Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 278

Far underground, deep in the cool, dark earth, were the roots of the Mother Tree. The air was thick with the smell of damp soil and something else… something burning.

*Creak… creak…*

The Mother Tree groaned, a slow, painful sound that echoed in the darkness. Millions of red tendrils, thick as snakes and hot as fire, were wrapped tightly around her roots. She pulled and strained, trying to break free.

But the Mother Tree was already weak. Her fight was not strong. The red tendrils held her tight.

*Sizzle. Sizzle.*

The tendrils burned into the Mother Tree’s roots, like hot irons on wood. Fire ate into her, leaving smoking wounds.

*Gulp. Gulp.*

Something was sucking her life away, pulling it through the burning wounds. And at the end of that invisible line, waiting and drinking, was a huge, red Mantis – the Mantis Queen.

The Mantis Queen had wanted the Mother Tree’s power of Incarnation for a long time.

The power of Incarnation was the ability to make anything you wanted appear.

The Mother Tree could make birds come from the flowers she grew, all because of the power of Incarnation.

So, to get this special power, the Mantis Queen used her fire to dry up the water on the 79th floor of the tower, waiting for the Mother Tree to get weak.

And when the Mother Tree’s power faded, she went to the roots, trying to steal the power of Incarnation.

But the Mantis Queen couldn’t get the power of Incarnation for years. She could only take the Mother Tree’s life force.

Even as she was dying, the Mother Tree used her life force to protect the power of Incarnation, holding on.

The Mantis Queen had been making lots of baby Mantises to use up the extra life force she was taking from the Mother Tree.

But this would end soon. The moment the Mantis Queen had waited for was finally here.

The Mother Tree’s life force was almost gone.

When her life force was gone, the power of Incarnation, which the Mother Tree had tried so hard to protect, would be hers.

Just then,

Creak.

The Mother Tree, feeling a little stronger from Sejun and the animals’ healing, started to move her roots.

But the roots were held tightly by millions of red tendrils. She couldn’t move them.

Crack!

The tendrils didn’t loosen. They squeezed even tighter around the Mother Tree’s roots, which were trying to break free with more strength than before.

However,

Creak. Creak.

Knowing that now, while she was being healed, was her last chance to do something, the Mother Tree tried desperately to move her roots again with all her power.

Snap!

Finally, one of the tendrils holding the Mother Tree’s roots broke.

Snap snap snap!

Once one broke, more and more tendrils started to snap.

“Kweeeck?!”

The Mantis Queen realized someone was helping the Mother Tree and got very angry.

And then,

“Kweeeck!”

She ordered all the Mantises to go towards the Mother Tree.

“Kweck!”

Following the Mantis Queen’s order, a million Mantises quickly moved towards the Mother Tree, and

“Kroooh!”

“Kyuooh!”

Kooeng and Iona, ready to fight, flew quickly towards them. They looked scary and dangerous.

A moment later,

“Kyoo-kyoo-kyoo-power of the meteor. Fall upon the enemy. Meteor.”

Boom!

A meteor fell from the sky, and

“Kooeng! Kooeng!”

“[Kooeng is disturbed! Punish them!]”

Boom!

A giant club swung from right to left,

Kweck-kodak.

Destroying the million Mantises.

[Guardian Iona has defeated a male Mantis.]

[Guardian Iona has gained 1000 experience points, 50% of the experience acquired.]

[Herbalist Kooeng has defeated a female Mantis.]

[Herbalist Kooeng has gained 2500 experience points, 50% of the experience acquired.]

…

..

.

[Leveled up.]

[Acquired 1 bonus stat.]

[Leveled up.]

[Acquired 1 bonus stat.]

Sejun leveled up twice because they got so much experience.

[Quest has been generated.]

[Job Quest: Collect Many Precious Seeds.]

Use the Seed Harvesting skill 1 million times (0/1,000,000)

Reward: Level 71 Unlocked, 10 million Tower Coins, All Stats +100

When he reached level 70, a job quest appeared to reach level 71.

He had to use the Seed Harvesting skill 1 million times. After using the Harvesting skill 100,000 times and planting 10 million seeds, this was the third grind quest in a row.

But the reward of increasing all stats by 100 was very good.

“Harvesting seeds a million times? Well… I’ll get it done quickly if I do it.”

Sejun looked at the quest and felt ready to do it. This was the right amount of excitement.

If he got too excited at the start, he would lose interest later.

“And now is not the time to be thinking about other things.”

Tap.

[Farmer’s Warm Touch Lv. 7 is activated.]

[The damaged roots of the Mother Tree are slightly healed while the touch is maintained.]

Sejun put his hand on the Mother Tree and started healing her again.

A moment later,

“Hmm hmm hmm.”

As Sejun hummed while healing the Mother Tree,

Press. Press.

“Meow meow meow.”

Theo naturally rubbed the Mother Tree, pressed his bottom against Sejun’s leg, and hummed along.

(Bat bat.)

Tweet. Tweet.

The Golden Bat and Bbyot climbed onto Sejun’s shoulders and sang along.

The Golden Bat sang a song to heal the Mother Tree, and Bbyot sang a song to cheer everyone on.

And then,

“Kooeng…”

“[Sleepy…]”.

“Kyoo-kyoo-sleepy.”

Kooeng and Iona, who had come back after defeating the Mantises, went to their spots and started to sleep. Kooeng in Sejun’s arms, Iona on Theo’s tail.

Kkulorong.

Kyulorong.

Soon, they could even hear them snoring.

Hmm. Bat. Kkulorong. Yot. Meow meow. Kyulorong. Bat. Bbi. Rong.

The different sounds made a nice music. The music was so pleasant, Sejun and the animals kept singing without thinking.

As Sejun hummed and focused on healing the Mother Tree,

[The Mother Tree has moved its roots and completely broken free from whatever was taking her life force.]

A message appeared, saying that the Mother Tree’s roots had completely broken free from something harmful.

“When Kooeng wakes up, I should tell him to deal with whatever’s underground with Toryong.”

With Kooeng, who was good at digging, and Toryong together, they would quickly find whatever was hurting the Mother Tree.

Just then,

Rumble.

The ground shook, and something started to rise from the earth.

However,

“President Park, it’s dangerous, meow! Nya nya nya! Nya nya nya!”

Before it could even rise from the ground, Theo’s Meow Meow Storm Fist, who was healing but also protecting Sejun, took care of it.

[Guardian Theo has defeated Mantis Queen, Flame Itra.]

[Guardian Theo has gained 50 million experience points, 50% of the experience acquired.]

Of course, he didn’t get any experience because of the job quest.

‘Too bad…’

Sejun felt sad.

“Puhuhu. Vice President Theo protected President Park, meow!”

Theo spread his toes, made a V sign, and bragged.

“That’s not true! I’ve gotten stronger too, so I could have won this time!”

Sejun argued, feeling like it wasn’t fair.

“It’s not true, meow! President Park is too weak and couldn’t have won, meow!”

Theo replied as if he couldn’t lose. Praise me quickly, meow!

“That’s not true!”

“It is true, meow!”

As Sejun and Theo argued,

-Tower Farmer.

Someone called out to Sejun.

“Huh?”

Sejun looked around, but he couldn’t find who was talking to him.

Just then,

Vibrating.

-Tower Farmer. It is I. The Mother Tree.

The Mother Tree spoke to Sejun again, shaking her thin, weak branches.

“Ah. It was the Mother Tree? How’s your body?”

Now that they could talk, Sejun asked if his healing was helping.

-Tower Farmer. You may stop healing me.

“Huh?! Why? You still need a lot of healing, right?”

-I have lived my life and will die soon. Please, take this child instead.

“Child?”

Sejun wondered.

[Quest has been generated.]

[Quest: Plant the Mother Tree Seed in the farm and raise it into a mature tree.]

Reward: Acknowledgment as the rightful owner of the land deed.

The land deed quest appeared.

And he understood what the Mother Tree meant by “child.”

While Sejun checked the quest, a bright flower bud, which looked strange on the weak branches, formed in front of Sejun.

The Mother Tree, who had her life force stolen by the Mantis Queen, was using her last bit of life to bloom her last flower in front of Sejun.

Rustle.

The bud opened, and a white flower with a fist-sized, light green seed inside bloomed.

“”.”

The flower that the Mother Tree had bloomed was so beautiful that he couldn’t look away. It was more beautiful than any flower he had ever seen.

Maybe it felt even sadder because he knew the beautiful flower would die soon.

“Is this the child you were talking about?”

-Yes.

Just as Sejun was about to pick the light green seed from the Mother Tree’s flower,

“Mother!”

Prana, the Queen of the Cove Kingdom, led all the birds of the Cove Kingdom towards the Mother Tree.

As soon as he saw the Mantis coming, Louis told Prana, and Prana led all the birds to protect the Mother Tree.

-It’s a relief. I have time to say goodbye like this.

“What? Mother, goodbye?!”

-Prana, my daughter. I will not live much longer. But a new Mother Tree will grow from this seed.

“Mother…”

-Prana, help this Tower Farmer so that the tree can grow well.

“Yes, Mother.”

After talking with Prana, the Mother Tree said,

-Tower Farmer. I give my remaining children to you.

The Mother Tree asked Sejun to take care of the seed and the birds she had made.

“Yes. Rest in peace.”

-Thank you.

The Mother Tree, happy that Sejun would take care of her children, died after living for hundreds of years.

Thud.

The light green seed fell from the flower, and the white petals fell.

-I wasn’t lonely thanks to you all.

Those were the Mother Tree’s last words.

The Mother Tree had been lonely, standing in one place for a long time. She had accidentally gotten the power of Incarnation, and after that, she was not lonely because she made birds.

“Mother, rest in peace.”

Karuk…

Chirr…

Cuckoo…

Tweet…

The Mother Tree was able to die peacefully, surrounded by the many birds she had made.

Rustle.

The trees fell and turned to dust because they were not strong enough to hold their weight.

“Sejun-nim, I give you the Mother Tree’s seed. We will have the funeral for Mother and come back soon.”

Prana gave Sejun the Mother Tree’s seed and started getting ready for the funeral.

As Sejun was about to find the Mother Tree’s seed in the dust,

“President Park, it’s here, meow!”

Theo, who had taken the Mother Tree’s seed before the dust covered it, gave the seed to Sejun.

Actually, he didn’t take it. He just picked up the seed that had rolled in front of him.

And then,

“Receive this too, meow!”

This time, Theo gave him a red bead.

“What’s this… Huh?! Theo, why are you so dirty?”

Sejun took the red bead and then noticed Theo was covered in dirt and dust.

“Puhuhu. I tried to find something good to give to President Park, meow! So, pet me quickly, meow!”

Theo ran towards Sejun’s face with the Mother Tree’s seed and the red bead in his hands.

“Hey! Ptooey! Ptooey!”

Fur and dust went right into Sejun’s mouth, and he yelled in surprise and annoyance.

But Sejun was smiling a little.

He knew that Theo hated baths but took good care of himself, and he had gotten dirty for him. That made him feel good.

‘Hehe. I’ll let it go this time.’

‘Puhuhu. President Park is in a good mood, meow! I can ask for more, meow!’

They were both smiling as they looked at each other.