Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 475

Silver Tower, 82nd Floor.

Whoooosh!

The wind blew harder than ever across the empty land. But a single, thin grapevine stood strong.

“You are our hope,” Kwin whispered, gently stroking a leaf of the vine. Thanks to Kwin’s ability, only a soft breeze blew around the vine.

Kwin protected the grapevine from the wind, being extra careful.

They called him Kwin, the Wind Warlock of Plenty.

Kwin was incredibly talented at controlling wind. Even among his people, the Plenty, who were known for their wind skills, he was special.

He had been arrogant, trusting in his abilities.

And then,

“Wind! Hear my words!”

The day he boldly stepped forward, declaring he would control the winds of the Silver Tower.

Kwin had to pay a heavy price for his arrogance.

The strong winds of the Silver Tower took over Kwin’s mind, and he became crazy.

For years, he wandered the tower as a madman, known as the Mad Wind Kwin for his bizarre antics.

But then, the Great Silver Dragon, Chrisella Histron, saw him. She was looking for a new Top Farmer because the old one had died.

If Chrisella hadn’t found Kwin, he would have stayed mad, wandering the tower forever, maybe even becoming like the wind itself.

Chrisella chose the mad Kwin as the Top Farmer, even bringing him back to his senses, because Kwin handled the wind best in the tower.

The Silver Tower, where strong winds blew because of the Silver Dragon’s power, needed someone to weaken the wind.

That was it.

The wind, which was strong enough to drill holes in stones with sand, was weakened by Kwin’s power.

If Kwin couldn’t control the wind, the Silver Tower probably wouldn’t have any land left, because the wind would have blown the land away.

The Silver Tower’s Top Farmer had one mission: to weaken the wind. Farming was not important at all.

Just then,

Thud.

The ground rumbled slightly, and a grape-shaped stone rose in front of the grapevine.

And then,

[The second competition of the Harvest Festival, the Grape Eating Contest, will begin shortly.]

[Participants who wish to participate should gather in front of the Bountiful Grape Altar.]

A message appeared.

[Time Remaining for Application – 3 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds]

The time in front of the altar began to decrease.

“Alright! Everyone, gather at the altar!” Kwin shouted.

Thud.

“Wind, stop! Everyone, run towards the altar!”

“Yeah!”

A giant rock was lifted, and over 100 million residents, hidden underground, hurriedly ran towards the altar along the path created by the Plenty Wind Warlocks.

And the number of participants in the Grape Eating Contest began to increase rapidly.

As Sejun went to the altar to apply for the Grape Eating Contest,

Kooeng!

[Daddy, good morning!]

Kooeng greeted Sejun.

“Yeah. Good morning. Did Kooeng apply?”

Kooeng! Kooeng!

[I did! Daddy, hurry up and apply too!]

“Okay.”

As Sejun stood in front of the altar,

[Time Remaining for Application – 3 hours 55 minutes 9 seconds]

[Current Number of Applicants]

-Black Tower 99th Floor: 11,887

-Black Tower 4th Floor: 3,214

-Silver Tower 82nd Floor: 70,049

A message appeared.

“Silver Tower 82nd Floor?”

Is there a grapevine there too?

The Silver Tower 82nd floor showed an overwhelming number of applications.

It was unexpected, but he didn’t pay much attention to it.

Anyway, first place is ours. Heh heh heh.

As Sejun grinned slyly,

“Nyang?! Theo the Vice Chairman cat could not stand to see Chairman Park looking silly next to Eileen! Nyang!”

Press. Press.

Theo immediately began the suppression.

“Ugh. Ugh.”

[You have applied for the Grape Eating Contest.]

Sejun received Theo’s massage and applied for participation with his companions.

As he turned around to go back home,

“Huh?”

Sejun noticed the raccoon market had grown larger than yesterday.

Having heard rumors that the Harvest Festival on the 99th floor of the Black Tower was huge, other raccoons had flocked there.

Thanks to that, the number of stalls in the raccoon market had increased by about 50.

Unfortunately, there were no new stalls selling dishes that Sejun would particularly welcome.

Most of them were things Sejun had recently eaten or had in his subspace warehouse.

“How much is this skewer?”

That didn’t mean he wouldn’t buy it.

Sejun bought and ate the dishes from the raccoons who had diligently started their business from the morning with his companions.

While eating breakfast at the stalls and walking around to digest,

[Application is closed.]

[Applicants, please gather under the Bountiful Grape Altar.]

[The Grape Eating Contest will begin in 1 minute.]

The application was over.

As Sejun and the other participants gathered under the altar,

[The contest begins.]

Along with the message announcing the start of the contest, a giant basket filled with grapes appeared in front of the participants.

Roughly estimated, there were well over 1000 grapes.

Rumble.

Rumble.

As soon as the contest started, the favorites to win—Kooeng, Pink Fur, Uma King, and Yuren—poured the grapes into their mouths, basket and all.

Kooeng used to be smaller and lost to Pink Fur and Uma King, but now he had grown enough that the same thing wouldn’t happen again.

At that moment,

Gulp.

Rumble.

Kooeng swallowed the grapes without chewing and poured the second basket into his mouth.

Even for Kooeng, it was impossible to swallow grapes filling his mouth without chewing.

However,

Crack.

He could easily swallow them because he crushed the grapes in his mouth with telekinesis.

This time, first place is Kooeng’s!

Kooeng’s eating speed was overwhelming, as if to make up for his humiliation in the last Carrot Eating Contest.

Thanks to that, Kooeng was quickly swallowing grapes and widening the gap between Pink Fur, Uma King, and Yuren.

Alright. It’s worth a try!

Sejun felt confident watching Kooeng.

Of course, he wasn’t saying that while looking at the top ranks.

Moo!

Moo!

He was saying that while looking at the Black Minotaurs.

He wouldn’t have dared to compete with them before, but it’s different now!

Sejun had a perfect plan.

“Crop Miniaturization!”

As Sejun quickly used the skill on the grapes, the grape size decreased by 20%.

And then,

Grab.

He grabbed a handful of grapes, put them in his mouth, and chewed quickly.

Delicious.

It tasted like the grapes he usually harvested and ate from Podori’s branches.

He wanted to savor the taste, but he couldn’t!

Crunch. Crunch.

Ptooey.

He spat out only the seeds he could and swallowed the rest.

Since the grapes would run out before he got full because of the top-ranked competitors, there was no reason to think about later.

“Crop miniaturization!” So, I focused on eating as fast as possible.

About five minutes into the competition,

Kuaeng!

Crunch, crunch.

Kuaeng, having emptied his eleventh basket, finally began to chew the grapes. From the eleventh basket onwards, the grapes were larger to make them harder to swallow. The rules changed after ten baskets. To make it harder, the grapes would now be much bigger.

Each basket contained 100 grapes, each the size of a watermelon.

Kroooh!

Moo!

Oink!

Soon, Pink Fur, Umawang, and Yuren also began emptying their eleventh baskets.

It’ll be over soon.

It’s almost time for the grapes to run out.

“Crop miniaturization! Vitality!”

Watching them, Sejun also made a final spurt.

The combination of crop miniaturization and vitality. If he was lucky, he might end up in the top 50.

However,

Why isn’t it ending!

Contrary to expectations, the grapes weren’t running out, even though Kuaeng was emptying his 41st basket, and Pink Fur, Umawang, and Yuren were emptying their 39th.

In the last carrot-eating contest, the competition ended much sooner.

What’s going on?

“Crop miniaturization! Vitality!”

Sejun, still able to eat, continued to eat grapes while wondering what was happening.

“I’m full.”

“I can’t eat anymore.”

One by one, people around him began to give up.

One hour later.

“Ah… I can’t eat anymore….”

Eventually, Sejun, who had been holding on with his skills, also raised the white flag at the 10th basket.

His crop miniaturization skill had risen to level 2, reducing the crop size by 25%, but he was already too full.

Kuaeng!

Kroooh!

Moo!

Oink!

The top-ranked contestants were still eating at almost the same speed as when they started, and

Moo!

The Black Minotaurs, though slightly slower, were steadily eating grapes.

Sejun was quickly pushed out of the top 1000, and soon out of the top 500,000.

‘Why are the grapes still coming out?!’ As Sejun lamented the endlessly generated grapes,

Seed Shop Headquarters.

“Huh?! Why are there so many participants?! We’re already running out of grapes!” Uncle was flustered, watching the grapes rapidly dwindle.

He had made a tremendous amount of grapes for this competition, but with over 100 million participants from the Silver Tower, the grapes were disappearing quickly.

It cost divine power to replenish the grapes, so Uncle wanted to end the competition early, but

‘If the competition ends because we run out of grapes, Park Sejun will be disappointed, right?’ I can’t disappoint Mitubak!

“Grapes, grow forth!” To avoid disappointing Sejun, Uncle, the god of grapevines, was diligently creating grapes. Maybe when Sejun wonders why the grapes aren’t running out, he could think, “Is some god making more grapes?” Then later, we learn it’s ‘Uncle’.

Thanks to him, the residents of the Silver Tower, Kuaeng, Pink Fur, Umawang, and Yuren were having a blast.

“Now, I need to work.”

As Sejun left the competition venue,

[You have obtained 290 Harvest Festival commemorative grapes as a reward for participating in the grape-eating contest.] 290 firm grapes appeared in Sejun’s hand.

“Oh! That’s a lot. What I ate was…” Sejun calculated how much he had eaten.

Since each basket contained about 3000 grapes, it seemed like he received one Harvest Festival commemorative grape for every 100 grapes he ate.

“Alright. Vice President Theo, let’s do business.”

“Fuhuhu. Understood, meow!” At Sejun’s words, Theo, who had been clinging to Sejun’s lap throughout the competition, took out a desk and a sign from his bundle,

[Harvest Festival Commemorative Grapes can be exchanged for crops] He began collecting Harvest Festival commemorative grapes with crops. Maybe add a little detail about how he sets up his desk quickly and efficiently. This makes him more memorable.

30 hours after the competition started,

Kuaeng…

[Kuaeng can’t eat anymore…] Kuaeng put down his basket for the first time since the competition began, and

[The last participant has given up eating grapes.] [The grape-eating contest is now over.] The competition finally ended.

[Grape Eating Contest Ranking] 1st place – Kuaeng Park (12,500 baskets) 2nd place – Pink Fur (12,450 baskets) 3rd place – Umawang (12,400 baskets) 4th place – Yuren (12,300 baskets) … .. .. 1,000,3131st place – Park Sejun (9 baskets + 230 grapes) … .. .. 131,871,213th place – Theo Park (0 grapes)

Sejun’s ranking continued to fall, eventually dropping out of the top 1 million.

“Hehehe. Still, there are 130 million below me. It’s important to cherish what you have rather than what you couldn’t get.”

Sejun was very satisfied that there were over 100 million people below him.

And

“Meow meow meow.” Theo, a fish lover, had only participated in the competition to stay attached to Sejun’s lap, so he didn’t feel bad at all about coming in last.

For reference, Kamang, who had insisted on participating in the competition, was at home with his subordinates, happily munching on dried sweet potatoes and dozing off.

[Rewards will be given to those ranked 1st to 100th in the grape-eating contest.] Meanwhile, rewards began to be distributed, and

Kuaeng!

[This is for weak Daddy to eat!] Kuaeng, who had become smaller, ran to Sejun and handed him 10 golden grapes he had received as the 1st place reward. Maybe he nudges Sejun gently or makes a happy sound. This makes their bond stronger.

“Thank you, Kuaeng.”

Kuaeng!

“Eat and become stronger!”

“Okay.”

[Golden Grape Embracing the World’s Essence] This grape was created by gathering the world’s energy through the earnest prayers of Uncle, the god of grapevines.

It has no seeds, so you can eat it comfortably. It tastes very good, and the fragrant scent of the grape is very strong. Consuming it increases all stats by 10. Every time you consume 100 grapes, the world’s essence gathers, and a small miracle occurs around you. Expiration date: 180 days Grade: SS

“Oh.”

Compared to before, the taste was better, and the stat increase was higher.

Besides,

A miracle?

“Park Sejun, the man who performs miracles. Hehehe. Cool, isn’t it?” The description that a small miracle would occur around him every time he consumed 100 grapes aroused considerable anticipation in Sejun.

Thus, Sejun checked the options of the golden grape embracing the world’s essence.

“You guys are very suspicious.”

······.

Sejun noticed that his companions, who would normally have already brought him their rewards, were hesitating with their rewards in hand.

Two thoughts arose at the same time.

The first was… As expected, our Kuaeng is a filial son.

The second was… Was it true that you only gave me the bad-tasting ones?!

“You bastards!!!” Sejun, enraged by the betrayal,

“Bring it all!” Roared as he began to collect the rewards from the grape-eating contest.