Chapter 35: Becoming a Legend

TL: Hanguk

"Meow, meow, meow."

As soon as Theo came out of the passageway from the 60th to the 50th floor, humming a tune,

"I must hurry, meow. The humans are waiting, meow!"

He hurriedly entered the passage leading from the 50th floor to the 40th floor.

"Is that him?"

Three silver wolves, who had been hiding, appeared as soon as Theo disappeared. They belonged to the Silver Wolf tribe, their tribe had earned money by working as free mercenaries in the tower for generations.

Now, they were on a mission commissioned by Grid, the landlord of the 55th floor, to recover a stolen item. It was a ordinary straw hat, an item that could be found anywhere.

They didn't know why Landlord Grid wanted an ordinary straw hat. But it didn't matter. They were mercenaries who moved for a fee.

So, the only clue they found by mobilizing their entire tribe was that one of the thieves had handed over the straw hat along with other stolen goods to the blacksmith's shop in the 75th floor shopping area.

While tracing the straw hat with that one clue, one of the blacksmith's employees remembered who bought the straw hat.

"A wandering merchant cat with yellow fur bought it from the lottery corner."

So, they traced the traveling merchant cats with yellow fur and learn that Theo was last seen appearing here, and they are lying in wait.

"Chief Elka, what should we do?"

"Let's keep following him for now."

They were mercenaries, but due to the agreement between the Free Mercenary Association and the Wandering Merchant Association, mercenaries could also use the merchant's passage if they paid a usage fee.

So, the three silver wolves followed Theo into the merchant's passage.

And then,

"Why are the Silver Wolves here?"

Jeras, who was also waiting to tail Theo, quickly entered the merchant's passage.

Unaware he was being followed, Theo headed for the 38th floor, where the humans were waiting.

***

Day 186 of being stranded.

After having lunch on the surface, Sejun took a nap with the black rabbit and the baby bear, then went down to the cave.

And then,

Snip.

While he was harvesting the branch of the cherry tomato,

Squeak.

Meep.

The husband rabbit came with the sickle rabbit and pointed at the cornfield. The cornstalks were left lush with green stems after the corn harvest.

"Why the cornfield?"

Sejun didn't know whether the corn would grow back like the cherry tomatoes or if he needed to completely cut it down and replant it, so he had left the cornstalks unattended.

Meep!

The sickle rabbit gestured as if cutting down the base of the cornstalk in the cornfield.

"Oh, do I need to cut this?"

Squeak.

The husband rabbit nodded his head. It seemed that he needed to cut it down and replant it.

So, Sejun finished harvesting the cherry tomatoes and cut down the cornstalks.

Snip. Snip.

Sejun tied the cut cornstalks with a rope and moved them to the surface. Lately, he had been covering the area where he planted crops with green onion leaves and branches of cherry tomato plants.

The reason was to prevent the moisture from evaporating due to the sun. By doing this, the watering period could be delayed a little, allowing him to spare some labor for other tasks.

"Pull!"

Growling and groaning, the bear cub pulled up the cornstalks tied in bundles of 40. In this way, a total of 139 cornstalks were moved to the surface in four rounds.

Sejun carefully spread the cornstalks in the peanut field, taking care not to cover the areas where peanuts were planted. He then spread the remaining cornstalks widely in the field he had prepared beforehand.

And when the work was finished,

Roar.

The mother Crimson Giant Bear came to pick up the bear cub.

Growl!

The baby bear waved to Sejun from atop the head of the mother Crimson Giant Bear.

"Goodbye! See you tomorrow."

Sejun also waved to the bear cub, went down to the cave, finished the remaining work, and went to bed.

***

The next morning.

Roar.

Unlike usual, it was not the baby bear but the mother Crimson Giant Bear who woke Sejun up.

"Hmm... What's going on?"

[The Tower's Administrator reports that the Crimson Giant Bear found traces of another monster around the cave.]

Aileen answered in response to Sejun's question.

"Another monster?"

Even the rabbits, who had sensitive hearing, had been quiet all night...

[The Tower's Administrator reports that the Crimson Giant Bear thinks it's the horned creatures.]*****

"Horned creatures?"

Upon hearing the word "horn," Sejun immediately thought of the monster that made several pits 7m deep during the Blue Moon event.

"That's serious..."

Sejun first went up to the surface and looked around. Fortunately, they hadn't destroyed the field as they had before.

Instead,

"Huh?!"

All the cornstalks that had covered the field were gone.

***

Woocheon Sam (Minotaur 1303) was wandering around in search of tasty grass, as directed by the Minotaur King.

At that moment,

Sniff sniff.

A fragrant scent wafted from somewhere.

What's this?

Woocheon-sam cautiously entered the wasteland area. This was a useless area where no one claimed territory.

However, because it was no one's territory, all monsters could roam freely, so caution was necessary.. The strong smell of red fur suggested that someone had passed by not long ago.

Woocheon-sam walked carefully to avoid making noise and arrived at the place where the fragrant smell was coming from.

Upon seeing the fragrantly-smelling grasses discarded on the ground, he eagerly picked them up.

The boss will praise me.

Woocheon-sam, with both hands full of grass, returned to his own territory.

In this way, all the corn stalks, green onion leaves, and tomato branches that Sejun had spread out to prevent moisture from evaporating were stolen.

***

Roar!

The mother Crimson Giant Bear informed Sejun about the monster intrusion and went out for patrol. The plan was to focus on patrolling the direction where the horned creatures were spotted.

With the mother Crimson Giant Bear gone, Sejun was lost in thought.

"Well, let's be thankful for now."

Although it was a mystery why the monster took the cornstalks and other plants that were laid out on the ground, he decided to be content that no one was hurt.

However, there was no guarantee that it would be the same next time, so preparations were needed.

"I indeed need the power to protect myself."

What Sejun thought of as a measure was the Poison Honey Bees. He had been thinking about increasing their numbers to protect the surroundings.

The number of Poison Honey Bees in the cave quickly increased and now exceeded 200. It's still a number that is difficult to compete with a single monster, but if it continues to increase, it will reach a level that can threaten monsters.

With these thoughts in mind, Sejun quietly took a seat in front of where the Poison Honey Bee queen's cocoon was, near the rock where the rope was tied.

Today was the day when the Poison Honey Bee Queen metamorphosed.

According to the description of the Poison Honey Bee queen's cocoon, the first being they see after metamorphosis is recognized as their master. So, Sejun planned to take a break from farming today and wait here until the queen's metamorphosis ended.

As Sejun carefully removed the leaves that covered the pit where the Poison Honey Bee queen's cocoon was placed and looked inside,

Rustle. Rustle.

The Poison Honey Bee queen was struggling to come out of the cocoon.

"Hang in there."

Sejun quietly cheered for the Poison Honey Bee queen and covered it again with leaves.

Sejun, making sure no one around could interfere, quietly ate dried sweet potato snacks with coffee while waiting for the metamorphosis to end, so as not to disturb the queen's metamorphosis.

Just in case the metamorphosed Poison Honey Bee queen was hungry, he also prepared honey and a branch of cherry tomatoes with flowers.

And so, Sejun took his place and waited, wondering how much time had passed.

Buzz, buzz.

The sound of feeble flapping began to be heard from the pit where Sejun had put the Poison Honey Bee queen's cocoon.

"Could it be?!"

As Sejun slightly lifted the leaves,

Flap. Flap.

The Poison Honey Bee queen slowly flew up from the pit and made eye contact with Sejun.

[You have successfully metamorphosed the Poison Honey Bee queen's cocoon.]

[The newly born Poison Honey Bee queen has successfully recognized you as the master.]

[Your Beekeeping Lv. 2 proficiency has increased significantly.]

[Your Beekeeping Lv. 2 proficiency has been filled and the level has increased.]

Flap. Flap.

The Poison Honey Bee queen rubbed her body against Sejun's hand, showing affection.

Then, as if she were hungry, she approached the cherry tomato flower and began sucking nectar.

"Eat as much as you want."

The Poison Honey Bee queen, who would protect the surroundings of the cave, sucked honey and regained her strength.

***

"This was abandoned in the wasteland?"

"Yes, boss."

"You did well."

"Thank you!"

Woo Cheon Sam was very happy with the compliment from the Minotaur King.

Chomp, chomp.

The Minotaur King was amazed as he chewed and ate the grasses that Woo Cheon Sam had brought. Each one was sweet and tender.

It was unbelievable that such grasses were abandoned in the wasteland. He wanted to send his subordinates to claim the entire wasteland if he could, but the amount of grass was too small.

The amount of grass laid in front of the Minotaur King was only one-tenth of what was stolen from Sejun. The rest...

Burp. I'm sorry, boss.

Woo Cheon Sam apologized to the Minotaur King after burping. During the process of fetching the grass, Woo Cheon Sam was so hungry that he ate grass until he was full. Thanks to this, the Minotaur King didn't send his subordinates to the wasteland.

Woo Cheon Sam, go back to the wasteland and bring more of this grass.

Yes, boss!

At the Minotaur King's command, Woo Cheon Sam headed back to the wasteland. Of course, since he was full, he thought he should go somewhere quiet and get some sleep first.

***

38th floor of the tower.

Five days had passed since the hunters were waiting for Theo. Most of the hunters had given up and left, and only two teams that really needed the Magical cherry Tomatoes remained.

"Do you think he might have gone to another floor?"

"No, it's possible that there was a problem with the supply of goods."

As they were considering various scenarios for Theo's absence,

"Humans, I'm here meow!"

Theo appeared.

"He's here!"

"Theo, why are you so late?!"

The hunters welcomed Theo.

"Sorry meow, I had some business. But what meow? Has my popularity waned?"

Theo's ears drooped at the sight of fewer humans than he had expected. He had anticipated a large crowd for the D-grade Magical Cherry Tomatoes he was about to showcase this time.

"No, everyone wanted to come, but we thought you'd be uncomfortable, so we drew lots and only we came."

"Is that so meow? You don't need to do that next time."

At Kim Dong Sik's words, Theo's ears perked up again.

"I see."

Unknowingly, Kim Dong Sik told a white lie for this poor cat.

'Why did I do that?'

Kim Dong Sik couldn't understand his own behavior. Seeing Theo disappointed, he just wanted to cheer him up somehow.

As Kim Dong Sik, unaware that he was gradually becoming a cat's servant, was trying to comprehend his actions,

"The Magical Cherry Tomatoes I'm selling today are special meow!"

"We know. That's why we came to buy special tomatoes."

"No, it's even more special this time meow! It's a D-grade Magical Cherry Tomato meow!"

"What?! D-grade?"

The hunters, who initially thought Theo was joking, changed their looks. A high grade in the tower meant superior effects. The hunters thought it was worth the wait.

"Can we see the options?"

"I want to see too!"

"Me too!"

The hunters rushed to Theo to see the options of the D-grade Magical Cherry Tomatoes in a hurry.

"Humans! Form a line meow!"

Theo lined up the hunters and let them check the options of the Magical Cherry Tomatoes one by one.

"It's really D-grade."

"It dissolves up to 20g of fat?"

"The magic increase rate has also gone up to 0.2."

"The expiration date is 60 days."

Once the hunters had checked all the options,

"Today, I will sell a total of 2000 pieces, 400 each, through an auction meow."

Theo declared the start of the auction.

"70 Tower Coins for 400 pieces!"

"90 Tower Coins for 400 pieces!"

Within two bids, the price of the D-grade Magical Cherry Tomatoes surpassed 0.2 Tower Coins.

The hunters called out high prices without thinking about money. The D-grade Magical Cherry Tomato was an item that hadn't been released outside yet. Considering its rarity, this deal was a surefire way to make more than double the investment.

The price skyrocketed frightfully, selling at roughly 0.3 Tower Coins per D-grade Magical Cherry Tomato, and

"It's sold out meow!"

Theo sold all 2000 D-grade Magical Cherry Tomatoes, received a total of 612 Tower Coins, and his total sales amount exceeded 1000 Tower Coins.

"Puhuhu. Finally, I will become a intermediate wandering merchant, meow! Now, I don't need to be scared of Park Se Jun, meow!"

Finally, Theo could stand proudly in front of Se Jun.

*****

Another one! Enjoy! 😄