Chapter 22 – Sending Regards to Family

“Who is it?”

A young man’s voice was heard from beyond the door.

“Ah, I came here at Mr. Park Se-jun’s request.”

“What?! Mom!”

“Honey!”

At Kim Dong-sik’s reply, the inside of the house grew noisy.

‘Did something bad happen?’

As Kim Dong-sik was debating whether he should tear the door down and enter,

Click.

The digital lock of the door opened.

And then,

“I am sorry to have kept you waiting. Please come in.”

A man in his twenties beyond the door opened it for him.

‘Was he Se-jun’s younger brother?’

Kim Dong-sik entered the house carrying the Korean beef gift set. Although the house showed signs of age, it was full of warmth, giving the impression of being well-maintained.

In the living room, there was a man in his fifties who looked similar to the man who opened the door.

‘That was Se-jun’s father.’

Se-jun’s mother seemed to be in the main bedroom due to the earlier commotion.

“Let me formally introduce myself. I am Kim Dong-sik, the leader of Team 5 of the Phoenix Guild.”

“What? The Phoenix Guild?!”

Tap, tap, tap.

Se-jun’s younger brother, Se-dol, quickly started to search on his smartphone.

If it was a guild like the Phoenix Guild, its members were all famous figures who would appear on TV and do an interview at least once. But a leader?!

If he was at the leader level of a Phoenix Guild team, tens of thousands of photos would appear just by searching the internet.

Then, Se-dol, who finished searching, looked back and forth between the photo on his smartphone and Kim Dong-sik’s face.

“Y… yes. This person really is the leader of Team 5 of the Phoenix Guild, Mr. Kim Dong-sik.”

“Then Se-jun…”

“As expected, Hyung…”

Judging by the atmosphere, Se-jun’s family seemed to be misunderstanding.

“I came to deliver this at Mr. Park Se-jun’s request.”

Kim Dong-sik quickly handed over an envelope to clear up the misunderstanding.

However,

“Se-jun…”

“Hyung…”

It brought about a greater misunderstanding.

“It’s not a will. It’s 50 million won.”

“What?!”

…?!

Se-dol quickly pulled out the contents of the envelope.

What came out of the envelope was a dazzling check with the number ‘50,000,000 won’ written on it.

“Mr. Park Se-jun asked me to tell his family that he is doing well. And this is my gift.”

Kim Dong-sik held out the Korean beef gift set.

“Our Se-jun is doing well, right?”

“Yes. He is doing well.”

“Ah, thank you. Honey!”

Se-jun’s father, Park Chun-ho, hurriedly snatched the check held in Se-dol’s hand and ran to the main bedroom.

***

Since Se-jun had not returned for over three months after sending a message saying he was entering the tower, Se-jun’s family requested the Korea Awakened Association to check if Se-jun was inside the tower.

However, when there was still no contact even after two months had passed, their thoughts gradually drifted toward the worst.

In such a situation, when Kim Dong-sik said he came at Se-jun’s request, they misunderstood that he had come to deliver a death notice.

After a while,

Park Chun-ho, who went into the main bedroom, came out together with his wife, Kim Mi-ran.

“Thank you. Our Se-jun really is okay, right? But why isn’t he coming out?”

“He says he cannot come out due to a quest. Mother, you do not have to worry.”

Kim Dong-sik replied confidently. The quest was an idea Kim Dong-sik came up with on the spot. Sometimes, among the tower’s quests, there were those that would become invalid if one left the tower.

Furthermore, he briefly talked with Se-dol, who said that it had been a little over five months since Se-jun entered the tower.

No hunter reached the 40th floor of the tower in ten years, but he reached the 40th floor in five months? He was a genius of the century!

Kim Dong-sik gradually began to fantasize about Se-jun’s talent. Then, his eyes also went to Se-dol. His body was in good shape, and if the older brother possessed such great talent, there was a high possibility that the younger brother had talent as well.

He coveted him. To the point that he wanted to personally give him a ticket and awaken him.

However, since he did not know what thoughts Se-jun had, he did not do so.

Becoming a hunter provided opportunities to gain splendid fame and money, but one had to risk their life to obtain them. Therefore, there were many cases among hunters where they did not recommend becoming a hunter to their family members.

If he awakened him without permission, their relationship might worsen instead.

“Then, I will get going now.”

“No. At least have a meal before you go.”

“No, it’s fine. I came here immediately after coming out of the tower. My family is waiting.”

“Ah. I held onto a busy person. Then, please go safely.”

“Yes. Then, I will leave.”

Kim Dong-sik stepped out of the house, stopping Se-jun’s family who tried to come out to see him off.

Whoosh.

The contract in Kim Dong-sik’s arms began to burn, emitting blue flames. It meant the contract was fulfilled. Since it was a magical fire, it did not burn anything else.

“It’s done.”

Vroom.

Kim Dong-sik started the car and set off for home. Now it was time to take the magical cherry tomatoes and establish his prestige as the head of the household.

***

161st day of being stranded.

As soon as he woke up, he drew a stroke on the wall and washed his face.

“It must have been delivered well, right?”

Se-jun thought of his family. Since the magical cherry tomatoes had surely begun to be known outside, he thought they would know he was alive.

Therefore, he wanted to send money to let them know he was indeed living well.

At that moment,

Buzz, buzz.

The poison honey bees were moving back and forth busily near the tall corn.

“Huh?”

As Se-jun approached, he noticed that flowers had bloomed at the tips of the corn stalks that had been growing densely, which he had not paid much attention to before since they only grew tall like grass.

In addition, the sprouts of the seed potatoes purchased from the seed shop had also come up.

“Sorry, guys. Hyung hasn’t been paying attention lately.”

Splash.

Se-jun hurriedly washed his face and apologized while watering the corn and potato sprouts.

Thanks to that, the rabbits also started working as soon as they woke up.

Out of 200 corn seeds, 139 grew, and 282 out of 400 seed potatoes sprouted. The germination rate of the seeds bought from the seed shop seemed to be fixed around roughly 70%.

‘Though I would have to wait and see a bit more.’

Se-jun watered the growing corn and potatoes like that and prepared breakfast.

This morning’s menu consisted of dried sweet potato chews dried in the sunlight yesterday, and carrots. The dried sweet potato chews were flipped once before going to bed yesterday so they would dry well.

Se-jun picked up one of the dried sweet potato chews with his fingers to see if it turned out well. Since the outside was well dried, it did not leave any sticky residue on his hands.

“Good.”

Se-jun put the dried sweet potato chew into his mouth with satisfaction.

Chew, chew.

As soon as he chewed, the unique aroma of the roasted sweet potato, along with the sweetness of the potato that became denser as the moisture evaporated in the sunlight, delighted Se-jun’s tongue.

And,

Chewy, chewy.

The sticky texture unique to dried sweet potato chews added to the fun of eating.

Crunch.

Squeak?

Squeak?

Squeak?

The rabbits, who finished eating the carrots, looked at Se-jun’s expression and watched him with eyes full of expectation for the new food. Can we eat it?

Nod.

As Se-jun nodded, the rabbits dashed toward the dried sweet potato chews.

Squeak!!

Squeak!!

Squeak!!

The rabbits began to eat the dried sweet potato chews with dazed expressions, as if drunk on the maximized sweetness.

[The administrator of the tower asked if you forgot something.]

“I know.”

Se-jun filled the bag of washed apples he had eaten on the first day with the dried sweet potato chews.

“Here, enjoy.”

The dried sweet potato chews vanished along with the bag.

[The administrator of the tower rejoiced in the sweetness of the dried sweet potato chews.]

Having introduced the taste of the dried sweet potato chews to the rabbits and the tower’s administrator, Se-jun also hurriedly began to eat them. He dried 40 roasted sweet potatoes, but they seemed likely to disappear within today.

After eating breakfast, Se-jun took three carrot tops with about a finger-joint’s worth of stem left behind by the rabbits and went to the field where he harvested sweet potatoes a few days ago.

That place was already completed as a field where new crops could be planted, with the black rabbit leveling the ground with his hammer and two rabbits holding shovels making ridges.

Se-jun dug the ground of the ridge and planted the carrots so that the stems would not be buried in the soil.

[You planted the top of a carrot root.]

[The probability of the carrot taking root increased due to the effect of Sowing Lv. 2.]

[The proficiency of Sowing Lv. 2 increased very slightly.]

After accidentally learning that carrot sprouts grew even with just the carrot tops, Se-jun banned the rabbits from eating the tops.

He was planting about three to five carrot tops left over by the rabbits every day. Of course, he was also preparing to harvest seeds by letting a few of the previously planted carrots bloom flowers.

As he planted the third carrot top like that,

[The proficiency of Sowing Lv. 2 increased very slightly.]

[The proficiency of Sowing Lv. 2 was filled, causing the level to increase.]

“Oh!”

The level of the Sowing skill increased. This was what made farming good. Working hard accumulated little by little and gave unexpected rewards.

Today was also rewarding from the morning.

“Hum, hum, hum.”

Se-jun hummed a song and began to harvest the cherry tomatoes.

While he was harvesting cherry tomatoes like that,

[You obtained 1 mL of honey from the cherry tomato flower.]

[The proficiency of Beekeeping Lv. 2 increased slightly.]

[You obtained 1 mL of honey from the cherry tomato flower.]

[The proficiency of Beekeeping Lv. 2 increased slightly.]

…

..

.

“Why is there no honey from the corn flowers?”

Clearly, the poison honey bees were busily flying back and forth to the corn flowers as well, but no message appeared stating that corn flower honey was obtained.

“Is there no honey in corn flowers?”

As Se-jun was thinking about whether or not there was honey in corn flowers,

Squeak? Squeak!

The black rabbit approached majestically, as if asking what Se-jun was doing and gesturing that he had leveled up.

It seemed he leveled up by catching piranhas again. At this rate, wasn’t he practically a piranha slayer?

“Huh?”

In Se-jun’s eyes, a piece of dried sweet potato chew was seen dangling and moving on the black rabbit’s butt every time he walked. It seemed it stuck to him while he was eating hard earlier.

“Puhahaha. Are you planning to eat this later?”

Se-jun detached the dried sweet potato chew that was stuck to the black rabbit’s butt.

Rip.

There was a feeling of something being ripped.

Squeak!

Perhaps feeling a sting, the black rabbit let out a squeak. Tears welled up in the black rabbit’s eyes as if it really hurt.

“Oh?!”

Looking at the dried sweet potato chew held in his hand, Se-jun saw that black fur was stuck all over it.

“Sorry.”

Squeak!

The black rabbit lay down on Se-jun’s lap with a sulky expression. It hurts, so pat me quickly.

“Okay.”

Pat, pat, pat.

Se-jun took a brief break while patting the black rabbit’s plump butt.

And when he was slowly preparing to sleep,

Plop.

Before entering the hive, a poison honey bee dropped a yellow, candy-like object into Se-jun’s hand and left.

[You obtained 10g of corn pollen clump.]

[The proficiency of Beekeeping Lv. 2 increased slightly.]

“Corn pollen clump?”

It seemed that the poison honey bees flew back and forth because of this pollen instead of honey on corn flowers. Se-jun examined the corn pollen placed in his hand and put it in his mouth.

Melt.

As soon as he put it in his mouth, the corn pollen clump dissolved in his saliva and dissolved like cotton candy.

“Sweet.”

While Se-jun was smiling,

Plop, plop, plop.

[You obtained 10g of corn pollen clump.]

[The proficiency of Beekeeping Lv. 2 increased slightly.]

…

..

.

The poison honey bees left work for the hive after placing the corn pollen clumps one by one on Se-jun’s palm.

Before he knew it, fifteen corn pollen clumps were piled high in one of Se-jun’s hands.

“Mmm.”

As Se-jun put another corn pollen clump in his mouth and savored the taste,

“I have returned, meow!”

Theo returned after completing his third sold-out run and Se-jun’s errand.