Chapter 238: Facing the Third Trial

TL: Hanguk

Ptui. Get off."

"Meooow."

Sejun spat out Theo's fur that had gotten into his mouth and grabbed the scruff of Theo, who was clinging to his face. It was surprising how much fur had gotten into his mouth given how recently Theo had been brushed.

Then,

"Huh?!"

Sejun noticed Theo's fur sticking all over the freshly made rice noodles.

'This won't do.'

As Sejun pondered what to do with Theo,

Krueng? Krueng!

[Did big brother come? Cuengi was making noodles!]

Cuengi, oblivious to Theo's fur contaminating the noodles, proudly showed Theo his noodle-making skills. I'm good at making them, right?

"You're good, meow. But I can cut them even thinner, meow!"

Snap.

Theo drew his Dragon Claws,

"Meow!"

and swiftly swiped his paw from top to bottom over the noodles.

Swish.

Simultaneously, the noodles made by Cuengi were cut in half by the descending Dragon Claw. Puhuhut. How's my skill, meow?!

Krueng!

[Big brother is amazing!]

Cuengi, who could obliterate noodles with strength but lacked the skill to cut them thinly, looked at Theo with admiration, and

"This is nothing to me, meow!"

Theo, basking in Cuengi's admiration, boasted proudly.

"So what? The noodles are full of fur now..."

Sejun, looking at Theo with a 'how do I deal with this troublemaker' expression, fell into deep thought.

Then,

"I've decided. Cuengi, let's take a break and eat some honey."

Krueng! Krueng!

[Great! Cuengi love's honey and rest!]

Sejun used the carrot-and-stick strategy, letting Cuengi eat honey, and

"Theo, come here."

called Theo over by tapping his right knee.

"Puhuhut. Did you call me, Chairman Park, meow?"

Theo obediently climbed onto Sejun's right knee.

Krueng!

[Cuengi likes Dad's knee too!]

With Theo occupying Sejun's right knee, Cuengi took over the left and

Lick. Lick.

began dipping his front paws in honey to eat.

"Now, Theo, have some Churu."

"Puhuhut. Alright, meow!"

Responding to Sejun's offer, Theo lay down, ready to eat Churu, licking his lips in anticipation. Chairman Park is trying to impress me. I should reward him later for his hard work, meow!

Sejun was giving Theo Churu to keep him still for brushing his fur, but Theo thought Sejun was trying to impress him.

Slurp.

While Theo indulged in his misunderstanding, eating two Churus quietly,

Brush. Brush.

Sejun diligently brushed Theo's fur, gathering as much as possible. Despite having made a baseball-sized ball of Theo's fur just a few days ago, it seemed like there would be enough for another.

'So much fur. Good thing I can sell it to Iona...'

Shortly after,

Brush. Brush.

......

Sejun, lost in thought, continued to brush Theo fur in a trance when,

"Chairman Park! I have something for you, meow!"

Theo, thinking it was time to give his 'reward,' suddenly stood up and exclaimed.

"Huh?! What?"

Sejun snapped back to reality and asked Theo.

"I have something for you, meow!"

Theo replied, taking out ten money pouches he had gotten from Uren and handing them to Sejun.

"Wow! How much did you make?"

"Puhuhut. I made a lot, meow! So, Chairman Park, continue to count on me, meow!"

Theo responded with a smug look.

"Right. Only Vice Chairman Theo."

Brush. Brush.

Sejun patted Theo's head, praising him.

Then he combined the last bits of fur he collected with what he had already gathered to create Theo Ball No. 2.

"Oh! There's 1 billion tower coins in each pouch?"

After finishing brushing, Sejun opened the money pouches to check the amount inside and said,

"So, ten pouches mean 10 billion Tower Coins?"

"Puhuhut. That's right, meow!"

Theo confidently answered. It seemed the sucker he had found really did have a lot of money.

"Better put them all in one pouch."

Rustle.

As Sejun was pouring the coins into one pouch,

Rumble.

Something with a pungent aroma and a slightly yellowish hue rolled out from the last pouch.

"Huh?! This is... garlic?!"

Sejun immediately recognized it as garlic.

Moreover,

[Six Clove Garlic of Agility]

With its name, there was no mistaking it.

"Six Clove Garlic of Agility?"

Sejun picked up one of the garlic cloves to examine it closely.

[Six Clove Garlic of Agility]

→ This is a plant that naturally grows within the tower, producing garlic bulbs with six cloves each.

→ It has the ability to repel negative forces but quickly rots due to contamination from surrounding energies, so it should be consumed as soon as possible.

→ Consuming it increases agility by 1.

→ If all six cloves from a single garlic bulb are consumed, all stats increase by 1.

→ It has a very pungent and spicy taste.

→ Expiration Date: 30 days

→ Grade: B+

Rustle.

"One, two..."

Sejun began counting the garlic cloves that had spilled out onto the floor from the pouch.

"One thousand fifty."

There were a total of 1,050 cloves of garlic in the bag.

"Good job! Vice Chairman Theo!"

"Meow?!"

Startled by Sejun's sudden praise, Theo, who had been dozing off on Sejun's knee, looked confused. Was there still something to be praised for? Then praise me more, meow!

As Theo awaited further praise from Sejun,

"Eating this raw would be tough, but it'll be sweet if roasted! Guys wait here, I'll be right back."

"Meow?"

Krueng?

Sejun lifted Theo and Cuengi off his lap and hurried to the kitchen.

As Sejun rushed to the kitchen,

"Chairman Park, where are you going, meow?! It's not my fault, meow! Let's go together, meow!"

Theo, mistaking Sejun's departure for anger upon discovering a pouch without money, hurriedly followed him.

Krueng!

[Dad, are we cooking?]

Cuengi, thinking Sejun was preparing dinner, excitedly held the honey jar in his arms and followed Sejun to the kitchen, anticipating a delicious meal.

***

99th Floor of the Red Tower.

"Why haven't I heard that the statue is finished yet?!"

Ramter, eager to take the statue to the Black Tower and buy Samyangju from Sejun, grew impatient and went to look for Udon as he hadn't heard from him.

And then,

"Huh?"

He discovered a giant statue, not even 10% complete.

"What the...?! Who asked you to make it so big?!"

"You did?! You asked for a statue resembling the great Red Dragon Ramter..."

"How are we supposed to take it to the Black Tower like this?"

Such a size would surely be noticed by other dragons while transporting it to the Black Tower, making the Samyangju trade impossible.

"Udon, remake the statue smaller."

"Okay."

"And do you have any spare armor?"

"Yes. But why the armor...?"

"Nevermind, just send it to me."

"Here it is."

Udon handed over a spare set of armor he had made, and

"Endowment Magic."

Ramter applied the necessary magic to the red full-body armor and sent it to the Black Tower.

***

"Here, try this."

Sejun offered Theo a roasted garlic clove.

"......"

Theo clamped his mouth shut, shaking his head and body in refusal. He wasn't upset about the misunderstanding; he was just picky.

'As expected, he won't eat it.'

Sejun thought he'd have to secretly mix garlic into Theo's Churu later.

Then,

Krueng! Krueng!

[Cuengi wants that! It smells delicious!]

Cuengi, sensing the absence of the garlic's pungent aroma, eagerly held out his bowl for the roasted garlic, puffing his nostrils and stamping its feet.

Rustle.

"Here you go."

Sejun grabbed a handful of roasted garlic and placed it in Cuengi's bowl, then began eating the remaining 100 or so pieces himself, intending to eat them until his agility reached 300.

Munch. Munch.

"Whoa, what's this?!"

Though he expected the spicy taste to diminish when roasted, the garlic was much sweeter than anticipated. No wonder Cuengi was excited. This made it enjoyable for Sejun to eat.

[You have consumed the Six Clove Garlic of Agility.]

[Your agility has increased by 1.]

...

..

.

As Sejun ate the garlic, messages appeared indicating an increase in agility. However, consuming six cloves did not increase all stats as stated. It seemed that eating all six cloves from a single garlic bulb was necessary for that effect.

After Sejun had eaten about 50 cloves of garlic,

[You have consumed the Six Clove Garlic of Agility.]

[Your agility has increased by 1.]

[You have consumed all six cloves from a single garlic bulb.]

[All stats have increased by 1.]

Messages appeared stating that all stats had increased by 1. Fortunately, among the 50 cloves of garlic, there happened to be six from the same bulb.

However, after that, there was no more instances of all stats increasing, and Sejun was able to reach agility 300 after consuming 84 cloves.

Then,

[All stats have reached or exceeded 300.]

[You have passed the first trial of the 10th tower.]

Sejun had passed the first trial.

[The second trial of the 10th tower is now initiated.]

[Second Trial of the 10th Tower: Farming is at the mercy of the heavens. You never know what might happen. Always be prepared. Stockpile 10 million tons of food.]

"What?! Ten million tons?"

This seemed excessively challenging. There wasn't enough space to stockpile ten million tons of food, and the food already stockpiled might rot before the new stockpile was complete.

As Sejun pondered how to stockpile such an amount,

[You have exceeded 10 million tons in food stockpiling.]

[You have passed the second trial of the 10th tower.]

The second trial was completed surprisingly easily.

"Huh?! Why...?"

Confused by the effortless passing of the second trial, Sejun realized that the tower system considered the kudzu, which he treated as weeds, as food.

Thus, the kudzu planted on the 85th floor of the tower was counted as food, and the trial was quickly cleared.

[The third trial of the 10th tower is now initiated.]

[Third Trial of the 10th Tower: A great farmer must have many new varieties. Secure 15 new varieties.]

The third trial started somewhat unexpectedly.

"This too?"

Sejun waited to see if the third trial would also be easily completed, but no message of passing the trial appeared.

"I've created 9 new varieties myself, so I need to make 6 more."

Well, they'll probably come up during harvesting. Sejun decided to worry about the trial later and quickly prepared dinner.

The animals, tired of waiting for Sejun, were sitting around the kitchen eating raw sweet potatoes and carrots.

After dinner,

"Cuengi, press!"

Krueng!

[Okay!]

Sejun and Cuengi produced 9,000 servings of rice noodles, and then went to sleep. 1,000 servings of noodles had been ruined due to Theo's fur.

***

The next morning,

Kkwek...

...Eek...

A strange sound reached Sejun's ears.

"Huh?"

Listening more closely,

Kkwek.

the sound came from the mushroom ants outside the house.

"Is it an elixir?"

Following the sound outside,

Kkwek!

Kkwek!

Two mushroom ants were waiting for him, their antennae held high, and on their backs were mushrooms that had fully grown. Just as Sejun had guessed, they were elixir mushrooms.

"Are you giving these to me before I leave?"

Kkwek!

Kkwek!

The mushroom ants wiggled their antennae up and down in response to Sejun's words.

"Thank you."

Tap. Tap.

Sejun plucked the mushrooms from the backs of the mushroom ants and gently stroked their heads.

Kkwek!

Kkwek!

After receiving Sejun's affection, the mushroom ants left.

"I'll have these elixir mushrooms for breakfast along with other mushrooms in a hot pot before I leave."

Sejun, up and about, headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.

After eating breakfast,

"I'll leave the farm in your care."

Kkwek!

Sejun entrusted the mushroom ants with the care of the farm.

Then,

"Vice Chairman Theo, take good care of the rabbits."

Sejun said to Theo.

"Don't worry, meow!"

Theo confidently replied. Behind him, about a thousand rabbits were standing, holding bundles and bags, ready to follow Theo to the 55th floor of the tower using the light-speed merchant passage.

"Alright. See you later."

Sejun unfolded the land deed for the 55th floor and disappeared.

Day 354 of being stranded. Sejun descended the tower to attend the black rabbit's wedding.

*****

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