Chapter 25: Catching a Falling Baby Bear
TL: Hanguk
"CEO, we've tried all extraction methods, but we failed to extract a new component from cherry tomatoes."
"Really?"
Jenna, the CEO of the pharmaceutical company Ister, who was leading the research team herself, bit her nails. It was her habit when she was deep in thought.
'Is it really impossible to extract from the items?'
Her younger brother Chris had told her that it was impossible to extract anything from the items, and she had gotten excited and overreacted.
"However, the clinical trial results are very good. We confirmed that consuming the Magic Cherry Tomato increases the basal metabolic rate by 5-10% while breaking down 10g of fat."
"What about the synergistic effect?"
"In the case of non-awakened people, when consumed, the fat is reduced by 10g, but the increase in basal metabolic rate is only about 0.1% additional increase. The additional effect is minimal."
"I see."
Jenna, who had experienced the Magic Cherry Tomato herself, knew best. She just wanted to verify the exact numbers.
"What about side effects from overconsumption?"
"There are no side effects other than those that occur when consuming regular cherry tomatoes."
"Really? What about due to excessive fat breakdown?"
"That part is amazing. Even if you overdose on Magic Cherry Tomatoes, if your body has low fat, it doesn't break down fat below 7-9% body fat. Instead, the effect of increasing vitality also disappears."
The researcher's words meant that even if you overeat Magic Cherry Tomatoes, it wouldn't harm your health.
"Alright. Please bring the remaining ones to my office."
For the past few days, Jenna had been receiving calls from FDA advisory committee members who received Magical Cherry Tomatoes as gifts, asking if they could get more.
"Yes. But Magical Cherry Tomatoes are definitely good. Your jawline has become much sharper, CEO."
"Hahaha. Thank you."
Jenna's mood improved at the research team leader's words. Although the research to extract components from Magic Cherry Tomatoes had failed, but her diet had been successful.
***
Day 165 of being stranded.
"Alright!"
Se-jun got up and added another line to the wall, completing another 正.
"The fourth row is already 30% full."
Time seemed to pass slowly, but it also went by quickly.
Buzz buzz.
The poisonous honeybees woke up early in the morning and approached Se-jun before they sucked honey. The number of poison honeybees had increased by seven in two days, totaling 60.
"Did you all sleep well?"
Rub rub.
The poison honeybees responded by rubbing their tail parts on Se-jun's body.
Just then,
Squeak!
Pitter-patter!
Thump!
The rabbits woke up and greeted Se-jun in the morning.
Se-jun and the rabbits ate a simple meal of sweet potatoes, carrots, and refreshing honey water before starting their morning farm work.
Starting today, Se-jun's tasks included cutting the green onion leaves that wife rabbit used to do.
As the wife rabbit's belly grew larger, she was given easier tasks like preparing meals and picking cherry tomatoes from the stems harvested by Se-jun.
Scrape. Scrape.
Se-jun cut the green onion leaves at an incredible speed. With the Keinz's training dagger, Se-jun could be called the almost unrivaled leaves cutter in this cave.
The white rabbit with a cart alone couldn't keep up with Se-jun's speed of cutting green onion leaves, so the white rabbit with a sickle had to help carry the green onion leaves too.
In just an hour, Sejun finished cutting the leaves and immediately started harvesting cherry tomatoes. Lately, his stamina had improved, so it was not too challenging for him.
He diligently cut the cherry tomato stems with his dagger and gave the stems to the wife rabbit for harvesting tomatoes.
Since harvesting the D-grade magic cherry tomatoes yesterday, most of the cherry tomatoes he harvested were D-grade. It was because the crops that grew after Sejun became a D-grade top farmer were also D-grade.
"If Theo had gone just a day later, we could've sold D-grade cherry tomatoes."
He felt a bit regretful, but thanks to that, he could enjoy eating D-grade magic cherry tomatoes to his heart's content, so it wasn't all bad.
While Sejun was cutting the cherry tomato branches,
[You have simultaneously harvested 7 well-ripened magical cherry tomatoes.]
[Your job experience increases slightly.]
[Your Harvesting Lv. 3 proficiency increases slightly.]
[Due to Proficiency Increase Lv. 1 effect, your Harvesting Lv. 3 proficiency increases by an additional 5%.]
[You have gained 140 experience points.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have acquired 1 bonus stat.]
He had leveled up a few days ago, but he gained experience by harvesting D-grade cherry tomatoes, and he leveled up earlier than expected, reaching level 14. Sejun raised his stamina with the bonus stat.
"Should we take a break?"
As he stopped his hands, Sejun looked around to see the situation of the other white rabbits.
Although the wife rabbit was no longer working on the farm, Sejun cut the leaves quickly. The sickle-wielding white rabbit and the cart-pulling white rabbit, who had nothing to do, helped the other rabbits, and the progress of the work was even faster than before.
"Let's take a short break!"
Thanks to the dagger Theo brought, Sejun and the rabbits had more leisure time in their day.
At Sejun's shout, the rabbits gathered at their official resting place.
"Let's eat one by one and rest."
Sejun brought the two cherry tomato stems he had just harvested and handed out one tomato to each rabbit.
The rabbits bit into the cherry tomatoes and began to suck the juice.
Sejun squeezed the cherry tomato juice into a tumbler and made cherry tomato juice.
At that moment,
The bees approached. When they ate like this, the bees would sprinkle honey on the rabbits' cherry tomatoes.
The bees also approached Sejun.
"I'm fine."
Sejun refused the honey, wanting to enjoy the pure taste of cherry tomatoes today.
So, Sejun and the rabbits took a break and went back to their individual tasks before having lunch.
"Ah, this is nice."
Sejun cleaned his mouth with coffee after eating a salty grilled fish for lunch, washing away the salty taste and fishy smell. Today, he boiled water in a pot and brewed coffee with hot water.
The black rabbit climbed onto Sejun's lap to take a nap.
A second later,
The black rabbit yawned.
"How can it fall asleep so quickly?"
Sejun looked at the Black Rabbit in amazement and then looked up at the sky.
About 10 minutes later,
Grrr. Grrrr.
A strange sound came from above the cave.
"Huh?!"
Sejun quickly got up from his seat,
Bang?! Bang?
The startled Black Rabbit, which had been thrown off, looked around in confusion.
But Sejun couldn't worry about that. The sound from above wasn't very loud, but it was definitely a monster.
Jump!
The Black Rabbit, sensing something strange, quickly jumped onto Sejun's shoulder.
Then, Sejun and the Black Rabbit made eye contact with a red-furred creature poking its head out of the hole in the ceiling.
Grrr?!
Slip.
Grrrrrr!!!
The creature, more flustered than Sejun and the Black Rabbit, slipped and fell into the cave, letting out a strange scream.
***
You shouldn't go there.
Mother always said it was forbidden. It was the territory of the Poisonous Honey Bees and it was dangerous.
However, the baby Crimson Giant Bear, who went out to play alone while its mother was briefly asleep, got lost.
Mom!
Mom!
The baby Crimson Giant Bear called out for its mother and tried to find its way home.
But the baby Crimson Giant Bear went in the wrong direction and entered the territory of the Poisonous Honey Bees, getting farther away from its mother.
Mom!
Mom!
The baby Crimson Giant Bear was looking for its mother in the territory of the Poisonous Honey Bees.
Then,
Sniff, sniff.
A sweet smell came from somewhere.
It smells delicious!
The baby Crimson Giant Bear forgot it was looking for its mother and followed the scent.
Sniff, sniff.
Following the scent, the baby Crimson Giant Bear realized the smell was coming from a hole in the ground and cautiously poked its head out to look down.
Huh?!
But there was a gaze looking up at it from below.
Slip.
The baby Crimson Giant Bear, too flustered, lost strength in its legs and fell into the hole.
Save me, Mom!!!
***
"Huh?!"
Sejun unknowingly caught the falling creature in his arms. The monster, the size of a small dog with red fur, was now in Sejun's embrace.
Plop!
Sejun's first thought after catching the monster was how soft it was.
Grrr?
The monster looked at Sejun, who had caught it.
"A dog?"
It looked like a dog no matter how he looked at it. But the name showed otherwise.
[Baby Crimson Giant Bear]
Sejun put the baby Crimson Giant Bear down on the ground.
Grrr.
The Crimson Giant Bear, still scared, stood on its hind legs, grabbed Sejun's leg with its front paws, and hid behind him, looking around.
"What should I do with this?"
Sejun was lost in thought about what to do with the suddenly appeared Crimson Giant Bear. The presence of a baby meant there was a mother, who might be looking for her baby somewhere.
While Sejun was worrying,
Wobble, wobble.
The baby Crimson Giant Bear, thinking there was no one to attack him, began to explore the cave.
The first place it went was the water bottle filled with honey, which had a sweet smell.
However,
Buzz, buzz.
Sting!
As the poisonous honeybees pulled out their stingers to attack the intruder that not only invaded the cave but also targeted the honey,
Kwee-yah! Kwee-yah!
The baby Crimson Giant Bear screamed and quickly hid behind Sejun's legs again.
Buzz, buzz.
The poisonous honeybees were circling around the baby Crimson Giant Bear, preparing to attack.
Wag, wag, wag.
Shiver.
Scared, the baby Crimson Giant Bear trembled and even peed itself. It was too pitiful.
"It's okay."
Sejun calmed down the poisonous honeybees and sent them away.
Kwee-yah.
As the poisonous honeybees bees disappeared, the baby Crimson Giant Bear clung to Sejun, asking to be hugged.
"What is wrong with him?"
Sejun hugged the baby Crimson Giant Bear for now.
Kworoong.
"What?"
As soon as he was hugged, the baby bear fell asleep in an instant. Why? The Black Rabbit did the same, why do they sleep so well in my arms?
Sejun, puzzled, gently put the baby bear on his designated seat.
He then asked the Black Rabbit to watch over the baby bear and began his afternoon farming.
Sejun was concerned about the baby bear and checked on it from time to time.
While checking on the baby bear periodically,
Huh?!
He could not see the Black Rabbit and the baby bear, who were supposed to be on his designated seat.
No way?!
He worried that the baby bear might have eaten the Black Rabbit.
Sejun hurriedly looked around, and heard the sounds of the Black Rabbit and the baby bear near the pond.
Bling!
Plop!
Kwee-yah!
When the Black Rabbit showed the baby bear how to hunt piranhas, the baby bear looked at the Black Rabbit with admiring eyes.
Bling?! Bling!
The Black Rabbit looked at the baby bear with a proud expression. Did you see what your big brother did?!
Kwee-yah! Kwee-yah?
The baby bear nodded in response. Big brother, you're amazing! Can I eat this?
Bling!
The Black Rabbit answered cheerfully. Of course!
Kwee-yah!
The baby bear, with the Black Rabbit's permission, began to eat the piranhas hurriedly.
Sejun decided to leave the baby bear's care to the Black Rabbit for now, watching the two of them.
On day 165 of the being stranded, the lost baby Crimson Giant Bear began to stay with them.
*****