Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 289

Theo reached the 55th floor. He was on his way to find the rabbit couple, who were founding members of the Cave Farm.

Whimper! Whimper! Fenrir, who was sleeping soundly on Theo’s back and even drooling a little, suddenly cried out.

“Why is Fenrir acting like this all of a sudden, meow?!” Theo was flustered.

Beep. Beep. Coco’s voice sounded in Theo’s head. “[Maybe we should make him sleep first.]”

“Good idea, meow!” Theo agreed.

*Thwack!* Theo gently tapped Fenrir on the back of the head. Fenrir went quiet.

“‘Hey, I’m hungry…'” Fenrir thought weakly before falling into a deep sleep.

Theo, carrying the unconscious Fenrir, moved again.

“Heh-heh. Is the leader rabbit here, meow?” Theo asked Coco, his eyes wide as he looked at the huge carrot field. Carrots of all sizes grew in neat rows, stretching as far as he could see.

Coco answered Theo’s question. Father Rabbit was farming here, growing carrots with his wife and children.

“Meow? But why is the leader rabbit farming when his son is the king, meow?” Theo asked, sounding surprised. All Theo ever did was play and eat!

“It’s because he said he’s more comfortable farming than living comfortably in the palace, so we brought him here.”

“Heh-heh. That’s similar to Chairman Park, meow!” Theo said, thinking of Sejun, who worked hard every day without rest. ‘Suddenly, I miss Chairman Park, meow!’

Just then,

Bbiik!

Bbi!

Bbyai!

Bbyap!

The rabbits heard Theo’s voice and came out in droves to greet him.

“Heh-heh. Hello everyone, meow!” Theo waved and called out to the rabbits. They hopped closer, twitching their noses and looking excited.

And

“I invite you all to Chairman Park’s party, meow!” He invited them to Sejun’s 1st survival anniversary party.

Bbiik!

[Of course, we have to go!]

Bbi!

[Everyone, pack your bags!]

Pat pat pat.

When the leader rabbits said this, the other rabbits quickly hopped away to pack their things.

“Now, let’s go find the Ox King, meow!”

Bbak!

[The Ox King heard about the party and went up to the 99th floor.]

“Then do you know Elka’s location too, meow?”

Bbak! Bbak!

[Yes! Elka is also currently moving to the 99th floor.]

“Heh-heh. Then Chairman Park’s errand is done, meow! Alright! Let’s go to the 75th floor, meow!”

Bbyot!

[Yes!]

From now on, Theo was going to do things that Sejun didn’t order.

“Oof! Huh?” Sejun woke up and looked down at his empty legs.

“What? Theo still isn’t back?” Sejun frowned. ‘I thought he’d be back by morning at the latest…’

“I have a bad feeling. Theo, that rascal, isn’t causing trouble somewhere, is he?” Sejun wasn’t worried *for* Theo, but he was worried about what trouble Theo might be causing.

Suddenly, Sejun jumped out of bed. He quickly scratched another mark on the wall for the date. It was the morning of his 364th day.

When Sejun stepped outside, he stopped in surprise. Podori had grown incredibly big, almost too big to recognize! And the Ents were there too, even though they should have been in the western forest.

Crackle. Crackle.

The Ents were slowly walking around Podori, surrounding him as if protecting him.

“Why are the Ents acting like that?”

[Heh-heh. I guess it’s because they think Podori will become a World Tree.]

When Sejun asked, Fire Stone, who was enjoying the sun outside, answered cheerfully. ‘Finally, Podori is useful!’

But then Sejun thought, ‘It must be sad for Fire Stone to see Podori like this.’ Sejun wondered if Fire Stone was just pretending to be happy.

Fire Stone had once hoped to become the World Tree himself, but that dream was gone now.

‘He’s probably very envious in his heart, right?’

Pat. Pat.

Sejun comforted Fire Stone by stroking his leaves.

[Heh-heh. That feels nice.] Fire Stone seemed to simply enjoy Sejun’s gentle touch.

While Sejun was stroking Fire Stone,

Whirr!

He heard the buzzing of Poison Honeybee wings nearby.

“Huh? What is it?” Looking at the source of the sound,

Buzz!

[Good morning, Sejun!] Nuzzle nuzzle.

The Poison Honeybee Queen, one of the first members of Sejun’s farm, flew up to him and rubbed her body against his face in greeting.

“Yeah. Good morning.” The Poison Honeybee Queen was learning new things from the Poison Honeybee Empress. She had been chosen as one of the bees who might become the next Empress.

Whirr! Whirr!

[Sejun, try this! It’s royal jelly I made as a practice today!] The Poison Honeybee Queen put the black royal jelly she made directly into Sejun’s mouth.

Swoosh.

The royal jelly melted in his mouth like cotton candy, and it smelled sweet like flowers.

Just then,

“…?!” Sejun’s face stiffened.

‘This should be made with honey, but why is it bitter?’ He tasted an unexpected bitterness.

Whirr?!

[Is it delicious?!] The Poison Honeybee Queen looked at him with hope, not knowing about the bitter taste.

He couldn’t spit on a smiling face.

“Yeah… it’s delicious.” Sejun forced a smile, raising the corners of his mouth.

And

[You have consumed roughly made royal jelly.]

[All stats increase by 3.]

[You have consumed bitter medicine.]

[Talent: Good medicine is bitter activates.]

[Health increases by 3.] The message appeared.

‘Health increased by 3?!’

Whirr! Whirr!

[Here’s one more! I’ll make it more delicious next time!]

“Okay,” Sejun said. *Please make it delicious next time,* he thought to himself. He took the black royal jelly from the Poison Honeybee Queen.

Whirr!

[Then I’ll go take a rest!] With that, the Poison Honeybee Queen went into her hive.

*Pat. Pat.* Sejun quickly chewed the blue kudzu root. It tasted bitter at first, but the bad taste soon faded. He needed to get rid of that bitterness!

As the last bit of bad taste went away, Sejun said, “Time to make breakfast. Come on, Firefly.”

[Yes!] Firefly buzzed happily.

Sejun gently placed the small, glowing insect on his shoulder and walked towards the kitchen. The kitchen was small and smelled faintly of sweet herbs.

A moment later,

Kooeng!

“Daddy, Kooeng is hungry!”

Kooeng, awakened from his nap, patted his belly and entered the kitchen.

“Just a moment, wait while eating this.”

Sejun handed Kooeng a black royal jelly, a dark, sticky jelly that smelled very strong. He thought, *He he he. Let’s see how you like this.*

However,

Thump.

Kooeng blocked the black royal jelly with his forepaw. He knew it was bitter, the little rascal.

Kooeng! Kooeng!

“Daddy, Kooeng is really hungry! And a bit grumpy! Don’t tease me with food!”

Kooeng frowned deeply. Playing with food, really?!

“Ah… I’m sorry. I got it mixed up with this one. Wait a moment, I’ll make food quickly.”

Sejun pretended to make a mistake and quickly took out another honey jelly for Kooeng. What terrible acting.

Kooeng…

Kooeng looked at Sejun. He lowered his ears a little. Maybe he was too serious. *Daddy is doing strange things because of Kooeng.*

‘Kooeng will help Daddy!’

So, out of guilt, he decided to help Sejun.

Kooeng! Kooeng!

“Kooeng will help Daddy! Kooeng will set the table!”

“Oh?! Really?! It would be great if Kooeng helped!”

Sejun was so focused on Kooeng’s sudden offer to help that he missed Kooeng’s use of honorifics.

***

Meanwhile, far away on floor 75…

“Puhu-hut. We’ve arrived, Meow!”

Bbyot? Bbyot?

[Theo, why are we here? Are we doing the lottery again?]

“No, Meow! I’m here to hand out Chairman Park’s party invitations, Meow!”

Bbyot? Bbyot?

[Party invitations? Did we have those?]

‘Puhu-hut. I’m going to make them now, Meow!’

Theo replied and entered the general store.

“Give me 1000 sheets of paper, Meow!”

He bought 1000 sheets of paper, about the size of his palm, from the general store owner.

“1000 sheets of paper will be 1 Top Coin.”

1 Top Coin was about 10 won for Theo, but

“Give me a discount, Meow!”

Theo tried to haggle three times. Chairman Park said you have to haggle three times when buying things, Meow!

“Alright. Then I’ll give it to you for 0.7 Top Coins.”

Thanks to that, he was able to buy it for 0.3 Top Coins cheaper.

Theo sat and stamped, stamp, stamp. His paw got a little tired, but he kept going. After a while, a big stack of invitations was ready.

Bbyot?

[Theo, is that the invitation?]

“Puhu-hut. That’s right, Meow! Bbyot, pass me some of these, Meow!”

Bbyot!

[Yes!]

Theo had Bbyot pass him the stamped paper to divide the work, and the invitations were completed faster.

A moment later,

“Puhu-hut. The invitations are complete, Meow!”

Theo completed 1000 invitations and walked proudly to the center of the shopping street.

“Puhu-hut. This place is good, Meow!”

Theo took his place in the center of the street.

Thump.

“I invite you to Chairman Park’s party, Meow!”

Theo handed out invitations to passersby like flyers.

However,

Whoosh. Whoosh.

They avoided the invitations Theo gave them and simply passed by.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

“What, Meow… Why aren’t they accepting Chairman Park’s party invitations, Meow?”

When Theo was frustrated because no one appeared to accept the invitations despite dozens of attempts,

“Theo, what are you doing here?”

Merchant Mimir, who had finished trading and was looking around the shopping street, found Theo.

“Mimir, long time no see, Meow! This body is selling Chairman Park’s 1st anniversary of survival party invitations…”

“You’re selling them?!” Mimir’s eyes widened.

“Meow?! Th-that’s right, Meow!”

Theo, who was about to say, ‘I was just handing them out, Meow,’ quickly changed his words at Mimir’s intense reaction.

“Really?! Theo, I want to buy an invitation! How much is it?!” Mimir grabbed Theo’s arm, speaking very fast.

To be able to attend a party hosted by the Great Black Dragon?! It’s an honor for generations to come!

“Puhu-hut. It’s 1 billion Top Coins per invitation, Meow!”

“Yes! I’ll buy 10!”

Mimir readily paid 10 billion Top Coins and took 10 invitations.

Suddenly, something changed. Mimir offered to *buy* invitations! Just like that, invitations that were free became worth 1 billion Top Coins each.

And

“Hey, what is Merchant Mimir buying?”

“What is she buying?”

The surrounding beings began to show interest and gather.

“Oh?! What’s going on?”

“Let’s go take a look.”

That again drew the attention of passersby,

“What’s happening?”

“They say they’re selling party invitations?”

“Merchant Mimir just bought 10 invitations to the Great Black Dragon’s 1st anniversary party for 10 billion Top Coins!”

“Really?!”

Rumors quickly spread that a party invitation was needed to attend the Great Black Dragon’s 1st anniversary party.

***

West Forest, Floor 99.

Kkuhehehe. Kooeng!

[Hehehe. Something good for Daddy!]

Rustle.

While Kooeng was taking care of the herbs in the kudzu field, searching for herbs to give to Sejun,

Flap. Flap.

(Kooeng, big trouble!)

The Golden Bat hurriedly flew to Kooeng.

Kooeng?! Kooeng?!

[What’s wrong? Is Daddy in danger?!]

Kooeng quickly got up.

(No, Sejun is having a party in two days!)

The Golden Bat, who had overheard the conversation of the Black Minotaurs who had arrived on the 99th floor, replied.

Kooeng?

[What party?]

(A party to celebrate Sejun’s 1st anniversary of survival.)

Sejun hadn’t told them yet because he was planning to keep it small.

However,

Kooeng! Kooeng!

[Then it’s a very important party! Kooeng must prepare a gift for Daddy too!]

Sejun’s 1st anniversary of survival was not an event that Kooeng could lightly pass over. It’s a great miracle that Daddy, who is so weak, has survived for a year!

(What should we prepare?)

Kooeng! Kooeng!

[Kooeng has something in mind! Follow me!]

Tap tap tap.

Kooeng said and started running. He had felt it before, but there was an herb that he hadn’t dug up because it was on a different floor.

Kooeng, who had never gone down the tower unless he was going to find Sejun or was with Sejun, went down the tower for the first time even though Sejun was on the 99th floor.