Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 44

Uma Wang, who had returned to the waypoint the day before and slept soundly, was now deep in thought, staring at the wilted green onion root in Jasan’s hand. “What to do?” he wondered.

Uma Wang thought harder. “Yesterday… yes, there were signs. Red fur caught on the green onion leaves, and small footprints in the soil. Someone, or some *things*, were definitely here,” he mused.

That meant someone was growing green onions. He, a Black Minotaur, had stolen someone else’s property.

What if the other Black Minotaurs found out about this? Such humiliation would be unbearable.

Crunch crunch.

Moo~

Uma Wang put the wilted green onion into his mouth and ate it. “Delicious,” he mumbled.

“I’ll go back in a month and pay for them,” Uma Wang decided.

He would revisit the place a month later, when he could leave the waypoint, and pay for the grass he had eaten. He would pay the price and maybe eat more grass then. He hadn’t been able to eat properly this time because of the one-hour limit.

“But what should I pay with?” Uma Wang pondered what he should give as compensation. Sejun had created a detailed list of rewards, but Uma Wang was unaware of it.

A loud ‘Kooeng!’ echoed through the small space, shaking Sejun awake. “Oof!” Sejun grunted, blinking sleepily.

“Let’s have breakfast!” Sejun called the rabbits.

Sejun called the rabbits for breakfast. Today, it was the last of their carrots and steamed corn. He looked at the small pile, feeling a pang of worry. Soon, they would only have green onions and cherry tomatoes.

“Hoo.”

“Bbyaa…”

“Bbyaak…”

However, Sejun and the rabbits’ faces were gloomy. This was because the carrots and corn they were eating now were the last of their stock.

The first carrots they harvested had been eaten long ago, and the carrots they had been eating recently were those Sejun had harvested by planting the tops of the carrots.

But even those were the last of them. And the corn was also the last. From the day after tomorrow, they would have to eat only green onions and cherry tomatoes.

They couldn’t catch piranhas or crayfish in the pond, and they had to wait about two weeks for potatoes, the fastest-growing crop, to be harvested. It seemed like hungry times were ahead.

Crunch crunch.

Munch munch.

Sejun and the rabbits, having eaten their gloomy breakfast, began their morning farming.

“Bbyak!”

Today, the Black Rabbit was also diligently helping with the work.

The Black Rabbit really wanted to explore outside the pond. Sejun agreed, but only if he went with him. Two hours after lunch was their plan.

“Bbyak! Bbyak!”

To make up for the two-hour gap when Sejun was away, the Black Rabbit took over from the mother rabbit, picking cherry tomatoes from the branches Sejun had harvested.

Instead, the mother rabbit joined the green onion leaf cutting, working in the green onion field with the sickle rabbit.

And the reason the mother rabbit could join the green onion cutting work was that the baby rabbits were now starting to help with the farming little by little.

“Bbyaang.”

“Bbyaap.”

“Bbyaat.”

As the blood of farmers flowed through them, the baby rabbits enjoyed farming and followed their older brothers, experiencing the profession.

Scritch.

Sejun picked the cherry tomatoes, noticing how many were now perfectly ripe and bright red. “I’m getting better at this,” he thought, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

Sejun could tell what he had harvested just by looking at the experience points. The proportion of +grade crops he harvested was gradually increasing. It seemed like his job experience was almost full.

As Sejun was harvesting cherry tomatoes, wondering when his job grade would increase,

Whirr!

He saw the poison honeybees moving busily as a group.

“What’s going on?” Sejun wondered, turning his head in the direction the poison honeybees were heading.

“Huh?”

There, the cherry tomatoes he had planted for the job quest were blooming. Only 621 out of the 1000 cherry tomato seeds he had planted had grown properly.

“Is it already time to harvest?”

Saying that, Sejun’s gaze turned to the potato field. He had planted them the day after he planted the cherry tomatoes, so the planting time was similar. Since he would finish eating the corn tomorrow, Sejun paid more attention to the potato field.

Scritch! Scritch!

Feeling good at the thought of being able to harvest potatoes soon, Sejun vigorously cut the cherry tomato branches and harvested the cherry tomatoes.

After finishing the cherry tomato harvest, when he went above ground,

Snip. Snip.

The wife rabbit, wearing a slightly more ornate apron, was cutting green onion leaves with sharp, enlarged scissors.

Sejun realized, with a smile, that the Wife Rabbit had experienced her second awakening!

The Wife Rabbit’s new ability made everything she did better. Her apron, already useful, now seemed to glow with hidden power. Her cuts were cleaner, her movements faster.

Sejun also joined the green onion field work team, cutting green onion leaves and planting the newly increased green onion roots.

The effect of the bumper crop not only affected the growth of the green onion leaves but also the growth of the roots, so the rate at which the roots increased was also incredibly fast in the bumper crop land.

“At this rate, I’ll be able to restore the field Uma Wang ruined in 5 days?”

Just as Sejun had finished cutting all the green onion leaves,

“Bbyak!”

The Black Rabbit came above ground. It wasn’t to move the piranhas today, but to move the prepared lunch.

The lunch menu was grilled green onions and cherry tomatoes. Sejun and the rabbits ate lunch in silence.

Crunch crunch.

Kooeng looked sadly at the empty piranha bucket, then with a sigh, grabbed a huge green onion leaf. He munched on it with surprising enthusiasm, like a giant baby trying to enjoy vegetables.

“You know,” Sejun said, surprised, watching Kooeng eat the green onion leaves, “you actually seem to like those!”

Kooeng.

At Sejun’s words, Kooeng nodded vigorously.

“You don’t have any food preferences and you’re so good.”

Stroke stroke.

Kooeng!

Feeling proud, Sejun stroked Kooeng’s belly, and Kooeng immediately lay on his back so that Sejun could stroke him comfortably and began to eat green onion leaves.

As Sejun was stroking Kooeng, he suddenly had a question.

“Why isn’t he growing these days?” Sejun wondered.

Considering his growth rate so far, he should have already grown to over 5m, but Kooeng was still maintaining a size of about 3m. No, maybe it was just his imagination, but he felt even smaller than before.

“It’s not like he’s not eating enough…”

But Kooeng was overflowing with energy these days.

While Sejun was worrying about Kooeng,

Gurgle.

Soon, Kooeng was snoring softly, a green onion leaf still dangling from his mouth. Sejun leaned against the warm fur of the giant bear, feeling safe and sleepy.

The Black Rabbit, still tired from the morning’s work, snuggled onto Sejun’s lap, and soon, all three were asleep in the afternoon sun.

“Bbyak!”

The Black Rabbit, who had regained his energy from his nap, woke Sejun up. It was time to explore outside the pond.

“Okay, eat one detox green onion,” Sejun said.

“Bbyak!”

At Sejun’s words, the Black Rabbit chewed on a detox green onion. It was to prepare for any possible poisoning.

“Next, check the rope.”

“Bbyak!”

The Black Rabbit checked the rope wrapped around his waist. The rope was a minimal safety device, and if the Black Rabbit pulled the rope twice, Sejun would pull the rope.

“Here’s a weapon.”

Sejun handed the Black Rabbit a harpoon made by connecting his dagger to a short piece of wood to fit the Black Rabbit’s body. It was easier to use a harpoon than a hammer in the water.

Splash!

The Black Rabbit, equipped with the rope and harpoon, entered the pond.

“Be careful and come back,” Sejun said.

“Bbyak!”

The Black Rabbit answered and went out through the hole in the pond.

Swish. Swish.

Sejun released the rope and prayed for the Black Rabbit’s safety.

Outside the pond hole, it was like night had swallowed the day. The darkness pressed in on the Black Rabbit, thick and heavy. He couldn’t see a thing at first, only feel the cold water around him.

The Black Rabbit didn’t panic. He was brave! He stayed still, letting his eyes adjust to the gloom. He knew there was a faint light below, a promise of something interesting.

Yesterday, he had gone back to the pond when there was a commotion outside while he was trying to adapt to the darkness and look around.

“Now, let’s go!”

Flap flap.

The Black Rabbit vigorously kicked his feet towards the bottom. The goal was the yellow light.

As he moved a little, the water flow flowed strongly towards the yellow light, and the Black Rabbit got closer to the yellow light faster.

The temperature of the water got colder as he went down.

“What is all that?!”

As he swam deeper, the yellow light grew stronger, and a strange sight appeared below. Piles and piles of dead piranhas and crayfish lay scattered on the bottom, like a watery graveyard. The yellow light seemed to come from beyond this grim heap.

Pushing through the dead creatures, the Black Rabbit finally saw it. A giant eel, bigger than anything he could have imagined, lay still on the bottom. Its skin was dull and lifeless, but its head glowed with a bright golden light, even in death.

“That’s it!”

The Black Rabbit was convinced that that eel was the giant electric eel Sejun had mentioned.

Flap flap.

The Black Rabbit kicked his feet and approached the giant electric eel’s head,

Stab!

He stabbed the head with the harpoon, cut through the flesh, and went into the eel’s head, rummaging around.

Flash!

He found a marble-sized bead emitting a golden light. “Uncle will like this!”

Pop.

The Black Rabbit happily hugged the bead and came out of the eel’s head.

Then, he put the harpoon on his back, pulled the rope twice, hugged the bead with all his might, and entrusted himself to Sejun’s hands.

Thump. Thump.

The rope was pulled, and the Black Rabbit was quickly pulled upwards. And at some point, the Black Rabbit lost consciousness. He had held his breath for too long.

‘It’s a signal!’

Sejun felt the rope being pulled twice and began to pull the rope.

If he pulled too hard, the rope could break, so he pulled the rope as quickly as possible but with composure. After pulling the rope diligently for about 2 minutes, he began to see a golden light beyond the pond hole.

“What is it?”

Sejun felt something was strange but pulled hard, and the Black Rabbit arrived in the pond with the golden light, following the rope.

“Black Rabbit!”

Sejun hurriedly went into the pond and pulled out the Black Rabbit. Then, he removed the bead and rope he was holding and,

Whoop.

Just as he was about to take a breath and perform CPR on the Black Rabbit,

Thwack.

“Ah!”

A black paw blocked Sejun’s mouth.

“Bbyak!” The Black Rabbit frowned and looked at Sejun. “What are you doing, Uncle!”

“No. I was trying to save you…” Sejun felt a little foolish, and a little sad. He had been so worried, and the Black Rabbit was perfectly fine! He mumbled, “No. I was just trying to help…”

“Bbyak!”

The Black Rabbit, who had regained consciousness, stood up vigorously. Then, he took the golden bead that Sejun had thrown away and handed it to Sejun.

“What is this?” Sejun asked, receiving the golden bead.

Sejun looked at the golden bead that the Black Rabbit handed him.

“The giant electric eel’s core?! Did you find the giant electric eel?!” As Sejun looked at him in surprise,

“Bbyak!”

The Black Rabbit raised his head and boasted. “I am strong!”

He didn’t know why finding the giant electric eel’s corpse was connected to being strong, but Sejun first checked the core’s options.

Sejun couldn’t consume it yet with his magic power.

“Here, this.” Squeeze. Squeeze.

Sejun handed the golden bead to the Black Rabbit and began to massage the Black Rabbit’s shoulders.

“Bbyak?” The Black Rabbit tilted his head at Sejun’s sudden strange behavior. “Why are you suddenly like this, Uncle?”

Sejun smiled at the Black Rabbit. “You were so brave! And you found this amazing core! You know what? I think we deserve a special dinner. Could you maybe… cut off a piece of that giant eel for me?”

So, dinner was decided to be grilled eel, with the Black Rabbit cutting the giant electric eel’s flesh.

Just as the smell of grilled eel filled the air, a voice called out from above, “I’m back, meow!” Theo landed gracefully beside them, a glint of triumph in his emerald eyes.