Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 280

Sejun plucked the last fruit. It was round and smooth, with stripes of red, blue, yellow, and green. They felt warm in his hand, the last of his five new Four-Colored Striped Egg Fruits.

[Elixir: Harvested a Mixed Egg Fruit.]

[Your job experience has slightly increased.]

[Proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 7 has slightly increased.]

[Proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 7 has been filled, and the level increases.]

[You have gained 1000 experience.]

A message appeared, showing that his Harvesting skill had reached level 8.

[You have achieved the feat of creating a new variety in the Tower.]

More messages popped up as he harvested the new fruits.

“How boring,” Sejun said.

Humans get used to things quickly. After picking the new fruits five times, even reading the messages became boring.

“Still, it’s almost over.”

Just then,

[You have achieved the feat of creating 15 new varieties in the Tower.]

[As a reward for the Great Farmer’s achievement, the prestige of the Black Tower increases.]

[As the prestige exceeds a certain level, one additional entrance to the Black Tower is created.]

[The number of Black Tower entrances increases from 103 to 104, and the 104th entrance is created in the safest location.]

A message appeared, saying that the 104th entrance to the Black Tower had been created, following the 102nd entrance for the 11th new variety and the 103rd entrance for the 13th new variety.

And then,

[You have secured 15 new varieties.]

[You have cleared the third trial of the 10th Tower.]

Finally, a message appeared stating that he had cleared the third trial.

Sejun pumped his fist in the air. “Finally done with that!” he thought.

[The final trial of the 10th Tower begins.]

[The final trial of the 10th Tower: The Tower Farmer must get along with all the Dragonkin. That way, you can get help when you need it later. Receive 1L of blood from each of the nine Dragonkin to prove your friendship with the dragons.]

The final trial to prove friendship with the dragons had begun.

“Dragon blood?”

For now, it was as good as getting blood from the Black Dragon, White Dragon, and Red Dragon. It seemed he only needed to find blood from six more dragons.

Sejun, having received the trial, resumed harvesting Egg Fruit.

At that moment,

Grrrrumble.

His stomach clock rang.

“Hehe. Kkuengie is hungry, Daddy.”

Kkueng’s stomach clock.

“Alright. Today’s menu is boiled Egg Fruit!”

“Kkueng!”

[Good!]

Kkueng, who liked all of Sejun’s cooking, raised both front paws and cheered.

“But there’s something we have to do before that. What could it be?” Sejun asked, looking at Kkueng.

“Kkueng?”

[Wash hands?]

“No.”

“Heh heh heh. Theo knows! We need to light a fire!”

“Nope.”

“Meow? That can’t be right, meow!”

(Bat bat. Me! We have to go down from here!)

“That’s right. But you only got half of it right.”

“Hehe. Kkueng knows!” Kkueng said with a bright smile. “It’s a superhero landing!”

“Kkueng!”

[Kkueng first!]

Tap tap tap.

Kkueng quickly ran and jumped to the ground. No!

“Heh heh heh. I’m better at superhero landings, meow!”

Theo, with Iona hanging from his tail, jumped and spun in the air before landing. “No, not like that!” Sejun shouted.

And then,

(Bat bat. I can do it too! Superhero landing!)

“Tweet!”

[I don’t know what it is, but I’ll follow Theo!]

Following behind, the Golden Bat and Piyo jumped down. That’s not it, I tell you!

This was the top of the Tree of Incubation, 100 meters above the ground.

“You need to let me down! You guys!!!”

Sejun shouted at the animals that had jumped down.

With the Authority of the Indestructible Body and Kaiser’s Scales, he wouldn’t die, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt. Jumping from this height would be incredibly painful.

Sejun clung to the rough bark of the Tree of Incubation. It was a long way down. He could see the ground far below, and the wind rustled the leaves above him.

“Fine! I have no choice.”

Sejun clung to the tree and began to climb down diligently.

“Kkueng?”

[Daddy, why aren’t you coming down yet?]

Whoosh.

Kkueng, worried that Sejun was taking too long, used telekinesis to go up and find him. (Kkueng thought: Daddy is slow! Kkueng will help!) He discovered Sejun climbing down the tree and came down with him.

Stella Histron opened her eyes. She was lying on soft grass. Tall trees surrounded her, and the air smelled fresh. “Where am I?” she wondered.

A voice filled with dignity reached Stella, who had regained consciousness.

“Who are you?”

-I am the administrator of the 10th Tower.

“The administrator of the 10th Tower? Then where is this?”

-That’s right. This is the first floor of the 10th Tower.

“Why am I···? Gasp!”

Only then did Stella remember that she had lost consciousness just before being attacked by Halphas, the 2nd Seat of the Apostles of Destruction.

“Thank you for saving me.”

She expressed her gratitude to the administrator of the 10th Tower, who had saved her.

-Hmm, you are awake. It is… fortunate. I have tasks that require doing.

“Work? What is it? You saved my life, so I’ll help with anything.”

-Soon, someone who has passed the trial of the 10th Tower will come. Help that person climb the Tower.

“Yes.”

“Um… when will they come?”

-Well. I’m not sure either.

“Yes…”

Stella had to wait for Sejun without any promise of when he would arrive.

Sejun and the animals walked back to their cooking area after climbing down the tree.

“Alright. Let’s eat, everyone.”

As Sejun made the food and called the animals,

“Kkueng!”

[Looks delicious!]

Kkueng was excited to see the boiled Egg Fruit in the huge pot. Only Kkueng was excited.

“Hey President Park, no grilled fish today, meow?” Theo asked, his whiskers twitching.

(Bat bat. No fruit?)

Regardless of what Sejun was making, Theo and the Golden Bat consistently looked for what they usually ate.

“Oink oink oink. Here you go. You need to eat a lot to become Vice President Theo’s right-hand paw.”

“Tweet!”

[I will enjoy the meal!]

Piyo chirped.

Ioana took out a few peanuts from her peanut pouch and shared them with Bbyot.

In the end, the Egg Fruits were Sejun and Kkueng’s share.

“Here you go.”

Sejun took out grilled fish and fruit from his subspace warehouse and gave them to Theo and the Golden Bat.

“Ioana, Bbyot, here’s a pouch of peanuts for each of you.”

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. Thank you.”

Bbyot!

[Thank you, Sejun! You’re the best!]

He gave Ioana and Bbyot each a pouch full of peanuts.

After taking care of the other animals’ meals, Sejun approached Kkueng, who was eating boiled Egg Fruits.

Kkuhehehe. Kkueng!

[Hehehe. Delicious!]

Next to Kkueng were piles of Egg Fruit peels, and the pot was already about half empty.

Kkueng!

[Papa eats the colorful ones!]

Kkueng offered Sejun the colorful Egg Fruits, giving up the elixirs for Sejun.

“Oh? Thanks.”

Normally, Kkueng would eat all the good stuff himself… Sejun felt uneasy at Kkueng’s behavior. *Is he feeling bitter?* he wondered.

Thud.

Still, to taste it, he cracked a red Egg Fruit on the edge of the pot.

A playful thought of cracking the Egg Fruit on Kkueng’s head briefly crossed his mind, but—

“Kkueng?”

[Is that how you crack Egg Fruits?]

The playfulness quickly disappeared as Sejun imagined Kkueng hitting his own head with the Egg Fruit.

So, restraining his playfulness for survival, Sejun peeled the Egg Fruit.

Pop.

He dipped it in salt, put it in his mouth, and chewed.

Munch munch.

“Mmm.”

The salt was like a burst of sunshine on the plain, nutty taste. Suddenly, the Egg Fruit wasn’t boring anymore! It made Sejun’s mouth water.

Still, the dryness was unavoidable, but Sejun, who had learned to make good coffee after much practice,

Slurp.

Completely overcame the dryness by drinking coffee.

Gulp.

“Ah… good.”

As Sejun swallowed the Egg Fruit with coffee, his face relaxed in contentment.

[Elixir: You have consumed an Egg Fruit of Stamina.]

[Stamina increases by 4.]

A message appeared.

The yellow, red, green, and blue Egg Fruits each increased the corresponding stat by 4, and the assorted Egg Fruit increased all stats by 1.

And

“I see.”

Sejun finally realized why Kkueng had given these to him. The elixir Egg Fruits didn’t taste any different from the regular Egg Fruits.

Because the taste was the same, Kkueng had given the elixirs to Sejun.

‘It’s the taste!’

Thanks to that, Sejun knew for sure why Kkueng had been trying to steal his food until now.

Kkueng wasn’t after the good stuff; he was just trying to eat the tasty stuff.

Item effects and such weren’t important at all. He had completely misunderstood, thinking Kkueng was stealing the good stuff. He was just stealing the tasty stuff…

“Our Kkueng is such a filial son after all.”

While Sejun was coming to a strange conclusion,

Kkueng. Kkueng.

[Kkueng told Papa to eat them. But I want to eat them.]

Kkueng, who had already finished the regular Egg Fruits, began to hesitate whether to touch the colorful Egg Fruits.

“Would our Kkueng like some honey?”

Kkueng!

[I would!]

When offered honey, Kkueng snatched the glass bottle Sejun was holding without a moment’s hesitation.

Kkuhehehe.

Lick. Lick.

The elixir Egg Fruits were already out of Kkueng’s interest.

Munch.

Thanks to that, Sejun was able to eat the elixir Egg Fruits comfortably.

But far away, in the busy cities of Korea, things were not so calm.

Korea Awakened Association.

“Vice President, what should we do?”

“Control all the articles and report to Master after finding him.”

“Yes!”

Cha Si-hyuk, Han Tae-jun’s first disciple and the Vice President, hurriedly gave instructions to his subordinates.

“Of all times, Master has to be away…”

Cha Si-hyuk was overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of three Black Towers in Korea.

If they had just appeared like the two Black Towers that appeared before, he wouldn’t have been this overwhelmed. He would just have to control people’s access.

However, as the fourth Black Tower in Korea appeared at Wangsimni Station in Seongdong-gu, the story completely changed. People were confused and worried.

[You have entered a safe zone where beings of disaster cannot enter.]

That message began to appear to ordinary people and hunters inside the area connected by the four Black Towers.

The area connected by the four Black Towers was designated as a safe zone.

That alone was enough to surprise the world… but as two more Black Towers appeared in Yongsan Park in Yongsan-gu and the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-gu, the safe zone became even larger.

As a result, governments from various countries were applying for talks with the Korean government.

And the Korean government was requesting the Korea Awakened Association to participate in the talks as advisors.

“Vitality.”

Using the Vitality skill from time to time, Sejun ate 59 elixir Egg Fruits, increasing his Strength by 62, Stamina by 62, Agility by 58, and Magic by 54.

“Hehe. Today’s me has far surpassed yesterday’s me.”

As Sejun was eating Egg Fruits and feeling pleased,

“Puhuhut. That was good, nya! Chairman Park’s grilled fish is the best, nya!”

Theo, who had eaten his fill of grilled fish, climbed onto Sejun’s lap and lay on his back.

Stroke. Stroke.

Sejun naturally stroked Theo’s belly.

A little later,

Purrrr.

Theo quickly fell asleep, and

Kkuhehehe.

Kkueng stuck his butt to Sejun’s butt and diligently licked the honey.

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut.”

Curious Ioana, as always wanting to be close to the action, had already taken a spot on Theo’s tail, and

Nod. Nod.

The Golden Bat and Bbyot were sitting by the fire, warming themselves and dozing off.

Such a peaceful atmosphere.

“But why isn’t it recognizing me as the owner of the land?”

Sejun wondered, looking at the tree that was incubating a tall bird. It was because the quest wasn’t completed.

“Isn’t this a sacred tree by now?”

If this isn’t a sacred tree, then this tree will grow even bigger in the future.

“I don’t know how long it will take, so I should go to the 99th floor of the tower tomorrow morning.”

Sejun was planning to get the dragon blood of the three dragons in exchange for black beans or Samyangju on the 99th floor of the tower, and also ask for the dragon blood of other dragons in advance.

It would take time to get the dragon blood of other dragons anyway, so the sooner he told them, the better.

“Kkueng, let’s go to sleep.”

Sejun said, picking up the dozing Golden Bat and Bbyot.

Kkueng!

[Okay!]

Kkueng, who had finished all the honey, grew his body to about 5m.

Snuggle.

He hugged Sejun, put him on his belly, lay down, and fell asleep together.

While everyone was asleep,

-Rustle?

The tree incubating the bird moved its branches and created shade for Sejun and the animals.

Day 360 of being stranded. Another hectic day passed safely.