Chapter 9 – Securing a Reward

Morning of the 95th day of distress.

“Everyone, listen carefully.”

Squeak?

Pyapyap?

Pyah?

“Starting today, we will plant sweet potato shoots.”

Se-jun made a major announcement to the rabbits eating breakfast.

Pyah…

Pyah…

The baby rabbits were deeply disappointed by Se-jun’s major announcement. Sweet potato shoots were one of the baby rabbits’ favorite snacks these days.

And it was also the reason why Se-jun had to hurry and plant the sweet potato shoots. He felt that if he left them alone, all the sweet potato shoots would disappear.

Well, although sweet potato shoots grew so fast that there was no need to worry, he decided to plant them today since planting them even a day earlier would allow him to harvest the sweet potatoes sooner.

“Instead, tonight’s dinner is roasted sweet potato.”

Squeak!

Pyah!

Pyai!

At the mention of roasted sweet potatoes, all the rabbits got excited.

“Slurp…”

So did Se-jun.

When he slightly lifted the soil around where the sweet potatoes were planted, sweet potatoes were sparsely growing. Of course, he did not harvest them right away.

This was because the plunderer aiming for the sweet potatoes was watching closely.

He found out about it during lunch on the day of the fourth Blue Moon. Se-jun wanted to eat cherry tomatoes differently than usual.

At that time, he remembered seeing mandarins or pineapples being grilled on TV. So, he decided to try grilling cherry tomatoes.

‘Would cherry tomatoes work too?’

Well, even if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be inedible.

Se-jun made skewers from dried green onion leaves and began to grill cherry tomatoes by skewering them three at a time.

[The tower administrator watches with excitement to see what kind of dish you are cooking today.]

A message suddenly appeared.

“Huh?!”

[……]

Whether it was a mistake, there were no more words after that, but through it, Se-jun learned that the tower administrator sometimes watched him.

And the grilled cherry tomatoes, just as they said on TV, had their sweetness enhanced by the fire and were extremely delicious.

“Now! Move! Move!”

Having finished breakfast, Se-jun and the rabbits moved busily from the morning.

This was because they had to first finish their daily morning chores of cutting green onions, watering crops, pollinating cherry tomato flowers, and harvesting in order to plant the sweet potato shoots in the afternoon.

The rabbits scattered to do their respective assigned tasks.

Shhhhh.

The husband rabbit watered the crops with the watering can that poured infinite water,

Snip, snip.

and the wife rabbit began to cut the green onions with scissors.

“Leave one green onion alone. I will keep growing it.”

Se-jun spoke to the wife rabbit. He planned to let the green onion flower bloom and harvest seeds.

Squeak!

The wife rabbit nodded her head at Se-jun’s words.

Until then, because the green onions grew well, there was no need to harvest seeds, but green onions did not become items even when harvested by the roots.

Believing the reason was that they were not planted from seeds, Se-jun planned to try growing green onions from seeds.

Peep!

The baby rabbits hung onto the cherry tomato trees and played, climbing the trees diligently. Although it looked like playing, it was work in its own way.

When the baby rabbits climbed the trees, the cherry tomato flowers shook, and pollen flew from the flowers, resulting in natural pollination.

While the rabbits worked in their respective positions, Se-jun also harvested cherry tomatoes.

Plop, plop.

[You have harvested a well-ripened Magical Cherry Tomato.]

[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 2 increases minutely.]

[Your job experience increases minutely.]

[You have obtained 10 experience points.]

…

..

.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have obtained 1 bonus stat point.]

Before he knew it, he reached level 8. Just watching the experience points rise made him feel full, and he even leveled up on top of that.

“Hehehe. It’s rewarding.”

Se-jun increased his stamina with the bonus stat point and heated up his cherry tomato harvesting again.

Plop.

Plop.

Plop.

At that moment,

[Your job experience is full.]

[The grade of Tower Farmer (F) increases.]

[You have become a Tower Farmer (E).]

[As your job grade increases, your job characteristics are strengthened.]

“Oh!”

As expected, farming was rewarding. Something kept coming out as much as he put in effort, or even more.

Cherry tomato harvesting became even lighter for Se-jun.

***

“Now! Let’s get started.”

Having finished the morning routine and eaten a simple lunch, Se-jun and the rabbits began planting the sweet potato shoots.

“To your respective positions!”

This time too, they divided the work.

Peep!

Pyah!

The baby rabbits dashed over and lined up next to the wife rabbit.

Snip, snip.

As the wife rabbit cut the sweet potato shoots, the baby rabbits carried the shoots to the newly made field.

Then, the baby rabbits planted the sweet potato shoots one by one into the narrow, long holes Se-jun had dug at regular intervals.

Pat! Pat.

Placing the shoot in the hole and treading the surrounding soil with a foot to plant it was all it took.

And,

Shhhhh.

the husband rabbit finished up by watering.

Even with a lot of labor, there were more sweet potato shoots to plant than expected, so it took a long time. Although they planted as many as 300, one-third of the sweet potato shoots still remained.

“Break time!”

At Se-jun’s words, the rabbits began to sip and drink the juice from the cherry tomatoes that had grown cold from being submerged in the small pond.

“I’m jealous.”

Crunch, crunch.

Se-jun, chewing on a cold cherry tomato, looked enviously at the rabbits who could drink cherry tomatoes like a beverage.

“Heave-ho.”

After resting while looking enviously at the rabbits, Se-jun stood up and approached the sweet potato field, which had become empty due to the shoots being cut off.

And,

Thud, thud.

he began to dig up sweet potatoes, clearing the soil with his hands.

“It would have been nice if I had at least a hand hoe…”

It was a pity that there was not a single farming tool.

[You have harvested a Honey Sweet Potato of Strength.]

[Your job experience increases very minutely.]

[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 2 increases very minutely.]

[You have obtained 10 experience points.]

…

..

.

“Wow. There are a lot.”

Se-jun looked proudly at the harvested sweet potatoes. The harvested sweet potatoes totaled fifteen. He harvested about five sweet potatoes per planted one. Although the number was small, the size was large.

Se-jun picked up a sweet potato and examined it.

[Honey Sweet Potato of Strength]

A honey sweet potato grown inside the tower, which tasted delicious as it had absorbed sufficient nutrients.

Upon consumption, it breaks down 10g of body fat, increasing strength by 0.1 for 10 minutes.

The effects stack up to a maximum of 10 within an hour.

Upon consumption by a non-awakened person, it breaks down 10g of fat and stimulates bowel movement.

Grower: Tower Farmer Se-jun Park

Expiration date: 30 days

Grade: E

“If I went outside with this, Mom would love it…”

He had frequently seen his mother suffering to go to the bathroom due to constipation. Se-jun thought about home for a moment and then moved the sweet potatoes.

He had to hide them before the plunderer saw them. Placing green onion leaves on the floor in a cool corner of the cave, he laid eight sweet potatoes side by side and covered them with green onion leaves again.

‘If I do this, it won’t be able to see them.’

He moved the remaining seven sweet potatoes to the campfire, wrapped them in green onion leaves, and put them in the fire. By the time the work was done, the roasted honey sweet potatoes would be completed.

At that moment,

Thud.

Something that had been stuck to Se-jun’s clothes fell off.

“It’s a sweet potato shoot.”

It seemed to have come along while he was moving the sweet potatoes. Se-jun picked up the shoot, made a hole in the field, and planted it carefully. He did not know if this single sweet potato shoot would produce dozens of sweet potatoes.

“Grow well.”

When he planted it with all his heart and watered it,

[You have planted a Honey Sweet Potato shoot.]

[With the effect of Sowing Lv. 1, the probability of the honey sweet potato shoot taking root increases.]

[The proficiency of Sowing Lv. 1 increases minutely.]

“…It recognizes this as sowing too?”

Se-jun fell into thought for a moment. To increase the level of Sowing, he had to plant it himself.

“Sigh… Then… I have to do it all…”

For the work after the break, as Se-jun did the entire process of planting sweet potato shoots by himself, the baby rabbits’ job became very easy, only having to place the shoots in the holes Se-jun had made.

Sniff, sniff.

Instead, the baby rabbits were given the mission of monitoring the campfire from time to time to make sure the roasted sweet potatoes were not burning.

Like that, when Se-jun finished planting all the remaining sweet potato shoots by himself,

Peep!

Pyah!

the baby rabbits began to cry out that there was a burning smell.

***

“Is this how it is done?”

A black dragon of giant stature, crouching in front of a furnace, tilted her head in confusion as she looked at thirty charred cherry tomatoes skewered in a row on a rapier that looked almost like a toothpick. The color was too different from what the human had made.

‘Let’s eat it for now. I won’t die.’

No poison could kill her omnipotent self. The dragon hooked the rapier on her teeth and pulled it all the way.

Slide.

The cherry tomatoes, whose skins had turned almost to charcoal on the outside, rolled into the dragon’s mouth.

Munch, munch.

“…Ugh!”

Contrary to expectations, an incredibly bitter taste surged up.

“Spit!”

The dragon hastily spat out what she was chewing. She could not ruin her appetite with such tasteless stuff.

“Ugh… Bitter! What went wrong? The human ate it deliciously…”

As the dragon was thinking about what was different from the human she had watched,

“Huh?!”

Once the bitterness faded, a rich flavor different from regular cherry tomatoes was felt in her mouth. Heating it with fire brought out a new taste.

“Oh! It is this taste. I have to peel the skin to eat it!”

Having gained a great realization, the dragon charred the cherry tomatoes again and struggled to barely peel the skins using her claws. No, it was more accurate to say she simply crushed the cherry tomatoes and ate only the juice.

“Slurp. Mmm. It’s delicious. Delicious.”

The dragon was greatly impressed after tasting the cherry tomato juice on her claws.

Like that, the dragon who mastered a new dish felt proud and sat in front of a giant crystal ball to start her hobby.

“Let’s see what this human is doing.”

Originally, it was a tool for the tower administrator to check if the tower was running well, but now she was operating it for her hobby.

And the cave that began to appear in the crystal ball. In that place, Se-jun and the rabbits were eating dinner.

“Huh?! These guys!!! How dare they eat roasted sweet potatoes without me, the great black dragon Aileen Pritani!”

The black dragon Aileen Pritani became excited.

***

Hoooo.

Poooo.

The rabbits diligently blew wind to cool the roasted sweet potatoes and ate them deliciously.

Chomp.

Se-jun also took a big bite of the cooled sweet potato.

‘As expected, eating after labor makes it taste even more delicious.’

Se-jun ate the sweet potato, feeling the sweetness fill his mouth.

At that moment,

[An additional quest has occurred.]

“I knew it… I wondered why it was so quiet.”

[Quest: Offer 1 Roasted Honey Sweet Potato of Strength to the tower administrator!]

Reward: None

Upon refusal: Death!

It surely seemed that the tower administrator was watching him.

‘Right now, there’s exactly one roasted sweet potato left in front of me.’

There was no reward this time either.

‘See if I give it to you!’

Se-jun decided to put the quest on hold.

And as he reached out his hand to eat the roasted sweet potato,

[The tower administrator urges you to offer the roasted sweet potato quickly.]

[The tower administrator warns that they will not tolerate it if you do not give the roasted sweet potato today.]

The strong obsession of the tower administrator was felt.

‘It will be hard to pass it over this time.’

Se-jun decided to give the roasted sweet potato.

“Don’t you have anything to give as a reward?”

Instead, changing his direction, he demanded a reward fairly if he had to give it anyway.

[The tower administrator is flustered.]

“Flustered?”

What? Was asking for a reward something to be flustered about?

At that moment,

[The tower administrator corrects the quest.]

[Quest: Offer 1 Roasted Honey Sweet Potato of Strength to the tower administrator!]

Reward: 1 job skill

Upon refusal: Death!!!!!!!

Another job skill?

Although he was not satisfied, he decided to be satisfied with the fact that he secured a reward this time.

“I will offer the roasted sweet potato.”

He did not expect the reward at all.

‘They will probably give me a skill like weeding, watering, or something…’

[You have completed the quest.]

[As a quest completion reward, you have obtained the job skill – Seed Shop Lv. 1.]