Chapter 345: It Was You!

Seed Shop Headquarters.

"Leah~nim, welcome back. Did you have a good trip?"

The god of spring breeze, Melin, and other gods asked Leah, the goddess of abundance.

Their bodies were so translucent that the blurry background behind them was visible.

They were disappearing, losing their divine power.

"Indeed... Yes! Look at this!"

Leah responded boastfully in a very different tone than when she spoke to Sejun, to Melin's question.

Leah showed a fist-sized orb of light.

It was divine power worth 500 billion Tower Coins. The other half i.e. 500 billion Tower Coins were lost in the process of bringing it.

As she told Sejun, it was a loss they had to bear since it was not an official trading route.

"Wow!"

"As expected of, Leah~nim!"

"Hehe. Here. Eat up!"

Leah tore off a piece as small as a thumbnail from the divine power and handed it to the gods.

"Leah~nim, thank you."

"Thank you."

"If it weren't for Leah~nim, we would have already perished!"

The gods expressed their gratitude to Leah as they ate the divine power she provided.

Their divinity restored, their bodies became clearer and more defined after consuming the divine power.

"Hehe. We must all help each other to survive. You guys should also find believers, then you can trade with Sejun."

"Yes! I hope so. Then we won't have to be wary of those guys anymore."

"Right! Let's show the pride of us non-combat gods!"

While Leah boldly exclaimed,

"Phahahaha. Pride? What did I just hear?"

Thud. Thud.

A god so huge that he was incomparable to them laughed at their conversation as he passed by.

"Hmph! Just you watch! Non-combat gods will become the mainstream soon! Park Sejun, fighting!"

"Park Sejun, fighting!"

Leah and the other non-combat gods cheered for Sejun.

***

Pluck.

[You have harvested a Tenacious Mugwort.]

[Your job experience has slightly increased.]

[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 8 has slightly increased.]

[You have gained 45 experience points.]

Sejun, along with Theo, Cuengi, Ajax, Uren, and the King of Farming, diligently harvested mugwort.

At that moment,

Kking! Kking!

'Hey! Look! I can also pluck well!'

Fenrir plucked mugwort with his mouth and brought it to Sejun.

"Oh! Is Blackie also helping with farming?"

Chuck.

At Sejun's question, Fenrir 'sat' down.

Kking!

'Since I helped, give me food!'

He had an ulterior motive.

Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.

Thus, Sejun gave Fenrir some dried sweet potatoes and,

"Alright. Now we're halfway done. Let's keep up the pace!"

He encouraged his companions as they continued harvesting mugwort.

"Puhuhut. But what's the name of this skeleton slave, meow?"

Theo approached the King of Farming and inquired about his name.

Clatter.

[I am called the King of Farming.]

"Puhuhut. What kind of name is King of Farming, meow? You should at least be something like our Chairman Park, a Tower Farmer."

Theo mocked the name of the King of Farming and after writing 'King of Farming' in the second column of the contract and,

Swoosh.

He brought the contract in front of the King of Farming hand, as he tried to harvest mugwort,

Press.

Clatter?

And got King of Farming's stamp.

"Heh. You King of Farming? I'm the Tower Farmer."1(TL: So, let me explain what's going on here. First, the proper translation for Skeleton's name would be 'Farming King,' but I have chosen to go with 'King of Farming' because it essentially means the same thing but sounds better. Now, setting that aside, the sentence used here is a mix of English and Korean. That is, 'You' and 'I am' are in English, and the Korean word for 'Tower' translates to 'Top.' Hopefully, this makes things a bit clearer.)

Sejun, looking at the King of Farming, pointed his thumb down and boasted. He really said it annoyingly.

Clatter!

[I'm also good at farming!]

Provoked by Sejun's taunt, the King of Farming couldn't hold back and retorted.

"Puhuhut. You dare challenge our Chairman Park with farming, meow? Chairman Park show him what you've got, meow!"

"Hehe. Alright. I'll show you why I'm the Tower Farmer!"

Thus began a battle of pride between the two serious farmers.

"Then it's a contest to see who can harvest more mugwort!"

With Sejun's shout, the harvesting competition began.

"Sejun hyung, you got this!"

With Sejun's prestige as a tower farmer on the line, Ajax enthusiastically cheered him on in the competition.

A moment later.

"Hehe. King of Farming, you still have a long way to go before you can challenge me."

The result was Sejun's victory.

While skill matters, in terms of physical ability, the King of Farming from the 4th floor of the tower couldn't beat Sejun.

However,

Clatter!

[I may not be good at harvesting, but I excel at planting grapes!]

"Puhuhut. Chairman Park, the King of Farming is challenging you to a grape planting contest, meow!"

Feeling unfairly dismissed by Sejun's mockery, the King of Farming requested a rematch.

"Oh yeah? Then shall we compete in planting grapes?"

Clatter

[Yes, let's do it!]

"Alright. Land Moving!"

Sejun, planning to dominate from the start, scattered 50,000 grape seeds and struck the ground with Myler's hoe.

Then,

Kugugung.

[You have planted 50,000 Vitality-Infused Fragrant Grape seeds in soil imbued with magic power.]

[Your job experience has greatly increased.]

[Your proficiency in Magic Seed Sowing Lv. 8 has greatly increased.]

[You have created a 661200 square meter vineyard.]

[You have earned 400,000 experience points.]

A vineyard of 661200 square meter was created in an instant. Hehe. King of Farming, did you see that? The skills of a Tower Farmer.

As Sejun looked confidently at the King of Farming,

Plop.

The King of Farming had only managed to plant a single grape seed.

Then,

Woong.

When he used a skill on the spot where he planted the seed,

Crackle.

The grape began to grow rapidly.

"Huh?!"

Isn't this the effect of a Harvest Elixir? No, the growth rate was much faster than that.

Crackle.

The grape seed quickly grew into a tree and bore fruit.

And,

Clatter.

The King of Farming, sticking out his ribs as much as possible, struck a victor's pose and handed Sejun a bunch of grapes.

[Fragrant Seedless Grapes]

"Seedless grape?"

Where have I seen this before...

"Ah."

Podori! Seeing the seedless grape reminded him of Podori. Could the taste be...?

Pop.

He plucked a grape and touched the tip of it with his tongue.

"Eugh..."

As expected, it was bitter.

"King of Farming, you know about Podori, right?"

Clatter? Clatter.

[Podori? Of course I know, since I planted it.]

In response to Sejun's question, the King of Farming nodded his head, confessing that he was the culprit himself. Gotcha, you scoundrel!

King of Farming, it was you!

You made our Podori seedless...

"King of Farming, you've made two mistakes."

Clatter?

[Me?]

"The first is making our Podori seedless, and the second is making the grapes taste so bad! Why did you do that? Quickly apologize to the grapes!"

Kueng! Kueng?!

[Right! Why did you do that?! They really tasted bad!]

The farm contest was soon forgotten, and it turned into an inquisition of the King of Farming by Sejun and Cuengi, outraged by the bitter grapes.

Kking?! Kking!

'Why did you make him angry?! Skeleton, it was definitely your fault!' 2Don't make a mistake here. Blackie doesn't understand Sejun and the others; he is speaking based on their emotions and the situation.

Fenrir also eagerly sided with Sejun.

A moment later.

Clatter...

Leaving the King of Farming, whose spirit was completely crushed by the two's scolding,

Crunch.

Sejun and his companions enjoyed a delicious lunch of fried dishes.

The menu was fish and chips.

Since fish and chips where basically fried fish with fried potatoes so it was no different from breakfast.

If there was a difference, it was the tartar sauce.

In the morning Sejun was in a rush to eat fried food so they simply dipped them in soy sauce but lunch was the chance for Sejun to show off his culinary skills.

So he mixed grape seed oil, Egg Fruit yolk, rice vinegar, among other ingredients, to make mayonnaise.

Then he added onions, carrots, and green onions along with other ingredients to create tartar sauce.

After that meal,

"This would taste good fried too, wouldn't it?"

Sejun coated the mugwort in frying batter and dipped it into boiling oil.

Sizzle.

The sound of the batter frying in the hot oil sounded appetizing.

"It's done."

As the color turned golden brown, Sejun took out the mugwort.

Then,

[You have achieved the feat of making the first-ever Crispy Mugwort Fries in the tower.]

[The recipe for Crispy Mugwort Fries has been registered under Cooking Lv. 9.]

[Your proficiency in Cooking Lv. 9 has slightly increased.]

[Due to the effects of Cooking Lv. 9, the efficacy of Tenacious Mugwort as a cooking ingredient has increased by 5%.]

A message of achievement appeared.

"Nice."

Sejun put the crispy mugwort fries in his mouth, feeling good as he looked at the message.

Crunch.

As the fries crumbled, the aroma of mugwort spread throughout his mouth and

Crunch. Crunch.

With every chew, the pleasant texture made eating them more enjoyable, and fortunately, perhaps due to the heating, the bitterness was not strong.

Gulp.

[You have consumed Crispy Mugwort Fries.]

[Talent: Strong Tenacity has been awakened.]

Sejun swallowed the mugwort, awakening a new talent.

"Huh? Strong Tenacity?"

Originally it was just Tenacity, but thanks to the 5% increase in the ingredient's effect from cooking, 'Strong' was added in front.

"Let's see."

Sejun checked his newly acquired talent.

[Talent: Strong Tenacity]

→ It is a talent that makes it hard to die due to a strong tenacity for life.

→ Each time you overcome a near-death experience, your vitality slightly increases.

→ Vitality +10%

"Wow!"

Vitality +10%?!

Excited, Sejun hurriedly coated more mugwort in batter and

Sizzle.

started frying and eating it. He had to eat a lot to enhance his talent!

High vitality means not being treated like a sunfish.

[You have consumed Crispy Mugwort Fries.]

[Due to Cooking Lv. 9, the effect of the ingredient Tenacious Mugwort is increased by 5%.]

[Talent: Strong Tenacity is slightly enhanced.]

Thus, Sejun ate the mugwort fries so fervently that it nearly scalded his palate.

However,

Vitality +10.0001%

The vitality increased only slightly.

"As expected, it's not easy."

The world did not generously pour blessings on Sejun.

"Let's get back to work."

Realizing that the world wasn't that easy, Sejun went back to harvesting mugwort.

Two hours later.

"Phew. Done."

Sejun looked at the towering stack of mugwort and said with a satisfied voice.

[Your soul feels fulfilled.]

[Mental Strength increases by 1.]

Mental strength increased simultaneously. Indeed, labor does not betray.

"Hehehe. Good. Guys, let's head back."

Sejun prepared to return with a smile.

"Puhuhut. Let's go home, meow!"

Swish.

At Sejun's words, Theo quickly clung to Sejun's leg.

However,

"Vice Chairman Theo, take the King of Farming to the 4th floor of the tower."

Theo had a task to do.

The King of Farming, came from the 4th floor and had come up to the 62nd floor.

He had been lucky coming up, but there was no guarantee he'd be lucky going down as well.

That's why he told Theo to take the King of Farming back.

Additionally, Theo was instructed to check if the vineyards on the 4th floor were alright.

"Puhuhut. Vice Chairman Theo will check thoroughly and return quickly, meow! King of Farming, let's go, meow!"

When Theo and the King of Farming were about to leave quickly,

"Theo~nim, I'll also..."

Uren also called out to follow Theo for a safe return.

"Puhuhut. Okay, meow! Uren, follow along, meow!"

On the way, I must buy what I want with Uren's money, meow. For Theo, who considered Uren as his wallet, naturally welcomed it.

"Chairman Park, I'll be off, meow!"

"Alright. Take care."

Kueng!

[Big brother, see you later!]

"See you later."

Kking!

'Bring back something tasty when you return!'

With everyone's farewell, Theo left with the King of Farming and Uren,

"Let's go too, Toryong."

Sejun called Toryong and moved toward the red light created by the waypoint's red crystal.

And

Kueng!

[Move out of the way!]

"Clear the path!"

Kking! Kking!

'Move aside! This noble wolf, Lord Fenrir, commands it!'

Cuengi, Ajax, and Fenrir intimidated the boss monster guarding the waypoint,

"Please pass through!"

The boss monster stepped aside to let them through.

Kueng!

[Dad, Use waypoint now!]

"Hyung! It's safe now!"

Kking!

'From now on, just follow behind me!'

"Yeah. Thanks."

[Black Tower 62nd Floor Waypoint has been saved.]

Thanks to this, Sejun easily saved the waypoint,

"Guys, go in."

[Moving to the 99th floor of the Black Tower.]

Together with his companions, Sejun returned to the 99th floor of the Black Tower.

***

Green Tower's Administrative Area.

"Alright. It's time to go."

Brachio took the completed Green Dragon statue and flew to the Black Tower.

Now, if I just go into the Black Tower and appease Sejun's anger...

Brachio thought only of calming Sejun's anger.

However, it was a very naive thought.

"Grandma Brachio, who tried to kill our Sejun, is now banned from entering the Black Tower!"

The final boss of the Black Tower, Aileen, did not open the door.

"Brachio, what's the matter?"

"Aileen won't open the door..."

So, Brachio went to find Kaiser.

"Kaiser, how can I appease Aileen's anger?"

She asked Kaiser for a way to calm Aileen's anger.

"Ah. For that, you need to ask Sejun, but...?"

"......"

'What should I do?'

Brachio had no way to enter the Black Tower.