Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 143

“I… I must have it!” Urchi breathed, his eyes fixed on the black dragon tattoo on Theo’s paw. For Urchi, the tattoo was amazing. It showed Theo was connected to the great black dragon. Having such a symbol would be a huge honor for his family, for all Black Oaks! Urchi imagined himself as a great king, remembered forever in Black Oak history, all because of this symbol.

“Then listen to me from now on!” Theo said proudly, putting his paws on his hips. (Theo sometimes added ‘nyaang’ like a cat sound when he was happy or excited.) If they were good, he thought, maybe he could even ask Sejun for a real dragon scale later!

“Of course! We will follow every word of the servant of the great black dragon!” Urchi promised quickly.

“No, not just that!” Theo corrected him. “Listen closely! I am Theo Park! I am the fatal yellow cat, and *I* am the one who serves the great black dragon!”

“Ah! Yes! Theo Park, the fatal cat, servant of the great black dragon!”

“Puhuhu. That’s right!” Theo purred, feeling pleased to hear his own introduction from someone else.

“Theo Park, fatal cat, servant of the great black dragon,” Urchi repeated carefully. “Please, allow us the honor of using the dragon symbol!”

“Wait, what do you mean ‘using the symbol’?” Theo asked, confused.

“We have a way. Luken!” Urchi shouted.

“Yes!” A huge Black Oak entered, holding a skull-decorated staff.

“Luken, our Black Oak tribe’s shaman, will copy the symbol on the paw of Theo Park, the fatal cat, servant of the great black dragon.”

“Copy?”

“Yes! We will copy it carefully. Your tattoo will be safe,” Luken explained.

“Then that’s good!”

“Thank you! Theo Park, fatal cat, servant of the great black dragon!”

“Urchi, just call me Theo from now on.” Theo felt uncomfortable with the long titles.

“Yes! Theo-nim!”

“Urchi,” Luken asked, “where do you want the symbol copied?”

“The great black dragon is the greatest!” Urchi declared. “I cannot put myself above him! Copy the symbol on the top of my head!”

“Yes! I understand. Then please put the symbol on your head!”

“I understand!” *Thud!* Urchi knelt before Theo.

“Theo-nim, please put the symbol on the top of my head!” Urchi pleaded.

“Like this?” Theo asked, a little unsure. *Thump*. He carefully put his foot on Urchi’s head. It looked strange, like a thug stepping on someone begging.

“Please stay still!” Luken chanted. *Whump! Whump!* He hit the ground with his staff. *Whoosh*. Red light glowed between Theo’s foot and the top of Urchi’s head.

“It’s finished!” Luken announced.

“Thank you for your help, Theo-nim!” Urchi said gratefully.

Theo, still standing with his foot on Urchi’s head, replied, “You worked hard too, nyaang!”

“…You can take your foot off now,” Luken added.

“I understand, nyaang!” Theo finally lifted his foot from Urchi’s head. Then, the great black dragon tattoo was properly copied on the top of Urchi’s head.

At that moment…

“Nyaang?!” Theo saw it then. It wasn’t just the dragon tattoo. Around the dragon, there were round shapes. His footprint! His paw print was now on Urchi’s head, right next to the dragon!

However…

“Luken, from now on, I will make this symbol the flag of our Black Oak Kingdom!”

“Yes! I understand!” The Black Oaks thought that the symbol of the great black dragon was always like that.

‘It’s not my fault!’ Theo thought, and stayed quiet. And so, the picture of the great black dragon’s symbol and Theo’s footprint together became the new flag of the Black Oak Kingdom.

Back in the cave, later that night…

The night was quiet outside the 99th floor cave of the tower.

Crack. Crack. The sound of firewood burning filled the air as Sejun, Fire, Kkuengi, Golden Bat, and Iona sat around the campfire.

“So, just in case, the man opened the lid…”

Gulp. Everyone swallowed, listening to Sejun.

“Another dumpling had disappeared!” Sejun was having fun telling scary stories.

Kkueng!!!

[Daddy, that’s scary!!!]

Kkuengi clung to Sejun, scared by the mysterious disappearance of the food. Nothing was more terrifying to Kkuengi than food disappearing for no reason.

At that moment, Grumble. Kkuengi’s stomach growled loudly.

Kkueng!

[Talking about food makes me hungry!]

The fear was gone, and Kkuengi looked at Sejun with pleading eyes. He was supposed to sleep early, but tonight was special. Late-night snacks needed permission from Mom or Dad.

“Then shall we eat popcorn?”

Kkueng!

[Yay!]

Kkuengi didn’t know what popcorn was, but he cheered at the thought of eating.

“Just a moment,” Sejun said, getting up. He took two wide pots, made from the strong shells of fire ants, and placed them over the fire.

He poured red corn kernels into the pots. These were special corn kernels, ‘exploding corn,’ that he had saved to eat. He had planned to plant them, but popcorn sounded better right now.

Soon, *Pop! Pop!* The corn kernels started to burst open from the heat. Steam rose from the pots, and they quickly filled with white, fluffy popcorn, like clouds.

“First, let’s make salt-flavored popcorn…” Sejun put salt in one of the pots and mixed it evenly.

“Here you go,” Sejun said. He rolled green onion leaves into cone shapes, like ice cream cones, and filled them with popcorn. He gave them a little bit, just to get them started.

*Crunch*.

Kkueng!

[It’s delicious!]

Fire purred, “(It’s delicious!)” “Ggyut! Ggyut! Ggyut!” Golden Bat and Iona chirped happily. The salty, savory popcorn was so good, they ate it quickly, like they couldn’t get enough.

While they ate, Sejun took another pot and started to heat water and honey together.

Kkueng!

Kkuengi looked anxiously at the honey turning brown. If you’re going to burn the honey like that, I want to eat it!

“I’m not burning it. Just wait a moment.” When the honey was boiled down, Sejun poured unseasoned popcorn on top and stirred it so the honey coated every piece, making honey popcorn.

Kkueng?

[Is it not ready yet?]

Kkuengi, who had finished his popcorn and was lost in the honey scent, paced around the pot.

“Kkuengi, wait.” Sejun spoke sternly.

Kkueng!

[Kkuengi will wait in his spot!]

Kkuengi remembered his training and sat down quietly to wait for the food.

The sweet smell of honey filled the air. “Almost done,” Sejun said happily.

“Iona,” Sejun said, watching the honey mix with the popcorn, “please use your drying magic gently.” He wanted Iona to use magic to take out the water from the popcorn. The popcorn’s taste was important, but the crispness was also very important.

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut!” Iona chirped. “Yes! Drying magic!”

Soon, the honey popcorn was ready. It smelled amazing!

Sejun smiled. “Okay, everyone! Eat whatever you like!” He let the animals choose between the salty and honey popcorn. He also took some for himself.

“Hehe,” Sejun chuckled. “I want both!” He filled a leaf cup with half salty and half honey popcorn. He closed the top and shook it hard to mix them together.

Wham! He grabbed a big handful of popcorn and stuffed it in his mouth. Crunch! “Mmm! This is so good!” Sejun thought.

Every bite was a surprise! First, salty popcorn, then sweet honey popcorn. It was a perfect mix of salty and sweet that he could eat forever.

And the honey popcorn was so crispy! The honey made it hard and crunchy, which made it even more fun to eat. Crunch, crunch.

Kkueng tilted his head, watching Sejun. He had been eating only honey popcorn, but now he saw Sejun mixing both. Following Sejun was always a good idea, Kkueng thought. He trusted Sejun completely.

Kkueng tried the mixed popcorn. Kkueng! His eyes widened. “[Delicious!]” he barked happily.

And so, the 295th night on the tower ended with happy popcorn eating.

On Earth, in a busy office, Han Taejun was on the phone. His face was serious. “Find and protect the golden bat! Absolutely!” he said into the phone.

Theo had called Han Taejun and asked him to find the golden bat. Han Taejun told his workers to search for it right away. Now, he was rushing to the tower because Theo was looking for the bat.

Suddenly, his secretary’s phone rang. *Ring, ring*.

“Hello?” Han Taejun answered the phone.

“Yes? Really?” He sounded surprised. “Send me the link now.”

Click. He hung up.

“Chairman,” the secretary said quickly. “They found the golden bat!”

“Really? How?” Han Taejun asked, surprised and curious.

“Please watch this,” the secretary said, showing him a tablet.

The secretary played a video on the tablet. It was a famous show called ‘What on Earth.’

“Well… it’s usually very expensive, about 200 billion. But because of the bat broadcast, we can buy it for much less.”

“Buy it immediately.”

“Yes!”

Taejun had once asked Theo to find out which building the golden bat was appearing in, so he was planning to give it to Theo as a gift.

‘Hehe. I should use this to get a favor from him.’

Luckily, the owner of the Halla Building really needed to sell it quickly. So, Han Taejun bought the building contract in Sejun’s name and went to the tower.

“Ugh…” Sejun woke up. The cave was a mess! Popcorn was everywhere on the floor. It looked like a popcorn storm had hit.

He heard soft snores. Kkueng was curled up in the pot, hugging the golden bat tightly and sleeping soundly.

Iona had woken up early and gone to check the construction site of the magic tower.

“[Master, are you awake?]”

“Yeah.”

Fire Spirit greeted Sejun as he looked around.

“Did you sleep well too, Fire Spirit?”

“[Yes. I liked that the night wasn’t quiet yesterday!]”

‘Our Fire Spirit must have been lonely all this time?’ Sejun thought he should play in the cave more often from now on.

And he left Kkueng and the golden bat, who were still sleeping, and went outside.

Kkeaack! A mushroom ant walked up to Sejun with a proud look.

“Hehe. You’ve come just in time.”

Sejun smiled at the mushroom ant. When it looked this proud, it usually meant it had a special mushroom.

Kkeaack!

The mushroom ant showed its back to Sejun in response to his warm welcome. As Sejun expected, there was only one medicinal mushroom on the mushroom ant’s back. It was a black, stone-like mushroom that he had never seen before.

“You’ve worked hard to grow it.”

Sejun stroked the mushroom ant’s back and praised it.

Pluck.

He picked the mushroom.

“[Superior Elixir: Black Truffle has been harvested.]”

“[Job experience has slightly increased.]”

“[Harvesting Lv. 6 proficiency has slightly increased.]”

“[You have gained 250 experience.]”

“Oh?! Black Truffle?”

It was a mushroom he had only heard of on Earth.

“Is this the really expensive mushroom?”

[Superior Elixir: Black Truffle]

This Black Truffle is special! The mushroom ant grew it. It smells very strong.

If you eat it, all your stats go up by 3!

Grown by: Tower Farmer Park Sejun’s mushroom ant

Best before: 150 days

Grade: C+

“Oh!”

It was a superior elixir that raised all stats by 3.

‘I’ll eat it before Kkueng wakes up and asks for some!’ Sejun thought quickly. ‘I need to get stronger too! I can’t always be the weakest!’

Munch, munch.

Sejun hurriedly put the black truffle in his mouth and chewed it. If Kkueng saw it, he would definitely ask for some.

[Superior Elixir: Black Truffle has been consumed.]

[All stats have increased by 3.]

“Good.”

Sejun, feeling stronger than he was yesterday, started his morning in a good mood.

Kkueng!

“[Good morning!]”

Kkueng, who had woken up hungry, greeted him cheerfully.

Sniff sniff.

Kkueng! Kkueng?!

“[There’s a good smell coming from Daddy’s mouth! Did you eat something by yourself?!]”

Kkueng, who was approaching Sejun, started sniffing around Sejun’s mouth and somehow figured out that Sejun had eaten something by himself. The problem was that he had eaten the truffle, which was famous for its strong aroma.

“Oh?! No! I didn’t eat anything?!”

Sejun hurriedly covered his mouth to prevent the scent from spreading, but

Kkueng?! Kkueng!!!

“[But why are you hiding your mouth?!]” Kkueng asked, getting closer. “[You said lying is bad! Are you lying, Daddy?!]”

That only increased Kkueng’s suspicion.

“No. Daddy didn’t eat anything?”

The more Sejun said no, the stronger the truffle smell became. It was like the smell was shouting, ‘He ate it! He ate it alone!’