Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 105

Sejun frowned. “Hey! That’s my ramen, Kkueng!” He playfully puffed out his cheeks and blew air at Kkueng. “Pffft!”

Kkueng giggled, “[Hee hee hee! That’s fun!]” enjoying the tickle on his tummy and pushing his belly out even more.

While Sejun was playfully “punishing” Kkueng, a message popped up. It announced the third Harvest Festival event.

“A Carrot Juice Drinking Contest?” Sejun wondered. *Maybe if I eat the Detox Green Onion, I could win?* But then he remembered. During the Carrot Harvest Contest, special powers were turned off to make it fair. The Detox Green Onion probably wouldn’t work either.

“Should I still go?” he asked himself.

Just as Sejun was about to go to the Giant Carrot Altar for the contest, Theo called out, “President Park, give our youngest some New Year’s money, nyaang!”

Theo, happy with his Churu treat, was gathering the Golden Bats. His title was now ‘our youngest’.

“Oh! Of course!” Sejun smiled. “He deserves it.” This Golden Bat had brought him Pu Ramen, after all. He would give him a good gift.

*(Sejun, please accept my bow!)* the Golden Bat thought, folding his wings and bowing politely.

“There, there,” Sejun said gently. “Here is your New Year’s money. I hope you stay healthy, Golden Bat.”

*(Yes! Thank you!)* Sejun gave the Golden Bat some coins.

“Let’s go,” Sejun said to the animals. He started walking towards the Giant Carrot Altar.

At the Giant Carrot Altar, Mother Crimson Giant Bear, the Black Minotaurs, and the grown-up rabbits were already there, waiting for the contest.

*Kkueng!* Kkueng ran to his mother.

*Kuoong!* They talked for a moment, but then Mother Crimson Giant Bear shook her head.

*Kkweeeng!* Kkueng slumped to the ground and started to whine.

“He probably wants to join the contest,” Sejun guessed. It was easy to see. All the Harvest Festival contests so far had been about eating. But this one was a drinking contest. Kkueng was too young to drink.

Sejun quietly wished Mother Crimson Giant Bear good luck and walked under the Giant Carrot Altar.

*[Time left to sign up: 7 minutes 51 seconds]* *[Number of people signed up now: 532]* Sejun noticed the number was low. *It’s a drinking contest, so the young rabbits can’t join,* he thought.

“The Black Rabbit will be here for sure. Theo, are you joining?”

“Of course, nyaang!” Theo said. He didn’t like juice made for grown-ups, but he wanted to sit on Sejun’s lap.

*[Number of people signed up now: 535]* Just then, *Kuoong!* Mother Crimson Giant Bear looked at Sejun and pointed at him, looking sorry.

Then, *Kkweeeng!* Kkueng came running, still crying.

*Oh no. Why is she sending him to me? Even if I look after Kkueng a lot, this isn’t right!* Sejun thought. He knew he’d have to talk to Mother Crimson Giant Bear later. Quickly, he took out honey from his special storage space. He would calm Kkueng down with honey first.

*Kkuweeeng!* Kkueng cried even louder when he saw the honey. Like any Honey Bear, Kkueng stopped crying as soon as he saw it.

“If you eat this and wait nicely, I’ll give you another bottle when I’m done, okay? Can you wait quietly, Kkueng?”

*Lick lick lick.* *Kkueng!* Kkueng was busy licking honey and didn’t even look up, but he answered loudly.

After calming Kkueng down, Sejun went under the Giant Carrot. *[The contest will start soon.]*

As the message about the contest starting appeared, a see-through red wall suddenly rose up, blocking everyone in. *Thud!* In the middle, a huge bottle, as tall as a house, appeared. Inside, Sejun could see a giant carrot. Glasses appeared in front of each person.

“Wow!” Sejun breathed. He had never seen a carrot so big.

“I wonder if the juice will taste good?” He had never tried carrot juice made like this before. He looked at the glass in front of him, excited. It was filled with a clear, see-through liquid. Carrot juice.

*Clink.* Sejun carefully picked up the glass. He held it to his nose and slowly breathed in the smell. He wasn’t trying to win, so he wanted to enjoy the drink.

“Hmm,” he murmured. He could smell the strong, earthy scent of carrots, mixed with a light, sweet flower smell from the juice. After smelling it, he was ready to taste it.

*Slurp.* Sejun took a sip. “Hmm.” As soon as the juice touched his tongue, a wave of flavors burst in his mouth – rich carrots, like from the earth, and a hint of grain, with a tiny bit of bitter taste.

*Gulp.* The juice slid down his throat easily.

*Whoosh.* A cool feeling went down inside him. Then, as the juice taste faded, a gentle sweetness from the grain came back, smoothing out the slight bitterness that was left.

“Kuhh. This is really good,” he said, surprised.

*Slurp.* Sejun loved the taste of the carrot juice. He quickly drank another glass that was already full.

After Sejun drank five glasses quickly, without eating anything, “Huh? Am I feeling a bit tipsy?” he wondered. He thought about using the Detox Green Onion to get sober, but then he saw a message: *[Using other items is not allowed to keep the contest fair.]* Just as he thought, he couldn’t use it.

“Should I stop drinking now?” Sejun thought about stopping and leaving, but another message appeared: *[You cannot leave until the giant bottle is empty or everyone else has given up.]* He had to stay until the end.

“Guess I’ll just wait,” he mumbled.

“Nyaang nyaang,” Theo purred as Sejun stroked his tummy. *Kuoong! Moo! Squeak!* The other animals seemed to be enjoying the juice too.

Slowly, very slowly, Sejun’s hand reached for his glass again. *Just one more,* he thought. He picked up the glass.

*Gulp.* “Kuhh,” he sighed, the taste making him say it without thinking. The more he drank, the more he wanted.

“I want another glass,” he whispered. *Drink it! You only live once! Who knows when you’ll get to drink this again?* a voice inside his head urged. *No! Stop! Be sensible! What if you do something wrong? You could die!* another voice argued. It was his feelings against his good sense.

But today, his feelings won. “I need to empty that bottle!” Sejun said to himself, looking at the giant bottle in the middle. It was about half empty. He decided to help finish it.

***Meanwhile, far away…*** In a tall tower, a man named Grid was shocked. “What?! Tarik is dead?!” He had been looking for Tarik for days. He never thought he would hear this.

“Yes! Iona, the head of the magic people, caught him giving food to monsters called Locusts on floor 67 of the tower. She killed him right there.”

“How dare they kill Tarik, one of our leaders?!” Grid slammed his fist on the table, breaking it.

“Grid, calm down. Mason is trying to blame you for this. He’s looking for any link between you and Tarik. You need to hide any connection to Tarik now.”

Mason, who always saw Grid as a problem, was trying to get rid of him. But Grid was clever too. He had spies in Mason’s group, the Secret Inspection Bureau.

“Don’t worry. There’s no proof,” Grid said. As soon as Tarik disappeared, Grid had removed all traces of their connection.

“But… all the white rabbits are gone from the farm?”

“Yes. Guards were watching, but they vanished without a trace.”

“Harvest is almost here! Find those rabbits, or get new ones, quickly!”

“Yes, sir!” After his helper left, Grid went to a hidden door behind his bookshelf. It led to a secret underground room. In the center of the room was a statue of a white dragon. Grid bowed low to it.

“Great White Dragon, Grid greets you.”

“He he he. I’ve learned it all! Now I can see Sejun!” Eileen cheered, happy. She had finally mastered the magic to change her shape. Now she just had to wait for Kaiser to tell her when.

“He he he. I want to see Sejun soon!” Eileen looked at Sejun in her magic crystal ball, excited.

-Kuhh. Good.- Sejun said in the crystal ball, drinking something.

“Is it that good?” Eileen wondered, watching him.

-Kuhh. Good.- -So good!- -Good.- Sejun kept saying ‘good’ every time he drank. Eileen’s smile slowly faded. *Hmph! Is that drink better than me?!* she thought, frowning.

*[The Tower Administrator is asking if that juice is better than her.]*

“Huh?! What are you talking about?” Sejun asked, confused.

*[The Tower Administrator is annoyed that you keep saying ‘good! good!’ while drinking juice.]*

“He he he. Is our Eileen jealous of the juice?” Sejun chuckled.

*[The Tower Administrator huffs and says, ‘When did I get jealous?!’]*”

“He he he. Don’t worry, Eileen. You’re the only one for me,” Sejun said, feeling happy and a little drunk.

*[…]*

Just then, a message appeared: *[The Carrot Juice Drinking Contest has ended early because all the carrot juice is gone!]* The rankings were decided based on how much juice everyone drank.

*[Carrot Juice Drinking Contest Results]* *1st place – Red Fur (1000L)* *2nd place – Woobaek (103L)* *3rd place – Woochil (102.5L)* *… … …* The amounts were huge! Sejun didn’t understand how they drank so much with small glasses. He didn’t know that every time a glass was empty, it filled up again.

*[Prizes will be given to the top three winners of the Carrot Juice Drinking Contest.]*

The prize was a bottle of carrot juice, about the size of a beer bottle.

*[You get 10 carrot seeds for joining the Carrot Juice Drinking Contest.]* Sejun got carrot seeds as a prize for taking part.

Just then, “Wait!” Sejun called out to Mother Crimson Giant Bear, Woobaek, and Woochil. They were trying to leave quickly, hiding something.

“Hey! Why aren’t you giving me my prize? Give it to me!” Sejun said, holding out his hand, feeling very brave because he was tipsy. “You’re not getting away with this!” He swayed on his feet, but he told the animals to stay still.

“Give me the prize now!” *Kuoong! Moo!* Mother Crimson Giant Bear and the Black Minotaurs shook their heads hard, holding onto their bottles.

“He he he. You were going to eat something yummy without me?!” Sejun was sure now. From their faces, the prize must be delicious.

“CEO Theo, go get it!”

“Okay, nyaang!” Theo darted forward and snatched the bottle from Woochil. Normally, Woochil would have been too fast for Theo, but Woochil was also a bit tipsy and slow.

“Here, nyaang!”

“Good job, nyaang!” *Pop!* Sejun copied Theo’s voice and opened the bottle. He was about to drink when suddenly, “You fool! Don’t eat that! You’ll die!” *Thwack!* Something hard hit Sejun on the back of his head, and he heard a girl’s voice.

*[Your body has taken a deadly hit!]* *[Power: Unbreakable Body is used!]* *[Magic energy is used to stop your body from breaking.]* *[Magic energy is very low!]* *[Dragon Skill – Dragon Skin is used!]* *[Scales from the great Black Dragon Kaiser are used up!]* Kaiser’s scales disappeared, gone for nothing.