Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 124

Sejun smiled. He had reached level 55! Pink Fur and Kkueng helped him level up twice.

[The Watcher Pink Fur has defeated a Fire Ant Warrior.]

[The Watcher Pink Fur has gained 750 experience points, which is 50% of the experience acquired.]

[The Watcher Kkueng defeated a Fire Ant Warrior.]

[The Watcher Kkueng has gained 750 experience points, which is 50% of the experience acquired.]

[Leveled up.]

[Acquired 1 bonus stat.]

“Good.”

Sejun invested his bonus stats into Strength and Stamina, one point each.

In games, focusing on one skill is good. But in real life, knowing many things helps you live longer.

Having triumphed over the fire ants, Sejun led the way back to the farm, where 7,000 mushroom ants greeted them. It was their way of showing gratitude.

Over the past few days, as the mushroom ants fled from the fire ants, their numbers had increased by about 2,000.

Just then,

Kkeaak!

One of the mushroom ants approached Sejun, carrying a small mushroom on its back.

“Huh?! That’s a king oyster mushroom! Why that?” Sejun recognized the mushroom. It didn’t seem too different from a regular king oyster mushroom, except it was smaller, perhaps because it hadn’t fully grown, and the cap was a bit shinier.

Kkeaak!

The mushroom ant brought its back closer to Sejun, as if to say he would know once he harvested it. It was full of confidence.

“You’ll know when you see it, huh? Alright.”

Thud.

Sejun harvested the mushroom.

[Acquired Elixir: King Oyster Mushroom.]

[Job experience slightly increased.]

[Harvesting Lv. 6 proficiency slightly increased.]

[Acquired 250 experience points.]

“Elixir?” Sejun examined the king oyster mushroom.

[Elixir: King Oyster Mushroom]

The king oyster mushroom grown by Top Farmer’s tenant mushroom ant has absorbed all the nutrients around it and grown into an elixir.

Boasts excellent taste and aroma.

All stats +1 upon consumption.

Grower: Tenant Mushroom Ant of Top Farmer Park Sejun

Expiration Date: 90 days

Grade: C

“It raises all stats by 1?” And it has excellent taste and aroma?! The mushroom ant’s confident attitude was understandable.

Kkeaak?

The mushroom ant asked how it was.

“Good job.”

Sejun stroked the mushroom ant’s head.

Kkereureuk!

The mushroom ant made a strange noise, expressing its delight.

Kkeaak!

[It’s all thanks to you, Master! I just worked hard to grow it!]

“Hey. I didn’t do much. You guys worked hard to grow it.”

Kkeaak. Kkeaak…

[It’s true. It’s all thanks to you, Master… ]

Sejun thought it was just the mushroom ant being polite, but the mushroom ants originally didn’t have the ability to grow elixirs. If they did, they would have worked hard to grow elixirs, eaten them themselves, and driven out the fire ants.

Only the mushroom ants who became tenant farmers among the mushroom ants could grow elixirs.

Although it wasn’t yet time to harvest, five tenant mushroom ants with elixirs growing on their backs were being intensively cared for by the other mushroom ants as they grew their elixirs.

Sniff. Sniff.

Kkueng!

Kkueng put his nose to Sejun’s hand holding the king oyster mushroom and sniffed diligently. It smells delicious!

“Just wait a little. Let’s go cook it and eat it.”

Sejun took the animals to the kitchen.

“Lunch is king oyster mushroom! Crop Gigantification.”

Sejun used the skill on Elixir: King Oyster Mushroom.

This would eliminate the consumption effect, but the taste and aroma would remain unchanged while only increasing the quantity.

However,

[Using Crop Gigantification Lv. 2 on King Oyster Mushroom.]

[The crop is an elixir, so the nutrients it contains are enormous.]

[The degree of crop gigantification greatly increases.]

“Huh?!”

Crack.

The extent to which the elixir was gigantified was far greater than Sejun had anticipated.

Thud!

The giant king oyster mushroom broke through the roof of the kitchen as it grew.

“Everyone, get out!” Sejun hurriedly shouted and ran outside. Fortunately, the kitchen didn’t collapse, thanks to the sturdy construction by the Gray Rabbits and Black Minotaurs.

“Wow!” Sejun breathed, stepping back to look at the mushroom. It towered over the kitchen, its creamy white cap like a giant umbrella against the blue sky. He hadn’t seen a mushroom this big since Anton’s crazy mushroom cloud trick. The air filled with a rich, earthy smell, making his stomach rumble.

Kuoong! Pink Fur bounced with excitement, eyes wide at the massive mushroom. It looked like the best chew toy ever.

“Pink Fur, can you move it, please?” Sejun asked, pointing. “It’s too big for the kitchen now.”

Kuoong!

Crack.

Pink Fur pulled the giant king oyster mushroom out of the kitchen and moved it to an empty space.

“Okay. Now, divide it into 5 equal parts vertically.”

Kuoong!

At Sejun’s words, Pink Fur used magic to infuse his claws, creating four claws made of magic.

Scrrrritch.

Pink Fur swung the magic claws once from top to bottom at the giant king oyster mushroom, instantly dividing it into 5 equal parts.

Kuoong.

Pink Fur caught the giant mushroom to prevent it from falling and laid it on the ground.

And so, the king oyster mushroom party began.

Pink Fur began eating the top part, and the mushroom ants began eating the bottom part, when

Mmooo!

The aroma emanating from the king oyster mushroom enticed the Black Minotaurs. The Black Minotaurs approached, drooling.

“Take one for yourselves and eat it with Uma King.”

Sejun had one of the five divided mushrooms taken to the Black Minotaurs.

Moo!

The Minotaurs infused their horns with magic and sliced the mushroom like a knife before taking it away.

“Let’s eat too.”

At Sejun’s words after finishing the mushroom distribution, Kkueng and the rabbits ate the king oyster mushroom. At first, they ate it raw, but when they got tired of that, they made steamed mushrooms and grilled mushrooms to eat.

-Too bad… if only there was alcohol, I would have made some right away…

-Are you thinking about alcohol again?

Kellion scolded Kaiser, who was lamenting while looking at the king oyster mushroom.

“Kellion, would you like more?”

-No. I’ve had plenty.

Unlike Aileen, the two dragons didn’t eat as much compared to their appetite.

“Aileen, should I give you more?”

[The Tower’s Administrator says she is full now.]

“No way? You used to say you needed to eat a whole large pot to feel a little full?! Are you not feeling well?” It was normal to worry when someone who usually ate a lot suddenly ate very little. Sejun was concerned about Aileen.

[The Tower’s Administrator tells you to worry about yourself first.]

“Alright.”

He ended up worrying about others again.

[The Tower’s Administrator says she is still happy that you are worried about her.]

“Really? I’ll worry about you a lot in the future, Aileen.”

[……]

“Aileen?” The conversation was cut off again.

“But what should we do with this?” Everyone worked hard to eat a lot, but still, one of the five pieces remained.

“We’ll have to eat this tomorrow.”

As Sejun thought about leaving the remaining king oyster mushroom to eat tomorrow,

Kkueng!

Kkueng lay down on top of the king oyster mushroom and called Sejun. It’s Daddy’s nap time!

“Shall we take a nap then?” He felt drowsy since his stomach was full.

Sejun lay down next to Kkueng. The flesh of the king oyster mushroom sank as if swallowing Sejun’s body.

“Wow. This is totally like latex?” Sejun said, watching the king oyster mushroom’s resilience as it rose again without deflating when he got up.

“I should cut this up and take it home later.” It seemed like it would be good to use as a mattress substitute when sleeping.

Kkueng!

Press.

Kkueng gently pressed on Sejun’s chest, urging him to lie down quickly. And he didn’t take off his front paw. It was heavy, but bearable since it was just one paw.

And then,

Flap flap.

The golden bat, who liked dark places, took a spot between Sejun and Kkueng.

Cough.

Kkulorong.

Baerorong.

And so, the three fell asleep.

30 minutes later.

Kuaaah!!!

Sejun, Kkueng, and the golden bat were startled awake by Pink Fur’s sudden roar.

“What?! What’s wrong?!” Sejun urgently looked around.

Screeeech!

Nearly a million fire ant warriors and workers surrounded them. The strong scent of the king oyster mushroom had spread to where the fire ants were, attracting them.

“There are too many?” There was no way to protect the farm if those fire ants started using fire.

Just then,

-Hey. Go earn your keep. I have no magic.

-Ahem. Shall I step up?

At Kaiser’s words, Kellion flew towards the fire ants.

And then,

-Insects, end your lives!

He said one word and returned.

Whoosh.

The fire ants burned themselves to death at Kellion’s words. There were no fire ants screaming or refusing. They chose death without hesitation, as if it were the most natural thing to do.

“Ah…” To kill a million fire ants with just one word, as expected, a dragon was a dragon. They seemed ridiculous at times, but at times like this, they were truly terrifying.

‘I should stay close to them.’ Sejun resolved to be more friendly with the dragons and not act carelessly in front of them in the future.

***

Magic Association Headquarters on the 91st floor of the Tower.

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. How far has the excavation of the Holy Stone progressed?” Iona, who had rushed over after receiving a call from the association, sat at the head of the conference table and asked.

“Based on the strength of the detector, it is within 100m.” Vice Tower Lord Gonova, who had the appearance of a hyena, replied.

Iona had rushed over as soon as she received a call yesterday that a Holy Stone had been detected in the mana stone mine on the 77th floor of the Tower, which the Magic Tower managed.

The Holy Stone was said to be a fallen star from the sky, and if recognized as the owner of the Holy Stone, the stone’s special power would protect the owner.

‘I should give it to Sejun.’ As soon as Iona received the call, she thought of Sejun as the owner of the Holy Stone. She had already known for a long time that Sejun was not a Great Black Dragon.

At first, she thought it was just a game of pretending to be weak, but she wasn’t a fool. She couldn’t help but know by watching Sejun and the other animals from the side.

Besides, even the other dragon statues were worried about Sejun? Comparing the magic power that Sejun and the dragon statues exuded from the side made it even clearer. Sejun’s magic power was similar to that of the hunters who had recently started entering the Tower.

At first, she was a little angry that she had been deceived, but what did that matter? It was enough if she was happy when she was with him and could sleep without nightmares.

So, for her good sleep, the safety of Sejun, who was as fragile as an ocean sunfish, was more important than anything else.

As Iona was thinking about finding the Holy Stone and giving it to Sejun,

“Let’s go to the mine quickly, Iona.”

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. Yes.”

Gonova guided Iona to the magic circle connected to the mana stone mine.

“Then, we will depart.”

As Gonova activated the magic circle,

Whoosh.

The two disappeared. Gonova’s gaze towards Iona was cold and sharp.

***

“Shall we see how the Black Rabbit is doing?” Sejun used the Guardian Rabbit Statue to look at the Red Ribbon Kingdom’s treasure vault. Since Sejun had added rice flour, the Black Rabbit had been making dough whenever he had time.

[List of items currently available for shipment from the Red Ribbon Kingdom’s treasure vault (Total: 23,911,814)]

Dough 1kg X5

Gold Bar X 10,000

Silver Bar X 50,000

Farmland deed for the 77th floor of the Tower

Farmland deed for the 83rd floor of the Tower

Sejun had taken the Tower Coins and deposited them in the Seed Bank, and he had given the Mithril Ingots to Iona because she wanted to use them for magic experiments.

“But what is the farmland deed?”

Kkueng?

[Let’s take it out first! It might be something to eat!]

“Shall we take out the farmland deed for the 77th floor of the Tower?” Sejun decided to take out the farmland deed to examine it.

[Shipping 1 farmland deed for the 77th floor of the Tower from the Red Ribbon Kingdom’s treasure vault.]

Thud.

A rolled-up leather document appeared in Sejun’s hand.

Just then,

[The summoning function for the initial imprint of the farmland deed for the 77th floor of the Tower is activated.]

“Huh?!” Sejun suddenly disappeared.

And then,

Kkuueeeeng!

[Daddy disappeared!] Kkueng cried, looking for the suddenly disappeared Sejun.