Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 373

The land around them was dead and ruined. It looked like a painting in dark red and black.

“Phew. I wonder if this will actually work?”

A Red Goblin, with skin the color of rust, looked down at the brown bean in his palm.

The description said it could bring dead land back to life, but he doubted if it could actually do what it said.

“It is what the great Brown Dragon, Grave, commands.”

Oric, the Brown Tower’s farmer, pushed his doubts away and planted the bean in the putrid soil.

And then,

[You have planted a Bean of Intellect.]

[You have unlawfully planted the crops of Park Se-joon, the Black Tower’s farmer who possesses exclusive cultivation rights, without permission.]

[According to the Tower’s laws, Oric, the Brown Tower’s farmer, will be enslaved to Park Se-joon, the Black Tower’s farmer, for the next 100 years.]

A message appeared.

“Sold off? No, that can’t be right… can it?”

Oric stared at the message, the dreadful thought that Grave had sold him into slavery taking root. Grave had ordered him to plant it, after all; it was a reasonable suspicion.

“Grave sold me off….”

Just as Oric was giving in to despair at the thought of Grave’s betrayal,

Wiggle. Wiggle.

The Bean of Intellect, not bothered by the corrupted soil, was already sprouting roots with amazing speed.

[As a reward for the Great Farmer achievement, the ability to borrow stats from subordinate Tower Farmers is enhanced.]

[According to your job trait, you borrow 0.3% of the stats from Ajax, the White Tower’s farmer.]

An increase of 0.1%, from 0.2% to 0.3%.

Not a massive number, but size was relative.

And then,

“Wow. Am I invincible now?”

It was a number so astonishingly large that it made the normally cautious Se-joon say such foolish things.

Despite his newfound confidence, Se-joon had no intention of summoning Oric, the Brown Tower’s farmer.

For Se-joon, whose motto was safety first, doing anything alone was simply out of the question.

“Heh heh heh. My total stats have increased by almost 1000.”

Se-joon checked his stat window, a happy smile on his face, before saying,

“Kkamangi, wake up, you sleepyhead! Guess what? I’m super strong now!”

He scratched the belly of the Fenrir, who was sleeping soundly in his sling bag.

“Kkiiing… Kkiiing… Kkiiing…

‘Quiet… I want to sleep… More belly rubs….’”

Disturbed by Se-joon’s voice, Fenrir whined before drifting back to sleep under Se-joon’s touch.

Just then,

[Your soul is filled with satisfaction at your great growth.]

[Your Spirit has increased by 1.]

A message appeared before Se-joon.

“Eh?”

Why only 1? I’m incredibly satisfied right now!

Se-joon earnestly explained to the message just how satisfied he was, but the message stayed the same.

“Tch. You’re as stubborn as a pumpkin. You don’t understand my heart….”

Se-joon grumbled as he headed to the pumpkin patch.

“Heh heh. Pumpkin, you might be stubborn, but you’re still just a pumpkin!”

He harvested the poison-emitting pumpkins, letting out his frustration. Se-joon was one to hold a grudge.

“Finished.”

Just as he finished harvesting the pumpkins, carefully venting his anger,

The Queen buzzed excitedly, landing on Se-joon’s shoulder and rubbed her body against his cheek.

“Oh, hello. Did you finish your practice well?”

The Queen buzzed excitedly, flying in circles around Se-joon. He understood.

“You finished your practice? And you made something amazing?” he asked.

‘I have a bad feeling about this….’

Se-joon began to feel uneasy as he looked at the Poison Honeybee Queen.

Like a strong denial being a confirmation, the Poison Honeybee Queen’s strong confidence meant it might taste bad.

Unaware of Se-joon’s worry,

The Poison Honeybee Queen showed even stronger confidence. And a special recipe, no less… This was very unsettling.

[The Grand Queen also liked it.]

Fortunately, this time there was a good reason for her confidence.

“Really? Give it to me.”

Se-joon quickly held out his palm when he heard that the Poison Honeybee Grand Queen had also liked it.

The royal jelly made by the Poison Honeybee Grand Queen had always been delicious, so this should be good too.

At Se-joon’s words, the Poison Honeybee Queen took out one golden royal jelly she had hidden in her fluff and placed it on Se-joon’s palm.

[Sweet Golden Royal Jelly]

The color and name were promising.

But Se-joon knew he shouldn’t be too relaxed. Checking the options was essential.

The secret to how Se-joon, as weak as a sunfish, had survived on the 99th floor of this Black Tower, full of powerful beings.

One of them was Se-joon’s cautiousness, testing even a stone bridge before crossing.

Of course, the biggest secret to Se-joon’s survival was luring the strong with food.

“Let’s see.”

Se-joon checked the royal jelly’s options.

[Sweet Golden Royal Jelly]

This is a royal jelly made with the Poison Honeybee Grand Queen’s royal jelly recipe, which the Poison Honeybee Queen improved and made into her own special recipe.

It is sweet because it is made with honey.

Upon consumption, all stats increase by 20.

Upon consumption, a sweet smell will come from your body for 1 hour.

Manufacturer: Poison Honeybee Queen

Expiration Date: 100 years

Grade: A+

Fortunately, the options were good and the taste was good too.

A sweet smell would come from his body for 1 hour, but unlike before, it wasn’t enough to threaten his life now.

“But….”

I never gave her a name. And we’ve been together for so long…

Se-joon felt a pang of guilt as he saw that the manufacturer was simply listed as Poison Honeybee Queen.

And then,

‘What should I name her….’

He hurriedly thought of a name for the Poison Honeybee Queen.

She buzzes, so Buzzing-i.

She’s a poison honeybee, so Poison Bee.

She’s the first poison honeybee, so First Bee.

Se-joon could only come up with terrible names.

After thinking hard about it, he decided on a name for the Poison Honeybee Queen.

“Alright. From now on, your name is Sweetie.”

Honey is sweet, so Sweetie it is.

“Yeah. Did you have a name…?”

Sejun felt awkward. He suddenly realized he hadn’t even asked for the bee’s name yet. Was that why it hadn’t told him?

Whirr! Whirr! Whirr!

“[No! I don’t have a name! I’m so happy to have a name now!]”

Thankfully, the Poison Honeybee Queen, now Dalkomi, seemed to like the name Sejun gave her, and rubbed her body against Sejun’s face.

Sejun chuckled. He knew his ‘Naming Sense’ wasn’t always the best, but Dalkomi seemed happy!

“Heh heh. I really am good at naming things.”

Thanks to this, Sejun, now even more confident, waited for the next opening of Sejun’s Naming Sense.

Whirr.

“[Sejun, I’m going to go to sleep now.]”

As Dalkomi, tired from making royal jelly since morning, entered the hive,

Munch.

Sejun put the royal jelly Dalkomi gave him into his mouth.

“Heh heh heh. Delicious.”

The royal jelly was golden and thick, like melted sunshine. As Sejun put it in his mouth, the fragrant scent of flowers exploded on his tongue, followed by a rich, deep sweetness of honey that coated his mouth.

As the royal jelly melted away,

[You have consumed Dalkomi’s sweet golden royal jelly.]

[All stats increase by 20.]

[Your body will emit a sweet taste and smell for 1 hour.]

The message appeared. Perhaps because he had given her a name, the name of the royal jelly had changed.

“But does my body really smell sweet? I can’t really tell.”

Sejun said, sniffing his own body.

At that moment, Fenrir, who had been sleeping in the sling bag, suddenly opened his eyes.

And

Whine! Whine!

‘It smells sweet! A strong sweet smell!’

Sniffing and following the scent, he climbed onto Sejun’s body and

Lick. Lick. Lick.

Started licking Sejun’s neck enthusiastically.

“Heheheh… Stop licking!”

Sejun quickly pulled Fenrir away because of the ticklishness.

Then,

Lick-lick. Lick-lick.

Fenrir turned his head and aimed for Sejun’s hand, which was holding his neck, with his short tongue. He was very persistent.

“Hey. You’re going to break your neck.”

Sejun, worried that Fenrir would get hurt, had no choice but to offer his hand.

Hee hee hee. Whine! Whine!

‘Hee hee. Sweet! Delicious!’

Fenrir was excited by the sweet taste coming from Sejun’s hand.

“Still, it’s a relief that the others aren’t here. If they were here when that happened… I’m lucky after all.”

As Sejun was thinking while looking at Fenrir,

[You have overcome an unpleasant reality with mental fortitude.]

[Your soul is filled.]

[Your mental strength increases by 3.]

Mental strength increased.

“This is really…”

It was a system he didn’t like from the start.

A little later.

[The sweet taste and smell disappear from your body after 1 hour.]

As the effect of Dalkomi’s sweet golden royal jelly disappeared,

Whine!

‘Salty!’

Fenrir, who had been licking Sejun’s hand, spat out his saliva.

‘Damn blackie bastard.’

He had tolerated his hand being covered in saliva…

Sejun was upset by Fenrir’s actions.

‘Tonight, your dinner will be roasted sweet potato jerky made from Ophelia’s harvested sweet potatoes.’

He decided to take petty revenge with Ophelia’s tasteless crops.

But far away, on another floor of the Black Tower, trouble was brewing.

Black Tower, 3rd floor.

“The accident happened here again?”

Gagel’s Vice President, Michael McLaren, asked as he looked at the experience farm where the accident had occurred.

Having rushed over from Earth after dealing with company matters, his voice was full of annoyance.

“Yes. As you can see…”

His subordinate replied in a barely audible voice.

As his subordinate said, the area was covered in blood, making it clear just by looking. The accident happened in the experience farm. This was an area on the 3rd floor where hunters could fight monsters that looked like giant plants.

The main monster was a mutated cherry tomato. Its head was huge and round, like a giant, pulsing red ball, covered in bumpy skin. Sharp, jagged teeth lined its gaping mouth, and bits of torn cloth hung from its lips.

Recently, these kinds of mutations had been occasionally appearing in the experience farm on the 3rd floor of the tower.

“How many times has this happened already?! I told you to just burn them from a distance!”

“Yes. That’s what we did, but sometimes there are hunters who don’t follow instructions…”

“Annoying… So, have you found out the cause of the mutations?”

“Well… we’ve examined the tissue of the mutations, but they say there’s no difference from other contaminated cherry tomatoes.”

“Haa… I understand. Just burn them all for now and control the area so that no one can get close in the future.”

“Yes! Burn them!”

The subordinates who received Michael’s instructions began to burn the experience farm. The heat was intense, smoke filled the air, and the smell of burning plants stung Michael’s nostrils. The fire crackled and roared as it consumed the mutated cherry tomatoes.

‘Damn it. The board of directors is putting a lot of pressure on me because I haven’t been able to expand the experience farm lately… Should I clear this place out?’

As Michael was thinking about whether to clear out the burning experience farm,

A voice, soft and slithering like smoke, whispered in Michael’s mind. “Do you crave power?”

Michael froze. Power… yes. He was tired of being held back, of the board breathing down his neck. “I need power,” he thought fiercely. “Power that no one can take away.”

The voice chuckled, a low, tempting sound. “Then come and find me.”

“Where are you?” Michael whispered back, his heart starting to race.

“Listen for my voice,” the whisper replied, closer now, like a breath on his ear. “It will guide you.”

He was increasingly drawn to the irresistible voice.

The voice was coming from inside the burning experience farm.

“[Come and get me.]”

“Alright…”

Michael entered the experience farm as the voice instructed.

Michael looked as if he would soon be swallowed by the flames, but a thick, crimson mist, like blood in the air, pushed through the flames and moved towards Michael.

Following the guidance of the red mist, Michael entered the experience farm.

“Is this it?”

He found a black bead lying on the ground. It was perfectly smooth and seemed to hum with a dark energy.

“[Yes. That is me. Pick me up. Then you will have tremendous power that no one can stop!]”

“Tremendous… power…”

Michael muttered in a dazed voice and picked up the bead.

“[Kahaha. You are now the strongest! Together with me, kill the dragon that manages the Black Tower and monopolize the tower!]”

“The strongest… Heh heh heh… Yes… Let’s kill the dragon together.”

Michael’s eyes turned red as he picked up the fragment of Fenrir’s core.

And

Wriggle. Wriggle.

As if sympathizing with Michael’s energy, the contaminated cherry tomatoes all began to transform into mutated forms.

Black Tower, 99th floor.

Before Sejun had dinner,

“Everyone, gather around.”

He called Black Rabbit, Kkueng, Ajax, and Veronica and stood them in front of him. Heh heh heh. Now, now I’ll be safe, right?

“Good. Slave No. 5, summon!”

Sejun summoned Oric, the Brown Tower’s top farmer.

A moment later.

“Kekeke. Master, did you call?”

A goblin with red skin appeared, rubbing his palms together diligently with a sly laugh.