Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 207

A happy feeling popped up in Sejun’s mind as he finished stirring the shrimp stew. Words seemed to float in front of his eyes, telling him he had done something special by making this spicy shrimp soup. He felt like he understood cooking even better now, like he had learned a new secret. “Heh heh heh. Good,” he chuckled to himself.

Moreover, upon seeing the message that his cooking level had increased, Sejun smiled contentedly and took a spoonful of the shrimp stew to taste.

“Mmm, krooh!” Sejun sighed happily. His face showed pure joy after tasting the hot soup. The first taste was a burst of spice that woke him up, but then came a cool, clean taste, like fresh rain. As he chewed the shrimp, a deeper, richer flavor filled his mouth, like the sea itself. “Perfect,” he thought. “This will be great bait.”

“Everyone, let’s have breakfast.”

“Kkweang?!”

[Daddy, are we eating *these*?!]

Kkweang asked, looking at the shrimp in the shrimp stew Sejun was giving him. He had seen them while picking barnacles, but they were too small, so he never thought they could be eaten.

“Yes. Just try it.”

“Kkweang!”

[Okay!]

Trusting Sejun’s words, Kkweang began to eat the shrimp stew without hesitation, and

Peng!

The penguins, who had already tasted it, ate the shrimp stew without any reluctance.

“How is it? Delicious, right? If you guys catch shrimp, I’ll make other delicious dishes with freshwater shrimp for lunch.”

Sejun knew these freshwater shrimp were hard to find, but he had a feeling the delicious stew would be a good way to get the animals to help him find them.

“Kkweang!”

[Okay!]

Peng!

Kkweang and the penguins nodded enthusiastically at Sejun’s words.

“Now, let’s eat too.”

Sejun, having successfully recruited the animals for shrimp catching, fed Theo his handmade Churu and ate the shrimp stew.

As they were eating breakfast, Sejun blinked. Something was strange. Kona, who was just next to him, seemed to be… fading? He looked closer, and saw that Kona and the other penguins were becoming see-through, like ghosts. “Huh?!” he gasped. “Kona… the penguins… they’re disappearing!”

Theo stopped chewing his Churu, his eyes wide. “Chairman Park, what’s wrong, nya?” he asked, seeing Sejun looking around in confusion.

“Vice Chairman Theo,” Sejun said, his voice hushed, “Kona and the penguins… they’ve suddenly vanished.”

Theo looked at him, puzzled. “Vanished? But Kona is right here, Chairman Park, nya,” Theo said gently, pointing with his paw to Kona who was still happily eating.

“She’s still there?”

“Peng? Mr. Sejun, what’s wrong?”

Kona asked Sejun, burying her face in the shrimp stew and eating diligently.

“You can’t see me?”

“Yeah.”

Kona was puzzled by Sejun’s words. She hadn’t done anything.

Sejun’s eyes widened. “Invisibility…” he whispered. He quickly thought back to the shrimp. Freshwater shrimp… he remembered reading something about them. They were known for hiding so well in clear water, almost like they weren’t there at all. “Could it be…?” he wondered, quickly checking the cooking information again.

As Sejun had expected, there was a reason why the penguins were invisible to Sejun’s eyes. The characteristic of the freshwater shrimp was granted as a special effect.

“Oh! Then do I become invisible too?”

Sejun quickly ate the shrimp stew.

Sejun quickly ate a big spoonful of the stew himself. As the spicy warmth spread through him, he looked down at his hands. They were… fading. He wiggled his fingers, but they were becoming harder and harder to see. “Whoa,” he breathed. He looked at his legs, his chest – everything was turning see-through! “Huh?!” he exclaimed, a little panicked. “I can’t even see *myself*!” It was a very strange feeling, like parts of him had just disappeared. He knew the animals could still see him, but to *himself*, he was becoming invisible.

“Let’s work hard today and catch a lot of barnacles and shrimp!”

“Kkweang!”

[Okay!]

Peng!

The animals, whose appearances were hidden by the invisibility effect, answered energetically to Sejun’s words and entered the lake.

“Aren’t you going?”

Sejun asked, looking at Theo, who was clinging to his knee.

“I’m tired of picking barnacles now, nya! I’ll stay with Chairman Park, nya! And Iona needs to sleep too, nya!”

Theo, not wanting to be separated from Sejun, blamed Iona, who was on his tail.

“Alright.”

Sejun accepted Theo’s claim. Honestly, he was a little bored working alone.

“Absorb!”

Sejun equipped Theo on his leg and began the barnacle removal work.

A little while later,

“Kkweang!”

[Kkweang caught a lot of shrimp!]

Peng!

Kkweang and the penguins, who had caught shrimp in between picking barnacles, brought the freshwater shrimp they had caught to Sejun.

“Put the freshwater shrimp in here.”

Sejun had them put the shrimp in a large pot filled with water. This was to remove impurities from the shrimp first.

About two hours passed like that,

“Kkyuuuoot!”

Iona stretched and woke up.

And

“I’ve been away from the Magic Tower for too long, so I have to go now. Mr. Sejun, here.”

Iona handed Sejun the bronze coins she had obtained by going around the Three-Headed Society’s hideouts and defeating the Apostles of Destruction.

“Bronze coins? Iona, you fought the Apostles of Destruction?”

The number of bronze coins was a whopping 35. Sejun could tell that Iona had fought many Apostles of Destruction.

“Yes. With Eileen-nim……”

Iona briefly told the story of how she and Eileen had smashed the Three-Headed Society’s hideout.

“I see. Thank you.”

“No problem. I was happy to help Mr. Sejun! Then I’ll be going. Vice Chairman Theo, goodbye.”

“Iona, farewell, nya!”

“Goodbye!”

“Yes!”

Iona quickly disappeared with flight magic, seeing off Sejun and Theo.

A hunter who was about to enter the Tower in Gangnam, South Korea, noticed grass growing through the asphalt on the ground. He saw sturdy blade scallions around him, so the grass growing on the asphalt didn’t seem so strange. He thought it might be because the asphalt around the Tower had been removed and scallions had been planted.

The governments were greatly shocked by the disappearance of the Tower in Brasilia and the fact that the hunters who had entered the Tower through the disappeared Tower could not return to Earth. As a result, each country’s government began to work hard to not lose their Towers, and thanks to that, the Earth Defense Force had much less to do and only had to transport the sturdy blade scallions to the 1st floor and hand them over to each government.

“Jaemin, hurry up!”

“Okay! I’m coming!”

The hunter, who had been looking at the grass growing on the ground, left at the call of his colleague, and the sound of something growing from the ground could be heard. It was the roots of Bulkkot, who had been steadily moving since he heard the news that Sejun’s family had been touched.

Bulkkot’s roots, which had begun to take root in Korea, moved to find Sejun’s family to protect them. However, the roots that had taken root in other countries were spreading for revenge. Bulkkot’s revenge was slow, but persistent and destructive.

Sejun, who had come up to the ground in advance, was making a new dish using freshwater shrimp that he had promised the animals: freshwater shrimp tempura.

“Kkweang!”

[Daddy, Kkweang is hungry!]

Kkweang, who had been picking barnacles, came up from the lake.

“Okay. Just wait a moment.”

Sejun said, scooping up the freshwater shrimp fried in tuna oil with a strainer. This time, no other crop ingredients were added, so no cooking achievement appeared.

“Well, that’s not important.”

The important thing was that he made tempura.

“Everyone, let’s have lunch!”

Sejun called the animals and filled their bowls with freshwater shrimp tempura.

“It’s more delicious if you dip this in it.”

Sejun said, taking out all the small packaged soy sauces. He wouldn’t be able to eat soy sauce for a while if he used them all up like this, but he couldn’t eat tempura casually after such a long time.

Kkweang! Kkweang!

[Delicious! Exciting!]

Kkweang, who grabbed a handful of freshwater shrimp tempura with his front paws and put it in his mouth, couldn’t contain his excitement and started wiggling his butt a little.

Peng?

On the other hand, the penguins, who were eating tempura for the first time in their lives, carefully put the freshwater shrimp tempura in their mouths.

Peng!

The penguins’ eyes widened after eating the tempura. An unfamiliar texture. But it was so good.

Sejun burst into laughter, watching Kkweang and the penguins wiggling their butts and eating freshwater shrimp tempura without realizing it.

“Shall I try it too now?”

Sejun put the freshwater shrimp tempura in his mouth. As soon as he ate it, the tempura coated in rice flour and the shrimp shell crunched crisply and cheerfully. Then, the savory taste of the fat and the savory taste of the shrimp delighted Sejun’s mouth.

Everyone was so focused on the tempura they were eating that only the sound of tempura breaking could be heard during lunch.

As the animals, full from lunch, took a nap, Sejun began to salt the shrimp, repeating the process of spreading freshwater shrimp in a pot and pouring salt. He was making salted shrimp.

“Heh heh heh. By the time this is done, the cabbage and other vegetables I planted will all be grown, so……”

Sejun wore a pleased expression at the thought of being able to eat kimchi he made himself.

“Okay, let’s work again!”

Sejun woke up the animals who were napping and started the barnacle removal work again.

As everyone worked hard, evening came, and the Intermediate Manager Quest was completed.

Sejun said goodbye to the Lake Turtle, telling it to see him next time. He wouldn’t be there when the Lake Turtle woke up, though……

As the Lake Turtle disappeared to the bottom of the lake for sleep,

“Let’s rest for today.”

Sejun let the animals rest, as he was planning to register the waypoint on the 44th floor of the Tower and go up to the 99th floor tomorrow.

The next morning, as Sejun was saying goodbye to the penguins,

“Mr. Sejun, here!”

For Sejun, who was leaving, the penguins had worked together until dawn to create a giant greatsword, 2 meters long, made of barnacle shells, and about 50 penguins lifted it over their heads and brought it to him.

“Huh? A greatsword?”

Sejun examined the greatsword he received.

A whopping S+ grade!

“Thank you, everyone.”

Sejun was moved as he looked at the equipment.

“You can equip this and wear the greatsword.”

Kona thoughtfully handed over the equipment for storing the sword.

“Okay. Thank you.”

Sejun equipped the equipment and happily slung the greatsword. However, the greatsword drooped down and dragged on the ground when he slung it on his back. It was just cumbersome and not the cool visual he had imagined.

Sejun had gained one more piece of equipment useful for cutting grass.