Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 598

Sejun walked closer to the Tears of Destruction. It looked exactly like him. Suddenly, Destruction Sejun swung a fist at Sejun, without saying a word.

He chuckled to himself. ‘Wow, that’s slow.’

Destruction Sejun’s fist was surprisingly slow. *Whoosh!* Sejun easily moved to the side, dodging the punch.

Then, Destruction Sejun stumbled. He had missed Sejun and lost his balance, falling to the ground.

…… It looked like he was embarrassed. Maybe to hide it, Destruction Sejun started digging in the dirt with his hands.

“Hey! Don’t be pathetic using my face!”

Sejun was unexpectedly getting a taste of his own medicine.

There was a reason why this copy, even though it could copy powerful beings like the Great Dragon, was so weak.

Sejun realized something. The Tears of Destruction didn’t just copy looks. It copied everything – habits, skills, even stats. That’s why…

But here was the problem: Sejun’s best skill, the thing he was really good at, was farming.

Farming and destruction are opposites. They don’t go together at all.

It seemed the Tears of Destruction had focused on copying Sejun’s farming skills. This used up almost all of its power.

Just then, *plop, plop*. Destruction Sejun seemed to forget all about fighting. He started digging holes in the ground, like he was getting ready to plant seeds.

‘Is this guy… a bit slow?’ Sejun thought, not realizing he was looking at a copy of himself. He watched Destruction Sejun in surprise. Then, an idea came to him. ‘Should I give him a seed?’

“Sejun Number Two, would you plant this for me?”

He held out a Seed of Destruction Devourer to Destruction Sejun.

Sejun Number Two took the seed like it was the most normal thing ever. He smiled happily and planted it right away.

And just like that, Destruction Sejun became Sejun Number Two.

Luckily, it seemed like Sejun Number Two didn’t copy Sejun’s tendency to cause trouble.

As Sejun Number Two planted the seed, *Kiki! Kiki!* The seeds sprouted instantly. Little Destruction Devourers popped out of the ground and started following Sejun Number Two everywhere he went.

They seemed to be drawn to some kind of energy coming from Sejun Number Two.

“Good job.”

Sejun watched the scene with a satisfied smile before planting his own seeds.

A short while later.

[The Seed Shop is now open.]

“Oh. Dragon fruit!”

Sejun bought dragon fruit seeds, pomegranate, lotus root, and Aster scaber seeds.

Then, he said, ‘Sejun Number Three, come on out!’ He planted the dragon fruit seeds.

But then, Sejun frowned. ‘Huh?’ This time, Sejun Number Three seemed to have copied fighting skills – Mana Swordsmanship and Spear Technique.

But fighting skills were the least useful thing he needed right now.

‘Hmm, what can I even use him for?’ Sejun thought, looking at Sejun Number Three. Sejun Number Three just stood there, staring. Finally, Sejun shrugged and said, ‘Just do whatever you want.’

Sejun let Sejun Number Three do his own thing and went back to planting seeds. Sejun Number Three started practicing with a sword, using Mana Swordsmanship.

While the three Sejuns were busy with their tasks, *Ping!* A water droplet hit Sejun Number Two and bounced off. Then, *Bang!* It burst in the air, making a cloud of steam.

Then, *Clink!* Something dropped to the ground – 100 million Tower Coins and a piece of something called ‘world’s energy.’

The steam seemed to clear quickly, and something else, something pure and bright, disappeared.

‘What is Sejun Number Two, really?’ Sejun wondered. ‘He works hard, he seems to feed those little plant monsters, and now he’s even giving out money!’ Sejun was amazed. ‘He’s like the perfect worker!’

‘Hehehe. You said there are many like this outside, right?’

Sejun looked at the sky with a twisted smile.

He looked up at the blue sky, but in his mind, he was looking past it, towards the red darkness he knew was out there.

‘Hehet,’ Sejun thought. ‘I think I’ve found what I was looking for! And maybe… even fire.’

Just then, *tap tap tap*. *Hee hee! Squeak!* It was Kkamangi! ‘Hee hee, Butler! Look what I found!’ Kkamangi squeaked happily. He was carrying the money and the ‘world’s energy’ that Sejun Number Two had dropped. [Good Deed Count: +1]

Kkamangi giggled. ‘Hee hee! If I just follow Sejun Number Two, I can get lots of good deeds!’ The whole Kkamangi family, along with the Destruction Devourers, started following Sejun Number Two, hoping he would drop more money.

*** Black Tower, 85th floor. Elka looked at her side, pleased. ‘It’s really working,’ she thought. ‘Maybe because Sejun gave it to me.’

Elka smiled, looking at her side. There was a bald patch about the size of her fist, but now, soft silver fur was starting to grow back.

Lately, Elka had been losing fur on her side. It was from the stress of looking after her five baby wolf pups.

If the bald spot was on her head, she could use Sejun’s special stamina corn to help it grow back. But corn didn’t work on her side, and she didn’t know what else to do.

Elka was the leader of the Silver Wolves. For a Silver Wolf leader, thick fur was a sign of strength and health. If the other wolves saw her bald spot, they might lose respect for her.

“I absolutely cannot let them find out about the hair loss!”

Every day, she carefully tried to hide the bald spot with her other fur. But it was getting bigger, and she was getting more and more worried. Then…

Then, she had gotten a Christmas present from Sejun – hair growth cream!

Of course, this wasn’t just any hair cream. It was from Sejun, who was like a magical being! It worked amazingly well. New fur started growing just hours after she put it on.

In just a few days, it won’t even be noticeable.

Just as Elka was feeling happy about the cream, she heard little voices. ‘Dad! It’s Dad!’ ‘We found you, Dad!’ Her five baby wolf pups came running out of the bushes. They wagged their tails and jumped all over Elka, barking happily.

Elka gently patted their heads. *Pat pat*. But at the same time, she felt a wave of stress wash over her. And then, she felt it – the new fur, the fur that had just started to grow, falling out again.

“No!” Elka cried out. She felt terrible as she watched the new fur fall out onto the ground.

Just then, Theo appeared. ‘Elka, don’t worry!’ he said in his usual cheerful voice. ‘Theo is here to help!’

Elka was a very hard worker. She always tried her best, especially because she admired Sejun.

‘Theo?’ Elka wondered. Was he going to help her with her fur problem? She thought maybe he would give her some kind of treatment. But instead, Theo said to her pups, ‘Kids, come on! Follow Uncle Theo!’

“Uncle Theo, give me a piggyback ride!”

“Okay, hop on!”

“Uncle Theo, I need to pee.”

“Okay, let’s go!”

“Uncle Theo, what are we going to play this time?!”

“Puhuhut! Time for Go-Stop, just like Chairman Park taught me, nya!” Theo announced. He was excited to play with the baby Silver Wolves, having learned so much about looking after kids from Sejun.

“Uncle Theo is here! Yay, play with Uncle!” one baby wolf yipped.

“Uncle Theo, Uncle Theo!” cried another.

Soon, all the fluffy baby wolves gathered around, their little tails wagging fast.

Puhuhut! Uncle Theo chuckled. “Still popular, nya!” he thought happily. He smiled at the pups, who were jumping and yipping around him.

Theo played games with them, gently tossing small balls and letting them chase his tail.

“Puhuhut! Uncle Theo has to go now, nya!” Theo said with a wave. He vanished quickly.

“Waaah! Uncle Theo gone!”

“Uncle! Come back!”

The 85th floor was filled with the sad whimpers of the baby wolves.

“Okay, kids, Daddy will play now!” Elka said, trying to sound cheerful. He had been resting but now tried to play with the baby wolves again. But…

“Uncle Theo gave us piggyback rides, zoom zoom zoom, a hundred times!” one pup complained.

“Uncle Theo gave us yummy jerky that made us super strong!” said another.

“Daddy… boring,” a third one mumbled.

It was very hard for Elka to make the pups happy after they had played with Theo. Theo had made them expect too much!

Later, Elka sent a message on the company network:

[Deputy Leader Elka (Silver Wolf Chief, 85th Floor): Important Warning! Do NOT let Theo babysit! Kids Theo doesn’t play with are normal. Kids Theo *does* play with become spoiled rotten!]

Elka sighed, finally getting the pups to sleep. He was still annoyed as he typed the message.

[Deputy Leader Redin (Black Eagle Chief, 98th Floor): Elka, keep going! You can do it!]

[Paku (Green Goblin, 59th Floor): Spoiled rotten kids sound scary! 😨]

[Nokmong (Long-Tailed Green Monkey Chief, 65th Floor): Enjoy it now, Elka. Soon they will only want to play with each other and ignore you!]

Elka felt a little better reading his friends’ messages.

Black Tower, 99th floor. Sejun arrived back on his floor. “Work done!” he said, sounding very tired after his trip.

He started making dinner, humming to himself. “Hum, hum, hum.”

“Puhihit! Hello, Brother-in-law!” A small dragon statue, Ace, rolled closer to Sejun. It was a Christmas gift from Kaiser. The statue was made of shiny black stone and had bright red eyes.

“Hey, Ace. Just woke up?” Sejun asked, smiling at the statue.

“Yes! Puhihit! What smells so good, Brother-in-law? What’s for dinner?”

“Tonight, it’s Slime Pork Stir-fry with Rice. Almost ready, just wait a minute.”

“Yes!” Ace said happily, rolling to the table.

*Kkueng!*

[Daddy, Kkuengi here!]

Kkuengi bounced into the kitchen, holding some herbs in his mouth.

*Kkueng!*

[Daddy, Kkuengi found these herbs!]

He dropped the herbs at Sejun’s feet.

[One-Month-Old Strength Bellflower]

[One-Month-Old Potential Fleeceflower Root]

These herbs were fresh, so they weren’t very strong yet. But they were like the kudzu Kkuengi found before, which was a good sign for the future.

“Thank you, Kkuengi, good job!” Sejun patted Kkuengi gently and started putting the food on the table. Then…

Suddenly, something blocked Sejun’s view. Everything went dark.

“Vice Chairman Theo? You’re here?” Sejun asked, already knowing who it was.

“Puhuhut! Of course, nya!” Theo replied.

*Thwack.*

Sejun gently pulled Theo off his face.

“Great Chairman Park, Vice Chairman Theo is here to tell you about my hard work today, nya! Listen, nya!” Theo began to chatter.

Sejun listened to Theo’s stories while they ate dinner together.

When dinner was finished, it was a peaceful time.

“Hehehe,” Sejun chuckled.

“Puhuhut,” Theo giggled.

[Hehet,] Ace chimed in.

*Kkuhehehe.*

*Kkihihit.*

They all relaxed together, watching the bright stars in the dark night sky. From the 99th floor, the stars looked close enough to touch.

“Kkuengi, time for bed now. Pink Fur will be waiting,” Sejun said softly.

*Kkueng! Kkueng!*

[Okay! Good night, Daddy!]

Sejun sent Kkuengi off to Pink Fur and went to his bedroom to sleep.

As night got deeper, in another part of the tower, *Whish. Whish.* Sejun No. 3 practiced his sword swings in the quiet darkness. The sharp sound cut through the night air.

The Outskirts of Destruction. This place was a wasteland, empty and gray. No plants grew here, and the air felt cold and dead.

[Hehet. Sejun wants these!] Flame thought, its voice echoing in the empty space.

*Crunch, crunch.* Flame moved its roots, carefully guiding the Tears of Destruction towards small cracks in the ground. These cracks were places where the good life energy was weak.

[Too small…] Flame grumbled. The cracks were too narrow for the big Tears of Destruction. Only the smaller ones could be lured in.

[Earthworm, keep watch! Don’t let anyone come near.]

“Yes! Trust me, Flame!” Earthworm replied.

Flame needed to stop the Earth Dragons from getting close. If the Tears of Destruction copied the Earth Dragons, Sejun’s kind helpers would be in danger. Also, if they copied someone strong, the Tears would become even stronger themselves. It was much safer if they copied Sejun.

As Flame worked hard, luring the Tears of Destruction, suddenly, a cry came from far away in the Black Tower.

[Flame, I… I’m getting a signal! But… I can’t hold on much longer!] It was Podori’s voice, weak and strained.

[Podori, you can do it! Hold on!] Flame called back, quickly looking towards the Black Tower.

But then, [I… can’t…] Podori whispered.

Podori’s roots were turning completely white, like snow. He was fading, almost unconscious.

No! Flame felt a surge of worry. [Wake up, Podori! Stay with us!]

*Whoosh.* Without thinking, Flame sent out hot flames to wrap around Podori’s roots, trying to warm and support him.

[Ah! Hot!] Podori cried out.

[Huh?! Wait… I feel stronger now.] Podori said, surprised. At the same moment, the feeling of needing to change and grow lessened.

[Podori, thank you for holding on!] Flame said, relieved. Because of Podori, Flame could stay with Sejun a little longer.

But a sad thought came to Flame. [When will I see Sejun again after this time?] Flame knew its time was running out.

The next morning.

“Huh?!” Sejun arrived at Earthworm and stopped in surprise.

*Squelch, squelch.* There were ten wobbly, slime-like figures, all changing shape. As Sejun watched, they finished transforming. They now looked exactly like… Sejun! Ten copies of himself stood there.

“Hehehe. Welcome, everyone! Sejun Number Four, Five, Six, Seven… all the way to Thirteen!” Sejun chuckled, making little name tags and sticking them on each of his new, squishy workers.

And then, Theo arrived. “Nya?!” he squeaked, his eyes wide.

“Whoa! Too many Chairman Parks, nya! My head is spinning!” Theo was completely shocked and confused by the sight of so many Sejuns.