Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 295

Sejun’s legs ached with each step. He had been going down, down, down in the Black Tower. It felt like a long fall from the top floor, the ninety-ninth, all the way to the eighty-fifth. Each floor he passed seemed to drain a little more strength from him, yet strangely, he also felt a subtle energy returning, a quiet hum beneath his tiredness.

“Ugh. I’m losing strength,” Sejun muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. He finally reached the eighty-fifth floor and looked around. In the middle of a wide, open space stood a tangerine tree. He walked towards it, his steps heavy.

“The tangerines aren’t ready yet,” Sejun said, his voice a little sad. He looked at the tree, its branches full of green leaves, but no sign of the bright orange fruit he longed for.

Normally, he would have turned around and gone straight back to the ninety-ninth floor. But today was different.

“Heh heh heh. Now I have this.” A small smile touched Sejun’s lips as he carefully pulled out a small glass bottle. Inside, a green liquid glowed softly. He popped the lid open with a soft *plink*.

‘One drop of this is worth seventy billion Tower Coins,’ he thought, his heart pounding. He held the bottle with a steady hand, his eyes fixed on the tangerine tree. Each drop was precious. He couldn’t afford to waste even a tiny bit. This tree *had* to live. It was the last one. If it died, no more tangerines. Ever. The thought of juicy, sweet tangerines was the only thing that had kept him going on this long journey down the tower. They were a taste of sunshine in this dark place, a reminder of happier times.

With breath held tight, he tilted the bottle, letting just one tiny drop of the green Elixir of Harvest fall onto the soil at the base of the tree. *Drip.*

As the elixir touched the soil, a magical warmth seemed to spread through the tangerine tree. *Pop, pop, pop* – tiny buds burst open all over the branches, like tiny explosions of life. In moments, the buds unfurled into delicate white flowers, filling the air with a sweet scent. Then, tiny green fruits began to appear, pushing through the petals.

“Good,” Sejun breathed, relief washing over him. He looked around the farm. The land stretched out before him, rich and dark, like freshly turned chocolate cake. It was vast, open, and completely clear of weeds or stones – a perfect canvas for planting. The Black Minotaurs, in their search for tasty kudzu roots, had dug deep into the earth, turning over the soil and making it incredibly fertile. They had been *too* thorough, though. Not a single kudzu root remained on the entire floor.

“Golden Bat, Bbyot, help me out,” Sejun called.

(Yes!) chirped the Golden Bat.

Bbyot! barked Bbyot happily.

Sejun, with the instincts of a farmer, knew he couldn’t let this good land go to waste. He grabbed bags of corn seeds from his subspace warehouse. The Golden Bat flitted through the air, its wings a blur of gold, scattering seeds as it flew. Bbyot, with its steady paws, carefully patted the seeds into the soil, making sure they were snug and safe. Sejun worked alongside them, his hands moving quickly and efficiently, planting row after row of corn.

While the three of them worked, Theo, the black cat, was a picture of pure contentment. He stretched out luxuriously on Sejun’s lap, purring like a tiny motor. His fur was like warm velvet against Sejun’s legs. Iona, the small, shimmering dragon, was curled up asleep on Theo’s tail, undisturbed by the activity around her. And Kkuengee, the small green dragon, sat upright, his big eyes fixed on Sejun’s hands. He watched with intense focus as Sejun peeled kernels from the corncob, his little nose twitching with anticipation.

“Everyone worked hard. Distribute the wages.”

Clatter.

The Black Skeletons handed out 10 bunches of fragrant grapes overflowing with life to the workers as wages for their work.

“Colonel Jackson, we did it!”

“Yes. You all worked hard too.”

Jackson and 10 Navy-affiliated hunters among the workers were delighted to see the grapes they received as wages.

It was a valuable grape that they received after buying a ticket with a front-row number, finding a hunter with the number, and working for 10 hours.

As they left the grape farm with proud expressions,

[Selling grapes at a high price.]

“Huh?!”

They discovered a sign set up by Farmer King.

“Haa. I should have sold it earlier.”

Jackson sighed and headed back to the grape farm.

“I would like to buy grapes overflowing with life.”

He went to Farmer King and started negotiations to purchase grapes.

Clatter. Clatter.

“How many bunches are you going to buy?”

Since Farmer King couldn’t speak yet, Sejun’s first hoe, Phillip, conveyed Farmer King’s words to Jackson instead.

“I will buy 1000kg.”

“The price?”

“The price is···”

Jackson trailed off slightly, examining the faces of Farmer King and Phillip as he had been trained.

It was to gauge the other party’s reaction.

‘I have no idea.’

Jackson couldn’t read their minds.

It was natural. They were Black Skeletons. They had nothing but bones, making a perfect poker face possible.

“I will give you 20 Tower Coins per bunch of grapes.”

So, he called out half the market price first.

Then,

Shake shake.

Farmer King shook his head from side to side, refusing outright. It wasn’t for nothing that he wrote ‘expensive’ on the sign.

“Then I will give you 30 Tower Coins per bunch of grapes.”

Jackson raised the price by 50% and offered again.

But

Shake shake.

Farmer King refused again.

If Theo had Sejun’s 3-times-discount, Farmer King had 3-shakes-1-nod.

3-shakes-1-nod forcibly engraved in Farmer King’s soul. Someone must have been very frustrated because of Farmer King.

“Then 33 Tower Coins.”

Shake. Shake.

“35 Tower Coins.”

Nod. Nod.

Farmer King, who had done 3 shakes, did the last combo, 1 nod,

“Hoo. Here are 35,000 Tower Coins.”

In the end, Jackson bought 1000 bunches of grapes overflowing with life at a price cheaper than the market price.

But the market price was the price sold on Earth. Considering transportation costs, he bought it only slightly cheaper than the market price.

After Jackson left,

“I came to buy grapes overflowing with life.”

“The price of grapes overflowing with life is 37 Tower Coins per bunch.”

“Pardon?!”

The hunters who came to trade had to buy grapes at a fixed price without knowing why.

Plop.

The air felt crisp and cool, and Sejun knew it was time to pick the tangerines. They were finally ripe and ready.

Sejun looked at his message screen to see if the tangerines were ready to pick.

Sejun called to his furry companion, Kkueng. “Kkueng-ah, let’s pick tangerines!” Kkueng is Sejun’s animal companion, a cute and helpful creature.

Kkueng, a small, energetic creature with soft fur, wagged his tail excitedly.

Kkueng made happy sounds, “Kku-hehehe! Kkueng!” It was Kkueng’s way of saying, ‘Yes! I understand!’

Kkueng, who had been patting his belly with satisfaction, jumped up at Sejun’s call.

Soon, the tangerine picking was finished. “All done!” Sejun announced, looking at the small pile of bright orange fruit.

Next, Sejun decided to build an igloo. “Time for ice!” he said. *Thud. Thud. Thud.* He started stacking blocks of ice, one on top of another. Then, with a *whoosh*, he poured water over the ice. The water quickly froze, filling the gaps and making the ice blocks stick together, until a small igloo was formed. He was building it for fun.

The igloo wasn’t perfectly round, more like a rectangle made of ice blocks. But Sejun didn’t mind. What mattered was the cool, icy feeling inside.

Sejun stepped inside the igloo. ‘Hehehe. It’s cold!’ he thought, a happy shiver running down his spine. The cold air coming from the ice felt refreshing. He spread a soft mattress on the icy floor. “Alright, come on in, everyone!” he called. Kkueng and the Golden Bat hurried inside, and Sejun covered them all with a warm blanket.

“Good. This is perfect,” Sejun murmured, a smile on his face. He felt cozy and warm under the blanket, even though the igloo was cold. He reached for a bright orange tangerine and *scritch, scritch* peeled away its fragrant skin. He had built this whole igloo just to enjoy a tangerine in the perfect way.

“Here you go,” Sejun said, offering a peeled tangerine segment to Kkueng. ‘Kkueng!’ barked Kkueng happily. ‘(Bat bat!)’ squeaked the Golden Bat, also wanting a treat. Sejun smiled and peeled more tangerines, sharing them piece by piece with his animal friends. The Golden Bat makes that sound to express its happiness.

*Nom, nom,* went Kkueng and the Golden Bat as they ate their tangerine pieces. Sejun popped a segment into his own mouth and chewed. *Thud thud, thud thud* – the juicy segments burst between his teeth, releasing a flood of flavor. The juice was a perfect mix of sweet and slightly sour, making his mouth water.

“Delicious,” Sejun sighed happily, savoring the taste. But then, *clack*. “Huh?” Something hard and unexpected crunched between his teeth.

“Ptooey!” Sejun quickly spat out the hard thing. A small, pale seed, about the size of his fingernail, landed on the igloo floor. It was a tangerine seed!

“Ptooey, ptooey,” he spat out two more.

“Seeds? Why are there seeds?” Sejun wondered. He had never found seeds in tangerines before.

“Ah! Wait a minute!” Sejun realized. This was actually good news. Without seeds, he couldn’t grow new tangerine trees. Seeds meant more tangerines in the future!

*Ptooey, ptooey,* Kkueng copied Sejun, spitting out his own tangerine seeds.

“Hehehe,” Sejun chuckled. “Shall we plant these seeds so we can grow more tangerines? And maybe… eat a few more right now before we go to the shop?”

‘Kkueng!’ barked Kkueng, jumping up and down. [Good idea!] Sejun thought to himself, *It’s definitely not just about eating more tangerines. I need these seeds to plant! The extra tangerines are just a little bonus… of course.*

*Scritch, scritch,* they peeled and ate tangerine after tangerine. Suddenly, Sejun looked at the empty pile of peels. “Huh?! We ate them all?”

‘Kkueng?!’ Kkueng looked around in surprise. [They’re already gone?!] Sejun and Kkueng realized they had eaten every single tangerine they had picked! Well, at least they got to enjoy the cool igloo for a little longer because of it.

Meanwhile, *slurp, slurp,* the Golden Bat was still happily enjoying the very first piece of tangerine Sejun had given him. He was taking his time and savoring every last drop.

A little while later, a message appeared: **[Created a tangerine field of 10,000 square feet.] [Acquired 30,000 experience points.] [Cannot acquire experience points because the job quest has not been completed.]** Sejun looked at his hands. They were stained yellow from peeling so many tangerine skins! He had planted all 3,100 seeds. “Okay, let’s go home now,” he said, and they returned to the 99th floor of the tower.

*** **[Arrived at the 99th floor of the tower.]** Sejun was back on the 99th floor. “Torong, let’s go home,” he said to his ride. ‘Yes, Master,’ Torong replied in a calm voice. Sejun climbed onto Torong’s back, and they set off towards the farm. Torong is Sejun’s ride.

“I really need to rest,” Sejun thought. He was looking forward to a quiet evening and then a fun party tomorrow around lunchtime. But as they approached the farm, Sejun stopped in surprise. “Huh?! What is all that?” He saw a huge, bustling crowd of people gathered near his farm.

Just then, *thud, thud*. *Moo!* ‘Mr. Sejun!’ Wooma Wang, a large, friendly minotaur, spotted Sejun and hurried towards him, his hooves making the ground shake. Wooma Wang is a minotaur who is friendly with Sejun.

Wooma Wang quickly explained the chaos. “So, Vice Chairman Theo sold party invitations, and that’s why it’s like this?” Sejun asked, understanding dawning on him. He learned that Theo had sold invitations to his party, and that’s why there were so many people. He also found out that Theo had sold them to raise money for the party itself. Theo is the vice chairman in charge of organizing things.

Just then, Theo rushed over, looking flustered. “Meow?! I didn’t sell *that* many invitations, meow! I only sold exactly 1,000 invitations, meow!” But looking at the massive crowd, it was clear there were far more than 1,000 people. “Forged invitations,” Sejun realized. “Someone must have made fake invitations.” Theo is a cat-like creature who says “meow”.

Sejun felt a surge of anger. *Someone dared to mess with his party!* “Theoson!” he exclaimed to Theo. “This is a forgery case! We need to find who did this!”

“Puhuhut. Don’t worry, detective Sejun, meow!” Theo replied, puffing out his chest. “I can recognize the real invitations, meow! I know how to find the fakes!” Theo seemed to enjoy playing the role of a detective.

“But how can you tell the real ones from the fakes?” Sejun asked, confused. “That is…” Theo began mysteriously. “Because each real invitation has a special mark. To make the stamp with the black dragon tattoo, I have to use my own magic. So, my unique magic is inside every real invitation I made.”

“Really? So, you can just look at an invitation and know if it’s real?” Sejun asked, still a bit doubtful. “Puhuhut. That’s right, meow!” Theo confirmed proudly.

“But how are we going to check all these people?” Sejun gestured to the huge crowd. “There must be almost a million people here! Only a tiny number of them, maybe one in a thousand, have real invitations. It would take forever to find the fake ones!”

Just then, a voice hissed, “Kyu-kyu-kyu-Don’t worry about that. I’ll help you.” Iona, a powerful dragon who had been sleeping nearby, woke up. She was furious when she heard that someone had forged Theo’s invitations.

“Kyu-kyu-kyu-Power of magic, find the energy I desire! Mana Scan!” Iona chanted. As she used her magic, a wave of bright blue energy spread out from her, like a ripple in water. The magic wave searched through the crowd, looking for Theo’s unique magical energy. Mana Scan is a magic spell.

Then, Iona spoke another word of magic: “Marking.” Suddenly, above the heads of some people in the crowd, a bright blue mark appeared. These were the people with real invitations. Everyone else was marked with a glowing red mark.

“Kyu-kyu-kyu-Done!” Iona declared. “Let’s go get them!” A cold, chilling aura surrounded Iona. She looked ready to punish anyone who dared to use a fake invitation. Iona was always fiercely protective of Theo and got very angry when anyone tried to cause him trouble.

“Puhuhut. Wait a moment, Iona,” Theo said quickly, stopping her. *Swish!* He pulled out a stack of papers from his bag – contracts! “Everyone with a red mark above your head, you are in trouble! Come this way, meow!” Theo announced loudly. He started collecting stamps from the people with red marks, making them sign contracts. *Puhuhut,* Theo thought to himself, *many new workers are about to be hired! Meow!*

“There are too many people! Help me, meow!” Theo called out. Because there were so many people with fake invitations, Sejun, Kkueng, the Golden Bat, Wooma Wang, and even some other minotaurs joined in to help Theo. And so, the people who had forged the invitations found themselves signing contracts to work for Theo for a year as punishment. The minotaurs who helped are Black Minotaurs.

“I don’t want to sign! Why should I?!” some people protested. But then, Kkueng let out a loud *Kkueng!* Iona hissed, “Kyu-kyu-kyu-“ and Wooma Wang stomped his hoof, *Moo!* Kkueng, Iona, and Wooma Wang, who were known to be very strong and scary, all glared at the protesters with fierce looks. The protesters quickly changed their minds and became quiet and obedient.

“Kyu-kyu-kyu-Tell me who did it now, while I’m still being nice!” Iona threatened. “It will be much worse for you if I have to find you myself later!”

“I’m sorry! I did it!” a voice cried out. “I’m sorry too!” said another. The people behind the fake invitations, a creature called the Red Orc Great Tusk and his clever helper, were quickly found because of Iona’s scary threats. The Red Orc Great Tusk is a monster.

Just as everything was going smoothly, and they were catching the forgers and making them sign contracts, a message popped up for Sejun: **[Master, Blackie is getting beaten up!]** It was Fire, reporting that something strange was happening to Fenrir. Blackie and Fenrir are names of animals.