Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 68

The cats arrived before the Cow King, who guarded the waypoint.

“Greetings! I am Oren, a wandering merchant who has come to sell rare and precious goods to the Cow King!”

Rattle rattle.

Oren’s legs trembled, but he finished his message.

‘Amazing! Oren, you are!’

The other cats looked at Oren with admiration as he pulled items from Earth out of his pack. He displayed a lint roller, a tumbler, a box of tissues, and so on.

The Cow King did not need these items at all. He could have chased Oren away. But Sejun asked him to talk to Oren, so he did.

“What is that?”

“Ah! This is called a lint roller. It has adhesive magic on it, so you can use it to remove dust or fur.”

“The price?”

“Ah, the price? 50 Top Coins.”

Oren asked for almost ten times the price he had paid.

The Cow King asked about a few more items.

“I want an expert to check if the items you are selling are truly rare and precious. Woo-Samcheon, take these fellows to an expert!”

Moo!

At the Cow King’s command, Woo-Samcheon led the cats away.

Sejun walked back, tired but pleased, after setting fire to the western forest. Suddenly, he heard a soft buzzing sound. *Whirr! Whirr!* A Poison Honeybee landed gently on his hand. It carried something small and square.

It was a jelly, clear like glass, with a warm yellow glow inside. It looked like a sweet caramel candy, the kind you might buy in a shop.

“Is this… the honey jelly?” Sejun asked, his voice full of wonder.

*Whirr! Whirr!* the bee buzzed in reply. [Yes. Cherry tomato honey jelly.]

*Plop!* The bee carefully placed the jelly onto Sejun’s open palm. It felt cool and slightly sticky.

[You have acquired 1 Poison Honeybee’s Cherry Tomato Honey Jelly.]

[Beekeeping Lv. 4 proficiency has slightly increased.]

The texture was soft and squishy.

“Shall we have a look?”

Sejun examined the honey jelly.

[Poison Honeybee’s Cherry Tomato Honey Jelly]

[Made with the pollen and honey of magical cherry tomatoes grown in the Tower, absorbing abundant nutrients, and processed with the Poison Honeybees’ unique secrets, its fragrance and taste are exceptional.]

[The sweetness is maximized by concentrating the honey.]

[Consuming it will slightly enhance magic-related talents.]

[Grower: Tower Farmer Park Sejun]

[Expiration Date: 1 year]

[Grade: C]

‘Incredible!’

While unlocking a talent was difficult, strengthening a talent was even harder.

Many hunters try to improve their talents because it can help them grow into a higher grade. However, very few hunters actually succeed. It takes a lot of hard work.

But… Just by eating this, you can enhance magic-related talents?!

Sejun was amazed by the honey jelly’s effects. But someone else was even more shocked.

Kooeng! Kooeng!!!

Kkoengee loved the sweet smell of the honey jelly. He had never smelled anything like it before. He clung to Sejun. “Papa! Give it to me!!!”

“Kkoengee, sit!”

Sejun spoke firmly, calming the excited Kkoengee.

Kooeng.

Kkoengee quickly sat down in front of Sejun and held out both hands. ‘Give it to me.’

However,

Bbyak!

The Black Rabbit also wanted to eat the honey jelly. He didn’t want Sejun to forget him.

‘I want to eat it too…’

Sejun wondered what to do with the honey jelly.

Whirr! Whirr!

Fortunately, dozens of Poison Honeybees began to fly in, each carrying a honey jelly. The honey jelly in Sejun’s palm seemed to be the first one made.

[You have acquired 1 Poison Honeybee’s Cherry Tomato Honey Jelly.]

[Beekeeping Lv. 4 proficiency has slightly increased.]

Dozens of honey jellies piled up in Sejun’s hand.

Kooeng!

Kkoengee asked for honey jelly again.

“Give one to the brothers first.”

Sejun had a handful of honey jellies. He gave them out one by one, starting with Theo, then the Black Rabbit, and then Kkoengee.

However,

“That’s not fish, nyaong! I won’t eat it, nyaong!”

Theo loved fish and refused the honey jelly. Because of that, Kkoengee got to eat one more honey jelly, and Kkoengee’s magic-related talent grew.

And Sejun’s combat power fell to less than 1/100th of Kkoengee’s.

“Guys, come and have one each.”

Sejun called the other rabbits and had them taste the honey jelly one by one.

“Munch.”

Sejun also put a honey jelly in his mouth and chewed. It definitely had the texture of jelly.

Munch munch.

As he chewed, the honey jelly dissolved in his saliva. His mouth filled with the heavy, rich aroma and taste of honey.

“Oh!”

Sejun exclaimed, feeling the taste of the honey jelly that disappeared like cotton candy. Sejun had no magic-related talent, so there was no talent enhancement.

“Aileen.”

Sejun looked at the 10 honey jellies remaining in his hand and called Aileen. Aileen liked magical cherry tomatoes, so she would probably like this too.

“Aileen?”

But there was no answer.

“Is she asleep?”

Sejun put the remaining honey jellies in Theo’s pack, did some work, and then ate lunch.

As he was about to take a break,

[Tower Administrator Aileen Fritani is dying due to the Dragon Heart’s rampage.]

“What?!”

[A quest for the Black Tower has been generated.]

[Black Tower Quest: Calm Aileen Fritai’s Dragon Heart rampage.]

[Reward: Aileen Fritani regains consciousness]

[Failure: Aileen Fritani dies from the Dragon Heart’s rampage]

“Khee hee hee. Good human! Burn it all down!”

Aileen watched Sejun through the crystal ball as usual. She was thrilled as Sejun, who had gained the ability to control fire with the apple tree, burned down the western forest and leveled up.

“Khee hee hee. Good human, get stronger quickly!”

Aileen was cheering for Sejun so enthusiastically. Then she felt thirsty and drank the Sef’s Cherry Tomato Soup that Sejun had given her.

Thud! Thump! Thud! Thump!

As her magic increased, the Dragon Heart began to beat strongly.

“Khee hee. Good.”

Aileen felt her Dragon Heart beating strongly and rejoiced.

“Aaaagh!”

Aileen clutched her chest and collapsed.

Thud!!! Thump!!!

Suddenly, the mana inside the Dragon Heart began to surge uncontrollably. It was a mana rampage.

“Park… Sejun… help…”

Aileen called Sejun and lost consciousness.

And

[The Tower Administrator’s life is in danger.]

[The Black Tower’s emergency system is activated.]

[The Black Tower’s emergency system analyzes the Tower Administrator’s physical condition.]

[……]

[The Black Tower’s emergency system requests help from the entity the Tower Administrator last called.]

[Choose an item to help Tower Administrator Aileen Fritani.]

“But why is Aileen’s Dragon Heart going on a rampage?”

Sejun asked urgently, not knowing how to help.

[Tower Administrator Aileen Fritani’s Dragon Heart rampaged because Aileen Fritani’s talent: Petrified Dragon Heart absorbed mana that it could not handle.]

Petrified Dragon Heart?

Her talent absorbed mana that it couldn’t handle?

“Then I just need to enhance her talent, right?”

Sejun happened to have such an item.

[Yes. That is the best method.]

Sejun was already planning to give Aileen the honey jelly, and he was delighted. ‘Good thing I saved it. Really fortunate.’

“Theo, get the honey jelly.”

“Understood, nyaong!”

In the meantime, the Poison Honeybees brought more honey jellies, increasing the total to 12.

“Feed this to Aileen.”

[Understood.]

The honey jelly in Sejun’s hand disappeared.

[Supplied 12 Poison Honeybee’s Cherry Tomato Honey Jellies to Tower Administrator Aileen Fritani.]

“How is it?”

[Please wait a moment. Awaiting the reaction.]

[……]

[Poison Honeybee’s Cherry Tomato Honey Jelly is successfully enhancing Tower Administrator Aileen Fritani’s talent: Petrified Dragon Heart.]

[Talent: Petrified Dragon Heart has been slightly enhanced, and the Dragon Heart’s rampage has stopped.]

“So, Aileen is okay now?”

[Yes. For the time being, there will be no more Dragon Heart rampages for Tower Administrator Aileen Fritani.]

“For the time being?”

[Yes. It is stable now, but if Tower Administrator Aileen Fritani’s talent does not grow, there is a risk of another rampage.]

A few seconds later, a message appeared that the quest was completed.

“Hoo.”

Sejun sighed in relief upon seeing the message.

Grumble.

“Woo-Samcheon, how much further do we have to go?”

Oren asked Woo-Samcheon, his stomach rumbling. They had been walking for hours without eating anything for days.

But Woo-Samcheon continued to walk without answering. Woo-Samcheon’s mission was to keep the cats walking until they were exhausted. After walking for about 3 hours, a signal came from a colleague in the distance.

Moo!

“Yes? You’re saying we’ll eat and then go?!”

“Food?!”

The cats were excited at the word ‘food.’

However,

“Wh…where is this…?”

The place Woo-Samcheon took the cats was a land full of mud. The cats stopped in front of the muddy ground, unwilling to get mud on their paws.

Then,

Sniff sniff.

“Don’t you smell grilled fish somewhere?!”

“You too?!”

The cats were excited by the smell of grilled fish.

Moo.

Woo-Samcheon pushed the cats into the mud field and said,

“Yes? You’re saying we can eat at a restaurant?!”

At the cats’ question, Woo-Samcheon silently pointed to one place. There was a small, cozy restaurant at the end of the muddy ground on the opposite side. Smoke curled from its chimney, and the delicious smell of grilled fish wafted out.

“Grilled fish!”

The cats hurried to the restaurant. Inside, gray rabbits were grilling fish.

“Give me 5 grilled fish!”

“I’ll take 10!”

As the cats rushed to order grilled fish,

Beep!

The most robust gray rabbit held out its paw.

“Yes?! Prepayment?!”

The cats were flustered at the gray rabbit’s words. The price of one grilled fish was 0.05 Top Coins. But they were penniless beggars.

Then,

Thump.

The gray rabbit presented a contract.

“Ah! You’re saying we can eat on credit?! Thank you!”

The cats stamped their paw prints on the contract, promising to pay for the grilled fish later.

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

The gray rabbits diligently grilled piranhas and gave them to the cats.

There was a condition that if they did not repay the debt within 3 days, they would have to make 1000 mud bricks per grilled fish. But they could pay it off easily by selling the items they had, so they ate the grilled fish to their heart’s content without any burden.

And they thought that if it really didn’t work out, they could just make 1000 mud bricks. It was a secret that the size of the mud bricks was based on the Black Minotaur.

A little while later,

“Ah, I’m full.”

“I’m stuffed.”

The cats lay down with happy expressions after their long-awaited feast. And the drowsy cats fell asleep.

“Why isn’t the Tower opening yet?!”

Kaiser Fritani wanted to see his lovely granddaughter. He grumbled as he looked at the portal.

“Lord, please be patient. Doesn’t this mean that Aileen’s life isn’t in danger?”

“Hmm. That’s true.”

Kaiser had created a system that would ask for help from the person Aileen called last if Aileen’s life was in danger.

‘And Aileen always called me. Heh heh heh.’

Before losing consciousness, Aileen always called Kaiser. When the portal was activated, Kaiser would go over first, call other dragons, heal Aileen, and return.

‘Aileen, quickly call Grandpa.’

Kaiser didn’t know that Aileen had called Sejun as she collapsed. He stared at the unactivated portal, hoping that Aileen would call him.

Then,

[Transmitting the activity log of the Black Tower’s emergency system.]

“What?!”

The fact that the Black Tower’s emergency system was activated meant that Aileen had had a seizure.

Kaiser hurriedly examined the activity log of the emergency system.

“That’s a relief.”

There was a rampage, but fortunately, Aileen’s Dragon Heart condition was much better than before.

However,

“Kroooooh! Who is Park Sejun? Who is he!!!”

Kaiser roared in fury, enraged that Aileen had called someone else instead of him.

“Ugh.”

Sejun shivered at the sudden eerie feeling.

[Master! Are you cold? Hyah!]

Flame quickly created flames around Sejun to warm him, and the eerie feeling soon disappeared.