Chapter 42 – Setting Out to Find

Slice. Slice.

In the afternoon, Se-jun, whose agility increased by 4 as he invested the bonus stat point obtained from reaching level 18 and the increase of 3 in all stats from eating Aileen’s Healthy Soup, sliced green onion leaves as fast as if he had a motor attached.

Furthermore, as he began to slice two to three green onion leaves at the same time with his increased strength, the work time was shortened to an incomparable degree compared to the morning.

Slice. Slice.

Kkueng! Kkueng!

To move the rapidly sliced green onion leaves, Se-jun made the playing Kkueng carry them. Of course, to make Kkueng move, a reward called honey was needed.

“Now that one row is finished, let’s eat honey.”

Kkueng!

At Se-jun’s words, Kkueng hurriedly ran to Se-jun carrying the glass jar filled with honey.

Click.

Se-jun opened the lid of the glass jar, and

Glug.

When he poured one glug of honey onto Kkueng’s front paw,

Lick, lick.

Kkueng began to lick the honey diligently.

In the meantime, Se-jun also took a short break.

“A lot has changed.”

Se-jun said with a proud expression, looking around.

As green sprouts grew from the 1,000 peanut seeds, 3,000 corn seeds, and 1,000 cherry tomato seeds planted on the wasteland surface, the wasteland began to take on a green hue.

Of course, the areas of the green onion fields where Se-jun had not yet harvested were so dense they could be called a green forest rather than just a green hue.

While Se-jun was examining the changes in the surroundings like that,

Kkueng!

Having finished all the honey, Kkueng called Se-jun. Let’s work quickly!

If the Earth ran on capitalism, Kkueng had honey-ism. Honey made Kkueng move.

Slice. Slice.

At Kkueng’s urging, Se-jun got up from his seat and began slicing green onions. Did I make a mistake in asking him? Se-jun glanced behind him and frantically sliced green onions again.

Kkueeeng!

Kkueng, overflowing with motivation at the thought of eating honey, picked up the green onion leaves at a crazy speed and followed Se-jun as if he would devour him.

“Huff, huff, huff.”

Slicing green onions as if chased by Kkueng, Se-jun panted heavily. Thanks to Kkueng, he cut the green onion slicing time in half compared to the morning.

Lick, lick.

Compared to Se-jun, Kkueng still seemed to overflow with energy as he excitedly licked the honey remaining on his front paw.

Having finished the work early thanks to Kkueng, Se-jun rested for a while and used his spare time to plant the remaining corn seeds and cherry tomatoes.

Kkueng?

Kkueng lingered around Se-jun, wondering if Se-jun would give him honey again. ‘Is there nothing to do?’

“I must do this alone.”

Kkueng…

At Se-jun’s words, Kkueng sat down on the ground dejectedly.

Then,

Pyak!

The black rabbit came up to the surface. ‘Younger brother, older brother is here!’

Kkueng!

Kkueng ran toward the black rabbit. ‘Older brother, play with me!’

While the two were playing and training, Se-jun diligently planted seeds.

Stab.

He inserted the seeds into the spaces made by stabbing the ground with a dagger and covered them with soil.

While Se-jun was carefully planting the seeds one by one like that,

[You have planted a Magical Cherry Tomato seed.]

[Due to the effect of Sowing Lv. 3, the probability of the Magical Cherry Tomato seed germinating increases.]

[Job experience points increase very slightly.]

[The proficiency of Sowing Lv. 3 increases very slightly.]

[Due to the effect of Proficiency Increase Lv. 1, the proficiency of Sowing Lv. 3 increases by an additional 5%.]

[The proficiency of Sowing Lv. 3 has been filled, and its level increases.]

Sowing reached level 4. And just as a new effect was created when Harvesting reached level 4, a new effect was created for Sowing as well.

[Job Skill – Sowing Lv. 4]

-The probability of germination when a seed is planted increases slightly.

-The probability of suffering insect damage from pests decreases slightly.

“Pests? Insects?”

Se-jun, who had never even seen an insect in the tower until now, was flustered. What is this unsettling feeling? A real insect won’t appear, right?

Putting his uneasiness behind him, Se-jun planted seeds again.

***

Theo left Woo Chun-sam and Woo Chun-sa waiting at the entrance of the merchant passage on the 40th floor and went down to the 38th floor of the tower. It was to monopolize the humans’ attention all by himself. I must be the only one to receive attention-nyan!

Although the giant-sized Black Minotaurs would only give fear rather than attention to the hunters, Theo was on guard in advance.

Theo thought that since humans liked him, a ferocious beast(?), they might like Black Minotaurs as well. Theo was completely misunderstanding his own charm point.

“I have arrived-nyan!”

Arriving on the 38th floor of the tower, Theo announced his appearance to the waiting hunters.

“Oh! He’s finally here!”

Nearly 100 hunters who had been waiting for Theo for several days welcomed him.

Learning that Theo had appeared late at the trading place in the previous transaction, the hunters waited patiently this time, and as hunters from other guilds joined to buy Magical Cherry Tomatoes, the number grew significantly.

‘Puhuhut. To think so many humans came to trade with me!’

Elated, Theo’s steps were unstoppable. As Theo walked forward, the hunters cleared a path as if the sea were parting.

“Today, I will sell a total of 3,600 D-grade Magical Cherry Tomatoes in batches of 400 through auction-nyan!”

Standing in the middle of the humans, Theo shouted proudly. As Theo’s bundle capacity tripled, he was able to carry 3,600 cherry tomatoes even after filling one-third of it with green onion leaves.

Although there was room to pack about 400 more, the crops to be delivered to Se-jun’s family were stored in that space.

“What?!”

“3,600?!”

The hunters grew excited at Theo’s announcement. It was hard to cope due to the overflowing demand outside the tower, so they were glad he increased the quantity like this.

“120 Tower Coins for 400!”

As soon as the auction began, the price per D-grade Magical Cherry Tomato started from 0.3 Tower Coins.

“160 Tower Coins for 400!”

Thomas, the research team leader of Gagel who received instructions from Michael, raised the price per unit to 0.4 Tower Coins in one go.

However,

“170 Tower Coins for 400!”

“180 Tower Coins for 400!”

“200 Tower Coins for 400!”

The hunters here were all those who came to trade at the request of the world’s leading wealthy people. Their financial power was also not to be underestimated.

The auction grew even hotter, and

“320 Tower Coins for 400!”

Thomas, who had to secure the cherry tomatoes under his boss’s orders, won the bid for the first auction at a price of 0.8 Tower Coins per unit.

“Yes!”

The other hunters looked resentfully at Thomas, who was cheering. It was because the price had jumped too much because of Thomas.

The subsequent auctions also closed maintaining a market price of roughly 0.75 to 0.85 Tower Coins per unit. Among them, Thomas purchased 2,000. Thomas splurged to his heart’s content since it was not his own money.

“Sold out-nyan!”

Thanks to Thomas, who spent the company’s money freely, Theo achieved an all-time record sales amount with this transaction. A whopping 2,870 Tower Coins! It was a massive sum.

‘Park Se-jun will praise me-nyan!’

Thinking of eating Churu on Se-jun’s lap and hearing the praise, ‘As expected, there is only Representative Theo!’ made Theo feel good.

“Now, humans who want to take a photo with me, line up-nyan!”

Feeling great, Theo smiled brightly throughout the photo session, providing excellent service to the female hunters.

And

“Give me my reward-nyan!”

He also clearly received his compensation.

After the photo session ended,

“Let’s do the human transaction-nyan.”

Theo called Kim Dong-su and proposed the transaction.

“I’ll do it!”

Kim Dong-su, who had failed to secure cherry tomatoes due to the tyranny of the conglomerates, accepted without even hearing the conditions.

“The conditions are the same as last time-nyan. The payment is 200 Magical Cherry Tomatoes. Deliver this to Park Se-jun’s family-nyan.”

Theo got Kim Dong-su’s signature on the contract and handed over 50 Tower Coins along with 50 Carrots of Agility, 50 Corn of Stamina, and 50 Magical Cherry Tomatoes.

“This is?!”

Kim Dong-su was greatly shocked to see the options of the crops Theo handed him. Carrots that increased agility and improved eyesight, and corn that increased stamina and improved skin elasticity!

It was a huge shock to Kim Dong-su, who had thought there were only Magical Cherry Tomatoes.

‘If this becomes known to the world, it will cause a stir again.’

Kim Dong-su realized this was an opportunity.

“Theo, from now on, I will pay 50 Tower Coins and deliver the crops to Se-jun’s family every month without any compensation. Instead, give me the opportunity to buy other crops.”

“Nyaang… I will think about that and tell you next time-nyan.”

Theo postponed the decision to ask Se-jun and decide.

Having perfectly completed even Se-jun’s errand, Theo returned to the entrance of the 40th floor merchant passage where the Black Minotaurs were waiting.

Munch, munch.

Woo Chun-sam and Woo Chun-sa were chewing green onion leaves deliciously while monitoring the wolves. Although it was monitoring, Woo Chun-sam and Woo Chun-sa, who found it bothersome, hit the back of the wolves’ heads to knock them unconscious again whenever they woke up.

“Now, let’s go back up-nyan!”

Moo…

Moo…

Woo Chun-sam and Woo Chun-sa, who would only eat one meal a day once they went back, replied gloomily and stood up with heavy feet.

On the contrary, Theo’s steps, excited at the thought of climbing onto Se-jun’s lap, were infinitely light.

“Nyan-nyan-nyan!”

Humming a song, Theo moved toward the 99th floor of the tower with the two Black Minotaurs and three wolves.

Then,

Moo?

While moving, Woo Chun-sam suddenly scratched his head. Did I forget something?

***

Where is this fellow Woo Chun-sam, and what is he doing?

When there was no news despite waiting continuously for Woo Chun-sam, the Bull Demon King became furious.

Could it be?! Did he enter another monster’s territory while looking for grass?

He did not know if this foolish fellow might have entered the territory of the Red Fur or the Poison Honeybees to find delicious grass.

No. What if he went there?!

A horrific scene flashed through the Bull Demon King’s mind. That was a place inhabited by terrible bastards where not even a corpse could be left behind.

Is it because of my orders?

The Bull Demon King thought Woo Chun-sam had died because of his instructions to bring grass. He never imagined that Woo Chun-sam was eating his fill of delicious grass three meals a day.

And feeling guilty, the Bull Demon King decided to personally set out to find Woo Chun-sam’s body.

Moooooo!

The Bull Demon King summoned his subordinates from Woo-il to Woo-baek and ordered them to guard the waypoint.

And

Thud. Thud.

He personally moved to find Woo Chun-sam.

***

“Whew.”

The 205th day of being stranded. Se-jun sighed, looking at dozens of piles of green onion leaves stacked high to a height of 1 meter. There were far too many.

As he planted them separately every time the green onion roots split, the green onion fields grew larger, but there was no one to eat the green onion leaves. It was a situation where production was overwhelmingly greater than consumption.

“It will get a bit better once Woo Chun-sam and Woo Chun-sa return shortly.”

Even so, it would only slow down the speed at which the piles of green onion leaves grew. It was already not an amount that two Black Minotaurs could handle.

At that time,

Kkueng!

Kkueng jumped into the pile of green onion leaves. It seemed he liked it because it was soft.

“If you like it, take it and use it when you sleep.”

Kkueng?

At Se-jun’s words, Kkueng asked joyfully. Can I take some for Mom too?

“Sure.”

Just as the mother Crimson Giant Bear and Kkueng were about to leave after packing 10 piles of green onion leaves to spread on their bedding,

Mooooo!

Thud. Thud.

A Black Minotaur with a size similar to the mother Crimson Giant Bear ran frantically toward Se-jun’s green onion field with bloodshot eyes.