Chapter 12 – Proposing a Partnership

[The Seed Shop opens.]

[3 types of seeds to be sold today are shown at random.]

[At the current grade, seeds can only be purchased once.]

Seeds appeared.

[10 watermelon seeds – 5 Tower Coins]

[50 sweet pumpkin seeds – 1 Tower Coin]

[200 waxy corn seeds – 0.5 Tower Coin]

These seeds were too different in price compared to the seeds that had appeared last time.

All the money Se-jun had was 0.9 Tower Coins. The only thing he could buy was the waxy corn seeds.

‘If it’s this expensive, I won’t be able to buy anything next time…’

But there was no means to increase his money here.

There were three ways for hunters to earn Tower Coins in the tower. Although there might be other ways, Se-jun did not know of them.

The first method to earn Tower Coins was the clear reward received upon clearing a floor. Although the amount earned at once was large, since the clear reward for each floor could only be received once, the portion it occupied in the actual income hunters earned was not that large.

The second method was monster hunting. One could earn Tower Coins by selling monster corpses to traveling merchants wandering the tower or to the first-floor shop. Because they could generate a continuous profit, it was the hunters’ largest source of income.

The third method was the reward received upon completing a quest. Because quest rewards varied greatly, it was difficult to say.

And for Se-jun, clearing a floor was a pass since he could not even leave the cave, and even if he did, the probability of survival among vicious monsters was low.

As for monster hunting, everyone except the piranha he ate for meals was family. And though there was no place to sell the fish bones, which were the corpses of piranhas, it felt like they couldn’t be sold anyway.

Crunch, crunch.

Lately, the rabbits had been drying the piranha fish bones thoroughly in the sun and using them as snacks. Se-jun had also tried them, and the crunchy texture was good, and the savory taste that came out the more he chewed was a flavor that kept him reaching for more.

That way, it was the last remaining method for Se-jun to earn Tower Coins.

‘The quest at almost the level of extortion given by the tower administrator…’

So, after the Seed Shop transaction, when he demanded that the tower administrator give him Tower Coins as a quest completion reward,

[The tower administrator says that she doesn’t know what that is, but will give it to you when she grows up.]

She said something strange. The tower administrator didn’t know Tower Coins? Did that make sense?! And to give it when she grew up…

“How old are you?”

Se-jun asked, calming his excitement.

[The tower administrator says it is a secret.]

“Then how many years will it take for you to grow up?”

[The tower administrator says about 300 years.]

“…Are you kidding me?! Then should I record all the Tower Coins to receive from now on, hand them down through generations, and let my seventh-generation descendant receive them?! And I am not in a situation to make descendants right now anyway!”

[……]

When Se-jun huffed and got angry, she ran away again. If it was difficult to answer like this, she disappeared. Like that, Se-jun gave up on earning Tower Coins here.

“Whew. Thinking of that time gets me annoyed again.”

Se-jun calmed his excitement and looked at the seeds in the Seed Shop again.

The only thing he could buy was the corn.

“Since corn isn’t bad either.”

It was delicious whether steamed or roasted. Besides, it could be ground into flour to make something like bread.

“Slurp…”

Just by imagining eating steamed corn, saliva ran down Se-jun’s mouth. Sure enough, the taste one knew was more fearsome.

“Alright! Waxy corn it is!”

Se-jun purchased the waxy corn.

[You have purchased 200 waxy corn seeds.]

[0.5 Tower Coin is withdrawn from Se-jun Park’s Seed Bank account.]

[5 Seed Shop Mileage points are accumulated.]

[Thank you for using the Seed Shop.]

[You can use Seed Shop Lv. 1 again after 30 days.]

In Se-jun’s hand, a leather pouch containing 200 waxy corn kernels appeared. Sure enough, the pouch was the most luxurious.

When Se-jun opened the high-grade leather pouch and poured it into his hand,

Rattle.

healthy-looking waxy corn kernels poured out in abundance.

Squeak!

Squeee!

Pyak!

The rabbits seeing the brilliant waxy corn kernels, dashed to the fields.

And they began to till a field above the field where they had planted the green onion seeds harvested from the flowers in the morning. It was a silent pressure to plant quickly.

[The tower administrator is excited.]

[The tower administrator urges you to plant quickly.]

“I will plant it even if you don’t tell me.”

She demanded a lot while not giving any rewards. Although he disliked the tower administrator, she was still the only counterpart with whom he could have a proper conversation.

Se-jun went to the field the rabbits were making and began to plant the corn seeds.

[You have planted a waxy corn seed.]

[With the effect of Sowing Lv. 2, the probability of the waxy corn seed taking root increases.]

[The proficiency of Sowing Lv. 2 increases very minutely.]

…

..

.

Since it was a task he had already done thousands of times, and the number of waxy corn seeds was small, the planting was completed quickly.

Shhhhh.

The father rabbit and the child rabbit, who had watering cans, took charge of one row each and watered carefully, finishing the waxy corn planting before bedtime.

Thanks to that, he was able to fall asleep on time without working overnight.

***

The 128th day of distress.

While Se-jun and the white rabbits were doing the morning work after eating breakfast,

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!

the Black Rabbit trained by hitting the cave wall with its hammer. No matter how much it struck with the hammer, the wall was perfectly fine.

He did not know if that was of any use, but the Black Rabbit’s effort, striving to be helpful to the family, was lovely.

As everyone was doing their own work like that,

Buzz, buzz.

the poison honeybee arrived at work. At an earlier time than usual, the time the poison honeybee spent here was gradually increasing lately.

Rub, rub.

“Welcome.”

Stamping her clock-in by rubbing her body against the face of Se-jun, who was harvesting cherry tomatoes, the poison honeybee sat on a flower and began to suck nectar.

How much time had passed?

Squeak.

The wife rabbit began to prepare lunch, putting dried green onion leaves into the fire to grow the flame.

“Black Rabbit!”

Pyak!

At Se-jun’s call, the Black Rabbit dashed over.

“It’s hunting time!”

Pyak!

Shouting gallantly, the Black Rabbit grabbed its hammer and dashed to the pond.

Pyak! Pyak!

Taking a hunting stance in front of the pond, the Black Rabbit urged Se-jun to come quickly. It seemed it wanted to show the results of its training so far.

“Alright.”

At the Black Rabbit’s urging, Se-jun also quickened his pace, went to the pond, and waved the torch over it.

Splash!

Detecting movement, a piranha jumped up right away.

Hop.

Squeak!

The hammer of the Black Rabbit, which had repeatedly trained, cleanly struck the body of the piranha and blew it out of the water.

And,

Landing.

it even perfectly completed the finish of landing outside the pond using the rebound.

In the beginning, he had saved it a few times when it almost fell into the water… it was very admirable.

Clap, clap, clap.

Se-jun clapped and praised the Black Rabbit.

Pyak!

Elated by Se-jun’s praise, the rabbit took its stance again. The Black Rabbit’s passion burned hot.

For lunch, thanks to the burning passion of the Black Rabbit, they were able to eat grilled fish very sumptuously. Even though everyone ate more than usual, five grilled fish still remained.

Squeak…

Squeee…

Squeak…

Seemingly unable to eat any more, the rabbits all lay down on the floor with their bellies bulging.

“Ah. I’m full.”

Se-jun also could not eat any more and put down the grilled fish he had been eating.

At that moment,

Drip, drip, drip.

Water droplets fell onto Se-jun’s hand.

“What?!”

Could it be a monster?!

Se-jun hurriedly looked up.

“Huh? A cat?!”

In the hole of the cave ceiling, a yellow cheese cat was drooling and staring intently at the grilled fish.

Squeak!

Squeee!

The rabbits hurriedly fled to their burrow,

Hop, hop.

Pyak!

and the Black Rabbit, who was a warrior, climbed onto Se-jun’s shoulder and prepared to attack the cat.

And,

Buzz, buzz.

the poison honeybee also drew a sharp stinger from its tail and prepared for battle.

“Ah! Everyone, please do not misunderstand! I am not a shameless cat who came to steal food!”

The cat, who had been distracted by the grilled fish and only woke up late, hurriedly waved his front paws and shouted.

“Then why did you come here?”

“By any chance, are you customer Se-jun Park?”

“Yeah. I am Se-jun Park. Why?”

Leap.

Spin, spin, spin.

Landing.

The cat leaped down from the hole, spinning three times in the air and landing lightly.

And then,

“Hello. My name is Theo, the traveling merchant.”

Theo knelt on one knee and placed one hand on his chest, introducing himself grandly.

“A traveling merchant?”

Se-jun looked at Theo with curiosity. Although he had heard that one might meet them occasionally while climbing the tower, he had never heard of a cat traveling merchant.

“Yes. I heard that a new member joined the Seed Shop this time, so I came to greet you and trade.”

While talking to Se-jun, Theo kept glancing at the grilled fish. As he drew closer to the grilled fish, the thick smell of fish distracted Theo’s mind.

‘Theo! No! Don’t lose your mind!’

Theo shook his head, trying to clear his mind, but

Rumble.

his body was honest.

“Gasps! I’m sorry.”

Theo hurriedly apologized to Se-jun. To commit such a discourtesy in front of a customer with whom he could open future transactions!

“It’s fine. If you haven’t eaten, would you like to eat this grilled fish?”

“I’m fine.”

“It’s leftover anyway. You can eat it.”

“T-then… should I eat just one?”

Theo carefully grabbed one grilled fish and put it in his mouth.

Melt.

As soon as he put it in his mouth, the grilled fish disappeared as if melting.

“It’s too delicious!”

After shouting those words, he had no memory. When his memory returned, Theo was diligently licking the fish bones. Only fish bones were scattered around. He had eaten all five grilled fish.

The rabbits and the bee looked at Theo with pity.

And Se-jun was smiling brightly.

“Now, shall we begin the trade? First, let’s settle the bill for the grilled fish.”

From the moment Theo mentioned trading, Se-jun got a feeling. This guy was a pushover.

“Yes?”

Theo was flustered by Se-jun’s words.

“You didn’t give it to me for free?”

“Where in the world is there anything free? Didn’t you say you came to trade?”

‘I’ve been had.’

Theo realized his mistake too late.

Like that, it was decided that Theo would pay Se-jun 0.5 Tower Coins for the five grilled fish, and the trade began.

He had to take the customer’s money, but instead, he gave money. It was a business starting with a loss already.

‘I will sell something no matter what!’

Theo laid out goods from his bundle with firm resolve.

“Tada! How is it? These are hot items brought from other floors.”

Se-jun examined the items Theo had confidently pulled out.

[Tumbler – 5 Tower Coins]

[Mini Fan – 3 Tower Coins]

[Portable Hand Warmer – 5 Tower Coins]

“Could this possibly be an item from outside the tower?”

“Oh! You recognize it right away! This tumbler has a preservation magic cast on it. It is an amazing item that maintains temperature when you put hot or cold things in it!”

“And this mini fan has wind magic enchanted, so whenever you need it, you switch it like this…”

‘Hmm…’

Se-jun looked closely at Theo, who was passionately explaining the products.

‘Is he tricking me knowing it? Or does he really not know?’

‘If he is tricking me knowing it, that is truly incredible acting.’

However, there was not a speck of lie in Theo’s eyes as he said preservation magic was on the tumbler, wind magic was on the mini fan, and warm magic was on the portable hand warmer.

‘No matter how I look at him, it’s a face that doesn’t know.’

He had thought he was a pushover, but he was truly a massive pushover.

He was really lucky. It was not easy to meet such a fellow. He felt that if he used this pushover, he would be able to earn Tower Coins.

“Pushover… no, Theo. Would you like to work together with me?”

Se-jun proposed a partnership to Theo.