Chapter 32: Harvesting Corn

TL: hanguk

As the Blue Moon ended, the monsters of the 99th floor, who had been rampaging, returned to their own areas.

And the Black Minotaur King, who guarded the waypoint of the 99th floor, began to take a roll call of his subordinates.

This was because occasionally there were ones who wandered into the territories of other monsters and failed to return.

Minotaur One, Minotaur Two, Minotaur Three...

While the Minotaur King was checking his subordinates,

Clang clang.

He noticed something hanging on the horn of Minotaur 1303.

Hmm?

The Minotaur King asked his subordinate. Minotaur 1303, what’s that?

However,

Hmm?

The subordinate seemed unaware that something was hanging on his horn and asked the Minotaur King in return. Boss, what?

Hmm!

A warrior who doesn’t even know what’s attached to his body! The Minotaur King, frustrated by the reaction of his subordinate, personally removed the object stuck on the subordinate’s horn.

It was a plant with green leaves and orange roots. It was clear that Minotaur 1303 had been digging into the ground with his horns during the Blue Moon.

The Minotaur King bypassed Minotaur 1303 and continued to check the rest.

...Minotaur 3000.

Fortunately, there were no missing subordinates.

Thud. Thud.

The Minotaur King returned to his spot in front of the waypoint on the 99th floor.

And while he was passing the time,

Sniff sniff.

A delicious smell wafted in the air.

Hmm?

The Minotaur King turned his gaze towards the source of the smell. The plant that he had removed from his subordinate’s horn was in his hand. Why didn’t I throw this away?

But that wasn’t important. The Minotaur King put the plant in his mouth and chewed.

Chew chew.

Munch munch.

The orange root provided a good texture and sweetness, and the stem was soft enough to be swallowed easily.

Hmmmmm?!

The Minotaur King quickly called Minotaur 1303. Where did you get this?!

***

As soon as the Blue Moon ended, Se-jun called out Theo from his storage bag to scout outside.

“There’s no one around, meow.”

“Good. You’ve done well.”

Theo reported to Se-jun and then went to sleep inside Se-jun’s blanket. Meanwhile, Se-jun started to move busily.

The first place Se-jun headed to was the cornfield.

Pop.

He broke off a blue corn cob covered with green leaves.

[You have harvested Stamina Corn containing the energy of the Blue Moon.]

[Your job experience increases.]

[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 4 increases.]

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

[You have gained 100 experience points.]

“Stamina Corn?”

The corn was a crop that increased the Stamina stat.

[Stamina Corn containing the energy of the Blue Moon]

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

Moreover, it contains the energy of the Blue Moon, enhancing its flavor.

Upon consumption, your Stamina permanently increases by 0.1.

Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Se-jun

Expiration date: 60 days

Grade: D

Perhaps because it was a D-grade crop, the stat increase was twice that of an E-grade crop.

However,

“Who cares.”

It wasn’t important to Se-jun at all. The taste was what mattered.

“Hehehe.”

Se-jun hummed a little tune as he first plucked the corn silk from the corn,

Swish swish.

He peeled off the husk of the corn. Then, blue corn kernels that seemed to pop out at a light touch revealed themselves.

“Wow, look at the shine.”

The corn was showing a blue glow and tempting him to taste it as if saying ‘I’m delicious, hurry and eat me!.’ His excitement grew. He wanted to eat it quickly!

“Huh?!”

Unconsciously, Sejun was about to put the fresh corn into his mouth but stopped himself. It could have been a major mishap if he had eaten it even before cooking.

“Phew.”

Se-jun took a deep breath to calm his excited heart,

Thuk thuk.

He carefully laid the peeled corn husks one by one in the pot, added an appropriate amount of water, put in the corn, and covered the pot.

And then...

Hwarrrr.

He put the pot over the fire and started boiling it. As the water boiled, the space between the corn and the pot created by the husks would steam the corn perfectly.

As he reached the surface,

“As expected.”

Just as he had predicted, the fields on the surface had been completely trashed by the monster that came during the Blue Moon.

Se-jun quickly looked for the mother Crimson Giant Bear. He was worried if she was hurt.

From afar, Se-jun saw the mother Crimson Giant Bear moving swiftly. Judging from her stride, she didn’t appear to be injured.

Having confirmed the safety of the mother Crimson Giant Bear, Se-jun carefully returned the Queen Bee’s cocoon that he had left with Theo back to its place.

And then,

“You’re not hurt either, are you?”

Se-jun checked the baby bear’s body to see if there were any injuries.

Growl!

When Se-jun examined him, the baby bear thought Se-jun was trying to pet him, and lay down flat.

“That’s right. That’s right.”

Se-jun petted the baby bear’s body, checking all over. Thankfully, there were no injuries.

“Here, have some honey.”

He gave three dollops of honey to the baby bear who must have had a hard time during the Blue Moon, and as Se-jun came back down to the cave,

Peep!

Peep!

As if it was time to wake up, the rabbit couple in the cave and

Squeak.

Squeak!

Their children who had left the nest came out of the cave to greet him and prepare for the morning farming.

Hop. Hop.

“Here, eat this.”

Se-jun handed out one blue cherry tomato each to the rabbits eating carrots for breakfast.

After distributing them all, Sejun didn’t have any cherry tomatoes left for himself, but since he had eaten corn, he decided to give in for today.

Peep!

Beep!

Squeak!

Squeak!

Slurp, slurp, slurp.

The rabbits thanked Se-jun and started to enjoy the cherry tomatoes.

Peep!

Peep!

Peep!

In the afternoon, the rabbit couple brought out the five baby rabbits from the burrow to show them the world. The curious baby rabbits enthusiastically started exploring their surroundings.

At that moment,

Peep!

Peep!

Peep!

Something in particular attracted the baby rabbits’ attention.

Hop, hop, hop.

The baby rabbits approached Theo, who was busy eating Churu, and started to play on his body.

“Why are they doing this to me, meow?”

Theo, annoyed by the baby rabbits, got up from his spot and moved to another place.

However,

Peep!

Peep!

Peep!

The baby rabbits persistently followed Theo.

“Um President, the babies keep following me. Please do something, meow.”

As the baby rabbits kept following, Theo approached Se-jun for help. He could have run to the surface, but there was a baby bear on the surface who was eyeing Theo’s Churu.

“The baby rabbits have recognized their cool uncle. That’s why they’re following you, Representative Theo.”

“So, I’m the cool uncle, meow?”

“Yes, you are.”

It seemed like they were following him because he was easy-going, but he didn’t tell the truth. Someone had to look after the babies.

Peep!

Peep!

Peep!

In the meantime, the baby rabbits followed Theo again.

“So that’s what you’re up to, meow?”

This time, Theo didn’t run away from the babies.

“Follow me, your cool uncle, Representative Theo, meow.”

Theo started to take the baby rabbits around.

“That’s a no-no! You can’t eat that, meow.”

“Come this way! Fire is dangerous, meow!”

Surprisingly, Theo took good care of the five baby rabbits. Babysitting was added to Representative Theo’s duties.

And on the 183rd day of being stranded,

“I, your cool uncle, will earn a lot of money and come back soon, meow!”

Peep!

Peep!

Peep!

Theo, receiving the baby rabbits’ send-off, went down the tower again.

*****