Chapter 346 – Is Lord Theo Short on Money

On the way to take the Farming King to the 4th floor of the tower.

“Nyang?! Again, nyang?”

A fork in the road appeared in front of Theo.

It was already the fifth fork in the road.

For reference, they had also met ten teams of highwaymen along the way.

All because of Yuren’s misfortune.

If it had been just Yuren, it would have been a stroke of luck to gain a fortune, but

“Puhuhut. Stamp it, nyang!”

since the golden cat Theo Park was next to him, their luck turned into the misfortune of stamping slave contracts.

“Puhuhut. How can this be, nyang? Yuren is really fascinating, nyang!”

As Theo spoke while looking at Yuren,

“Hehehe. Lord Theo, should I give you money?”

Yuren, the culprit of this situation, watched Theo’s reaction and took out a money pouch from his chest.

“Of course, nyang! Hand over the money, nyang!”

Theo, who never refused money offered to him, put the money pouch Yuren took out into his bundle and

“Puhuhut. This way, nyang!”

confidently headed toward the left path.

And

Thud.

as Yuren and the Farming King followed Theo, the snake’s mouth closed without fail.

A moment later.

Crackle.

The snake’s body split into six pieces, hit by Theo’s One Meow Slash.

“Puhuhut. Chairman Park will love this, nyang!”

Theo set off again after gathering the falling White Coins, and

“As expected of Lord Theo!”

Clatter. Clatter.

Yuren and the Farming King followed Theo comfortably as if they were sightseeing.

***

[You have arrived at the 99th floor of the Black Tower.]

“Toryong.”

Se-jun, who arrived at the 99th floor of the tower, rode Toryong-i toward the farm.

And

Drip. Drip. Drip.

As soon as he returned to the farm, he let a drop of the Elixir of Harvest fall onto each of the Deep Dark Cherries, Lightspots, and Fire Beans.

The cherries and Lightspots were to help the black and white dragons quickly regain their powers of darkness and light.

As for the Fire Beans, since he had managed to germinate them with great difficulty, he wanted to grow them properly.

The three crops absorbed the Elixir of Harvest.

And

Creak.

The cherries and Lightspots grew rapidly.

However,

…

The Fire Beans did not budge. No, rather, their leaves turned yellow and withered.

“What is it? Was the elixir too much?”

Stroke. Stroke.

As the condition of the Fire Bean worsened, Se-jun stroked its leaves to heal it.

However,

[Farmer’s Warm Touch Lv. 7 is activated.]

[While the touch lasts, the growth speed of the Fire Bean carrying the breath of the Red Dragon increases slightly.]

Perhaps it was not sick, as there was no message saying it was healed, and only its growth speed increased.

A Fire Bean carrying the breath of the Red Dragon? The name had grown too long due to receiving Ramter’s energy.

So,

“Our Bulkong-i, don’t be sick and grow big and strong.”

Se-jun created a nickname for it and continued to stroke Bulkong-i’s yellowing, dying leaves as he called it.

At that moment,

Plop.

“Huh?!”

The leaf Se-jun was stroking fell off from the stem.

“Bulkong-i!”

Se-jun was startled and hurriedly tried to attach the fallen leaf back to where it fell, but there was no way a leaf that had fallen once would stick back.

“I’m sorry…”

Stroke. Stroke.

While Se-jun was diligently stroking Bulkong-i’s stem out of guilt,

[Hehe. Master just named you. From now on, your name is Bulkong-i. Bulkong-i, let’s hang in there a little longer.]

[……]

Beneath the ground, Flamie was carefully injecting fire energy into Bulkong-i to help it grow.

Unaware of that, Se-jun diligently stroked Bulkong-i’s stem.

At that moment,

Whoosh.

“Huh?!”

Bulkong-i’s body began to burn.

Fwoosh.

“No!”

Before Se-jun could do anything, the fire burning Bulkong-i grew fiercely, turning Bulkong-i into ashes in an instant.

“…!!!”

Se-jun was speechless with shock.

At that moment,

Kyong-!

From the spot where Bulkong-i had been planted, a red plant resembling a bean sprout grew rapidly along with a strange cry.

“…Kyong?”

Se-jun stared at the plant that had grown with the strange sound with suspicious eyes. ‘Who are you?’

Whoosh.

Kyong-!

Whoosh.

Kyong-!

Whoosh.

Kyong-!

Under Se-jun’s gaze, the red bean sprout repeatedly produced fire and cried ‘Kyong’.

There was a hole at the end of the bean, through which it made the sound.

After the red bean sprout repeated the same action dozens of times,

Whoosh.

“Fire.”

Kyong-!

“Kyong.”

Fire-kyong?

Se-jun figured out what the plant wanted to say.

“Huh?! Are you by any chance Bulkong-i?!”

Kyong-!

As if confirming Se-jun’s words were correct, this time it answered without producing fire.

The red bean sprout was the Fire Bean, Bulkong-i, which had grown after absorbing the Elixir of Harvest given by Se-jun and the fire energy given by Flamie.

“You were listening to everything I said, weren’t you?”

Kyong-!

While Se-jun was talking to Bulkong-i like that,

[Hehe. Bulkong-i’s wish has come true.]

Flamie, who had been cheering from afar for Bulkong-i, who wanted to introduce itself directly to Se-jun, wore a pleased smile.

[Podori, spread your roots more.]

[Yes!]

She was punishing Podori, who had bullied the Fire Bean.

“Bulkong-i, can I touch you?”

Kyong-!

“Since I’m going to touch you, you shouldn’t make fire. Got it?”

Kyong-!

Stroke. Stroke.

Although he had a considerable resistance to fire due to his talent: Friend of Fire, the cowardly Se-jun confirmed it several times before stroking Bulkong-i’s head.

Then,

[Farmer’s Warm Touch Lv. 7 is activated.]

[While the touch lasts, the growth speed of the Fire Bean Bulkong-i, carrying the breath of the Red Dragon, increases slightly.]

The message appeared. Before he knew it, Bulkong-i had officially become a named plant with a name.

“Let’s get along well from now on, Bulkong-i.”

Kyong-!

While Se-jun spent time getting closer to Bulkong-i by stroking its head,

A-kyong-!

Bulkong-i suddenly made a sneezing sound and spat out a bunch of red beans.

And

[You have harvested 100 Fire Beans.]

[Your job experience increases slightly.]

[The proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 8 increases slightly.]

[You have obtained 7,000 experience points.]

The harvest message appeared.

“Huh? Fire Beans?”

Pick.

Se-jun picked up one Fire Bean in wonder and inspected it.

[Bulkong-i’s Fire Bean]

A Fire Bean produced by the Fire Bean Bulkong-i, which grew inside the Black Tower and absorbed sufficient nutrients.

It can only germinate by absorbing fire energy in a place with strong fire energy.

If it absorbs more than a certain amount of surrounding fire energy, it will no longer grow and will scatter Fire Beans around.

In times of danger, the Fire Beans can also be used as weapons.

Upon consumption, fire-related talents are greatly enhanced.

Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Se-jun

Expiration Date: None

Grade: A

“I’ll eat this, strengthen my fire talent, and…

I’ll shoot fire breath too. Hehehe.”

Se-jun picked up the Fire Beans spat out by Bulkong-i one by one while having a delusion that other red dragons would have sneered at if they had heard it.

“Great. I’ve picked up all 100.”

Just as Se-jun finished picking up all the Fire Beans,

-Se-jun, do you have any more pears to dry?

Ramter came to find Se-jun and asked.

Thanks to the Bland Pear of Strength and Stamina given by Se-jun, rain fell on the Red Tower for the first time in 1,000 years, increasing water energy.

As the desertified areas disappeared, they pushed the Cactuses from the 53rd floor of the tower to the 45th floor.

However, once the pears to dry disappeared, desertification proceeded rapidly, and the Cactuses quickly advanced up to the 49th floor of the tower.

“I don’t have any. I want to give them to you quickly too, but the pears need time to grow.”

Although he could grow the pear trees quickly with the Elixir of Harvest to harvest dozens of pears, he could do nothing with that small number.

‘By the way, do I have to submerge the pear tree once it’s fully grown?’

Initially, the Bland Pear of Strength and Stamina was created because it was submerged in water.

‘Should I try submerging just one tree first?’

While Se-jun was thinking of ways to make Bland Pears of Strength and Stamina,

-Ahem. I see…

Ramter turned to leave with a disappointed voice.

“If you’re in a hurry, would you like to take this at least?”

Seeing Ramter like that, Se-jun’s heart softened, and he handed half of the Fire Beans in his hand to Ramter.

-Is this the same as the bean that absorbed my energy before?

Ramter recognized the Fire Bean.

“Yes. They say it absorbs fire energy, so try planting it.”

-Indeed. As expected of our Se-jun! Thank you!

“We don’t know yet. Its effectiveness…”

-Puhahaha! Our Se-jun harvested a new crop!

Before Se-jun could even finish his sentence, Ramter flew toward the fountain carrying the Fire Beans.

***

“Puhuhut. I’ve finally arrived, nyang!”

Only after encountering three more forks in the road and twenty additional teams of highwaymen did Theo arrive at the 4th floor of the tower.

Yuren’s misfortune was immense.

Of course, it was a very profitable time for Theo.

Since he had obtained White Coins, received the stamps of 500 people on slave contracts, and received plenty of money pouches from Yuren.

The grape farm they arrived at in that manner.

“Farming King, what are those lines, nyang?”

Theo asked as he looked at the two long lines standing toward the grape farm.

Clatter. Clatter.

[One is a line to work, and the other is a line to buy ‘the wine I made.’]

The Farming King put special emphasis on ‘the wine I made.’

It was to restore his pride, which had been crushed after losing the farming match against Se-jun, but

“Puhuhut. There are many suckers, nyang!”

Theo did not listen and ran excitedly toward the grape farm.

“It’s the cat traveling merchant, Vice President Theo!”

The hunters standing in line to work at the grape farm stirred as they saw Theo.

“Team Leader! That’s Vice President Theo over there!”

It was the same for the agents dispatched by the government to buy wine.

The appearance of Theo, who had not been seen at all lately. The hunters thought there would be some grand event.

At that moment,

“Puhuhut. Humans, I, Vice President Theo, have arrived, nyang!”

Theo stopped in a place where he was clearly visible to the hunters,

Step. Step.

“The auction will begin, nyang!”

He stacked about three boxes, climbed on top of them, and shouted loudly. Puhuhut. With so many suckers here, I can’t just pass by, nyang!

The crop auction began without notice in that manner.

“Puhuhut. The first crop is this, nyang! I will sell 1,000 of them in sets of 10, nyang!”

The crop Theo took out confidently was a common sweet potato.

“Eh… what…”

“I expected something since Vice President Theo came in person…”

The hunters were disappointed as they looked at the sweet potato held in Theo’s front paw.

It was only natural. Since other cat employees were already selling Se-jun’s crops regularly on the 41st floor of the tower.

Although the Sweet Potato of Strength was precious, it was not a crop that would surprise them.

“Foolish humans, look at the name properly, nyang!”

As Theo got angry at them, the hunters approached Theo and looked at the sweet potato, and

“Chestnut… Sweet Potato?”

only then did they realize it was a sweet potato with a different name.

“Puhuhut. That’s right, nyang! First, check the options, nyang!”

At Theo’s words, the hunters inspected the options of the Chestnut Sweet Potato.

[Chestnut Sweet Potato]

A sweet potato grown inside the tower that is delicious due to absorbing sufficient nutrients.

It has the characteristic of growing only at night.

Upon consumption, one can sleep well, and during sleep, one of the stats among Strength, Stamina, Agility, or Magic Power randomly increases by 3.

Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Se-jun

Expiration Date: 150 days

Grade: A

“Huh?! You’re saying a stat randomly increases by 3 just by eating and sleeping?!”

The hunters were astonished after seeing the options of the Chestnut Sweet Potato.

Recently, a bottle of all-purpose elixir that increased all stats by 5 appeared in the auction house and was sold for 1,000 Tower Coins.

However, while the all-purpose elixir had a restriction where a person could only consume it once, the Chestnut Sweet Potato had no such restriction.

If only they could eat one Chestnut Sweet Potato and sleep every night…

“15,000 Tower Coins!”

“18,000 Tower Coins!”

“20,000 Tower Coins!”

The auction heated up in no time, and

“50,000 Tower Coins!”

“Sold, nyang!”

Ten Chestnut Sweet Potatoes were sold for 50,000 Tower Coins.

“Puhuhut. The next auction starts right away, nyang!”

Theo started the next auction immediately with an excited voice.

And

“Is Lord Theo short on money? Why is he earning money so hard like that?”

The Great Merchant Yuren stared at Theo with an incomprehensible expression.