Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 190

“What’s this?” Sejun wondered aloud.

A crumpled land deed was on the ground in Sejun’s field. It looked old and dusty, like it had been there a long time. It seemed strange to find it here. Anyone would think it was odd.

*Tap. Tap.*

Sejun carefully poked the land deed with Miller’s hoe. He wanted to check if it was dangerous. Luckily, it didn’t seem to be. He knew a land deed probably wouldn’t bite, but you never knew.

Sejun had had trouble with a land deed before, so he was being extra careful this time.

“Heh heh.” Sejun tried to sound brave. “It should be okay as long as I don’t open it yet.”

Just as Sejun reached for the land deed—

Flap. Flap.

-What are you doing?

Kaiser flew over.

“Ah, Kaiser, what brings you here?”

-I sensed a spatial magic fluctuation here a moment ago, so I was investigating.

“Spatial magic?”

At Kaiser’s words, Sejun quickly looked around. Some scary creature might have invaded.

-Rest assured. There are no suspicious individuals around.

“Phew. Is that so?”

Relieved by Kaiser’s words, Sejun reached for the land deed again.

Just then—

-Wait! I sense traces of spatial magic from there.

Kaiser said, looking at the land deed.

“What?! From here?!”

Sejun quickly distanced himself from the land deed. It was indeed a dangerous object.

-Hmm. Brachio’s magic. How dare he! In this manner…

Kaiser said, deciphering the traces of magic left on the land deed.

“Kaiser?”

-Sejun, you were just in danger. If you had grabbed that, you would have been dragged to the Green Tower immediately.

Brachio had placed a spell on some of the Green Tower’s land deeds sent to the Black Tower, which would activate as soon as someone grabbed them. Sejun’s past experience with land deeds had saved him.

“Really?! Thank you for stopping me.”

-Hahaha. If you’re grateful, you know what to do, right?

“Yes. I’ll give you five bottles of soju.”

-I will remove the magic.

Kaiser said. “Let me take this and look at it. Hahaha.”

Flap. Flap.

At Sejun’s response, Kaiser, with a joyful expression, dispelled the magic on the land deed, picked it up, and flew away, leaving Sejun alone.

“Time to sleep.”

Sejun returned home and fell asleep alone.

“Puhuhu. Jeto, thank you, meow!”

Theo said to Jeto, putting five land deeds into his pack.

“Then, I’ll see you at the Red Ribbon Kingdom’s founding ceremony.”

“Okay, meow! Farewell, meow!”

“Yes.”

Jeto disappeared, and

“Patton, follow me, meow!”

“Yes.”

Theo took Patton somewhere. Theo planned to visit Mason, the head of the Wandering Merchant Association, and tell him to punish Patton for ignoring him and causing him trouble.

As Theo was heading to the association head’s office with Patton—

“Theo?”

Zelas, who was approaching from the opposite side, recognized Theo and called out to him.

“Zelas, nice to see you, meow!”

“How have you been?”

“I’m good, meow!”

Patton stood straight and saluted Zelas. “Greetings, Zelas.”

Patton looked pale. Who knew Theo was acquainted with Zelas, the son of the Wandering Merchant Association’s head…

After being held hostage by Grid and having his identity as the son of Association Head Mason revealed, Zelas quit his job at the Secret Surveillance Bureau and was now working as the security team leader at the Wandering Merchant Association headquarters.

And Zelas was Patton’s direct superior.

Patton saluted again. “But Patton, why are you with Theo?”

“Well…”

“I’ll tell you, meow!”

Theo explained what Patton had done to him.

“Th-That’s really true?!”

Zelas, furious at Theo’s words, glared at Patton. He had warned him before about judging people by their appearance… Who knew he would cause such a big incident.

“Theo, I’m sorry. I will summon this guy to the disciplinary committee and fire him.”

“Meow?! You can’t do that, meow!”

Theo strongly opposed Zelas’s attempt to fire his slave(?). If he was fired, he would have to feed and house him.

“Is there anything else you want from Patton?”

“Yes, meow! I’m going to make Patton clean the warehouse, meow!”

“Clean the warehouse?”

“That’s right, meow! The one over there…”

Theo wanted to have the lost property warehouse, filled with evil spirits, neatly organized as a new lottery location.

“Ah! I understand. I will transfer Patton’s workplace there.”

Zelas readily changed Patton’s workplace as Theo wished.

“Then, I’ll be going, meow!”

“Yes. Be careful.”

Theo quickly left for the 99th floor of the tower.

The next day.

“Sigh. Is this my new workplace…?”

Patton sighed and stepped into the warehouse. It was dark and smelled of dust and old things. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling, and shadows danced in the corners. It looked like no one had cleaned it in years.

“Aaaaargh!”

He fainted upon his first encounter with the evil spirits, ending his first day of warehouse cleaning.

“Oof.”

Sejun woke up feeling refreshed. Sunlight streamed through the window, warming his face. He could hear birds singing outside, and the air felt clean and new. He reached out to the warmth he felt on his lap.

“Puhuhu…”

Theo purred contentedly at Sejun’s touch. He had returned in the early morning.

Stroke. Stroke.

Sejun continued to stroke Theo while—

Gulp.

He ate a piece of Eileen’s fist-sized meat.

And then—

“Nyaa…”

He picked up Theo, placed him on his lap, and—

Scratch.

Marked the date on the wall and went outside, beginning Sejun’s 328th day of being stranded.

“Ugh!”

Sejun stretched in the warm sunlight.

Just then—

Kooeng!

[I missed you, Daddy!]

Tap tap tap.

Kooeng, who had woken up early today, ran towards Sejun with quick steps and—

Leap.

Jumped into his arms.

Flump.

“Hehe. You saw me yesterday, but you missed me again?”

Sejun asked, feeling happy at Kooeng’s words.

Kooeng!

[Yes! I dreamed that Daddy flew far away!]

Kooeng replied with an anxious voice to Sejun’s question.

“Really?”

At Kooeng’s words, Sejun remembered the land deed he had seen in the field yesterday. If it weren’t for Kaiser, he might have flown away to the Green Tower, just like in Kooeng’s dream.

“Don’t worry. That won’t happen. Are you hungry? Let’s eat.”

Sejun hugged Kooeng and headed to the cafeteria.

Kooeng!

[Kooeng is stressed, so we need to eat something spicy!]

“W-Well, okay.”

Sejun was taken aback by Kooeng’s words. But where did he learn the word ‘stress’? Sejun didn’t know, but these days, Kooeng was studying Korean diligently to communicate with his grandmother.

And now, he had reached the point where he could fully read the subtitles on the TV that Golden Bat and Kim Mi-ran occasionally watched, acquiring Korean culture.

The information that you should eat spicy food when stressed was also obtained from TV.

“Then, today’s breakfast menu is Burning Hell Squid Stir-fry!”

Kooeng! Kooeng!

[Good! Kooeng is excited!]

Kooeng was delighted by Sejun’s determined expression, thinking Sejun was making something amazing.

Doomchit doomchit.

Kooeng, excited, started to wiggle his butt. No! That burns too many calories!

“Kooeng, let’s dance while eating this. Crop Gigantification.”

Sejun quickly gave Kooeng a giant sweet potato, who was wiggling his butt, and started making the squid stir-fry.

Sssssss.

First, he melted the tuna fat chunks, which he had separated and solidified when making tuna porridge, in a heated pot.

Chop chop chop.

He quickly sliced green onions thinly and put them in the pot. After stir-frying the onions until they turned golden brown to make green onion oil, he put the squid in the pot and stir-fried it until the squid turned white.

Then, he seasoned it with chili powder, salt, pepper, and honey, and added a lot of sliced onions, carrots, and Cheongyang peppers.

“Cough! Cough!”

Sejun coughed, choked by the cooking fumes. Did he make it too spicy? The color wasn’t that red, but the smell was spicier than he thought. Just smelling it made sweat bead on his forehead.

Thwack! Thwack!

Finally, he crushed peanuts with a hand axe and sprinkled the peanut powder on top of the squid stir-fry instead of sesame seeds—

[You have achieved the first feat of creating Squid Stir-fry Screaming from Hell in the Tower.]

[The recipe for Squid Stir-fry Screaming from Hell is registered at Cooking Lv. 5.]

[Cooking Lv. 5 proficiency greatly increases.]

[Cooking Lv. 5 proficiency is filled, and the level increases.]

The cooking was completed with the achievement message.

“Squid Stir-fry Screaming from Hell?”

The name of the dish was too terrifying. He had put in 50 Cheongyang peppers for the spicy flavor, which seemed a bit excessive.

Just then—

Kooeng!

[Kooeng is hungry!]

Kooeng, who had already finished his giant sweet potato, started to whine that he was hungry.

‘Will it be okay?’

It was just food, after all. Sejun couldn’t taste it because he was full.

“It’s done. Everyone, let’s eat breakfast!”

Sejun, after a moment of hesitation, called the animals.

A moment later—

Squeak!

Ooh-ooh!

The rabbits and monkeys, who had put the Squid Stir-fry Screaming from Hell in their mouths, screamed and started eating the food quickly. The animals didn’t stop eating, even while shedding tears from the spiciness.

“What’s going on?”

Sejun felt something was wrong and quickly checked the dish’s options.

[Squid Stir-fry Screaming from Hell]

The green onions of detoxification are stir-fried in the oil of the giant tuna of the deep sea, and the flavor of the green onions permeates the oil, which is then used to stir-fry the giant squid of the deep sea and other vegetables.

The Cheongyang peppers of calmness are excessively added, causing side effects.

As a side effect, once you taste the food, you become addicted to the spiciness and continue to eat it while screaming.

The addiction will not be resolved until you eat your fill of the Squid Stir-fry Screaming from Hell.

The carrots of agility allow you to eat the food quickly.

The onions of excretion cause you to sweat a lot when you eat the food.

Once you finish eating the food and the addiction effect is resolved, your mind will become very calm.

There is a very low probability of awakening the talent: Clear Mind (明鏡止水).

Cook: Top Farmer Park Sejun

Expiration Date: 120 days

Grade: A+

“What have I created?”

This dish was like a punishment! It was so spicy you had to keep eating even though it hurt. Of course, the effects after eating it weren’t bad, but looking at the animals, it seemed like he shouldn’t eat it.

“But is Kooeng okay?”

Sejun quickly looked for Kooeng.

However—

Kooeng!

[It’s delicious! My stress is relieved!]

Unlike Sejun’s worries, Kooeng was happily eating the squid stir-fry. It just seemed like a spicy dish to Kooeng.

Squeak.

Ooh-ooh.

The animals, who quickly finished their meal, went to work with calm expressions. It was fortunate that the effect after eating the food was calming. Otherwise, he might have received a lot of complaints.

After the animals left—

“Chairman Park, give me some handmade churu, meow!”

Theo, who had fallen asleep in the early morning and woke up late, said to Sejun.

“Okay.”

Chomp chomp chomp.

Sejun gave Theo a spoonful of tuna porridge and stroked Theo’s belly.

Meanwhile—

Hehehe. Kooeng!

[Hehe. Kooeng’s stress is relieved!]

Kooeng, who had finished eating the squid stir-fry, climbed on Sejun’s back with a refreshed expression and started playing with Golden Bat.

“But Vice Chairman Theo, did you get the land deeds?”

Sejun asked Theo, who had filled his stomach with five spoonfuls of tuna porridge.

“I brought them, meow!”

Theo replied with a confident expression and took out six land deeds from his pack.

“Oh! You brought six land deeds?! Vice Chairman Theo, you’re amazing!”

“Puhuhu. That’s right, meow! I’m amazing, meow! Chairman Park, you only need to trust me from now on, meow!”

Theo, feeling happy at Sejun’s praise, lay on his back and rubbed his back against Sejun’s lap.

“Hmm. Two aren’t appraised? Eileen, please appraise these.”

[The Tower’s Administrator says to leave it to them.]

Sejun sent the two land deeds that needed appraisal to Eileen and checked the remaining four appraised land deeds.