Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 519

The grand office of Marin Damon, on the 86th floor of the shining Golden Tower, felt smaller than usual today. Marin Damon’s face was red, veins popping on his neck as he roared at his eldest son, Machun. “Machun, you useless boy! Are you even *my* son?!”

At first, seeing Machun return, dressed in fine merchant robes, Marin had been filled with pride. He thought his son was finally becoming the powerful **Master Merchant** he always dreamed of. *Master Merchants were like the kings of trade in the Golden Tower, controlling wealth and influence.*

But then Machun spoke. “Father,” Machun said calmly, “I work for a Master Merchant from the Black Tower now.”

Marin’s joy turned to fury. “What?! You serve a Black Tower merchant? Our rivals?!”

“Yes,” Machun replied, his voice steady. “I went to find Yuren, as you asked, but things changed…”

Machun explained how he had ended up working for another Master Merchant, Theo. “Theo is kind to Magin and me,” Machun continued. “He made us Master Merchants ourselves, and treats us very well.”

Marin could not believe his ears. Machun was talking about being *grateful* to someone from the Black Tower! He seemed to have forgotten his duty to their family, his duty to one day rule the Golden Tower himself!

“Yuren is coming back soon,” Machun added, still sounding calm. “He has recovered almost all the money that was stolen.”

If Yuren returned with the money, *he would become the clear heir, the one to take over the Damon family and all its power.*

“Eek!” Marin made a choked sound. *He couldn’t let that happen. Not now.*

*Marin had never reached the very top of the Damon family himself, always in the shadow of his older brother. But his dream was to see his own son there. To have a son who was powerful and respected, living a life of luxury and ease. This was Marin’s burning desire, a dream he had never discussed with Machun or Magin.*

*My son must be the head of the Damon family!*

*Bang!* Marin slammed his fist on his desk, making Machun flinch. He turned and stormed out of the office. “Summon the troops!” he barked at his loyal servant waiting outside. “Now!”

He would use the soldiers he had secretly trained on the lower floors. *If Yuren didn’t return… well, then he couldn’t become the heir, could he?* Marin planned to stop Yuren from ever reaching the Damon Mansion.

Machun watched his father through the large window as Marin frantically gave orders. “Father,” Machun murmured, a deep sadness in his voice. “You need to let go of wanting to be the family head.” He shook his head, his face filled with pity for his father’s blind ambition.

*There’s a devil over there,* Machun thought, remembering Theo. *A true devil, who will do anything to get what he wants.* “You’ll understand one day, Father,” Machun whispered. “When you meet him.” A shiver ran down Machun’s spine as he pictured Theo’s wicked smile, the way he held that powerful seal, the symbol of his authority.

The air was cool and crisp on the 99th floor of the Black Fortress as the first rays of dawn painted the sky in shades of orange and pink. From this height, the clouds looked like a soft white blanket stretching out below.

(Bae-ahem. Sejun, I’m going to sleep now.) *It was Baelorong, the small black dragon, speaking in Sejun’s mind.*

“Okay. Sleep well, Baelorong,” Sejun whispered gently.

“Puhu-hut. Baetbaet will sleep well, nyaang!” *Theo, the mischievous cat spirit, purred happily.*

Baelorong, now just “Baetbaet” in his sleepy state, snuggled closer on Sejun’s back and drifted off to sleep.

Kkulorong. *Kkuengyi, the small, furry creature that looked like a mix between a squirrel and a puppy, mumbled in his sleep.* He was curled up against Sejun’s side, fast asleep too.

Sejun carefully walked through his magical farm, the soft earth beneath his feet. He was doing his morning exercises, *a way to increase his inner power, his magical potential.* Breakfast was still a few hours away.

“Puhu-hut. It’s so nice to stay up all night with Chairman Park like this, nyaang!” Theo stretched languidly, a happy smile on his face.

“What’s different, Theo? You’re always right here next to me,” Sejun chuckled.

“Puhu-hut. It’s different tonight, nyaang! It just is!” Theo insisted.

“So, what’s different?” Sejun asked, curious.

“Puhu-hut. That’s…”

Suddenly, the black dragon statue that stood near the fountain in the farm floated towards Sejun. *This was Kaiser, a powerful ancient dragon, now in statue form.*

-Ahem. Sejun, not to rush you… I am simply curious about the dish you plan to prepare for the upcoming Dragon Council. *Kaiser’s voice echoed in Sejun’s mind.*

He was asking about the food for the third Dragon Council. *This was a very important meeting of all the powerful dragons, and Sejun, as the host, was expected to provide amazing food.*

“A dish?” Sejun blinked. There were still more than twenty days until the council…

-Ahem. It is not that I am demanding anything, but it would be most appreciated if the dish was… unique. Something the other dragons have never tasted, something delicious, and of course, beautiful enough to inspire awe. *Kaiser’s statue seemed to lean forward eagerly, his stone eyes fixed on Sejun.* He clearly had a strong desire for a truly spectacular dish.

“Puhu-hut. Don’t worry, Kaiser! The amazing Chairman Park can do anything, nyaang!” Theo declared confidently, puffing out his chest.

*Theo! Don’t promise things for me!* Sejun thought, a little panicked. “Kaiser,” Sejun asked quickly, stopping Theo from saying more, “you haven’t already told the other dragons about this ‘amazing dish’ you’re expecting, have you?”

-Oh? Well… yes, I have mentioned it. *Kaiser seemed slightly surprised by Sejun’s question, but then puffed up with pride.* Yes, I have told them. I trust our Sejun completely! *Kaiser’s statue seemed to beam with trust.*

*Oh no.* Kaiser had already boasted to all the other dragons that Sejun would make an unbelievably incredible dish at this Dragon Council.

“Something they’ve never seen before, delicious, and beautiful?” Sejun repeated, feeling the pressure.

-Kahaha. Precisely! And please, do let me know if you require any special ingredients. *Kaiser nodded eagerly, his stone head bobbing.*

“Ugh.” Sejun groaned inwardly. *What was I thinking?*

Watching Kaiser’s enthusiastic statue, Sejun suddenly regretted his plan to just make the same food as last time. He was hosting the council! He *should* be serving even better food! And Kaiser was Aileen’s grandfather! *Aileen was a very important person to Sejun.*

*Park Sejun, you fool! You were about to miss a perfect chance to impress Kaiser and Aileen!* He had become too relaxed, too sure of himself.

“Kaiser, leave it to me!” Sejun said with newfound energy. “I promise, I will prepare a truly great dish!”

-Kahaha. Excellent! Thank you, Sejun! *Kaiser chuckled, sounding very pleased, and floated back to his place by the fountain to drink.*

*What should I make?* Sejun’s mind started racing. He had to come up with a dish that would impress dragons!

As Sejun walked around the farm, still thinking about dragon food, his stomach rumbled.

Little Kkuengyi, his furry companion, woke up, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He looked up at Sejun with a hungry expression.

Well, dragon food can wait. Breakfast for us first, Sejun thought.

“Kkuengyi, let’s go eat.”

Sejun and Kkuengyi headed to the cafeteria. It was a bright, cheerful room with long wooden tables, always filled with delicious smells. Inside, Sejun No. 1, a helpful robot version of Sejun, was already waiting, breakfast ready on the table.

“Puhu-hut. Chairman Park, grill me some fish, nyaang!” Theo called out as soon as he saw Sejun.

“Okay, Theo,” Sejun smiled.

Of course, even with a robot version of himself, Sejun still had to do some cooking.

A little later, the smell of grilling fish filled the air. Soon, everyone was sitting around the table, ready to eat.

“Puhu-hut. Chairman Park’s grilled fish is the best in the world, nyaang!” Theo declared, taking a big bite. The fish was cooked to perfection, flaky and golden brown.

Kkueng! [Delicious!] Kkuengyi barked happily, already eating quickly.

Kkihihit. Kking! [Hehe. Butler! More rolled omelet, please!] It was Blackie, one of the small, mischievous Black Rabbits, speaking. Blackie and his family often called Sejun “Butler” as a playful nickname.

It was another noisy, but happy and peaceful breakfast. The sounds of happy eating and playful chatter filled the cafeteria.

Good, Sejun thought, watching the scene with a warm feeling in his chest. He felt a surge of happiness just seeing everyone enjoying themselves.

Kkihihit. Kking! Kking! [Hehe. Guys, the Butler is daydreaming! Quick, grab his omelet!] Blackie whispered loudly to his brothers.

Suddenly, the Black Rabbit family made a grab for Sejun’s rolled omelet, a fluffy, golden egg dish.

“Not a chance!” Sejun said, laughing.

He defended his omelet, gently tapping it with his chopsticks to keep the rabbits away.

Kking! Kking! [Butler is stingy! We’re still hungry!] Blackie whined, trying to look cute and get Sejun to feel sorry for him.

But Sejun just pointed at Blackie’s round belly. “Blackie, look at yourself. You’ll get another stomach ache if you eat too much.”

Kking… [Maybe… but I could still eat a little more…] Blackie mumbled.

“Okay, just half a piece then,” Sejun relented, cutting a small piece of omelet for Blackie.

Kking! Kking! [Okay! Deal!] Blackie chirped happily, snatching the piece of omelet.

As the lively breakfast started to wind down, Kkueng! [Daddy’s coffee!] Kkuengyi proudly presented Sejun with a cup of coffee he had brewed himself.

“Okay, Kkuengyi. Thank you,” Sejun took the cup and took a sip.

Sejun made a face of happy satisfaction and gave Kkuengyi a thumbs up.

Kkuhehehe. Kkuengyi giggled, pleased with himself.

Dad gave Kkuengie a thumbs-up.

Kkuengie’s tail wagged happily, and his eyes shone as he smiled proudly.

Then, Sejun started making chocolate milk.

“Kking!” Kkamangi barked excitedly. “[Brother! Me too!]”

“Kkueng!” Kkuengie chimed in. “[Kkamangi wants some too!]”

Sejun chuckled and poured chocolate milk into small bowls, sharing it with Kkamangi, who wagged his tail so hard his whole body wiggled.

As they were relaxing after breakfast, enjoying the quiet morning, suddenly –

“Piyot! We’re back!” Piyot announced loudly as he and Yuren hurried into the room.

“Is there any rice left?” Yuren asked, looking hopefully at Sejun.

The two had left the day before to retrieve the floor deed, like a key to the 86th floor of the Golden Tower, which Yuren had hidden.

Yuren knew he was easily persuaded, so he had hidden the floor deed for returning home very securely so it wouldn’t be taken away.

That’s why it took a long time to find the floor deed.

Of course, the biggest reason it took so long was that they frequently encountered monsters while moving.

“Alright. Let’s depart then.”

As Sejun prepared to leave,

“I haven’t eaten yet…”

Yuren, who was about to eat the rice prepared by Sejun No. 1 with a spoon, looked tearful.

“Okay. Let’s eat and then depart.”

“Thank you!”

He waited for Yuren to finish eating.

“Piyot?”

[Theo, do you need anything?]

“Puhuhut. Nothing, nya!”

“But Piyot, aren’t you eating?”

Sejun asked Piyot, who was looking after Theo.

“Piyot!”

[I ate with Yuren an hour ago!]

Piyot answered, patting his belly.

“Yuren, let’s go.”

Sejun stopped Yuren, who had already finished one bowl of rice and was trying to refill it.

And then,

“Everyone, go into the special space.”

After making his companions enter the special space,

Charrrr.

Sejun unfolded the floor deed.

[Magic activated to find the real owner of the 86th floor floor deed of the Golden Tower.]

With the message, Sejun disappeared.

Meanwhile, far away…

The land was a wasteland, the outskirts of destruction. Smoke filled the air, and the ground was cracked and black. Here, gathered in the gloom, were hundreds of millions of monsters.

Most of them were Locusts with weak combat power. The number of monsters with strong combat power was less than 10%.

“Kraken, is this all the remaining forces?”

“Yes, Lord Jormungandr. This is everyone except for the forces scattered to the point where they cannot respond to the summons.”

“Too few.”

Jormungandr, who had gathered all the remaining forces to reorganize them, was sad.

Even if I had told them to fight each other, there would have been more forces left than this…

“Spreading out this many forces would not be helpful.”

“Yes. At most, we can attack about three places simultaneously.”

“Then, divide the forces into two and completely destroy this place and that place first.”

Jormungandr pointed to two worlds.

Lesia and Kanos, guarded by the Blue Tower and the Red Tower.

Chuck.

As Jormungandr injected the power of destruction into the two worlds,

Crack!

A small crack occurred,

“Monsters, go. Go and destroy the world!”

The monsters, having received Jormungandr’s order, began to destroy the two worlds through the cracks.

[Arrived at the 86th floor of the Golden Tower.]

[Moved from the top floor, the 99th floor of the tower, to the 86th floor.]

[Invincible for 1 second due to the effect of .]

Nothing dangerous.

As Sejun hurriedly looked around,

CRACK! A blinding streak of golden lightning ripped through the air, heading straight for Sejun. The air crackled with energy, and the smell of ozone stung his nose.

At that moment,

Clang.

“Nya! Chairman Park, I missed you, nya!”

With a bright smile, Theo jumped out of the special space and flew towards Sejun’s face,

Bzzzt!

The lightning avoided Theo, who was clinging to Sejun’s face,

Bang!

And fell next to Sejun.

“That scared me!”

Sejun, who was removing Theo from his face, shouted in surprise at the loud noise.

Not even imagining that the lightning bolt was originally falling towards him.

“Kkueng!”

[Lightning Rod is charging!]

Kkuengie, following Theo, took the Lightning Rod out of the special space and floated it into the sky, absorbing the surrounding lightning, preventing any more lightning from falling nearby.

Piyot and Yuren also came outside and began to wander around.

Kkihihit. Kking! Kking!

[Hee hee. Butler! I found something amazing! Peel this for me!]

Kkamangi, who had come out at some point and was scurrying around, ran diligently towards Sejun, carrying a fruit that had fallen on the ground.

“Huh?! What is this?”

Sejun recognized the fruit Kkamangi had brought.

An oval-shaped green fruit with fine hairs on the outside.

It was a kiwi.

“So, this is a kiwi farm?”

Sejun asked, looking around in surprise. Rows and rows of kiwi vines stretched out, supported by rough wooden sticks. The air smelled sweet and fruity, and green kiwis hung heavy from the vines, ready to be picked.

“Kking!”

[Butler! Peel it quickly!]

“Alright.”

The kiwi was well-ripened, so Sejun cut the kiwi and scooped it out with a small spoon, giving it little by little to Kkamangi and Kkamangi’s subordinates.

And then,

Plop.

[Harvested a kiwi.]

He picked three kiwis and shared them one each with Kkuengie and Yuren.

At that moment,

“Young Master Yuren?”

A green pig dressed as a farmer recognized Yuren and approached.

“Nya!”

“Kkueng!”

Theo and Kkuengie became wary of the approaching pig,

“It’s okay. He’s from our family. Hello, Uncle Neg.”

Yuren recognized Neg and approached him, greeting him.

Neg’s smile seemed a little too wide, and Sejun noticed his eyes darting around nervously.

And then,

[Quest generated.]

[Quest: Either eliminate or negotiate with the Green Pig Clan’s assassination squad that occupied the kiwi farm a while ago and reclaim the rights to the land.]

Reward: Recognition as the rightful owner of the kiwi farm on the 86th floor of the Golden Tower.

A message appeared in front of Sejun.

A while ago?

Assassination squad?!

When Sejun sensed something was wrong,

Whoosh!

Neg swung his sword at Yuren.

Clang!

“Nya!”

Fortunately, Theo, who was already in front of Yuren, cut Neg’s sword with his dragon claws,

Thwack!

And knocked Neg unconscious by hitting him on the back of the head.

And then,

“Puhuhut. You targeted the life of my subordinate, Yuren, so you must join Sejun Company, nya! 10 years as a non-regular employee, nya!”

Stamp. Stamp. Stamp.

Theo took out a stamp and diligently stamped Neg’s head 10 times.

What is this?!

The assassination squad members were flustered by the shocking failure of their leader, Neg’s, surprise attack.

“Attack!”

At the assistant leader’s order, the Green Pig Clan’s assassin pigs, who had been hiding, attacked Sejun and his party all at once,

“Puhuhut.”

They lost consciousness while hearing the devil’s laughter.