Translated by Demonic Dog
Read it only at utoon.net
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Chapter 27 – Ignoring a Help Request
When the mother Crimson Giant Bear found her cub again,
‘What did he eat and where?’
The cub had grown tremendously in the meantime, showing how well he had eaten.
Sniff, sniff.
The mother Crimson Giant Bear instinctively knew that the sweet smell coming from the cub would be helpful to him.
“What is this sweet smell?”
“Mom, it’s called honey which smells sweet, and there is this much of it at the human’s house.”
The baby bear expressed the size of the water bottle with his arms.
Although she wanted to try eating this thing called honey himself, she endured for her cub. This was because, judging by what the cub described to her, the amount was so small that it would not even tickle her stomach if she ate it.
The mother Crimson Giant Bear began to search for the human’s house from the place where she found her cub, in order to feed honey to the cub.
In addition, she also thought it would be nice if the human gave food to the cub. Looking at the cub who grew larger than when he was with her, it seemed the human had plenty of food.
And after searching the surroundings for a few days, she found the human’s house. The mother Crimson Giant Bear proposed a deal to the human in exchange for protecting this area. It seemed better to do so to obtain honey continuously.
The reason the mother Crimson Giant Bear confidently said she would protect the surroundings of the human’s house by her own power was that there were no monsters that wanted this desolate land.
Occasionally, monsters trying to cross the wasteland would come, but she could easily chase them away just by patrolling her territory.
However, while she was contemplating how to convey the words,
[The administrator of the tower said that he would convey the words to the human.]
…!
The administrator of the tower, who had barely been active, stepped forward and mediated the deal with the human.
Seeing even the administrator of the tower stepping forward, the mother Crimson Giant Bear thought there was something special about the human.
A deal made like that.
Since the distance from her nest to the human’s house was quite far, commuting that long distance every day was extremely laborious even for the mother Crimson Giant Bear, whose height was about the height of a 10-story apartment building.
However, she did not hesitate to travel the long distance to feed honey to her cub.
Roar!
The mother Crimson Giant Bear, taking her cub to the house of the human who gave honey today as well, thought about where to take a nap during her patrol.
Thankfully, the human looked after the cub and even took care of lunch.
The steps of the mother Crimson Giant Bear heading to the human’s house gradually became lighter. Being lazy to cook was the same for mothers on Earth or monster mothers in the tower.
***
Heave-ho!
Se-jun woke up and added a stroke to the wall, starting the morning of the 173rd day of being stranded. It was the third day since he made the deal with the mother Crimson Giant Bear.
Buzz, buzz.
Squeak!
Squeak!
Squeak!
While he was exchanging morning greetings with the poison honey bees and the rabbits,
Cueng!
The baby bear also greeted him from the ceiling hole of the cave, announcing his arrival. As soon as the mother Crimson Giant Bear dropped off her cub, she hurriedly went out for patrol.
“Right. Did you sleep well?”
Cueng!
The baby bear waved his hand at the black rabbit as if replying. Hyung, I’m here!
Squeak!
The black rabbit also waved his hand coolly. Wait, Hyung will catch fish for lunch and go up!
Se-jun washed his face,
Chew, chew.
Crunch.
and finished breakfast with the rabbits on dried sweet potato chews and carrots.
Then, he hurriedly began his morning farming. Since there was even a field on the ground now, there was indeed a lot of work to do.
Se-jun quickly cut the green onion leaves and began harvesting cherry tomatoes, while the wife rabbit plucked the cherry tomatoes from the cherry tomato branches Se-jun harvested.
Meanwhile, the sickle rabbit and the carrier rabbit carried the green onion leaves Se-jun cut, and the watering-can rabbits quickly watered the crops.
And then,
Squeak!
Squeak!
The black rabbit caught piranhas. The amount caught increased significantly lately because of the baby bear.
He worried that the piranha population might decrease from catching too many, but seeing the number of piranhas flocking when lured with blood, it still seemed sufficient.
Lastly, the two shovel rabbits went up in advance and made a field.
However, the situation was very different from the fertile soil underground.
Dig, dig.
The shovel rabbits dug the ground, filtering out small stones to make a field.
Cueng!
Fortunately, thinking it was a game, the baby bear turned over the ground like an excavator with his front paws and cleared away boulders, speeding up the work.
As the morning passed and lunchtime approached like that,
Squeak!
The black rabbit called Se-jun to move the piranhas. Then, Se-jun, the black rabbit, and the mother rabbit prepared lunch together. He planned to light fires only in the cave until he felt certain that the ground was safe.
As the fish smell rose to the ground through the cave hole,
Sniff, sniff.
Cueng, cueng.
The baby bear began to pester, saying he was hungry. It seemed the smell stimulated his appetite.
“Wait just a little bit.”
Although Se-jun soothed him,
Cueng! Cueng!
the baby bear kept crying that he was hungry.
“Here, eat this while you wait.”
Se-jun threw a sweet potato to the baby bear to quiet him down. Then, he packed sweet potatoes and carrots in the backpack he brought during the vanishing.
The remaining rabbits threaded forty uncooked piranhas together with a string.
And then,
“Pull!”
With preparations finished, Se-jun slung the backpack over his shoulder, held two bundles of raw piranhas and five grilled fish in one hand, grabbed the rope, and shouted. To eat lunch with the baby bear, he went up to the ground riding the baby bear elevator like this.
Hop!
Hop!
The rabbits hurriedly climbed onto Se-jun’s body.
Cu! Eng! Cu! Eng!
Knowing that Se-jun was coming up with his meal, the baby bear pulled up the rope diligently. Hearing what was done when lifting himself, he always pulled the rope with a rhythmic sense like that. One could say he was a bear riding a 2-beat rhythm.
Se-jun came up to the ground.
At a distance of about 5 meters from the cave hole, there was a huge boulder as tall as Se-jun that had not been there before. And the end of the rope was tied to the boulder.
It was a boulder the mother Crimson Giant Bear brought yesterday at Se-jun’s request, thanks to which he was able to secure the rope.
Sniff, sniff.
Cueng!
The baby bear placed his nose against the piranhas held in Se-jun’s hand and grew excited while sniffing.
“Hey! Wait!”
When Se-jun spoke sternly,
Cueng!
the baby bear hurriedly sat back. I’m waiting!
Although he was a baby bear who already grew as tall as Se-jun, his unique cuteness still remained.
Se-jun and the rabbits quickly prepared the meal while the baby bear waited, and began eating.
“Now, let’s eat.”
Gobble, gobble.
Cueng!
The baby bear made a happy sound while eating the piranhas. Yummy!
Afterward, the baby bear ate honey for dessert, approached Se-jun who was resting while drinking coffee, and took a comfortable nap time using Se-jun’s lap as a pillow along with the black rabbit.
***
“I feel like something has been taken away, meow.”
Feeling a strange sensation, Theo arrived at the 38th floor of the tower.
“Humans, I have come, meow!”
“The cat wandering merchant has come!”
“Theo is here!”
The hunters, who had been waiting eagerly for Theo to arrive, welcomed him warmly. In the meantime, as rumors about the magical cherry tomatoes spread widely, about forty hunters were waiting for Theo.
Four out of the ten teams of the Phoenix Guild were waiting for Theo here. The interest in the magical cherry tomatoes was growing even hotter.
“Today, I will sell 300 magical cherry tomatoes each, a total of 1,800, through auction, meow!”
Theo was upgrading his bundle every time he received an incentive from Se-jun. Since he received grilled fish as his weekly wage and spent no money on food, he invested all his money in upgrading the bundle.
Thanks to that, the capacity of the bundle grew larger, so that the bundle, which could only hold 1,500 cherry tomatoes at first, grew large enough to hold 1,800 now.
“25 Tower Coins for 300!”
“27 Tower Coins for 300!”
Although the auction was fierce, prices as high as last time did not come out.
In that way, Theo sold 1,800 magical cherry tomatoes and earned 220 Tower Coins.
“Theo, let’s take a photo together! I brought both Churu and coffee.”
“Me too! I brought Churu and red pepper powder!”
The female hunters approached to take photos with Theo, carrying Churu, the seasoning powders Se-jun wanted, and coffee mixes.
“Well done, meow. I also groomed and dressed up before coming, meow! Line up, meow!”
Theo lined up the hunters, took photos one by one, let them touch his paw, received the items, and put them in his bundle.
‘Puhuhut. I can occupy Park Se-jun’s lap for a day this time too, meow!’
Theo hurriedly went up the tower to occupy Se-jun’s lap as soon as the photo session ended.
And traveling through the merchant passage connecting the 40th to the 50th floors, when he arrived at the 50th floor,
“Help me!”
A voice requesting help was heard nearby.
Falter.
At the voice requesting help, Theo’s steps stopped for a moment.
However, Se-jun’s words suddenly came to mind.
Se-jun had given Theo various warnings so he would not become a pushover while traveling around, and one of the most emphasized among them was to just pass by if someone asked for help on the road.
Although it was a cold instruction, Theo was a pushover who, after saving a drowning person, would be stripped of even his own bundle instead of receiving thanks.
‘Right! Park Se-jun told me to just go, meow!’
Theo ignored the voice requesting help and zipped into the merchant passage connecting the 50th to the 60th floors.
“What is this?”
Judging by Theo’s tendency seen in the shop street, he had thought Theo would help 100%. That was why he asked for help, but…
Jeras’s plan to create a chance encounter and accompany Theo failed.
***
After eating lunch and taking a rest, Se-jun went down to the cave once more and came up with 100 sweet potatoes and 10 carrot tops.
Then, he planted the sweet potatoes and carrot tops as a test in the field of about 50 pyeong made by the shovel rabbits. Since the land looked too barren, he did not plant cherry tomatoes.
Since the shovel rabbits had already made the holes to plant them, Se-jun only buried the sweet potatoes and covered them with soil.
[You planted sweet potatoes.]
[The probability of the sweet potato taking root increased due to the effect of Sowing Lv. 3.]
[Your job experience increased very slightly.]
[The proficiency of Sowing Lv. 3 increased very slightly.]
[The proficiency of Sowing Lv. 3 increased by an additional 5% due to the effect of Proficiency Increase Lv. 1.]
…
..
.
While Se-jun was planting sweet potatoes diligently like that,
Cueng?
The baby bear tilted his head as he watched Se-jun’s actions, as if asking why he was burying food in the ground.
Cueng!
Dig! Dig!
The baby bear, who realized something, dug the ground, took out the sweet potatoes Se-jun planted, and followed Se-jun while eating them.
Chomp.
Chomp.
“Huh?!”
Se-jun, who was planting sweet potatoes diligently, looked back at the strange sound heard from behind him.
And he made eye contact with the baby bear eating the sweet potatoes deliciously.
Cueng!
The baby bear looked at Se-jun with a proud expression. I found them all!
“No! You rascal!”
Se-jun’s voice rose because of the baby bear, who thought it was a food-hunting game and was finding and eating the sweet potatoes from the ground.
Squeak!
The black rabbit, who was catching piranhas in the cave, heard Se-jun’s voice and came up to the ground.
Cueng?
The baby bear, who still did not know what was going on, tilted his head. Hyung, did I do something wrong?
Squeak!
The black rabbit began to teach the baby bear what he did wrong.
173rd day of being stranded. The baby bear learned the meaning of planting.