things. She was sure this time would be perfect.

Carefully, she picked up the hot sweet potato with two fingers. *Snap!* She broke it in half.

“Huh?!”

The feel was different from when she broke the sweet potato Sejun gave her. What was this?

But when she saw the steaming, yellow inside of the sweet potato, she quickly forgot about it.

“It’s done! It’s done!”

Aileen was happy as she looked at the roasted sweet potato.

“Hee hee hee. Human, did you see that? I, the black dragon Aileen Fritani, made this roasted sweet potato!”

Aileen looked at the roasted sweet potato proudly.

“Ang.”

She peeled the skin off the roasted sweet potato and put half of it in her mouth.

It would taste better if she bit into it like a human, but she was a black dragon. She couldn’t act in such a silly way.

Crunch.

“Huh?!”

The feel was wrong. The sweet potato Sejun gave her was soft. This one was a little hard. It wasn’t soft, chewy, and smooth like the sweet potato the human gave her.

Also, it was sweet, but not as sweet as the one Sejun made. It didn’t taste as good.

“How can this be? My fire is stronger… why does mine taste worse…”

She couldn’t believe that she, the great black dragon, was worse at roasting sweet potatoes than a human.

A dragon being worse at controlling fire than a human! Aileen was frustrated.

“Tch! My pride is hurt!”

Aileen grumbled and went to sit alone in a corner, feeling annoyed.

“I’m annoyed. I wonder what the human is doing?”

Aileen began to watch Sejun through the crystal ball.

Cheep!

The sounds of the busy rabbit couple woke Sejun up.

“Ugh!”

As soon as Sejun got up, he went to the wall where he marked the date.

Scritch scritch.

He used a fish bone to mark another day on the wall.

The wall was covered in marks. He had marked off 120 days already, and now he added another one.

[Stranded Day 120]

‘Almost 4 months have passed…’

Sejun glanced at the wall, then went to the pond to wash his face and have breakfast.

After that, it was time for his morning farming.

Tap. Tap.

*Notification: You harvested a ripe magic cherry tomato. Job experience increased slightly. Harvesting skill improved slightly. Gained 10 experience points.* Tap tap tap.

Cheep.

The baby rabbits, who had run to Sejun’s side as he was harvesting cherry tomatoes, looked sad.

“Heh. If you think I’m going to give you cherry tomatoes just because you’re making such pitiful faces, then you’re wrong.”

Cheep?

The baby rabbits didn’t understand Sejun’s words. They tilted their heads and began to back away. ‘Is Uncle crazy?’

Sejun had been alone for so long, his jokes were becoming strange. Maybe they were getting worse, not better.

“I’ll give you some if you rub your faces on my cheeks.”

Sejun quickly got to the point when he saw the baby rabbits trying to run away.

Cheep…

The baby rabbits frowned and sighed. It felt like he could hear the baby rabbits’ affection decreasing.

‘Sorry. I didn’t know it was that big of a request.’

“I was just kidding. Here…”

Just as Sejun was about to give them cherry tomatoes,

Hop. Hop.

One baby rabbit jumped. It stepped on the ground, then Sejun’s knee, and climbed onto his shoulder. This rabbit especially liked Sejun.

Rub rub.

It rubbed its face on Sejun’s cheek. The soft texture of its fur felt smooth and pleasant.

“Oh! You get two!”

Sejun gave two cherry tomatoes to the rabbit that had listened to him. And one each to the rest of the baby rabbits.

Cheep!

The other baby rabbits protested because they only got one cherry tomato. But Sejun didn’t give them more.

“Heh heh heh. That’s what happens when you disappoint Uncle.”

The baby rabbits made a ‘Hmph!’ sound and went to a cool spot in the cave to eat their cherry tomatoes.

When Sejun finished harvesting the cherry tomatoes, he took a short break and prepared grilled piranha for lunch.

At that moment,

[The Tower’s Administrator is furious with you.]

“Why again?”

Sejun just ignored the message from the Tower Administrator. He seemed angry for no reason, as usual.

At first, he was worried, thinking it was serious. But the Administrator had been angry many times before. Now, Sejun just accepted it.

‘Maybe he’s just always angry?’

When it was time for lunch,

Whirr.

The Poison Honeybee came to work to get honey again today.

“Welcome.”

Rub rub.

The Poison Honeybee landed on Sejun’s shoulder, who was watering the carrot field, and rubbed its body against Sejun’s face, clocking in for work.

Whirr.

It flew to the flowers to get honey. But it went to the green onion field first, not the cherry tomato field.

The green onions he hadn’t cut were now in bloom, with flowers. The Poison Honeybee ate honey from the green onion flowers before going to the cherry tomato flowers.

“I should pick the green onion flowers today.”

It was almost time to get the green onion seeds. After lunch, Sejun pulled out the green onions with flowers that the Poison Honeybee had finished taking honey from.

Green onions with flowers were done growing. They would die soon. So, Sejun had to harvest them quickly and eat them. Grilled whole green onions were added to lunch today.

He separated the green onion flowers and put them in the sun to dry. When they were dry, the seeds would easily fall out if he shook them.

Sejun dried the green onion flowers well in the sun and started his afternoon farming.

Whirr.

As evening came, the Poison Honeybee arrived, gave Sejun the honey it collected, and then flew home. Sejun finished his afternoon farming for the day.

“The Blue Moon is in two days,” Sejun said, looking at his wall calendar as he walked around after dinner.

The 5th Blue Moon since being stranded in the tower.

The 4th Blue Moon had passed peacefully, but he couldn’t relax because monsters could appear like the 3rd Blue Moon.

“I hope this one is safe too…”

Sejun sat down in his usual spot, feeling worried. But then he looked at his crops growing so well. He felt a surge of happiness that pushed away his worries.

“I’m happy.”

Looking at his fields – green onions, cherry tomatoes, carrots, and sweet potatoes – all growing around his spot, Sejun felt safe and content.

And so, another day ended, his 121st day stranded here. It was a normal day, except the Poison Honeybee didn’t come at lunchtime. Maybe it was also getting ready for the Blue Moon.

As evening approached, Sejun turned off the lights and prepared for the Blue Moon, taking the green onion leaf earmuffs and cherry tomatoes.

Sejun, who was settling down in the corner of the cave to prepare for the Blue Moon, saw a sight that was different from usual.

“Why aren’t you going inside?”

Sejun asked. The rabbit parents were putting the baby rabbits on Sejun’s spot. They used green onion leaves to tie the legs of all six babies together, in a line.

Cheep…

The rabbit parents went back into their cave alone. They looked at their babies for a long time, made sad sounds, and then closed the cave entrance.

“What?! Why are you doing this?”

Cheep!

Sejun quickly stood up to help the baby rabbits. But the baby rabbits raised their little paws, looking determined, and made noises telling him to stay back.

And after a while, the Blue Moon began.

Farmer white rabbits have a tradition. When the 5th Blue Moon comes after they are born, they need to be in its light to become adult farmer white rabbits.

Therefore, today was the most important day for the baby rabbits.

The baby rabbits looked at the sky, waiting for the Blue Moon to rise.

As the sun turned blue, the energy of the Blue Moon came down on the baby rabbits through the cave entrance.

Kraa!

Sejun had thought they were just rabbits, but they were monsters after all! The baby rabbits screamed and got excited in the Blue Moon light.

Crack. Crack.

The baby rabbits’ muscles grew bigger. These rabbits, once smaller than his hand, became muscular and about 30cm tall. They even had abs!

If the rabbits are like this during the Blue Moon… I don’t even want to imagine what the other monsters are like.

Kraa!

The baby rabbits kept screaming and looking at the sky. Luckily, no other monsters came because of the noise. This Blue Moon also passed without trouble.

Cheep…

As the Blue Moon ended, the muscles shrank as if the air was being let out of a balloon, and the baby rabbits returned to their cute forms. However, their size had now changed to be similar to that of the rabbit couple. They had become adults.

At that moment,

Flash.

Blue light burst from the baby rabbits’ bodies.

“Huh?!”

Sejun watched in surprise. The blue light moved to their paws, gathered there, and turned into objects!

‘So that’s why I couldn’t use the father rabbit’s watering can.’

Sejun understood now. The farmer white rabbits had their own special tools, made just for them.

The objects slowly took shape. A shovel, a sickle, another shovel, a watering can, and a carrying frame appeared.

And then,

“A mallet?”

It looked like a hammer, made of steel. One of them got a weapon, not a farming tool!

Sejun remembered. Only the rabbit with the hammer had turned black. And the name above its head had changed too.

[Warrior Black Rabbit]

“Warrior Black Rabbit?”

Sejun read aloud.

Cheep!

Hop!

Rub rub.

The Warrior Black Rabbit thought Sejun was calling him. He jumped onto Sejun’s shoulder and rubbed his face, being cute. This was the rabbit who got two cherry tomatoes earlier.

When morning came, the adult rabbits no longer played. They each used their farming tools to help with the farming.

The rabbit with the watering can helped the father rabbit water the crops. The rabbit with the sickle helped the mother rabbit cut green onion leaves.

The rabbit with the carrying frame carried the cut green onion leaves and moved Sejun’s harvested crops to storage. The two rabbits with shovels made the field bigger, so Sejun could plant more seeds.

They were still new to using their tools, but because the tools were special, they helped a lot with farming.

And the Black Rabbit without farming tools helped Sejun hunt.

Splash.

When Sejun waved the torch near the pond, a piranha jumped out.

“Now!”

Cheep!

At Sejun’s signal, the Black Rabbit, who had been waiting, jumped up to hit the piranha with the hammer.

But

Cheep?!

He was too fast! The Black Rabbit bumped into the piranha before he could swing the hammer.

*Thud!*

Luckily, hitting it with his body worked! The Black Rabbit and the piranha fell out of the water.

*Thump.*

The Black Rabbit quickly stood up.

Cheep!

He ran to the piranha, which was still wiggling on the ground, and hit it with the hammer.

*Boink! Boink! Boink!* Sejun didn’t know why the hammer made that sound, but it worked. The piranha was dead. But it was also smashed and ruined for eating.

Cheep!

The Black Rabbit looked at Sejun proudly, putting the hammer on his shoulder with a winner’s look. ‘How am I?’

But then Sejun thought, ‘Don’t look at me, look over there.’ Someone was glaring at the Black Rabbit.

Cheep!

The mother rabbit was coming closer, looking angry. She saw the piranha, now smashed and uneatable, which was supposed to be their food.

Cheep!

Cheep…

The Black Rabbit had to listen to the mother rabbit scolding him for a long time.

While the new adult rabbits learned to use their tools, *Notification: 30 days have passed since your last Seed Shop purchase. Seed Shop Lv. 1 is now open again.* On his 125th day stranded, the Seed Shop was back!