Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 457

Arriving on the 35th floor of the Golden Tower, Sejun quickly looked around. His eyes darted across the area, searching for any danger.

At first glance, it seemed safe. Only trees stood around him.

Good. All clear…

Boom!

Sejun froze. A blinding flash of golden light filled his vision, followed by a deafening CRACK as a bolt of lightning slammed into the ground just beside him.

Boom!

As another lightning bolt struck, he scrambled.

He dropped to the ground, scrambling on his hands and knees towards the nearest tree.

He knew lightning always hit the highest point. Getting under a tree was the safest thing to do.

Scritch scritch!

Sejun moved faster than he ever had before, crawling on his belly.

Sejun gasped, relief flooding him as he reached the tree. “Phew, made it!” But even as the words left his lips, another deafening boom echoed, and lightning crashed down just meters away.

Bzzzt!

The rock exploded with a shower of sparks, and strange, glowing golden lines began to spread across its surface, like magic ink.

Sejun stared, eyes wide. “Huh?! What’s that?” He realized, amazed. “A lightning stone… So *that’s* how they’re made. Fascinating!”

Here he was, face pressed into the dirt, witnessing a natural wonder – the birth of a lightning stone – all because he was trying not to get fried.

He lifted his head and finally saw the truth. Lightning-struck trees, split and smoking, littered the ground. Golden lightning stones glowed everywhere he looked, scattered like strange, precious gems. It was more than he could have imagined.

He’d expected something special from the Golden Tower, but this was overwhelming.

A low chuckle escaped him. “Golden Tower indeed,” he muttered, impressed despite the danger.

He began to inch forward, still low to the ground, his fingers brushing against the charred wood and the cool, strangely heavy lightning stones.

Theo, his arms full of pine nuts, burst out from the subspace warehouse and stepped on the back of Sejun’s head.

“Nya! President Park, look at this, nya! Vice President Theo has brought a lot of pine nuts, nya!”

“Ugh.”

Thanks to that, Sejun kissed the ground.

Kkueng!

“Hehehe. Daddy, Kkueng also picked a lot of pine nuts!”

Blackie!

“Hee hee! The Great Blackie has arrived!”

Sejun’s head was continuously stepped on by Kkueng and Blackie, who followed.

“You little imps!” Sejun thought, teeth gritted. He bit back the angry words. It *was* an accident, after all. But then…

“President Park, lift your head, nya! There’s no need to be ashamed that your face is rotting, nya!”

Theo, completely missing Sejun’s simmering rage, patted his head again, a gesture that was clearly meant to be comforting, but only made Sejun’s anger boil over.

“He chuckled. President Park, don’t be discouraged, nya! Vice President Theo will definitely make your face un-rotted someday, nya!”

“Un-rotted, you say!”

“Boss, accept the truth, nya!”

In the end, Theo was punished with the sticky rice cake treatment, having his cheeks grabbed by Sejun.

While Theo was being punished by Sejun,

Boom!

Kkueng!

“Hehehe. There’s a lot of lightning here! I can charge the lightning rod!”

Watching the lightning falling from the sky from time to time, Kkueng was holding up the lightning rod, trying to get struck by lightning.

Blackie!

“Hee hee! Everyone, it’s an adventure!”

“Yes! Great Blackie!”

Blackie ran out to explore the surroundings with his subordinates, but then,

Wham!

Boom!

Seeing the lightning falling around him,

Blackie?

“Uh… I’m suddenly sleepy? Hey! Put me back in! The outside of the sling bag is too dangerous!”

He went to Sejun and started whining.

Sejun stretched Theo’s cheeks one last time, the simple action strangely calming his anger.

He put the whining Blackie in the sling bag and said,

“Kkueng, instead of doing that, try going up into the sky. Then the lightning will gather well.”

He asked Kkueng to go up into the sky.

Kkueng!

“Okay!”

With a thought, Kkueng floated upwards, rising into the stormy sky.

Boom!

Boom!

Thanks to that, all the lightning striking in the sky within a radius of about 500m was sucked into the lightning rod held by Kkueng and disappeared.

“Good. Kkueng lightning rod complete.”

Sejun’s worries about lightning disappeared cleanly.

Of course, there were occasional lightning bolts that didn’t go to Kkueng’s lightning rod and fell to the ground, but

Kkyuik!!!

Yuren took them all.

Or is it because of Yuren’s misfortune that the lightning that was originally going to fall on the lightning rod falls on Yuren?

Anyway, being near Yuren felt like tempting fate.

Just as Sejun was thinking that he shouldn’t be near Yuren,

“Did you see that? If you shout when you get struck by lightning like this, it doesn’t hurt at all,” Yuren said with a proud expression, slightly boastful.

It’s not about shouting. That only works for you.

“Yuren, always keep a 100m distance from me.”

“Yes!”

Sejun kept Yuren nearby as insurance in case any lightning fell.

Yuren muttered to himself, preening slightly, ‘Heh heh. I’m kind of cool.’

With Kkueng acting as a giant lightning rod, Sejun felt much safer.

“Kkueng, Bbyot, and Baetbaet, let me know if you see any waypoints or suspicious places in the sky, and the rest of you, gather the lightning-struck wood and lightning stones.”

Sejun stood up and gave the group their tasks.

“But why aren’t they giving me the land document quest?”

He looked around the nearby trees to get the land document quest.

At that moment,

“Huh?!”

Sejun saw a gaunt tree with yellow lemons hanging from its branches, unlike the other trees.

“What is this? Is this a lemon farm?”

As Sejun tried to pick a lemon,

Kyak!

Lemon-disguised pill bugs stretched out their curled bodies and tried to bite Sejun’s hand.

“Nyan Nyan!”

“.Kkyut kkyut kkyut. Subjugation!”

Theo and Iona made short work of the pill bugs, their attacks swift and sure.

A new thought struck Sejun. *These pill bugs are a problem.* He realised this wasn’t just a few bugs. There were thousands of them, munching on the leaves and fruit of what he now saw were grapefruit trees. He needed to get rid of them.

The Land Document Quest appeared.

“Alright, Theo, Iona, let’s catch 9300 more electric bean beetles and the queen…” Sejun said, detailing the quest.

Suddenly, a voice echoed, “It is I, Te-kkubak, Chief of the Myriad Meteor Tribe, meow!”

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. Subjugated,” another voice chirped.

Boom!

Theo and Iona immediately attacked the surrounding area.

Electric Bean Beetles (3500/10000)

Electric Bean Beetles (5700/10000)

Electric Bean Beetles (8300/10000)

The number of defeated electric bean beetles rapidly increased.

“Meow!”

Bang!

[You have defeated 10,000 Electric Bean Beetles and 1 Electric Bean Beetle Queen.]

[Quest completed.]

[As a reward for completing the quest, you have been recognized as the rightful owner of the Grapefruit Tree Farm Land Document on the 35th floor of the Golden Tower.]

[Land Document Skill: Farm Information Lv. Max is activated.]

Theo’s giant footprint was imprinted 1km from the farm, completing the Land Document Quest. The footprint marked the claiming of the land.

Thanks to their efforts, Sejun finished his work quickly.

“I’m a bit hungry, shall we have a snack?” he asked.

He began grilling sausages for his companions.

Kkuhehehe. Kkueng!

[Hehehe. Sausages!]

Kkueng focused intently on the grilling sausages, using telekinesis to keep Lightning Peak floating in the sky.

The other companions sat around a crackling bonfire, the flames casting a warm glow as they eagerly awaited their snack.

Yuren ate alone, away from the others, but Sejun made sure he had plenty of sausages.

“Uhehe. Looks delicious,” Yuren said, pleased to have so many sausages to himself.

A moment later, as the juices from the scored sausages sizzled and evaporated on the burning wood…

“Meow?!”

Kkueng?!

Kkyut?!

Theo, Iona, and Kkueng all looked in the same direction.

A moment later…

Piyot?!

“Huh?!”

Piyot, the small bird, and Yuren also turned their heads towards the direction the others were looking.

Kee hee hee. Kking!

[Hey, give back the sausages!]

“Yes!”

Kkilook!

Blackie, Umdori, and Kkomi were too engrossed in their food to notice the approaching figure.

“Hey, what is it?” Sejun asked, turning to see what had caught his companions’ attention.

“Huh?”

Sejun saw someone rapidly approaching from afar: a handsome, blonde elf with a tall, slender build.

“Merchant of the Damon family. Sss. Please sell us food!” the elf said, kneeling before Yuren and swallowing hard as he stared at the sausages.

“We must obtain food!” Hanson, the village chief of Karak, ventured out in search of sustenance.

The constant lightning strikes made the outside of the cave dangerous, but their remaining food would only last three days.

With the village’s food supply dwindling to almost nothing, the residents were forced to search for anything edible.

Suddenly, Hanson noticed something unusual.

“What is it?” he wondered.

Why was lightning only striking in one specific area?

Hanson saw lightning bolts converging at a single point in the sky.

He wasn’t sure why, but he reasoned, “That means it’s safer down there. I can find food more easily there.”

That area also happened to be the habitat of the electric bean beetles.

So, sticking to the cover of the trees, he headed towards the point where the lightning was gathering.

Then…

“Huh?!”

What was that smell?

He caught the savory scent of sausages, carried on the breeze.

“Could it be the Damon family’s trading company?” he wondered.

The Damon family’s merchants were the only ones who could afford to leisurely eat food outdoors like this.

They hadn’t been seen lately, and he needed to buy food quickly!

Hanson hurried towards the source of the enticing smell.

There was no guarantee that the Damon family’s trading company would visit Kara Village. They might stop at another village and sell all their food before returning.

Hanson ran towards the smell, his stomach rumbling.

It was indeed the Damon family! And even a direct descendant!

He spotted Yuren, sitting apart from Sejun and eagerly awaiting the grilling sausages, and was convinced he had found their leader.

Everyone in the Golden Tower knew the signs: Pig = Damon family, Pink Pig = Direct descendant of the Damon family.

Hanson assumed Yuren was in charge and approached him respectfully.

But…

“That’s not me,” Yuren said, shaking his head.

“Huh?” Hanson asked, confused.

“It’s over there,” Yuren said, pointing to Sejun.

Keueung.

Yuren made eye contact with Sejun, who was frowning.

‘What should I do?! Sejun seems angry,’ he thought, panicking.

“Go over there quickly!” Yuren urged, trying to get rid of Hanson, afraid of incurring Sejun’s wrath.

However…

“No. The food…” Hanson persisted, desperate to buy food at any cost.

“No. Go over there and talk to Sejun!” Yuren insisted.

While Yuren and Hanson were arguing…

“He’s really handsome. And so tall,” Sejun thought, his eyes fixed on Hanson.

On top of that, his beauty was perfect. Did he have to have it all?!

Sejun looked at Hanson with envy and annoyance.

Until now, when Theo said his face was ugly, he honestly couldn’t understand, but seeing Hanson…

He understood, which only made him more annoyed.

Tap tap.

“President Park, cheer up, meow! The first stage of treatment is always acknowledging your condition, meow! Now that you’ve admitted that your face is ugly, let’s gradually fix President Park’s ugly face, meow!” Theo said, patting Sejun’s leg in an attempt to comfort him.

Of course, Theo’s comfort didn’t work at all.

“You!”

“Bah Kejang, yamohaetta, meow!”

He was once again subjected to the glutinous rice cake punishment, with Sejun grabbing his cheeks.

As Sejun was stretching Theo’s cheeks…

“Yuren told me to buy food here…” Hanson said, cautiously approaching Sejun.

Grumble.

A loud rumbling sound came from Hanson’s stomach.

“Oh? You must be hungry. Please, have some of this,” Sejun said, offering Hanson a well-grilled sausage.

Gulp.

Hanson swallowed hard as he looked at the grilled sausage.

He wanted to refuse, but…

“Thank you!” Hanson said, unable to resist the temptation, having not eaten anything all day.

Hanson devoured the grilled sausage.

Hehehe. He ate it.

Puhuhut. He ate it, meow!

Sejun and Theo, sharing the same mischievous thought, quietly laughed as they watched Hanson.