Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 24

“Nya?” Theo mumbled, blinking sleepily.

“Squawk?” came a ruffled reply.

Morning light, filtering softly into the cave entrance, revealed an unexpected sight. Theo, the small black cat, and the black rabbit were tangled together, fur and fluff mixed from a night of shared warmth. They woke at the same moment, and their eyes met.

Blink. Blink.

An awkward silence hung between them. Neither seemed to remember exactly *how* they’d ended up in such a friendly cuddle.

“Did you sleep well, nya?” Theo asked, trying to sound casual.

“Squawk!” the black rabbit chirped back, equally nonchalant, as if sleeping with a cat was the most normal thing in the world. They both quickly scrambled to their feet, pretending nothing unusual had happened.

“Are you awake?” Sejun asked, hearing Theo and the black rabbit.

“That’s right, nya!” Theo replied.

“Squawk!” The black rabbit agreed.

Zing!

Zing!

They answered at the same time, realizing they were rivals again.

Scratch.

While Sejun marked the 162nd day of being stranded on the cave wall…

Haa! Haa!

Squawk! Squawk!

Sejun spoke, and suddenly the tension returned. Theo and the black rabbit glared at each other, ready to fight again.

Theo unsheathed his hidden claws, and the black rabbit gripped his hammer tightly, ready to swing.

Cat and Rabbit Conflict. The battle of yellow and black. The atmosphere grew tense.

Just then,

“You should get along.”

“Nya?”

“Squawk?”

Sejun, who had returned after washing his face, grabbed them by their necks, which felt like glutinous rice cakes, and placed Theo and the black rabbit on his knees, one on each side.

And then,

Snack.

Snack.

Snack.

He put dried sweet potato in his mouth, Churu in Theo’s mouth, and carrots in the black rabbit’s mouth.

Chomp chomp chomp.

Crunch crunch.

They glared at each other for a moment longer, then focused on eating. The fight ended suddenly. Theo and the black rabbit acknowledged each other’s territory.

After a simple breakfast, Sejun started his morning farming, eager to use Keynes’ Training Dagger.

Sejun first went to the field to plant the four carrot tops that the rabbits had eaten.

Thump. Thump.

The magic dagger dug into the ground easily. This powerful magic dagger, worth a fortune and made for fighting monsters, was now used for planting seeds.

Scratch scratch.

Sejun planted one carrot top in the hole he made with the dagger.

[You have planted the top of a carrot root.]

[Due to the effect of Seed Sowing Lv. 3, the probability of the carrot taking root increases.]

[Job experience slightly increases.]

[Proficiency in Seed Sowing Lv. 3 increases very slightly.]

[Due to the effect of Proficiency Increase Lv. 1, the proficiency of Seed Sowing Lv. 3 increases by an additional 5%.]

“Huh?! This also increases proficiency?” Sejun asked, surprised.

He reread the options of Keynes’ Training Dagger.

[Proficiency Increase Lv. 1]

The proficiency of all skills used with this dagger increases 5% faster.

“All skills using the dagger?” Sejun wondered.

A B-grade named item was indeed special.

“Hehehe. I have to raise my proficiency diligently,” Sejun said, feeling motivated.

He quickly planted the remaining three carrot tops and went to the cherry tomato field.

Sejun cut a stem with several cherry tomatoes attached with the dagger.

Snikt.

The dagger sliced through the thick cherry tomato stem as if it were butter. He had been harvesting them by the stem recently because there were so many cherry tomatoes.

[You have harvested 7 ripe magic cherry tomatoes at the same time.]

[Job experience slightly increases.]

[Proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 3 slightly increases.]

[Due to the effect of Proficiency Increase Lv. 1, the proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 3 increases by an additional 5%.]

[You have gained 70 experience.]

“Wow,” Sejun exclaimed.

It’s really fun to work.

Scratch. Scratch.

Sejun diligently cut the cherry tomato stems and harvested several cherry tomatoes at once. Theo’s job was to take the cherry tomatoes off the stems and put them into the bundle.

When Sejun brought the cut cherry tomato stems to Theo,

“Why am I, the CEO, doing this?” Theo grumbled.

“Then what about me? I’m the chairman, and I’m working,” Sejun replied.

“What, nya? Sejun is the chairman, nya?” Theo asked.

“Yes. So hurry up, CEO Theo,” Sejun said.

“I understand, nya. But is the chairman higher than the CEO, nya?” Theo’s eyes lit up. He had a new ambition.

‘Puhuhut. If I become the chairman, I will monopolize Park Sejun’s hands and knees, nya!’ Theo imagined lying on Sejun’s lap, with Sejun stroking his belly with one hand and feeding him Churu with the other.

“That’s right,” Sejun confirmed.

“Oh! I found something good, nya! I have to work harder, nya!” Theo exclaimed.

“Do it while eating,” Sejun suggested.

“This is not tasty, nya,” Theo said. He didn’t like cherry tomatoes.

Sejun encouraged Theo’s motivation and harvested cherry tomatoes again.

At that time,

Squawk!

The black rabbit called Sejun to move the piranhas he had caught, as lunchtime was approaching. He had caught more piranhas than usual because he had to give Theo his weekly wage.

Before wrapping the piranhas in green onion leaves, Sejun seasoned them with salt and pepper.

Since he didn’t know if the rabbit and Theo could eat it, he first grilled only three piranhas in three ways: pepper and salt, salt, and pepper.

“I can eat it if there’s any left,” Sejun thought, excited to finally eat seasoned food.

He wrapped the remaining piranhas in green onion leaves and put them in the fire.

He waited for the grilled fish to be completed. There were many exciting things today.

A little later, when the smell of grilled fish began to spread throughout the cave,

“Let’s eat!” Sejun called the white rabbits.

Squeak!

Squaaa!

The white rabbits answered Sejun’s call and prepared the rest of the meal. The wife rabbit grilled green onions, and the other white rabbits brought sweet potatoes and carrots from the storage.

Crunch.

While the rabbits were eating carrots and waiting for the other food to be completed, Sejun didn’t put anything in his mouth. When you are hungry, the taste buds in your mouth become sensitive. Sejun waited to focus all his taste buds on the seasoned grilled fish.

And then,

“It’s done!”

After a long wait, the grilled fish that Sejun had been waiting for was finally completed. When he removed the green onion leaves covering the piranha, steam rose and the scent of pepper spread.

The first grilled fish taken out was a piranha seasoned only with pepper.

“Hoo,” Sejun inhaled the smell deeply into his nose.

“Well, shall we eat? Do you want to eat too?” Sejun asked, cutting the pepper-seasoned grilled fish little by little and sharing it with the rabbits.

However,

Cough cough.

The white rabbits started coughing because the pepper was spicy.

Squawk!

Fortunately, the black rabbit cheered as if he had found a new world and ate diligently.

And then,

“CEO Theo, would you like to try it?” Sejun asked.

“I refuse, nya. Are you trying to mess with the fish, nya?” Theo said. He was a pure fish lover.

Fortunately, the white rabbits ate the salt-seasoned grilled fish deliciously.

That’s how pepper became a seasoning only for Sejun and the black rabbit.

As soon as lunchtime was over,

Slurp.

Sejun sat in his designated seat where the sun shone and drank coffee.

Except for the carrots that were flowering for seed collection, the carrot harvest was over. There was plenty of time in the afternoon since there was nothing to do besides harvesting cherry tomatoes.

“I’m sleepy, nya…” Theo mumbled.

Squawk…

As if it were natural, Theo and the black rabbit took their places on Sejun’s knees and took a nap.

Purrrr.

Squaaa-rurung.

Soon they fell asleep. Sejun, who couldn’t get up, spent time staring blankly at the sky.

At that time,

Buzz! Buzz!

Three baby poison honeybees, the size of a thumb, that had just been born from the hive, came out for a trip to the world. As flowers bloomed in the newly planted cherry tomato field, the poison honeybee queen began to lay eggs.

Now, 3 to 5 baby poison honeybees were born every day, and the number of poison honeybees had already exceeded 50. To be exact, it was 53.

Whirr.

The poison honeybees began to teach the newly born baby poison honeybees how to work.

Sejun watched the poison honeybees teaching the baby poison honeybees and finished his coffee.

“Now wake up,” Sejun said.

“Just 5 more minutes, nya,” Theo complained.

Squaaa…

Theo and the black rabbit were being cranky.

Grab.

Sejun grabbed the soft scruffs of Theo and the black rabbit and put them down on the ground and got up.

“Now we have to work,” Sejun said.

Sejun went back to the cherry tomato field and harvested cherry tomatoes.

Scratch. Scratch.

“Hum hum hum. It cuts well,” Sejun said, pleased.

How long had it been since Sejun was engrossed in harvesting cherry tomatoes?

“I’m leaving now, nya!” Theo announced.

As soon as Theo filled his bundle with cherry tomatoes, he kept the remaining CEO Theo time and prepared to go down the tower.

Carrots and sweet potatoes were not enough for the rabbits and himself to eat, so he planned to sell them after the next harvest.

“Already? Take this grilled fish with you,” Sejun offered.

“Thank you, nya,” Theo said, carefully putting the grilled fish that Sejun gave him as his weekly wage into his bundle.

“If you stop by the store area, be sure to stop by the blacksmith and pick something from the lucky dip,” Sejun added.

“I understand, nya,” Theo replied.

Sejun also had Theo buy the things he needed from the store this time and do a equipment lucky dip at the blacksmith on the way. He couldn’t let Theo’s talent go to waste.

“I’ll be back, nya,” Theo said.

Theo went down the tower again for his fourth transaction.

After sending Theo off and harvesting cherry tomatoes,

[You have harvested 6 ripe magic cherry tomatoes at the same time.]

[Job experience greatly increases.]

[Proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 3 greatly increases.]

[Due to the effect of Proficiency Increase Lv. 1, the proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 3 increases by an additional 5%.]

[You have gained 90 experience.]

“Huh? 90 experience?” Sejun wondered. It wasn’t the amount of experience you could get from harvesting 6 cherry tomatoes.

Sejun looked at the cherry tomatoes he had harvested. Three were the original cherry tomatoes, but the other three were different.

[Magic Cherry Tomato]

It is a cherry tomato grown inside the tower and has enough nutrition to be delicious.

When consumed, it breaks down 20g of fat in the body and increases magic power by 0.2 for 10 minutes.

The effect can be stacked up to 10 times within an hour.

When consumed by a non-awakened person, it breaks down 20g of fat and gives vitality to the body.

It is even more delicious because it is cultivated by a tower farmer who is just getting the hang of farming.

Grower: Tower Farmer Park Sejun

Expiration date: 60 days

Grade: D

It was a D-grade crop.

The amount of fat breakdown, magic power increase, and expiration date all doubled.

But what caught Sejun’s eye was something else.

“It’s even more delicious?” Sejun wondered.

Sejun immediately put a D-grade magic cherry tomato in his mouth.

Pop.

Splash.

As soon as he chewed the cherry tomato, an even stronger sweet and sour taste swept through his mouth.

“Delicious… Gasp!”

Sejun hurriedly came to his senses and quickly put the D-grade cherry tomatoes separately in his pocket. He didn’t know where the tower manager might be watching, or the black rabbit.

But he was already caught.

Squawk?!

The black rabbit, who had been watching Sejun closely, ran up and shouted, asking what he was eating alone.

Shhh!

Sejun put his index finger to his lips and gently took the black rabbit to the corner of the cave. There were only three D-grade cherry tomatoes, so the other white rabbits might feel sad if they knew.

“We have to eat quietly. Okay? We’re accomplices now,” Sejun said, giving the black rabbit a D-grade cherry tomato.

Squawk!

The black rabbit nodded confidently, promising not to worry.

“Okay,” Sejun said, trusting the black rabbit, and came back and started harvesting cherry tomatoes again.

And after a while,

Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!

The sound of the black rabbit sucking cherry tomato juice echoed in the cave. Sejun thought, ‘Hey! You said not to worry!’

Fortunately, he harvested 10 additional D-grade cherry tomatoes before that, so nothing happened that would make the white rabbits feel sad.

[The tower manager is sad that you didn’t give him any.]

“I was going to give it to you,” Sejun thought.

Day 162 of being stranded. Everyone tasted the special cherry tomatoes without anyone feeling sad.

“Huh?! I feel strangely sad, nya,” Theo said, feeling strangely sad as he went down the tower.