Chapter 148 – As Expected, Outside the House Is Dangerous

Naming the magic tower, which only gave Se-jun wounds.

At that moment,

[The administrator of the tower is enraged, asking who dares to look down on her tower farmer.]

Aileen stepped forward to take Se-jun’s side.

[The administrator of the tower praises that although it is true that the Black Tower’s tower farmer, Park Se-jun, is weak enough that it wouldn’t be surprising if he died anytime, anywhere, he farms better than anyone else.]

“Aileen……”

It would have been better if she had praised him without saying the first part……

Just as Se-jun’s self-esteem was beginning to hit rock bottom,

[The administrator of the tower declares that she will name the magic tower the Parkae Magic Tower.]

As soon as Se-jun heard it, he got a sense of it. This was because he knew Aileen’s style of naming.

‘She combined the ‘Park’ of Park Se-jun and the ‘Ae’ of Aileen.’

However,

“Kyu? Parkae Magic Tower?”

Iona, who did not know why such a name came out, tilted her head. Since the pronunciation was similar to philanthropy, she thought other beings would be confused.

[The administrator of the tower says that instead, she will permit using the modifier ‘Black’ for the magic tower.]

“Kyu-kyu-kyu! Thank you, Great Black Dragon Aileen-nim!”

At Aileen’s words, Iona accepted Aileen’s proposal without second thought.

Using the modifier ‘Black’ in the Black Tower had a tremendous meaning. Because only beings who had received the permission of the Black Dragon could use the word ‘Black’.

Of course, one could use it secretly, but dealing with the aftermath of doing so was not something one could handle alone.

Dragons never forgive a race that used the modifier ‘Black’ without their permission. Not only the party involved, but their entire race had to pay the price.

And that price was extermination. Being able to use a modifier of that weight as the name of the magic tower was a tremendous honor.

[The administrator of the tower declares that from now on, she will call the magic tower built on the 99th floor of the tower the Black Parkae Magic Tower.]

Thus, the magic tower’s name was decided.

Black Parkae Magic Tower.

Later, because of the magic tower’s name, people would approach thinking it was a magic tower that bestowed charity, but due to its destructive actions completely different from philanthropy, it became an object of fear for hunters.

***

“What will you do when we arrive at the Port of Amsterdam?”

On the deck of the grain carrier that had departed from the Port of Lagos in Nigeria, Jonathan asked his colleague.

“What else? Go straight to the pub and……”

As the colleague answered in an excited voice,

Thump!

Suddenly, a sound was heard from the tank loaded with grain along with a weak vibration.

“What is it?!”

“I don’t know…… it seems to be heard from the tank containing cacao?”

“Could something be rotting inside?”

Although such cases were rare, sometimes the tank expanded due to the gas generated as the grain stored in the tank rotted.

“Ah…… something must have gone wrong when we departed from Lagos in such a hurry this time.”

When a swarm of millions of locusts appeared in Lagos and attacked humans and animals alike, their employers demanded that they load the grain quickly and set off the cargo ship.

And accordingly, they had loaded the grain in a hurry and set off.

“Then shouldn’t we start by cleaning the tank as soon as we arrive?!”

“Tell me about it…… damn! Instead of drinking, we’ll return after only doing cleanups……”

While the two were grumbling,

Boom!

Along with a giant explosion, the lid of the tank was forced open.

And,

Flutter. Flutter.

Locusts began pouring out.

“Huh?! Locusts?!”

“Run away!”

Jonathan hurriedly shouted, but this was the open sea. There was nowhere to run.

The locusts pounced on the people inside the ship as if hunting. The bodies of those locusts had turned completely yellow.

The Earth Defense Force felt relieved after driving out all the locusts from Lagos, Nigeria, but the locusts had already infiltrated inside dozens of grain carriers loaded with grain.

And by devouring the grain without any interference, they rapidly increased their numbers and completed their evolution into Yellow Locusts.

As such occurrences took place simultaneously inside grain carriers heading to various ports around the world, ships that lost contact rapidly increased.

***

The 305th day of being stranded.

Se-jun took out one Elixir: Cherry Tomato Imbued with Mighty Mana from the Golden Box of Abundance. The maximum capacity of the Golden Box of Abundance was two. Therefore, when it increased to two, he had to take out one to increase it to two again.

[You have obtained 30 seeds of Elixir: Cherry Tomato Imbued with Mighty Mana.]

[Job experience points increase slightly.]

[The proficiency of Seed Harvesting Lv. 6 increases slightly.]

He did not eat the elixir-class cherry tomato obtained in that way and extracted the seeds inside. This was because eating just one or two would only get him ignored by the monsters around him.

Of course, the fact that he kept failing to sow the seeds and consuming them was also one of the reasons.

“Work this time. You’re ready, right?”

Se-jun stood in front of the pot filled with soil and spoke while looking at Theo and Cuengi.

“Ready, meow!”

Cueng!

[Ready!]

Theo and Cuengi spoke, infusing mana into the pot.

Se-jun had been continuously failing to plant the seeds of the Elixir: Cherry Tomato Imbued with Mighty Mana. This was because of the characteristic that it could not grow unless it was in a place where magic power was strong.

Thus, to intentionally create an environment with strong magic power, Se-jun was attempting to plant the elixir-class cherry tomato with the help of Theo and Cuengi.

However,

[You have planted the seed of Elixir: Cherry Tomato Imbued with Mighty Mana.]

[The environment is not strong in magic power for the seed of Elixir: Cherry Tomato Imbued with Mighty Mana to take root.]

[Seed sowing fails.]

Rustle.

Along with the message, the seed turned into ashes. It was a failure this time too.

“Just how much magic power is needed?!”

To think it didn’t work even with Theo’s and Cuengi’s magic power…… Se-jun thought he should bring Iona along next time.

When he failed to plant the elixir-class cherry tomato like that,

“I’m bored……”

Having no work that could be done indoors left Se-jun speaking in a bored voice. Se-jun had not been able to take a single step out of the house since yesterday.

The reason was the celebration party for the completion of the Black Parkae Magic Tower. The influential figures of each floor who received party invitations were climbing up to the 99th floor of the tower to participate in the party.

And because they had no choice but to pass by Se-jun’s farm in the middle to get to the magic tower, Theo and Cuengi, worried about Se-jun, were protecting him by not letting him go outside the house.

“President Park, let’s just sleep at home, meow!”

Theo spoke as if comforting Se-jun, lying flat on Se-jun’s lap and diligently rubbing his back against Se-jun’s lap.

Cueng!

[Big brother is right! Outside the house is dangerous!]

Cuengi also agreed with Theo’s opinion, sitting with his butt stuck next to Se-jun’s rear, and diligently dipped and ate the honey he had brought out from the sub-space warehouse.

Both of them were full of desire to fill their own self-interest on this occasion.

‘Should I just go out?’

Se-jun could go out as much as he wanted if he made up his mind. He was the owner of this place, and the animals protecting him were all strong. On top of that, Aileen was also on his side.

However,

Thump. Thump.

Looking at the endless procession of monsters outside the window, the thought of whether there was any need to go outside automatically occurred. There was no need to deliberately hang around a place with many strong guys.

“As expected, home is the best.”

Se-jun lay on the fluffy king oyster mushroom mattress and looked at the ceiling. It had been a long time since he spent all day at home like this.

“Come to think of it, on Earth, waking up late in the afternoon on days I didn’t go to work and rolling around in bed until evening was a daily routine……”

He found it strange that he felt stuffy being at home like this.

While he was lying down and lost in thought like that,

[The Seed Shop opens.]

Checking the level of the Seed Shop skill. (Wait! Raw is `[ .]` -> checking the level of the Seed Shop skill. Let’s make sure it is in square brackets. Yes, in the raw it is: `[ .]` -> `[Checking the level of the Seed Shop skill.]`)

[Checking the level of the Seed Shop skill.]

[Confirmed Seed Shop Lv. 3.]

[Park Se-jun’s grade has risen from ordinary to extraordinary.]

As the level of the Seed Shop rose when all skill levels increased by 1 as a reward for completing the Level 50 job quest, the grade also rose accordingly.

[At the Extraordinary Grade, you can select one seed you have purchased from the Seed Shop and purchase it daily within ten Tower Coins.]

[The selected seed will be excluded from today’s seed list for sale.]

[If you wish to change the selected seed to another, you must pay a prescribed change fee.]

[Which crop will you select?]

‘There’s a fee too.’

[Carrot Seeds]

[Strawberry Seeds]

[Onion Seeds]

[Cheongyang Chili Pepper Seeds]

…

..

.

While Se-jun was thinking, the crops he had purchased all this time appeared.

“I’ll choose later.”

Since there was no crop he urgently needed to grow right away, Se-jun decided to take his time choosing.

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

[At the current grade, you can purchase as many seeds as you want within 50 Tower Coins.]

As the grade rose, the types of seeds shown at random increased by one from four to five, but the purchase limit increased tenfold from 5 Tower Coins to 50 Tower Coins.

[50 Sweet Pumpkin Seeds – 6 Tower Coins]

[1,000 Peanut Seeds – 9 Tower Coins]

[1 Flame Bean Seed – 10 Tower Coins]

[10 Watermelon Seeds – 12 Tower Coins]

[10 Blueberry Seeds – 20 Tower Coins]

‘The prices rose again.’

The prices of the seeds had risen by almost 50% or more compared to when he saw them before.

“Sweet pumpkin, peanut, flame bean, blueberry.”

Since he had brought plenty of watermelon seeds after eating the watermelons the monkeys gave him on the 77th floor of the tower, Se-jun bought the seeds except for the watermelon seeds.

[A total of 45 Tower Coins is withdrawn from Park Se-jun’s account in the Seed Bank.]

[450 Seed Shop mileage points are accumulated.]

[A total of 601 Seed Shop mileage points has been accumulated.]

Clink.

Four small leather pouches containing seeds dropped onto Se-jun’s hand.

[Thank you for using the Seed Shop.]

30 days later, you can use Seed Shop Lv. 3 again.]

“First, I should plant the flame bean in the pot.”

Just as Se-jun was trying to plant the flame bean seed in the pot,

Peep!

Pya!

Kke-ek!

The sounds of the rabbits and mushroom ants being on alert against something outside were heard.

And,

“You’re trivial things, who do you dare think I am to block my path?! I am Jashu, the son of Lepard, the ruler of the 95th floor of the tower. I am the body who will become the ruler of the next 95th floor! Clear the way if you do not wish to die!”

An arrogant voice also drifted in. There were always guys like that. Beings who did not know that there was a sky above the sky and thought they were the best. It seemed an uninvited guest had come to the farm.

“I should go outside.”

Although he was staying quiet, he could not stand by when someone laid hands on his family.

“There are always guys like that, meow!”

Cueng!

[I will punish them!]

Angry at the being that made him move, Theo and Cuengi also stood up following Se-jun.

“Guys, you must wear this before going out.”

Toss.

“Meow?”

Cueng?

Se-jun put on the Dragon Tooth Soldier helmet for safety and placed them on Theo and Cuengi as well. Although he could have worn it alone, Se-jun insisted on putting them on the two as well. He felt embarrassed wearing it alone.

Thus, Se-jun, Theo, and Cuengi went outside the house.

***

Peep……

Kke-ek……

The rabbits and mushroom ants shrunk back at Jashu’s threat. However, they did not retreat. This was Se-jun’s farm, which had taken them in when they had nowhere else to go. They intended to guard it even if they died.

“These things really!”

Noticing their determination, Jashu was enraged. His pride was hurt that they dared to think of fighting against him.

“I intended to avoid bloodshed since it is the 99th floor of the tower, but so be it. Kill them!”

“Yes!”

The invitation had stated not to touch the beings on the farm, and the Black Minotaurs guarding the entrance to the 99th floor of the tower had also warned not to touch the farm.

However, Jashu believed that it did not refer to the trivial rabbits and mushroom ants roaming inside the farm.

At that moment,

“Meow!”

Cueng!

Two beings wearing white bone helmets appeared and dispatched the leopards trying to attack the rabbits and mushroom ants.

“Cuengi, here, meow!”

To be precise, when Theo dodged the leopards’ attacks and lured them to Cuengi,

Cueng!

Whack!

Cuengi beat them with his club.

“You guys! Who are you again?!”

Boom!

The enraged Jashu struck the ground and shouted.

‘You’re dead.’

Se-jun grinned while looking at Jashu.

The place the guy struck happened to be where the rock Cuengi occasionally used for naps was located. It was a rock Se-jun had made for Cuengi using Myler’s Hoe.

Cueng…… Cueng!

[Cuengi’s bed that Dad made for me is broken…… Cuengi is angry!]

Just as Se-jun expected, Cuengi looked at the broken rock with sad eyes and, in a fit of rage, swung his club at the black leopard named Jashu with a full swing.

Thump!

“As expected, outside the house is dangerous.”

Se-jun said as he looked at Jashu flying far away.