Farming In The Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 14

“Huh?! A wandering merchant.”

“Oh my! A cat!”

“A cat wandering merchant!”

“Let’s see what they’re selling.”

Hunters, intrigued, approached Theo.

“Huh? Cherry tomatoes?”

The hunters gathered around Theo, their eyes bright with curiosity. But when they saw only a small pile of bright red cherry tomatoes on his worn mat, their faces fell in disappointment. They had been expecting weapons or mystical potions from a wandering merchant, not something they could eat on the go.

“Silly humans, I knew you would only see normal tomatoes, meow. But these are not just any tomatoes.”

Sejun had learned that Theo was good at following instructions when selling items like tumblers, so he gave very detailed directions.

“Different?”

“Indeed, meow. Check out their options, meow.”

Theo, following Sejun’s instructions, emphasized that the cherry tomatoes were items.

“Options?!”

“These are items?”

The hunters began to pick up the cherry tomatoes and check their options.

“Magical Cherry Tomatoes?”

“Increase magic by 0.1 for 10 minutes?”

“That’s too low.”

The men didn’t seem very interested. They were strong hunters, and a small magic boost like this wouldn’t really help them much in a fight.

However,

“Just eating this can break down 10g of fat?”

“Is that even possible?”

The female hunters reacted differently. They immediately recognized the value of the product. There were countless women who wanted to maintain their figures while enjoying delicious food outside.

And, most importantly, the options listed on the item did not lie.

Jessica, her voice full of excitement, asked, “How much for these?!” As soon as she saw them, she thought of her younger sister, Anna.

Anna was very overweight and had even undergone stomach surgery to lose weight, but she had started binge eating again last year due to depression, and her weight had climbed back up.

Jessica, who had been very worried about Anna’s health lately, felt like the magical cherry tomatoes were a ray of light. She usually bought practical things, but this time she was taking a chance on something magical.

“0.05 Top Coin per magical cherry tomato, meow.”

“What?!”

The other hunters were surprised at Theo’s words. The price for a single cherry tomato was absurdly high.

“I’ll buy half of what you have here.”

“Huh?! Really, meow?! Half is 500, meow!”

Theo was taken aback by Jessica’s words. 500 tomatoes was 25 Top Coins. This was much more than the 5 Top Coins in the contract! It meant he was now tied to selling Sejun’s crops for a very long time.

“Yes. I’ll buy 500. Here’s 25 Top Coins.”

Jessica handed over the money. It wasn’t a large sum compared to the money she had already spent on Anna’s treatment. Jessica was a very caring person.

“Wait, wait, human, meow! Are you sure about this? Maybe… maybe you should think about it again, meow. It’s a lot of tomatoes, meow!”

Theo, in an attempt to break the lifetime contract, tried to discourage Jessica from buying instead of accepting her money. He was worried about being stuck selling tomatoes.

But it backfired.

‘She’s buying 500, and he’s trying to stop her?’

‘There must be something to this.’

‘Should I buy a few for my girlfriend?’

The hunters became even more curious, seeing Theo’s reluctance to sell.

“Give me 100 too.”

“I’ll take 50.”

“Me too, 50!”

The hunters began to buy cherry tomatoes competitively. The price of a single cherry tomato was expensive, but it wasn’t a big deal for elite hunters like them.

They could easily earn that much Top Coin with just a few days of hunting. They were willing to pay to satisfy their curiosity.

The hunters went back to hunting the spider monsters after their break.

“I… I can’t believe it…”

Theo teared up as he looked at the empty mat.

“Wow… Sold out, meow.”

The first-ever sellout in his cat life. The legend of Theo, the wandering cat merchant, was beginning.

Day 134 of being stranded.

“Oof!”

Sejun woke up feeling full of energy, stretching his arms wide. The morning air in the cave felt fresh and clean.

He had been increasing his strength and stamina with bonus stats every time he leveled up, so his physical condition was already good, but now he was overflowing with energy every morning. Plus, not suffering from minor illnesses, a perk of the Top Farmer job, seemed pretty good too.

Scritch scritch!

Sejun went to the wall and made a mark, a habit he had developed, and started his day.

Squeak!

Pyaa!

Pyak!

The white and black rabbits woke up and greeted Sejun good morning.

“Good morning.”

The rabbits, having greeted him, each began their work. Sejun also washed his face in the small pond and started harvesting cherry tomatoes.

Plink. Plink.

[You have harvested a ripe Magical Cherry Tomato.]

[Job experience slightly increases.]

[Proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 2 slightly increases.]

[You have gained 10 experience.]

While he was harvesting cherry tomatoes,

[You have leveled up.]

[You have gained 1 bonus stat.]

It had been a while since he leveled up after reaching level 10. Sejun increased his strength with the bonus stat.

“Hope he’s doing well?”

Sejun thought of Theo. He would have met the hunters by now. Sejun was completely happy with his simple life, but sometimes he missed having people around.

“How many will he sell and come back?”

He didn’t even expect a sellout. He was worried that the clumsy fellow wouldn’t be able to sell them properly.

“But I taught him the ultimate techniques. He’ll sell at least half, right?”

The ultimate techniques Sejun taught him were free samples and kneading services. But Sejun couldn’t have imagined that the cherry tomatoes would be sold out in minutes before Theo even used the techniques.

“Once the cherry tomatoes start selling, my name will become known too, right? Hehe.”

Sejun felt proud that crops with his name on them were being sold.

At that moment,

Whirr!

The Poison Honeybee entered through the hole in the cave ceiling.

“You’re here?”

Snuggle snuggle.

Today, the Poison Honeybee rubbed its body against Sejun’s face, showing affection and marking its attendance.

And then,

Whirr!

It went to the cherry tomato field to suck honey.

And how much time had passed?

Squeak!

The wife rabbit began to put dried green onion leaves into the fire. It was lunchtime already. Time flew by quickly as he harvested cherry tomatoes and helped the rabbits water the fields.

Pyak! Pyak!

The black rabbit, who had been training by hitting the wall with a hammer, called Sejun. It was the time of day when he could be most active, so the black rabbit was always waiting for piranha hunting time.

“Alright. I’m coming.”

Sejun quickly moved to the pond and swung the torch left and right.

Splash!

Pyok!

Clean hammer strike. Now the black rabbit was hunting piranhas very skillfully.

When he had hunted 5 piranhas, the black rabbit’s body briefly glowed.

“Huh?! Did you level up?”

Nod nod.

The black rabbit nodded vigorously.

He had seen the white rabbits level up while farming a few times, but this was the first time he had seen the black rabbit level up.

“Congratulations on leveling up.”

Pyaak!

The black rabbit looked at Sejun triumphantly. ‘How am I?’

The black rabbit seemed a little too proud. He was worried that he might try to go into the water and catch piranhas soon.

Meanwhile, the black rabbit ran to another white rabbit and noisily announced his leveling up.

Squeak!

Pyaa!

The white rabbits congratulated the black rabbit.

Lunch was filled with happy squeaks and ‘pyaaks’ as the rabbits excitedly talked about the black rabbit’s level up. Sejun smiled, enjoying their cheerful sounds.

Sejun, who had finished lunch with grilled fish and grilled green onions while the rabbits were chattering, quietly got up from his seat. Sejun had recently developed a pleasure after lunch.

“Hehe. Time for coffee.”

Sejun got up from his seat and picked up the tumbler he had placed in his special place with light steps.

When he opened the tumbler to use it as a cup after Theo left,

“Coffee!”

There were 10 packets of Kanu coffee in the tumbler. It seemed that neither the merchant who sold it to Theo nor Theo had opened the tumbler.

What a huge score. If Theo had sold the coffee instead of the tumbler, Sejun would have paid for it.

Sejun took the tumbler to the small pond, filled it with about a quarter of water,

Tap. Tap.

He held the end of the Kanu packet and lightly flicked his index finger to shake off the end. He couldn’t afford to lose a single coffee granule. With that preparation, he tore open the entrance of one packet of Kanu coffee and poured it into the tumbler.

And then,

He tightly closed the lid of the tumbler and shook it hard, listening to the coffee granules rattle against the sides as they mixed with the cool water.

Click.

Slurp.

Sejun opened the lid and took a sip of coffee.

Whoosh.

A bitter taste washed over him, and the fishy smell of the fish and the sweetness of the green onions were cleanly swept away by the black wave of coffee.

“Kuh. Coffee after a meal is the best.”

He didn’t have the tools to boil water, so he couldn’t make hot coffee, and he didn’t have ice, so he couldn’t make iced coffee, but drinking coffee mixed with cool pond water wasn’t bad either.

Plus,

Glug.

Sejun poured a little honey that he had collected in a water bottle.

“Ah, that’s good.”

The bitterness and sweetness harmonized, creating a new flavor.

The rabbits shook their heads as if they couldn’t understand Sejun smiling as he drank coffee.

On the first day he made coffee, the rabbits were curious, so he gave them a little to try, but they shuddered after taking a lick. The same was true for coffee with honey. It seemed that the rabbits’ tongues were more sensitive to the bitterness of coffee.

Sejun, who had properly eaten coffee for dessert, started afternoon farming.

“Hum hum hum.”

Sejun hummed as he harvested cherry tomatoes and watered the fields. He had only had a cup of coffee at lunch, but he was happy all afternoon.

He finished the day in a good mood.

Squeak!

The rabbits greeted Sejun and went into their burrow to prepare for bed.

“Good night!”

Sejun also greeted the rabbits and went to his sleeping place, patting the dirt to make a place to sleep.

At that moment,

Whirr!

The Poison Honeybee was flying busily around the cave ceiling.

“You’re not gone yet?”

It had been coming early and leaving late these days, but this was the first time the Poison Honeybee hadn’t returned by this time.

“Go to sleep quickly.”

Whirr!

The Poison Honeybee ignored Sejun’s words and flew around diligently.

“Okay. I’m going to sleep. See you tomorrow.”

Zzzzz.

Sejun fell asleep as soon as he put his head on the dirt pillow.

Whirr!

The Poison Honeybee was diligently making something on the cave ceiling.

Skarrum, the goblin wandering merchant who had scammed Theo, waited for Theo to return. He must have failed to sell the items he had given him and would be returning disappointed.

‘And then I’ll comfort the disappointed fool and lend him money, telling him there’s a bigger opportunity.’

Then, from that moment on, he would work like a slave until he died to repay the money he borrowed at high interest, never mind the principal.

“Hehe heh. It’s been a long time since I’ve caught such a good sucker.”

Skarrum gave a bitter smile.

Skarrum, who was waiting for Theo, went to the bulletin board where the sales rankings of the wandering merchants were displayed. Checking his ranking once a day and feeling proud was one of the joys of his life.

[Wandering Merchant Sales Ranking]

999th place – Skarrum [45.2 Top Coins] 1UP

“Hehe heh. I’m finally in the top 1000.”

He had risen one step from 1000th place to 999th place. It was a ranking he had barely made by scamming several novice wandering merchants.

Skarrum, having checked his ranking, glanced at the names of the merchants ranked higher than him from the bottom up. They were the targets he would have to step on one day.

At that moment, Skarrum’s head stopped as it moved up.

“Huh?!”

A name that should not have been there caught his eye.

982nd place – Theo [50 Top Coins] NEW!

“How did this happen? He definitely couldn’t have sold them…”

Skarrum muttered as if he couldn’t understand.

Whirr!

Sejun opened his eyes to the sound of the Poison Honeybee’s wings. Until morning, the Poison Honeybee was flying busily around the ceiling.

At that moment,

“Huh? A beehive?”

Sejun saw a small beehive. It seemed that it had been diligently moving since yesterday to make this.

“Did you move in?”

Whirr!

Snuggle snuggle.

In response to Sejun’s question, the Poison Honeybee moved up and down three times and rubbed its body against Sejun’s face as if asking him to take care of it.

Day 135 of being stranded, the Poison Honeybee became independent and moved into Sejun’s cave.