Chapter 58: Obtaining a Delivery Contract

TL: Hanguk

[You've eliminated 1,003,781 Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the tower.]

[There are still 6,038,819,188 Red Locusts left on the 67th floor.]

[The number of Red Locusts on the 67th floor increased by 7 compared to an hour ago.]

"Phew."

Aileen sighed in relief after reading the notification from the crystal orb. The rapidly increasing number of Red Locusts had almost come to a halt.

"Hee hee. All thanks to the remarkable human. I should tell Grandpa to reward him when he comes."

Aileen, with her lack of mana, could only see up to the 99th floor through the crystal orb. Therefore, she was not aware of the exact situation on the 67th floor.

However, she well knew that Sejun played a major role in the elimination of Red Locusts on the 67th floor.

[Contribution to the Red Locusts extermination on the 67th floor]

1st place - Park Sejun (311,300)

2nd place - Iona (123,812)

3rd place - Lizardman Warrior Tamuro (11,929)

...

..

.

This was apparent from the contribution display on the crystal orb. Thanks to this, Aileen's depression had faded away.

Gurgle..

Instead, hunger came.

"Hee hee. I should ask the interesting human for something to eat."

She was craving something sweet today.

***

Day 228 of being stranded, afternoon.

Crack. Crack.

Cuengi broke the leaves of the blade green onion.

"Good job, Cuengi. Good job. Good job."

As Sejun applauded and praised,

Kkueong! Kkueong!

Elated Cuengi started to dance, singing in his own rhythm, and shaking his hips.

And then,

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Black Rabbit, excited by Cuengi's dance, created a discordant beat with his hammer.

Then,

[The Tower's administrator says they want to eat dried sweet potato.]

"Can't you see we're working instead of you, dealing with the Red Locusts on the 67th floor?"

Cuengi and the black rabbit were following the rhythm, and all Sejun did was clap for Cuengi, but Sejun spoke confidently.

[The tower's administrator says they acknowledge your contributions.]

[The tower's administrator says you will be rewarded when the Red Locust extermination on the 67th floor is over.]

"Reward? What is it?"

[The tower's administrator says the more you contribute to the Red Locust extermination, the better the reward will be, so work hard.]

"There was a separate reward?"

You should have said so sooner. Sejun hurriedly pulled out the dried sweet potato.

"Aileen, here's your quest."

So, Sejun, who handed the dried sweet potato to Aileen, started cutting the green onion leaves, thinking of ways to increase his contribution to the 67th floor.

Then,

"Mr. Sejun, we're back."

Elka and the wolves, who delivered the sturdy blade onions to the 67th floor, arrived.

As soon as the defensive line for the waypoint on the 67th floor of the tower was established, Iona thought the urgent fire was out and intended to return to her magic tower.

So she sought permission from Sejun to transport sturdy blade onion leaves through the Freelance Merchants Association on her behalf.

"Transport? We'll do it for you."

Instead, Sejun had the wolves deliver the sturdy blade onion leaves to the 67th floor of the tower while asking for the cost to be paid to him. Of course, he also received the payment for the sturdy blade onion leaves. He secured a delivery contract for the sturdy blade onion leaves.

That's how he received 2.5 tower coins for each sturdy blade onion leaf as a fee for delivering blade leaves to the 67th floor of the tower, combining it with the transport cost. It was an incredibly cheap price compared to the effect of exterminating Red Locusts. But there was a reason.

After being cut, the leaves of the sturdy blade onion would wither after 3-5 days because they were consumables. Thanks to this, it wasn't bad for Sejun to keep selling them at a steady pace, receiving 2.5 tower coins for each leaf of the sturdy blade onion.

"Here's your payment."

Elka took out a money bag from her fluffy fur with her front paw. Inside the money bag was 75 tower coins, the price of 30 leaves of the sturdy blade onion.

Although it was very small compared to the money Theo was making, if the harvest of the sturdy blade onion leaves increased in the future, it was highly likely to become another source of income for Sejun.

"Elka, you did well."

"Yes. Then I will go down again."

The wolves went down to the 67th floor of the tower again, carrying 200 sturdy blade onion leaves that were cut by Cuengi. Meanwhile, the production of sturdy blade onion leaves increased several times by dividing and planting the roots of the sturdy blade onion .

Then,

[Your crops have exterminated pests.]

[You've gained 1 experience point.]

...

..

.

A message appeared that the pests had been exterminated. It seemed that the attack of the Red Locusts was happening again.

Recently, Sejun received a job quest when he went up to level 20, with the experience points of pest extermination being added to the crop harvesting experience points, raising his level by 1.

[Job Quest: Harvest 1,000 crops.]

Reward: Level 21, 50 tower coins.

Since it wasn't a difficult quest, Sejun completed the quest in two days while harvesting cherry tomatoes, and was continuously raising his experience points.

And then,

[You've leveled up.]

[You've gained 1 bonus stat.]

He leveled up again and reached level 21. The bonus stat was again allocated to magic, just like last time.

***

From Sejun's cave, to the west direction.

Grrrr.

Mother Crimson Giant Bear was patrolling.

Then,

Swoosh, swoosh.

Mother Crimson Giant Bear heard the sound of an intruder moving.

Swoosh, swoosh.

A tree about 10 m tall was walking by moving its roots. Such a big creature was usually deep in the west and couldn't be encountered, but today it revealed itself for some reason.

Grrrrr!

Mother Crimson Giant Bear charged at the tree monster.

Thud.

The branches tried to bind the mother Crimson Giant Bear, but they didn't hinder her movement at all.

Bam!

Rip.

The mother Crimson Giant Bear punched her two front paws into the body of the tree and ripped it apart.

Snap.

As the tree monster died, the mother Crimson Giant Bear, who broke off the stiff branches, stood there chewing on the trunk and roots of the tree.

And then,

Thud. Thud.

She carried several branches and took them to Sejun's cave.

***

The headquarters of the Tower Farm Project on the 1st floor of the tower.

"Is this a cherry tomato?"

Michael, who had rushed over after receiving a report from team leader Thomas, looked at the squirming cherry tomato branches and asked. There was no fruit on them.

"Yes. Vice Chairman. It seems to have mutated due to the growth stimulant."

"Mutation? Then you should have disposed of it quickly! Why are you still growing it?!"

Michael shouted. It was only natural. It wouldn't be good for the company's image if word got out that Gagel had created such a strange thing.

"We were going to do that too, but..."

"But what?"

"We discovered something good while removing this plant. Cut off the bottom part of the cherry tomato."

Thomas handed a sword to Michael and spoke.

"What could it be..."

Slicing.

Michael, with an annoyed expression, cut off the bottom part of the cherry tomato.

[You've slain the Polluted Cherry Tomato.]

[You've gained 29 Experience.]

"What is this?"

Slice. Slice.

[You've slain the Polluted Cherry Tomato.]

[You've gained 27 Experience.]

[You've slain the Polluted Cherry Tomato.]

[You've gained 33 Experience.]

...

..

.

Michael, as if he couldn't believe it, cut down a few more cherry tomato trees.

"Trees give experience?"

"Yes. We can gain experience by killing the plants we have grown. Furthermore..."

Thomas brought over a pot. In the pot, a small sprout was growing.

"It also reproduces itself."

"Really?"

"Yes. They do need nutrients, but it's true."

At Thomas' answer, a good idea came to Michael's mind.

"Good. Plant these trees on the land we secured on the 2nd floor of the tower."

"Yes. Understood."

***

Day 230 of being stranded.

Finally, Sejun's brick house, with a room and a kitchen, was completed. There was no furniture yet.

"Now I can sleep alone."

Sejun temporarily made a bed in the room to be used as a bedroom with green onion leaves and a fur blanket.

At that moment,

"Huh?"

In the corner of the bedroom, there was a wooden box the size of an apple box with a door. (TL note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_box)

"What's this?"

As he opened the door,

Squeak! Squeak!

The black rabbit, who was tidying up his stuff, was angry at Sejun for opening the door without knocking.

"Sorry."

Sejun quickly closed the door.

And then,

"Huh?"

He thought of the inside of the black rabbit's house that he just saw. What's this?

While Sejun's house still didn't have a single chair, the black rabbit's house already had everything like a bed, a dining table, and chairs.

When Sejun thought he would have to press the Wood Craftsman Grey Rabbit,

"Is this the bedroom, meow? It's shabby, but I'll make myself comfortable, meow! Because I'm the generous President Theo, meow."

Theo, who was using the President Theo time ticket, came in with Cuengi carrying his baggage, as if it were his own, and lay down on Sejun's bed.

"Cuengi, from now on, dust off your feet before coming up here, meow."

He acted like the owner and even gave a warning to Cuengi.

Kkwueong!

Tap tap.

Upon Theo's words, Cuengi dusted the dirt off his paws and climbed onto Sejun's fur blanket and lay down.

Sejun's fur blanket, which he had just cleaned and brought in from outside, was immediately covered in fur by Theo and Cuengi. It seemed necessary to ask the gray rabbit to make a brush out of wood before making any furniture.

Thus, Sejun, who gave up sleeping alone, left the bedroom and went to the kitchen.

The kitchen was somewhat modern. He implemented an island brick table for preparing ingredients and dining, and a brick stove with a separate four-section stove where the fire can be individually controlled.

"Good."

When Sejun looked contently at the kitchen and went outside to start working again,

"Where are you going, meow?"

Bbang?

Kkwueong?

Theo, the black rabbit, and Cuengi also went outside and followed Sejun. They seemed more excited than usual today.

While doing farm work with the three following him, Elka, who delivered sturdy blade onion leaves to the 67th floor of the tower and returned, approached Sejun.

"Sejun, I've returned. Here's the payment."

Elka handed Sejun a money pouch.

"Okay. Good job."

"And the Lizardmen on the 67th floor of the tower want us to take care of the Red Locust carcasses. Can our Silver Wolf Tribe do that?"

"Carcass disposal?"

"Yes. There are too many Red Locust carcasses, and the Lizardmen are having trouble. Of course, we will give any benefits we obtain from this to you, Sejun."

Since the sturdy blade onion leaves appeared, the number of Red Locusts dying overwhelmingly outnumbered the rate at which the Lizardmen were eating them. That was fine, but the problem was that the Red Locusts were eating these bodies.

If the Lizardmen can't handle the overflow of Red Locust carcasses, the Red Locusts will eat their comrades' bodies and lay eggs, so they need to be dealt with quickly.

So the Lizardmen, with a hopeful mind, proposed a deal to Elka, who always enjoys eating Red Locust carcasses deliciously whenever he visits the 67th floor of the tower, to give him 0.01 tower coins for every 100 kg of carcasses he removes.

A win-win deal for both sides. And if Sejun permits, Elka planned to take all the Silver Wolf Tribe down to the 67th floor of the tower.

"Well, of course, it's possible."

He thought that it would be insufficient with only three wolves as the harvest of blade leaves increased. If they could mobilize other wolves, Sejun would welcome it.

So, the Silver Wolf Tribe went down to the 67th floor of the tower to supplement their protein intake.

*****

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