Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 36

After the auction, Theo had a photo session with the female hunters.

However, only four female hunters remained, and only two of them wanted to take a picture with Theo.

In return for the photos, he received three tubes of cat treats and two packets of instant coffee mix.

Theo said sadly, “This time, the photos were not very popular. I only earned two hours for Representative Theo, nyaa.”

He was referring to the tower’s leader.

Kim Dong-shik, who hadn’t been able to join in earlier because there were so many female hunters, stepped forward. “Theo, let’s take a picture together too. My daughter likes cats. I’ll give you this in return.”

He offered red pepper powder.

“What is this, nyaa?” Theo asked.

“Chili powder,” Kim Dong-shik replied.

“Good, nyaa!” Theo exclaimed.

Theo did not know what chili powder was, but he thought, “Park Se-jun will probably like this!”

Click.

Kim Dong-shik coolly took a picture and left.

After the transaction, Theo hurried up the tower. He was eager to claim his spot on Se-jun’s lap and to see his nephews, who would be waiting for their wonderful uncle.

He didn’t know that the little bunnies already considered Se-jun their wonderful uncle.

As Theo was about to step into the shimmering portal of the merchant passage to move from the 40th to the 50th floor, a deep voice stopped him.

“Stop right there.”

Another voice added, “Yes. You’re going to have to help us.”

A third voice chimed in, “If you answer our questions, we won’t hurt you.”

Three shadows fell over Theo. He looked up and gasped.

Giant silver wolves, bigger than any dog he had ever seen, blocked his path. Their fur was the color of moonlight on snow, and their eyes glowed like yellow flames.

“What, nyaa?! I won’t help, nyaa!” Theo exclaimed.

Hearing the request for help, Theo remembered Se-jun’s instructions and tried to ignore them.

However, one of the wolves moved quickly and blocked Theo’s path.

“Where do you think you’re going?” the wolf growled.

“Why… why are you doing this, nyaa? I won’t help, nyaa! Park Se-jun told me not to help, nyaa!” Theo cried, trembling.

The wolf bared its sharp teeth at Theo. “Grrrr. I’ll really do it! Cooperate when we’re asking nicely. What did you do with the straw hat you bought from the blacksmith?”

“Th-that…” Theo stammered, shivering.

Suddenly, a thick cloud of gray smoke exploded outwards, choking the air.

A stench, like rotten eggs and old socks, punched the wolves in the nose.

“Kkk!” one wolf choked.

“Ack!” another exclaimed.

Amidst the chaos, a masked figure grabbed Theo and fled into the merchant passage, escaping the Silver Wolf tribe.

Tap tap tap.

After running with Theo for about 30 minutes, the figure stopped. “Let’s rest for a moment.”

The figure looked at Theo and asked, “Are you unharmed, little one?”

Theo, surprised that the masked figure knew his name, asked warily, “Who are you, nyaa? How do you know my name, nyaa?”

The figure removed his mask. “It’s me, Zelas.”

Meanwhile, far below in the tower, Se-jun was having a very different kind of day…

30 minutes ago, Zelas had been following Theo, hesitating about whether to save him from the Silver Wolf tribe.

Theo had interfered with his mission, but his intentions were good. He wasn’t a bad guy.

Zelas hated Grid. Grid was a bad person. Saving Theo was a good chance for Zelas to cause trouble for Grid and talk to Theo.

He had been wondering how to approach Theo, but thanks to the Silver Wolf tribe, he didn’t need to worry anymore.

So, Zelas set off a stink bomb that wolves hated and saved Theo.

“Zelas! Thank you, nyaa!” Theo exclaimed.

“You saved me last time. So, let’s call it even,” Zelas replied.

“Still, thank you, nyaa,” Theo said.

Theo significantly lowered his guard against Zelas. The two talked and moved to the shopping district together.

After Se-jun fed the Poison Honeybee Queen enough honey, she flapped her wings vigorously, flew up, briefly looked around, and then went back into the hole Se-jun had dug. It seemed she was going to sleep.

“I should go down too,” Se-jun thought.

It was already late afternoon. Se-jun went back down to the cave and planted 400 corn seeds in the field where he had cut down the corn trees.

Originally, he had planned to pull out all the roots of the corn trees and plant them, but the roots were more deeply embedded than he thought and didn’t come out easily, so he just planted the seeds in the empty space next to them.

Squeak!

It was a bit strange to plant in a place where the roots remained, but the Husband Rabbit was giving him farming coaching from the side, so it seemed there would be no problem.

Se-jun, who had planted the corn, covered himself with a blanket and fell asleep.

The next morning, Se-jun woke up to the Baby Bear’s wake-up cry.

Goo-eh!

As soon as he woke up, Se-jun added a stroke to the wall, starting the morning of his 188th day of being stranded.

He went up to the surface without washing his face to check on the Poison Honeybee Queen’s condition, but she was not in the hole.

“Where did she go?” Se-jun wondered.

Se-jun went up to the surface whenever he had a chance to check the hole, but the Poison Honeybee Queen was not seen all day. The honey he had left next to her to eat was still there.

A day passed like that, but the Poison Honeybee Queen did not return.

On the morning of the 189th day of being stranded, Se-jun, who had finished harvesting the cherry tomatoes, took the cut green onion leaves and cherry tomato branches and put his feet on the knots of the rope.

He called out, “Pull!”

Goo! Eh! Goo! Eh!

The Baby Bear pulled Se-jun and the green onion leaves up. Se-jun was covering the field again with green onion leaves and cherry tomato branches to prevent moisture evaporation.

When Se-jun brought up the green onion leaves, the Sickle Rabbit and the A-frame Carrier Rabbit helped Se-jun diligently cover the field with green onion leaves.

When Se-jun, who had finished his work, went back down to the cave to prepare lunch, the Black Rabbit called Se-jun.

Pyak!

“You want to move the piranhas?” Se-jun asked.

Pyak! Pyak!

The Black Rabbit shook its head and pointed to the pond. “There’s a strange guy over there! My hammer doesn’t work on him!”

In the place the Black Rabbit pointed to, a purplish crustacean monster the size of an arm, which had accidentally entered through the pond hole, was leisurely strolling along the bottom of the pond.

“Huh?! That’s?” Se-jun recognized the monster at once.

“How delightful! To see you here!” he thought. It was the one the contestants on ‘Law of the Jungle’ had raved about as being so delicious.

“Black Rabbit, cover me!” Se-jun commanded.

Pyak!

While the Black Rabbit entered the water to prevent the piranhas from approaching, Se-jun carefully approached the crustacean.

He stabbed the crustacean monster’s head at once with Keynes’ training dagger.

[You have defeated a Crayfish.]

[You have gained 30 experience points.]

A new protein source appeared in the pond. Se-jun pulled the hunted crayfish out of the pond.

He stabbed the dagger into its chest again to let the blood drain.

“Jackpot. There were crayfish living underground… Are there any more?” Se-jun wondered.

While draining the crayfish’s blood, Se-jun peered into the pond, looking for more crayfish, but only piranhas were swarming around due to the blood that had flowed out when Se-jun caught the crayfish.

Pyak!

Peep! Peep! Peep!

The Black Rabbit was excitedly hunting piranhas. It seemed the Baby Bear could feast today for lunch.

After draining the crayfish’s blood, Se-jun tightly wrapped it with green onion leaves and put it in the fire.

Today’s lunch is grilled crayfish! As time passed, a delicious smell filled the cave. It was smoky and rich, making Se-jun’s stomach rumble. It smelled like the sea and something sweet, all mixed together.

Squeak!

Pyaa!

Pyak!

Goo-eh!

Even the rabbits and the Baby Bear were excited by the smell of the grilled crayfish.

“Wait,” Se-jun said, calming the excited animals.

He grilled the crayfish a little more over the fire, and then took it out.

When he removed the green onion leaves that had tightly wrapped the crayfish’s body, the crayfish, its shell turned red like a sunset, greeted Se-jun.

“Wow,” Se-jun breathed.

Crack.

Se-jun admired the well-grilled crayfish and folded the body in half, revealing the plump, snow-white flesh.

Goo-eh!

The Baby Bear drooled and got excited at the sight of the crayfish’s flesh.

“He’s going to fall again,” Se-jun muttered.

Se-jun hurriedly cut the crayfish’s flesh and divided it among the rabbits and the Baby Bear. It was enough to fill him up if he ate it alone, but there were many mouths, so everyone only got a piece of flesh.

Se-jun gave everyone a piece of crayfish and picked up the remaining crayfish flesh, biting off only a small piece.

Munch munch.

As soon as he chewed the crayfish’s flesh, a chewy texture and a slight salty and sweet taste dominated his mouth.

Chomp chomp.

The more he chewed the flesh, the sweeter it became.

“So this is what it tastes like,” Se-jun thought.

Now that he had tasted the original flavor of the crayfish, it was time to taste the combined flavor with other parts.

Rub rub.

Se-jun mixed the flesh with the innards in the crayfish’s body and put it in his mouth.

“Mmm,” he hummed.

The innards were said to be delicious, and the flavor of cheese and butter exploded in his mouth.

Pyak?

At Se-jun’s reaction, the Black Rabbit curiously took a small piece of the crayfish’s innards, which looked a bit unpleasant, with its finger and ate it.

Pyak!

Crunch.

The Black Rabbit, fascinated by the taste of the innards, took its carrot and began to dip it in the crayfish’s innards and eat it.

Crunch. Crunch.

The Baby Bear ate the crayfish’s shell, and the grilled crayfish completely disappeared.

“Ah…” Se-jun sighed.

Squeak…

Pyaa…

Pyaak…

Goo-eh…

Everyone smacked their lips, unable to escape the lingering taste of the grilled crayfish with a look full of regret.

Suddenly, a commotion arose in the pond.

Splash! Splash!

“What’s going on?” Se-jun asked.

Se-jun approached the pond. It was a battlefield overflowing with blood. No, it was more like a scene of massacre.

Ten crayfish were mercilessly massacring the piranhas. It seemed that the companions had come to take revenge, following the blood that had flowed out when Se-jun stabbed the crayfish earlier.

“This is a big problem,” Se-jun realized.

There wasn’t enough fire. He couldn’t cook 10 crayfish with the current fire.

“Everyone! Quickly make more fire, and Black Rabbit, bring a long tree and rope!” Se-jun ordered.

“Today is a crayfish party!” he exclaimed.

Pyak?

The Black Rabbit, questioning Se-jun’s instructions, brought a long tree and rope and became excited when it saw the crayfish in the pond.

It ran to the fireplace and made four more fireplaces with the White Rabbits and dried green onion leaves.

Chop. Chop.

In the meantime, Se-jun carved grooves in the tree so that the rope could be hung and connected it to the dagger handle with the rope.

He stabbed the crayfish one by one using the long reach of the tree.

[You have defeated a Crayfish.]

[You have gained 30 experience points.]

When Se-jun caught a crayfish, the Black Rabbit moved it to the fireplace, and the White Rabbits tightly wrapped the crayfish with green onion leaves and put it in the fire.

Whoosh.

The crayfish began to grill deliciously.

[You have defeated a Crayfish.]

[You have gained 30 experience points.]

As Se-jun was pulling up the crayfish he had hunted, he saw a crayfish entering through the pond hole.

The crayfish’s blood had called another crayfish companion again.

“We can fill our bellies with crayfish today?” Se-jun asked, a grin spreading across his face.

Stab. Stab.

Se-jun deliberately stabbed the crayfish’s body several times to spread the blood and lure other crayfish.

That day, Se-jun and the animals hunted 30 crayfish and ate their fill.

Crunch. Crunch.

Of course, the Baby Bear, who was eating the crayfish’s shell, seemed a little short, but even 50 crayfish would not be enough to feed the Baby Bear to its fill.

Se-jun and the rabbits, who had a high-protein meal with crayfish, energetically started their afternoon farming.

As the afternoon farming was coming to an end, the Mama Crimson Giant Bear came to pick up the Baby Bear.

Goo-eh!

“Goodbye,” Se-jun said.

As Se-jun waved goodbye to the Baby Bear and was about to go down to the cave, the Poison Honeybee Queen, who had been away for several days, returned with her tail plump.

Whirr!