Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 683

Sejun sighed, looking at the training dummies. “683 misses already. Tsk. At this rate, how will we ever protect the Green House?”

Theo tilted his head, “Nya Meowk?”

“Hmm.”

Sejun scratched his chin, his brow furrowed in thought. He looked up at Theo with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “What should we call it?”

Sejun grinned, “How about Sejun Beam? Sounds powerful, right?”

Theo puffed out his chest, his tail twitching. “No nya! This attack is for both of us! It must show Vice Chairman Theo’s amazing power too nya!”

Sejun, as if expecting Theo to refuse, coolly began to think of another name. “Is that so? Then I’ll think of something else.”

Kkamangi, the large black rabbit, sat with his family – a group of smaller rabbits with twitching noses – watching Sejun expectantly.

Hee hee hee. Kking!

“Hee hee. I’m excited!”

“Me too.”

Kkilook!

Shalalang!

Sejun said a new name, “Combining Sejun and Theo, how about Seo Beam?”

“Chairman Park gave me half of his shares nya! I’m so excited nya!”

Theo would have been honored even if any of the letters T, E, O were included. “Puhuhoot. I like it nya!”

Kking! Kking?! Kking!

Kkamangi grumbled, “Butler, that’s a boring name! I thought you were better at this!”

“Yes, sir!”

Kkilook!

Shalalang!

Kkamangi’s family protested, barking fiercely that he had made too ordinary a name.

However, Sejun chuckled. “Hehehe. Then I’ll have to show off my skills when naming the combined attack with Kkamangi. Do it right.”

Kkamangi’s ears twitched. He suddenly realized if Sejun named *their* attack, it might be even worse! “Wait, Butler!” Kkamangi squeaked. “Actually, Seo Beam is perfect! Who said you can’t name things well?”

“No… until just now…”

Kkilook?

Shalalang!

“Great Kkamangi, why are you suddenly like this?!” Sejun asked.

At Sejun’s words, Kkamangi changed his attitude 180 degrees and scolded his subordinates.

As Sejun and Theo’s combined skill name was decided as ‘Seo Beam,’ a faint golden light surrounded the name. It felt… stronger somehow. A feeling of power seemed to cling to the words.

“Oh. Vice Chairman Theo, they say they’ll give us money if we defeat Corruption with this skill!” Sejun exclaimed.

“Puhuhoot. It’s all thanks to me nya!” Theo said proudly.

“No! I came up with the name!” Sejun retorted.

“Puhuhoot. If Vice Chairman Na Theo wasn’t here, the combined skill wouldn’t have been born nya!”

Suddenly, a soft ‘nyaa…’ reached their ears. Sejun and Theo stopped arguing and looked towards the sleeping cat.

Hiren’s eyelids fluttered open. She blinked, her vision blurry at first, then slowly focusing on the worried faces of her children. “Nyaa…”

“Guys, Mom woke up!” One of the children guarding Hiren told the children who were playing around nearby.

Several small kittens, who had been playing with a ball of yarn nearby, rushed to her side. “Mom, are you okay now?!”

“Mom, are you alright?!”

Hiren managed a weak smile. Seeing their small faces, so full of worry, a warmth spread through her chest, pushing back the cold emptiness she had felt before. “Nyahahat. Mom is okay nya.”

Why do I feel like this?

As Hiren was examining her awkward feelings, Sejun approached Hiren with Theo dangling from his knee. “You’re awake? How’s your body?”

The kittens puffed up their tiny chests, hissing at Sejun. “Stay back, ugly giant! You hurt our Mom!”

“Ugly man is approaching Mom!”

“Mom fainted because of the ugly man earlier!”

“Ugly man, don’t come near!”

“Ugly man, stay away!”

The Myoin children blocked Sejun, standing in front of Hiren. Now that Hiren was awake, they became very confident.

Sejun blinked, surprised. “Huh? You guys said I was handsome earlier?! You’ll be punished if you lie!”

One of the kittens, braver than the rest, pointed a tiny paw at Sejun. “Mommy said it’s okay to tell a ‘white lie’ to protect her!”

“Hmph! Mom said it’s okay to lie when we need something for Mom!”

“Yeah! That thing, what was it…?”

“A white lie.”

“That’s right! This is a white lie!”

“We told a white lie, so we won’t be punished!”

The children scoffed.

Sejun blinked, surprised. “White lie? Really? I taught you about honesty!” He chuckled, but a small part of him felt a little stung.

“No. Still, a lie is a lie. Kkueng-ah.” Of course, Sejun didn’t just back down.

Kkueng?!

“Dad, did Kkueng hear you?!”

Kkueng lumbered forward, letting out a low growl that rumbled in his chest. The kittens shrank back, their eyes wide.

“Kkueng-ah, these kids lied to Dad. What kind of person did Dad say you become if you lie?” Sejun told Kkueng about the children.

Kkueng! Kkueng!

“You’re a bad person! You should be punished for lying!”

“Heunyang!”

“I’m sorry!”

“I won’t lie!”

The children begged for forgiveness and hid behind Hiren.

Sejun chuckled, watching the kittens hide behind their mother. “See? Honesty is important.” He winked at Hiren, a playful glint in his eyes.

Hiren chuckled softly. “Nyahahat. Sometimes, a little lie is all you have to protect what’s important, nya.”

Hiren nuzzled her children, reassuring them as Sejun watched, a thoughtful expression on his face. The air, still filled with the faint scent of herbs, felt lighter now, the earlier tension replaced by a gentle warmth.

Hiren smiled when Sejun spoke. It was a bright smile, but her voice sounded like it held a hidden hurt. Sejun felt a little sad for her. He guessed her life had been hard.

“Eat this,” Sejun said gently. He gave Hiren the warm corn and potato soup.

Then, trying to sound cheerful, he said, “Okay! Let’s go find treasure!”

He led the others and the children away. Hiren’s face showed many feelings mixed together. Sejun thought she needed some quiet time by herself.

“Hehe! Treasure! Sounds great, meow!” Theo purred.

“Oink oink! Treasure hunt! I’m ready!” Piggy squealed happily.

*Kkuaeng!* Kkuaeng barked excitedly.

*Squeak!* Squeak chirped.

The others were happy with Sejun’s idea.

“Me too! I want to go!” shouted a little girl.

“Treasure hunt! Treasure hunt!” cheered a small boy.

“Pana wants to find treasure too!” Pana said, jumping up and down.

The children, who had been stuck inside like prisoners, were thrilled just to be going outside. They followed Sejun closely, their eyes wide with excitement.

As Sejun led everyone away, Hiren was left alone with the soup. She slowly took a few spoonfuls.

Then, quiet sniffles turned into loud sobs. Hiren began to cry and couldn’t stop. The warm soup felt comforting in her chest, but it also unlocked something inside her. Suddenly, all the guilt she had buried deep down came rushing up. She felt terrible for what happened to Nyamok, for not being strong enough to save her. And she hated herself for seeing the children as just a group, not as real kids who needed help.

Hiren cried for a long time, her body shaking with each sob. Finally, she mumbled to herself, trying to make a joke, “Nyaha… this soup is… a bit plain. I’m crying because it needs salt, nya!” She felt silly talking to no one, but it was better than facing her real feelings.

She took another spoonful of the soup, tears mixing in. It tasted salty now, but somehow, her heart felt a little lighter, a little clearer.

Inside the Temple of the Creator God, a soft *swish* sound filled the air.

“Finished,” the Creator God said quietly. He had just made five new paintings using special beads. These beads came from Emila, when she made the Elixir of Great Growth from the tears of the young Creator God.

“Hmm,” the Creator God murmured, looking closely at the paintings.

The first painting showed the *next* Creator God in his room, head in his small hands, staring at a piece of paper. He looked worried.

The second painting showed the next Creator God writing carefully on the paper. A red snake, called Corruption, slowly crept out of the next Creator God’s shadow, unseen.

In the third painting, Corruption whispered something in the next Creator God’s ear. The fourth painting showed the next Creator God looking troubled, holding the paper tightly.

In the last painting, the next Creator God finally gave in to Corruption’s words. He hid the paper in a crack between the bricks.

“Could it be here?” the Creator God wondered. He left the temple and found a place that looked like the painting. He checked the cracks in the bricks.

After a few moments, *thuck*. The Creator God found the paper, tucked into a crack. *Swish*. He carefully unfolded it.

It was a letter. It read: “Creator God, I’m sorry. I broke the plate in the kitchen. I didn’t mean to…”

“That time…” the Creator God whispered, understanding when the letter was written.

He remembered. “Wait… the plate was gone!” One day, a plate had disappeared from the kitchen. He had thought, “Did the next Creator God break it?” Feeling worried that something was wrong, but afraid of making things worse between them, the Creator God had just quietly replaced the plate, saying nothing.

But now… “He was writing to say sorry.” Maybe, the Creator God thought sadly, maybe it wasn’t all the next Creator God’s fault that he turned bad. Maybe *he* hadn’t done enough to help.

As the Creator God thought about this, *swish*. The painting began to change.

In the new painting, the letter was given to the Creator God. But this time, the Creator God scolded the next Creator God, making him cry. Then, the painting changed again. Now, the two of them were making a new plate together. At first, their faces were serious, but soon they were smiling.

At the same moment in the painting, something strange happened. A pure, good heart seemed to break away from a dark, bad heart. This pure heart trembled and hid itself in a dark, ruined place.

“Hehe! Chairman Park, this way, meow!” Theo pointed his paw towards the huge hole. It looked like a giant had punched the ground. This was the pit from Iona and Hiren’s fight.

“The treasure is deep under Erion Castle,” Theo explained. “We were going to find a secret tunnel, but this hole works even better!”

“Alright, everyone, let’s go!” Sejun shouted, grinning. He, his group, and the excited children jumped into the dark pit.

They fell down, down, down. It felt like they were falling for a long time, maybe five minutes. The air rushed past them, and it got darker and darker. Then, suddenly, Sejun saw something below – a wall made of stone!

“Wait!” Sejun yelled.

*Float, float.* Kkuaeng, who could move things with his mind, understood instantly. He used his power to gently stop everyone just before they crashed into the wall.

Kkuaeng floated closer to the wall. “Open up,” Sejun commanded.

*Boom!* Sejun used his special skill, Transcendent Rock Master. A hole burst open in the stone wall.

“Whoa!” Sejun gasped.

Beyond the hole, the room glittered. It was filled with treasure! Gold coins piled high, sparkling jewels, and chests overflowing with riches. It looked like a mountain of treasure, maybe worth 500 trillion!

“Hehe… money!” Sejun thought, his eyes wide.

“Hehe… so much fuel to burn, meow!” Theo purred, thinking of his fire magic.

Sejun and Theo were looking at the same treasure, but thinking very different things.

“Okay, everyone, hurry! Let’s pack it all up!” Sejun said, getting to work.

“Heave-ho!” grunted a child, trying to lift a heavy chest.

“Yah!” another child strained.

“Heung… it’s heavy,” a third child complained.

The children worked hard, moving the treasure. Sejun had promised them something yummy to eat if they helped.

“Nyahi! If it’s too heavy, just carry a little bit, like Pana!” Pana said proudly, picking up a small gold coin. She put it into Sejun’s magic bag – a bag that could hold anything, no matter how big. “See?” she boasted.

“Pana, if you only carry a little, you’ll only get a little bit of Uncle Chu-nam’s food,” teased another child.

“Heung?! What do you mean?” Pana asked, confused.

“That black puppy and his friends are watching us like hawks! To see how much we’re moving!”

“Heungyak! Really?! No way! Kkeungyak!” Pana’s eyes widened in surprise. She quickly started working harder, lifting bigger coins.

*Hehe… sleepy…* Blackie thought, his eyes getting heavy as he watched the children. A few hours later, *kkirorong…* Blackie fell fast asleep.

“Tsk tsk,” Sejun chuckled, putting the sleeping Blackie in a sling bag. “Some guard dog you are!”

Then he announced, “Alright, everyone, let’s go back up now!” He led the group and the children out of the treasure room and back to the surface.

When they got back outside, Sejun blinked. “Huh? Hiren, what are you doing?”

He saw Hiren carefully moving plants and small animal cages out of Erion Castle. She was trying to fix her mistakes, even though it was late.

Just then, *sniff sniff*. *Kkuaeng!* Kkuaeng suddenly barked excitedly. [I smell it! The special herb Kkuaeng was looking for!]

Kkuaeng quickly dug up one of the plants Hiren was moving. *Kkuaeng!* [Daddy, catch!] He brought it to Sejun.

[Baby Doll Fleeceflower] The words appeared in Sejun’s mind. It was one of the five special plants he needed to become an SS-class top farmer!

“Hehe,” Sejun smiled, holding the Baby Doll Fleeceflower. “Only one more to find!” Once he found the Baby Doll Ice Herb, he would have everything he needed to reach his goal.