Chapter 133 – Harvesting Bananas

While Se-jun was healing the banana trees, lunchtime arrived and the animals that finished the treasure hunt returned. As expected, the result was an overwhelming victory for the Silver Wolf tribe, who tracked the scent of the golden bat.

Elka took first place with 5 silver ingots, the black rabbit took second place with 2, and the rest took third place, with the wolves finding 85, the monkeys finding 7, and the Black Minotaurs finding 1 each.

Mooo!

[Please let us do it one more time!]

Although 500 of them had found only one silver ingot, the Black Minotaurs did not feel frustrated about losing, perhaps because they found the treasure hunt itself fun, and said they wanted to do it again.

“Then let’s do it one more time after eating lunch.”

Anyway, the wolves and the Black Minotaurs had nothing to do until Se-jun departed for the 99th floor of the tower.

‘This is good.’

Se-jun had felt sorry for making the animals wait until the banana trees were healed, but he thought it was fortunate that there was a way for them to enjoy themselves and pass the time like this.

“As a reward for first place, I will make you any dish you want.”

“Se-jun-nim, is that true?”

Elka got excited at Se-jun’s words.

“Yes. Elka, what do you want to eat?”

“Then I want to eat the Chef’s Soup.”

“Eh? Is that enough?”

Since the Chef’s Soup was a dish made almost every day, Se-jun asked again.

“Is that really enough?”

“Yes. That is enough.”

To Elka, the Chef’s Soup was a meaningful dish that had fed his tribe members to their fill for the first time. Perhaps because of those good memories, Elka was happy every time he ate the Chef’s Soup.

“Okay. I got it.”

Since the Chef’s Soup was already on the lunch menu anyway, there was nothing special for Se-jun to do. Instead, he added special ingredients for Elka, who had saved him some trouble.

At that moment,

“Pyak?”

The black rabbit asked if there was no prize for second place.

“Of course there is a prize for second place too. Here.”

Se-jun took out a whole box containing 100 carrots from the sub-space warehouse and gave it to the black rabbit.

“Pyak!”

The black rabbit hugged the carrot box with an expression as if he had obtained the whole world, not knowing what to do.

And,

Mooo…

Ukki…

The Black Minotaurs and monkeys, excluding the wolves whose eyes were already fixed on the Chef’s Soup, swallowed their saliva and looked at Se-jun, as if asking what he was going to give them.

“Here. The third-place prize.”

Se-jun gave five Solar Honey Sweet Potatoes each to the monkeys who found one silver ingot.

Ukki!

The monkeys who received the golden sweet potatoes were deeply moved. The sweet potato given by God shined! The taste was not much different from a honey sweet potato, but it had a visual impact.

And,

“Woo Chun-sam, I will give you 10 bundles of green onion leaves later when we go to the 99th floor of the tower.”

Mooo!

Woo Chun-sam, the only one among the Black Minotaurs who found a silver ingot, rejoiced at Se-jun’s words.

In that way, the modest award ceremony of the 1st Se-jun Cup Treasure Hunt Competition ended.

“Now, let’s eat.”

Since all the other dishes were already set, they only needed to ladle out the soup.

“This is for Elka, who took first place.”

Se-jun handed over the Chef’s Soup, which was filled with meat and ingredients he had specially added for Elka. For reference, the wolves who took third place received the Chef’s Soup filled with only meat.

“Oh! Isn’t this a bone?!”

He boiled a wild boar bone from the Red Ribbon Kingdom’s treasure warehouse with the Chef’s Soup and put it only in Elka’s soup. He thought that wolves, having habits similar to dogs, would like bones.

“Thank you!”

Elka hurriedly began to eat the soup, deeply moved.

Lick. Lick.

After eating the soup a few times,

Crunch. Crunch.

and chewing on the bone a few times,

Whimper.

the other wolves looked at Elka enviously.

“Let’s eat too. Golden Bat, please move in advance.”

For the treasure hunt, the golden bat, who was the facilitator, had to hide the treasure first.

(Yes! Please leave it to me!)

Flap. Flap.

The golden bat flew away to hide the 99 silver ingots, and during that time, Se-jun and the animals finished lunch and had a nap time.

Zzz.

Purr.

Pyarorong.

Kyurorong.

Theo and the black rabbit fell asleep on Se-jun’s lap, while putting their rumps against Cuengi’s leg.

At that moment,

Flap. Flap.

the golden bat, who returned after hiding all the silver ingots, took a slice of cool watermelon that Se-jun had cut nicely and placed on the ice cube,

Suck. Suck.

and sucked on the watermelon deliciously on top of Se-jun’s head, who was wearing a straw hat.

And,

Ba-rorong.

the golden bat, who finished eating, also settled on top of Se-jun’s head and began to nap.

In that way, everyone had a sweet nap,

“Now, start the treasure hunt!”

and the 2nd Se-jun Cup Treasure Hunt Competition began.

Grr!

Mooo!

This time, only the wolves and the Black Minotaurs participated. The black rabbit slept while clinging to Se-jun’s back, saying he lacked sleep, and the monkeys wanted to play more but had to farm mangoes and watermelons.

[Farmer’s Warm Touch Lv. 4 is activated.]

[While the touch lasts, the banana tree’s illness is healed little by little.]

Se-jun also began healing the banana trees again.

15 seconds later.

[The banana tree’s illness has been healed.]

[The proficiency of Farmer’s Warm Touch Lv. 4 increases slightly.]

[While the touch lasts, the banana tree grows slightly.]

“It has definitely gotten faster.”

At first, he thought the healing speed had gotten faster as the level of Farmer’s Warm Touch rose, but there was a bigger reason than that.

Bat-bat.

The reason was none other than the golden bat’s song. The banana trees gained energy after listening to the golden bat’s song for a few days, shortening Se-jun’s healing time. Thanks to that, he healed one tree in 10 to 20 seconds after activating the skill.

‘At this rate, I could heal even 1,000 trees a day.’

Se-jun looked at the golden bat with proud eyes.

(Bat-bat. I was in the darkness. The one who pulled me out back then was~ Se-jun-nim~)

Perhaps because it felt boring to only sing the same song, the golden bat began to make its own song. The content praised Se-jun, who had pulled it out of the darkness. Se-jun opened his ears and listened to the lyrics intently, pretending not to listen.

“This is embarrassing…”

Although it was embarrassing, he did not stop the song that praised him. This was because he did not want to crush the creative desire of a growing aspiring singer. It was absolutely not for personal satisfaction.

At that moment,

“Do you like praise that much, meow? Then I will praise you, meow!”

His quick-wittedness was like a ghost at times like this. Theo, who wanted to steal Se-jun’s attention when it turned to the golden bat.

And,

“I praise Chairman Park for only caring about money, meow! I also praise you for working your subordinates without letting them rest, meow! And…”

He began to praise the strengths of Se-jun that he thought of.

‘Is that an insult?’

Theo praised him with sincerity, but for some reason, it sounded to Se-jun like he was being insulted.

“Representative Theo, keep quiet while eating this.”

Se-jun offered a Churu to plug Theo’s mouth. He did not feel good because it felt like he was being insulted.

But,

“I am not hungry, meow! And my praise still has a long way to go, meow!”

Theo insisted on praising him more. Where did his ghost-like quick-wittedness from just a moment ago go…

‘Is he mocking me?’

While Se-jun’s anger gauge was rising little by little,

‘Puhuhut. My praise worked, meow!’

Seeing Se-jun give him Churu, Theo became convinced that his praise was effective and praised Se-jun even more.

And in the end, the effect of Theo’s praise manifested.

“Representative Theo, quickly go to the 99th floor of the tower, pack the crops, and make the trade.”

“Meow?! You mean right now, meow?”

“Yes. Because, just as you said, Representative Theo, I only care about money and work my subordinates without resting.”

“Meow?!”

An adverse effect was still an effect.

‘Why, meow? Why are you sending me to work when I praised you, meow?’

Confused, Theo began to gather his bundle. He was Theo, the obedient cat who, first of all, did what Se-jun ordered.

***

“Kyu-kyu-kyu. You all, stop by the Flame Magic Tower, the Destruction Magic Tower, and the Meteor Magic Tower to dismantle them, and then come to the 99th floor of the tower. I will go ahead and get permission from the owner of the 99th floor of the tower.”

Iona spoke as she looked at the wizards at the spot where the Gravity Magic Tower used to be, which was now just an empty site.

Since their Tower Masters had died like that, it was natural for the three remaining magic towers to undergo the dismantling process. And she planned to use the assets of the dismantled magic towers as funds to rebuild the Gravity Magic Tower.

“And bring any wizards who want to join the Gravity Magic Tower.”

“Understood. But will it be okay? The Bull Demon King won’t easily permit building a magic tower on the 99th floor of the tower.”

“It’s fine. And the current owner of the 99th floor of the tower is not the Bull Demon King.”

“Yes? Has the owner of the waypoint changed?”

“We haven’t heard such news…”

The wizards of the Elder Council wore serious expressions at Iona’s words. The Bull Demon King was an existence that could safely be called the strongest in the Black Tower. Under such circumstances, they had not known that the owner of the waypoint had changed?

Not knowing such important information meant there was a problem with the magic tower’s intelligence capabilities.

Moreover, the current situation was that all the tower’s intelligence was focused on the 99th and 77th floors of the tower as 500 Black Minotaurs migrated south. Yet, since no information came in, it could be called a truly serious problem.

“That’s not it. Although they are not the owner of the waypoint, there is someone who has become the new owner of the 99th floor of the tower.”

“Then does it mean there is another existence as strong as the Bull Demon King?”

“That’s not it. The new owner of the 99th floor of the tower is very weak.”

“Weak?”

The wizards of the Elder Council were confused by Iona’s words. The strongest of the floor became the owner of the floor and guarded the waypoint. That was the common sense of the tower. But weak? And very much so?

“Yes. However, if anyone among you acts rudely to that person, I will not stand idle. Well, even if it is not me, the existences guarding his surroundings will step up first anyway. Now! Move quickly!”

Sending the wizards off, Iona hurriedly headed for the 99th floor of the tower. There was an order to things. First, obtaining permission to build the magic tower from Kaiser and Aileen was the priority.

-Aileen says she permits it. Of course, I permit it too.

Even without that, there were many annoying things about managing the farm. They had to chase away the fire ants that appeared occasionally, and they also had to extend the waterways as the fields increased.

Kaiser was thinking of utilizing the wizards for the farm’s security and facility maintenance.

***

“It’s finished.”

Finally, the healing of the 5,381 banana trees was completed.

Whimper…

Mooo…

Ukki…

The animals felt regretful at Se-jun’s words. In the meantime, as they held the treasure hunt competition in the mornings and afternoons, the competition had been held up to seven times.

“I will hold it once in a while in the future too, so don’t be too disappointed.”

Se-jun decided to hold the competition periodically for the animals who liked the treasure hunt.

At that moment,

[The banana tree’s illness has been completely healed in the farm on the 77th floor of the tower.]

[The farm on the 77th floor of the tower is activated.]

[Bananas begin to grow again in the farm on the 77th floor of the tower.]

[The name of the land deed for the farm on the 77th floor of the tower is updated to the land deed for the banana farm on the 77th floor of the tower.]

A message indicating that the name of the land deed was updated appeared.

“I look forward to working with you from now on.”

He spoke while looking at the monkeys who had agreed to manage the banana farm from now on.

Ukki!

Ukki!

The monkeys, who had signed a contract with Se-jun to receive monthly payments in crops or tower coins along with a portion of the harvested bananas, bowed and told him to leave it to them.

The monkeys were only happy because they were even paid money for doing the glorious work of God.

Just as he was about to leave after entrusting the banana farm on the 77th floor of the tower to the monkeys,

[The banana trees reward you for curing their illness.]

“Reward?”

Fleshy yellow bananas suddenly began to grow rapidly, one bunch at a time, from the banana trees.

“It’s bananas…”

Se-jun approached a banana tree and carefully cut a bunch of bananas with his dagger.

And,

Snap.

snapping a stem of a banana to pick it, he peeled it layer by layer and put it in his mouth.

“Mmm. Delicious.”

Because it was harvested immediately, it was slightly firm, but it seemed it would ripen softly after a few days.

“Guys, let’s harvest.”

On the 290th day of being stranded, Se-jun harvested bananas with the animals on his banana farm. He became able to return to the 99th floor of the tower with his hands full of bananas.