Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 370

Aileen’s Office in the Black Tower.

“Khee hee hee. Delicious.”

Aileen ate a handful of delicious cherry tomatoes. She was taking a break after a long morning. Her job was to watch for danger in the Black Tower, and she used a special Doom-Finding Orb to help her.

Just then,

Oooong.

The crystal ball on her desk vibrated.

“What is it now?”

Aileen quickly swallowed the last of her tomatoes and looked at the ball.

The crystal ball glowed and showed words:

[Important News!]

[Black Tower Farmer, Park Sejun, has defeated the first Calamity Locust in the dimension the Tower protects!]

[This is a Great Achievement!]

[Sejun has now completed three Great Achievements, which helps the Black Tower grow!]

[The Black Tower is getting stronger!]

“Khee hee hee. That’s my Sejun!”

Aileen smiled widely. Things were going so well since Sejun arrived. “I will become a great Black Dragon for Sejun!” she thought. She decided to work even harder.

And then, Aileen started writing another letter. She wanted to make the other young dragons come to the Dragon Market.

-Harkun, dear brother, why haven’t you visited the Dragon Market yet? I invited you! Don’t tell me your parents won’t let you? If so, I would be very disappointed. Are you a weak hatchling who can’t even disobey their parents?!

Aileen laughed as she wrote. She was the youngest of the dragon hatchlings, only 200 years old. She knew her letters would annoy the other young dragons and make them want to prove they were strong. Maybe they would even beg their parents to take them to the Dragon Market!

Another message appeared:

[Reward for Great Achievement!]

[The crops grown by Black Tower Farmer, Park Sejun, can now absorb a tiny bit of doom power.]

[They will turn this doom power into nutrients!]

“Doom into nutrients? That’s interesting,” Sejun thought. “It’s only a little bit, but it’s still good.” He smiled. “I can just plant a lot of crops!”

“Heh heh heh. I did something amazing!” Sejun said, feeling proud. He had defeated the Calamity Locust with green onions!

Just then, he heard a noise.

Clatter?

“[Mr. Sejun?]”

It was the Farming King! He was just a skull, and Yuren was carrying him in a bundle on his back with the other weeping skeletons. When the Farming King woke up, he saw Sejun.

Clatter!

“[Mr. Sejun, it’s me, the Farming King!]” he announced.

The Farming King explained why he was there. “Leia sent me to meet you,” he said. “But these guys…” He gestured with his skull to the weeping skeletons. “…they took all my money and grapeseed oil! Now I have nothing!”

Clatter!

“[Not ‘these guys’! We are the Weeping Skeleton Gang!]” Koto protested.

Clatter! Clatter…

“[And we didn’t ‘take’ it! We used it for a revolution!]” another skeleton added.

“[Yes! To overthrow the bone rank system!]”

But then, Theo spoke up. “Haa! Don’t talk back to Chairman Park, nyaa!”

*Thwack.*

Theo hit the skeletons’ skulls. They had just started to heal from his last hit, and now they shattered again. The Weeping Skeletons went silent.

“But Farming King,” Sejun asked, “can you summon Leia like this, as just a skull?”

Clatter. Clatter.

“[No. I need my whole body to do that,]” the Farming King replied.

“Okay. Then we’ll have to wait,” Sejun said. “But where is the money and grapeseed oil? Theo didn’t bring them back.” Sejun watched as the Farming King’s bones were slowly being put back together. He really wanted that grapeseed oil, as he was almost out.

Clatter…

“[That is…]” The Farming King told Sejun how another gang had stolen his money and oil.

“Haa!” Theo was furious. “They dared to touch Chairman Park’s money, nyaa!”

“It was only 1 million Tower Coins,” Sejun said.

“The amount doesn’t matter, nyaa!” Theo cried. “No one touches Chairman Park’s money except me! Only I, Vice Chairman Theo, am allowed to borrow and… *ahem*… use Chairman Park’s money, nyaa! Stealing it is unforgivable, nyaa!!!”

Theo could never forgive this! “Where were you robbed, nyaa?!” he demanded. He would get Sejun’s money back!

Clatter.

“[In the merchant passage near the 38th floor of the Tower,]” the Farming King remembered.

“The merchant passage near the 38th floor…” Theo thought. “That’s a bit vague, but we have Yuren! He’s like a magnet for trouble! Robbers will come to him!” Theo grinned. He would catch the robbers, make them slaves, and find Sejun’s money and grapeseed oil!

“Chairman Park, I’m going to get your money back, nyaa!” Theo declared. He got ready to leave quickly. The 38th floor was only about two hours away.

“Vice Chairman Theo, please find the grapeseed oil too,” Sejun reminded him.

“I understand, nyaa! Bbyot, Yuren, let’s go, nyaa!” Theo rushed off with Bbyot and Yuren.

Three hours later, Theo returned, panting. “Puhuhoot. Chairman Park, I’m back! I got the money and grapeseed oil, nyaa!”

He had been delayed. It turned out Yuren really was a magnet for trouble! On the way to the 38th floor, Theo had run into not one, but ten gangs of robbers! But Theo, with Bbyot’s help, had defeated them all. And now, he had brought back not only Sejun’s money and oil, but also 100 robbers, all marked as slaves! Yuren’s misfortune was truly amazing.

“Welcome back,” Sejun said. “We were just having dinner.”

Sejun and Fenrir seemed to be alone. But then, sounds came from everywhere:

Bbyak!

“[Delicious!]”

Kkuhehehe. Kkueng!

“[Hehehe. It’s delicious!]”

“Aargh. This is really spicy! But it’s delicious!”

The Black Rabbit, Kkueng, Ajax, and hundreds of blue-backed penguins were all there, enjoying spicy sujebi soup that Sejun had made with freshwater shrimp. They were all invisible thanks to the shrimp’s special power!

“Puhuhoot. I want grilled fish, nyaa!” Theo said, sitting on Sejun’s lap.

“I knew you would,” Sejun chuckled. “I already made some for you. Here.”

“Puhuhoot. Grilled fish made with Chairman Park’s love, nyaa!” Theo happily took the fish and started eating.

“Yuren, would you like some shrimp soup?” Sejun asked. Yuren nodded eagerly. “Bbyot, how about some walnuts?”

Bbyot! Bbyot!

“[Yes! I want some!]”

“Alright. Fenrir, can you crack some walnuts for us?” Sejun asked.

Squeak!

Fenrir wagged his tail and got to work. *Crunch.* He bit down on a walnut and cracked it open. *Crunch. Crunch.* He cracked more and more.

“Here you go, Bbyot,” Sejun said, peeling the nuts and giving them to Bbyot.

Squeak!

Fenrir whined. *’Hey! What about me? I want food too!’*

“Okay, okay, Blackie. Here you go.” Sejun put some grilled fish in Fenrir’s bowl.

Sejun sat down in front of Fenrir, who was happily eating. Then, he quickly scooped the last of the spicy sujebi into his own bowl.

*Slurp.* “Kuh. So refreshing,” Sejun sighed, sweating from the spice. The sujebi was hot and flavorful, with the taste of fresh shrimp.

As Sejun finished eating, a message appeared:

[You have eaten Spicy and Refreshing Freshwater Shrimp Sujebi.]

[Special Effect: Stealth. You will become invisible for 30 minutes.]

Suddenly, Sejun disappeared! He was invisible!

A little while later, Fenrir, his belly full of fish, looked around happily. Kkihihit. Squeak. Squeak. *’Hehe. I’m full. Now I need Daddy to pat my belly.’* He looked for Sejun.

But… Squeak?! *’Where did he go?!’*

*Thump. Thump.* Fenrir started running around, sniffing the ground, trying to find Sejun. Squeak! Squeak?! *’I can definitely smell him! Hey! Where are you?!’*

*Thud.* Fenrir bumped into something soft and round. It was Kkueng’s bottom! Kkueng was also invisible! Fenrir, being very fragile, fainted instantly.

Kkueng? Kkueng!

“[Blackie, what are you doing here? Daddy, Blackie is sleeping here!]” Kkueng picked up the fainted Fenrir and gave him to Sejun, who was still invisible.

“Why is he sleeping here?” Sejun said, pretending to be surprised. He put Fenrir in his sling bag. No one suspected a thing.

After dinner, Sejun said, “Okay, everyone, let’s make salted shrimp! Put the shrimp in jars and add salt.” While they were all busy preparing the shrimp…

-Park Sejun. I am so disappointed…

Leia’s bones were now put back together. Her eyes turned golden, and she looked at Sejun with disappointment.

“Yes? What did I do…?” Sejun asked, confused.

-You built a temple for Pebbles, the God of Gravel, but not for me?

“A temple?” Sejun paused. Ah… she meant the small Pebbles Road he had made. “Oh, that,” he said. “It’s just a road.”

But Leia seemed to think it was a temple. “I wanted to build a temple for you first, Leia,” Sejun said quickly. “But building a temple costs a lot of money, you know.”

-That’s right! Temples are expensive! Leia agreed.

“Yes,” Sejun continued. “But Pebbles threw treasures at me! So I had to build Pebbles’ temple first.”

-I see. Park Sejun. Then I will give you five bottles of the Potion of Harvest to help you build my temple.

“Really?” Sejun’s eyes widened.

-Yes! And… *ahem*… I hope my temple is bigger than Pebbles’ temple. And I hope more people visit it! Leia added, sounding a little demanding.

Ah, she wanted visitors too. Sejun understood. “Of course! I’ll build you a huge temple in a better place than Pebbles’ temple!” Five bottles of Potion of Harvest was worth a lot of money! He could build a nice stone road with Leia’s name on it, in a place where mushroom ants walked by all the time. He would call it Leia Road.

“Ah, Leia,” Sejun asked, “do you have any other gifts, like… like a Golden Box of Abundance?”

-That… is hard right now. I’ll give it to you later. Goodbye… Leia mumbled, trying to leave quickly.

“Oh?! Wait! Aren’t you selling Potion of Harvest today?” Sejun called out. He had a lot of money and wanted to buy more potions.

-…Those five bottles were all I had just now, Leia said sadly.

“Ah…” Sejun felt sorry for Leia. He took out 500 billion Tower Coins and gave them to her. “Here, Leia.”

-Why is this? Leia asked, surprised.

“This is for the temple cost. You can pay me back when you can,” Sejun said kindly.

-Oh! Thank you! Park Sejun. You are very kind! I will repay you, I promise! Leia praised Sejun with all her might and then disappeared.

[Your soul is filled with the praise of Leia, the God of Abundance.]

[Your mental strength has increased by 10.]

“Heh heh heh. Praise is good too,” Sejun thought. “Next time, I’ll try to get praise and treasures!” He put the Potion of Harvest in his subspace warehouse. Then he went outside. “Alright, everyone, let’s go home! Earthworm!” He called Earthworm to take them back to his farm.

Hocus’s Home, the Golden Dragon.

“Eek!” Hocus roared. “A 200-year-old calling *me*, Hocus, a weak hatchling?!” He was lying in a fluffy golden cradle, reading Aileen’s letter. He was furious.

“Hmph! I’ll show her how strong I, Hocus, am!” Hocus jumped out of his cradle.

And then…

“Waaaaah! Mommy-! I want to go to the Black Tower!” He started crying loudly, like a little child.