Chapter 101: The Harvest Festival Begins (3)

Once the Carrot Harvest Competition was over,

Squeak!

Pi Ppi!

Squeal!

Squeap!

The excitement of the rabbits started to rise, and a festive atmosphere began to unfold. However, Sejun, who needed to harvest crops to complete his job quest, couldn't join in the fun.

Therefore, he let the rabbits enjoy the festival, and he got to work with Cuengi, Theo, and Iona.

Even though he could work alone, he needed to supervise the minor Cuengi, who was covetously eyeing the Makgeolli that the black rabbit was drinking.

According to his mother, the Crimson Giant Bear, Cuengi needed to see about 10 more Blue Moons to be considered an adult.

And Theo and Iona wouldn't leave Sejun's lap no matter what he said.

Snip Snip

Thus, with his three animal companions, Sejun harvested cherry tomatoes.

[You have harvested the Well-Ripened Magical Cherry Tomatoes.]

[You need to harvest 72,811 more times to complete your job quest.]

[Your job experience slightly increases.]

[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 5 slightly increases.]

[You have gained 30 experience points.]

Even though it was easier to cut the branch and harvest multiple at once, but that would allow him to use the Harvesting skill only once, so Sejun was picking the cherry tomatoes one by one.

Then,

[You have harvested Underripe Magical Cherry Tomatoes.]

[You need to harvest 72,744 more times to complete your job quest.]

[Your job experience slightly increases.]

[Your skill proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 5 slightly increases.]

[You have gained 23 experience points.]

He even harvested the underripe cherry tomatoes in order to use the Harvesting skill.

After picking all the cherry tomatoes in the ground field, Sejun went down to the cave with the animals, and then

Kreong!

Cuengi went into the pond to hunt.

"Iona, keep an eye on Cuengi."

"Okay."

Upon Sejun's instructions, Iona left Sejun's lap and Theo's tail and followed Cuengi into the pond. With Iona's magic skills, Cuengi wouldn't be in danger.

[Master! Welcome!]

Flamie, waving its leaves, greeted Sejun.

"Sorry. I should visit more often. Isn't it boring being here alone?"

[No! You're here now, Master! And I have the Ents, so I'm okay!]

Flamie, as always, spoke sweetly.

Pat, pat.

Sejun stroked Flamie's leaves. He was uneasy because Flamie seemed to grow slower compared to other crops.

[Hehehe. I feel good!]

Then,

Rumble.

The ground began to shake.

"Huh?!"

While Sejun quickly regained his balance, the ground stopped shaking.

"What happened? Did Cuengi cause trouble?"

[Well... I'm not sure.]

Sejun spent about 10 minutes stroking Flamie's leaves and checking if the ground would shake again, but it was calm after that.

"Is everything okay?"

Relieved, Sejun started harvesting the cherry tomatoes again.

***

"Air Bubble!"

Iona used magic spell so that she and Cuengi could breathe underwater.

A transparent air bubble formed around their heads.

Kreong!

Cuengi, intrigued by the air bubble around his head, looked at Iona in admiration.

"Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. It's not a big deal. Now, enjoy as much as you want."

Kreong!

At Iona's words, Cuengi energetically swam around the pond, hunting fish. Thanks to the air bubble, Cuengi, who gained courage, went down to the bottom of the pond.

Cuengi had always been curious because he was told never to go to the bottom when he was with his big brother, the black rabbit.

So, he reached the bottom of the pond.

Kreong?

"What's this?"

Following Cuengi, Iona arrived at the bottom of the pond and discovered a massive root stretching towards the Sea of Dimensions.

Then

Whoosh.

They could see a bright light flowing in from the roots on the side of the Sea of Dimensions.

Krueng?

Iona and Cuengi's gaze followed the light.

And the light, entering into the massive root of the tree piercing through the ground. It was easy to tell whose root it was. There was only one tree here. It was the Flamie.

Rumble.

The tree's root, having absorbed the light, grew and the ground shook.

"As expected of Sejun, you've been growing something this amazing!"

Iona was astonished by the massive root of Flamie that connected all the way to the Sea of Dimensions.

Then

Wriggle.

[Excuse me.]

Flamie spoke to Cuengi and Iona, moving its roots.

***

"Phew. It's done."

Sejun quickly finished harvesting the cherry tomatoes.

Then

Splash.

Cuengi and Iona emerged from the water.

"Blow, Warm Wind. Warm Wind."

Iona used magic to neatly remove the moisture stuck to their fur.

"Did you have fun?"

"Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Yes!"

Krueng!

Iona's voice was also cheerful, indicating she had fun too.

"Then let's rest a bit. Flamie, I'll come back tomorrow."

[Okay! See you tomorrow!]

As Sejun said goodbye to Flamie and started to go up to the surface,

[Don't forget your promise. You know, right?]

Flamie spoke to Iona and Cuengi.

"Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Of course!"

Krueng!

At Flamie's words, Iona and Cuengi nodded their heads and followed Sejun to the surface. The three had made some sort of agreement not to speak about Flamie's roots.

The reason Flamie wanted to hide its roots was very simple.

[I want to look cute to my master!]

It seemed that if Sejun saw the massive roots, he would no longer look at Flamie adorably.

When Sejun reached the surface,

Clatter! Clatter!

Squeak! Squeak!

The rabbits were wasted from drinking heavily.

"Why did you all drink so much?"

While Sejun was trying to lay the sprawled out rabbits down properly,

-Drink up!

The black dragon statue was forcing the rabbits to drink.

-You know what happens if you leave even a drop, right?

Gulp!

The atmosphere was so intense, as if they would die if they didn't drink. It was understandable why the rabbits ended up like this as there was no creature brave enough to refuse a drink handed over by Kaiser.

Then,

-Park Sejun! you rascal! Where have you been?!

When Kaiser, who caused this situation, spotted Sejun

Flap. Flap.

He flew over to Sejun and handed him a cup filled to the brim with makgeolli.

"Thank you."

Sejun, who was already parched, carefully took the cup.

And then

"Hmm."

He brought the cup of makgeolli close to his nose and smelled the aroma.

-Hmph. So, you do know how to appreciate alcohol.

The fact that Sejun smelled the scent of the makgeolli, checking if it was similar to the one he drank on Earth, appeared to Kaiser as savoring the aroma before drinking, which slightly increased Kaiser's favorability towards him who also loved alcohol.

'It's stronger than the Makgeolli I used to drink on Earth, huh?'

However, the proportion of the sour and sweet smell was similar to what he had on Earth.

Gulp.

He swallowed his saliva, full of anticipation for the Makgeolli.

With a heart full of excitement, Sejun took a sip of the makgeolli

'Oh!'

The sweet, bitter, and sour flavors flowed smoothly down Sejun's throat without causing any sense of discomfort.

Gulp.

"Kuh. It's sweet."

Sejun unwittingly cried out in exhilaration at the refreshing sensation of carbonation hitting his throat. The makgeolli had a strong carbonation because Kaiser had lowered its temperature using magic.

Gulp, gulp.

Sejun finished his makgeolli in one gulp and extended his glass. It was truly refreshing and sweet to drink after work.

"Ahhh, another one please."

-Hahaha. Park Sejun! You really know how to drink!

Kaiser, pleased, poured Sejun another drink. Kaiser had been feeling lonely without a drinking partner.

[The Tower's Administrator expresses her desire to drink makgeolli too.]

"Aileen, you're still young. I'll give it to you when you're older."

-Yeah! Sejun's right! You have to wait at least 200 years.

[The Tower's Administrator says it's now 180 years.]

Somehow, the waiting time had reduced from 250 years to 180 years.

[The Tower's Administrator is now upset and says she won't talk to grandpa anymore..]

-What?! Aileen~! Park Sejun! It's all your fault! I...

Thus, Kaiser, who had been blocked again by Aileen, drank makgeolli for a few hours, grumbling about his situation to Sejun, but neither of them got drunk.

Kaiser, being a dragon, had a superior physical ability and couldn't get drunk on just makgeolli.

Munch munch.

Sejun was eating detoxifying green onions as a hangover cure. Although he liked makgeolli but didn't particularly enjoy getting drunk.

Above all, he was scared that he might say something wrong to Kaiser if he got drunk. He had to keep his wits about him, as one mistake could cost him his life.

So, as a result of maintaining his sobriety by eating lots of detoxifying green onions...

-"Tch! We've run out of alcohol. It was fun drinking together."

Having finished the makgeolli, Kaiser returned to the fountain.

"Guys, eat this."

Sejun, who had been drinking with Kaiser, fed the rabbits detoxifying green onions to help them sober up.

Chew, chew...

Squeak...

Fortunately, thanks to Sejun, the rabbits were quickly able to regain their senses.

However, as night fell, Sejun regretted what he had done. The rabbits, refreshed from their naps, began mating activities all over the field throughout the night.

Squeal! Squeal!

Hoot! Hoot!

The panting sounds coming from all directions like surround sound.

"Be quiet, world. Silence!"

Iona, annoyed by the disturbance to her sleep, cast a magic spell to block the noise around Sejun's house.

Thanks to her, Sejun was able to sleep peacefully, but for some reason, he felt uneasy.

***

Morning of the 266th day of being stranded.

"Alright"

When Sejun got up and went outside, only a few rabbits were wandering around. It was quiet.

"Hello, singles."

Being out in the daytime meant they were singles. And there was no sign of the black rabbit among the group of singles.

You've grown up, black rabbit. Live well. Sejun blessed the black rabbit that had left the singles life and prepared breakfast.

Today's breakfast was bread and cheese with soup. Of course, he grilled separate fish for Theo.

"Guys, let's eat."

"Give me the fish, meow!"

"Kyoot Kyoot Kyoot. Okay!"

Kreung!

At Sejun's call, the animals that had had a peaceful night ran over.

Munch munch.

The animals were eagerly eating their breakfast.

"Okay. Eat a lot and regain your energy."

Sejun served a generous breakfast to boost the morale of the singles.

Kreung!

Thanks to that, the happiest one was Cuengi.

"Cuengi, let's eat all of this. Isn't it great?"

Sejun, tried to win over Cuengi with food in a childish way.

While they were eating breakfast,

"Wow! Emil, look at this! It's corn!"

"Oh! That's right. Corncob full of kernels is a top-notch product."

The raccoons were inspecting Sejun's crops.

"Emil, come here and try this."

Sejun, hearing Emil's compliments about his corn, decided to offer his hospitality.

"Me?! Yes! Thank you!"

Emil wanted to refuse, but he couldn't reject the gracious offer from the great black dragon. It might cause bigger trouble.

'Chief Emil! You can do it!'

The other raccoons cheered for Emil, who was being called by Sejun.

At that moment,

"What are you doing? You guys should come too."

When Sejun beckoned to the other raccoons...

"Yes!"

The raccoons, who had been cheering for Emil, rushed over.

And thus, they had a meal together.

"Here. This is the soup I made."

"...Thank you."

The raccoons, forcing smiles, ate the purple soup that Sejun handed to them. It was a truly unappetizing color.

However

"Oh!"

After a mouthful, such thoughts instantly vanished.

"It's so delicious."

"It's really good!"

The raccoons began to eat the soup enthusiastically. It went well with the bread and cheese.

Moreover,

[You have consumed the Enhanced Purple SeP's Carrot Soup.]

[Agility increases by 10.5 for 1 hour.]

There was even a buff after they finished the soup.

"Wow!"

"What's this?!"

The raccoons were shocked to find that the food had a buff.

"Phuhuhut. Do you want it, meow?"

Theo chuckled, watching the raccoons.