Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 325

Theo, isn’t there something you’ve forgotten?

High up in the Red Tower, on the dusty 52nd floor, the air was hot and dry.

“Quickly! Spread the pears!” Udon, the dwarf leader, shouted, his voice echoing across the stone floor.

“Yes, Boss!” the dwarves replied, scrambling to obey. They hurried to lay out the pale yellow pears at the edge of the small, sad desert patch on the floor.

From the 53rd floor above, heat shimmered down. It sucked the moisture right out of the plain ‘Strength and Stamina Pears.’ Invisible steam rose, then condensed, and suddenly, a gentle rain began to fall.

Udon watched carefully as the dry, cracked soil of the desert patch darkened with moisture. *It’s working!* he thought with relief. The desert was slowly turning back to green.

“Alright, you lot! When the rain stops, we need to dry these pears again!” Udon told the dwarves, already planning the next step.

As 100,000 pears covered the ground, the sky grew darker.

The desert was extremely dry, so the soil needed a lot of moisture. This meant they had to use even more pears to make it rain.

A little while later,

Swishhhh.

Rain started falling on the dwarves’ heads.

“Waah!”

“It’s rain!”

The dwarves were deeply moved, some cheering, some laughing, and others dancing in the rain.

Udon let the dwarves enjoy the rain for a few moments before saying,

“Quickly, collect the dried pears!”

He told them to gather the pears. They were now called ‘Strength and Stamina Pears’ because all 10 liters of moisture had evaporated.

Even the rain wouldn’t make them wet again.

These pears were entrusted to them by Ramter, the leader of the great Red Dragon. Damaging even one could make Ramter very angry.

So, the dwarves carefully put the deliciously dried pears back into their leather pouches.

Morning on the 99th floor of the Black Tower.

“Uzzzzzaaa!”

Sejun stretched as he came out of his house, having overslept. The 99th floor was different from the Red Tower; it felt cooler and less dusty. Sejun’s house was small but cozy, filled with the scent of herbs and soil.

“Enya nyaaang!”

“Aza zazza!”

Theo and Ajax, on either side of Sejun, also stretched lazily.

Kkuenge!

Kkuenge, who had come to find Sejun, heard the sound and stretched as well.

So, Sejun and his three helpers gathered.

“Alright. Let’s each talk about what we’re doing today,” Sejun said in a serious voice.

“Puhu-hut. This Theo Vice-Chairman will be with Chairman Park’s knees, nyaang!”

Kkuenge!

“[Kkuenge] will look at herbs and eat something delicious, [dayo]!”

“Eehit! I’m going to plant sun-dried chili seeds and eat something delicious!”

Each of them spoke about their plans for the day. There was nothing special. Well, that was to be expected… but…

But…

“I’m going to do something very important today.”

Sejun suddenly stood tall and said something very important.

“Nyaang?! What is it, nyaang?!”

Kkuenge!?

“[What is it, dayo?!]”

“Sejun hyung! Tell only me!”

The three of them looked at Sejun with curious eyes, eager to know what he was planning.

“It’s… sprouting the Flame Beans!”

Sejun, having tried many ways to sprout the Flame Beans without success, was planning to take them to Ramter and ask him to burn them with his fire.

“Puhu-hut. I don’t know what it is, but good luck, nyaang!”

Kkuenge!

“[Daddy, I’m hungry, dayo!]”

“Hyung! I’m going to visit Grandpa.”

Of course, the three of them weren’t very interested. It was only natural. Just hearing about sprouting beans sounded boring.

After eating breakfast, Sejun went to find Ramter with Theo on his leg.

“Ramter-nim, hello. I…”

As Sejun greeted Ramter and was about to talk about his reason for coming,

-Sejun, you’ve come at just the right time. Take this!

Ramter opened a leather pouch and showed him the pears inside. Udon had brought the first batch of 50,000 dried pears.

[Strength and Stamina Pear]

Judging by the name, they seemed to be properly dried.

-Here. This is the payment for helping me dry 500,000 pears as promised.

Ramter handed over a money pouch along with the leather pouch filled with pears. He puffed out his chest with pride as he gave Sejun the payment.

The money pouch contained 50 billion Tower Coins.

100,000 Tower Coins per pear.

The pears weren’t disappearing, and they were becoming even more delicious, so Sejun was getting a great deal.

“Thank you, Ramter-nim.”

-Fwahahaha. Bring them to me again if you get more pears.

“Yes.”

Hehehe. Of course. Sejun replied with a smile.

And then,

“Ramter-nim, would you mind taking a look at this?”

Sejun took out the Flame Beans, his original purpose, and showed them to Ramter. He felt a little disappointed that his friends weren’t as excited about the beans as they were about pears.

-Flame Beans? Why are you showing these to me?

Ramter looked at the Flame Beans, puzzled. *Are you telling me to eat these?*

“No. They won’t sprout, as if they need specific conditions. Could you burn them with your fire, Ramter-nim?”

-Well… there’s no harm in trying. But they might turn to ash, you know?

“It’s okay. I tried burning them with my fire, but they didn’t burn.”

-Is that so? If you say so, Sejun…

Whoosh.

Ramter began to burn the Flame Beans with his fire. Of course, he only used a tiny bit of his power.

Sejun had said he burned them with his fire, but the fire Sejun used was very different from Ramter’s fire. It was like comparing a firefly to the sun.

-Hmm. It’s withstanding it?

Whoosh.

The Flame Beans lived up to their name and withstood Ramter’s fire quite well. ‘Shall we see if it can withstand this much?’

Woooosh.

Ramter slowly began to make the fire hotter. The fire was bright red and crackled loudly.

Woooosh!

The fire grew stronger and stronger.

Then,

Crack.

The Flame Beans cracked a little. It was different from the hardened surface breaking as the tissue burned.

Peek.

A red root came out from the inside.

Pop.

The Flame Beans eagerly took in Ramter’s fire and began to open wide.

“I burned them with fire too…”

Sejun said in a sulky voice as he looked at the sprouted Flame Beans. Now, even beans were ignoring Sejun.

A little while later,

-I think this is enough.

Ramter handed the fully sprouted Flame Beans to Sejun with a triumphant voice. He had a booming laugh as he said, ‘Fwahahaha. This is what I am capable of!’

“Yes. Thank you.”

As Sejun planted the Flame Beans sprouted by Ramter’s fire into the ground,

-…….

Ramter stared blankly at Sejun. He was really looking at the leather pouch filled with pears. *I’m thankful, but isn’t there anything for me?*

“…Ramter-nim, would you like some pear?”

-Ahem. If you’re giving it to me, Sejun, should I try one?

“Yes.”

Scritch. Scritch.

Sejun began to peel the pear while Ramter watched him eagerly.

Then,

-No. What is that sound?

-I wonder what they are cutting?

-It smells like something too?

The dragons, who had been watching nearby, approached, saying awkward things as if they knew nothing. Their greed for the pears was obvious, even though they pretended not to want any.

“Come and eat together.”

-Khahaha. Should we?

At Sejun’s words, the three dragons quickly flew over and

Snatch. Snatch.

began to pick up and eat the pear slices Sejun had cut.

-Delicious.

-As expected of Sejun.

“Fwahaha! Don’t you see? It’s all because of *me* these pears are so tasty!” boomed the red dragon, puffing out his chest.

The blue dragon snorted smoke from his nostrils. “What nonsense! It’s Sejun who grew them! You just happened to be here to eat them!”

Despite their noisy argument, both dragons crunched happily on the juicy pears, their sharp teeth tearing through the sweet fruit.

Soon after finishing the pears, the dragons craved alcohol and went to drink again, taking the 10 peeled pears Sejun had prepared.

Once the dragons disappeared…

Wa-ap.

Sejun also peeled a pear and took a large bite.

Crunch.

The pear made a satisfying crunch as Sejun bit into its white flesh. Sweet juice dripped down his chin. It was delicious.

But something was missing.

‘It’s not cold enough.’

Sejun preferred his pears chilled.

So, he used his magic.

“Ice Cube.”

He froze the pear with ice to make it cold.

Crunch.

He took another bite. “Ahhh. So refreshing. Chilled pears are definitely better.”

Sejun quickly devoured the pear.

[You have consumed a pear of strength and stamina.]

[Strength and stamina increase by 1 each.]

And then, he thought, “I need to finish that quest.”

Sejun sat in the front yard of his house and began harvesting seeds. He had been working hard until bedtime the previous night, and now he only needed to harvest seeds 100,000 more times to complete the job quest.

“I’m finishing the quest today,” Sejun declared.

He steeled himself and began harvesting corn seeds.

Far away, in the Black Tower…

Chirp.

Caw.

Tweet tweet.

The flowers of the giant tree bloomed, and baby birds hatched.

“Take care of the children,” the adult birds chirped, gathering the chicks and taking them to Cove’s capital, Avro.

And then…

[Good job, Fire Sprout. Here, have some nutrients.]

Fire Flower handed a glowing liquid to Fire Sprout, who looked exhausted from hatching birds.

[Thank you, Fire Flower!]

Fire Sprout eagerly gulped down the nutrients. Fire Sprout was working hard to incubate birds in order to help the Cove Kingdom recover its bird population.

The Cove Kingdom was quickly regaining its former prosperity thanks to Fire Sprout’s efforts and Fire Flower’s special nutrients.

[Fire Flower, the nutrients are so delicious!]

Glug. Glug.

Fire Sprout was diligently sucking up the nutrients.

[I’m hungry…]

Before long, Fire Sprout had finished the nutrients and was looking at Fire Flower with pleading eyes.

[That’s right. Our Fire Sprout is eating well. Have some more.]

Fire Flower, thrilled by Fire Sprout’s reaction, excitedly handed more nutrients to Fire Sprout. Podori, a small, scribbling creature, didn’t appreciate the nutrients as much.

‘Our Fire Sprout eats so heartily,’ she thought with satisfaction.

As Fire Flower watched Fire Sprout eat, a stern voice echoed.

[Is that you?! How dare you ignore our Sejun’s fire?!]

[……]

[Hey! I, Podori, the World Tree, am talking to you!]

[……]

Podori was trying to scold a rookie Flame Bean, who couldn’t even speak yet.

Back with Sejun, it was late afternoon.

Thud. Thud.

[You have obtained a corn seed of stamina.]

[Job experience slightly increased.]

[Seed Harvesting skill is improving!]

[You must harvest seeds 892 more times to complete the job quest.]

“It’s almost over now,” Sejun muttered, seeing the few remaining numbers.

And then…

[You have completed the job quest!]

[You have unlocked a new level! You are now level 71!]

[You have acquired 10 million gold coins!]

[All stats increase by 100!]

After completing 1 million seed harvests, the job quest was finally complete.

“Yes! Quest complete!” Sejun shouted with joy. Now he didn’t have to waste any more time harvesting seeds!

“Puhu-hut. Congratulations, Chairman Park!” Theo, the black cat who had been playing on Sejun’s lap all day, congratulated him.

“Yeah. Thanks,” Sejun answered, a little tired.

[You have created a large area of sweet potato fields!]

[You have gained experience!]

[You have created radish fields!]

[You have gained experience!]

Messages appeared, congratulating Sejun on completing the quest. The fields cultivated by the mushroom ant farmers were complete.

“I should go down to the 55th floor of the Tower tomorrow,” Sejun mused.

“Hehehe. If I designate the rabbits as tenant farmers too, the speed of gaining experience will increase even more, right?”

As Sejun was chuckling to himself…

Kkueng!

[Kkuengi brought herbs!]

Kkuengi, a small creature who had been harvesting herbs from the west forest, ran to Sejun.

“Hyung! I planted them all!” Ajax, another small creature, who had planted all the sun peppers, too, reported.

“Good job, you two,” Sejun said, welcoming Kkuengi and Ajax. He then headed to the kitchen to make dinner.

At that moment…

-Ahem.

Tier coughed and approached. Tier thought Theo would have delivered the land document for the 83rd floor of the White Tower to Sejun properly.

But no matter how long he waited, there was no sign of Sejun leaving for the White Tower.

And when Sejun even mentioned going down to the 55th floor of the Tower just now…

‘Theo, that rascal, must have forgotten,’ Tier thought.

Tier was convinced that Theo had forgotten about picking up the land document.

-Ahem. Theo, isn’t there something you’ve forgotten?

So, he subtly asked to help Theo remember, but…

“Tier, I, Vice Chairman Theo, have not forgotten anything!” Theo answered confidently with innocent eyes that said, ‘I don’t know anything.’

‘You stupid cat, you picked up the land document!’ Tier wanted to shout.

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Tier barely held back.

And…

-No. I saw you picking something up while you were walking? Bbyot also saw it, right?

He calmed himself and asked very specifically, also asking Bbyot, who was with him.

However…

Tweet! Tweet!

[No! I don’t know!]

Bbyot was a genius at forgetting.

“Meow! I remember now! Chairman Park, I picked this up!” Fortunately, Theo remembered and took out the land document.

“Oh?! This is the land document for the 83rd floor of the White Tower?!”

“Puhu-hut. I picked it up!”

‘Hoo. That was tough,’ Tier thought, relieved to finally see the land document delivered to Sejun’s hands. He went to drink, needing to relax after the ordeal.