Chapter 62
TL: Hanguk
"Stamp the contract, Meow!"
"Ho ho, how can you hand me a blank contract with such audacity?"
"Old man. You said you'd repay your debt, Meow! So you must stamp it, Meow!"
Theo was definitely throwing a tantrum, but there was a strange persuasiveness to it.
"Then let's do it this way."
As the standoff dragged on, Han Tae-jun made a new proposal.
"What, meow?"
"I will fulfill three of your requests."
"Three requests, Meow?"
Theo began to write on the contract what Han Tae-jun had said.
-The 'Party B' will fulfill five requests of the 'Party A'.
[Party A: Theo]
[Party B: Han Tae-jun]
"Now, stamp it, Meow!"
Theo wrote a number looking somewhat like 3, but it was actually 5.
However,
"Ho ho ho. this won't do."
His opponent was the president of the Korean Awakened Association, who signs dozens of documents every day. Changing 3 to 5 was too shallow a trick to fool him, even if he wanted to be fooled. Han Tae-jun amended the content of the contract that Theo wrote.
-The 'Party B' will fulfill three requests of the 'Party A'.
-'Party A' can't ask 'Party B' anything excessive.
-'Party B' can refuse Party A's request three times.
"Alright, Meow!"
Theo decided to finish the contract as he had to quickly ascend to the 99th floor of the tower. The contract with Han Tae-jun wasn't part of his original plan. So even if he conceded a bit, it wasn't a loss.
Squish.
Theo stamped his paw print on the contract and handed it to Han Tae-jun.
"Ho ho ho."
Han Tae-jun, who took the contract, chuckled. Theo had changed the 3 back to 5.
'What a cheeky cat.'
But he wasn't upset at all. Watching Theo made him feel amused.
Han Tae-jun, gradually being charmed by Theo, was unexpectedly weak to cute things.
'It's also fate, isn't it?'
Squish.
Han Tae-jun stamped the contract without correcting it.
"Alright, Meow! Now grant my request, Meow!"
"Already?"
"Yes, meow!"
"What is it?"
"There are incompetent humans who contracted with me on the 38th floor of the tower, meow! Make them competent like the old man, meow."
Theo decided to leave five hunters from the 38th floor, who weren't earning much money, in Han Tae-jun's care.
"Hmm. I am indeed competent. Alright."
Han Tae-jun gladly agreed, feeling good about Theo's recognition.
"Here they are, meow."
Theo handed over a contract with the names of the five hunters.
"Jang Rin?"
Han Tae-jun spotted a familiar name on the contract. It was a name he had heard during his work as the president of the Awakened Association.
'Could it be the Black Wolf Gang with these five?'
The Black Wolf Gang, led by Jang Rin, was a bandit group that stole money from hunters, and they were being closely watched due to lack of evidence.
"What about these guys?"
"They are repaying their debt to me for trying to kill me, Meow!"
"Alright. Leave them to me. I will make them competent."
"Got it. See you later, meow!"
Theo bid Han Tae-jun goodbye and hurriedly ascended to the 99th floor of the tower.
And as soon as Theo left, Han Tae-jun went to find his first disciple.
"Si-Hyeok, let's go to the 38th floor."
"What?"
"Ho ho ho. There are guys who need to be led onto the right path."
That's how the fate of the Black Wolf Gang was decided.
***
"Ah, I'm full."
Sejun made a satisfied expression after eating the Red Locust soup. It was the same for the other animals.
Gruuu!
Especially, the mother Crimson Giant Bear, satisfied with the feeling of a full stomach after a long time, went on patrol to aid digestion and
“We will head down now.”
The Silver Wolves transferred the leftover Red Locust soup and Sturdy Blade Onion Leaves into a small pot, loaded it on a cart, and descended the tower.
"Shall we start with the dishes first."
Shh, shh.
Sejun began to clean the large pot with a Green Onion Leaf. This was to make a new soup for Aileen.
After the animals ate one or two more bowls, there was not much soup left.
"Aileen might get upset if she sees this..."
When Sejun was worried,
"Ah!"
A new recipe for Aileen popped up in his head.
So, he gave the remaining soup to the wolves and started making a new soup.
Fortunately, there was plenty of Red Locust meat that the wolves had prepared, so all he had to do was put the ingredients in and boil them.
"It's time for coffee now."
As Sejun made a new batch of Red Locust soup, he brewed coffee to have during his break and went outside.
Yawn...
Kuuang...
The black rabbit and Cuengi approached Sejun to take a nap.
And then,
Yawn.
Kuuang.
They claimed Sejun's lap and back and began to nap.
"Create Thundercloud"
Sejun placed his head on the soft belly of Cuengi and created shade with the thundercloud. These days, his proficiency didn't increase just by moving the thundercloud, so he was trying something else.
Sejun thought of tearing off a part of the thundercloud and creating a new thundercloud above Cuengi's head.
Fluffy.
Black smoke from the main thundercloud made a new thundercloud and then scattered and combined with the main body.
"As expected, it doesn't work well."
While Sejun was trying to separate the cloud,
[Your proficiency in <Create Thundercloud> has increased slightly.]
His skill proficiency was rising little by little. Even though the separation of the thundercloud failed, he didn't feel tired because of the increasing proficiency.
Then,
[The Tower's administrator says they want to try the soup made from Red Locust.]
[The Tower's administrator asks where their soup is.]
[The Tower's Administrator hastily wipes the saliva from their mouth.]
As Sejun expected, Aileen started looking for the Red Locust soup.
"Well... I'm still boiling it?"
[The Tower's Administrator says it's unfair because they woke up the mother bear and Minotaur King to help.]
[The Tower's Administrator is upset, asking how you could do this to them.]
[The Tower's Administrator is upset, feeling left out.]
"It's not like that! Aileen, I've been making soup just for you."
[......]
Lately, Aileen often stopped responding.
Sejun played with the thundercloud during his break time and started his afternoon work.
There wasn't much for the afternoon tasks. Harvesting cherry tomatoes, cutting green onion leaves, and planting green onions. But as the field had expanded, this alone took up the entire afternoon.
While Sejun was working, the soup was completed.
"Shall we take a look?"
As Sejun opened the lid,
[You have achieved the achievement of making the first combat ration - Red Locust Cherry Tomato Soup in the tower.]
[The recipe for Combat Ration - Red Locust Cherry Tomato Soup is registered in Cooking Lv. 3.]
[Your proficiency in Cooking Lv. 3 increases significantly.]
"As expected..."
Sejun smiled after checking the options of the dish.
When he put cherry tomatoes in place of potatoes for Aileen who prefers magical cherry tomatoes, as expected, the magic power increased instead of strength.
"Aileen, take your soup."
Sejun called out to Aileen.
***
[Tower Farmer Park Sejun says that's not the case.]
[Tower farmer Park Sejun says he is making a soup just for Aileen.]
At Sejun's sudden confession, Aileen was startled and let go of her crystal orb.
And then
"A soup just for me?"
She began to mull over Sejun's words.
"Kehehe! What's this~! This interesting human~"
"Kehehe. there's nothing you can't say!"
"Kehehe..."
Because of her uncontrollable laughter, Aileen couldn't talk to Sejun for a while.
Once Aileen had calmed herself down,
[Tower farmer Park Sejun tells Aileen to take her soup.]
"The interesting human has completed my soup!"
Thud.
Aileen hurriedly brought out her gigantic bowl and gave Sejun a quest. The bowl was almost the size of a kiddie pool.
Moments later,
Aileen's bowl was filled with red soup. Sejun gave all the soup contained in three large pots to Aileen for her proper serving.
"Wow!"
The scent of cherry tomatoes coming through her nose stimulated Aileen's appetite.
Slurp.
Aileen picked up her bowl and started drinking the soup.
Gulp. Gulp.
"Kuhaa! It's delicious but...hot."
However,
"Kehehe. A hot human indeed."
Thinking that the heat of the soup was a reflection of Sejun's feelings for her, Aileen felt even better.
When Aileen, who drank the soup in one shot, put down her bowl,
[You have consumed the standard serving of Combat Ration - Red Locust Cherry Tomato Soup.]
[Magic increases by 7.1 for 30 minutes.]
[You will feel full for 3 hours.]
Her magic power had increased significantly.
"This interesting human..."
As Aileen was moved by Sejun's cooking,
Thump. Thud. Thump. Thud.
The Dragon Heart started beating stronger and faster than before.
Thump. Thump.
Her heart was beating as well, but Aileen, who was focused on the beat of Dragonheart, thought it was also part of the Dragon Heart's beat.
"I should give a reward to this interesting human."
Aileen, feeling good, decided to give a new reward to Sejun. With the accumulated power she had and Sejun's contribution, she thought she could give a decent reward. Of course, Sejun's contribution was overwhelmingly larger.
***
Huh?!
Squeak?!
The black rabbit and Cuengi protested to Sejun, looking at the empty pot. What about our soup?!
As the smell of the soup spread all around, the black rabbit and Cuengi were greatly disappointed when grilled fish and steamed potatoes were served for dinner, as they had expected soup.
"I'll make it for you tomorrow."
Huh!
Squeak!
While Sejun was promising with his pinky finger to appease the black rabbit and Cuengi,
[A quest has been generated.]
[Quest: Serve Aileen with roasted sweet potato.]
Reward: 1 Talent awakened.
If refused: Humph! If you refuse, you'll be the only one at a loss!
"No..."
Sejun was about to get angry at Aileen, who asked for roasted sweet potato while he was in trouble because of the soup.
"Huh?"
Sejun rubbed his eyes and checked the reward for the quest.
"1 Talent awakened? Here you go, Aileen!"
Sejun's attitude changed in an instant. It's very difficult to awaken a talent. And they're offering talent awakening as a reward!
Sejun offered an entire basket full of roasted sweet potatoes.
And then,
[You have completed the quest.]
[As a reward for completing the quest, one talent will be awakened.]
[Talent: Landlord]
"Landlord?"
Sejun looked at the newly awakened talent.
[Talent: Landlord]
→ It is a talent that can only be possessed by farmers who own large farms.
→ You can designate up to 30 tenant farmers.
→ Tenant farmers can use the landlord's job skills. (If the tenant farmer uses the landlord's skill, the landlord receives a 1% reward.)
→ The talent grows as the size of the farm grows.
"1% reward?"
The explanation was vague.
"When in doubt, just try it out."
Sejun designated the black rabbit and Cuengi as tenant farmers.
[You have designated two tenant farmers.]
"Black Rabbit, Cuengi, go pick some cherry tomatoes."
Huh!
Squeak!
At Sejun's command, the black rabbit and Cuengi ran to pick the cherry tomatoes.
And shortly after,
[A tenant farmer used Harvest Lv. 4 to harvest 5 cherry tomatoes.]
[The landlord receives 1% of the reward.]
[The landlord's job experience increases slightly.]
[The landlord's proficiency in Harvest Lv. 4 increases slightly.]
[The landlord's experience increases by 1.5.]
...
..
.
Messages began to appear as the black rabbit and Cuengi harvested cherry tomatoes.
"Ah."
From the message, Sejun was able to understand what the 1% reward was.
"It's 1% of what I would get if I used the skill myself."
This means that even when he can't harvest directly because the field is too large, he can still gain a little job experience and such through the reward.
It wouldn't be much help now, but it would be a great talent once the land expands.
'It said the talent grows as the farm grows, didn't it?'
It's a numbers game! Sejun diligently sowed cherry tomato seeds until bedtime.
But the next morning at dawn.
Thump. Thump.
The small branch scouts came around from the east, trampling on the cherry tomato field where Sejun had sown seeds, and attacked again.
*****
Chapter 62. Awakening Talent.
*****
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