Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 20

Another morning dawned. It was the 157th day since Sejun found himself alone, except for the rabbits, in this strange place. The air was cool and still, and the only sound was the *crunch, crunch* of rabbits happily eating their morning carrots.

“Alright, everyone, gather ’round! Big news today!” Sejun announced, his voice a little louder than usual. He stood in front of the rabbits, who paused their carrot munching and looked up at him with wide, curious eyes.

“Piyik?” one rabbit mumbled, carrot still in its mouth.

“Pyaa?” another tilted its head, ears twitching.

“Pyak?” a third just stared, completely puzzled.

The rabbits looked confused. They had no idea what Sejun meant. *What day?* their wide eyes seemed to ask.

“Today is the day we dig up the sweet potatoes.”

It felt like only yesterday that he had planted 450 sweet potato seedlings. But they had already taken root and grown, and now it was time to harvest the sweet potatoes.

“Piyik!!!”

“Pyaa!!!”

“Pyak!!!”

The rabbits were thrilled at the mention of sweet potatoes. They seemed to remember the taste of the roasted sweet potatoes they had eaten before.

And an even better reason was that they had nothing to do. After all, Sejun would be doing all the harvesting himself.

However, the rabbits forgot what they had done before they got to eat the roasted sweet potatoes.

“Alright, so. Today, we’ll finish all the work in the morning and plant sweet potato seedlings in the afternoon.”

Before digging up the sweet potatoes, he had to clear away all the sweet potato vines. Sejun knew he couldn’t just throw away the sweet potato vines. Each one could become a new plant, giving him even more sweet potatoes.

“Piyik?!”

“Pyaa?!”

“Pyak?!”

The rabbits hurriedly checked the sweet potato field. The sweet potato field was a sea of green vines, leaves sprawling everywhere, reaching for the sun. He was going to cut all that and plant it? The rabbits were surprised by Sejun’s words.

Still, they were relieved. The harvesting and planting of sweet potato seedlings were all Sejun’s responsibility.

However,

“And there’s one more important announcement. I’ve decided not to keep all the fun of planting sweet potato seedlings to myself today.”

The farm was getting bigger, and Sejun realized he couldn’t do all the planting by himself anymore. He decided it was more important to plant quickly than to focus on improving his planting skill.

Farming was all about timing. He couldn’t ruin the farming because of skill proficiency.

And so, the morning farming began.

Two rabbits with watering cans watered the field. The wife rabbit and a rabbit with a sickle cut the green onion leaves. Then, a rabbit with a carrying frame carried the green onion leaves on its back.

The black rabbit and the rabbits with shovels prepared the ridges for planting the sweet potato seedlings in advance.

“Pyaabyabyapyak!!”

The black rabbit, for whom everything was warrior training, ran forward, flattening the ground by dragging the flat part of the hammer downwards.

Thud. Thump.

Thud. Thump.

Two rabbits with shovels dug furrows and raised ridges, scooping up soil and placing it beside them.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Sejun also hurriedly harvested the cherry tomatoes. To finish all the work in the morning, he had to move frantically.

And so, the morning farming came to an end.

“Whew.”

“Piyii…”

“Pyaaii…”

“Pyak…”

Sejun and the rabbits were all exhausted from the excessive labor. Their paws and hands ached, and the sun beat down on their backs. They slumped onto the ground, panting. They were thirsty, perhaps because they had sweated so much.

“Honey water is what we need at times like this.”

Sejun poured the honey that was in the water bottle into a tumbler.

Glug. Glug.

He poured two glugs of honey into the tumbler and filled it with pond water.

And then,

Shake shake.

He shook it well to mix the honey.

“Is it mixed well?”

Just as Sejun was about to take a sip of the honey water,

“Pyak?!”

The black rabbit called out to Sejun. Are you eating alone?!

In the black rabbit’s hand was a carrot cup made by hollowing out the inside of a carrot. To think of making a cup out of a carrot… genius!

Glug glug glug.

Sejun poured honey water into the black rabbit’s carrot cup. In the meantime, he poured honey water for the white rabbits who had made carrot cups following the black rabbit, and about half of the honey water remained in the tumbler.

Gulp, gulp.

Sejun chugged the honey water. The first taste of honey water was like liquid sunshine. Sweetness exploded on his tongue, and a cool rush went down his throat, chasing away the tiredness.

“Kyaa!”

“Pyaak!”

The black rabbit followed Sejun, chugging the honey water in the carrot cup. The carrot cup was huge for the black rabbit, almost like a small bowl, but it held it carefully with both paws and drank every drop.

And then,

Tap. Tap.

It shook the cleanly emptied carrot cup over its head. *Where did you learn that? Even my father doesn’t do that when he drinks.*

Crunch, crunch.

The rabbits finished drinking the honey water and ate the carrot cups with honey water on them. It was an environmentally friendly cup.

Sejun felt much better after the honey water. He quickly ate lunch. Then, he started planting sweet potato seedlings.

Today, they had a more efficient division of labor.

The wife rabbit and the rabbit with the sickle cut the sweet potato seedlings, the rabbit with the carrying frame and the black rabbit carried the sweet potato seedlings, and the remaining rabbits and Sejun planted the sweet potato seedlings.

There were an enormous number of sweet potato seedlings, but because there were many hands, they finished everything in just a few hours.

“It’s done!”

[You have created a 150-pyeong sweet potato field.]

[You have gained 150 experience.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have gained 1 bonus stat.]

Sejun learned a useful piece of information. Even if he didn’t plant the crops himself, he could still fully gain the experience from creating the field.

He had increased his Strength stat with the bonus stat he obtained at level 11, so this time he increased his Stamina stat by 1.

And then,

“Now, let’s go dig up the sweet potatoes!”

Finally, the highlight of the day, the sweet potato harvest, began. After clearing away the sweet potato vines, it turned out that about 270 out of the 450 sweet potato seedlings he had planted had grown successfully.

Thud. Thud.

The rabbits with shovels pushed the shovels deep into the soil, lifted the ground for a moment, pulled out the shovels, and moved on, while Sejun dug up the sweet potatoes.

He had intended to do this with the rabbits as well, but since one sweet potato was as big as the rabbits themselves, like a carrot, he ended up having to dig them up alone.

Rumble.

When he was lucky, he could pull out 10 sweet potatoes at a time just by pulling on the stem.

[You have harvested a Strength Sweet Potato.]

[Your job experience increases very slightly.]

[Harvesting Lv. 2 proficiency increases very slightly.]

[You have gained 10 experience.]

…
..
.

“Feels good.”

Sejun was wearing a proud expression as he looked at the 10 sweet potatoes he had harvested at once, when

“Piyik~”

“Pyaaa~”

“Pyak! Pyak!”

The rabbits were humming a tune, wrapping the sweet potatoes in green onion leaves and making roasted sweet potatoes.

[The Tower Administrator shouts, ‘Roasted sweet potatoes! Roasted sweet potatoes!’]

He had impeccable timing, no matter where he had been.

Sejun continued to harvest sweet potatoes alone. Beside him, the sweet potatoes that Sejun had harvested were piled high. Approximately 3000. He harvested approximately 10-13 sweet potatoes per stem.

When he was almost finished harvesting,

“Huh?!”

Then, a warm, golden glow pulsed from the earth. It wasn’t just light; it felt like sunshine itself was rising from the soil. Sejun’s hands moved faster as he hurriedly dug out the object emitting the golden light.

Flash.

Light exploded so brightly that it was blinding.

“Uwat!”

Sejun hurriedly covered his eyes with his hand from the blindingly bright light.

[You have harvested a Solar Sweet Potato.]

[Your job experience increases very slightly.]

[Harvesting Lv. 2 proficiency increases very slightly.]

[You have gained 10 experience.]

A meager message compared to its dramatic appearance.

At that moment,

[You have achieved the accomplishment of creating a new variety in the Tower.]

[The Tower acknowledges your exclusive cultivation rights to the new variety.]

[The Solar Sweet Potato cannot be cultivated without your permission.]

[Your job experience increases significantly.]

[Your job experience is full.]

[The rank of Tower Farmer (E) increases.]

[You have become a Tower Farmer (D).]

[As your job rank increases, your job traits are enhanced.]

[Harvesting Lv. 2 proficiency increases greatly.]

[Harvesting Lv. 2 proficiency is full, and the level increases.]

Whether it was because the new variety was so great, his job rank and skill level rose in an instant. Sejun hurriedly checked the options of the golden sweet potato.

[Solar Sweet Potato]
A mutated sweet potato that has absorbed the sun’s energy by basking in the sunlight at the highest point of the Tower.
It is delicious because it is a sweet potato grown inside the Tower and has been sufficiently nourished.
When consumed, it breaks down 100g of fat in the body and increases fire resistance for 1 hour.
When consumed by a non-awakened person, it breaks down 100g of fat in the body and makes them less susceptible to cold for 24 hours.
Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
Expiration Date: 30 days
Rank: E

“A new variety…”

Sejun stared at the golden sweet potato in his hand.

A new variety meant that he was the only one in this Tower who possessed this sweet potato. Furthermore, even if Sejun harvested and sold the sweet potatoes, he was granted exclusive cultivation rights, preventing others from growing the Solar Sweet Potato.

“I definitely have to grow this.”

Sejun was curious about the taste of the Solar Sweet Potato, but he decided to plant it first to increase the yield of the sweet potatoes.

“Grow big and strong.”

Sejun carefully planted the Solar Sweet Potato and poured water until the ground was thoroughly soaked.

At that moment,

“Pyak!”

The black rabbit urgently called out to Sejun. It smells like something’s burning!

The rabbits seemed anxious again as they began to smell something burning.

“Alright. Let’s go!”

When Sejun went to the fire, the rabbits were staring intently at the sweet potatoes in the fire with expectant eyes.

The air was filled with the smoky, sweet smell of roasting sweet potatoes, but it wasn’t quite strong enough yet. Sejun waited, his mouth watering.

‘Now’s the time!’

Sejun took the roasted sweet potatoes out of the fire.

[The Tower Administrator wipes his drool and waits for his turn.]

“Here. 10 roasted sweet potatoes.”

There were many roasted sweet potatoes, so Sejun gave 10 roasted sweet potatoes to the Tower Administrator.

[The Tower Administrator thanks you, saying he will enjoy them.]

“Alright. Let’s eat too.”

Sejun unwrapped the green onion leaves, peeled the steaming sweet potatoes, and shared them with the rabbits.

Hoo, hoo.

Hoo, hoo.

Poo hoo.

The rabbits blew on the roasted sweet potatoes to cool them down.

And the rabbits began to eat the roasted sweet potatoes.

“Piyik!”

“Pyaap!”

“Pyak!”

The rabbits exclaimed in delight at the sweetness as they ate the roasted sweet potatoes.

Whap.

Sejun also bit into a roasted sweet potato.

“Ah. Delicious. But I wonder if Theo is doing well?”

Theo should have arrived on the 38th floor by now.

***

As Sejun had expected, Theo, who had diligently descended the Tower, arrived on the 38th floor.

“Oh?! He’s here!”

“It looks like a cat!”

The Phoenix Guild hunters who discovered Theo rushed over. But the number of them had doubled from before.

Some of Kim Dong-shik’s party members had spread rumors about the magic cherry tomatoes, which was why there were so many. The miraculous cherry tomatoes that made you lose weight just by eating them. The hunters had gathered out of curiosity.

“I’ll buy them all!”

One of the hunters who couldn’t buy them last time shouted.

“No can do! We’ve changed the way we sell them starting today!”

Theo had received new instructions from Sejun.

“From today, we will sell 500 cherry tomatoes to the human who bids the highest price!”

That was to sell the magic cherry tomatoes through auction.

“40 Tower Coins for 500!”

Kim Dong-shik shouted as soon as Theo finished speaking. 0.08 Tower Coins per tomato. Kim Dong-shik, whose status at home had risen recently because of the magic cherry tomatoes, couldn’t give up on them.

However,

“41 Tower Coins!”

Other hunters who couldn’t buy them last time immediately raised the price.

“45 Tower Coins!”

“45.5 Tower Coins!”

Furthermore, other hunters who had come to watch joined in, and the price began to rise.

At that moment,

“100 Tower Coins!”

Chris bid an enormous sum. 0.2 Tower Coins per tomato. He was buying 500 cherry tomatoes, not just one, for 200,000 won each.

In the first transaction, Chris had bought 30 magic cherry tomatoes and given them to his sister, Jenna, who was the CEO of a medicine company.

He remembered that she had been grumbling about gaining weight from sitting all day. And Jenna, after eating a few cherry tomatoes, was amazed by their effectiveness and began to research the magic cherry tomatoes.

But she kept failing to extract the ingredients and asked Chris to get her more magic cherry tomatoes.

‘My sister said she’d pay for it.’

That’s why Chris spent the money without hesitation and bought all 1500 magic cherry tomatoes, paying a total of 273 Tower Coins.

When the auction was over, female hunters approached.

“Theo, can we take a picture with you?”

“Sure. Give me coffee instead.”

“Coffee?”

Not Churu, but coffee? The female hunters who had brought a lot of Churu were taken aback.

“Wait a minute. Max, get me some coffee!”

The female hunters snatched coffee from their companions.

“Or spices like pepper are fine too. If you want to take a picture with me, show me some sincerity.”

Theo was becoming a begging cat due to his desire to become a representative.