Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 102

“Yes! I want to buy it!”

The raccoons bobbed their heads eagerly.

This soup was valuable for its taste, but its effects were amazing. It increased agility by 10.5 for an hour and kept them feeling full for four hours.

If they bought the soup, they could sell it at a high price on other floors or towers. Even if they didn’t sell it, they could eat it themselves.

‘If agility increases, our raccoons’ work speed will increase.’

Production would probably increase by about 15% compared to before. It was a win-win.

“3 Tower Coins, the currency used here, per serving of soup. I will buy 500 servings.”

“For a little extra, I can make soup just for strength, agility, or magic, nya!”

“I…Is that really true?”

“That’s right, nya!”

Theo said confidently.

‘Well done.’

Sejun watched Theo’s deal, smiling and nodding.

“Then I will buy 200 servings of each stat for 5 Tower Coins per serving.”

“Good, nya! Deal complete…”

Just as Theo was about to finish the deal with Emil and shake hands,

“Wait!”

Sejun stopped him. He knew Theo wouldn’t be a pushover, but Theo still had much to learn.

“Nya?”

“…What’s wrong?”

Theo and Emil looked at Sejun, confused.

‘Theo, watch closely. I’ll show you the world of limited editions.’

“Emil, I can’t sell it at that price. I didn’t tell you, but this soup is a limited edition. We can only sell 5,000 servings because we don’t have many ingredients. Actually, we don’t even have enough to eat.”

The subspace warehouse was full of Purple Locust meat, but it was true that it was limited. Sejun exaggerated a little.

“A…Limited edition?”

Emil’s voice trembled. The soup suddenly seemed incredibly rare, making Emil want it even more.

“How about it?”

Emil’s eyes widened, and he blurted out, “I want to buy all 5,000 servings for twice the price!”

“Okay. I’ll sell it all to Emil specially. And I’ll give you some other crops as a service.”

“Even a service?! Thank you!”

Emil was moved by Sejun’s words and bowed his head so low his nose almost touched the ground, a gesture of deep respect.

Theo’s mind raced, trying to understand how Sejun had turned a good deal into a fantastic one.

“Amazing, nya! Park Sejun is the god of deals, nya!”

Theo made a mental note to ask Sejun about ‘limited editions’ later. Theo already thought Sejun was amazing, but now he saw Sejun’s deal-making skills were also incredible.

That’s how another deal was made with the raccoon tribe.

Peep…

Pew pew…

Squeak…

Pee…

The rabbits, who had spent the night working hard, came out of the fields like zombies. They were too hungry to move.

“What to do, you have to wait a little longer.”

They found only an empty pot that Kkuengi had licked clean. The rabbits had to wait, their stomachs growling, while breakfast was prepared.

Sejun was getting a little revenge on the hungry rabbits.

“Where do the ingredients for the food you sell come from?”

Sejun asked Emil, the raccoon tribe leader, while making soup. He was curious. Rice cakes and makgeolli need rice, baguettes need flour, and cheese needs milk. Emil must be getting rice, flour, and milk from somewhere, and Sejun wanted to know where.

“Ah. The cheese is made by processing the milk from the milk spring in front of our village with our own secret recipe.”

“Milk spring? Milk comes out of the spring?!”

“Yes. Milk comes out of the spring.”

Emil looked at him, tilting his head as if there was a problem.

“No.”

Sejun didn’t know what to say. Milk coming from a spring was too strange.

“Then what about rice and flour?”

“Ah. That was grown by Cecilia, the tower farmer of the Golden Tower where our village is located.”

“Golden Tower?”

“Yes. A tower managed by the great golden dragons. But who is the tower farmer of this Black Tower? I want to say hello.”

Emil looked around, searching for the tower farmer.

“It’s me.”

“Yes?! Are you saying that the great black dragon, Sejun, is farming himself?!”

Emil was very surprised. Was that so surprising?

“Yes.”

“That’s amazing! You are completely different from Ophelia!”

Emil praised Sejun.

“Ophelia? Green Tower Farmer Ophelia?”

Sejun remembered the magic-infused Carrot Cultivator of Agility, which he had received as a reward from the Carrot Harvest Competition.

“Yes. As expected, you know her well. She is also a great green dragon. But…farming…”

He knew why Emil was surprised and why he was hesitating. He had eaten the carrots grown by Ophelia himself. Ophelia’s farming skills were terrible.

“But can I get rice and wheat seeds by talking to Cecilia, the Golden Tower farmer?”

“Seeds?! Yes. I will tell Sejun’s words to her.”

“And bring milk next time too.”

“Yes. I will bring it at the next harvest festival.”

Just then,

[The enhanced Purple Chef’s Potato Soup has been completed.]

[Cooking Lv. 4 proficiency slightly increases.]

[The enhanced Purple Chef’s Carrot Soup has been completed.]

…

..

..

The soups made for each stat—strength, agility, and magic—were completed. The pot bubbled with a rich, purple broth, sending up fragrant steam that smelled of roasted meat and sweet herbs.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you!”

Sejun put the pot of soup into the subspace pocket that Emil had taken out.

“Give me the money, nya!”

“Here it is.”

Theo, who wanted to increase his sales performance as a wandering merchant, received the money.

“Follow me, nya! I’ll get you some crops, nya!”

Theo took the raccoons and grabbed a few of each type of crop from the storage.

“Huh?! Is this an item?!”

The raccoons saw that their stats increased when they ate the crops, and they spent all their money to buy Sejun’s crops at a very high price. They had never seen crops that tasted so good and had such good effects.

Theo earned all the raccoons’ money.

“Then I’ll see you at the next harvest festival.”

“I’ll bring more money next time!”

“Goodbye!”

The raccoons decided to buy more crops next time and left.

Yesterday, after the raccoons left, Sejun planted the carrot seeds he had gotten from the Carrot Harvest Competition.

In the afternoon, he went to the west forest and, with the help of the Blessing of Magic, made the pond bigger to keep the fire ants away. After that, he repeatedly picked and planted the Ents’ seeds and went home to sleep. The number of Ents increased to 2,000.

“Euch.”

When Sejun woke up, his knees were heavy as usual.

Goro long.

Kkyu long.

Theo and Iona were hanging on Sejun’s knees and sleeping.

Swish.

Sejun started the morning of the 267th day of his ordeal by drawing a line on the wall with the two of them hanging on his knees.

‘The Blue Moon is not far away now.’

There were 5 days left until the next Blue Moon.

“Aileen, I’m counting on you for this Blue Moon too.”

[The tower’s administrator shouts that you should only trust him.]

“Yes. Of course, I trust you.”

Eileen and I were talking when suddenly…

A message announcing the second event of the Harvest Festival appeared: [The second event of the Harvest Festival, the Carrot Eating Contest, will begin shortly.]

[Participants who wish to join the contest, please gather in front of the Giant Carrot Altar of Red Ribbon.]

Tap tap tap!

When the rabbits saw the message, they dashed towards the Giant Carrot Altar. Their fluffy tails bounced as they hopped quickly, eager to join the Carrot Eating Contest.

“Let’s go too,” said Sejun.

Sejun, along with Kkuengee who had been waiting in front of his house, headed towards the Giant Carrot Altar.

[Time left for registration – 9 minutes 51 seconds]

[Current number of applicants – 1032]

Such messages floated below the Giant Carrot Altar.

“All the rabbits have applied. Let’s apply too,” Sejun said.

Sejun went under the Giant Carrot Altar and applied for participation with Theo, Iona, and Kkuengee.

[Current number of applicants – 1037]

“Huh? Why did it increase by 5 instead of 4?” Sejun wondered.

(I’m here too, Sejun,)

The Golden Bat, hidden in Kkuengee’s fur, poked its head out and said.

“Oh, you’re there! What are you doing in Kkuengee’s fur?” Sejun asked.

(It’s dark and warm here, which I like.)

“Kkuengee?”

Kkuengee looked confused because Sejun was talking to his back.

As Sejun was talking to the Golden Bat, Boom!

Thud. Thud.

Mom Crimson Giant Bear came to the Giant Carrot Altar and applied to participate.

‘The winner has been decided then,’ Sejun thought.

There was no one who could beat Mom Crimson Giant Bear, whose greatest wish was always to eat her fill.

However,

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

As if to mock Sejun’s expectations, another strong contender appeared.

Moo-oo!

Moo!

Moo!

With powerful roars, enormous beings came running from afar. It was the Ox King and the Black Minotaurs. They too were participating in the contest to eat their fill.

[Current number of applicants – 2038]

The Ox King and 999 Black Minotaurs participated in the Carrot Eating Contest.

Shortly after,

[Registration is now closed.]

[Participants, please gather below the Giant Carrot Altar of Red Ribbon.]

[The Carrot Eating Contest will begin in 1 minute.]

Sejun and the animals who had registered for the contest gathered under the altar, and then-

[The contest begins.]

Along with the message announcing the start of the contest, a giant basket filled with carrots appeared in front of each participant. Roughly estimated, there were well over 100 carrots.

Rumble!

Rumble!

The contest began! The Ox King and Mom Crimson Giant Bear attacked the carrots like hungry machines.

Crunch crunch!

After chewing and swallowing the carrots a few times, the basket was refilled.

“Wow,” Sejun said.

While Sejun was watching the carrots disappear in an instant,

Kkuengee!

Kkuengee, growing in size, quickly devoured the carrots as if not to be outdone.

And then,

Crunch. Crunch.

Sejun and the rabbits, already knowing they had no chance of winning, chewed on carrots from the perspective of spectators, watching the food fighters eat with great interest.

They tasted less flavorful than the carrots from his farm, but they were still edible.

While they were watching, the Ox King and Mom Crimson Giant Bear emptied their 10th basket, and then-

“Oh!”

Instead of regular carrots, 10 giant carrots filled the basket. It was to prevent them from eating too easily.

But for the Ox King and Mom Crimson Giant Bear, they were just the right size to chew.

Moo-oo!

Kroooh!

The Ox King and Mom Crimson Giant Bear let out pleasant cries.

Kkuengee!

Kkuengee also increased his eating speed as if not to be outdone.

Rumble!

Rumble!

Before they knew it, the Ox King and Mom Crimson Giant Bear were emptying their 20th basket. Their speed still hadn’t decreased at all.

Kkuengee!

Kkuengee had now barely finished eating all the carrots in his 10th basket. Perhaps because his mouth was smaller than the adults, he couldn’t eat as much at once.

Kkuengee!

Just as Kkuengee was about to eat a giant carrot,

[The Carrot Eating Contest has been prematurely terminated due to the exhaustion of all prepared carrots.]

Maybe the contest was too small, or too many people joined. The carrots always ran out quickly, so the contest ended early.

Moo?!

Kroooh?!

The Ox King and Mom Crimson Giant Bear wore bewildered expressions at the contest termination message. It was because they were not yet full.

Kweeeh!!!

Kkuengee, unable to win first place and unable to eat his fill, cried in his mother’s arms.

[Carrot Eating Contest Ranking]

Joint 1st place – Ox King, Red Fur (20 baskets)

3rd place – Kkuengee (10 baskets)

…

..

.

[Rewards will be given to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners of the Carrot Eating Contest.]

In the meantime, the ranking was displayed and rewards were given.

Plop.

Kweeeh. Kweeeh.

[Sniff. Daddy is weak, so he needs to eat this.]

Tears still streamed down Kkuengee’s face, but he bravely pushed a small black candy into Sejun’s hand. His little nose sniffled. ‘Sniff. Daddy is weak, so he needs to eat this,’ he mumbled.

Moo!

Kroooh!

The Ox King and Mom Crimson Giant Bear also nodded and gave Sejun four black pills each, which they had received as rewards.

“Thank you,” Sejun said.

As a token of his gratitude, Sejun additionally served food to the Ox King, Mom Crimson Giant Bear, and Kkuengee, who were feeling empty because they hadn’t eaten their fill.

And he checked the rewards.

[Potion of Agility]

A potion made by extracting the essence from 10,000 carrots to enhance the medicinal properties of carrots that were poorly grown by a clumsy farmer.

It tastes terribly awful.

Permanently increases agility by 1.5 upon consumption.

Producer: Zelga, the Blue Tower Farmer

Expiration date: 100 years

Grade: C+

It tastes terribly awful, you say?

“Aish…” Sejun sighed.

‘These guys are all playing with food.’

“Ugh!”

Sejun tightly closed his eyes and swallowed nine Potions of Agility. He just needed to chew and swallow them quickly.

However,

“Sejun, your breath smells like rotten eggs mixed with old socks!” Kkuengee exclaimed.

‘Everyone is so mean.’

In the end, the only one who stayed by Sejun’s side was Theo, who chose his knees over his sense of smell.

“Thanks, Theo, but…”

“Meow! Don’t open your mouth, meow!” Theo hurriedly covered Sejun’s mouth with his paws.

Day 267 of being stranded. Sejun had to stay home all day because of the poop smell coming from his mouth.