Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 411

Neta’s Tiger Clan Territory.

“Plant the sturdy Broadsword Leeks quickly, before the Locusts arrive!”

“Yes!”

“No need to plant them too densely! Space them out about a meter apart!”

Theseus, following Theo’s advice on planting Broadsword Leeks for maximum efficiency, gave instructions to his subordinates. Unlike other tribes, they planted the leeks without any mistakes. Being a slave was lucky in a way.

Just then,

“Lord Theseus! Five hundred thousand Red Locusts are flying this way! They have purple spots on their bodies!” A scout rushed back to report.

“Is that so? Plant these Detoxification Leeks in between, too!” Theseus took out the Detoxification Leeks from the pouch Theo had provided and gave them to his subordinates.

Theo was carefully taking care of his slave, providing Detoxification Leeks in case the Locusts evolved into Purple Locusts.

A short while later.

Flap.

Thud.

The flying Locusts were killed by the Broadsword Leeks, and those that ate the Detoxification Leeks died as the poison took effect.

“Incredible…”

“Indeed! We can deal with Locusts so easily, nya!”

“Nya?”

“I decided to imitate Lord Theo’s way of speaking out of respect, nya!”

“…Alright. I understand.”

While they watched the Locusts eat the leeks, all 500,000 were destroyed. As their numbers decreased, the purple spots disappeared.

“We don’t know when they’ll come again! Move the corpses!”

Theseus, remembering Theo’s advice, cleared away the corpses around the Broadsword Leeks. If the leeks were covered, the Locusts wouldn’t recognize them. He said it was okay to eat the Locust corpses if eaten with Detoxification Leeks.

It was a win-win situation: getting rid of the Locusts and solving the food problem.

“Only good things happen thanks to Lord Theo… nya.” Theseus quietly added ‘nya’ at the end, out of respect for Theo.

***

Black Tower Administrator Zone.

[Time Remaining Until Black Tower Growth: 798 days]

The time remaining until the Black Tower’s growth was shortened by 300 days thanks to Sejun’s new harvest.

“Khee hee hee. As expected, our Sejun is amazing! Ah, the cooking must be done.”

Eileen smiled and opened the pot. “Ugh!” A bad smell came out. Eileen quickly covered her nose.

“I clearly made soup…” There was no soup, just a foul-smelling liquid boiling.

“But it might still taste good!” Eileen bravely dipped a spoon in and took a tiny taste.

“Ptooey!” She immediately spat it out.

“Khing. It’s a failure.” Eileen became sad.

“I should go see our Sejun to change my mood.” Eileen used the crystal ball to find Sejun.

***

Inside the kitchen on the 99th floor of the Black Tower.

“Hum hum hum.” Sejun was humming as he made dinner.

The menu was Budae Jjigae (Korean army stew). There was no ham, but he added a lot of sausage. He added onions, garlic, leeks, and potatoes.

“One spoonful of soybean paste, one spoonful of red pepper paste…” He seasoned it.

The red pepper paste was made from sun-dried chili peppers he had harvested during the Dragons’ Meeting. Finally, he added noodles made by Kueng.

Heh heh heh. They’re healthy noodles. I’m not jealous of ramen fried in oil! I’m not jealous, I tell you! Anyway, that’s how it is.

As the Budae Jjigae began to boil,

“Everyone, let’s eat.” Sejun called his companions.

Before they arrived,

“First, this is for Eileen. Eat up, Eileen.” Sejun put noodles, sausage, and vegetables in a bowl and sent it to Eileen.

[The Tower Administrator says she will enjoy the meal.]

[The Tower Administrator says that your cooking is delicious as always.]

“Okay. Enjoy your meal.”

[The Tower Administrator says she will eat all of this and try harder to practice cooking again.]

“…Alright.”

Don’t try too hard!

While he was talking with Eileen,

“Puhuhu. President Park, where’s my grilled fish, nya?!”

Kueng!

[Smells delicious!]

Hee hee hee. Kking!

[Hee hee. Sausage!]

Theo, Kueng, and Blackie, who had been playing outside, came into the kitchen.

“Here. Grilled fish for Vice President Theo.”

“Puhuhu. Grilled fish with President Park’s sincerity, nya!” Theo sat on Sejun’s lap and began to eat.

“Kueng, eat with a ladle, and Blackie, here.” Sejun put sausage and potatoes in Blackie’s bowl.

Kking?

[Why don’t I have much?]

Blackie looked at Kueng’s huge bowl and then at his own small one, protesting to Sejun.

“You always get greedy and leave everything behind. I’ll give you more if you eat it all.”

Kking!

[Yes!]

Hee hee. I’m not the old core-less Blackie anymore! Now I’m a core-possessing Blackie!

Just as it seemed another glutton was being added to the 99th floor of the tower,

Hee hee hee. Kking! Kking!

[Hee hee. I ate it all! Give me more!]

“…You ate it all?” The Budae Jjigae had disappeared.

Blackie needs time to digest the food and turn it into a core.

Kking?!

[Huh?! Where did it all go?!]

Kueng. Kueng.

[Sorry, Blackie. Kueng ate it all.]

Kueng had eaten it all.

Kking…

[My sausage…]

“Blackie, let’s eat this instead.” Sejun put dried sweet potato in Blackie’s mouth.

Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.

Blackie ate the dried sweet potato as if he had never been sad.

Hee hee. I like dried sweet potato the best!

He preferred dried sweet potato to sausage.

As the meal ended,

“Puhuhu.” Theo rubbed his head against Sejun’s lap and smiled.

Kkirorong.

Blackie slept inside the sling bag that Sejun was wearing.

And

Kkuhehehe.

Kueng stuck his butt to Sejun’s butt and patted his stomach, enjoying the fullness.

While Sejun and his companions enjoyed the post-meal rest,

-Khahaha. Now I only need 500 billion Tower Coins to eat the Golden Samyang Brew.

Kaiser said boastfully, as if for the other dragons to hear. He wanted to show off that he was close to becoming a VVIP member.

-You stingy bastard. We could have gone too…

-That’s right, he’s trying to become a VVIP all by himself…

Ramter and Tier looked at Kaiser resentfully. The Golden Samyang Brew that they had tasted at the Dragons’ Meeting still made their mouths water.

The leaders naturally went to Sejun to buy the Golden Samyang Brew, but Sejun refused because of the quest to give a glass to all the dragons. However, he set one condition: VVIP members can buy one bottle per month.

Because of this, the leaders earned money every day and bought Transcendence Black Beans and Samyang Brew from Sejun to become VVIPs, hoping to drink the Golden Samyang Brew. Kaiser overwhelmingly took the lead by defeating Fenrir’s Thought, which contained 15% of Fenrir’s power.

-Khehehehe. If I buy the Golden Samyang Brew later, I’ll give you each a glass.

-Really?!

-I just recorded that!

-Alright. But why is he like that?

Kaiser asked, looking at Kellion, who was smiling to himself.

-I don’t know.

-He’s been like that since earlier.

-What is it?

Kaiser waved his hand in front of Kellion’s eyes, but

-Ehehehehe.

There was no reaction at all.

***

White Tower Administrator Zone.

“Grandpa! Look at this! I can do this now too!”

“Yes. Our grandson is amazing!” Kellion praised Ajax, who was creating and controlling dozens of light spheres around him.

The light that Ajax was manipulating wasn’t magic, but the light itself. To do that, you have to go through a process called Awakening, which requires familiarity with the attribute and a lot of magic power. Dragons usually Awaken between 1500 and 2000 years old, but Ajax did it at 500.

Even dragons who Awaken quickly do it around 1000 years old, so it’s a really fast speed. The magic power was thanks to eating Elixir-grade cherry tomatoes, and the attribute was thanks to basking in the sun in the Black Tower and the Light-Seeking Seeds, but it wouldn’t have been possible without Ajax’s talent.

That’s right. Ajax was a genius.

“Oh my. Our grandson is doing well!”

Our grandson is a genius!

That’s why Kellion was looking at Ajax with loving eyes.

“Grandpa, I want to go see Sejun hyung now! Unseal me.”

“Alright. Unseal.” When Kellion unsealed Ajax’s abilities, Ajax’s size decreased.

“Ehee hee. I have to brag to hyung! Sejun hyung, summon me!” A moment later, Ajax disappeared.

“Ah. Now that I think about it, if you Awaken, your abilities become about 10 times stronger…” But Sejun has gotten stronger too, so it’ll be alright, right?

“Everyone, our Ajax…” Kellion put his worries aside and began to brag about his grandson to the other dragons.

***

[The White Tower’s slave says to summon him.]

“Ajax?” What’s going on?

“Ajax, summon.” Sejun summoned Ajax.

Then,

Boom.

“Hyung! I’m here!” Ajax appeared, giving off a huge pressure.

“Ugh…” Sejun let out a slight groan.

Kking…?

[What’s going on… ?] Blackie fainted.

“Vice President Theo, please cover Blackie.” Sejun said to Theo, looking at Blackie.

“Understood, nya!” Theo reduced the energy draining towards Sejun and Blackie.

“Ajax, you should have said you got stronger. Blackie fainted.” Sejun scolded Ajax, feeling a little more comfortable. This could have been a disaster for both himself and Blackie.

“Hyung. Sorry…”

“But how did you suddenly get so strong?”

“Hyung! I Awakened! It’s all thanks to hyung!” Ajax, excited again, tried to hug Sejun.

“No!” Sejun quickly raised his hand to stop Ajax. It’s okay to talk like this, but no touching. Contact was another matter. He couldn’t faint again.

“Ajax, but what is Awakening?” Sejun asked, showing his determination not to faint again.

“Ah. Awakening is…” Ajax explained diligently about Awakening so Sejun would know how great it was.

“So, you’re saying that you only get treated like a real Holy Dragon if you Awaken? And your abilities become about 10 times stronger?”

“Yes! Hyung!”

To be exact, Awakening doesn’t increase your stats by 10 times, but you get the Authority: Holy Dragon’s Power, which allows you to use your power with 10 times your stats. So Ajax got stronger, but Sejun’s stats didn’t increase. Too bad.

“Then Ajax Awakening at 500 years old is really amazing, right?”

“Yes! I’m not a real Holy Dragon yet because I’m not 1000 years old. Ehee hee.” Ajax scratched his head, embarrassed by Sejun’s praise.

“But did Eileen Awaken too?” Sejun, suddenly curious, asked Eileen.

[The Tower Administrator says she has not Awakened yet.]

“Is that so?” Then if she Awakens, she’ll become 10 times stronger?

If Eileen gets 10 times stronger here…

Shiver.

Sejun trembled, thinking about Eileen becoming 10 times stronger.