Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 541

“Why *must* I do this *common* work?!” Louis grumbled.

This was *dreadful*.

“At this rate,” he thought, his brow furrowing, “my magnificent golden fur, which I spend hours grooming each day, will be completely ruined!”

Louis Gorgon, second prince of the Gorgon Kingdom – now, to his utter humiliation, a temporary worker at Sejun Company – trudged along, a cherry tomato clutched awkwardly in each paw.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed.

“Huh? What is *this*?” Louis muttered, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “Why are there so many *unpleasant* colours around here?”

He stopped, staring with open disapproval at a dog with fur as black as night.

In the Black Tower where Louis was from, dark colours were a sign of importance. The darker you were, the better you were treated. But Hamk was the opposite.

Here, golden fur was for royalty, like himself. Yellow, blue, and green were for nobles. Brown was for ordinary hamsters. And black… black was the colour of the lowest class.

There was also an old story in Hamk, a legend about a pure white hamster who would one day save the world. But no one had ever seen a white hamster in thousands of years.

Mostly, it was only the royals and nobles who cared so much about fur colour. But for Louis, colour was everything.

Louis, being a royal who strongly believed in the importance of colour, was already in a bad mood. He was still annoyed and felt unfairly treated after being attacked by black bears – creatures of the lowest class, in his opinion.

Seeing the black dog, his anger flared. “You’re just the one I need to deal with!” he hissed.

He stomped towards the dog, ready to unleash his frustration in a torrent of insults.

“Whimper! Whimper!” the black dog whimpered, but then, perhaps feeling a flicker of annoyance, it let out a weak bark and nudged Louis’s leg with its head. It was a gentle bump, hardly a real attack.

“How *dare* you, you worthless creature!” Louis shrieked. He scoffed at the dog’s weak attempt to defend itself. “I’ll show you what a *real* attack is!” He decided to charge forward, ready to teach this lowly dog a lesson.

But then…

*Thud.*

“Huh?” Louis blinked, confused. “Where… where am I?”

The world had twisted and shifted around him the instant he touched the black dog. Everything was different.

*Thud! Thud!* Heavy footsteps echoed around him.

A deep, booming voice roared, “How *dare* a worthless creature like you tell the great Blackie to move aside?!”

Louis gasped. The dog was gone. In its place stood something enormous and terrifying. It was still black, but now it was huge, with sharp teeth and glowing red eyes.

“Are *you* the one who dared to disrespect me?” the giant black wolf growled, its voice like thunder. “Me, Blackie, the noble wolf, the one who will defeat the Demon King!”

Another voice, equally menacing, joined in. “Great Blackie! We will trap you in thorny spiderwebs and make you suffer forever!”

Suddenly, from behind Blackie, seven more enormous black figures emerged, their eyes burning with fury. They were Blackie’s subordinates, and they all glared at Louis with deadly intent.

“P-Please! Spare me!” Louis stammered, his voice trembling. “I am just a humble creature! I didn’t… I didn’t realize it was the great Blackie!”

He threw himself onto the ground, flattening his golden fur against the dirt. Terror choked him. Faced with such overwhelming power, all his royal pride vanished. Begging was the only thing he could think to do.

“Very well,” Blackie boomed, puffing out his chest. “I will forgive you this time. After all, the great Blackie is known for his generosity.”

*Yes!* Blackie thought smugly. *I am so cool!*

Dealing with Louis had actually made him feel a little better. His annoyance with Sejun seemed to fade slightly.

“Let’s go,” Blackie commanded.

“Yes, Great Blackie!” his subordinates chorused.

*Thud. Thud.* With each heavy step, the terrifying illusion began to dissolve. Louis found himself back in the familiar surroundings, the black dog now just a normal-sized dog again, looking slightly bewildered. Blackie and his pack were gone.

While Blackie was busy teaching Louis a lesson in respect inside his own mind, back in the real world…

“Chairman Park, Vice Chairman Theo, Boss Kkuengyi, welcome!”

The Kkuengyi Faction black bears bowed deeply, their heads almost touching the ground in a perfect 90-degree angle.

*Kkyui! Kkyui!*

Behind the imposing bears, the hamsters shuffled forward, offering hesitant and slightly clumsy greetings to Sejun.

“Yes, thank you,” Sejun replied to the bears. Then, he frowned slightly, looking at the group of hamsters huddled near Blackie. Some were indeed curled up as if asleep, while others just sat there, looking dazed. “But… what about these hamsters?” he asked.

“Ah, these ones,” one of the black bears began, stepping forward. “Well, it’s a bit of a story… They became our employees just recently.” He then explained how the hamsters had ended up joining their group.

“Really?” Sejun raised an eyebrow, a smile spreading across his face. “So, they’re all five-year employees now?”

“Yes, Chairman,” the bear confirmed.

“Hehehe,” Sejun chuckled, rubbing his hands together. “Excellent work! This is very good news.” He was genuinely pleased.

Sejun thought to himself that having these local hamsters with him in Hamk could be very useful. They knew the place, after all.

Turning to the bears, he said, “I’ll take responsibility for them from now on.”

“Yes, Chairman, please do,” the bear replied respectfully.

And so, just like that, the ten thousand hamsters became directly under Sejun’s command.

“Alright everyone,” Sejun announced, clapping his hands together. “Let’s head out! Galchi, you go on ahead and wait for us.”

*Chui!*

[Yes, Master!] Galchi’s cheerful reply echoed in Sejun’s mind.

Because the hamsters, being much smaller, would use a different, smaller passage, Sejun decided he would meet Galchi in the capital of the Ddunham Empire. He headed towards the private passage in the north, the one meant for larger beings like himself.

Then, with a soft *chuck* sound, he reached out and touched the swirling black hole that opened in the floor.

[There are currently two places you can go.]

[Please select a destination.]

Earth (Lv. 1)

Hamk (Lv. 7)

The familiar message popped up.

“Hamk,” Sejun said immediately.

[The current number of people using the private passage is twelve.]

[Would you like to pay the stay cost for twelve people and move to Hamk?]

“Yes, of course.”

The system started calculating the costs. Sejun watched the numbers appear, curious to see how much cheaper Hamk would be compared to Earth.

[Calculating stay cost for Theo Park…]

[Stay cost: 150 million Top Coins per hour.]

[Calculating stay cost for Kkuengyi Park…]

[Stay cost: 100 million Top Coins per hour.]

[Calculating stay cost for Batbat Park…]

[Stay cost: 10 million Top Coins per hour.]

“Wow!” Sejun exclaimed. “It really *is* much cheaper!” When they went to Earth, just the cost for the three of them had been over a trillion Top Coins. Now, for everyone, it was only 260 million. “Completely affordable now!” he grinned.

[Calculating stay cost for Park Sejun…]

Now it was his turn. *Hehehe*, Sejun thought, rubbing his hands together again. *How much will mine be?* He leaned forward, eager to see his own, surely impressive, cost.

[The stay cost is 500,000 Top Coins per hour.]

[Authority: Strong young dragon’s sturdy bones have been identified.]

[An additional 1 million Top Coins will be added to the hourly stay cost.]

[Authority: Divine blood passing through the heart of the dark god Dark has been identified.]

[An additional 900,000 Top Coins will be added to the hourly stay cost.]

[Authority: Ocean Sunfish Core has been identified.]

[An additional 2 million Top Coins will be added to the hourly stay cost.]

Adding up all the other authorities, it came to 4.4 million Top Coins.

Am I this cheap?!

Sejun was happy when the stay costs for his companions were low, but he became angry when his own stay cost was too low.

But…

When going to Earth, the surcharge for Authority: Strong young dragon’s sturdy bones was 1 trillion, but now it’s 1 million. Six zeros have been removed.

And the level difference between Earth and Hamk is 6.

So, does the stay cost decrease by a factor of 10 for every level difference of 1 in the world?

Just as Sejun was figuring out the principle of calculating stay costs,

[Calculating the stay cost considering Blackie Park’s stats and class.]

The moment of truth for Blackie and his family had arrived.

“Whimper!”

[Everyone, hide!]

“Yes!”

Screech!

Rustle!

At Blackie’s cry, his subordinates completely hid themselves in Blackie’s fur.

And then,

[Bloodline: Noble Wolf has been identified.]

[An additional 1 billion Top Coins will be added to the hourly stay cost.]

[Authority: Noble Wolf’s Spirit has been identified.]

[An additional 500 million Top Coins will be added to the hourly stay cost.]

Fortunately, Blackie’s subordinates succeeded in hitching a free ride, and Blackie alone had an hourly stay cost of 120 billion Top Coins.

“Hehe, Butler!” Blackie chuckled, nudging Sejun with his nose, a triumphant glint in his eyes. “Now do you see who the *real* big spender is around here?!”

He puffed out his chest, gloating. *Look at that ‘super sunfish’* he thought, sneering internally at Sejun. *All he’s good for is his fancy bloodline, but *I’m* the one costing a fortune! Blackie, my friend, you better remember you’re living the high life thanks to me!*

Sejun grinned, watching Ggumangee happily munch on a giant carrot. The little creature’s whiskers twitched with delight, making Sejun chuckle. After a peaceful rest, a message popped up in front of Sejun’s eyes.

‘[You can stay for more than 10 days with your current funds.]’

Then, another message followed quickly: ‘[Moving to Hamk.]’

Sejun and his friends prepared to travel to this new place called Hamk.

News of the missing hamsters spread like wildfire, causing panic in every country. People filled the streets, shouting and asking questions. Governments struggled to calm the growing fear. It wasn’t just the children of kings and rich families who disappeared. Children from normal families were also gone. Parents everywhere were terrified.

A dark mood hung over the land. The black tower loomed in the distance, a silent, scary shape. Even the sun seemed to shine less brightly. And now, locusts were eating all the crops. It felt like the world was turning darker.

The kings of each country held urgent meetings to decide what to do.

King Albert slammed his fist on the table. ‘People are vanishing everywhere since that black tower showed up!’

Queen Isabella frowned. ‘It has to be connected to that dark tower. What else could it be?’

King Chen stood up, his voice firm. ‘We must send teams to investigate the tower immediately!’

The kings agreed to send investigation teams to the black towers in their cities.

Just as the teams were being formed…

Ggyui! Ggyui!

Huh?! Sejun blinked in surprise.

Suddenly, the missing hamsters started running out of the black tower!

‘Where are we?’ Sejun asked, looking around.

They were high up, above the clouds, with sharp mountain peaks all around. The air was thin and cold. Below them, a vast landscape of mountains stretched out.

[Quest generated.]

[Quest: Defeat the Doom that has invaded Hamk. If the current state continues, Hamk will be destroyed in 20 years.]

Reward: Peace for Hamk

[Quest generated.]

[Quest: Save Hamk’s hero, Ppochi. If Ppochi dies, Hamk will be destroyed even faster.]

Reward: Transfer of one of Hamk’s hero Ppochi’s skills

Two quest messages appeared quickly.

Hamk’s hero, Ppochi? Sejun frowned. ‘Ppochi must be really important if his death makes things twice as bad.’

‘But I need to find him first!’ Sejun sighed, annoyed. ‘System, you could at least tell me *where* Ppochi is!’

Just as Sejun complained to the system…

Boom! Wham!

The sounds of battle echoed up to them – loud crashes and roars.

‘That’s fighting!’ Sejun said.

‘Gguenga, let’s go help!’ Sejun held onto Gguenga tightly and pointed down.

Ggueng!

Gguenga used his mind power to fly them down quickly, through the clouds.

And then…

Ggyuk!

Sejun gasped. Below the clouds, they saw a surprising sight. A small black hamster, Ppochi, was bravely facing two enormous, ugly ogres with thick clubs. He was using a tiny sword that looked like a toothpick compared to the ogres.

[Hamk’s Hero, Grand Swordmaster Ppochi]

‘It’s Ppochi!’ Sejun realized. ‘The hamster we need to save!’

Ggyuk! Ggyuk!

Ppochi was surprisingly quick, dodging the ogres’ clumsy swings. Sparks flew as his tiny sword clashed against their thick skin. But the ogres were too strong. Kroooooh! One ogre roared and swung its club. Wham! The club smashed into the ground near Ppochi, sending dirt flying. He stumbled back, looking tired.

Ggyuuk···

Ppochi was getting weaker, and the ogres were getting closer.

‘Guys, attack the ogres!’ Sejun shouted.

Theo’s eyes narrowed, ready for a fight. ‘Understood, meow!’ he hissed.

Gguenga puffed out his chest, eager to show off his power. ‘Ggueng!’

At Sejun’s command, Theo and Gguenga charged. Theo leaped forward, his paw a blur, and *Thwack!* He struck the ogre hard on the back of the head, and it crashed to the ground, unconscious.

Gguenga unleashed a crackling bolt of lightning. *Wham! Bzzzzzt!* The thunderbolt hit the other ogre on the head, making it shake and tremble before it also fell.

The battle was over almost as soon as it began.

‘Good job!’ Sejun said, impressed. ‘I’ll make sure they’re just sleeping.’ Sejun put his hands on the ogres and used his healing magic to make sure they were only unconscious, not dead.

‘That’s enough. Finish them off now,’ Sejun told Theo and Gguenga.

‘Fuhuhoot, understood, meow! Meow!’ Theo purred, ready to finish the job.

Ggueng! Gguenga nodded eagerly.

Thwack! Wham!

Theo and Gguenga finished off the ogres quickly.

[Leveled up!]

Sejun felt stronger as he leveled up! He was now level 134.

[Saved Hamk’s hero, Ppochi.]

[Quest completed!]

[Reward: You can choose one of Hamk’s hero Ppochi’s skills!]

At the same time, the quest completion messages appeared.

Ggyuk!

‘[Thank you for saving me!]’ Ppochi said. He looked a little stronger now. He walked over to Theo and Gguenga and gave them a tiny fist bump to show his thanks.

Then, he turned to Sejun.

Ggyuk. Ggyuk. Ggyuk!

‘[The Great Will tells me I have to give you one of my skills,’ Ppochi announced importantly. ‘Even though you’re not very talented, I have to obey the Great Will. So, hurry up and give me a deep bow!]’

Ppochi puffed out his chest and waited for Sejun to bow. He acted like he was doing Sejun a big favor.

Sejun’s eyebrows furrowed. He didn’t like being talked down to, especially by a hamster. *I’m the boss here,* he thought.

‘Meow?!’ Theo stepped forward, his claws extended. ‘Dare you demand a bow from the great Hybrid Park CEO?!’

Ggueng?! Gguenga stomped his foot. ‘[Are you calling Daddy weak?! Gguenga is very angry!]’

Gging?! Ggumangee squeaked loudly, bouncing up and down. ‘[Dare you ask my butler to bow?! Do you want to be headbutted by the great Ggumangee?!]’

The air crackled with tension. Theo’s fur stood on end, and Gguenga’s eyes flashed with lightning. Even tiny Ggumangee looked ready to attack.

Ggyuk···Ggyuk···Ggyuk! Ppochi’s eyes widened as he looked at the angry faces of Sejun’s companions. He suddenly seemed much less arrogant.

‘[No… no, I didn’t mean you *have* to bow,’ Ppochi stammered, backing away slightly. ‘Please, just… just let me give you a skill! Which one should I give you…?]’

High up in the Black Tower, on the 99th floor, was the Master Tower Room. Inside, the air crackled with magic.

Crack.

Suddenly, the air shimmered, and Iona appeared with a bright smile. ‘Ggyut ggyut ggyut. My training alone is finally over!’ She looked refreshed after training alone for a long time. ‘Now I have to go see Theo!’

The space she came through closed behind her.

‘Ggyut ggyut ggyut. Search.’ Iona started looking for Theo.

But…

Ggyut?!

She couldn’t feel Theo’s magic energy anywhere.

Her bright smile faded quickly. ‘Ggyut?! Theo?’ She called out softly. ‘Theo?’ She searched around the room, but he wasn’t there. ‘Ggyu-ggyu-ggyu-Theo is not here!’ Her voice rose in panic and anger.

Gooooooo.

A wave of powerful magic energy burst out from Iona, making the air around her shake. It was a much stronger aura than anyone had ever felt from her before.

‘Furious Ggyu stage 3!’ she declared, her voice trembling with rage.

The wizards of the Black Field Magic Tower far below trembled in fear. But then…

‘Ggyut?! Ah. Is that so?’ Iona’s angry aura suddenly disappeared.

Luckily, Aileen had just told Iona where Theo had gone. The ‘Furious Ggyu’ state was gone, for now.