Chapter 101 – The Harvest Festival Begins (3)

As the carrot harvesting contest ended,

“Pyak!”

“Ppyuppyu!”

“Ppi-ik!”

“Ppyook!”

The rabbits’ excitement rose, and a festive atmosphere truly began to take hold. However, Se-jun, who had to harvest crops to complete his job quest, could not play.

So he let the rabbits enjoy the festival, and worked with Cuengi, Theo, and Iona.

Although he could have worked alone, Cuengi, a minor who had been eyeing the makgeolli the black rabbit was drinking from earlier, needed supervision.

According to his mother, the Crimson Giant Bear, Cuengi still had to see the Blue Moon about ten more times to become an adult.

And Theo and Iona did not leave Se-jun’s lap even when told to go.

Pluck. Pluck.

Taking the three animals along, Se-jun harvested cherry tomatoes.

[You harvested a ripe Magical Cherry Tomato.]

[72,811 harvests remained to complete the job quest.]

[Your job experience increased very slightly.]

[The proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 5 increased very slightly.]

[You gained 30 experience points.]

It was more convenient to cut the branches and harvest several at once, but doing so would only allow the Harvesting skill to be used once, so Se-jun was picking the cherry tomatoes one by one.

And

[You harvested an unripe Magical Cherry Tomato.]

[72,744 harvests remained to complete the job quest.]

[Your job experience increased very slightly.]

[The proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 5 increased very slightly.]

[You gained 23 experience points.]

In order to use the Harvesting skill, he went as far as picking cherry tomatoes that were not even ripe yet.

After picking all the cherry tomatoes in the surface field, when Se-jun went down into the cave with the animals,

“Cueng!”

Cuengi entered the pond to hunt.

“Iona, keep an eye on Cuengi.”

“Yes.”

At Se-jun’s instruction, Iona gave up on Se-jun’s lap and Theo’s tail, and followed Cuengi into the pond. With Iona’s magic skills, there was no way Cuengi would be in danger.

[Master! Welcome!]

Flamie welcomed Se-jun by waving its leaves.

“Sorry. I should come more often. Aren’t you bored being here all alone?”

[No! Master came like this! And it was okay because the Ents were also here!]

Indeed, Flamie spoke prettily.

Stroke, stroke.

Se-jun stroked Flamie’s leaves. Because Flamie seemed to grow slower compared to other crops, Se-jun did not feel at ease.

[Hehehe. I feel good!]

At that moment,

Rumble.

The ground began to shake.

“Uh?!”

While Se-jun hurried to balance himself, the ground stopped.

“What is it? Did Cuengi cause trouble?”

[W…Well.]

Se-jun stroked Flamie’s leaves for about ten minutes, watching if the ground would shake again, but the ground remained quiet after that.

“Is it okay?”

Se-jun started harvesting cherry tomatoes.

***

“Air Bubble!”

Iona used magic on herself and Cuengi so that they could breathe underwater.

Vrrr.

A transparent air bubble formed, wrapping around their heads.

“Cueng!”

Cuengi marveled at the air bubble placed over his head and looked at Iona with admiration.

“Kyut kyut kyut. This is nothing. Now play to your heart’s content.”

“Cueng!”

At Iona’s words, Cuengi swam hard in the pond and hunted fish. And Cuengi, encouraged by the air bubble, went down to the bottom of the pond.

When he was with his Black Rabbit hyung, he had been told never to go down to the bottom, so he had always been curious.

The bottom of the pond he descended to.

“Cueng?”

“What is this?”

Arriving at the bottom of the pond after Cuengi, Iona discovered a giant root stretching toward the Sea of Dimensions.

At that moment,

Whoosh.

A bright light was seen flowing in from the root on the side of the Sea of Dimensions.

“Cueng?”

Cuengi’s and Iona’s gazes followed the light.

And the light entered the giant root of the tree protruding from the ground. It was immediately clear whose root it was. There was only one tree here. It was Flamie.

Rumble.

The ground shook as the tree root that absorbed the light grew.

“As expected of Se-jun, to think he was growing something so amazing!”

Iona was amazed as she looked at Flamie’s giant root connected all the way to the Sea of Dimensions.

At that moment,

Wiggle.

[Excuse me.]

Flamie moved its root and spoke to Cuengi and Iona.

***

“Phew. It’s finished.”

Se-jun quickly finished harvesting the cherry tomatoes.

At that moment,

Splash.

Cuengi and Iona emerged from the water.

“Blow, warm wind. Warm Wind.”

Iona neatly removed the moisture from her and Cuengi’s fur with magic.

“Did you have fun?”

“Kyut kyut kyut. Yes!”

“Cueng!”

Iona’s voice was bright, as if she had also played along.

“Then let’s go rest. Flamie, I’ll come down again tomorrow.”

[Yes! See you tomorrow!]

When Se-jun said goodbye to Flamie and went up to the surface first,

[Don’t forget the promise. Got it?]

Flamie said to Iona and Cuengi.

“Kyut kyut kyut. Of course!”

“Cueng!”

At Flamie’s words, Iona and Cuengi nodded their heads and followed Se-jun to the surface. The three of them had made a certain deal instead of speaking about Flamie’s root.

The reason Flamie wanted to hide its root was very trivial.

[I wanted to look cute to Master!]

It felt as if Se-jun’s cute gaze would disappear if he saw the giant root.

When Se-jun came up to the surface,

“Ppyuk-ppyuk!”

“Pyak-kyuk!”

“Ppi-kyuk!”

The rabbits were heavily drunk and completely unconscious.

“Why did everyone drink so much?”

While Se-jun was properly laying down the rabbits sprawled on the ground,

-Now, drink!

The black dragon statue was forcing the rabbits to drink.

-If you leave even a single drop, you know what happens, right?

“Ppyook!”

An atmosphere that seemed like he would kill them if they didn’t drink. Since there was no bold being who could refuse the cup offered by Kaiser, it was understandable why the rabbits ended up like this.

At that moment,

-You rascal, Park Se-jun! Where were you?!

As Kaiser, who caused this situation, spotted Se-jun,

Flutter. Flutter.

He flew in front of Se-jun and offered a cup filled with makgeolli.

“Thank you.”

Se-jun, who was already thirsty, carefully accepted the cup.

And

“Huuup.”

He brought his nose close to the makgeolli and smelled its scent.

-Keu-heum. At least you know how to drink.

Se-jun sniffing to check if it was similar to the makgeolli he drank on Earth appeared to Kaiser as savoring the scent before drinking, slightly raising the favorability of Kaiser, who loved alcohol.

‘It smelled richer than the makgeolli I drank on Earth.’

However, the ratio of the sour and sweet smell he used to have on Earth was similar.

Gulp.

He swallowed the saliva that filled his mouth in anticipation of the makgeolli.

As Se-jun took a sip of the makgeolli with an excited heart,

‘Oh!’

The sweet, bitter, and sour tastes smoothly passed down Se-jun’s throat without any resistance.

Gulp.

“Keuu. It’s sweet.”

Se-jun unconsciously let out an exclamation at the refreshing feeling of the carbonation tingling his throat. Because Kaiser had lowered the temperature of the makgeolli with magic, the carbonation was strong.

Gulp. Gulp.

Se-jun downed the makgeolli in an instant and held out his cup. Perhaps because he drank it after working, it was truly refreshing and sweet.

“Keuu. Please give me another cup.”

-Kahahahaha. You rascal, Park Se-jun! You know how to drink!

Kaiser poured alcohol for Se-jun in high spirits. Kaiser had been lonely with no one to drink with.

[The administrator of the tower said she wanted to drink makgeolli too.]

“Aileen, you’re still young. I’ll give you some when you grow up later.”

-Yeah! Se-jun spoke the truth! You still need to wait 200 years.

[The administrator of the tower said that it was only 180 years now.]

Before they knew it, the waiting time had decreased from 250 years to 180 years.

[The administrator of the tower said she was sulking now and would not talk to her grandfather.]

-Huh?! Aileen~! You rascal, Park Se-jun! You caused all of this! I…

Kaiser, who was blocked by Aileen again like that, lamented his fortune to Se-jun while drinking makgeolli for several hours, but neither of them got drunk.

As for Kaiser, because of the outstanding physical abilities of the dragon clan, he could not get drunk even if he wanted to with just makgeolli,

Munch. Munch.

And Se-jun was eating the Detoxifying Green Onion as a side dish. He liked makgeolli, but he didn’t really like getting drunk.

And above all, he was afraid that he might make a slip of the tongue to Kaiser if he got drunk. Since a single mistake could cost him his life, he had to keep his wits about him.

As a result of diligently eating the Detoxifying Green Onion to stay sober,

-Tsch! The alcohol ran out. It was fun drinking together.

Kaiser, who finished all the makgeolli, returned to the fountain.

“Guys, eat some of this.”

Se-jun, who had been drinking with Kaiser, fed the Detoxifying Green Onion to the rabbits so they could detoxify the alcohol.

“Ppyu-ppyu…”

“Pyak…”

“Ppi-ik…”

Fortunately, thanks to Se-jun, the rabbits were able to quickly regain their senses.

However, when night came, Se-jun regretted what he had done. The rabbits, who had taken a nap and had clear minds, began breeding here and there in the fields all night long.

“Ook! Ook!”

“Boo! Boo!”

Panting sounds coming from all directions like surround sound.

“Kyu—Silence, O world. Silence!”

Iona, whose deep sleep was disturbed, grew angry and cast magic around Se-jun’s house to block the noise.

Thanks to that, Se-jun was able to sleep quietly, but for some reason, his mind felt restless.

***

Morning of the 266th day of being stranded.

“Heave-ho.”

When Se-jun got up and went outside, it was quiet, with only a few rabbits wandering around.

“Nice to meet you, fellow singles.”

Wandering around during the day like this meant they were single. And the Black Rabbit was not seen in that crowd of singles.

He had grown up. Live well, Black Rabbit. Se-jun blessed the Black Rabbit, who had escaped being single, and prepared breakfast.

For breakfast today, he planned to eat baguette bread, cheese, and soup together. Of course, the fish for Theo to eat was grilled separately.

“Guys, let’s eat.”

“Hand over the fish, meow!”

“Kyut kyut kyut. Yes!”

“Cueng!”

At Se-jun’s call, the animals who had nothing happen to them last night ran over.

Munch, munch.

The animals ate breakfast diligently.

“Here. Eat a lot and cheer up.”

To boost the morale of the singles, Se-jun set out a feast.

“Cueng!”

Thanks to that, Cuengi was the most excited.

“Cuengi, let’s eat all of it. Are you happy?”

Se-jun was childishly trying to win with food.

While they were eating breakfast like that,

“Oh! Lord Emil, look at this! It’s corn!”

“Oh! Indeed. The kernels are full, making it a top-quality product.”

The raccoons were inspecting Se-jun’s crops.

“Lord Emil, come over here and eat some of this.”

Se-jun decided to show goodwill in response to Emil’s words praising his corn.

“What?! Yes! Thank you!”

Emil wanted to refuse, but refusing the favor of the great Black Dragon could bring about even greater disaster.

‘Lord Emil! Fighting!’

The other raccoons cheered for Emil as he was called over by Se-jun.

At that moment,

“What are you doing? You guys should come too.”

When Se-jun gestured to the other raccoons,

“Yes!”

The raccoons who had been cheering for Emil rushed over.

Thus, the meal they shared began.

“Here. This is the soup I made.”

“…Thank you.”

The raccoons forced a smile as they ate the purple soup Se-jun handed them. It was truly an unappetizing color.

However,

“Oh!”

As soon as they took a bite, such thoughts flew away in an instant.

“It’s so delicious.”

“It’s delicious!”

The raccoons began eating the soup eagerly. It also paired well with the baguette bread and cheese they made.

Moreover,

[You consumed the Enhanced Purple Chef’s Carrot Soup.]

[Agility increased by 10.5 for 1 hour.]

Once they finished the soup, there was even a buff.

“Heck!”

“This is?!”

The raccoons were shocked that food had a buff.

“Puhuhut. Do you want it, meow?”

Theo smirked as he looked at the Hoguris.