Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 96

BOOM! The ground shook as Iona used her magic. Dust and rocks fell from the cave ceiling. Slowly, the whole cave began to break apart.

Then, words appeared in front of Sejun:

[Quest Complete!]

Reward: 3 million experience points, 50,000 Top Coins.

Sejun smiled as he got his rewards. Iona’s magic, like a tiny black hole, had destroyed all the Locusts at once.

Another message popped up: [Mission Complete. Returning to the 99th floor in 30 seconds.]

“Iona, I have to go back now,” Sejun said quickly.

“Huh?” Iona looked surprised.

Sejun knew Iona couldn’t come with him because she wasn’t his helper. He felt a little sad to leave her.

“Squawk! Squawk!” The black rabbit waved its paw.

“Kkueng! Kkueng!” Kkueng barked happily.

“Ppyu ppyu…” Ppyu Ppyu made a sad sound, missing its teacher already.

Then Theo, with a grin, shouted, “Bye-bye, Iona! Sejun’s lap is all mine now!” He vanished in a flash of light.

“Kkyu! Kkyu! My honey nap!” Iona cried out, very angry. When Iona gets really angry, she makes a “Kkyu” sound. Her anger made her magic stronger. The black hole grew bigger and bigger! It destroyed the whole Navia Swamp before Iona calmed down and quickly went somewhere else.

In the Tower Administrator’s Zone, messages flashed on a screen:

[Yellow Locusts on floor 67: Over 3 billion!]

[Yellow Locusts on floor 67: Ready to evolve!]

[Blue Locusts on floor 67: Over 5 billion!]

[Red Locusts on floor 67: Evolving into Purple Locusts!]

“Krrong?!” Aileen gasped. She was surprised because the number of Locusts, which had been going down, suddenly started growing very fast.

“Could something be wrong with Sejun?” she worried. “Did something happen to him?”

She had given Sejun special power to protect himself, but she still thought he was too weak. She felt very worried.

Just as Aileen was getting more and more worried, new messages appeared:

[Intermediate Administrator, Tower Farmer Park Sejun: Mission Complete!]

[Returning to the 99th floor of the Tower.]

“Hehe!” Aileen smiled, relieved. “He must have been trying to get even better rewards! That’s my Sejun! I knew he could do it!”

Aileen quickly looked into her crystal ball to see Sejun. She had missed him a lot in the past few days.

[Welcome back to the 99th floor of the Tower!]

Sejun was back in his house on the 99th floor. He felt happy to be home.

“Kkueng!” Kkueng barked and ran to his mother, wagging his tail.

“Squawk! Squawk!” The rabbits hopped over to greet the other rabbits, their noses twitching.

“Should I check on the farm?” Sejun wondered aloud. He was eager to see how everything was growing.

“Work again?” Theo grumbled, sounding annoyed. “Just rest! You just got back!” Theo wanted to relax on Sejun’s lap right away.

“Just a quick look,” Sejun said, smiling gently. He had become a true farmer now, always thinking about his crops. He just wanted to make sure everything was okay while he was gone.

Just then, a message appeared in Sejun’s mind: [The Tower Administrator says you worked very, very hard.]

“Yes, I did,” Sejun replied. “And thank you for the power you gave me, Aileen. It saved my life.”

[…The Tower Administrator says she… she only gave it to you because you are weak and she was worried before you saw her. So, you don’t need to thank her so much.] Aileen sounded a little embarrassed. She didn’t want to seem too nice.

“But really,” Sejun continued, “when I thought I might die, I really wanted to see Aileen.” He meant he wanted to see her one last time, but the way he said it made the air feel different.

[…]

“Aileen?” Sejun asked again.

Aileen was too shy to reply and hid herself.

Then, from the fountain nearby, the black dragon statue suddenly spoke in a deep voice, “-That Park Sejun… I guess he’s not completely useless.” The statue nodded its head slightly, as if agreeing with Aileen’s hidden feelings.

After talking to Aileen, Sejun walked around his farm. He smiled. “You’re all doing great, just like I knew you would.”

The tomato plants were heavy with red fruits. The sweet potato leaves were thick and green. The carrot tops poked out of the soil in neat rows. The white rabbits, who were very good at farming, had taken excellent care of everything.

The harvest looked amazing. The farm was bigger now, with even more new fields. As Sejun walked to the edge of the farm, he saw the dark, rich black soil.

“Almost ready,” he murmured, touching the soil. The Black Minotaurs had worked hard. Almost all of the rough wasteland was now turned into perfect black soil, ready for planting. It looked like anything would grow well in this soil.

After checking the fields above ground, Sejun went down into the cave where Flame lived.

“Flame, did you have a good day?” Sejun asked.

[Yes! Master! I missed you so much!] Flame rustled its leaves excitedly, like it was waving its arms to hug Sejun.

“Wow! More Ents?” Sejun noticed ten small tree creatures standing near Flame. They were now as tall as his chest.

[Yes! The Ents are always making seeds and planting them in the west forest!] Flame replied proudly.

“That’s wonderful! I should go see,” Sejun said. He gently stroked Flame’s leaves.

[Farmer’s Touch Lv. 2 activated.]

[The apple tree’s growth is slightly faster while you touch it.]

Sejun’s skill made Flame grow a little bit more.

[Hehe. Master! I’m growing bigger!] Flame giggled happily.

“Yes, you are,” Sejun said softly, even though he couldn’t see much difference. He didn’t want to disappoint Flame.

After talking with Flame, Sejun went back to his house to sleep.

And then, “Meow, meow, meow…”

Theo was so happy to have Sejun’s lap all to himself again. He purred and hummed a happy tune. He was too excited to sleep.

Suddenly, a voice whispered in his mind, *(Theo, brother! Are you back?)*

“Nyaaak!” Theo jumped, surprised. It was the golden bat, who had been hiding in a corner of the bedroom.

*(Oh, sorry if I scared you,)* the golden bat said quickly, feeling bad.

But Theo wouldn’t admit he was scared. “Meow? Scared? What are you talking about? I wasn’t scared at all! Golden Bat, how have you been?” Theo puffed out his chest, trying to look like a brave older brother.

*(I’m good, brother. But I have a problem,)* the golden bat said.

“What is it? Tell me! Your big brother Theo will help you!” Theo’s heart beat faster. He was excited to give advice like a real older brother.

*(Soon, I’m going outside the Tower again. What should I bring back for Sejun? What would he like?)* The golden bat sounded worried.

“That’s easy!” Theo said confidently. This was something he knew a lot about.

*(Really? Easy?)*

“Just bring back whatever catches your eye! Hehe! Every time I bring Sejun something that I like, he loves it!” Theo boasted.

*(Wow! I wish I was like you, brother! But… how do I know what will catch my eye?)*

“You just… know!” Theo said mysteriously. His advice wasn’t very helpful, but he thought it sounded very cool.

BANG! Iona used wind magic to throw open the doors of President Mason’s office in the Wandering Merchant group. She stormed inside.

“Kkyu! Kkyu! President Mason!” Iona shouted, sounding very angry. “I’m here to report a crime by Tarik! Tarik, the leader of the Chau Merchant group, who everyone says is the ‘best’ merchant!”

“Tarik?” Mason looked up, surprised.

*’What has Tarik done now?’* he thought, sighing. Seeing Iona so angry, he knew it must be something serious.

“Iona, why don’t we talk calmly over some tea?” Mason suggested, trying to calm her down.

“No tea! I’m busy today! Here’s the proof!” Iona said, impatient. She wanted to get to the 99th floor quickly for her honey nap. She threw a necklace onto Mason’s desk.

“What’s this?” Mason asked, picking it up.

“It’s a necklace with magic that records videos,” Iona explained.

“Ah, okay. I’ll watch the video and decide how to punish Tarik,” Mason said, relieved that there was evidence.

“Too late,” Iona said bluntly.

“Huh?” Mason was confused.

“I already punished Tarik,” Iona said. “I gave him the death penalty.”

“What?!” Mason was shocked. Tarik was important! He worked for Grid, the powerful leader of the Boar Tribe. Mason was afraid of Grid because Grid controlled the food supply. Mason couldn’t punish Tarik himself because of Grid.

“Iona! Even if Tarik did something wrong, you can’t just ignore the Wandering Merchant group and kill a merchant!” Mason was furious. This was a huge problem.

“Tarik was feeding the Red Locusts on floor 67 to make them grow faster. That’s dangerous for the whole Tower! As the president of the Wizard group, I have the right to judge him quickly when it’s about Tower safety. It’s all in the video. Just watch it,” Iona said firmly.

“Is that true?” Mason asked, his anger turning to worry.

Mason quickly started watching the video. It showed Tarik giving bribes many times and throwing away dead monsters illegally. He even tried to use Grid’s name to get away with it.

While Mason watched, Iona rushed to the light passage to go to the 99th floor.

*’This will let me get Grid involved too,’* Iona thought with satisfaction.

You always need a good reason to do things. And punishing someone who tried to hurt the Tower was a very good reason.

*’If I play this right, I can get rid of Grid with this video,’* she thought, feeling pleased.

Just then, at the end of the video, another short video clip started playing. It was Iona speaking directly to Mason:

-President Mason, take all the money and things from the Chau Merchant group. Use them to pay back the Wandering Merchant group, the Free Fighters group, and the Wizard group for their expenses. Give the rest of the money to the excellent merchant Theo. He will use it to help rebuild floor 67 of the Tower.

“Theo?” Mason said, surprised.

He called his assistant and ordered him to find out everything about this merchant named Theo.

“Euchha,” Sejun yawned and stretched as he woke up.

Then he heard soft sounds: *Gnoron… Kkyurorong…*

“Huh? Iona?” Sejun looked down at his lap, surprised.

There she was! Iona was curled up on his lap, using Theo’s tail as a pillow. She was fast asleep.

“When did she get here?” Sejun wondered.

Iona must have used the fast merchant passage as soon as Sejun left. She had finished her work quickly and arrived an hour ago, just in time for a short honey nap on Sejun’s lap.

Suddenly, *Flap, flap,* the golden bat landed in front of Sejun.

*(Sejun! Look what I brought!)* the golden bat said excitedly. *(It feels good to hold, so I picked it!)* He held out a small black object to Sejun.

“Is this… a wireless microphone?” Sejun asked, surprised. “Did you go outside the Tower again?”

*(Yes! I listened to Theo this time and brought something that I liked!)* The golden bat looked at Sejun, hoping for praise.

*’Will I get love from Sejun too, like Theo does?’* he thought. Theo had bragged about getting love from Sejun for bringing things he liked.

But Sejun just sighed gently. “Golden Bat, that only works for Theo. Theo is special.”

*(Oh…)* The golden bat looked down, disappointed.

“But it’s okay,” Sejun said kindly. “I know you saw people using these in karaoke rooms. Let’s learn to write first.” Sejun wanted to teach the golden bat to write so he could understand more about the places the bat visited.

*(Yes! I’ll study hard!)* the golden bat said, perking up again.

“Okay, this is ‘Giyeok’,” Sejun said, picking up a twig. He drew the letter ‘ㄱ’ on the dirt floor.

*Swish.*

*(Giyeok,)* the golden bat repeated, also grabbing a twig and copying the letter Sejun had made.

On his 264th day stuck in the Tower, Sejun started teaching the golden bat Korean.

In a small karaoke room in Seoul, South Korea…

“Black Limou… Huh?!” A man singing loudly stopped in surprise. The microphone suddenly vanished from his hand!

A few moments later, the karaoke owner rushed in, looking angry. “You! You stole a microphone! Pay for it now, or I’m calling the police!”

“No, wait! I didn’t steal it! Please, check the security cameras!” the man protested, feeling unfairly accused.

The owner checked the CCTV footage.

“Huh?!” the owner exclaimed, surprised.

“See?! I told you!” the man said, relieved.

The video clearly showed the microphone disappearing from the man’s hand by itself. They rewound the video slowly. They saw a small, golden blur moving very fast, snatching the microphone and flying away.

“We should send this to that TV show, ‘Strange Things Around the World’!” one of them said, excitedly.

“Yeah, let’s do it!” the other agreed.

It turned out they both loved watching ‘Strange Things Around the World’.