Chapter 39: Turning the Tables
TL: Hanguk
Woo Cheon-sam, where are you going?
His colleague Woo Cheon-sa asked, as Woo Cheon-sam had been leaving for the wasteland area early every morning for the past three days.
"I'm going to eat delicious food!"
Woo Cheon-sam replied cheerfully, as he was very happy that he could eat grass for lunch every day. He had completely forgotten about repaying his debts and the orders of the Minotaur King.
"Delicious food?!"
"Yes! If I overturn the ground with my horns and then cover it again, they give me food."
"I want to eat too! Can I come with you?"
Woo Cheon-sa got up excitedly.
"Sure! Let's go together!"
Woo Cheon-sam took the new worker, Woo Cheon-sa, and went to work at Sejun's cave.
***
Grrr!
Sejun woke up to the sound of the baby bear's cry.
And then,
Shwoosh.
He drew a line on the cave wall and started the morning of the 195th day of being stranded.
As Sejun climbed up the rope to reach the ground and give instructions to Woo Cheon-sam, the Black Minotaur, for the morning,
"Huh?!"
Eummu!
Eummu!
Two Black Minotaurs were waiting for Sejun. There was one more. The reason Sejun could distinguish between the two was because of the different markings on their shoulders.
While Sejun was thinking about what was happening,
Nod.
The Black Minotaur, who came with Woo Cheon-sam, bowed its head to Sejun in greeting.
Eummu!
"Woo Cheon-sam asks if his colleague, Woo Cheon-sa, can also work and eat here, meow."
Theo, who had been hanging on Sejun's leg, translated Woo Cheon-sam's words.
"Okay. I can provide food, but I can't pay wages. Ask if he's okay with that."
"Got it, meow."
Theo passed Sejun's words to Woo Cheon-sa. For Sejun, it wasn't urgent to create a farm right now, so there was no reason to hire an additional Black Minotaur with payment.
Eummu!
Having come to eat, Woo Cheon-sa readily nodded and accepted. Thus, the two Black Minotaurs started to work hard, overturning the ground.
Eummuoh!
Listening to the sound of the two Black Minotaurs turning the soil, Sejun went down to the cave.
And he decided to split and plant the roots of the green onions that had been neglected for some time.
To prevent moisture from evaporating, he needed to cover the surface field, and if he needed to feed two workers of huge size, it was necessary to increase the production of green onion leaves.
So far, the number of green onions has always been abundant, so there was no need to increase it. However, the more you cut the green onions, the more the roots would multiply. Green onions had the potential to increase their numbers as much as he wanted if he set his mind to it.
Sejun began separating the roots of the green onions he had originally planted when he was stranded. The roots of the green onions had thickened to the size of a tumbler, and there were nearly 30 roots.
With those green onion roots, Sejun came up to the surface and went to the ground that Woo Cheon-sam had overturned and tilled the day before to create a field and plant the spring onion roots.
The reason why he planted green onions on the surface was to avoid the hassle of bringing green onion leaves up from the cave.
Once the green onion roots were planted, the size of the green onion field on the surface increased by about 20 times compared to the green onion field in the cave.
[You have created a 200 square meter green onion field.]
[You have gained 200 experience points.]
If he continues to divide and plant whenever the roots grow, he could quickly create a green onion field that is several times larger than the current size.
Just one problem needs to be solved.
Shhh.
Sejun looked at the rabbits watering the green onion field. The number of watering cans was fixed, so he couldn't water all the crops.
So currently, Sejun is solving the problem by bringing pond water directly from the cave, but that also had its limits.
As Sejun was contemplating how to solve the water problem,
Flash.
The body of the husband rabbit shone brightly. And just like the hammer of the black rabbit changed, the husband rabbit's watering can transformed, and the part that holds the water got bigger.
"That's the second awakening."
The term 'second awakening' was a name Sejun attached to differentiate when rabbits level up and when their equipment grows. Rabbits that have undergone the second awakening have significantly better abilities than before.
Squeak...
The husband rabbit, who finished the second awakening, looked at his transformed watering can with pride.
"How is it? Has the water capacity increased a lot?"
Sejun asked with a voice full of anticipation.
Squeak!
The husband rabbit nodded his head vigorously and put up two fingers. Doubled!
"Oh!"
Thanks to the husband rabbit's second awakening, there would be no water shortage for a while. With the water problem solved, Sejun's farm began to grow once again.
***
197th day of being stranded.
"Let's eat!"
Today, the baby rabbits came up to the surface for the first time to have a meal together.
And as soon as the meal was over
Grrr!
The baby bear greeted the baby rabbits, who are younger than him, first, as if he was glad to meet them.
Pyaang!
Pyab!
Pyaat!
The baby rabbits, unafraid of Baby bear's massive size, approached Baby bear and began to play together.
Kkueong!
As an older brother, Baby bear seemed eager to teach what he knew, so he took the baby rabbits to the field and taught them how to plant. He explained that if you plant here, more will come out later.
"Teaching planting to white rabbits that have a farmer's blood."
While drinking coffee, Sejun watched Baby bear and the baby rabbits with interest. Of course, while Sejun was resting and drinking coffee, Theo and the black rabbit each took a spot on his lap and were taking a nap.
Pyaang?
One of the baby rabbits, having listened to Baby bear's explanation, pulled out a dried sweet potato from the leather pouch bag and planted it in the ground.
Kkueeeet!
The Baby bear laughed at the baby rabbit. He seemed to have forgotten his own past when he had planted sweet potatoes and piranhas.
While they were enjoying such a peaceful rest time
Buzz. Buzz.
They heard the sound of baby poisonous honeybee's wings.
"Huh?"
Sejun wore a puzzled expression. This is because the poisonous honeybees do not let the baby poisonous honeybees out of the cave where they can be in danger. What is it?
As Sejun looked towards where the sound was coming from
Buzz. Buzz.
Seven baby poisonous honeybees were flying around the beehive built on the rock. The first baby poisonous honeybees had finally been born from the second hive.
Sejun put down the sleeping black rabbit and Theo on the floor and approached the baby poisonous honeybees.
Buzz. Buzz.
Thanks to being recognized as the owner of the queen poisonous honeybee, even without the queen's education, the baby poisonous honeybees came close without being wary of Sejun and showed affection.
"Guys, let's go eat something delicious."
Sejun led the baby poisonous honeybees down into the cave. He took them to where the flowers were and let the baby poisonous honeybees suck nectar.
Buzz. Buzz.
The existing poisonous honeybees showed a wary attitude at the appearance of other faction's poisonous honeybees, but as soon as they saw Sejun with them, they relaxed their guard and sucked the nectar again.
That's how the baby poisonous honeybees born from the second beehive settled in. In the future, the production of honey will also increase, and finally, a means to expand the activity area Sejun had in mind is being formed.
Sejun started to smoothly manage the beehive.
In the afternoon, he cut the green onion leaves to cover the field, went down to the cave, and started harvesting cherry tomatoes.
While Sejun was harvesting cherry tomatoes,
[You have simultaneously harvested 8 well-ripened magical cherry tomatoes.]
[Your job experience increases slightly.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 4 increases slightly.]
[Due to the effect of Proficiency Increase Lv. 1, the proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 4 increases by an additional 5%.]
[You have gained 176 experience points.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have acquired 1 bonus stat.]
Sejun's level increased to 17. Since he had not yet felt a lack of strength or stamina, he invested his bonus stat in agility to increase his working speed.
As evening fell,
Growwwlll.
The mother Crimson Giant Bear came to pick up her baby bear, and
Moo!
Moo!
The two Black Minotaurs ended their work for the day.
"Representative Theo, isn't it about time to go down for trade?"
Sejun, who was stroking Theo's head on his lap after dinner, asked. Under normal circumstances, he would have let Theo play for a few more days, but it was time to send regards to his family.
"I want to go down, but I can't, meow!"
"What do you mean?"
"On the way here..."
Theo talked about being attacked by wolves.
"The wolves tried to eat me asking about the straw hat, meow."
"This straw hat?"
Are there other people farming on different floors? Sejun touched the straw hat he was wearing and asked. It was a relic and had good effects, but it was an item with unnecessary options if you were not a farmer.
"That's right, meow! So, I can't go down, meow!"
"Don't worry. How dare they target our Representative Theo! I'll take care of it."
How dare they target Theo's life! Sejun was furious and thought of a strong solution.
"How will you do it, meow?"
"We have Woo Cheon-sam, don't we? Representative Theo, can you hire a free mercenary?"
"I can, meow!"
"Then hire Woo Cheon-sam as a free mercenary and have him go down and come back."
Those who are hired as mercenaries for a wandering merchant can use the merchant route while being hired as a free mercenaries.
It would be great if Sejun could go down the tower as a free mercenary, but due to one condition, Sejun could not become a free mercenary.
The condition was to be born in the tower. It was a condition that could not be met unless reborn. Although he found out later, this was the same for the wandering merchants as well.
A few professions like wandering merchants and free mercenaries were only allowed for those born in the tower.
"Oh! That's right, meow! If the wolves dare to attack this time, Woo Cheon-sam and I will teach them a lesson, meow!"
Theo gained courage from Sejun's words.
So, Theo decided to go down the tower with Woo Cheon-sam the next day and fell asleep on Sejun's stomach.
***
The next morning.
Sejun offered to reduce Woo Cheon-sam's debt by three tower coins, three times his daily wage, if he would serve as a free mercenary and escort Theo.
However,
Moo!
Woo Cheon-sam shook his head in refusal.
"Why? I'm offering three times the daily wage?!"
Moo!
"He says he doesn't want to leave because he wouldn't be able to eat, meow!"
"What?!"
For Woo Cheon-sam, food was more important than debt reduction.
"Alright. I guarantee three meals a day."
When Sejun agreed to provide all three meals,
Moo!
Woo Cheon-sa, who had been listening from the side, raised his hand. I'll go too! He had to take this job opportunity where he could eat three meals a day.
"Um... Okay. So, you're okay with three tower coins and three meals a day, right?"
Sejun thought that if he had two Black Minotaurs, one could fight while the other protected Theo, ensuring Theo's safety.
Moo. Moo.
Woo Cheon-sa shook his head. He didn't need the money. He wanted food.
"Alright."
Sejun hurriedly began to cut the green onion leaves to prepare ten days' worth of food for the two Black Minotaurs.
"No. I should prepare for 15 days."
Sejun added 50% more green onion leaves to Theo's bag.
If the trip was extended due to unforeseen circumstances, they might run out of green onion leaves. Then the hungry Woo Cheon-sam and Woo Cheon-sa might even eat Theo.
"Then that would be a disaster. Should I get a contract promising they won't eat Theo?"
While Sejun was pondering this, 15 days' worth of green onion leaves for the two Black Minotaurs was packed into Theo's bag.
It was a huge amount, but it only took up one third of Theo's bag space.
"Oh! It fits a lot?"
"That's right, meow! It's because I am now Representative Theo, an intermediate wandering merchant, meow!"
Theo proudly stated. If Theo hadn't been promoted to a intermediate wandering merchant and his bag space hadn't increased significantly, he might have had to carry only green onion leaves for this trip.
"Be careful and come back safe!"
"Then I'll be on my way, meow!"
On the 198th day of being stranded, Theo left the tower with two Black Minotaurs, with Sejun seeing him off.
*****