Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 82

Hidden in the shadows of a dusty shop, Skaram rubbed his greedy hands together. “Maybe a fool will walk by today,” he muttered.

Skaram, always lurking like a rat in the shadows, squeezed himself into the corner of a building. His eyes darted around, searching for someone he could trick out of their money.

Suddenly, a white rabbit hopped past, its nose twitching happily. It seemed to bounce with joy, as if it knew a wonderful secret.

But then, Skaram noticed something. A bright red ribbon was tied to the rabbit’s ear. Embroidered on it was a silver crescent moon and a tiny rabbit – the forgotten symbol of the Red Ribbon Royal Family.

Skaram knew it would be trouble if he just took the ribbon and left the rabbit. It would be better to give both to Grid. That way, there would be no questions asked.

He waited for the perfect moment. As the rabbit hopped into a quiet alley, Skaram acted fast. *Whoosh*. A tiny, poisoned needle flew from his wrist and pricked the rabbit. The rabbit wobbled, its cheerful hops turning clumsy.

Skaram grinned, pleased with his catch. He slung the sack over his shoulder and started to walk away, feeling lucky. But then, *thump*. A hand suddenly stopped him, grabbing his sack.

“You thief!” Theo shouted, his voice shaking with anger. “Give 쀼쀼 back! I know it’s you, Skaram!”

Iona rushed to Theo’s side. “Theo, your paw! Is it pulling you towards that sack?” she asked quickly. “Remember what I told you? The Red Ribbon is very special, a relic from the Black Tower. Only ten exist. Your golden paw can sense these items.”

“Wh…what are you talking about?!”

“Iona!”

“Representative Theo, did you find our 쀼쀼?”

“I think so, nyaa! That wandering merchant’s sack is ve-ry suspicious, nyaa!”

“Hmm, really?” Iona said, narrowing her eyes at Skaram. “Wandering merchant, I am Iona, from the Magician’s Association. I need to see what’s in your sack. If you show me nicely, I’ll give you 10,000 Tower Coins.”

“I refuse.”

“Open it now!” Iona commanded, her voice suddenly sharp. Magic crackled around her fingers.

With a magical *rip*, the sack burst open. Things tumbled out – shiny metal cups, strange boxes, and other odd objects that looked like they came from another world.

And then, a flash of white fur. A pure white rabbit hopped out of the sack! “쀼쀼!” Theo cried out, relieved. Just as he thought, 쀼쀼 was safe, but trapped in Skaram’s sack.

Even when Iona called, 쀼쀼 did not respond.

“Don’t worry, 쀼쀼,” Iona said gently. She knelt down and placed her hands near the rabbit. A soft, golden light flowed from her hands, washing over 쀼쀼. It was powerful healing magic.

Just as Skaram thought he could escape, a low growl echoed through the alley. *Grrrr*. Elka and her wolves appeared, blocking his path. They had arrived, just in time.

Theo stepped forward, followed by a group of young people who looked like they were learning to be cat-like helpers. “Not so fast, Skaram,” Theo said, a grin spreading across his face. “We’re not done with you yet. You tricked me before, and now you’ve stolen 쀼쀼. You’re coming with us to see Sejun, and you’re going to pay for what you’ve done.”

Sejun stretched and yawned, feeling good as he woke up. “Burning that forest yesterday really worked,” he thought. “No annoying tree branches spying on me today.”

“Burning it regularly is a good idea,” Sejun decided. He mentally added ‘Burn Western Forest’ to his list of farm chores. ‘Good for experience, and it keeps those nasty tree monsters from getting stronger,’ he thought. ‘Two good things at once.’

Sejun scratched another line on the wall of his room with a piece of charcoal. It made a mark like this: 正. He was keeping track of the days. Day 255. Then, he went outside.

Perhaps because he woke up early, there was no one wandering around the ground field except for the diligent poison honeybees.

“Coffee sounds good this morning,” Sejun thought. He filled his mug with hot water, added coffee powder, and sat down in a chair outside his house to enjoy it.

Suddenly, a buzzing sound turned weak and wobbly. *Whirr…* One of Sejun’s poison honeybees fluttered down to the ground, its wings beating unevenly.

Sejun, who was drinking coffee, quickly put down his tumbler and ran towards the poison honeybee that had fallen to the ground.

“Hey! What’s wrong?”

Sejun asked, touching the poison honeybee’s body. The poison honeybee’s condition was not good. Its wings were slightly torn, and one of its legs was cut off.

The honeybee buzzed weakly, its voice like a tiny whisper. ‘[From the] East… other poison honeybees…’ it managed to say. Then, with another weak buzz, ‘[They] attacked our home… fought…’

“Rest for now.”

Sejun put the poison honeybee into the hive.

The east was originally the habitat of the poison honeybees who lived on the 99th floor of the tower.

Unlike the poison honeybees Sejun raised, they were said to be aggressive and carnivorous, so Sejun ordered his poison honeybees not to go near the eastern area.

Sejun frowned, his good mood gone. ‘Trouble in the east,’ he muttered. ‘I need to see what’s happening.’ He stood up quickly, putting down his coffee, and started to get ready to go.

“Black Rabbit! Kkueng-ie!” Sejun called out.

In a flash, his bodyguards, Black Rabbit and Kkueng-ie, were at his side. Sejun never went outside his farm by himself. It was too dangerous.

Some people said, “Poison Honeybee stings are no problem! Just use a Detox Daepa medicine!” But Sejun knew better. That medicine only worked if you were stung by one or two bees.

The stingers of these bees were long and thick, like ballpoint pens. And they didn’t come alone. They attacked in huge groups, hundreds at a time! Sejun could lose too much blood and die, even without the poison.

Ppyak!

Kkueng!

Hearing Sejun’s call, Black Rabbit and Kkueng-ie rushed over.

“Kkueng-ie, transform!”

Kkueng!

Sejun climbed onto Kkueng-ie, who had grown to a gigantic size, and headed towards the eastern border of his farm. The air there was thick with the buzzing of bees, and the smell of honey and flowers filled his nose.

“Help me, everyone! These guys are trying to kill me!” Skarm shouted, hoping to escape in the confusion as other merchants gathered around.

However,

Thwack.

“I am Jeras of the Secret Inspection Bureau of the Wandering Merchant Association!” Jeras announced. “This Goblin Wandering Merchant, Skarm, is under arrest for trying to kidnap members of the White Rabbit Clan. I will make a quick decision.”

Jeras stepped forward quickly, showing his Secret Inspection Bureau identification. Jeras was happy. He had waited a long time to catch Skarm.

Clang.

Jeras put handcuffs on Skarm.

“Huh?!” Skarm was surprised by the sudden appearance of the Secret Inspection Bureau agent.

“Goblin Wandering Merchant Skarm, you are now banned from the Wandering Merchants registry forever. You are no longer a Wandering Merchant,” Jeras declared.

Skarm’s Wandering Merchant license and name were removed from the board that showed the sales rankings of Wandering Merchants.

“No!” Skarm felt hopeless at Jeras’s decision. Being banned from the Wandering Merchant registry forever was a very serious punishment.

Once you are banned from the Wandering Merchant registry forever, you lose all connections with the Wandering Merchant Association, the Free Mercenary Association, and the Wizard Association.

This meant Skarm could no longer do business in the Tower. Also, the Wandering Merchant Association does not protect those who are not Wandering Merchants.

“Now, do what you want with him,” Jeras said, handing the handcuffed Skarm over to Theo.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but thanks, meow!” Theo said. “And I also have a secret, meow. I am actually the great Black…”

Just as Theo was about to reveal his identity,

“Kkyu-Kkyu-How dare you touch my student! I will never forgive you!” Iona shouted, so angry that she reached Kkyu Stage 2 of Fury because her student was almost kidnapped.

“It’s Kkyu Stage 2 of Fury!” someone shouted.

“Run away!”

“We need to get out of here!”

The merchants who knew Iona, the Great Destruction Mage, began to run away. Kkyu Stage 2 of Fury could destroy at least a small village. A quarter of the shopping district could be blown away.

Gulp.

Jeras was also nervous. If Iona used destruction magic here, he might not survive.

At that moment,

“Iona, calm down, meow,” Theo said. “This con artist needs to be taken to Chairman Park, meow!”

“Kkyu-Kkyu-To Sejun, sir?”

“That’s right, meow!”

“Kkyu-Why?”

Iona’s Kkyu Stage of Fury slowly went down as she talked to Theo.

“Because Chairman Park told me to bring this con artist, meow!”

Sejun was looking at the items Skarm had tricked the cats into giving him and had a question. There were too many items from Earth that Skarm was selling compared to the number of Awakened people who were coming in through Vanishing.

And,

‘Why are they all Korean items?’ Sejun wondered.

Most of the items Skarm was selling were Korean. It was unlikely that only Koreans were entering the Tower through Vanishing.

So, Sejun thought that Skarm was trading with someone in Korea.

“Okay. Then let’s go to Sejun, sir, together,” Iona said.

“Meow?! I don’t want that, meow! Iona, you are not allowed to come to the 99th floor of the Tower, meow!” Theo said, worried that Iona wanted to go with him. He had even found her student for her, and now she wanted to follow him to the 99th floor of the Tower!

“I don’t care! I will go to the 99th floor of the Tower if I want to!”

“Then I will get to the 99th floor of the Tower first, meow!” Theo put Skarm on another wolf, climbed onto Elka’s back, and shouted.

“Elka, let’s go, meow!”

“Yes!”

The wolves ran off towards the 99th floor of the Tower.

And,

“Representative Theo!”

“Let’s go together!”

Tap tap tap.

The interns ran after them.

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. We can’t lose either. Ppyu ppyu! Let’s go!” Iona said, climbing onto Ppyu Ppyu’s back.

Ppyu Ppyu!

Ppyu Ppyu carried Iona on its back and ran quickly.

So, the race between Theo and Iona began.

However,

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. Two Light Speed Merchant Passes, please!”

The winner had already been decided.

On the way to the east,

Whirr!

Sejun could see the Poison Honeybees fighting even before he reached the eastern border. The Poison Honeybees from the east were already out on patrol.

“Let’s help too!”

But soon, he saw a problem.

“I can’t tell our bees from the enemies,” Sejun said. The Poison Honeybees looked the same, so it was impossible to know which ones were his.

Kkueng!

[You can tell by the smell!] Kkueng-ie pointed to his nose. Kkueng-ie said that Sejun’s Poison Honeybees smelled sweet like honey, but the other Poison Honeybees smelled like meat.

“That’s only for you,” Sejun said.

Kkueng?

Kkueng-ie tilted his head, wondering why Sejun couldn’t do something so easy.

While they were talking,

Whirr.

One of the Poison Honeybees flew towards Sejun.

“Kkueng-ie, what does it smell like?”

Kkueng!

[Meat smell!]

“Is that so?” Sejun threw a hand axe at the Poison Honeybee.

However,

Whirr.

The Poison Honeybee easily dodged Sejun’s hand axe.

And,

Ppyak!

Ppok! Ppok! Ppok!

In the end, Black Rabbit took care of it.

“Guys, I have a slogan for us,” Sejun said suddenly, looking serious.

Ppyak?

Kkueng?

Black Rabbit and Kkueng-ie were confused by Sejun’s sudden words.

“Repeat after me. We are one!”

Ppyak! (We are one!)

Kkueng! (We are one!)

Black Rabbit and Kkueng-ie repeated Sejun’s shout.

It was day 255 of being stranded. Sejun still had a long way to go to become self-reliant.