Chapter 33: Feeling the Void

TL: Hanguk

After Theo left for the 38th floor, Se-jun and the rabbits finished their morning farming and had lunch.

The rabbit couple ate in the cave due to the baby rabbits, and only Se-jun and the adult rabbits ate on the surface with the baby bear.

Growl!

The baby bear ate 30 piranhas and growled, looking at Se-juns grilled fish with regret. It wanted to eat more!

As its growth was fast, its appetite was also increasing.

Here.

Se-jun cut his grilled fish in half and handed it to the baby bear.

Growl!

The baby bear bowed its head and accepted the grilled fish. It would eat it with great delight!

Chomp. Chomp.

The baby bear put the grilled fish in its mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed it whole, bones and all.

Then,

Growl.

This time, the baby bear cried while looking at the carrot the black rabbit was eating. It wanted that too.

However,

Squeal!

The black rabbit firmly refused. It couldnt give up its carrot!

Growl

The rejected baby bear turned away from the black rabbit. It was upset

After lunch,

Slurp.

Se-jun strolled through the ruined field while drinking coffee.

Although he had been too dispirited to inspect it when the field he had diligently created was destroyed yesterday, he couldnt always be like that. He had to till the ruined field again.

Fortunately, not everything was destroyed.

While he initially thought that the destruction of the field had completely ruined his farming, there were quite a few surviving crops.

While Se-jun was looking around the field,

Huh?!

He saw several dirt mounds about 7 meters high about 1 km away from the cave. What was that? It hadnt been there before. Se-jun approached the dirt mounds out of curiosity.

What?!

There were square holes about 7 meters deep next to the dirt mounds. Judging by the two round marks at the start of the hole, it seemed like a horned monster had poked the ground hard and dug in.

How strong must it be

Se-jun was appalled by the monsters strength and looked at the highest part of the dirt mound. Only the end was a different color. It was black.

Thud. Thud.

Se-jun cautiously climbed up the dirt mound, stabbing it with his dagger and examined the black soil. The texture was different from the barren soil on the surface. It was not dry but soft and had adequate moisture content.

At a glance, it was soil full of nutrients. Such soil was beneath the barren land. If only he could turn the soil over and mix it

But in the current situation, without farming equipment like a excavator or tractor, digging 7 meters deep into the ground was an unimaginable task.

It might be possible to do a little bit every day if he asked the mother Crimson Giant Bear, but recently due to the Blue Moon, the territories of the monsters were shaken, making the mother Crimson Giant Bear busy patrolling.

Se-jun decided to be satisfied with the fact that he now knew there was high-quality soil under the ground.

Having looked around the field and returned to where he had lunch,

Squeak.

Growl.

The black rabbit and baby bear who had been waiting for Se-jun were holding each other and sleeping, apparently having made up at some point.

Hey, wake up.

Se-jun woke them from sleep by patting their fluffy buttocks.

Squeak

Growl

The black rabbit and the baby bear opened their eyes slightly while remaining in a sleepy state.

Guys, what do you think this is?

When Se-jun brought out dried sweet potatoes and honey,

Squeak!

Growl!

Both barely opened their eyes and asked Se-jun for food.

Munch munch.

Lick lick.

The black rabbit and baby bear woke up from sleep while eating the snacks Se-jun gave them.

Guys, lets work.

The snacks werent given for nothing.

Growl!

The baby bear, awake from sleep, dug its front paws into the ground and, like a plow, turned the soil by stepping backward lightly,

Squeak, squeak!

The black rabbit flattened the ground with a hammer.

And then,

Thud. Thud.

The shovel rabbits scooped out the soil and made a furrow.

Finally, when the small field was completed, Se-jun planted sweet potato stems that he had cut from the sweet potatoes he had planted in the cave.

[You have created a 10-square meter sweet potato field.]

[You have gained 20 experience points.]

After planting all the sweet potato stems, Se-jun left the baby bear and rabbits making the field and went down to the cave.

It was time to harvest the corn in earnest. Se-jun began to pick corn from the field.

Snap.Fdd ew updts on n(o)v/e/lin(.)com

As he broke off the corn,

[You have harvested Well-Ripened Stamina Corn.]

[Your job experience slightly increases.]

[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 4 slightly increases.]

[Due to the effect of Proficiency Increase Lv. 1, your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 4 increases by an additional 5%.]

[You have gained 20 experience points.]

I wonder what effect the corn has?

Se-jun looked at the options of the corn.

[Stamina Corn]

This is corn grown inside the tower, full of nutrition and delicious.

When consumed, it breaks down 20g of body fat and increases stamina by 0.2 for 10 minutes.

The effect can be applied up to 10 times within an hour.

When consumed by a non-Awakened, it breaks down 20g of fat and improves skin elasticity.

Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Se-jun

Expiration date: 60 days

Grade: D

Skin elasticity?

It was vague, but he thought it would be good since the content written on the item guarantees 100% effect.

Mom would love it.

Se-jun thought that he should soon convey his news to his family again, and this time he would also deliver his crops.

It could be disappointing that his crops were being sold outside under his name, but his actual family hadnt eaten them yet.

Snap. Snap.

Se-jun harvested the corn again.

***

Tower Floor 38.

Why isnt the wandering merchant coming?

Theo should have arrived by now

The hunters anxiously awaited Theo. They had received numerous requests to procure Magical Cherry Tomatoes this time.

This time, the requests were not from acquaintances but from tycoons whose wealth easily exceeded tens of billions of won.

Outside the tower, rumors about the Magical Cherry Tomatoes spread among the wealthy, and they started to eat the magical cherry tomatoes like medicine every morning.

These were people overflowing with money. Scarce and good products attracted their attention, and currently, the price of one Magical Cherry Tomato on Earth had risen to about 500,000 won.

There were still plenty of wealthy people willing to pay more, but the price hadnt risen because there were no sellers, thus no transactions.

If you just took out a Magical Cherry Tomato, there were plenty of buyers.

Therefore, the hunters were ready to spend money as soon as Theo arrived. But Theo didnt come.

Could it be that we bought too cheaply in the last transaction, and he went to another floor?

The hunters began to feel increasingly anxious. And they thought that they should spend enough money this time.

They hadnt considered that Theo might be late because he was busy picking cherry tomatoes and cutting green onion leaves in the cave.

***

Grrr. Hmmm Did I lose consciousness again?

Aileen would occasionally lose consciousness due to mana deficiency. She thought things had been fine lately as there hadnt been any such incidents or seizures

Aileen got up from her spot with a bitter expression.

Swoosh.

Huh?!

Aileen was taken aback by the unusual state of her body.

Usually, when Aileen lost consciousness, it felt like her body was forcibly shutting down to survive, and when she woke up, her body felt extremely heavy.

But now, her body felt so light it seemed as if she could fly.

Why is my body so light? Ah! The Cherry Tomatoes!

Only then did Aileen remember what had happened before she lost consciousness.

The Magical Cherry Tomatoes imbued with Blue moons energy!

As soon as she received the five blue magical Cherry Tomatoes from Sejun, Aileen immediately put them in her mouth and chewed. They were so delicious with their sweet and sour taste.

While she was savoring the taste,

Thump. Bang. Thump. Bang.

Although it was weak and slow, she felt the dragon heart start to beat in succession, then she lost consciousness and now she had woken up.

So, what about the Dragon Heart?

Aileen hurriedly focused on her Dragon Heart.

The Dragon Heart was so quiet that it was hard to believe that it had been beating. And she didnt feel any mana at all.

Did I get my hopes up too much?

Feeling disappointed, Aileen approached the crystal ball to observe the human. She was sure they must have been enjoying delicious food while she was out.

Then

Thump!

Ouch!

Aileens head bumped into something as she entered the room where the crystal ball was.

Ugh! What is it?

Aileen flinched and looked at what had hurt her. It was the door frame.

Why is that there?

The door frame was approximately 10 meters away from her height, so unless she was flying, her head could not possibly touch the door frame.

Whats going on?

Feeling strange, Aileen went to the lake where she bathed to look at her reflection. The black dragon reflected in the water was bigger than the one Aileen knew.

Huh?! Ive grown? Grrr.

Aileen made a pleased noise and was admiring her appearance for a while when

Huh?! What was I going to do?

She suddenly felt like she was forgetting something important.

Oh no!

This wasnt the time. Aileen rushed to the crystal ball.

Just as I thought! That human was trying to eat something delicious without me!

Just then, Se-jun was taking steamed corn out of the pot in the crystal ball. It was perfect timing. Aileen, who always had good luck with food, felt lucky once again.

***

Tonights dinner was dishes made with corn steamed corn and grilled corn.

Its done.

Sejun started taking out the steamed corn one by one from the pot on the fire.

Just then,

[The Tower Administrator says they wants to taste the corn too.]

[The Tower Administrator says they would be happy with just one.]

[A quest has been generated.]

[Quest: Give corn dishes to the hungry Tower Administrator.]

Reward: Very Grateful

If declined: Very Disappointed.

Just wait a bit. Its not ready yet.

[The Tower Administrator nods, saying they can wait.]

While the steamed corn was cooling down, Sejun went to the charcoal fire where the grilled corn was being prepared.

The rabbits were slowly turning corn on a stick, pierced through a corn stalk, over the charcoal made from the wood the bear cub had brought. The corn was getting nicely grilled in the heat.

Beside the rabbits, there was a tall stack of already grilled corn, about 30 pieces.

You can stop grilling now.

Squeak!

Bleeak!

Bling!

At Sejuns words, the rabbits started taking one steamed corn and one grilled corn each from their spots.

And then, Sejun picked up five pieces of steamed corn and five pieces of grilled corn.

Aileen, enjoy your meal.

[You have completed the quest.]

[As a reward for completing the quest, the Tower Administrator is very grateful.]

Alright.

Sejun gave the corn to Aileen and started eating his corn along with the rabbits.

The baby rabbits, eating corn beside Sejun without Theo around.

Bleeap!

Bling!

The baby rabbits tried to eat the corn, but it was still too big and hard for them to eat.

Lets eat like this.

Drruk.

Sejun took the corn that the baby rabbit was eating, scraped off the corn kernels with a spoon, put them in a bowl, and gave it to the baby rabbits.

Nom nom.

The baby rabbits began to eat the corn kernels from the bowl with their front paws.

After a while,

Bleea!

Bleam!

Bleat!

The baby rabbits showed their empty bowls and cried out to Sejun for more corn. They had already eaten quite a lot.

Just wait a moment.

When Sejun picked up another corn and turned his head to get the bowl,

Pff! What is this?

Laughter burst out at the sight of the baby rabbits. The baby rabbits were covered with corn kernels all over.

About half of the corn kernels were eaten by the baby rabbits. The rest were stuck in their fur.

Bleea!

Bleam!

Bleat!

The baby rabbits had corn kernels all over their bodies and were protesting for more.

Thats why you run out.

Sejun picked off the corn kernels stuck to the body of the baby rabbits one by one and put them in the baby rabbits mouths.

Blee!

Blee!

Blee!

The baby rabbits stuck out their tiny mouths like baby birds and fought each other to eat.

Hey! Wait! I wont give any to a moving rabbit.

Sejun sternly held a baby rabbit and picked off the corn kernels stuck to its body one by one and fed them to the baby rabbits.

It was easier when Theo was here

For the first time, Sejun felt Theos absence. He missed Representative Theo.

*****

Some work came up, so I had to delay the posting of this chapter. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter end