Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 17

Theo had been working hard, selling all the cherry tomatoes as fast as he could without even taking a break.

Suddenly,

Whirr! Whirr!

The baby poison honeybees buzzed around Theo, their stingers out. They hadn’t seen him when they were born, so they thought he was an enemy.

“Hey! Stop! We’re friends! Sejun, tell them to stop buzzing me!”

Theo covered his head with his paws, crouched down, and asked Sejun for help.

“It’s okay. They’re family,” Sejun said.

Whirr! Whirr!

The baby poison honeybees put their stingers away and started drinking honey from the cherry tomato flowers again.

“Phew. Thanks, Sejun,” Theo said.

“? Sejun?” Sejun asked.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t we family?”

“How dare you act like you’re my equal when you’re just an employee?!”

Sejun gently pinched Theo’s cheek with both hands to punish him for trying to be his equal.

Squish.

“Ack! That hurts! I’m sorry!”

Theo screamed. It sounded like he was pinched hard, but he wasn’t really.

‘How cheeky,’ Sejun thought.

Sejun grabbed Theo’s soft cheek and stretched it out even more.

Really, Sejun just wanted to hold Theo’s cheek longer because it felt nice. Being cheeky was just an excuse. Cheese cat’s cheek stretched out like cheese, making it fun to touch.

‘Hehe, this feels good,’ Sejun thought.

No! Now is the time to be angry.

Sejun almost didn’t want to let go of Theo’s soft cheek. It was making him happy. But he had to be serious. He made himself stop smiling and put on a stern face again.

“Employee Theo, let’s count the money from the cherry tomatoes. Bring it here.”

“Here it is,” Theo said, handing the money to Sejun.

“75 Top Coins.”

“That’s right!”

Theo’s voice was loud.

Sejun looked at Theo, who was meeting his eyes without looking away. His ears were perked up. He was too confident. Something was fishy.

At that moment,

[The Tower’s Administrator says that Eul is lying.]

[The Tower’s Administrator says that Eul sold the magic cherry tomatoes for 0.07 Top Coins each.]

[The Tower’s Administrator is waiting to see how scary Gap will be.]

A message appeared just in time. The Tower’s Administrator had been watching Theo too. He learned a new fact.

‘So that’s what it is?’ Sejun thought.

Sejun looked closely at Theo.

‘He’s not trying to steal money…’

If Theo was stealing, he wouldn’t be so confident. He was the type of guy whose mistakes were obvious.

‘Then what is it? Could it be?!’

Sejun was thinking about Theo’s confident attitude when Theo said,

“Tada! The humans waited for days to buy the magic cherry tomatoes, so I got 0.02 Top Coins more for each one. Did I do good?”

Theo took out 30 more Top Coins. He was trying to surprise Sejun by taking out more money than expected.

However,

“Here’s your bonus,” Sejun said, handing 4.2 Top Coins to Theo. He already knew about the extra money, so he wasn’t surprised.

“Wait, that’s all? But I did so good! Can’t I be CEO now?”

“Not with this much. Employee Theo, try harder.”

“Okay,” Theo said.

Theo decided that becoming CEO was hard, and he would have to sell even more.

“Sejun, I’m out of grilled fish. Give me my weekly pay,” Theo said.

“Alright. Wait here,” Sejun said.

Sejun walked towards the dark pond. When the black rabbit hunted by swimming, he turned off the torch so the piranhas wouldn’t gather.

As Sejun went to the pond,

Flap!

There were no piranhas in the pond, only the black rabbit swimming. Instead, 10 piranhas were neatly piled up on the ground next to the pond. The black rabbit had caught them by swimming.

Flutter.

As Sejun approached the pond, the black rabbit came out and shook its body.

“Black Rabbit, it’s burning time,” Sejun said, holding up two dead piranhas.

Squeak!

The black rabbit stood in the pond and struck a pose with a determined look on its face.

There was a way to attract piranhas using a torch, but there was a faster and more violent way.

Sejun stuck the teeth of one piranha into the body of another and pulled them out. He squeezed the body of the piranha where the teeth had been stuck and dropped a few drops of blood into the pond. Then he waited.

In less than a minute, dozens of piranhas smelled the blood and came in through the hole in the pond. Soon, the pond was half water, half fish.

Then, as usual, Sejun waved the torch,

Splash! Splash!

The black rabbit quickly hunted the piranhas that jumped up to see the torch with a hammer.

While he was making grilled fish with the piranhas he had caught,

Chomp chomp chomp. Chomp chomp chomp.

There was a strange sound. Sejun looked to where the sound was coming from and saw Theo licking something.

“Theo, what’s that?” Sejun asked.

“This? It’s Churu,” Theo said.

“Churu?! Where did you get that?”

“I got it by taking pictures for humans. This is tuna flavored and…” Theo said, pulling out a colorful pouch from somewhere – his ‘bundle’ of treasures. He took out the Churu he had received in different flavors and began to show them off.

It was all Churu. All of it!

There was nothing for him.

He traded with people and only brought back Churu…

Chomp chomp chomp. Chomp chomp chomp.

He was the only one eating delicious things. For some reason, Sejun got angry.

“Churu confiscated,” Sejun said.

Sejun took all the Churu out of Theo’s bundle.

“Hey! Why? I took pictures with humans and got this in a trade!”

Theo was very upset that the Churu was taken away. Even the innocent Theo was making a fuss. Churu was a drug limited to cats.

But Sejun had the right to take the Churu.

“Right. You took pictures and received it in a trade, right?”

“That’s right!”

“Special Clause 3. Eul cannot create additional business partners without Gap’s permission. This breaks the contract.”

Sejun showed Theo the contract.

“Gasp! Is that so?!”

“Yes. You secretly filled your own pockets without me knowing.”

Theo was shocked that he had to give up the Churu.

“Don’t be too sad. CEO Theo, let’s talk about our new business partner,” Sejun said.

“Huh?! I’m the CEO?”

“I’ll let you be CEO for an hour. If you do well in the new deal, I’ll give you a one-hour CEO pass.”

“Good! Call me again,” Theo said.

“CEO Theo,” Sejun said.

“Hee hee hee. Do it again,” Theo said.

“CEO Theo.”

Theo was happy to be CEO even for an hour. Theo quickly sat on Sejun’s lap.

“I want to eat Churu too,” Theo said.

“Alright,” Sejun said.

Sejun took out a Churu and held it out in front of Theo.

Chomp chomp chomp.

Being fed was also a good thing for the CEO.

Sejun stroked Theo’s head, who had completely fallen for him, and talked about a new business using Theo’s pictures. It seemed like a way to bring things from outside would come sooner than expected.

There are two ways for things from outside to enter the Tower.

One is vanishing. When you vanish, you can bring the items you are holding into the Tower. But you don’t know when or where you will vanish, and you are sent to the first floor, so it’s not a reliable way.

The other way is items brought in by awakened hunters entering the Tower.

When a hunter enters the Tower, they can only bring about 1kg of items. Items are not counted in the weight limit. And when they leave, they can take them out without restrictions.

The items that hunters usually bring are a hunter’s smartphone, called a Hunter Phone, and simple snacks.

The Hunter Phone has regular smartphone functions, a solar charging function for the Tower’s sunny environment, and a function that allows team members to talk to each other at close range.

“You can’t bring much because of the weight limit, but you’ll bring simple seasonings or coffee. Got it, Employee Theo?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? And why are you calling me Employee Theo again?” Theo asked. He had been dozing off while eating Churu, and Sejun’s touch had stopped.

“The hour is over,” Sejun said.

“Already?” Theo asked, disappointed. He left Sejun’s arms with the remaining Churu. Theo thought that sitting on Sejun’s lap and being petted was a CEO’s privilege.

“Bring something useful next time. And become CEO Theo again,” Sejun said.

“Okay,” Theo said.

At that moment,

“Theo, how can you go up to the 38th floor without fighting monsters?” Sejun asked.

He was curious sometimes, but he tried not to think about it. He didn’t want to think about the outside because he couldn’t go out anyway.

So he was trying to ignore it, but when he thought he could get things from outside, he couldn’t help but be curious.

“That’s because I have a wandering merchant license,” Theo said.

“? Wandering merchant license?” Sejun asked.

“That’s right,” Theo said proudly, putting his hands on his hips.

Wandering merchants have to pay a lot of money each year to the Wandering Merchant Association to keep their license.

The higher the grade of the license, the more they have to pay. But the benefits are greater too.

Wandering merchants who pay their dues are protected by the Wandering Merchant Association and can use special facilities. That’s why monsters don’t attack them.

“Then can’t you bring hunters here?” Sejun asked.

“That’s impossible. Monsters don’t only attack wandering merchants. Besides, hunters can’t use the merchant’s passage,” Theo said.

“? Merchant’s passage?”

“That’s right. It’s a shortcut for merchants. You need a wandering merchant license to use it,” Theo said.

“? Shortcut…?”

“That’s right. You can’t get here from the 38th floor in 5 days without the merchant’s passage,” Theo said.

“? What floor is this?” Sejun asked.

Oops! He asked something he shouldn’t have asked.

“It’s the 99th floor,” Theo said cheerfully.

“? What?!”

He found out what he didn’t want to know.

“This is the 99th floor. Didn’t you know?” Theo asked kindly, making sure Sejun heard him right.

Sejun was relieved that Theo had gone to the 38th floor in 5 days.

He thought that Theo, who couldn’t use waypoints like the hunters, would only be a few floors away from the 38th floor if he could go back and forth in 10 days.

So he asked without thinking… and was caught off guard.

His motivation for a new business partner disappeared.

Sejun was shocked for a moment.

Chomp chomp chomp.

“Sejun! My weekly fish is burning!” Theo called out urgently. He was quietly licking the remaining Churu and smelled the grilled fish burning.

“? Huh?! Huh!”

Sejun snapped out of it at Theo’s cry.

‘No! Get a grip, Park Sejun!’ Sejun thought.

Nothing has changed. I just know what floor this is.

Sejun calmed himself down and took the grilled fish out of the fire. He got a slight burn on his hand, but he didn’t even notice.

Then he thought of another idea.

“Theo, can I become a wandering merchant?” Sejun asked.

According to Theo, he could safely go down the Tower if he became a wandering merchant.

However,

“You can’t be one. Only beings born in the Tower can be wandering merchants,” Theo said.

Another idea blocked.

“Damn it! Damn it!” Sejun shouted in anger.

“? Hic! Why are you… hic! Nyaa?” Theo asked, surprised by Sejun’s shout. He hiccuped. The rabbits and poison honeybees were also surprised.

The rabbits perked up their ears and looked at Sejun with wide eyes, and the poison honeybees busily flapped their wings and flew around. Even the poison honeybee queen poked her head out of the hive to see what was going on.

“Phew. Sorry for shouting,” Sejun said.

Sejun apologized to the cave family. Shouting calmed him down a bit.

Then Sejun made a decision.

“I’m going to eat well and live well here!”