Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 281

Sejun and his animal companions finished their breakfast. Moments later, they stepped through the shimmering waypoint portal on the 79th floor and arrived at their destination: the 99th floor of the Black Tower.

“Toryong,” Sejun called out.

-Yes, Master! – Toryong replied instantly.

Sejun nodded to his loyal pet and walked towards the farm area of this floor.

As they entered the farm, the air was filled with the happy barks of Kkueng.

“Kkueng! Kkueng!”

[Mommy Kkueng is home!]

*Tap tap tap!* Kkueng’s little paws padded excitedly as she rushed off to find Pink Fur.

Nearby, around the stone fountain, the deep voices of dragons rumbled in amusement.

-Kahaha! This is truly delicious.

-See? I told you, the Samyangju Sejun makes is the best in the tower!

-Agreed! Absolutely agreed!

“Hello.”

Sejun approached the dragons, who were gathered around the fountain enjoying a drinking party, and greeted them.

-Hey, Sejun, come join us!

-Sejun, would you like a drink?

-About the Samyangju from last time…

Lamter, who had received five bottles of Samyangju (a special drink Sejun makes) for free last time, handed Sejun 100,000 Tower Coins. Lamter was a dragon, and his pride wouldn’t allow him to take such a gift without payment.

“That’s too much.”

-Please, accept this. It’s important to me.

“Okay. Then this is my sincerity.”

Sejun reached into his subspace warehouse and pulled out two sets of 11-flavored Makgeolli (another special drink Sejun makes) and handed them to Lamter.

-No. This is···

Lamter couldn’t refuse because of what he had just said.

-Ahem. Well, I have no choice then.

He pretended to dislike it but took the Makgeolli.

-But what’s going on?

Kaiser asked Sejun, who greeted them but seemed to be waiting for the right moment to say something.

“I have something to tell you three.”

-What is it?

“In the future, I would like to receive dragon blood in exchange for black beans or Samyangju.”

-Dragon blood?!

Gooooooo.

At Sejun’s words, Kaiser raised his voice and gathered his energy.

-Why do you need that?!

-···A mere human···!

Kellion and Lamter also shouted in excitement.

“Uh···.”

Sejun felt a pang of hurt. He thought he was friends with the dragons, but their reaction made him feel small and unimportant.

President Park, I will protect you, meow! Fortunately, Theo was diligently absorbing the dragons’ energy with his energy drain!

‘That’s right. Blood has to be drawn by making wounds on the body…’

He usually gave claws, scales, and teeth without a second thought, so he spoke comfortably, but dragon blood seemed to be crossing the line.

“I’m sorry.”

Sejun started to think he was asking for too much. He quickly apologized.

He thought he had become quite close to the dragons, but their reaction made Sejun a little… no, very upset.

At that moment,

-No. Why are you apologizing, Sejun?! Who is it?! Who made our Sejun apologize?!

Kaiser grabbed Kellion by the collar in anger.

-N-No! It wasn’t me?

-Then was it you?!

-It wasn’t me either!

As Kaiser’s fierce gaze turned from Kellion to him, Lamter quickly shook his head in denial, afraid that he too would be grabbed by the collar.

In fact, Kellion and Lamter were also quite taken aback by Sejun’s apology. Why is he apologizing all of a sudden?

The reason they were excited was not because Sejun crossed the line by asking for dragon blood. It was because the ‘weak’ Sejun asked for dragon blood.

What’s the difference? Dragon blood has the dragon’s power concentrated in it, making it so dangerous that even touching it could annihilate a weak and insignificant being.

In other words, Sejun could die if he touched dragon blood.

‘Dragon blood is too dangerous for you, Sejun!’

‘You’re too weak, you’ll die if you touch our blood. Play with something else!’

‘Where do you think you’re going with that weak Sejun body?!’

That’s why the dragons were excited.

Sejun, who sells them delicious alcohol and black beans needed to fight the Apostles of Destruction, is too precious. They couldn’t let him be in danger.

-But why do you need dragon blood?

Kaiser asked in a soothing voice as his excitement subsided.

“I’m taking the 10th Tower’s trial, and it requires me to collect 1L of dragon blood from the nine dragon races.”

-What?! The 10th Tower?!

-Huh?!

-Eek?!

The dragons were greatly surprised by Sejun’s answer and looked at each other.

They hadn’t found any clues about the 10th Tower… but Sejun was taking the trial of the 10th Tower.

‘Did I do something wrong?’

Sejun watched the dragons, feeling nervous as the atmosphere became unusual.

At that moment,

Tap. Tap.

“Hehe. Don’t be scared, President Park, meow! I, Vice President Theo, am here, meow!”

Theo patted Sejun’s leg with his front paw, comforting him.

“I’m not scared!”

Sejun retorted, feeling like Theo had hit a nerve.

“Yes, you are, meow! I felt President Park’s legs shaking, meow!”

“No! I shook them on purpose!”

“Hehe. President Park is lying, meow! I should tell Kkueng later, meow!”

“Hmph. Our Kkueng trusts his dad more anyway.”

“No, she doesn’t, meow! Kkueng trusts her big brother’s words more···”

The topic of conversation shifted from whether Sejun was scared or not to whom Kkueng trusted more. Thanks to that, Sejun’s tension completely disappeared.

‘If the dragons say anything to me, I’ll have Aileen chase them all away.’

As Sejun steeled his resolve,

-Kahaha. That’s our Sejun! Don’t worry. I’ll squeeze the blood out of the nine dragon races for you.

Kaiser, who had finished talking with Kellion and Lamter about cooperating, shouted loudly. Judging by his attitude, he seemed ready to beat the dragons to get the dragon blood if they refused.

-Sejun, do you just need to collect the dragon blood?

“Yes.”

-I understand.

If he just needed to collect the dragon blood, there was an easy way. Just put the dragon blood in a container that doesn’t let the dragon’s energy leak out.

Well… it would require very strong materials, but the dragon’s body is strong.

Using scales, horns, claws, teeth, and skin as materials, they could create a container that wouldn’t let the dragon blood’s energy leak out.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you.”

After asking the dragons for dragon blood, Sejun briefly stopped by the brewery. He had something to give to the monkeys.

Ooki! Ooki!

“Yes. Are you guys doing well?”

Sejun received the monkeys’ greetings and said,

“Use this when making alcohol.”

He handed the monkeys an unbreakable staff.

The staff’s length could be adjusted freely, making it easy to stir the bottom of the pot, and it was lighter, making it easier to brew alcohol than the Sword of Amplification.

Ooki! Ooki!

The monkeys were grateful for Sejun’s gift.

“Then, keep up the good work.”

Sejun left the brewery and headed to the Fire Flower in the cave. It was to use >Authority: Become Abundant!>.

Sejun had forgotten about the Fire Flower because he had fainted while using his authority on Podori, interrupting the flow. Today, he was going to use his authority on the Fire Flower to make it grow big (?).

‘Fire Flower, wait for me. I’ll make you grow quickly.’

Sejun hurried towards the cave.

“Fire Flower, have you been well?”

[Yes! Master, welcome!]

Sejun went down to the cave and greeted the Fire Flower, who greeted Sejun by shaking its five leaves.

‘It’s because you didn’t eat well when you were young.’

Sejun felt sorry for the Fire Flower, which was still small.

Whenever he saw the small (?) Fire Flower, Sejun felt guilty that he hadn’t taken good care of it.

Of course, it was cute because it was small, but that didn’t mean he could leave it in that state.

“Become abundant.”

[Huh?!]

So Sejun used his authority on the Fire Flower.

Until now, >Authority: Become Abundant!> had the effect of doubling the next harvest when used on a tree.

However, while using his authority on the ground for the germination of the tree that conceives a bird, Sejun realized that he could use his authority differently.

And now, Sejun used his authority with the thought that it would be nice if the Fire Flower’s size doubled.

Of course, Sejun, who thought that the Fire Flower’s size was all he could see, didn’t even take out the Orb of Life.

Just before Sejun was about to have his life force sucked dry,

[>Authority: Become Abundant!> is being applied to the apple tree···]

The message stopped as if it was buffering.

[Podori, why aren’t you eating these days? Huh?!]

[Huh?! I’m eating hard!]

Podori was startled by the Fire Flower’s words and quickly absorbed the nutrient solution he had been nibbling on.

[Yes. You should have eaten like that from the start. Eat more here. You need to become a World Tree quickly.]

The Fire Flower gave three nutrient solutions after eating one.

[Th-Thank you.]

Podori thanked the Fire Flower in a voice that sounded like he was about to cry. It wasn’t out of emotion.

‘Haa. I want to quit being a World Tree.’

If he had known that he had to eat so many nutrient solutions to become a World Tree, he wouldn’t have become a World Tree candidate.

At that moment,

[Huh?!]

[Fire Flower, what’s wrong?]

[It’s an emergency!]

The Fire Flower’s urgent voice disappeared along with the Fire Flower’s gaze that had been watching Podori.

‘Master is in danger!’

When Sejun suddenly used his authority without any preparation,

Snap.

The Fire Flower hurriedly broke off its branch with its five leaves.

It wasn’t a thought-out move, but an instinctive movement to save Sejun. Thanks to this, the range of authority was reduced, reducing Sejun’s life force consumption.

[>Authority: Become Abundant!> is being applied to the apple tree leaf.]

[The apple tree leaf is growing twice as big.]

“Huh?! Fire Flower!”

As the Fire Flower’s branch, which had been lengthening with the message, broke and fell to the ground, Sejun ran to grab the Fire Flower.

At that moment,

Thud.

The Fire Flower landed with a superhero landing, using its four leaves like arms and legs.

“Huh?”

Sejun felt something strange about the Fire Flower’s actions.

However,

[Master···]

The Fire Flower, still not realizing the situation, moved its leaves and stood up. It wanted to die as close to Sejun as possible.

Plod. Plod. Plod.

The Fire Flower, who had never walked in its life, awkwardly started walking towards Sejun, moving the two leaves at the bottom like legs.

Sejun quietly watched the Fire Flower. The superhero landing from earlier was strange. Usually, trees don’t walk when they’re broken.

Also, the Fire Flower’s body felt more alive than precarious.

And he was sure.

‘Our Fire Flower can walk! Fire Flower, cheer up!’

While Sejun was cheering for the Fire Flower’s first steps,

[···?]

The Fire Flower also felt something strange.

Plod. Plod. Plod.

It felt strangely movable, and even though its body was separated, it could still feel the sensations of the other roots.

‘Podori is slacking off again. I need to punish him!’

‘Veronica broke another branch. Haa. She has no farming talent. If she had even 1/100th of our master’s farming skills, it would be easy to teach her.’

Thinking that, the Fire Flower walked towards Sejun with the determination to die by his side.

Plod. Plod. Plod.

Its steps became more and more powerful. The Fire Flower was getting more and more energetic.

And before it knew it, the Fire Flower became accustomed to walking and then,

[Master, I can run!]

Pitter-patter!

It started running around Sejun.

“Fire Flower, are you okay?”

[Yes!]

The Fire Flower realized that it wouldn’t die even if it was separated.

Come to think of it, the Fire Flower was an existence that had surpassed the World Tree. It already had the ability to separate flowers and branches possessed by the corrupted Ents.

It just didn’t know it because no one had taught it.

[Hehet! Master, can I go with you, Master?]

“Of course. Let’s go together from now on.”

“Hehe. I, Vice President Theo, will give you special permission, meow!”

Theo added a word and took credit.

[Thank you!]

The Fire Flower bowed its head to Sejun and Theo, expressing its gratitude.

“Let’s go.”

Sejun extended his palm to the Fire Flower.

[Yes!]

Hop.

The Fire Flower made its leaves like a spring and jumped onto Sejun’s palm.

Day 361 of being stranded. The Fire Flower was able to travel with Sejun.