Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 90

“Do you think Sejun will be alright?”

Eileen thought about Sejun, who had gone to the 67th floor of the Tower.

She was worried about the Red Locusts, but…

“The others will protect Sejun well.”

Since the other animals had gone with him, Eileen wasn’t too worried.

Just then,

[The number of Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the Tower has exceeded 7 billion.]

[The number of Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the Tower has met the evolution requirements.]

[The Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the Tower are evolving into Purple Locusts.]

“What?! Purple Locusts?”

Eileen was taken aback by the new notification.

And then,

“Grandpa!”

She hurriedly called Kaiser.

– Oh, Eileen! Fancy hearing from you! What’s up?

“Grandpa! Something bad! The Red Locusts on floor 67 are now Purple Locusts! Is Sejun okay?”

– Purple Locusts, you say? Stronger monsters mean better rewards, right? That’s good news!

“Good news?! Grandpa, Sejun is there! He could be hurt!”

– Always worrying about that boy! He’s got that Detox thingy and all his animal friends. Don’t fret so much! He even has special powers, remember?

“So… Sejun will be fine?”

– Absolutely!

Eileen felt a wave of relief. If Sejun is okay, then I can focus on helping him in other ways.

“Hee hee! Great! Grandpa, now teach me all about being an administrator!”

– Haha! Of course, my dear! Grandpa will teach you everything!

‘Our Eileen has finally come to her senses.’

While Kaiser was touched,

‘Hee hee hee. I need to quickly learn the administrator duties and find ways to give Sejun better tools and rewards.’

Eileen was thinking something else entirely.

Navia Swamp on the 67th floor of the Tower.

Whoosh.

[You have arrived at the Navia Swamp on the 67th floor of the Tower.]

[Find and eliminate the cause of the Jewel Frog’s endangerment from now on.]

Sejun and the animals appeared in a flash of bright light.

Splash.

“Ugh. What is this?”

As soon as he arrived, Sejun’s face contorted with displeasure at the unpleasant feeling of water seeping into his shoes. The swamp smelled of rotten eggs and stagnant water, and the murky, brown-purple water created an oppressive, humid atmosphere.

And the animals that came with Sejun felt the same way.

“This feels awful, nya!”

Squawk!

Kkueng!

Ppyu ppyu!

As the animals frowned with their fur wet,

Flap. Flap.

Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings came from around them.

“Huh?”

Nearly 50,000 Red Locusts, now almost purple, were flying towards Sejun and the animals from all directions. Their color was a deep purple, almost black, and they were slightly larger than the Red Locusts. The sound of their louder buzzing and clicking mandibles filled the air.

“What is this?!”

“You pests!”

Squawk!

Kkueng!

Ppyu ppyu!

The animals surrounded Sejun, blocking the Red Locusts’ approach.

“Nyaa! I, President Theo, will protect Chairman Park, nya!”

Shashashak.

Theo took out his claws and butchered the Red Locusts, and…

Squawk!

Ppok! Ppok! Ppok!

The Black Rabbit swung its hammer, crushing the Red Locusts.

And,

Kkueng!

Voom. Bang!

Kkueng increased its size to about 3m and extended a tree branch to about 5m, killing the Red Locusts with the wind pressure created by the full swing.

Ppyu ppyu!

Swoooosh.

Finally, Ppyu ppyu used the water attribute magic, Water Cannon, to shoot high-pressure water and eliminate the Red Locusts.

[Guardian Theo has defeated a Red Locust.]

[Guardian Theo has acquired 5, which is 50% of the experience gained.]

Perhaps because they were weak, the experience points were also low.

As the animals began to deal with the Red Locusts,

Suddenly, Sejun felt a strange pull, like the Tower itself was giving him a task.

[The cause of the Jewel Frog’s endangerment in the Navia Swamp on the 67th floor of the Tower has been found.]

[A mid-level administrator quest has been generated.]

[Mid-level Administrator Quest: Exterminate the Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the Tower.]

[Red Locusts 0/6,999,999,712]

[Reward: 1 million experience points, 10,000 Tower Coins]

[Failure: You cannot return to the original location until the quest is completed.]

The quest appeared.

“6,999,990,000?”

Sejun was surprised by the number of Red Locusts. He had heard from the wolves that the number of Red Locusts had decreased to nearly 5 billion.

“If only 288 more are added, they’ll evolve into Purple Locusts?”

As Sejun was looking at the quest,

Wriggle.

Red Locusts, smaller than the average Red Locust, about 10cm in length, began to emerge from the swamp. They were Red Locust larvae that had just hatched.

The Navia Swamp was being used as a hatchery by the Red Locusts. The Red Locust larvae had just been born, but they moved nimbly.

And when a Red Locust larva, emerging from right below Sejun, tried to bite Sejun’s foot,

Whoosh.

Blue flames rose from Sejun’s body, burning the Red Locust larva. It was the Flame of Protection buff given by Flame.

Whoosh.

The Flame of Protection protected Sejun, burning the larvae emerging from the ground.

However,

Pshoo.

The Flame of Protection, which had been protecting Sejun, disappeared after three hours.

Fortunately, in the meantime, the animals had dealt with all 50,000 Red Locusts, and…

Kkueng!

Thud! Thud!

When Kkueng stomped the ground hard a few times,

[Guardian Kkueng has defeated a Red Locust larva.]

[Guardian Kkueng has acquired 2, which is 50% of the experience gained.]

[Guardian Kkueng has defeated a Red Locust egg.]

[Guardian Kkueng has acquired 1, which is 50% of the experience gained.]

All the Red Locust larvae and eggs under the swamp were crushed to death by Kkueng’s stomping.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have acquired 1 bonus stat.]

Thanks to that, Sejun leveled up once again. The experience points from the Red Locusts were small, but the sheer number of them made up for the lack of quality.

“Let’s get a grasp of the situation first. Make Dark Clouds!”

Sejun and the animals had no idea what was going on because they were attacked as soon as they arrived.

“I wonder if there’s a waypoint nearby?”

While making dark clouds, Sejun briefly looked around at the sky.

“Too far.”

Even with a rough glance, he could see red streaks rising into the sky about 10km away. It seemed like he would have to give up registering a waypoint this time as well.

Billow.

The dark clouds created in Sejun’s hand rose into the sky. And he spread the dark clouds widely to a height of about 3m so that they would not be visible from the sky.

500m around Sejun was covered with dark clouds about 30cm thick. As his proficiency in making dark clouds increased, such detailed adjustments were possible.

Ppyu ppyu!

Ppyu ppyu, who had rested for a while and recovered her magic power, cast waterproof magic on Sejun and the animals.

“Oh. Thank you.”

Thanks to Ppyu ppyu’s magic, his shoes were still damp, but he could avoid the misfortune of his feet becoming wrinkled.

“First, the magic storage.”

Clang.

Sejun tried to open his magic storage, but…

“Huh?”

The door would not open because Iona was upgrading the magic storage.

“This is a problem.”

Looking at the number of Red Locusts, it seemed like they would soon evolve into Purple Locusts. To prepare for that time, he needed the Detox Herb in the magic storage.

Just then,

[The Red Locusts have evolved into Purple Locusts.]

[The quest is being updated.]

[Mid-level Administrator Quest: Exterminate the Purple Locusts on the 67th floor of the Tower.]

[Purple Locusts 0/7,000,011,712]

[Reward: 3 million experience points, 50,000 Tower Coins]

[Failure: You cannot return to the original location until the quest is completed.]

The quest was updated.

“What?! I just killed over 50,000, but the number has increased…”

It seemed like there were hatcheries in other places as well.

“Chairman Park, eat this quickly, nya! It’s dangerous, nya!”

Theo hurriedly stuffed the Detox Herb into Sejun’s mouth, who was looking at the quest.

“Theo, what was that for?!” Sejun started to say, annoyed at being forced to eat something.

But Theo cut him off, “Chairman Park, look down, quick, nya!”

“Down? What is it?” Sejun glanced down and gasped.

[You have consumed the Detox Herb.]

[Detoxifies poisons of D-grade or lower for 1 hour.]

The water around Sejun had turned purple.

[You are poisoned by D-grade neurotoxin.]

[Detoxified.]

Theo had almost been too late in feeding him the Detox Herb. Poisonous blood was flowing from the Purple Locusts’ bodies and mixing into the swamp.

“Theo,” Sejun said, a softer tone in his voice. He was touched. Theo had saved him.

But then Theo nuzzled his knees, purring, “That was a close one, Chairman Park, nya! Always gotta protect those precious knees, nya!”

Sejun’s warm feeling vanished. *Of course*, he thought, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. *It’s always about his knees.*

“President Theo, but where did you get the Detox Herb?”

“I packed things to sell in my pack beforehand, nya! As expected, I am always a prepared and excellent wandering merchant, nya!”

Theo showed off his pack and boasted.

“Good job.”

Sejun stroked the head of Theo, who was clinging to his knees.

“I want Churu, nya!”

“Not here. I’ll give it to you later.”

“Okay, nya!”

Thanks to Theo, he was less worried about the poison for now. Sejun fed the Detox Herb to the other animals as well. They had stronger poison resistance than Sejun, but it could be dangerous if they were continuously exposed like this.

“But I wonder if this is okay?”

Sejun looked at the purple swamp with a serious expression. He was worried about the Jewel Frogs, which were on the verge of extinction.

Lizardmen Main Base on the 67th floor of the Tower.

“Defend!”

“Hold on!”

“Don’t let a single one enter the waypoint!”

The Lizardmen, Free Mercenaries, and Silver Wolf tribe were desperately defending the waypoint.

However, they lacked ranged firepower to stop the Red Locusts that were pushing in with sheer numbers. They were gradually being pushed back.

‘Damn it! When are the reinforcements coming?! At this rate, we’ll be breached in a few hours!’

Lizardman Great Warrior Tamuro was frustrated with the reinforcements that were not coming.

Just then,

Flap. Flap.

About a quarter of the Red Locust forces changed direction and headed east. Thanks to that, they had a little breathing room.

“Take turns resting and recover your strength!”

‘That’s where the Navia Swamp is… I wonder what’s going on?’

Tamuro, who had given instructions to the soldiers, thought as he looked in the direction the Red Locusts were flying.

Inside the Rock Cave.

Chomp chomp.

‘Puhuhut. It’s so nice without Iona, nya.’

Theo was sitting on Sejun’s lap and eating Churu. And Sejun and the other animals were drying off by the fire.

Just then,

Hop. Hop.

20 frogs with colorful jewels embedded in their foreheads approached. They were Jewel Frogs. The inside of the rock cave was damp and mossy, glowing with the sparkle of jewels. The Jewel Frogs’ skin was brightly colored, and jewels were embedded in their foreheads, creating a peaceful atmosphere with their gentle croaking.

“Is the treatment going well?”

When Sejun touched the Jewel Frogs’ bodies and asked,

Ribbit. Ribbit.

[Thank you. Thanks to you, my friends are getting healthier.]

Ribbit. Ribbit.

When the Jewel Frog bowed its head, the other Jewel Frogs also expressed their gratitude to Sejun.

Sejun met the Jewel Frogs while wandering around the purple swamp, looking for the Jewel Frogs’ habitat. He thought the Jewel Frogs were in danger because the water was contaminated with poison.

While searching for the Jewel Frogs,

Ribbit…

The Black Rabbit heard the faint sound of a Jewel Frog.

Squawk!

And at the place where the Black Rabbit led Sejun, they found a Jewel Frog dying from poison.

“Eat this first.”

When Sejun fed the Jewel Frog the Detox Herb to detoxify the poison,

Ribbit! Ribbit! Ribbit!

[Thank you! My friends are also sick from drinking the purple water! Please help us!]

The Jewel Frog, who had regained consciousness, asked Sejun for help, and they were now waiting for the Jewel Frogs to recover in the Jewel Frogs’ habitat.

“That’s good. We’ll take care of things here, so stay inside for a few days.”

Sejun spoke loudly to the Jewel Frogs and came out of the huge rock crevice that was the Jewel Frogs’ habitat.

Flap. Flap.

Just as Sejun felt completely overwhelmed, he heard a loud noise echoing from behind him.

As soon as he came out, Sejun was greeted by 1.5 billion Purple Locusts.

“…?!” Sejun froze at the overwhelming number.

Bang!

“Kkyut kkyut kkyut. Sejun, I finished the upgrade! It’s a whopping 5-stack!”

Iona appeared, opening the doors of the magic storage wide with both hands.