Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 165

Sejun knew he needed help, and fast. “Ajax, come here!” he called out, using the magic words.

*Thud.*

The ground shook as something huge landed nearby. A giant white head, bigger than Sejun’s whole body, turned slowly. “Ugh…” Ajax mumbled, his voice like rocks tumbling down a hill. “What’s going on? Where am I?” The air around Ajax felt heavy, like standing too close to a hot fire. Sejun felt dizzy.

“Ajax! Go back!” Sejun shouted, his head spinning. He quickly used the magic to send Ajax away again.

“Phew.” Sejun breathed out, relieved.

“Did a dragon just come and go, nya?” Theo asked, blinking his big eyes.

*Kkueng!* [It was the White Dragon, yo!] Kkueng barked excitedly. They already knew about Sejun’s dragon contract, so they weren’t too worried.

“Haha.” Sejun tried to sound strong, even though he felt shaky. “You saw that? A white dragon comes when I call, right?”

But

“Chairman Park, don’t worry, nya! We know you are strong in your own way!”

*Kkueng!* [That’s right, yo! It’s okay if Kkueng’s Daddy is weak, yo!]

Sejun, trying to act tough for no reason, ended up being comforted by his animal friends.

“…Okay. Thanks,” Sejun said softly. He smiled weakly. They were good friends, even if they were animals. He was lucky to have them. It wasn’t the first time they had seen him like this, so there was no need to be embarrassed.

‘At least I didn’t faint in front of the dragon!’ Sejun thought to himself. He had lasted a few seconds in Ajax’s presence. That was something. He was getting stronger, even if it wasn’t obvious to Theo and Kkueng.

Remembering his tasks, Sejun quickly ordered Ajax, “Work, slave. Harvest the cherry tomatoes.”

Sejun then went back to steaming rice cakes. Steaming and waiting, over and over.

Just as it was starting to get a little boring,

Grumble.

A sound came from Kkueng’s stomach as he lay between Sejun’s legs, receiving Sejun’s stretching.

“Kkueng, shall we eat some honey popcorn?”

*Kkueng!* [Yes, yo!]

It was obvious. There was no way Kkueng would refuse food with honey in it.

At that moment,

“Chairman Park, I request the development of Churu-flavored popcorn, nya!” Theo, who wanted to eat popcorn with Sejun, demanded that he develop a new popcorn flavor.

Sejun’s face twisted. “Churu flavor?” he repeated. The idea sounded incredibly fishy.

“I’ll try making it for now.”

Sejun first made popcorn using corn with exploding stamina. Then, he divided the popcorn into thirds and began making the sauces.

He took out two pots and simmered water and honey in one, and Churu and water in the other. A faint sweet and fishy smell rose.

“It smells wonderful, nya!”

*Kkueng!* [It smells amazing, yo!]

Kkueng and Theo sniffed in front of the pot where the Churu was simmering.

‘Isn’t it fishy?’

It smelled too fishy to Sejun, but it seemed like a delicious smell to Theo and Kkueng. And so, three flavors of popcorn were completed: salt, honey, and Churu. Sejun, Theo, and Kkueng began to eat the popcorn.

And

“Chairman Park, try this one, nya!”

“No, no, Theo, you enjoy it. I’m fine.”

“Chairman Park! Are you ignoring my sincerity, nya?”

“No. How could I…? I just feel bad eating what Theo likes.”

“I want Chairman Park to have the best piece, nya!”

‘I’m okay!’

If Theo had bad intentions and said, ‘Chairman Park, eat this Churu-flavored popcorn and suffer, nya!’ he would have refused outright.

But Theo was giving Sejun the Churu-flavored popcorn with an expression that said, ‘I’m too precious to give this away… I’m giving it to you because it’s you, nya!’ so it was hard to refuse.

*Kkueng!* [Big Brother, I want to eat Churu-flavored popcorn too, yo!]

“Kkueng has eaten a lot, so stop eating, nya!”

If Kkueng hadn’t reduced the amount of Churu-flavored popcorn, the amount of Churu-flavored popcorn going to Sejun would have been even greater.

And so, Sejun tried to ignore the fishy taste in his mouth and steamed rice cakes, met his target rice cake quantity, and went to bed.

The 99th floor of the White Tower.

“You!!! How dare you summon me at will?!” Ajax was furious at Sejun for summoning him and then immediately reversing the spell.

At that moment,

Rustle.

He saw a document rolled up between his claws.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Ajax unfolded the document and read the contents.

And

“This… What is this?!!! When did I stamp my seal here? Could it be Aileen?!” Ajax panicked as he looked at his paw print stamped on the contract stating that he could never refuse Sejun’s orders for 200 years, and suspected Aileen.

Ajax couldn’t even imagine that his grandfather, Kellion, had done it.

At that moment,

[Park Sejun, the Top Farmer of the Black Tower, has ordered you to harvest and offer the Elixir: Cherry Tomatoes with Mighty Magic.]

Sejun’s order appeared.

“Eek!”

Ajax wanted to refuse, but the dragon’s contract was a little different from contracts with other beings. Just not faithfully fulfilling the contract would damage his existence.

Damage to one’s existence was a critical matter for dragons. That’s why Ajax had no choice but to strictly adhere to the contract.

Thanks to that, Ajax finally started working properly, getting dirt on his hands. Of course, his face was full of reluctance.

Ajax growled, “Park Sejun!”

Sejun stretched, his muscles stiff from sleeping on the floor. He opened his eyes with a groan.

Grasp.

“Nyaa…”

Sejun grabbed Theo’s side and got up, attaching him to his lap, and

He reached for a piece of charcoal and swiped another mark on the bedroom wall. Each mark was a day on the island. Day 316.

“Haa. Ugh… It still smells.”

Sejun smelled his breath with his hand and frowned. He had rinsed his mouth several times before going to bed, but the fishy smell still hadn’t gone away.

At that moment,

Kkeaak.

A mushroom ant with its antennae standing straight approached Sejun proudly and offered its back. And on the back of the mushroom ant was a luscious mushroom. It was an elixir.

Pop.

Sejun picked a mushroom that looked similar to a black truffle but was white in color.

[Acquired Superior Elixir: White Truffle.]

[Job experience slightly increased.]

[Proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 7 slightly increased.]

[Acquired 250 experience.]

And

Whoosh. Whoosh.

Sejun quickly looked around. Then, he swallowed the mushroom.

[Consumed Superior Elixir: White Truffle.]

[All stats increase by 3.]

The intense truffle scent dominated his mouth and instantly chased away the fishy smell.

“Haa. It doesn’t smell fishy anymore. Thank you. Thanks for raising it.”

Kkeaak!

The mushroom ant coolly replied to Sejun’s praise and left. After their successful exchange, Sejun was hurriedly eating honey and honey jelly to erase the smell of the elixir when

*Kkueng!* [Daddy! I’m hungry, yo!]

The baby Maengshu, Kkueng, who was very sensitive because he was hungry, came to find Sejun.

Gulp.

“Oh… you came?”

Sejun, nervous, unknowingly swallowed and pretended to be calm. But his voice and gaze were awkward to anyone who saw him.

*Kkueng!* [Daddy is suspicious, yo!]

Of course, it was too clumsy of an act to deceive the baby Maengshu, who was very sensitive.

Sniff sniff.

Kkueng, noticing Sejun’s strange behavior, began to smell around Sejun’s mouth.

‘The smell won’t be there anyway because I ate honey.’

“Sorry. Daddy was hungry, so I ate some honey. Shall I give Kkueng some honey too?”

*Kkueng!* [I want to eat, yo!]

Kkueng’s attention was focused on the honey at Sejun’s words. Just when Sejun thought he had perfectly deceived Kkueng again today,

Click.

*Kkueng!* [I smell something delicious on Daddy’s hand, yo!]

Sejun forgot to erase the smell left on his hand, even though he erased the smell from his mouth. As he opened the glass bottle, the smell of truffle entered Kkueng’s nose.

*Kkueng?!* [Daddy ate something delicious alone, yo?!]

Kkueng was demanding answers from Sejun. Another failure to eat the elixir secretly from Kkueng today.

Just as he was being questioned by Kkueng from the morning for eating something alone,

-Sejun, come up to the fountain for a moment.

Kaiser called Sejun to the fountain in a serious voice.

“Yes! I’ll go now! Kkueng, eat this while waiting. Okay?”

Sejun, who had a chance to escape thanks to Kaiser, gave Kkueng a basket of chestnuts that he had peeled in advance so that he wouldn’t be hungry while waiting, and went to Kaiser.

*Kkueng! Kkueng!* [Okay, yo. Kkueng will eat chestnuts while waiting, yo!]

Crunch.

Kkueng sat down on the ground and waved his front paws at Sejun, and began to pick up chestnuts with his other front paw.

“Kaiser, what’s going on?”

-Take this.

Kaiser handed Sejun a black, unidentified stone in a blunt voice. It was quite heavy, as if it had a high density.

“Kaiser, what is this?”

-What else would it be?! It’s food! Eat it quickly!

It was surprising that this stone was food, but…

“…You want me to eat this?!” Sejun asked again, thinking he had misheard.

-That’s right! Eat it! You should be grateful! You even get to eat Aileen’s food!

Kaiser, thinking of Aileen, who had fallen asleep exhausted after making the food, got angry again and flared up.

But

“Yes?! This is a dish made by Aileen?!” At Kaiser’s words, Sejun was horrified and his face turned pale. And he hurriedly examined the food, which didn’t look like food at all.

[Aileen’s Health Fist Meat]

The great black dragon, Aileen Fritani, mixed various elixirs and meat, and steamed it with high heat and pressure to make a round lump.

The meat was compressed due to the high pressure and heat, making it as hard as a diamond, but the effect is excellent.

With the help of the great black dragon, Kaiser Fritani, the toxicity of the elixirs was neutralized, resolving most of the side effects upon consumption.

Upon consumption, all stats increase by 100.

Cook: Great Black Dragon Aileen Fritani

Expiration Date: None

Grade: S+

“Phew.”

Still, there was no poison this time thanks to Kaiser.

“But all stats increase by 100?!” After confirming that there was no poison, other details finally caught Sejun’s eye. It was thanks to Aileen specially getting Kaiser’s permission and using ingredients from the family’s elixir warehouse to cook.

‘But can I eat this?’

Just in case, Sejun carefully bit Aileen’s dish with his front teeth, but

Crack.

As expected, it was a complete stone. Sejun’s teeth were about to break before the meat. It seemed like the name ‘Fist Axe’ would be more fitting than ‘Fist Meat’.

‘Too bad.’

This dish didn’t have any content about bad taste or poison, so it seemed okay to eat… but it was too hard.

-Tsk tsk. What should I use that for… Give it here. Crush.

In the end, Kaiser, unable to watch any longer, made Aileen’s dish into 100 small, bite-sized pieces and gave it to Sejun.

“Thank you, Kaiser.”

-That’s enough! Tell Aileen thank you when she wakes up later!

“Yes.”

Flap. Flap.

Kaiser went back to drinking after saying that.

And

“Shall I try eating it?”

Sejun carefully put one of the marble-sized pieces of meat he received from Kaiser into his mouth. Fortunately, the taste was just a slight salty taste.

Gulp.

As Sejun swallowed the piece of meat,

[Consumed a piece of Aileen’s Health Fist Meat.]

[The effect will only be activated when all the food is eaten.]

[99 pieces remaining.]

A message appeared saying that he could not see the effects separately.

“It would be nice if each one raised 1 stat…” Still, he decided to be grateful that he could eat it like this. It was inconvenient, but he just had to eat 100 pieces of meat.

Just as Sejun was about to eat the next piece,

[The compressed meat swells, and the feeling of fullness lasts for 24 hours.]

Along with the message, he felt his stomach getting full. Aileen’s compressed dish had swelled in Sejun’s stomach.

“Oh?! If I eat all of this?!” Cold sweat ran down Sejun’s forehead just from imagining it.