Chapter 208: What's the Point of Luck Anyway?
TL: Hanguk
Krueng! Krueng!
[We're home! Mom, Cuengi is here!]
As soon as they arrived at the farm, Cuengi ran to find Pink-fur.
And then,
"Let's see how well this Greatsword performs?"
Sejun went to the green onion field to test the performance of his newly acquired Greatsword. Currently, there were three types of green onions planted in the field: the regular green onions Sejun had initially brought during the vanishing, the detoxifying green onions which Sejun had planted from seeds obtained in the tower, and the sturdy blade green onions.
Swoosh.
Sejun positioned himself in front of the vast regular green onion field that seemed endless, and pulled out the Greatsword from the void storage. The area of the onion field was vast since he kept planting more green onions by splitting their roots.
"Ha! Yah!"
Sejun took a deep breath, shouted, and swung the greatsword sideways.
Whooosh.
Creak.
The greatsword made a slicing noise through the air, cutting the green onion leaves from about 1m away, just with the wind from the sword swing.
"Wow! Vice Chairman Theo, did you see? I cut one, two..."
Sejun started counting the number of green onions he had cut.
Thud.
"Wow! I cut 24 green onions at once!"
Sejun, pushing down on the half-cut onions with his hands, making a fuss to Theo.
"You did well, meow... Chairman Park, impressive, meow..."
Theo praised soullessly. Normally, Theo would have snuffed out Sejun's spirits by showing off his own skills, starting with his dragon claws to suppress Sejun. But right now, Theo was incredibly sleepy.
"Hehehe. Ha!"
Thanks to that, Sejun, whose spirits were not dampened, diligently cut the green onion leaves with his greatsword.
2 hours later.
"Phew. That was satisfying."
Wiping off his sweat, Sejun looked back with a pleased expression. He felt proud looking at the vast field of onions he had cut.
However,
"What?!"
The previously cut green onions had already grown back to their original height. It was due to Sejun's 'Farmer's Footstep Shoes'. The green onions had grown rapidly upon hearing Sejun's footsteps.
"I'm trapped."
Sejun was trapped in the middle of the onion field.
"Vice Chairman Theo, lend me your claws for a moment."
"Alright... meow..."
Half-asleep Theo took out his dragon claws and infused them with magic.
Swoosh.
Sejun grabbed Theo's front claw and swung it.
Slish.
In an instant, all the green onions within 30m fell down simultaneously.
Swoosh. Swoosh.
Sejun swung Theo's front claw a few times, quickly covering the distance he had taken 2 hours to traverse with the greatsword. Soon, he got out of the onion field.
Thanks to this, they had a tremendous amount of green onion leaves. These would be used for various purposes, like food for the Black Minotaurs and rabbits, and materials for ropes and baskets.
"Argh!"
Thunk.
Sejun carelessly stuck the amplifying great sword in the ground in front of the house and went inside. It seemed he would need to find a different use for it other than cutting green onion leaves.
***
The next morning.
"Ugh!"
Sejun, waking up early, put Theo on his leg and went outside, stretching.
"I should start with the brewery first today."
Since Sejun possessed the 'Relic: Wealth-devouring Rice Dough', he decided to first visit the brewery to replenish rice flour before heading to the kitchen.
However, as Sejun stepped into the front yard of his house to go to the brewery,
"What?!"
He discovered that the great sword he'd left stuck in the ground, outside was missing.
"Where did it go?"
He thoroughly searched the yard, but the great sword was nowhere to be found. It was an S+ grade sword, and moreover, a precious equipment gifted by the penguins...
"Who took it?!"
Angry, Sejun went straight to the brewery first. He planned to search the area thoroughly with the rabbits and the mushroom ants once they woke up.
As Sejun entered the brewery grumbling,
"Oh? It's here."
He found the greatsword inside the brewery.
Ook! Ook!
Two banana monkeys were holding the amplifying great sword together and stirring makgeolli (rice wine) contained in a giant jar. The monkeys, while searching for a stirring rod, had found and used the sword. It seemed they had found a good purpose for the great sword.
"Hey, what are you guys doing?"
Sejun asked the monkeys.
Ook!
[We're making Samyangju (TL: aka triple brewed makgeolli )!]
"Samyangju?"
Ook! Ook!
[It tastes better this way! Samyangju is...]
The monkeys answered Sejun's question.
According to the monkeys' explanation, if you ferment makgeolli once and use it as a base, then add steamed rice for a second fermentation to make Iyangju, and if they ferment it again after adding more, it becomes Samyangju.
As it goes from Iyangju to Samyangju, the alcohol content increases, the taste becomes clearer, and the aroma deepens. Moreover, the color of the liquor becomes clearer, making it not only pleasant to look at but also a high-quality, delicious drink.
"Alright. Keep up the good work."
Sejun smiled happily, thinking about selling it at a high price to Kaiser and Kellion later on.
Just then,
Krueng!
[Daddy, Cuengi is hungry!]
Cuengi, who had traveled to the front of the brewery tracking Sejun's scent, called out to Sejun with a fierce cry. He seemed very hungry.
"Just a moment. Crop Gigantification."
Sejun quickly stepped outside, handed a giant sweet potato to Cuengi, and headed for the kitchen.
Tadadada.
Sejun swiftly chopped ingredients with his dagger, placed them in a pot, and increased the fire using his magic power.
"Next time, should I ask the penguins to make a kitchen knife?"
Sejun commented as he looked at Keinz's training dagger. Though it cut well, it wasn't specifically made for cooking, so it was a bit uncomfortable to use.
Bubbling.
The contents in the pot began to boil, and soon a freshwater shrimp soup was prepared. Sejun had made this keeping in mind the rabbits that hadn't tried shrimp soup before.
Once the shrimp soup was ready,
Slurp.
"Guys, let's eat!"
Sejun quickly ate a bowl of shrimp soup and called out to the rabbits.
However,
Peep!
Piyah!
Rabbits greeted Sejun face-to-face as he attempted to surprise them by using the special effect of shrimp soup. As expected, even the rabbits had the ability to detect stealth. Tch. I'm the only one without detection ability.
"Okay, line up."
Sejun, feeling a bit dejected, served the shrimp soup into bowls for Cuengi and the rabbits. Sometimes, because he couldn't see his own hands, he accidentally poured soup onto his own hand, but it was okay.
'Heh. I'm a friend of fire.'
A little burn like this wasn't a threat to Sejun. While the animals ate their breakfast, Sejun stepped outside. It was awkward to move in the kitchen with the hidden animals around.
"How have you been, Flamie?"
Exiting the kitchen, Sejun went down to the cave below and exchanged greetings with Flamie.
[Yes! Oh?! I can feel a strong energy of fire from the master's body!]
"Yeah. My ability evolved this time. Hehehe. Check this out!"
Snap.
Sejun flicked his fingers, showing off a giant flame to Flamie.
But,
Whoosh.
Before Sejun could react, the flame he created was absorbed into Flamie's leaf.
[Talent: Ruler of Fire is stealing your fire energy.]
[If more fire energy is stolen, it will be hard to maintain the Talent: Friend of Fire.]
"What?"
Sejun was confused as he read the message.
[Oops! Master, I'm sorry!]
Flamie, having accidentally absorbed Sejun's flame, hurriedly apologized in a panic.
"Ah... It's okay..."
Sejun had trusted Flamie... But unlike Sejun, who had only recently become a Friend of Fire, Flamie was already a Ruler of Fire. Suddenly, Flamie seemed very unfamiliar.
Sejun realized once again how pointless it was to worry about others on the 99th floor of the tower.
"I'll be going now..."
[Are you leaving already?]
"Yeah..."
Sejun, clearly upset, got up from his spot. He knew he was acting a bit childish, but he needed some time to accept the truth.
Exiting the cave, Sejun wanted to be alone and entered the storage. Of course, with Theo clinging to his knee, he wasn't entirely alone.
Inside the storage, Sejun browsed the crops harvested in his absence.
And then,
"Oh! They've harvested peanuts? Huh?! Onions too!"
Seeing the crops, Sejun's face gradually lit up. It was an inevitable habit as a farmer.
"Hehehe. This is reassuring."
Sejun completely recovered from his gloomy mood as he packed the crops into his void storage.
Then,
"Huh?! They've harvested strawberries too?!"
He spotted red strawberries piled up at the end of the storage.
"Slurp."
The sight of the strawberries made him drool involuntarily. With no one around, should he eat a few? It was just him and Theo there, and Theo was asleep.
"Alright."
Just as Sejun cautiously reached for a strawberry,
Drip. Drip.
He heard the sound of water droplets falling.
"Huh?"
Looking towards the sound,
Drip. Drip.
Water was falling from thin air.
"Gho... Ghost?!"
Just as Sejun thought he saw a ghost,
"Huh?! Cuengi?"
The stealth effect timed out and Cuengi and the rabbits appeared. They were the rabbits that intended to surprise Sejun, who had tried to surprise them a while ago, and Cuengi had just followed them.
The rabbits that followed Sejun into the storage room noticed that Sejun's expression was not good and worriedly followed him quietly.
However, as Sejun's expression lightened, they were looking for another opportunity to surprise him. But they were exposed when Cuengi drooled as Sejun grabbed a strawberry.
Krueng?!
[Dad, were you about to eat the strawberries alone?!]
As soon as he was revealed, Cuengi immediately questioned Sejun.
"No······ No! Of course, I was going to eat them together."
Sejun hastily explained, withdrawing his hand that was trying to pick the strawberries in response to Cuengi's interrogation.
"Come on, let's quickly wash these and have them as dessert."
Sejun took the strawberries, washed them at the tap, and ate them with the animals.
Chomp.
"Wow! These are really delicious."
Sejun exclaimed after taking a bite of the strawberry. The taste and fragrance of the strawberries had improved, perhaps due to his upgraded rank as a tower farmer.
Krueng!
[It's even tastier now!]
Beep!
The animals seemed to agree with Sejun, continuously exclaiming as they ate the strawberries.
And then,
[You have consumed a Lucky Strawberry.]
[Your luck will increase for 1 hour.]
A message appeared each time he ate a strawberry.
However,
"What's the use of luck anyway. I'm still the weakest after all..."
Sejun, still affected by the damage he took from Flamie earlier, wasn't very optimistic.
Then,
[The Seed Shop is now open.]
[Park Sejun's grade is Extraordinary.]
A message stating that the Seed Shop was open appeared.
"Ah, it's the 335th day."
He had forgotten about the opening of the Seed Shop today because he had been to the 44th floor of the tower.
As Sejun was reading the message,
[Park Sejun, you are the 1,000,000th visitor to the Seed Shop.]
"The 1,000,000th visitor?!"
An unusual message appeared.
And then,
[Especially for Park Sejun, our 1,000,000th customer, three valuable seeds will be sold at a 50% discount today.]
[This purchase won't accumulate Seed Shop loyalty points.]
[You can only purchase one seed.]
[Rice seeds x 10,000 - 35 pieces of the World’s Energy]
[Wheat Seeds x 10,000- 25 pieces of the World’s Energy]
[Barley Seeds x 10,000 - 15 pieces of the World’s Energy]
The rice seeds Sejun had longed for finally appeared.
"But, World’s Energy?"
Sejun, who always used tower coins, found it strange that he could buy seeds with World’s Energy.
"Thank goodness."
Thanks to the bronze coin from Iona, Sejun had 43 pieces of World’s Energy.
"Hehehe. I'll buy the rice seeds."
Without hesitation, Sejun chose rice. The thought of eating white rice brought a smile to his face.
Poof.
With Sejun's choice, the bronze coin he was holding turned to dust and disappeared.
And then,
[Using 35 pieces of World’s Energy, you have purchased 10,000 rice seeds from the Seed Shop.]
Plop.
A leather pouch containing 10,000 grains of rice landed onto in Sejun's hand. The pouch was quite heavy.
*****
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