Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 42

Snip. Snip. The sound of Sejun’s knife filled the afternoon air. He’d eaten Eileen’s soup, a warm, healthy broth that made him feel stronger. He’d even felt himself level up – like getting a burst of energy in a game! He used his new strength to become even faster. Now, his knife flashed through the green onion leaves. He was cutting so quickly, it was almost like his hand was a machine, not flesh and blood.

Because his strength had increased, he started cutting two or three green onion leaves at once. This made the work much faster than it was in the morning.

Snip. Snip.

Squawk! Squawk!

Sejun asked Kkuenge, who was playing nearby, to carry the cut green onion leaves. Of course, Kkuenge wanted something in return: honey.

“Alright, I finished one row. Time for some honey.”

Squawk!

When Sejun said that, Kkuenge quickly grabbed the glass jar of honey and ran to him.

Click.

Sejun opened the jar, and…

Glug.

He poured a bit of honey onto Kkuenge’s paw.

Lick lick.

Kkuenge started licking the honey happily.

Sejun took a short break and looked around, a happy smile on his face.

“It’s really changed a lot.”

Green sprouts were growing from the peanut, corn, and cherry tomato seeds he had planted. The empty land was slowly turning green.

The green onion field was especially impressive. It was so thick and green that it looked like a forest.

As Sejun looked at the growing plants…

Squawk!

Kkuenge, who had finished his honey, called to Sejun, wanting to get back to work quickly.

If people on Earth worked for money, Kkuenge worked for honey. Honey was what made Kkuenge go.

Snip. Snip.

Because Kkuenge wanted more honey, Sejun got up and started cutting green onions again. *Did I ask for trouble?* He thought, glancing back before quickly cutting more onions.

Squaaawk!

Kkuenge, excited about the thought of more honey, picked up the green onion leaves very fast, following Sejun closely.

“Huff huff.”

Sejun took a deep breath, cutting green onions as if Kkuenge was chasing him. Thanks to Kkuenge, he was cutting the green onions twice as fast as he had in the morning.

Lick lick.

Kkuenge still had a lot of energy and happily licked the honey from its paw.

Because of Kkuenge, Sejun finished work early. He used the extra time to plant the rest of the corn and cherry tomato seeds.

Squawk?

Kkuenge stayed near Sejun, wondering if he would get more honey. *Is there anything else to do?*

“You have to do this by yourself.”

Kkuenge…

Hearing Sejun’s words, Kkuenge sat sadly on the ground.

Just then…

Squeak!

The Black Rabbit came to the surface. “Little brother, big brother is here!”

Squawk!

Kkuenge ran to the Black Rabbit. “Play with me, big brother!”

While the two played, Sejun planted seeds carefully.

Plop.

He put the seeds in the holes he made with his dagger and covered them with soil.

As Sejun planted each seed…

[You have planted a magic cherry tomato seed.]

[Because of Seed Sowing Lv. 3, the chance of magic cherry tomato seeds growing has increased.]

[Job experience slightly increases.]

[Proficiency in Seed Sowing Lv. 3 slightly increases.]

[Because of Proficiency Increase Lv. 1, proficiency in Seed Sowing Lv. 3 increases by an additional 5%.]

[Proficiency in Seed Sowing Lv. 3 is full, and the level increases.]

Seed Sowing became level 4. Like when Harvesting reached level 4, Seed Sowing also gained a new effect.

[Job Skill – Seed Sowing Lv. 4]

-Slightly increases the chance of seeds growing.

-Slightly reduces the chance of damage from harmful insects.

“Pests? Bugs?”

Sejun, who had never seen a bug in the tower, was surprised. *What is this feeling? Surely bugs won’t really appear, will they?*

Sejun put his worry aside and planted seeds again.

Theo left Ucheon-sam and Ucheon-sa at the entrance to the 40th floor merchant area and went down to the 38th floor. He wanted all the attention from the humans. *Only I should get attention, nya!*

He knew that hunters might be scared of the big Black Minotaurs instead of being interested in them, so Theo was being careful.

Theo thought that if humans liked him, a cute beast(?), they might also like the Black Minotaurs. He didn’t understand why they liked him.

“I’m here, nya!”

Theo arrived on the 38th floor and told the waiting hunters that he was there.

“Oh! You’re finally here!”

About 100 hunters had been waiting for Theo for days and were happy to see him. After hearing that Theo was late to the trading place last time, they waited patiently this time. Hunters from other guilds even came to buy magic cherry tomatoes, making the crowd even bigger.

*Puhuhut. So many humans have come to trade with me!*

Theo walked confidently, feeling proud. As he walked, the hunters moved aside, making a path for him.

“Today, I will sell 3600 D-grade magic cherry tomatoes in groups of 400, nya!”

Theo stood in the middle of the humans and shouted confidently. Because his luggage space was three times bigger, he could carry 3600 cherry tomatoes, even with one-third of the space filled with green onion leaves.

He had room for about 400 more, but he was saving that space for the crops he needed to deliver to Sejun’s family.

“What?!”

“3600?!”

The hunters were excited by Theo’s announcement. They were happy that he had brought so many because they couldn’t get enough outside the tower.

“120 tower coins for 400!”

As soon as the auction started, the price for 400 D-grade magic cherry tomatoes began at 0.3 tower coins each.

“160 tower coins for 400!”

Thomas, the research team leader from Gagel, raised the price to 0.4 tower coins each, following Michael’s orders.

However…

“170 tower coins for 400!”

“180 tower coins for 400!”

“200 tower coins for 400!”

The hunters were all trading for rich people around the world, and they had a lot of money.

The auction became even more intense, and…

“320 tower coins for 400!”

Thomas, who had to get the cherry tomatoes no matter what, won the first auction at a price of 0.8 tower coins each.

“Yes!”

The other hunters glared at Thomas because he had made the price so high.

The following auctions continued with prices between 0.75 and 0.85 tower coins each. Thomas bought 2000 cherry tomatoes, spending money freely because it wasn’t his own.

“Sold out, nya!”

Thanks to Thomas, who spent company money without worry, Theo had record sales this time: 2870 tower coins! It was a huge amount.

*Park Sejun will praise me, nya!*

Theo felt happy thinking about eating Churu on Sejun’s lap and hearing Sejun say, “You’re the best, CEO Theo!”

“Anyone who wants to take a picture with me, get in line, nya!”

Theo was in a good mood and smiled brightly during the photo time, giving great service to the female hunters.

And…

“Give me rewards, nya!”

He received gifts for his service.

After the photo time…

“Let’s do a human trade, nya.”

Theo called Kim Dong-soo and offered a trade.

“I will!”

Kim Dong-soo, who couldn’t get any cherry tomatoes because of the rich buyers, agreed without even hearing the conditions.

“The conditions are the same as last time, nya. The price is 200 magic cherry tomatoes. Please deliver this to Park Sejun’s family, nya.”

Theo had Kim Dong-soo sign the contract and gave him 50 tower coins, 50 agility carrots, 50 stamina corn, and 50 magic cherry tomatoes.

“This?!”

Kim Dong-soo was very surprised to see the crops Theo gave him. Carrots that increase agility and improve eyesight, and corn that increases stamina and makes skin better!

Kim Dong-soo was shocked because he thought there were only magic cherry tomatoes.

*If this becomes known, there will be a lot of excitement again.*

Kim Dong-soo realized that this was a great opportunity.

“Theo, I will pay 50 tower coins to Sejun’s family every month and deliver the crops without asking for anything in return. In exchange, give me a chance to buy other crops.”

“Nyaa… I’ll think about it and tell you next time, nya.”

Theo decided to ask Sejun before making a decision.

Theo finished Sejun’s task perfectly and returned to the entrance of the 40th floor merchant area, where the Black Minotaurs were waiting.

Crunch crunch.

Ucheon-sam and Ucheon-sa were happily eating green onion leaves and watching the wolves. Whenever the wolves woke up, Ucheon-sam and Ucheon-sa would hit them on the head to knock them out again.

“Let’s go back up now, nya!”

Moo…

Moo…

Ucheon-sam and Ucheon-sa, who only ate one meal a day when they returned, answered sadly and got up slowly.

On the other hand, Theo was very excited about going back to Sejun and jumped up happily.

“Nyang nyang nyang!”

Theo hummed and headed to the 99th floor with two Black Minotaurs and three wolves.

Just then…

Moo?

Ucheon-sam suddenly scratched his head. *I feel like I forgot something?*

*What is Ucheon-sam doing?*

Umawang was angry because he had been waiting for Ucheon-sam without any news.

*Could it be?! Did he go into another monster’s area while looking for grass?*

He worried that Ucheon-sam might have gone to the red fur area or the poison honeybee area to find good grass.

*No. What if he went there?!*

Umawang imagined something terrible. Those places were home to dangerous monsters that wouldn’t even leave a body behind.

*Is it because of my orders?*

Umawang thought that Ucheon-sam might have died because he had asked him to bring grass. He didn’t know that Ucheon-sam was enjoying three meals of grass every day.

Feeling guilty, Umawang decided to find Ucheon-sam’s body himself.

Moo-roar!

Umawang ordered his subordinates to guard the waypoint.

And…

Thud. Thud.

He went to find Ucheon-sam himself.

“Whew.”

It was day 205 of being stuck here. Sejun sighed as he looked at the piles of green onion leaves, each 1 meter high. There were too many.

Every time the green onion roots were divided, they were planted again, making the green onion field bigger and bigger. But there was no one to eat the green onion leaves. He was producing far more than he could use.

“It will get better when Ucheon-sam and Ucheon-sa come back.”

But even then, it would only slow down the rate at which the piles of green onion leaves grew. It was already too much for two Black Minotaurs to handle.

Just then…

Squawk!

Kkuenge jumped into the pile of green onion leaves. He seemed to like how soft they felt.

“If you like them, take some to sleep on.”

Squawk?

Kkuenge asked happily if he could take some for Mom too.

“Sure.”

Just as Mom Crimson Giant Bear and Kkuenge were about to leave with 10 piles of green onion leaves…

Moo-roar!

Thud. Thud.

A Black Minotaur, about the same size as Mom Crimson Giant Bear and with bloodshot eyes, ran wildly towards Sejun’s green onion field.