Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 291

“Hoo…”

Merchant Zidin, after listening to the shop owner, immediately went to the Magic Association branch to get it checked for free.

“I should quit being a merchant now.”

Zidin gave a bitter smile as he looked at the palm-sized object in his hand.

He wasn’t hoping for a massive jackpot. He just thought it would be nice to recover the losses from this trading trip…

‘Of all things, it had to be a cursed seed…’

The item Zidin had appraised was a seed from a plant called Shadowblight.

It was named Shadowblight because it attracted all sorts of dark and negative energy as it grew, making its surroundings gloomy and dark.

Because it possessed negative energy, no one consumed it.

Shadowblight used to be a big problem. It even took over a whole floor of the tower! But then, the Black Dragon almost made them disappear completely.

Since then, Shadowblight seeds were treated as plants to be eliminated upon discovery, making them utterly worthless.

‘It’s so useless, it might be easier to just pay someone to get rid of it.’

The mage had earnestly told him to burn it, so Zidin couldn’t just throw away the Shadowblight seed and had been carrying it around like this.

‘Should I ask the blacksmith to burn it?’

Just as Zidin was thinking about heading to the blacksmith,

Whimper… Whimper…

A plaintive whimper came from his feet.

Zidin lowered his head, following the sound.

“Oh? A puppy?”

A navy-blue puppy with a pink tongue sticking out was lying on its back, showing its belly and acting cute.

‘Cute.’

As Zidin crouched down to pet the puppy’s belly,

Snatch.

“Huh?!”

The puppy suddenly stood up, grabbed the Shadowblight seed from his hand, and started running.

“Hey! Put that down!”

Zidin quickly chased after Fenrir to take back the Shadowblight seed.

Whimper! Whimper!

[Yes! I feel energized after eating!]

Fenrir ran, devouring the negative energy contained in the Shadowblight seed.

Thud. Thud.

Feeling energized, strength returned to his legs, allowing him to run more powerfully than before.

“Puppy! That’s dirty!”

Zidin chased after him from behind, but

Whimper?! Whimper!

‘Hmph! You think you can catch me?! I am Fenrir, the first apostle of destruction!’

Fenrir was good at dodging feet. He quickly ran between people’s legs and got away.

Fenrir ran so diligently.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

“···?!”

Suddenly, he was moving fast, but his feet weren’t on the ground.

Whimper?

[Why aren’t my feet touching the ground?]

As the flustered Fenrir tried to figure out why his feet weren’t touching the ground,

Flap. Flap.

He heard a disturbing sound.

Tweet!

[Theo, I caught Whimper!]

Piyot was flying, holding Fenrir with its legs.

Whimper! Whimper?!

‘Ugh… frustrating! To be caught by this tiny thing again?!’

Fenrir was furious about being caught by Piyot again when,

“Whimper, why are you wandering around alone?!”

Piyot flew back to Theo.

Tweet!

[Theo, here!]

As Piyot handed Fenrir over to Theo,

Snatch.

Theo grabbed Fenrir by the back of his neck with his paw.

At that moment,

Thud.

The Shadowblight seed that Fenrir had been holding in his mouth fell to the ground. Unlike its original size, the seed had shrunk to the size of a fingernail. Fenrir had absorbed all the negative energy, causing it to shrink.

“Whimper, what did you pick up and eat? It’s dangerous to eat just anything!”

Theo scolded Fenrir and was about to pick up the seed to examine it when,

“Huff! Huff! Are you… by any chance… the owner of that… puppy…?”

Zidin, who had followed Fenrir, asked Theo, panting.

‘That’s right! What’s wrong?’

“Huff. Huff. That… puppy… took… my… seed…”

His words were quite fragmented due to his breathlessness, but Theo understood the general meaning.

“Whimper, did you even steal? That’s bad!”

Running away from home and stealing. Even if he was his subordinate, Theo couldn’t forgive him.

Pat. Pat.

So, Theo patted Whimper’s bottom with his paw as a scolding. It sounded like a hard hit, but it didn’t actually hurt.

However,

Whimper?! Whimper!

Fenrir cried loudly and dramatically.

It wasn’t an exaggeration.

‘How dare you hit my bottom?! I will repay this humiliation without fail!’

Fenrir cried because he felt so wronged by being hit on the bottom.

“Is it here… Meow?”

After scolding Fenrir, Theo picked up the seed to give it to Zidin but paused.

He was confused at first because Fenrir was there. But when he picked up the seed, he understood. He felt a strange pull from it.

Moreover,

“Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Theo, what’s that?! Can’t you give it to me?!”

“No way, Meow! I have to give it to Chairman Park first, Meow!”

Iona was getting excited looking at the seed. This is definitely an amazing item, Meow!

“I’ll buy this, Meow!”

“Huh?! You want to buy that?!”

“That’s right, Meow! Take this, Meow!”

Theo forcibly handed a money pouch to the flustered Zidin and left.

“Why would he buy that…?”

Zidin looked at Theo, who bought the Shadowblight seed, with a puzzled expression before opening the money pouch.

And then,

“Gasp! How much is all this?!”

He was surprised by the amount of money in the pouch. It contained a whopping 1 billion Tower Coins.

“…I should quit being a merchant now.”

Merchant Zidin, who earned 1000 times the money he lost in his previous trading trip thanks to Theo, decided to become a guild leader with this money.

“Aileen, do you think Kkueng is alright?”

Sejun asked, worrying about Kkueng like a child who has lost their toy.

[Aileen said, ‘Don’t worry. The Tower’s administrator says it’s pointless to worry about others when you’re on Floor 99.’]

“Ah… right.”

Sejun immediately understood Aileen’s words.

“Come to think of it, this isn’t the time to be worrying about Kkueng.”

Kkueng was a ferocious beast with few equals even on Floor 99 of the Tower.

Kkueng is very strong. Sending him to Floor 88 is like letting a big cat loose in a room full of mice.

Talking with Aileen like that, Sejun returned to the farm.

“Huh?! Grape scent?”

The farm was filled with the scent of grapes.

And Sejun discovered grapes heavily laden on Podori’s branches.

[Hey! Eat this and quickly make grapes!]

[Huh?! Eat again?!]

[Shut up and just eat!]

[Yes…]

Fire Spirit pressured Podori to cheer up Sejun, who was worried about Kkueng.

Of course, he was now worried that Kkueng might destroy the ecosystem on Floor 88.

“Wow! I have to pick them all!”

Sejun hurriedly approached Podori.

Tap. Tap.

[You have harvested 15 fragrant grapes full of life.]

[Your job experience has slightly increased.]

[The proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 8 has slightly increased.]

[You have gained 1050 experience.]

Sejun worked hard picking grapes. This helped him forget his worries for a while.

“Oh! Delicious!”

While he was harvesting grapes, even eating some in between,

Tap tap tap.

Hee hee hee. Kkueng!

Sejun thought, “Hehehe. Daddy Kkueng is here!”

Kkueng came running excitedly.

However,

“Kkueng! Where did you go to the 88th floor of the tower without telling me?! Huh?!” Sejun scolded him.

Kkueng wailed, “Kkueng! Kkueng!”

“Daddy is mad at Kkueng! Daddy is mean!”

“What are you crying for?!”

Kkueng cried, “Kkueng! Kkueng!”

“Kkueng went to get Daddy a present! I wanted to prepare a surprise gift and make Daddy happy!”

“What?! A present for me?” Sejun realized why Kkueng had gone down the tower without telling him.

Sejun thought, ‘I made a mistake. I should have asked why he went down the tower first.’

“Kkueng, I’m sorry. I was worried about Kkueng… Daddy got excited.”

Plop.

Kkueng cried, “Kkueng… Kkueng…”

“Daddy is mean… Kkueng likes Daddy…” Kkueng buried his face in Sejun’s lap, bursting with sadness.

Pat. Pat.

Sejun patted Kkueng’s bottom, waiting for him to calm down.

A moment later,

Grumble grumble.

Kkueng’s tummy rumbled loudly – a long, drawn-out growl that shook his whole body. It seemed he hadn’t eaten anything since lunch.

“Kkueng, shall we have dinner?”

Kkueng…?

Kkueng tilted his head slightly at Sejun’s words, hesitating whether to answer or not. Kkueng seemed to still be angry.

Just then,

“We’re having Kkueng’s favorite honey rice cake today, you know?”

Sejun knew just what to say to make Kkueng happy.

Kkueng exclaimed, “Kkueng! Kkueng!”

“Yes! Kkueng is hungry!”

Honey rice cake! Kkueng was disarmed by Sejun’s special move.

Hee hee hee. Kkueng!

Sejun thought, “Hehehe. Kkueng wants to eat honey rice cake quickly!”

Kkueng snuggled into Sejun’s arms and headed to the kitchen.

Munch. Munch.

Lick. Lick.

Hee hee hee.

“Kkueng, is it delicious?” Sejun asked, watching Kkueng take a bite of the rice cake and licking the honey from the jar.

Kkueng exclaimed, “Kkueng! Kkueng!”

“Yes! It’s delicious!” Kkueng answered Sejun’s question with a bright expression.

“Kkueng, from now on, you have to tell me where you’re going before you go anywhere. Got it?”

Kkueng replied, “Kkueng! Kkueng!”

“I understand! I’ll definitely tell you next time!”

“Okay. Here, eat some more.” Sejun took out more rice cakes from his subspace storage.

When the meal was over,

Kkueng said, “Kkueng!”

“Daddy, thank you for the meal!” Kkueng bowed politely to Sejun.

Sejun thought, ‘He’s so cute, even if I am saying so myself.’

“Hehehe. Kkueng, shall we have some grapes for dessert with Daddy?”

Hee hee hee. Kkueng!

“Hehehe. Yes!”

“Let’s do that.”

Sejun sat Kkueng on his lap and ate grapes.

Munch.

Sejun ate grapes with one hand, and scratched Kkueng’s belly with the other hand.

Thump.

Kkueng said, “Kkueng!”

“This is Daddy’s present!” Kkueng took out a glass bottle filled with red liquid from his snack pouch and handed it to Sejun.

“Thank you.”

Sejun thought, ‘Hehehe. What could this be? Something yummy?’

Pop.

Sejun opened the bottle cap with an expectant expression.

And then,

“Ugh!” He quickly closed the lid again. A terrible stench was coming from inside the bottle.

“Um… Kkueng, I think the present got switched?”

Kkueng exclaimed, “Kkueng! Kkueng!”

“That’s the right present! I got it especially for Daddy! Eat it quickly!”

“Okay… okay.” Sejun decided to take a closer look at what it was before eating it.

[Juice of Red Life]

This juice is obtained by squeezing the roots of the Red Rock Corpse Flower with great force.

Increases Stamina and Stamina Potential by 150 upon consumption.

Increases lifespan by 10 years upon consumption.

Has a severe rotting smell.

Usage Restriction: Lv. 60 or higher, Stamina 700 or higher

Expiration Date: 7 days

Grade: SS

‘Ah… so this smell is from squeezing the corpse flower roots.’ Sejun understood why the bottle smelled so bad.

“But increasing lifespan is amazing.”

Kkueng replied, “Kkueng!”

“Kkueng wants Daddy to live a long time!”

“Okay. What’s a rotten smell!”

Gulp. Gulp.

Touched by Kkueng’s words, Sejun boldly gulped down the Juice of Red Life.

However,

‘This won’t do!’ This was truly the worst taste ever. No, beyond just tasting bad, it wouldn’t go down his throat.

“Ugh!” His stomach was upset, and he was even bringing up what he had already eaten.

‘Kkueng, I’m sorry.’

“Ugh…” Just as Sejun couldn’t hold it in and was about to spit out the Juice of Red Life,

“Sejun, I’m here, meow!”

Suddenly, the door burst open and Theo tumbled in, Fenrir wobbling on his back as usual.

Thump.

Theo stuck to Sejun’s face, blocking Sejun’s mouth,

Press.

And pressed on both cheeks.

Gulp.

“…!” At the same time, the Juice of Red Life was swallowed miraculously.

[You have consumed the Juice of Red Life.]

[Stamina and Stamina Potential increase by 150 each.]

[Lifespan increases by 10 years.]

Thanks to that, his lifespan increased by 10 years.

“Phew.” Sejun breathed a sigh of relief for swallowing Kkueng’s gift without spitting it out.

“Meow! Sejun is spitting out food, meow!”

“Kyu-kyu-kyu- that’s not polite!”

Beep!

Squeak!

Instead, he had to endure being misunderstood by the animals for spitting out food.

Hee hee hee.

Munch. Munch.

Only Kkueng, who had blocked his nose with telekinesis in advance, continued to eat grapes deliciously.