Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 233

Inside the Black Tower, shadows danced in the corners of the high-ceilinged room. Kaiser, his face flushed with happiness after sharing samyangju with Kellion and Lamter, stepped back into the Black Tower through the Black Dragon statue. He was in a wonderfully cheerful mood.

“Kahaha! Is my little granddaughter doing well?” he boomed, his voice echoing slightly in the stone chamber.

Aileen hurried towards him, a question bubbling in her mind. “Grandfather! Where have you been? I need to ask you something!”

“Oh?” Kaiser beamed at Aileen, happy to be asked for help by his granddaughter. “My Aileen wants to ask her old granddad something? Anything at all! Ask away! Kahaha!”

Aileen said she was curious, and Kaiser, in a cheerful mood, said he would answer anything.

“Well… I read it in a book. There’s a place where the sky is purple, the ground is green, and there are crustaceans with a ridiculous number of legs. But the name of the place wasn’t mentioned, so I was wondering if you might know, Grandfather.”

The place Aileen mentioned was where Spark had taken root, but Aileen couldn’t recall anything about it. That’s why she was asking Kaiser, even lying to hide Spark’s secret. Aileen’s heart beat a little faster as she told the lie, hoping her grandfather wouldn’t notice.

“Hmm… a purple sky and green ground, you say… Ah! Of course, I know!”

But Kaiser didn’t think of a place. He thought of something that *created* such places: Violet Dragons.

Where the Violet Dragons resided, the land turned green because of the magic containing the poison from their bodies. The atmosphere turned purple because of the breath containing the poison they exhaled.

“What is it?!”

“I don’t know the exact location, but it’s a phenomenon that occurs when the Violet Dragons stay somewhere.”

“Really?! Violet Dragons?!”

“Perhaps such an environment would be created in the Violet Dragon’s lair or inside the Violet Tower.”

Kaiser answered, looking at Aileen with suspicious eyes. ‘There are no books about Violet Dragons in the library. I threw away all the books about those unlucky Violet Dragons, didn’t I?’

Just as Kaiser was looking at Aileen suspiciously,

“Ah! Right! Sejun is making samyangju again! He’s going to sell it for money this time!” Aileen quickly changed the subject.

“Really?!”

As soon as Kaiser heard Aileen’s words, he moved to the brewery. Kellion would be coming soon. Before that, he planned to give Sejun money first and preemptively secure the samyangju.

As Kaiser left,

“Phew…”

Aileen, who had been nervous about deceiving Kaiser, let out a sigh of relief and picked up the crystal ball.

“Hehe. Spark, I found out where your roots are!”

[Really? Where is it?]

“It seems to be the Violet Tower. They say there’s a lot of poison there. Are you okay?”

[I can withstand the poison to some extent, but the bugs are trying to gnaw at my body, which is a bit annoying.]

“What?! Bugs dare to bother you, Sejun’s tree?! That won’t do. I’ll teach you a few spells!”

Aileen began to teach Spark magic.

Early dawn.

Press… Press…

‘Huh? What is it?’

Sejun woke up from the feeling of something pressing on his face.

“Poohehehe. President Park, are you awake, nya?!”

As Sejun woke up, Theo, who had been massaging Sejun’s face with his paws, greeted him with a sly smile.

And

“President Park, try drinking this, nya! It’s honey water made with honey freshly harvested by bees in the morning, nya!”

Theo even woke up the poison honeybees and handed Sejun the honey water.

“What… what is it? Theo, why are you acting so strange all of a sudden?”

Theo was usually busy sleeping even when Sejun woke up. But Theo was giving him massages and honey water from dawn? It was too suspicious.

“Don’t feel pressured, nya! Just drink the honey water, nya!”

‘You’re the most pressuring…’

“Okay.”

At Theo’s continued urging, Sejun drank the honey water.

Gulp. Gulp.

The honey water flowed down his throat.

“Kuh. It’s refreshing.”

As Sejun drank the honey water,

“Poohehehe. Weren’t you hot while sleeping, nya?! I’ll fan you, nya!”

Swoosh swoosh.

Theo fanned him, waving his paws.

“Why are you really doing this?”

Sejun, unable to bear Theo’s burdensome behavior any longer, asked.

“Poohehehe. What do you mean, nya?”

Especially that sly smile was too annoying.

“Why are you doing things you never used to do!”

“President Park, I want to keep being Vice President Theo, nya! So please lift my suspension, nya!”

‘That was it?!’

“You can just go to the 65th floor of the tower and get the money.”

Sejun couldn’t understand why Theo was acting like this when all he had to do was visit the master merchant and repay the money.

However,

“President Park, listen to me, nya!”

Theo was planning to borrow money from Sejun not just this time, but continuously. He couldn’t keep living under suspension, nya! Theo began to persuade Sejun earnestly.

“So, if Vice President Theo burns my money, the efficiency is 1, but when burning other money, the efficiency is 0.5?”

“That’s right, nya! That’s why I’m trying to burn President Park’s money, nya! President Park’s money is the best, nya!”

“Hmm. Is that really true?!”

Money is money, so why only his money?

“Okay. I’ll do one test, and if it’s true, I’ll lift the suspension.”

“Really, nya?! Let’s do the test quickly, nya!”

Theo shouted, wanting to lift the suspension quickly at Sejun’s words.

“Wait a moment…”

Just as Sejun was about to ask for help to measure his combat power,

“Sejun!”

The combat power measuring device… no. Kaiser flew towards Sejun on his own.

And

“Take this!”

He abruptly handed Sejun 100 million tower coins.

“What is this?”

“Kahaha. What else? It’s the price of the samyangju that will be made in the future.”

He paid the samyangju price in advance.

‘I was faster.’

Kaiser looked around, confirmed that Kellion hadn’t arrived yet, and laughed inwardly.

‘I need to go and get more money.’

As Kaiser hurried to get more money from the warehouse,

“Kaiser, can I ask you for a favor?”

“A favor?! Anything!”

At Sejun’s request, Kaiser readily agreed. The price for the favor was samyangju.

“Please see how strong Theo gets.”

“Sure. What’s so difficult about that? Go ahead.”

Kaiser answered and began to watch Theo closely.

“Yes! Thank you. Here. Vice President Theo, take the money. I’m giving it to you.”

Sejun handed Theo 10 million tower coins.

“Thank you, nya!”

Flash!

Theo, who received the money from Sejun, burned the money. As Theo burned the money, a wave of golden light erupted from him, so bright it made Sejun blink. It shimmered like liquid gold, coating Theo in a warm glow.

“Hooh! A talent for getting stronger by burning tower coins is truly amazing!”

Kaiser watched Theo, who was shining with golden light as he burned the money, with fascination.

As the golden light disappeared,

“This time, I’m lending it to you.”

Sejun handed Theo another 10 million tower coins. He didn’t understand changing the ownership of the money through such a formal method, but he decided to do as Theo said for now.

Flash!!

Theo, burning the money again, emitted golden light.

“···?!”

Looking closely, even Sejun could see that the intensity of the golden light was different from before, even though the same amount of money was burned.

“Kaiser, how is it?!”

Sejun wanted to know exactly how much stronger he had become, so he asked Kaiser for an honest assessment.

“If your current strength is 100, you were at 49 just a moment ago,” Kaiser said precisely.

“So, it was true that I get stronger by burning my money?!” Sejun exclaimed.

“Phoo-hoo! Chairman Park, did you see that?! I was right, meow! Let me off suspension now, meow!” Theo felt right. He laughed and held onto Sejun’s leg again.

“Thank you, Kaiser. Here’s some Samyangju.” Sejun pushed the bottles towards Kaiser as a thank you for helping him.

Sejun marked the date on the wall, starting his 351st day on the tower.

This place is the best I have ever lived in.

Podori happily spread its roots, enjoying the rich soil and kind farmer, Sejun.

Suddenly, Podori’s root bumped into another.

A voice whispered, “Hello. I am Fire.”

“Fire?” Podori asked, puffing out its non-existent chest. “Are you a World Tree candidate too?”

“No,” Fire replied calmly. “Not one of those, I don’t think.”

“WHAT?!” Podori’s root nearly jumped. “You’re NOT a World Tree candidate? You should have greeted ME first then! I am Podori, a World Tree candidate! This farm is a mess! I need to fix things!” Podori thought angrily.

“Fire,” Podori announced loudly, “From now on, you will greet me every morning!”

Just as Podori was feeling very important, Fire spoke again.

“I…”

“YES?!” Podori demanded.

Podori froze. Fire’s voice was suddenly… different.

“But,” Fire continued slowly, “Didn’t *you* just say something about greeting someone every morning?”

“Oh!” Podori squeaked, suddenly much smaller. “Ah, yes! I meant *I* will greet *you* every morning, Fire! It would be my honor! I look forward to working with you!”

Podori quickly bent its root low towards Fire’s root, bowing deeply.

“Hey. You made me wake up too early,” Sejun grumbled, seeing the quiet farm. He was annoyed at Theo for waking him up so early.

Theo, back to his old self, didn’t care at all and slept soundly.

“That’s more like it.” He gently stroked Theo’s head. Yes, this is more like you.

“Shall I check on the rice?” Sejun asked.

With the sleeping Theo dangling from his leg, Sejun walked towards the golden Tree of Abundance where the rice was planted.

He placed a rice stalk on his palm and examined it closely. There was no green left; it was entirely golden.

“Good. It’s ready to harvest.”

Confirming that the rice was ready, Sejun took out the Scythe of Freshness and sliced through the rice stalk.

Messages appeared.

[You have harvested 3518 grains of golden rice.]

[Your job experience slightly increases.]

[Proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 7 slightly increases.]

[The cold effect imbued in the Scythe of Freshness extends the expiration date of the harvested crops by 5 days.]

[You have gained 246,260 experience points.]

The messages indicated that he had harvested the rice. The experience points were high because there were so many grains.

“Let’s see.”

Sejun picked up a grain of rice and examined it closely.

[Golden Rice]

Rice grown inside the tower, full of nutrients and delicious.

Grown by an excellent farmer, its effects are outstanding.

Consuming 100,000 grains of rice will trigger the Rice as Medicine effect. (When the Rice as Medicine effect is activated, Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Magic Power stats will randomly increase by a total of 100.)

Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Sejun

Expiration Date: 155 days

Grade: A

“Is this good?” Sejun wondered.

The effect of increasing total stats by 100 upon eating 100,000 grains of rice seemed good, but the number 100,000 seemed so large that Sejun was confused whether it was good or bad.

“Well, does it matter?! What’s important is that I can eat rice!”

Sejun began to diligently cut the rice.

As he cut the last stalk of rice, a message appeared.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have gained 1 bonus stat.]

Sejun became level 67. There were approximately 300 pots of rice planted. He had obtained nearly 1 million grains of rice from the harvest, so it was reasonable to level up.

“Alright. Now I need to mill it…”

Sejun shook all the rice grains from the stalks and pondered, looking at the rice scattered on the ground.

He placed the rice between his palms and began to rub them together, causing friction, like he was trying to grind sesame seeds for a tasty meal. The husks of the rice fell to the ground.

“Oh! It works!”

Sejun rubbed his palms even more vigorously.

Suddenly, electricity sparked in his hands, and the rice burned with a savory smell.

“Ah! What?!” Sejun was surprised by the completely unexpected result.

“Guys, help me.” Unable to mill the rice himself, Sejun asked all the monkeys, rabbits, mushroom ants, and poison honeybees who were still sleeping to start milling the rice.

The monkeys and rabbits milled the rice by rubbing their palms together like Sejun.

The mushroom ants and poison honeybees milled the rice with their front teeth.

Just then, Kkuengi, who had just woken up, approached.

“Daddy, what are you doing?” Kkuengi asked.

“Kkuengi, you’re awake? Wait a moment, Daddy will feed you rice.”

“Kkuengi will help Daddy too!”

“Huh?! Don’t…”

Before Sejun could stop him, Kkuengi grabbed a handful of rice with his front paws and began to grind the rice with only one foot.

Failing to control his strength, Kkuengi ground the rice inside into a very fine powder.

Day 351 of being stranded: Sejun finally harvested the rice.