Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 681

Hiren arrived at Erion Castle and called out, “My little darlings, Mommy is here!” Her voice echoed in the large, round prison.

Inside, young children in fancy clothes watched her with wide, scared eyes.

“Nya-ha-ha,” Hiren laughed softly. “Now, where shall we put our new baby?”

She liked watching their fear. It meant they were alive. Hiren slowly walked around the prison, looking at each child, thinking about where Bat-Bat would fit in.

Hiren was once known as the Heroic Witch of Dawn, from the land of Nyamoke.

Revered by all, she had enjoyed a happy family and a normal life, but that time was far too short.

A sudden accident.

In that accident, Hiren lost her husband and child at the same time, leaving her deeply shocked and unhinged.

She would have preferred to seek revenge, but it was just an unfortunate accident.

Afterward, Hiren seemed to become normal again, but she developed a strange collecting obsession.

Hiren began to gather young ones.

She tried to fill the void of losing her child by raising others.

Initially, she started by raising sprouts or baby animals, but the sense of loss seemed only briefly filled before growing larger.

The more she did, the more Hiren became addicted, capturing every young creature she could find to fill the void.

Thus, Hiren captured every young lifeform in Nyamoke.

When she could no longer fill the void and it made her very sad, she discovered Bat-Bat.

“Nya-ha-ha. This place will be perfect for our baby to rest.”

Hiren smiled pleasantly as she placed Bat-Bat in the prison.

However,

“······.”

When Hiren turned around, her smile was gone. Her face was hard. The sense of loss that had been filled was once again empty, due to the rapidly growing void.

-Heh heh heh. Another one. Not enough. I need more. Always more.

“Yes.”

The endless sense of loss once again created a vast emptiness, demanding a new sacrifice.

And then,

“Sejun, I’m scared…”

Bat-Bat, barely conscious, trembled in terror.

From Hiren’s shadow, something dark and twisted came out. It looked like a monster made of shadows, with eyes and mouths all mixed up in the wrong places. It whispered in Hiren’s ear and consumed her body.

“Sejun, please… come and save me quickly…”

Just as Bat-Bat’s consciousness began to fade again,

-Heh heh heh. You saw it?

Tsk.

The corruption licked its lips as it looked at Bat-Bat.

***

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. Sejun, it’s over there!”

Iona pointed to a massive white castle.

And then,

“Puhu-hut. Chairman Park, my front paws are twitching!”

Theo exclaimed, raising his front paws.

“Really?!”

Bat-Bat must be looking for treasure here!

Sejun gained confidence from their words.

Sejun felt relieved.

However,

No. If Bat-Bat could hear, she would have heard my voice and come to find me.

He soon became worried again.

Worrying about Bat-Bat, Sejun and his party arrived at Erion Castle.

Grrr…

Greeting the party were twenty black mud creatures wearing aprons.

[Minions of the Abyss]

Specifically, minions created by Hiren to care for the young creatures she had imprisoned. In other words, they were doing chores.

“Heh heh. When it comes to minions, I, Park Sejun, am the best. Come forth! Shadow Minions!”

Seeing them, Sejun summoned his own Shadow Minions.

Sejun could afford to be this relaxed because Iona had magically confirmed Bat-Bat’s safety.

She’s safe after all! I knew it! Worrying about others is the most useless thing!

So he was more excited than usual.

Swish.

From Sejun’s shadow, 200 Shadow Minions with 5% of Sejun’s stats rose.

As Sejun’s magic power increased, so did the number of minions he could summon.

[Park Sejun’s Shadow Minions]

Shadow Minions that follow the Black Tower’s farming god, Park Sejun.

Stats: Strength (7755) Stamina (7293) Agility (7214) Magic Power (7581)

Unique Skill: Son of Darkness (Master)

Disappears after 3 days. (Delivers what they saw and heard to the owner when disappearing.)

They had the specs to easily destroy an existing level 1 world,

“Come on, guys, cheer up! Hey! Don’t just take the hit! You have to dodge!”

“Puhu-hut. Chairman Park’s shadows are too weak!”

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. Sejun, should I cast a shield spell?”

Kkyueng!

[Daddy’s shadow, cheer up!]

Kkihihit. Kkying! Kkying?

[Heh heh. How can the butler’s shadow be strong when the butler is insignificant? Should the great Blackie help?]

They were being unilaterally beaten by the workers of Hiren, a level 9 world hero.

“How can the security be this strong?!”

Sejun absolutely refused to think of them as mere workers, even though they wore aprons.

No. He didn’t want to. It was less damaging to his pride to be defeated by guards than by workers.

Thus, the 200-on-20 battle ended in Sejun’s defeat.

Still, Sejun’s 100 Shadow Minions managed to take down one Minion of the Abyss with their combined efforts.

“Heh heh heh. But I took one down, so didn’t I win?”

While Sejun played tricks in his mind to feel better,

“Puhu-hut. This is revenge for Chairman Park’s shadows!”

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. I was getting frustrated! Power of fire…”

Kkyueng!

[You hit Daddy’s shadow! I’ll punish you!]

The party members defeated the Minions of the Abyss,

Kkihihit. Kkying!

[Heh heh. The great Blackie doesn’t want to touch mud!]

Thud.

Blackie headbutted a Minion of the Abyss, canceling its summoning.

“Let’s go find Bat-Bat, then.”

Just as Sejun and his party were about to enter the castle after defeating the Minions of the Abyss,

“How dare you invade my, Hiren’s, castle?! Who are you?!”

Hiren, having noticed something was wrong with her minions, appeared.

And then,

“Nya-ha-ha. Such adorable collections.”

She gazed at Sejun and his party with greedy eyes.

However,

“You, get out! And you, ugly cat, get out!”

“Huh?!”

“Nyang?!”

Hiren pointed at Sejun and Theo with a cold expression. There was no greed in her eyes when she looked at them.

Sejun was ugly, and he didn’t look young, and Theo… was ugly by cat standards. An ugly cat.

There was a reason Theo had been rejected when he tried to tell someone he liked them in Granier.

However,

“Did you call me ugly?!”

“Haa! I admit Chairman Park is ugly, but not me!”

Neither of them could accept it.

But there was an even angrier being.

How dare you call our Theo ugly?!

“Kkyu—Kkyu—Kkyu—Kkyu—Kkyu—Kkyu—Kkyu—”

Gooooo…

Iona, extremely angry, began to gather her magic power.

The fury of a mage connected to eight streams of magic power.

One of the nine streams of magic power had vanished, and the massive stream of magic power that Sejun had ignited was beyond anyone’s control.

To be connected to eight streams of magic power was like being one of the most powerful mages right now.

“Power of dimension…”

Suddenly, Iona used her most powerful magic.

“Parallel World!” she shouted.

This spell would trap both her and her enemy in the same moment in time, but in separate spaces. She used this magic because…

“Power of the meteor! Meteor Shower!”

BOOM!

…she wanted to defeat him completely. Dark purple meteors rained down, each one exploding with a thunderous boom.

Until now, she couldn’t fully unleash her power because she was worried about Sejun getting hurt and because Theo was present, requiring her to maintain her image.

“Hiek! Barrier of the Abyss! Cloud of the Abyss! Arrow of the Abyss!”

Hiren frantically used skills to block Iona’s attack, but…

“Power of gravity… Black Hole.”

“Hiek!”

“Meteor Shower!”

She used just enough magic to keep Hiren struggling, while…

“How dare you! Our Theo is so handsome!” she shouted at Hiren.

While Iona was beating Hiren…

“Batbat!”

“Batbat, where are you?!”

Kkweang?!

“Where is Batbat?!”

Squeak~!

“Batbat hyung~!”

Sejun and his companions were searching for Batbat.

Kkweang and Kamang tried to find him by scent, but the ventilation system inside the prison was too good, and they couldn’t pick up the scent.

What is all this? Come on out, kids.

Sejun found Batbat while freeing the young creatures trapped in the prison by cutting the locks with Theo’s dragon claw.

However…

“I’m not leaving!”

“I’ll stay here!”

Thud!

Some children didn’t come out even when the prison door was opened, and they closed the door again.

They were Myoin children, residents of Nyamyouk.

In fact, Nyamyouk suffered a blow that nearly destroyed it due to a disaster, and everyone died.

And the children entered Hiren’s land on their own to survive.

The anxious looks the children trapped in the prison gave Hiren earlier were not out of fear of Hiren but fear of being kicked out of this place.

Sejun looked at the children’s scared faces. “Okay,” he said gently. “If you feel safer here, you can stay. I understand.”

Sejun felt confused, wondering if he had done something wrong.

Then, remembering his mission, he called out, “Batbat!”

At that moment…

“Excuse me… are you looking for a golden bat?” a child asked Sejun.

“Yes. Do you know anything about it?”

“Yes. Hiren put him in there earlier.”

“Thank you. This is a reward.”

As Sejun handed the child a dried sweet potato…

Squeak! Squeak!

“Master! No! Only the great Kamang can eat that!” Kamang protested vehemently.

“Here. Kamang, you worked hard too. Have one.”

Kee hee hee.

Smack. Smack. Smack.

The moment he put a dried sweet potato in his mouth, he became quiet as if by magic.

“Batbat…”

Sejun approached the prison where Batbat was trapped and carefully called out to him.

Batbat, shivering in shackles, reminded him of their first meeting, which pained Sejun’s heart.

Rustle.

Sejun carefully cut the prison lock and opened the door.

And…

Gently.

He carefully took Batbat out of the prison, cradling him in both hands, and then…

Rustle.

He cut off Batbat’s shackles with Theo’s dragon claw.

Then…

(Batbat… Sejun?)

Batbat regained consciousness.

“Yes. It’s me. Batbat, are you okay?!”

(Behehehe… Yes…)

Batbat forced a smile as he answered Sejun’s question. His efforts to appear cheerful made Sejun’s heart ache even more.

“Batbat, you don’t have to smile if it’s hard. It’s okay.”

(…Batbat… Yes…)

Batbat answered weakly to Sejun’s words. It was a listless voice, but he seemed more comfortable this way.

At that moment…

Kkuhehehe. Kkweang?!

“Hehehe. Batbat is okay?!”

Kee hee hee. Squeak?!

“Heehee. Batbat hyung, are you okay?!”

Kkweang and Kamang asked about Batbat’s well-being.

However, as the two of them stuck their heads out, a shadow fell on Batbat…

(Batbat! I don’t like the dark! It’s scary!)

Shiver shiver.

Batbat became terrified again and began to tremble.

The trauma worsened, and even the darkness became a trigger for the trauma.

“Batbat, darkness is not something to be afraid of. And you like darkness, don’t you?”

Sejun lifted Batbat high to eliminate the shadow and spoke in a calm voice.

(Batbat. I like darkness?)

“Of course.”

You’re nocturnal, Batbat.

“It’s just that darkness feels bad because of bad memories. Let’s practice getting friendly with darkness again with me. I’ll help you.”

(Behehehe. Yes.)

Batbat smiled sincerely, as if relieved by Sejun’s words.

And…

Faaat.

Batbat’s body began to glow. With black light.

Sssssss.

Hidden by the black light, the faint thoughts left by the corruption that had worsened Batbat’s trauma also burned away.

He overcame his trauma so easily, just with my words?

Sejun was taken aback.

He didn’t know how big his presence was to Batbat.

A moment later.

(Behehehe. Thank you, Sejun. Thanks to you, I have awakened the authority of the Child of Darkness!)

Batbat gained the authority to become up to 10 times stronger in the dark.

Sejun, who awakens even authority with just a word.

Park Sejun, I’ll help you! Wake up!

He tried saying it in case it would work on him too, but…

······

It didn’t work.

At that moment…

(Batbat! Sejun, there’s corruption here!)

Batbat, who belatedly remembered, informed Sejun of the existence of corruption.

“Corruption? Where?”

(Batbat! Inside Hiren’s shadow!)

“What?!”

Inside Hiren’s shadow…

“Iona is in danger!”

“Iona is in danger!”

As Sejun and Theo realized Iona was in danger…

Wham!

An explosion was heard from outside.