Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 92

“This is Iona, meow!” Theo announced, pushing Iona slightly forward.

*Ribbit! Ribbit!* The Jewel Frogs, with their shiny, gem-like skin, hopped closer to Iona. They circled her, their ribbits sounding like tiny bells. Iona seemed a little surprised but stood still, her tail twitching slightly.

Theo smirked to himself. ‘Just as planned, meow!’ He had successfully moved Iona away from Sejun. Theo strolled back to Sejun, pleased with himself.

Suddenly, – *Yank!* – Theo felt a tug on his paw. *Another chance to impress Sejun!* he thought excitedly.

“Where is it, meow?!” Theo asked, eagerly following the pull. But the pull led him straight to a solid wall.

“What’s this, meow?” Theo blinked, confused. He felt a strange pull, telling him something was close, even behind the wall. Trusting his instincts, he decided to investigate.

*Scratch, scratch.* He raised his paw, claws extended, ready to dig. But as his paw touched the wall – *Whoosh!* – it went right through!

“What’s this, meow?” Theo whispered, surprised. He cautiously poked his paw in and out a few times, confirming it wasn’t solid. He stepped through.

*It must be some kind of very clever magic trick,* he thought, even though he knew about magic.

Stepping through the wall, Theo gasped. Before him stood a massive white temple, gleaming in the dim light. It looked ancient, with tall pillars and carvings of frogs all over it. Following the pull, Theo bravely padded into the temple. In the very center, a giant frog statue loomed. It was made of smooth, white stone and was easily taller than Sejun!

And then Theo saw it. “It’s there, meow!” he whispered. He could now clearly see what was pulling his paw. In the middle of the giant frog’s forehead, shining brightly, was a rainbow-colored jewel. It sparkled with all the colors of the rainbow – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

*Scrabble, scrabble.* Theo quickly climbed up the smooth stone of the statue to reach the frog’s head.

*Pop!* With a little tug, he pulled the rainbow jewel free.

“Puhuhu. I’m so lucky, meow!” he purred, holding the jewel in his paw.

Just as Theo tucked the jewel into his small pouch, *Crumble, crumble, crash!* The giant frog statue began to fall apart, turning to dust like sand.

“Meow?!” Theo cried out, realizing instantly he had done something very wrong.

“Gotta run, meow!” he thought, panicking. He scrambled out of the temple and ran back to Sejun as fast as his little legs could carry him. He hid the jewel carefully.

*Too much excitement at once isn’t good, meow!* he thought wisely. Theo knew that sometimes, waiting was better.

Theo watched as Sejun praised Iona, and jealousy pricked at him. He knew this was his chance!

“President Park, I’ve found something amazing, meow!” Theo announced, pulling the rainbow jewel from his pouch and running to Sejun.

*I’ll show Iona!* he thought. *This will make me Sejun’s favorite, meow!*

Just then, a voice boomed inside his head. – **Is it you? Who has woken me from my sleep?!** The angry voice startled Theo.

“Who is it, meow?” he stammered, looking around. – **I am Gae-Ron, the god of the Jewel Frogs! You will pay for ruining my great work!**

The rainbow jewel in Theo’s paw began to glow brightly, pulsing with light.

“Meow! President Park! Help me, meow!” Theo cried, feeling his strength suddenly drain away. He desperately called out to Sejun.

***

[Purple Locusts are being frozen.] [Purple Locusts are falling asleep.] [If Purple Locusts are not taken out within 10 hours, they will freeze completely.] … .. .

[Half of the space is full.] … .. .

After freezing about 50,000 Purple Locusts, half of the storage space was filled.

“Very useful,” Sejun said, looking at the neat rows of ice blocks holding the locusts. The ice blocks were all perfectly square and the same size, filling half the space. It was very satisfying to look at.

“Iona, about…” Just as Sejun was about to ask if the storage space could do anything else, “Meow! President Park! Help me, meow!” Theo’s terrified cry made Sejun spin around.

*Thud.* He saw Theo lying on the ground.

“Theo!” Sejun rushed to Theo’s side. He felt a powerful, almost frightening, holy energy coming from the jewel in Theo’s paw. But Sejun didn’t hesitate. He only cared about saving Theo. With determination, he reached out his hand towards Theo.

– **How dare you stop me from doing my work, Gae-Ron, god of the Jewel Frogs?!** the voice roared. The rainbow jewel flashed even more intensely, trying to pull Sejun in. But then, a dark energy, like black smoke, started to rise from Sejun’s body. It pushed back against the bright light of the jewel.

And then, a message appeared in front of Sejun:

[Detected a god illegally entering the Black Tower.] [Analysis: Gae-Ron, god of the Jewel Frogs.] [As a tower manager, you can kick out Gae-Ron, god of the Jewel Frogs.] [Do you want to kick out Gae-Ron, god of the Jewel Frogs?]

***

– Ugh! Why is there Black Dragon energy here?! Gae-Ron was shocked by the dark energy coming from Sejun.

“Puhuhu. That’s why you shouldn’t have bothered me, Theo Park, the deadly yellow cat and servant of the great Black Dragon, meow!” Theo’s soul, trapped inside the jewel, puffed out his chest and put his paws on his hips, looking down at the giant frog. He was very confident, even though he was the one who stole the jewel.

– What?! You… no! You are a servant of the great Black Dragon?! Gae-Ron’s voice changed, sounding nervous. If he argued, he would be in trouble for being here at all. He needed to get permission from the Black Dragon to stay in the tower, but the cat he had annoyed was a servant of the Black Dragon!

“That’s right, meow! And if you hurt me, President Park will punish you, meow! You’re in big trouble now, meow!” Theo said, feeling proud, like a child whose older brother was there to protect him.

– Ugh… Gae-Ron was truly scared. It wasn’t just Theo’s threat. The tower rules said gods couldn’t enter. Gae-Ron had broken that rule. – If I get kicked out of here… It would be the end. His world was already gone.

Just then, “Puhuhu. Do you want to live, meow?” Theo asked with a sly smile.

– Yes! Gae-Ron shouted, nodding quickly. Theo’s voice sounded like hope itself.

“Then there’s a way, meow!”

– Wh… what is it?!

“Put your paw print here, meow!” Theo said, holding out a contract. Because he was a soul, he could make anything he imagined.

– That’s?! Gae-Ron was terrified to see the contract. Theo didn’t know it, but it was a soul contract. A contract you could never escape, even after death.

“You don’t want to, meow?! Fine by me, meow. Nice meeting you, and goodbye forever, meow.” Theo waved a paw at Gae-Ron, sounding cheerful.

– N… no! I’ll do it! Anything was better than being kicked out and destroyed. Gae-Ron didn’t want to be destroyed.

*Stamp.* A huge frog paw print and Theo’s tiny paw print, almost invisible next to it, were stamped side-by-side on the contract.

***

“Iona, do you know what a species god is?” Sejun asked.

“Of course! A species god is…” Iona thought Sejun was testing her and started to explain carefully. Sejun listened and learned all about gods who only protect one type of creature.

“A god who only protects one species… what should I do?” Sejun wondered. But his *gomin* (worry) didn’t last long. *How dare anyone try to hurt our Theo?!* Sejun had checked and Theo was breathing, so he thought Theo had just fainted.

Just as Sejun decided to kick out Gae-Ron, a message appeared:

[Gae-Ron, god of the Jewel Frogs, has made a soul contract with servant number 1.] [If Gae-Ron, god of the Jewel Frogs, loses his god power, he will become Bug Hunter Gae-Ron again.] [Bug Hunter Gae-Ron becomes a servant of servant number 1.]

“Huh?!” Servant number 1 was Theo.

*Cling.* “Meow! President Park! Thank you for saving me, meow!” While Sejun was still confused, Theo woke up and hugged Sejun’s legs, rubbing his head against him. Around Theo’s neck was a necklace with the rainbow frog jewel.

“President Theo, are you okay?” Sejun asked, checking Theo over.

“Yes, meow! Now, just trust me, President Park, meow!” Theo said confidently, feeling happy from Sejun’s touch.

And then, “Wait a moment, meow!” Theo suddenly dashed outside. Sejun had praised Iona for freezing the locusts, but Theo thought it was for *killing* them.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Sejun called after him.

“I’m going to get rid of all of President Park’s enemies now, meow!” Theo shouted back.

“What?!” Sejun felt a bad feeling in his stomach. *That silly cat has misunderstood something,* he thought.

“Get out of the way, meow!” Theo yelled, swatting at the Purple Locusts trying to get into the cave.

“Hey! Wait!” Sejun hurried after Theo. When Sejun squeezed through the rock opening, he saw Theo shouting, “Gae-Ron, come out, meow!” As Theo called out, the rainbow jewel on his necklace began to glow.

“Oh?! President Park came out too, meow? Let’s go together, meow!” Theo said happily, walking towards Sejun.

*Thud.* Right where Theo stood, the ground turned into a black swamp, and something huge started to rise. It was a giant frog, with rainbow stripes, easily 20 meters tall.

“A frog?” Sejun asked, surprised.

“It’s my servant, Gae-Ron, meow!” Theo announced proudly.

*Flap flap, flap flap.* The Purple Locusts, like a dark cloud, swarmed towards them.

“Gae-Ron! Get rid of President Park’s enemies, meow!” Theo commanded.

*Lick!* At Theo’s word, Gae-Ron’s giant tongue shot out like a whip. It moved so fast it was a blur. In an instant, it wrapped around about 10,000 Purple Locusts and pulled them in. The locusts stuck to the tongue as if it were covered in glue, unable to escape.

*Gulp.* Gae-Ron swallowed all 10,000 locusts at once. His body seemed to swell, growing even bigger.

*Lick!* Gae-Ron’s tongue lashed out again, hunting more locusts. Each time he ate, he grew larger.

“Wow. Amazing,” Sejun said, staring at Gae-Ron, now easily 30 meters tall.

“Puhuhu. How is it, meow?! Now I’ll destroy all of President Park’s enemies, meow!” Theo puffed out his chest.

But Sejun’s face was grim.

“Is that something to laugh about?” Sejun’s voice was not happy at all.

“Meow?” Theo tilted his head, confused by Sejun’s tone.

[Servant Bug Hunter Gae-Ron of the Watchman Theo has killed 200,000 Purple Locusts at once.] [Watchman Theo gets 90% of the experience points from servant Bug Hunter Gae-Ron.] [Watchman Theo has gained 5 million experience points, which is 50% of the total.] [Leveling up is not allowed.] [You cannot get experience points indirectly.]

Sejun stared at the messages. His experience points were disappearing as if pouring water into a never-ending drain.

“My experience points…” he groaned.

“President Park, why do you look so pale, meow? Should I fix your face a bit, meow?” Theo asked, kneading Sejun’s cheeks with his paws, completely missing Sejun’s worry.

*Flap flap, flap flap.* A huge purple wave of locusts was coming towards them from far away. Gae-Ron was so big now, you could see him easily from a distance. All the locusts at the meeting point were flying straight towards Gae-Ron.

“Hey! Send him back now!” Sejun yelled.

“Okay, meow! Gae-Ron, go back, meow!” Theo commanded. Gae-Ron started to sink back into the black swamp. As soon as Gae-Ron was completely gone, “President Theo! Plant them quickly!” Sejun shouted.

“Okay, meow!” *Plop, plop.* Sejun and Theo quickly planted Firm Blade Green Onions from the storage space at the entrance and all around it. Then they rushed back into the rock opening, the Jewel Frogs’ home. As soon as they were inside, *flap flap, flap flap.* The Purple Locusts crashed against the Firm Blade Green Onions.

Just then, *thud.* A Purple Locust fell to the ground after eating a green onion. It started happening in many places. And near each fallen locust was a Detox Green Onion. Theo had planted them together without even looking, in his rush. The Detox Green Onion took away the Purple Locust’s poison, but instead, it seemed to poison the locust, killing it.