Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 567

Sejun looked at the pile of Tree Killer inner cores. “Hee hee hee,” he chuckled.

Munch.

He popped a Tree Killer’s inner core into his mouth.

And then,

···?!

The inner core melted smoothly, filling his mouth with the scent of the forest, as if he were right there. It tasted grassy and a little bitter, like chewing on weeds. Not delicious, but not terrible either. It reminded him a little of the green juice his mother used to make when he was young.

Gulp.

As he swallowed the inner core,

[You have consumed the Tree Killer’s inner core.]

[Magic stat potential increases by 30.]

[Strength stat increases by 5.]

Messages appeared.

Munch.

Sejun swallowed another Tree Killer’s inner core, thinking, “This isn’t so bad! But I can’t eat all of these alone.” He decided he had to share this special taste with others. Who should I feed it to first?

Sejun searched for someone to share the special taste with.

Lick. Lick.

Theo, who was busy grooming himself, wouldn’t touch anything that wasn’t grilled fish or Churu, so he was out.

Koohehehe.

Kkuenge, who smiled innocently when he made eye contact with Sejun, oblivious to everything…

He had an incredible sense of smell, so he was out too.

Kkihihit.

In the end, only the Blackie family remained.

If I just give it to them, they’ll know right away…

Sejun took out some dried sweet potato, made a gap in the middle, and cut the Tree Killer’s inner core into pieces, inserting them into the gaps.

And then,

“Blackie, do you want some dried sweet potato?”

He asked Blackie.

Kkihihit. Squeak!

[Hehe. I want it!]

He took the bait immediately.

“Okay. Here. Eat.”

Sejun hid his expression as much as possible, so his excitement wouldn’t show, and gave Blackie the dried sweet potato with the Tree Killer’s inner core inside.

Then,

Munch. Munch. Munch.

Blackie diligently ate the dried sweet potato.

Sejun watched Blackie, anticipating the reaction that would soon appear, but

“Huh?!”

Until Blackie finished the entire piece of dried sweet potato, the reaction Sejun had been expecting didn’t happen.

What’s going on?

Sejun looked at Blackie with a puzzled expression when

“Huh?”

What’s that?

Sejun saw pieces of the Tree Killer’s inner core scattered around Blackie.

For Blackie, who possessed the title , extracting the Tree Killer’s inner core from the dried sweet potato and eating only the sweet potato was as easy as pie.

Thus, Sejun failed to spread the special taste.

After that, he tried with the mushroom ants and poison honeybees, but all attempts failed.

Sejun sighed, giving up on the small creatures. Just then, the large Black Minotaur Woosambaek walked by.

However,

······

Sejun, who had been so eager to spread the special taste, didn’t offer the Tree Killer’s inner core to Woosambaek, whose staple food was grass.

The moment his true intentions were revealed.

I’ll just eat it myself.

Sejun gave up on the idea of spreading the special taste—no, the thought that he couldn’t be the only one eating something that tasted bad—and ate the Tree Killer’s inner core.

As he ate his 95th inner core,

[You have consumed the Tree Killer’s inner core.]

[Stamina stat potential increases by 50.]

[Agility stat increases by 7.]

[Talent: Extraction is awakened.]

He awakened a new talent.

[Talent: Extraction]

A talent for squeezing juice with great strength.

Squeeze juice well, you say?

“Kkuenge, let’s squeeze some juice together.”

Sejun proposed a juice-squeezing competition with Kkuenge to test his talent.

However,

Drizzle.

Gush.

Kkuenge’s strength was too overwhelming to compete with just one talent.

“Hmm.”

Sejun quietly ate the remaining Tree Killer’s inner cores and moved to the field where the golden rice was ripening to start his afternoon farming.

Just then,

-Sejun!

Ramter called out to Sejun.

“Hello, Ramter.”

-Sejun, my friend! You must come to the Red Tower!

Ramter got straight to the point as soon as he received Sejun’s greeting.

“The Red Tower? That’s…”

-Fwahaha. Thanks to your watermelon juice, the temperature of the Red Tower has dropped a lot.

“Really? Then is the lava gone too?”

-Yes! The lava is gone! Come and see for yourself!

“Yes! I’ll go then!”

Sejun’s face lit up at Ramter’s words.

The Red Tower… Sejun knew it was a tall, mysterious place, usually too hot to visit. The reason Sejun hadn’t gone to the Red Tower until now was that the waypoints on the floors of the Red Tower land deed he owned were all in the lava zone.

Sejun had learned this fact by chance while talking to Udun, and since then, he hadn’t even considered going to the Red Tower.

Of course, he could go if he wanted to, but he didn’t feel the need to go through the trouble.

If there hadn’t been a 10th Tower, he would have gone with the goal of conquering the last tower and obtaining the title , but that wasn’t the case, so he wasn’t in a hurry.

“Then I’ll harvest the rice and go.”

-Fwahaha. Okay. When you arrive, call Udun, and he’ll give you the land deed for the 99th floor of the tower.

“Yes!”

With that, he ended the conversation with Ramter and

Scritch. Scritch.

Sejun quickly harvested the golden rice, his hands moving fast. Kkuenge and Blackie worked hard beside him.

Kkuenge!

Squeak!

Kkeaek.

Kkeaek.

The mushroom ants used their front teeth to mill the rice and make white rice.

While everyone was diligently doing their jobs,

“Meow meow meow.”

Theo, the cicada, hung onto Sejun’s lap, humming to himself.

Of course, Theo was also working.

“Meow! President Park, I feel a pull from over there, meow!”

He was a new variety detector.

“Really?!”

At Theo’s words, Sejun hurried to where Theo’s paw was pointing.

“Vice President Theo, is it this one?”

Sejun pointed to a stalk of rice that didn’t look much different from the others.

“Puhuhut. That’s right, meow!”

“Okay.”

Scritch.

“Oh?! Sticky rice means…?”

Glutinous rice!

Then I can make glutinous rice cakes and glutinous rice gochujang…

As Sejun thought about the dishes he could make with glutinous rice and started his happy calculations,

[You have achieved the feat of creating a new variety in the tower.]

[All stats increase by 20 due to job characteristics.]

A message about harvesting a new variety appeared.

Sejun looked at the rice. They all looked the same. He had to check each grain carefully to find the sticky rice.

“Found it!”

He found the glutinous rice and checked its stats.

[Golden Glutinous Rice]

This sticky rice grew inside the tower. It changed and became a special kind called glutinous rice. This rice is known for being sticky and easy to digest.

Grown by an exceptional farmer, its effects are remarkable.

If you eat 100,000 grains of this sticky rice, something special happens. It gives you a boost! It adds 150 points to your strength, stamina, agility, or magic. It picks these randomly.

Grower: Top Farmer Park Sejun

Expiration Date: 180 days

Grade: S

Unfortunately, the +2 enhancement effect of the golden rice was gone, but perhaps because it was easier to digest, the medicinal effect was greater than that of regular rice.

“Heh heh heh.”

If I enhance it to +2 here, it’ll be even better than the +2 golden rice, right?

After checking the stats, Sejun smiled contentedly and placed one grain of glutinous rice into the meticulously crafted Pouch of Abundance.

[1 day until 100 Golden Glutinous Rice are replicated]

The words appeared on the side of the pouch.

“Good.”

I’ll plant them when I have about 500 grains.

Sejun checked the words and then resumed harvesting the rice.

A little while later.

“Alright, everyone, good job.”

Once the rice harvest was complete, Sejun distributed snacks to his hardworking companions and gave them a break.

As Sejun sat down,

“Pfft.”

“Koo he he he.”

Theo and Kkueng naturally settled onto Sejun’s lap and side.

“Squeak!”

[Butler! Pick me up!]

Kkamangi, with a piece of dried sweet potato in his mouth, barked, demanding to be put in the sling bag.

“Alright.”

As Sejun lifted Kkamangi into the sling bag,

“Kee hee hee.”

“Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.”

Kkamangi and his subordinates gleefully ate dried sweet potato inside the sling bag.

While the group rested and ate snacks,

Where should I go?

Sejun pondered which floor to visit, reviewing the Red Tower land deeds he possessed and the experienced farmer’s plant encyclopedia.

He had land deeds for the 22nd, 53rd, 78th, and 94th floors of the Red Tower.

According to the plant encyclopedia, Red Tower crops included Flame Beans, which grew on almost every floor, the Chilling Mangosteen on the 22nd floor, and Aloe on the 57th floor.

“I should go to the 22nd floor.”

Since only one floor had overlapping information between his land deeds and the plant encyclopedia, Sejun decided to head to the 22nd floor.

Perhaps if there were aloe instead of mangosteen on the 22nd floor, Sejun would have chosen another floor, taking a chance on an adventure.

Sejun looked at his list. The 22nd floor was the best choice. It had mangosteens, the queen of all fruits!

“The 22nd floor it is,” Sejun decided.

Having decided on his destination, Sejun said,

“Alright, everyone, into the subspace warehouse.”

Sejun put his companions into the subspace warehouse,

Whoosh!

And disappeared, unfolding the Red Tower 22nd floor land deed.

[You have arrived at the 22nd floor of the Red Tower.]

Sejun arrived at the Red Tower.

Whoosh! Sejun was suddenly in a different place. Hot air rushed into his face, like opening an oven.

“Hngh!”

He gasped. His nose and throat felt like they were burning.

Heat was transferred to the soles of his feet through the hot sand he was standing on.

This is too hot!

Sejun was instantly drenched in sweat.

He could endure the cold with his stamina, but he couldn’t withstand the heat.

At that moment,

Clang.

“Pfft. Chairman Park, I missed you, meow!”

Theo rushed towards Sejun’s face.

“Hey! It’s hot… Huh?!”

Sejun, who was shouting at Theo clinging to his face, was taken aback by the unexpected coolness.

“Pfft. The great hybrid, Chairman Park, can’t control his body temperature with magic, meow?!”

“Huh?! There’s something like that?”

“That’s right, meow!”

“How do you do it?”

“Meow? You just do it! It’s easy, meow!” Theo said.

Sejun frowned, confused. “Just do it? What does that even mean?”

“Kkueng!”

“Squeak!”

Kkuengi and the Kkamangi family also rushed out of the subspace warehouse.

However,

“Squeak…”

[The great Kkamangi is dying…]

Kkamangi was carried back into the subspace warehouse by his subordinates, and

Clang.

Hastily closed the door.

Kkamangi had the ability to control his body temperature, but he lacked magic.

Kkuengi could also instinctively control his body temperature, but

“Kkueng.”

[Kkuengi can just do it.]

He couldn’t explain it to Sejun.

As Sejun, slightly cooled down thanks to Theo and Kkuengi, looked around,

“Oh. Mangosteens.”

He saw purplish mangosteens hanging from trees nearly 10 meters tall.

“Should I eat one?”

Grab.

As Sejun reached for the nearest mangosteen to harvest it,

Skitter.

An ant the size of two finger joints, hidden behind the mangosteen fruit, revealed itself.

The ant opened its mandibles to bite Sejun, but

Sejun’s eyes lit up when he saw the mangosteen. ‘Finally!’ he thought. He was so eager to taste it, he almost didn’t notice…

“Heh heh heh. Looks like it’s ripe?”

At that moment,

“Meow!”

Sejun’s bodyguard, Theo, quickly swung his paw and eliminated the ant.

And

[Guardian Park Theo has defeated a Bullet Ant.]

[Guardian Theo has acquired 50 experience points, which is 50% of the total.]

The message appeared.

“Bullet Ant?”

I heard getting bitten by a Bullet Ant is incredibly painful?

“Whew. That’s a relief. Vice Chairman Theo, very well done. Thank you.”

Sejun, relieved after checking the message, stroked Theo’s head and praised him.

“Pfft. Of course, meow! I, Vice Chairman Theo, am always on guard! You’re lucky to have me, Chairman Park, meow!” Theo puffed out his chest, pleased with himself.

As Theo gloated at Sejun’s praise,

Scritch scritch.

With an ominous sound, tens of thousands of Bullet Ants, hidden in the mangosteen trees, crawled towards Sejun.

And

[A quest has been generated.]

[Quest: Eliminate the Bullet Ant Colony that has occupied the Mangosteen Farm.]

Bullet Ant (1/50,000)

Soldier Bullet Ant (0/5,000)

Queen Bullet Ant (0/1)

Reward: Recognition as the rightful owner of the Red Tower 22nd Floor Mangosteen Farm

The land deed quest message appeared before Sejun.

“Kkuengi, lightly fry them without damaging the trees.”

“Kkueng!”

[Understood!]

Bzzzzzt!

Kkuengi, upon receiving Sejun’s instructions, held up the Lightning Rod and emitted a slight surge of lightning.

[The Bullet Ant Colony has been eliminated.]

[The quest has been completed.]

The quest was completed with one blast of Kkuengi’s lightning.

“Good. Now, let’s pick mangosteens.”

“Pfft. Understood, meow!”

“Kkueng!”

While Sejun, Theo, and Kkuengi were picking mangosteens in the Red Tower,

[Flame, I’m getting tired…]

[Open your mouth quickly! You’re still far from becoming a Dimension Beast!]

In the Black Tower’s 99th floor, Flame, taking advantage of Sejun’s absence, was diligently feeding Podori a special Dimension Beast nutrient.

I don’t want to become a Dimension Beast…

Podori had those words stuck in his throat, but

Gulp.

He swallowed one of the nutrients, holding back his true feelings. He didn’t want to be burned to death by Flame’s flames.

Success isn’t always a good thing.

Watching Podori, the Sausage Tree resolved to stay quiet and inconspicuous so as not to be noticed in the future.