Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 120

Morning of the 278th day of being stranded. The morning sun peeked through the cracks in the wooden walls, casting stripes of light across the room. The air was cool and fresh, and Sejun could hear the birds singing outside. He knew today was important; he was very close to finishing his mushroom harvesting quest.

“Chairman Park… Can’t I sleep a little longer…?” Theo mumbled sleepily.

Theo’s small legs swung back and forth as Sejun gently lifted him.

“No, Theo. We have something important to do today,” Sejun said softly. “And then, a party!”

*Plop!*

Still half-asleep, Theo naturally clung to Sejun’s leg. He often whined like this in the mornings, even though he slept soundly every night.

Just then,

“Nyang?!”

Theo discovered Iona clinging to his tail. She had secretly come in at dawn.

“Iona, when did you come?!” Theo asked, looking at Iona clinging to his tail.

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. I came at dawn. I’m going to sleep a little more.”

Kyurorong.

Iona curled up around Theo’s tail and fell asleep again.

With Theo and Iona clinging to his legs, Sejun went outside.

“Let’s eat breakfast!”

He heated up the soup he had made yesterday, ate a simple breakfast, and hurried to where the mushroom ants lived. The mushroom ants had started building their homes on the land Sejun had given them.

When Sejun arrived at the mushroom ant area,

Kke-ek!

Kke-ek!

The mushroom ants were already busy, digging underground tunnels and piling soil to create walls. They were truly hard workers.

“Alright, let’s harvest.”

Kke-ek!

At Sejun’s call, some of the mushroom ants with mushrooms on their backs lined up neatly in front of him, while the rest continued to build their homes.

It seemed they had already decided who would be harvested first and who would work.

‘I like them more and more.’

Sejun nodded, pleased to see the mushroom ants’ hard work. They didn’t waste a moment.

After Sejun harvested for about 3 hours,

[You have harvested button mushrooms.]

[Only 1 more time until the job quest is complete.]

[Job experience slightly increases.]

[Harvesting Lv. 5 proficiency slightly increases.]

[You have gained 1 experience.]

The job quest was finally near completion.

Tap.

He harvested the last mushroom.

[You have completed the job quest.]

[Level 51 is unlocked as a quest completion reward.]

[You have acquired 50,000 Tower Coins as a quest completion reward.]

[All job skills of the Top Farmer increase by 1 level as a quest completion reward.]

“Yes!”

Sejun cheered. Sejun’s level, which had been stuck at level 55 in the Tower, was finally lifted. Now he could gain experience freely.

Just then,

[Your crop has eliminated a pest.]

[You have gained 1 experience.]

…

..

.

“Huh?! Why is this coming up? Is there another pest besides the locusts?”

Messages about eliminating pests, which hadn’t appeared before because of the level limit, began to show up.

***

Kenya, Africa.

Han Taejun and other Earth Defense Force hunters arrived to see the monster after receiving Ngugi’s report.

[Green Locust]

“It’s real.”

“How can this be…?”

“How can monsters exist?!”

The hunters were shocked to see the name above the monster Ngugi had captured.

What they had hoped wouldn’t happen had become reality: monsters appearing on Earth. Now Theo’s words about Earth being destroyed felt real.

Of course, the Green Locust was much weaker than the skeletons on the 2nd floor of the Tower. Even ordinary people could easily kill it. This alone couldn’t destroy Earth.

“If their numbers increase, will they evolve and become stronger?”

“Yes. But luckily, ordinary grasshoppers are helping to reduce the monster locusts.”

Ngugi, who had been watching the Green Locusts for days, replied.

Since Ngugi discovered the Green Locusts, swarms of them numbering in the thousands had attacked the Blade Scallion field several times, only to be killed.

However, the ordinary grasshopper swarms simply passed by the Blade Scallions.

Instead, when the grasshoppers found a Green Locust, they chased and killed it. The grasshoppers saw the Green Locust as an enemy competing for food.

Because of this, the number of grasshoppers didn’t increase much either, as they were busy with the Green Locusts. Otherwise, they would have eaten all of Africa’s crops and moved to the Middle East.

It was bad luck for the Green Locusts and good luck for Earth.

“Now that we’ve confirmed monsters are appearing, we will send 50% of the Blade Scallions from the Tower to Africa, focusing on the African region.”

“Yes!”

The other members agreed with Han Taejun. Han Taejun decided to buy land in Africa and nearby areas and headed back to Korea.

***

“Today is a party!”

Sejun decided to have a party to celebrate finishing the job quest. He wanted to share the joy of finally being able to level up with everyone. Leveling up would start tomorrow.

“A party?! Then quickly prepare the Churu and grilled fish, meow!!!” Theo exclaimed excitedly. It would be best to lie on Park Sejun’s lap on top of a mountain of grilled fish, which was easy to eat even when half-asleep, and receive Churu.

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. No! A party must have kkyut kkyut… roasted peanuts!” Iona objected. Iona loved the crunchy sound and warm feeling of roasted peanuts in her paws while snuggling into Theo’s tail.

Kkueng! Kkueng!!!

[No! A party must have meat!!!]

Kkueng clenched both fists, thinking about holding a pile of meat and eating it. Kkueng was already drooling. Kkueng loved the strong taste of meat and the feeling of chewing it with his strong jaws.

Everyone had a strong idea of what they wanted at the party.

(Bat bat. I want fruit…)

The Golden Bat carefully shared his opinion, but

“A party must have Churu and grilled fish, meow!”

“A party without roasted peanuts is not a party!”

Kkueng!

[It must be meat!]

No one listened to the Golden Bat.

And

[List of items that can be shipped from the Red Ribbon Kingdom’s treasury (total of 23,911,912 items)]

30 million Tower Coins X 1

Mithril Ingot X 100

Gold Ingot X 10,000

Silver Ingot X 50,000

Farmland Title Deed of Floor 77

Farmland Title Deed of Floor 83

…

..

.

“Huh?! Why are there so many all of a sudden?”

Sejun opened the treasury like opening a refrigerator when he was bored and was surprised by the huge number of items.

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. It was connected to the Red Ribbon Kingdom’s treasury like this. I filled Grid’s wealth here!” Iona said proudly, looking at the item list behind Sejun.

“Really? Good job!”

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. Thank you. Ah! Did you summon the white dragon statue like this too?”

“Yeah. But have you ever met Kellion?”

“So that’s his name, Kellion. We almost died because of him.”

“What?!”

-Ahem… I didn’t know you were Sejun’s friend back then.

Kellion, who was listening nearby, quickly stepped forward.

“Kkyuuk!!”

Iona was surprised to see the white dragon statue and hid behind Sejun.

-Don’t be scared, little hamster. I won’t hurt you.

Kellion tried to calm Iona, but

“Insignificant?!”

It only made Sejun angry.

-Ahem… So, about this party… a magnificent dragon like myself wouldn’t be turned away, would he? Especially if there’s food involved?

There was a rule among dragons that only those invited could attend a party, so Kellion was worried Sejun might not invite him.

Of course, he really just wanted the food Sejun made.

“Well… I’m not sure. It’s hard to invite someone who attacked my friend to my party…”

Normally, he would have said yes, but this time was different because Kaiser was watching. In this situation, Kaiser was reliable.

-Hehehe. Only I should go to Sejun’s party.

Kaiser was enjoying Kellion’s embarrassment. He planned to go to the party alone and tease Kellion.

-Sejun, hurry up and say no.

While Kaiser was cheering for Sejun,

-Wait!

Kellion quickly pressed his navel when it seemed Sejun wouldn’t invite him. As he got nervous, he remembered the item he had been saving.

Click.

Whether the navel was a switch, his stomach opened, showing the storage space inside the statue. It had been useless until now, but it was an item that could interest Sejun.

-If you invite me to the party, I’ll give you this!

Kellion shouted, taking out a fist-sized ball of glossy white dough.

-No! Don’t do it! How can you invite someone who tried to hurt your friend to the party just for a bribe?! Sejun, don’t you have any pride?

Kaiser quickly flew over and shouted when it seemed Sejun was tempted.

“Okay. I’ll invite Kellion to the party.”

Sejun, fascinated by the white dough in Kellion’s hand, had already decided.

-Hehehe. Thank you. Here you go.

Kellion handed the white dough to Sejun.

“Thank you!”

Sejun thanked him for the dough.

Squish squish.

It had the texture he expected. He quickly checked the dough.

[Relic: Rice Dough Swallowing Wealth]

This rice dough was created by Ppukppuk, the rice cake master of the White Rabbit Clan, who risked his life to make the best rice cakes.

It is one of only 10 relics in the Black Tower.

If you give it wealth worth 1 Tower Coin, it will spit out 1kg of the finest rice dough.

Usage Restriction: Lv. 50 or higher, Magic Power 50 or higher

Creator: Ppukppuk

Grade: AA

“Jackpot!”

With this relic, he could make rice dough whenever he wanted. Tower Coins were used to get the dough, but to Sejun, Tower Coins were just numbers, except when using the seed shop.

“With this, I can make the rice cakes and makgeolli that the raccoons sold last time.”

-What?! Is that true?

Kaiser was excited at the word makgeolli.

Kkueng!

So was Kkueng. He could eat rice cakes dipped in honey again.

-Hehehe. Remember it’s all thanks to me.

Kellion said smugly, realizing the item he had given was more amazing than he thought.

“Shall we make some rice dough first?”

Sejun put his hand on the rice dough and used 10 Tower Coins for now.

[The relic: Rice Dough Swallowing Wealth swallows 10 Tower Coins and produces 10kg of the finest rice dough.]

Pop.

The rice dough spat out a basketball-sized dough upwards.

Thud.

“Oh!”

Sejun was excited to get 10kg of rice dough. He quickly took it to the kitchen.

Suddenly, he wanted to make songpyeon! He was really craving it today.

‘The filling is made by mixing sweet potatoes, potatoes, and honey…’

Sejun thought about how to make songpyeon and put potatoes and sweet potatoes in a pot to boil.

He was also busy grilling fish and purple locust meat, and roasting peanuts to prepare the food that Theo, Iona, and Kkueng wanted for the party.

While Sejun was cooking,

-Hahaha. You can make makgeolli with just this? I’ll put in 10 million Tower Coins! I’m not as small-minded as Sejun!

Kaiser laughed and put 10 million Tower Coins into the rice dough.

And

Booooooom!!!

A huge 10,000-ton rice dough soared up.

“Huh?!”

Kaiser was surprised by the size of the rice dough, which was much larger than he expected. If it fell, it would cause a lot of damage.

‘Not only will the fields be destroyed, but Sejun will die.’

“Extinguish.”

Kaiser quickly got rid of the rice dough. 10 million Tower Coins were wasted.

-Puhahaha. Kaiser, if you’re going to spend money like that, give it to me!

-Shut up!

Kellion teased him more.