Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 45

Sejun’s dinner was delayed because Theo arrived with some wolves.

“Theo, why did you bring these wolves?” Sejun asked.

“I’m going to make these wolves pay for trying to hurt me, nya!” Theo declared. “But I don’t know how much to charge, nya! Chairman Park should decide, nya!”

Theo pulled out a contract with the wolves’ paw prints on it and gave it to Sejun.

“Ah. That’s not difficult,” Sejun said.

Sejun quickly wrote down how much Theo would get on the contract. “10,000 coins,” he wrote. These coins were very valuable in their world.

“Oh! Is my life worth that much, nya?!” Theo was touched. He couldn’t believe Sejun thought his life was worth so much.

“Of course. You’re CEO Theo, in charge of our farm’s distribution.”

Theo thought, ‘Puhu! Just as I thought, Park Sejun can’t live without me, nya!’

Theo heard Sejun’s words and quickly looked in his bag. His time as CEO was almost over, in about a month.

Plop! The money he had earned, the glass bottles Sejun had asked for, the seasoning he got from taking pictures, and the coffee mixes all fell out of the bag. This time, he had taken enough pictures to last about 30 hours.

“…2870 coins?”

“How many more hours do I get as CEO, nya?” Theo asked Sejun, sounding eager. He was expecting a lot, since he had the best sales record ever.

“There won’t be any more extra CEO time,” Sejun said.

“What do you mean, nya?!” Theo’s ears flattened against his head. He froze, his eyes wide. Sejun wasn’t giving him more CEO tickets?

“Are you trying to kick me out, nya?! Chairman Park, that’s so mean, nya! I work really hard, nya!” Theo cried out, his voice full of sadness. He hugged Sejun’s leg tightly. Kick him out? Where would he go? He needed to be near Sejun’s knees!

He couldn’t imagine life without Sejun’s farm. He’d just be a lonely cat merchant again, wandering with no place to belong. The thought made him feel empty inside.

Nya-bleak. Theo’s ears drooped even further, showing his disappointment.

But… Theo had misunderstood.

“What are you talking about?” Sejun asked. “Why would I kick out a good merchant like you, Theo? I mean that you’ll be CEO all the time from now on, so you don’t need CEO tickets anymore.”

“…!”

“I’m making you the official head of distribution for our farm, Theo. Here’s a bonus,” Sejun said, handing Theo 145 coins.

“Th-thank you, nya! I’ll work even harder, nya!” Theo cried, wiping his tears on Sejun’s leg.

“And to celebrate CEO Theo’s promotion, I’ll make you President Theo for a day today.”

“President… President Theo?! That sounds amazing, nya!!!” Theo had just become CEO, but he already wanted to be President.

‘I will become President Theo, nya!’ Theo, the ambitious cat, was already aiming for higher positions after being promoted to CEO.

“But what’s that smell, nya? It smells delicious, nya!” Theo, dreaming of power, sniffed the air. He loved fish, so he couldn’t miss the smell of grilled eel.

“Let’s finish this tomorrow and eat dinner first,” Sejun said. He was hungry since he hadn’t eaten yet. Sejun tied the wolves’ paws together with leek leaf ropes.

“Tell Ucheon-sam and Ucheon-sa not to go back today and to watch the wolves. I’ll give them midnight snacks and breakfast tomorrow.”

Sejun wanted them to stay so they could go with him to get something from Umawang tomorrow.

“Understood, nya! Leave it to President Theo, nya!” Theo told the Black Minotaurs in a loud voice.

Moo! Moo! Ucheon-sam and Ucheon-sa happily accepted Sejun’s offer. They didn’t want to refuse free food.

“Good. Now, let’s eat. You guys can eat the leek leaves in the field,” Sejun said.

Moo. Moo. Ucheon-sam and Ucheon-sa carried the wolves to the leek field, a patch of green leaves swaying gently in the cave’s breeze. Sejun and Theo went down to the cave for dinner.

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak! The rabbits had been waiting for Sejun and wanted to eat.

“Sorry. Did you wait long? Let’s eat the detoxifying leeks first,” Sejun said.

Crunch crunch. Sejun, Theo, and the rabbits each ate a piece of leek. There might still be poison in the eel.

“Did everyone eat? Then, let’s eat,” Sejun said. The rabbits quickly started eating the eel.

“Theo, wait a minute,” Sejun said, putting a piece of eel on the fire for Theo.

“Understood, nya. Sss. I can wait, nya!” Theo said, watching the eel cook. He wiped the drool from his mouth.

Sejun ate a piece of leek and picked up a piece of grilled eel with salt. The skin was crispy, and the flesh was golden-brown.

“It’s cooked perfectly,” Sejun said, putting the eel in his mouth.

[You have eaten the flesh of a poisoned giant electric eel.]

[A trace amount of poison remains in the flesh of the giant electric eel.]

[You are poisoned with E-grade paralysis poison.]

[Detoxified.]

[You are poisoned with E-grade acidic poison.]

[Detoxified.]

E-grade?

Sejun had eaten the D+ grade leek and felt relieved after seeing the messages. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the taste of the eel.

Crunch. The eel’s skin crunched, and the salt made his tongue tingle. The eel swam between Sejun’s teeth, making it chewy.

Munch munch. The more he chewed, the more the eel’s flavor filled his mouth.

Swish. Sejun quickly grabbed another piece of eel and ate it. He didn’t want to stop eating the tasty eel.

While cooking Theo’s eel, Sejun ate salted eel. Theo’s eel was finally ready.

“Here, enjoy your meal,” Sejun said.

“I will, nya! Hooo! Hooo!” Theo blew on the eel to cool it down. It would take a while for Theo to eat it with his cat tongue.

Meanwhile…

Sprinkle sprinkle. Sejun sprinkled pepper on the eel he was going to eat. The salted eel was good, but Sejun needed pepper to make it less greasy.

Sejun and the animals ate all the grilled eel they wanted.

“Ah, I can’t eat anymore…”

“Mmm, so full…”

Squeak…

Bbaa…

Bbaak…

Everyone’s lips were shiny with oil from the eel they ate.

“Let’s have dessert.”

To soothe their greasy stomachs, they ate sweet and sour cherry tomatoes for dessert. Feeling very relaxed and full, they went to bed.

Smack. Smack.

The sounds of the rabbits licking the oily fur around their mouths and Theo’s happy purring could be heard for a long time that night.

Elka woke up. He had fainted many times before. He opened his eyes quietly.

“……”

Tinkle.

Tinkle.

He saw two Black Minotaurs dozing off in front of him.

‘I have to escape now!’

Chew chew.

Elka carefully chewed through the rope binding his feet.

And just as he was about to wake his companions and flee,

Kroooooh!

Suddenly, a huge shadow fell over them.

The next morning.

Kroooooh!

Yelp!

Yipe yipe!

The roar of the mother Crimson Giant Bear and the yelping of the wolves woke Sejun.

“What’s going on?”

Sejun quickly went above ground, and there,

Croooooh.

The mother Crimson Giant Bear was holding down two wolves with her front paws.

Kkweheng!

One of them, Kkweheng, was riding on the wolf’s back, strangling its neck. The mother and son were showing off their strength!

“What is all this?”

Moo…

Moo…

Woo Cheonsam and Woo Cheonsa approached, scratching their heads.

“I dozed off for a moment, nya.”

Theo, clinging to Sejun’s knee, replied. It seemed that while they were asleep, the wolves had cut the ropes and tried to escape, only to be caught by the Crimson Giant Bear mother and son.

Kkweheng?!

Kkweheng looked at the wolves, drooling. Can I eat them?!

“No.”

They needed to get the price of Theo’s life from the wolves.

Kkweheng…

Kkweheng was greatly disappointed when Sejun told him not to eat the prey he had hunted. I caught it, though…

“Instead, Kkweheng, let’s eat grilled eel.”

Kkweheng!

At Sejun’s words, ‘Let’s eat,’ Kkweheng’s head quickly turned. Food!

Sejun told the rabbits to bring the grilled eel he had left over from yesterday, and Kkweheng began to eat the grilled eel deliciously.

Stare.

Sejun felt a prickling sensation on the back of his head. It seemed he would have to prepare eel for the mother Crimson Giant Bear to eat for lunch as well.

Sniff. Thud.

The mother Crimson Giant Bear hurried out on patrol to return for lunch, and the rabbits, Theo, Kkweheng, and the Black Minotaurs surrounded the wolves.

“You attacked our CEO Theo?”

“I’m sorry! Great Black Dragon! I didn’t know that cat wandering merchant was a subordinate of the Great Black Dragon! Please, appease your anger with the life of the Silver Wolf tribe’s leader!”

Elka, misunderstanding Sejun’s identity, prostrated himself and shouted in response to Sejun’s question.

Giving orders to the monsters on the 99th floor of the Tower without any hesitation, and the reason why monsters who should be fighting each other were getting along so well. Elka thought it was impossible unless the being in front of him was the Great Black Dragon.

‘The Great Black Dragon?’

Just as Sejun was about to deny it,

[The Tower Administrator says they will specially forgive you for impersonating the Great Black Dragon.]

[A quest has been generated.]

[Quest: Show the Silver Wolf tribe’s wolves the majesty of the Great Black Dragon.]

Reward: Aileen will be pleased.

Rejection: Aileen will be upset!

[The Tower Administrator encourages you to quickly show the majesty of the Great Black Dragon.]

Aileen, who had never been the Great Black Dragon, wanted to experience vicarious satisfaction through Sejun.

“What are you talking about, nya? Our Chairman Park is… Ack!”

Sejun quickly covered Theo’s mouth.

He would need Aileen’s favor soon, so he couldn’t afford to upset her. Although he had become close to Aileen, relationships could unexpectedly sour from small disappointments.

Sejun decided to do the quest. And Sejun wasn’t foolish enough to miss this chance when the Tower Administrator was giving him a chance to impersonate them.

“I see. Now that you know, you must also know how great your sin is for interfering with the work of me, the Great Black Dragon.”

“Great Black Dragon! We are truly sorry. We really didn’t know.”

“You don’t only sin when you know you are doing wrong. Not knowing is not an excuse. However, I will give you a special opportunity to be forgiven.”

Sejun said, handing over a contract.

“The price for targeting our CEO Theo’s life is 10,000 Tower Coins. If you repay this money, I will forgive you.”

“What? 10,000 Tower Coins?! That… that’s so much money…”

“If you don’t have it, repay with your bodies, nya!”

Theo, who had been trying to figure out what was going on from behind, quickly shouted. He had always wanted to say those words, nya! Theo had thought Sejun looked so cool when he said those words to Woo Cheonsam.

“With our bodies?!”

Elka’s heart pounded in his chest. ‘With our bodies?’ He understood the words, but his mind raced. 10,000 Tower Coins was an impossible sum for his starving tribe. But the thought of repaying with their ‘bodies’… what did that truly mean? He glanced nervously at the young wolves huddled behind him, fear tightening his throat.

“I… Great Black Dragon. I humbly request. All of our tribe members will repay the money. Instead, please just keep us from starving to death!”

Elka looked at the crops growing in the field and thought that if he worked under Sejun, he wouldn’t starve to death.

“Very well. CEO Theo will manage you from now on.”

“You all must listen to me from now on, nya!”

At Sejun’s words, Theo shouted at the wolves. He had been wondering what was so good about being a CEO anyway.

What can you do as CEO, nya? He had already conquered Park Sejun’s lap. There was nothing more he wanted, nya.

‘Hehe. Being a CEO means you get subordinates, nya!’

Theo was delighted to have his own subordinates.

“I understand. We will follow CEO Theo according to the Great Black Dragon’s command. Thank you so much, Great Black Dragon!”

[Quest completed.]

[The Tower Administrator is greatly pleased that the Great Black Dragon has been praised.]

Sejun showed how powerful the Great Black Dragon was, took in the entire Silver Wolf tribe, and increased his power.