Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 204

“Trust me, Theo!” Kona said.

Kona was determined to help Theo. He jumped onto the Lake Turtle’s back.

Hop!

Splash!

Kona flapped his short limbs and dived into the water to get as far as possible. He swam hard and climbed onto the Lake Turtle’s back.

“Is this the Lake Turtle’s shell?” Kona asked, looking at the turtle’s red back. The shell was covered in holes, like craters. They were all different sizes, some small and some huge.

Kona looked at the shell. It was hard to know for sure without melting it first. But it looked strong. It might be good for making tools.

Just then,

Creak!

“Kkueh?”

Kkueh was already on the Lake Turtle’s back. He was pulling off pieces of the shell and putting them in his snack pouch.

“Yes!” Kona said, thinking Kkueh was also there to mine the Lake Turtle’s shell. Kona started hitting the shell with his pickaxe.

Clang! Clang!

After Kona spent ten minutes hacking at the Lake Turtle’s shell,

“Peng?” A smooth, shiny material appeared underneath—the real shell.

“Then what is this?” Kona asked, confused as he looked at the stone he had mined.

Puaaang!

The Lake Turtle made a happy sound. “My back feels good!”

Sejun was making ice for the Lake Turtle. He looked at Kkueh and Kona on the turtle’s back and asked, “What are you two doing?”

Kkueh showed Sejun what he had dug up from the Lake Turtle’s back, shaking it in his hands. “Daddy Kkueh found oysters!”

“Oysters?!” Sejun said.

It wasn’t an oyster. But Kkueh thought it looked like one.

“Wait a minute, Ice Cube,” Sejun said.

To explain to Kkueh, Sejun made a bridge of ice to get onto the Lake Turtle’s back. He looked at the things stuck to the shell.

“These are barnacles,” Sejun said, touching the red barnacles. “That’s why you said you were hot.”

He felt a little warmth when he touched the barnacles. The part touching the Lake Turtle’s back must be even hotter.

Just then,

The game gave Sejun a message.

[The Lake Turtle can’t sleep because of the barnacles.]

[Quest updated.]

[Quest: Remove all the barnacles living on the Lake Turtle’s body!]

[Reward: 130,000 experience points, 13,000 Top Coins, the Lake Turtle will thrive.]

The quest was updated, and the reward got a little better.

“Nice,” Sejun said.

He was already thinking about how to cook the barnacles to make them taste good.

“Kkueh, these are called barnacles,” Sejun told Kkueh.

Kkueh was shocked. “Not oysters?! Then… can’t eat it?”

Kkueh felt sad because he thought he couldn’t eat something tasty.

“Yes. So let’s pick them carefully!”

Kkueh was excited. “Okay! Kkueh will pick the most!”

“Heh heh heh! I will win, nya!” Theo said.

So the barnacle-picking competition began. Sejun didn’t stop them this time because they weren’t hurting anyone.

“Kona, call the other penguins too,” Sejun said.

“Yes!” Kona said.

Sejun even got the penguins to help pick the barnacles off the turtle’s back.

Aileen was using the crystal ball to search for the Three-Headed Society. “Just you wait!” she said.

An alarm went off for Aileen. [A being with the aura of destruction has entered the Black Tower.]

“Huh? Aura of destruction?” Aileen said.

Aileen checked the location and found Mr. One, the boss of the Three-Headed Society, on the first floor of the tower. He had the number 1 on his mask.

“So this is the guy who hurt Sejun’s family,” Aileen said. “Iona, go to the Misty Zone on the 59th floor of the tower. The Three-Headed Society’s hideout is there.”

Aileen watched Mr. One and had Iona destroy the hideout he had passed through.

Iona, the Great Destruction Magician, completely destroyed the Three-Headed Society’s hideout and everyone inside.

Aileen kept watching Mr. One. He went into a cave on the 47th floor of the tower and stayed there.

“Iona, go to the north cave on the 47th floor of the tower. I marked it. Take care of it,” Aileen said.

She thought this was the last hideout of the Three-Headed Society and decided to deal with Mr. One.

“Kuh-heuuuh. It’s over!” Aileen said, stretching because she had been looking at the crystal ball for a long time.

Just then,

“Huh? What’s that?” Aileen asked.

She saw the leather vest that Sejun had asked her to check. She had been so busy finding the Three-Headed Society that she had forgotten about it.

“Heh heh heh. I need to check it quickly and give it to Sejun,” Aileen said.

Aileen used magic to check the leather vest.

Two hours later,

“It’s much cleaner now,” Sejun said, looking at the Lake Turtle’s back. About a quarter of the barnacles were gone.

“Time to make lunch soon,” Sejun said.

Sejun went to the lakeside and gathered branches from around. He piled them up on the ground. Today’s lunch was grilled barnacles. He took out the barnacles he had stored and poured them onto the branches.

Snap.

Whoosh!

Sejun snapped his fingers and made a fire. He lit the branches and started grilling the barnacles. Barnacles can handle a lot of heat, so Sejun made a very hot fire.

Kkueh smelled the aroma. “Smells delicious!” he said.

Kkueh started walking around, smelling the aroma. The other penguins moved closer too.

“Heh heh heh! I am winning, nya!” Theo said.

Only Theo was still on the Lake Turtle’s back, picking barnacles.

“They’re cooked well. Everyone, let’s eat!” Sejun said.

Sejun took out a grilled barnacle and ate it.

Kkueh was happy. “I’ll eat well!” he said.

“Thank you for the food!” the penguins said.

Kkueh and the penguins each took a barnacle and started to eat.

But,

“Peng!” the penguins said.

Kkueh was eating happily, but the penguins quickly put down the barnacles and ran into the lake. They put their hands in the water to cool them down. The barnacles were too hot.

The penguins were delicate, unlike Kkueh, whose skin could handle almost anything.

“Everyone, cool them down here and eat,” Sejun said.

Sejun felt bad for the penguins. He made ice and put it on top of the barnacles so they could cool down.

Everyone was enjoying the barnacles.

Plop.

A red bead rolled out from the flesh of the giant barnacle Kkueh was eating. It was about the size of a fist.

Roooooll.

It stopped in front of Sejun.

“This is?” Sejun asked.

It was a barnacle’s inner core.

‘Is this also bitter?’ Sejun wondered.

Sejun was about to pick up the inner core.

Kkueh was sure Sejun would think it tasted bitter. “That’s for Daddy!” he said.

Chuck.

Sejun picked up the inner core and checked what it was.

[Inner Core of Scorching Heat]

The inner core of a barnacle that has lived on the Lake Turtle for 1000 years, taking the Lake Turtle’s energy.

If you eat it, Strength increases by 20, or Strength Potential increases by 10.

It makes fire-related talents a little better.

It tastes very bitter.

You must be at least Lv. 30 and have Strength 20 or higher to use it.

Grade: B

Nom.

Sejun put the barnacle’s inner core in his mouth. He was going to eat it anyway, so it was better to eat it quickly.

‘The pain is only for a short time, but the stats are forever!’ Sejun thought.

Sejun gritted his teeth and ate the bitter inner core.

Gulp.

[You have eaten the Inner Core of Scorching Heat.]

[Strength Potential increases by 10.]

[Your fire-attribute talents are better.]

“Nice,” Sejun said.

His mouth tasted bitter, but he was happy.

Just then,

Chuck.

“Huh?” Sejun asked.

Tap tap tap.

A penguin put a red bead in front of Sejun and ran away. It had given Sejun the inner core from the barnacle it was eating.

The penguin watched from far away to see if Sejun liked the inner core. It was watching very closely.

Sejun felt pressured by the penguin’s stare and quickly ate the inner core. He thought it would be better to eat it while his mouth still tasted bitter.

“Kuh······,” Sejun said.

Gulp.

[You have eaten the Inner Core of Scorching Heat.]

[Strength increases by 10.]

[Your fire-attribute talents are a little better.]

The bitter taste was the same, but the options were not as good as the first one. It was probably from a younger barnacle.

After eating two inner cores, Sejun was cutting the barnacle flesh into small pieces when,

“Huh?!” Sejun said.

He felt something hard and round inside. Another inner core?

Sejun put his hand into the barnacle flesh.

“President Park! No!” Theo shouted.

Theo was picking barnacles and saw the danger to Sejun. He quickly moved to help.

But,

Grasp.

Sejun had already grabbed the bead.

[You have touched the Essence of Fire.]

[Your body is badly hurt.]

[Authority: Unbreakable Body is activated.]

[Magic power is used to protect the body.]

[Magic power is not enough.]

[Dragon Race Skill – Dragon Skin is activated.]

[The scales of the Great Black Dragon Kaiser are destroyed.]

“Aargh!!” Sejun shouted.

Sejun felt a burning pain in his hand.

And then,

Boom!

The explosion sent him flying into the lake.

“President Park! Are you okay?” Theo asked.

Theo pulled Sejun out of the lake and checked his body. He was as hot as a fireball and had a small burn on his right hand, but he didn’t seem to have any other injuries.

Press. Press.

Theo pressed Sejun’s right hand with his paw and used a healing skill.

Kkweeeeng! Kkweeeeng!

Kkueh was worried. “Daddy… body hot. Daddy wake up!” he cried.

Kkueh filled barnacle shells with water and poured it on Sejun’s body.

Theo and Kkueh cooled Sejun’s body and massaged him for over an hour.

[The Tower’s Administrator is angry. Why is Sejun unconscious?]

[The Tower’s Administrator asks why Sejun’s body is full of fire energy.]

Aileen was going to give the leather vest to Sejun. She asked Theo angrily, “Why is Sejun’s body full of fire energy?”

Sejun’s body was so full of fire energy that it might explode.

“Aileen, President Park touched that bead and got hurt! But President Park isn’t waking up!” Theo said.

Whoosh!

Theo pointed to the red bead. It was still burning strongly after the explosion.

Swoosh.

Aileen quickly picked up the bead. She needed to know what it was.

But,

“Ouch, it’s hot!” Aileen said.

The red bead was so hot that Aileen couldn’t touch it.

“Grandpa! Help me!” Aileen asked Kaiser.

Everyone was worried about Sejun.

[Slightly absorbed the fire energy.]

[Your fire-attribute talents are better.]

Sejun was slowly absorbing the fire energy and making his fire-attribute talents better.