Chapter 269: Drawing the Good Stuff

Day 359 of being stranded, dawn.

Krrrr.

Gororong.

The sound of Park Sejun and Theo's snoring filled the bedroom.

Piyo...

[I don't understand...]

Piyot, who went to bed early yesterday and woke up early, was deep in thought while looking at Park Sejun sleeping soundly.

After much contemplation, it seemed to Piyot that being good at preparing fish meat did not make one the top in the hierarchy.

Pyeong...Piyo?

[Ugh... Then, how is the hierarchy determined?]

Faced with a difficult question it couldn't understand, Piyot had a headache. So, to cool off its head, Piyot went outside to look around the farm.

Piyo! Piyo!

[Oh! The farm is huge!]

Piyot, who hadn't had the chance to properly explore the farm yesterday due to a lack of peace of mind, admired the vastness of the farm.

Flap. Flap.

As Piyot was diligently flapping its wings to tour around the farm.

Flap. Flap.

Piyo!

[It's so refreshing!]

After touring the farm, it took a refreshing bath at the fountain, wetting its body.

And then,

Chuk.

Piyo!

[I'm the highest up here!]

While Piyot was drying off its fur, feeling good about looking down from atop the head of a black dragon statue in the center of the fountain,

-How dare you climb on my head...

The eyes of the black dragon statue started to glow and move.

Piyo?!

Flap. Flap.

Startled, Piyot hurriedly flapped its wings and landed on the balustrade of the fountain.

Gooo.

-What are you doing here?

Kaiser gathered his energy and asked.

Pi...Pikuk!

[I am...hic!]

Piyot, too startled by Kaiser's immense intimidating presence, started hiccupping.

-What are you doing, I asked?! Can't you speak!

Kaiser bellowed at the suspicious intruder. Could it be an assassin targeting our Sejun?!

Pi...

Piyot was even more frightened by Kaiser's roar.

Koogookoong.

Kaiser gathered more energy. If it was indeed an assassin, he planned to eliminate them instantly to prevent any danger to Sejun.

As the intimidation grew stronger.

Pi...

Piyot wanted to answer somehow, but fear had frozen his body, making it impossible for Piyot to open its mouth.

Then,

"Kaiser-nim, please calm down. That child is Piyot, brought by Theo."

Thanks to Theo, Park Sejun, who had also gone to bed early and woken up early like Piyot, hurried out to the noise and answered on behalf of Piyot.

-Eh?! Kahaha. If Theo brought him, then you should have said so. Why keep your mouth shut? I almost killed you.

Kaiser, slightly embarrassed by Sejun's appearance, laughed heartily.

Piyo?!!!!

Piyot was terrified by Kaiser's casual mention of killing. This place is scary!

Flap! Flap!

Piyot flew quickly towards Sejun. The only one who can protect me here is Sejun~nim! It's no wonder he's the top of the hierarchy!

"Were you scared?"

Sejun asked Piyot in a warm voice, extending his hand.

Piyo! Piyo!

[Yes! I was so scared!]

Piyot sat on Sejun's finger, vigorously rubbing its head against his as it replied.

And then,

'He's got guts!'

Piyot realized why Sejun was the top of the hierarchy.

Despite being weaker, enduring such immense intimidation and talking casually with such a terrifying being was something ordinary guts couldn't achieve.

It was a hidden talent of Sejun, specialized towards enduring numerous amounts of energy until passing out.

Of course, even so, enduring the energy Kaiser deliberately gathered was absolutely impossible with Sejun's abilities.

-Theo, that guy, has learned something strange again... The more I see, the more fascinating it is.

"Meoow..."

Theo, while asleep, used his talent: Energy Drain to absorb only Kaiser's energy, allowing Sejun to be comfortable.

'I'm going to develop guts like Sejun~nim too!'

Naturally, Piyot, unaware of this fact, looked up to Sejun with admiration and began to make another strange misconception on his own.

***

Christie's Auction House in the USA.

"So, this is an agricultural product item brought out from the Tower?"

"Yes!"

"And it's from the crops grown by Tower Farmer Park Sejun?"

"Yes!"

The people answering the auctioneer's questions were hunters who had received grapes as payment from a Black Skeleton on the 4th floor of the Tower.

They had run frantically towards the waypoint on the 4th floor and only after reaching the 1st floor did they check the options of the grapes.

And then,

"Huh?! The grower of these grapes is Park Sejun?!"

Upon confirming the name 'Tower Farmer Park Sejun' as the grower of the grapes,

"Oh my God!"

"We're rich now!"

They embraced each other and cheered. The popularity of Sejun's crops on Earth was tremendous right now.

Due to their popularity, Sejun's crops were mostly being sold at high prices in auction houses these days.

Of course, the effects of the Vitality-Infused Fragrant Grapes were somewhat ambiguous, but these were Sejun's crops that had never been sold before.

Just the fact that they were grown by Sejun made it highly likely they would sell for a high price.

That's how they ended up at Christie's Auction House to sell the Vitality-Infused Fragrant Grapes.

A few hours later,

"Yes! A bunch of Vitality-Infused Fragrant Grapes grown by Tower Farmer Park Sejun has been sold for $100,000!"

The auction started, and they made a total profit of 10 billion.

Divided by 10 people, that's 1 billion each.

Considering they had worked for about 10 hours at the grape farm... they had done work worth 100 million per hour.

"Listen, everyone. For the time being, only we should know where we got the grapes. Got it?"

"Of course! Let's keep it among ourselves!!!!"

"Good. Then let's meet at the Tower entrance in 3 hours."

"Got it!"

When the 10 novice hunters had finished discussing to meet in 3 hours and go to the grape farm,

"We got Park Sejun's crops... We're rich now!"

"Shh! Quiet! Someone might hear us!"

Five hunters, holding a sack similar to the one they received from the Black Skeleton, passed by them and entered the auction house.

The fragrant grape scent wafting from the sack. It was the smell of the Vitality-Infused Fragrant Grapes.

"We weren't the only ones working there..."

The novice hunters were shocked. Upon reflection, it was obvious. They wouldn't have been the only ones to pass through there.

As other hunters who worked at the grape farm sold their grapes, the market price for grapes could only decrease.

"No rest! We're heading to the Tower right now!"

"Got it!"

The hunters hurried off to the grape farm.

***

Click.

Park Sejun opened the Golden Box of Abundance stored in the Void Storage, took out two black beans like yesterday,

Click.

and closed the box again.

"Now there are four."

Sejun said, looking at the four black beans carefully placed next to the Golden Box of Abundance. Tomorrow, there would be six black beans.

Clang.

Having obtained the black beans, Sejun closed the door of the Void Storage and came outside.

And then,

"Piyot, can you give me some Egg Fruits. Here, have some peanuts."

Piyo! Piyo!

[Yes! Here you go!]

Upon receiving a handful of peanuts from Sejun, Piyot gave him 100 Egg Fruits.

"Is it okay to give me so many?"

Piyo! Piyo!

[Yes! There are lots at home!]

Piyot said, spreading its wings as wide as possible. But since they were smaller than the span of Sejun's hand, it was slightly ambiguous whether there were really a lot.

"Hehehe. That many?"

Still, thinking there would be more than 100, Sejun asked with a smile.

Piyo! Piyo! Piyo!

[Yes! Everyone hates Egg Fruits, so unless they go out like me, no one eats them! A lot of them are thrown away!]

Piyot chattered excitedly, happy to have gotten a lot of peanuts.

Just as Piyot said, the birds did not like Egg Fruits.

Leaving the fruits grown on the mother tree as they are would lead to them rotting and emitting a foul smell, making Egg Fruits a troublesome fruit for the birds to deal with.

"You're throwing this away?!"

So, I can take them all?

"Piyot, then bring a lot next time. I'll buy them all."

Piyo!

[Yes!]

"Here's an advance."

Sejun made about ten peanut pouches, each capable of holding a handful of peanuts, and handed them to Piyot. They were sized to match the maximum load of Piyot's bag.

Piyo! Piyo!

[Thank you! I'll bring them all!]

Piyot, with its bag full of peanuts, happily responded.

"Alright, then take a rest. Hehehe. I should have omelets for breakfast this morning."

Holding the Egg Fruits, Sejun hummed a tune on his way to the kitchen.

Upon arriving at the kitchen,

Tap. Tap.

Sejun placed the contents of 50 Egg Fruits into a bowl and added water.

Then,

Chop chop chop.

He vigorously stirred with chopsticks until the egg mixture lost its viscosity, turning into a pale yellow as the yolks and whites mixed.

Additionally,

Chop chop chop.

He chopped green onions and carrots to add in, along with some salt for seasoning.

Next,

Sizzle.

He poured the egg mixture into a preheated frying pan in a thin layer just enough to cover the bottom of the pan, and when the eggs were cooked to a certain extent, he started to roll them up with chopsticks.

Sizzle.

Sejun poured more egg mixture onto the end of the omelet and continued to extend it by rolling it up.

While Sejun was preparing breakfast in the kitchen,

Piyo! Piyo!

[I'll grow guts like Sejun~nim and become the right-hand man of Theo~nim! Then I'll be the right-hand man to Sejun~nim's right-hand man!]

Piyot imagined itself sitting on Theo's right front paw, which was hanging on Sejun's right leg. Pffft. How cool.

And then,

Peck! Peck!

Piyot pecked at the Red Dragon's Full Body Scale Armor set up in front of the Creator's tablet as part of its special training.

Because it gave off a feeling similar to the intimidation it had received earlier from Kaiser.

At that moment,

Krueng?!

[Piyot, are you messing with dad's toy?!]

Cuengi, who was sluggishly walking towards Sejun, spotted Piyot attacking the Red Dragon's Full Body Scale Armor.

Piyo!

[No!]

Piyot answered while glaring at Cuengi with determination. I'll suppress you with my gaze! I'll show you the result of my training!

But its enthusiasm was too much from the start. Cuengi was Sejun's left hand man. He had picked too strong an opponent.

Krueng!

[Piyot, your gaze was impure again!]

Piyo?! Piyo!

[Me?! Absolutely not!]

Cuengi, on the verge of becoming a fierce beast due to hunger, slightly narrowed his eyes, and Piyot, overwhelmed in an instant, quickly removed the intensity from its gaze.

And then,

Piiing...Piyo...

[Heeeng...It's so scary here...]

Piyot hurriedly flew to the kitchen where Sejun was. Piyot had been etting into trouble and getting knocked about since the morning.

Shortly after,

"Guys, let's eat breakfast!"

Sejun called the animals over,

"Here. Let's eat one each."

Sejun distributed an egg roll to each of the animals.

And,

A particularly thick egg roll made with 20 Egg Fruits for Cuengi.

Kueng!

[Cuengi will eat well!]

As Cuengi took a bite from one of the ten slices of the egg roll,

Nyam.

Sejun hurriedly put a slice of the egg roll in his mouth as well.

"Mm. Delicious."

Thanks to the vigorous stirring, the egg roll crumbled softly like fluffy bread,

Crunch Crunch.

with the scallions and carrots providing a nice texture and sweetness.

After having breakfast,

Kueng!

[Cuengi will go tend to the herbs!]

Cuengi, having packed a lunchbox in his snack pouch, left,

Slurp.

while Sejun enjoyed a brief moment of leisure, sipping his morning coffee.

"Kuh. Bitter."

Of course, the taste of the coffee was very bitter today as well.

[You have consumed a bitter-tasting medicine.]

[Talent: A Medicine That's Bitter is Good for Stamina has been activated.]

[Stamina increased by 2.]

Less bitter than yesterday, which was somewhat comforting.

"Let's work hard today as well!"

As Sejun got up after drinking his coffee,

"Puhuhut. Piyot, do you want to become my right hand-man, meow?"

Piyo! Piyo!

[Yes! I want to be your right hand-man, Theo-nim!]

"If you want to be my right hand-man, you need to work hard, meow!"

Piyo! Piyo!

[Yes! I'll work hard! Just tell me what to do!]

"Puhuhut. Then follow me, meow!"

Piyo! Piyo!

[Yes! Let's go!]

Flap. Flap.

Piyot flapping its wings, flying on Theo's right site. Piyuyut. I'm the next right front paw.

Piyo?

[But where are we going?]

"Puhuhut. We're going to the 75th floor of the Tower, meow! Chairman Park, we'll be back, meow!"

"Alright. Bring back something good."

"Puhuhut. Just trust me, meow!"

Theo greeted Sejun and went with Piyot to do some drawing on the 75th floor of the Tower.

*****