Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 213

“Urchi, what’s that over there, nyaang?” Theo asked, pointing with his paw towards a tent at the Black Oak’s base. His paw twitched, as if pulled by something inside.

“Do you mean that tent?” Urchi replied. “We found a rock while planting a few days ago. It’s inside.”

“A rock, nyaang?” Theo tilted his head.

“Yes. It has sharp edges, so we thought it would be good for the Black Oak’s training. We put it in the tent. Would you like to see it?”

“Yes, I want to see it, nyaang!” Theo said excitedly.

“Okay,” Urchi said.

Urchi led Theo to the tent. Inside, a large, grey rock sat on the ground. It was rough and looked very heavy.

*Thump.* Theo touched the rock with his paw.

“Puhu-hut! This is it, nyaang!” Theo thought. *Chairman Park will love this!*

“Urchi, I want this rock, nyaang!” Theo said.

“Yes? Yes, of course! Please take it,” Urchi answered, a little surprised that Theo wanted such a heavy rock.

“Puhu-hut. Thank you, nyaang!” Theo said happily. He carefully put the rock into his bundle. Then, he waited in Urchi’s tent for the hunters to arrive, and soon fell fast asleep.

Kkueng!

**[You must eat it raw!]**

Kkueng held out a kudzu root, wanting Sejun to eat it raw. It was as if Kkueng understood Sejun’s special talent. He had gone to the western forest to dig up these roots, which were growing where the corrupted Ent and Tritan had died.

Sejun had planned to burn the dead bodies and the kudzu to stop it from spreading. But Kkueng stopped him, saying he wanted to grow herbs there. Now, Sejun could eat kudzu roots with good medicine inside, even on the 99th floor.

Kudzu could take over the western forest if the seeds spread, but Sejun had a plan for that, so he wasn’t worried.

“Alright,” Sejun said.

Today, Sejun agreed with Kkueng easily. He also wanted to see what “Good medicine tastes bitter” really felt like.

*Crunch.*

“Keuh-heup.” Sejun took a sharp breath.

*Gulp.*

Sejun swallowed the kudzu root, fighting against the bitter taste. It was bitter, but not too bad.

Then, messages appeared:

**[You have eaten a kudzu root full of energy.]**

**[Stamina increases by 20.]**

**[You have eaten bitter medicine.]**

**[Talent: Good medicine tastes bitter is activated.]**

**[Stamina increases by 2.]**

“Only 2 points?” Sejun said, surprised.

It felt like 5! He was taken aback by how bitter it was for only 2 extra stamina points.

*If this is 2, what would 10 be like?* Sejun hoped he would never eat anything so bitter that it gave him 10 stamina points before he died!

Just then,

Kkueng! Kkueng!

**[Here’s another one!]**

Kkueng pulled out another kudzu root from his snack bag, like a surprise attack.

Kkueng! Kkueng!

**[Eat this one raw too! It worked well last time!]**

Kkueng said, understanding quickly that Sejun’s stamina had gone up by 2 after eating the root. Kkueng was looking after Daddy’s health!

“Ugh…” Sejun groaned. He knew Kkueng had seen his stamina increase.

*I should have said no earlier!* Sejun thought, regretting not burning the kudzu. But it was too late now.

“Keueup.” Sejun chewed and swallowed another kudzu root, his face twisting in disgust.

**[Talent: Good medicine tastes bitter is activated.]**

**[Stamina increases by 1.]**

This time, his stamina went up by 20 again, but the bitterness felt a little less. Or maybe, his mouth was just getting used to the awful taste.

After eating two bitter roots, Sejun took out honey jelly to get rid of the taste. He shared it with Kkueng.

“Here you go. One jar of honey jelly for Kkueng, and one honey jelly for Daddy.”

The words were the same, but Kkueng got a whole jar, while Sejun took just one jelly.

Kkuhehehe. Kkueng!

**[Hehehe. Delicious!]**

Kkueng, happy with his jar of honey jelly, sat down outside the cornfield so he wouldn’t bother Sejun. He hugged the jar and ate the jellies one by one.

“Time to work again,” Sejun said.

He went back to harvesting corn.

*Scritch. Scritch.*

Sejun kept cutting corn without stopping until lunchtime.

“I haven’t been getting tired lately,” Sejun realized, surprised. He had worked for hours and wasn’t even tired, though he was sweating.

But it made sense. Sejun’s stamina was now 244. Kkueng had been feeding him kudzu roots and making his stamina stronger.

“Hehehe. I’m almost the king of stamina, right?” Sejun said, feeling proud of himself. He meant for a human, of course.

If Kkueng heard that, he would sigh. To Kkueng, Sejun’s stamina was still so low he could easily die from anything.

“How are the other dragons doing?” Kaiser asked, taking a drink of soju. *Glug.* The clear liquid went down smoothly. He had asked Anton to check on the Blue Dragon and Brown Dragon after finding something strange with the Red Dragon. These dragons were making the Essences of Ice and Earth.

*Glug.* Anton also drank his soju. “The other dragons are making essences as usual,” he answered.

“That’s good to hear,” Kaiser said, relieved. “Any other problems?”

“No, nothing else. They are moving the tower and helping the creatures of their world, fighting against destruction, just like they should.”

“Hmm. So, no problems at all?” Kaiser frowned, thinking hard. *It would be lucky if that’s true, but I doubt it.*

Kaiser believed that some power was stopping all the dragons from thinking about something important, without them even knowing it.

This power was so strong that Kaiser had to use magic to erase the words ‘Fight against destruction and protect the world’ that he had written himself with magic.

Something was happening in reality to stop the Black Dragon from thinking about ‘fighting destruction and protecting the world.’

Kaiser had seen it himself. The Black Dragon was being stopped from thinking about fighting destruction and protecting the world, the White Dragon from thinking about moving the tower, and the Red Dragon from thinking about making the Essence of Fire.

“If each dragon is being stopped from thinking about different things, it will be hard to find out what’s going on,” Kaiser said, worry in his voice. He needed to know what thoughts were being blocked so he could warn the other dragons. But how could he find out?

*Goro-rong.* Theo was sleeping soundly in Urchi’s tent.

Suddenly, “Vice-Chairman Theo,” Jeff’s voice woke him up.

“Nyaang… what is it, nyaang?” Theo mumbled, still sleepy.

“Vice-Chairman Theo, the hunters are here,” Jeff said.

“I understand, nyaang!” Theo replied, now awake. He got up and went to the camp where the hunters were waiting.

“Vice-Chairman Theo is coming!” the cat interns announced as Theo arrived.

“I will start the auction, nyaang!” Theo declared. Thanks to the interns, he could begin right away.

Just then, hunters started shouting, “Vice-Chairman Theo! We want peanuts!”

“Yes! Magic peanuts! We need them!”

“That’s right! My wife said I can’t come home without them!”

The Korean hunters were all asking for magic peanuts. It was because of the peanuts Theo had given to Um Jung-sik last time.

Um Jung-sik had given the magic peanuts to his daughter, Um Hyo-jeong, before her important practice exam. After eating them and studying, Um Hyo-jeong’s scores improved greatly.

Um Hyo-jeong, who used to be around 30th in her school, became 1st! Other mothers in the top classes heard about this and asked Um Jung-sik’s wife for the secret.

“My husband brought peanuts from the tower, and they really work! Hohoho,” Um Jung-sik’s wife had said. The news about the magic peanuts spread quickly through parent groups online and tutoring schools. Now, hunters with children taking exams were being pressured by their wives to get these peanuts.

That’s why the hunters were so desperate for magic peanuts.

“Magic peanuts?” some hunters who hadn’t heard the news asked, confused. “What are those?”

“Puhu-hut. I brought magic peanuts just in case, nyaang!” Theo smiled, taking out the peanuts from his bundle. He had only given them to Um Jung-sik last time, not expecting this much demand.

“Let me show them to everyone!” Theo said, holding up the magic peanuts to get everyone interested.

“Sold out, nyaang!” The auction was a big success again.

“From now on, Bill will sell the power potatoes, and Jeff will sell the agility carrots by auction, nyaang!” Theo announced, introducing Bill and Jeff to the hunters. Then, he happily went back to the 99th floor.

“Puhu-hut. Chairman Park, wait for me, nyaang!” Theo’s steps were light and quick as he returned.

“Alright, back to work!” Sejun said, feeling refreshed after lunch and a nap with Kkueng. He walked to the green onion field. Today, he wanted to cut the leaves of the sturdy blade green onions, not the regular ones.

He wondered if the blade leaves would stay fresh longer if he cut them with the Scythe of Freshness.

“Hehe. I can cut these now!” Sejun thought, feeling confident. He reached the sturdy blade green onion field and swung his scythe.

*Scritch.*

The sharp scythe cut through the tough green onions easily. Before, Kkueng or Theo had to cut them because they were too hard for Sejun. But Sejun was much stronger now.

With over 100 strength, Sejun could cut the sturdy blade green onions without trouble. And because his stamina was higher, his Toughness skill protected him even if he touched the sharp leaves with his bare hands.

As Sejun worked, cutting the green onion leaves, he heard, “Chairman Park! I’m back, nyaang!”

Theo had returned from the auction and jumped onto Sejun, landing right on his face.

*Thump.*

“Vice-Chairman Theo, you’re back? Ptooey!” Sejun spat out some fur. “Could you move a little?”

“Puhu-hut. Okay, nyaang!” Theo said, getting off Sejun’s face. He hugged Sejun’s legs tightly, rubbing his face against them. *I missed him, nyaang!*

“Puhu-hut. Chairman Park, I have a gift for you, nyaang!” Theo said.

“A gift?” Sejun asked, curious.

“Yes, nyaang!”

*Thud!* Theo proudly pulled out the huge rock from his bundle.

“What’s this?” Sejun asked, about to look closer at the rock.

*Flash!*

Suddenly, the rock floated up and flew away!

“Huh?!” Sejun gasped.

“Nyaang?! Catch it, nyaang!” Theo shouted, chasing after his runaway gift.

“Stop right there, nyaang!”

As Theo chased it, *Thud!* the rock fell down, landing right on top of the fragment of the sacred monument in front of Sejun’s house.

“Puhu-hut. I caught it, nyaang! It can’t run away now, nyaang!” Theo said, standing on the rock with all his might.

Just then, *Flash!*

A blinding flash of light erupted from the rock, throwing Theo backwards.

“Theo!” Sejun yelled, running and catching Theo as he fell.

*Scrape.* Sejun slid on the ground, but his Toughness skill protected him from injury.

“Vice-Chairman Theo, are you alright?!” Sejun asked quickly, checking on Theo.

“Nyaang… I’m okay, nyaang!” Theo said, getting up. “But what happened to my gift, nyaang?” He looked around for the rock.

Then he saw it. “Nyaang? It joined together, nyaang?”

“Huh?! It did,” Sejun said, surprised.

Sejun and Theo stared. The rock and the monument fragment had merged perfectly. There was no line between them, as if they had always been one piece.

“Why did they join?” Sejun wondered aloud. He reached out to touch the monument.

*Flash!*

The monument flashed again! This time, only the front part glowed.

Then, when the light faded, words appeared on the front of the monument:

**[First Commandment – Only the Tower Farmer Can Stop Destruction.]**