Chapter 42: Setting Out

TL: Hanguk

Snip, snip.

After having Aileen’s health soup in the afternoon, which increased all of his stats by 3, Sejun invested all the bonus stats he earned from reaching level 18 into agility. As a result, his agility increased by 4, allowing him to cut through the green onion leaves as fast as a motorized machine.

Moreover, with his increased strength, he started to cut 2~3 green onion leaves at once, which significantly reduced the work time compared to the morning.

Snip, snip.

Kkueong! Kkueong!

To move the fast-cut green onion leaves, Sejun ordered the idle baby bear. Of course, honey was required as a reward to make baby bear move.

“Alright, we finished a row. Let’s eat some honey.”

Kkueong!

At Sejun’s words, baby bear quickly picked up the glass jar filled with honey and ran towards him.

Clunk.

Sejun opened the lid of the glass jar.

Drip.

As he poured a dollop of honey on baby bear’s front paw,

Lick, lick.

Baby bear began to lick and eat the honey eagerly.

During this time, Sejun also took a short break.

“We’ve come a long way.”

Sejun looked around with a proud expression.

From the 1,000 peanut seeds, 3,000 corn seeds, and 1,000 cherry tomato seeds that were planted in what was once a wasteland, green sprouts began to grow, giving the barren land a hint of green.

Of course, the green onion field, where green onions were planted and Sejun hadn’t cut yet, was so dense that it could be called a green forest.

As Sejun was observing these changes around him,

Kkueong!

Baby bear, who had finished eating his honey, called Sejun. Let’s get back to work quickly!

If the earth moved by capitalism, for baby bear, it was honeyism. Honey made baby bear move.

Snip, snip.

At baby bear’s urging, Sejun stood up from his seat and began to cut green onions. Was it really necessary for me to do this? Sejun glanced back and then again began cutting onions in a flurry.

Kkueong!

With the thought of eating more honey, baby bear, brimming with enthusiasm, followed Sejun, picking up green onion leaves at a crazy speed.

“Huff, huff, huff.”

Sejun, who was cutting onions as if being chased by the baby bear, panted heavily. Thanks to the baby bear, the onion-cutting time was halved compared to the morning.

Lick, lick.

Compared to Sejun, baby bear seemed to still have energy, happily licking the honey smeared on his front paw.

So, Sejun, who finished his work early thanks to baby bear, took a short rest and used the remaining time to plant the remaining corn seeds and cherry tomatoes.

Kkueong?

The baby bear lingered around Sejun, wondering if he would give more honey. Is there nothing more to do?

“I need to do this alone.”

Kkueong...

At Sejun’s words, the baby bear sat down gloomily on the ground.

At that moment,

Ping!

The black rabbit came up to the ground. “Little bro, your big brother’s here!”

Kkueong!

Baby bear ran towards the black rabbit. “Brother, play with me!”

While the two of them trained and played, Sejun diligently sowed the seeds.

Thud.

Sejun stabbed the ground with his dagger, placed a seed in the created space, and covered it with soil.

As Sejun was carefully planting each seed,

[You have planted a Magical Cherry Tomato seed.]

[The probability of the Magical Cherry Tomato seed sprouting increases due to the effect of Seed Sowing Lv. 3.]

[Your job experience increases very slightly.]

[The proficiency of Seed Sowing Lv. 3 increases very slightly.]

[Due to the effect of Proficiency Increase Lv. 1, the proficiency of Seed Sowing Lv. 3 increases by an additional 5%.]

[The Proficiency of Seed Sowing Lv. 3 is filled and the level increases.]

The level of Seed Sowing increased to 4. Just as Harvesting level 4 had a new effect, Seed Sowing also had a new effect.

Kim Dong-sik was greatly surprised by the options of the crops handed over by Theo. Carrot that enhances agility and improves vision, Corn that increases stamina and improves skin elasticity!

It was a big shock to Kim Dong-sik, who thought only magical cheery tomatoes were available.

‘If this is known to the world, it will become chaotic again.’

Kim Dong-sik realized this was an opportunity.

“Theo, from now on, I’ll deliver the crops to Sejun’s family every month without a fee and pay 50 Tower Coins. In return, give me a chance to buy other crops.”

“Meow... I’ll think about it and tell you next time, meow.”

Theo postponed his decision to ask Sejun and decide.

And so, Theo, having perfectly completed Sejun’s errand, returned to the entrance of the 40th floor merchant route where the Black Minotaurs were waiting.

Munch munch.

Woo Cheon-Sam and Woo Cheon-Sa were munching on green onion leaves and keeping an eye on the wolves. Although they were supposed to be keeping an eye on them, But Woo Cheon-Sam and Woo Cheon-Sa found it too bothersome so they would knock out the wolves by hitting them on the back of the head whenever they woke up.

“Let’s go back up now!”

Hmmmu...

Hmmmu...

Feeling gloomy at the thought of only being able to eat one meal per day if they go back now, Woo Cheon-Sam and Woo Cheon-Sa reluctantly got up on their feet.

On the contrary, Theo’s steps were incredibly light, excited at the thought of being able to climb up on Sejun’s lap again.

“Meow Meow Meow!”

Singing to himself, Theo led the two Black Minotaurs and three wolves towards the 99th floor of the tower.

Just then,

Hmm?

While they were moving, Woo Cheon-Sam suddenly scratched his head. He felt like he was forgetting something.

***

What the hell is Woo Cheon-Sam doing?

The Minotaur King grew angry as there was still no news from Woo Cheon-Sam, despite waiting for a long time.

Could it be?! Did he enter another monster’s territory while searching for grass?

He worried that this naive guy might have entered the territory of the Red-haired Beasts or the Poisonous Bees in search of delicious grass.

No. What if he went there?!

A terrifying scene crossed the Minotaur King’s mind. That place was inhabited by dreadful creatures who would leave nothing behind, not even a corpse.

Is it because of my command?

The Minotaur King felt guilty, thinking that his order to fetch grass could have led to Woo Cheon-Sam’s death. He never thought that Woo Cheon-Sam was eating delicious grass three times a day.

Feeling guilty, the Minotaur King decided to personally go out to find Woo Cheon-Sam’s corpse.

Hmm...

The Minotaur King gathered his subordinates Woo il (Minotaur 1) to Woo Baek (Minotaur 100) and ordered them to guard the waypoint.

And then,

Thud. Thud.

He began his search for Woo Cheon-Sam.

***

“Phew.”

On the 205th day of being stranded. Sejun sighed as he looked at the piles of green onion leaves, each measuring over 1m in height. There were just too many of them.

Since each green onion root multiplied every time it was split and planted, the green onion field kept expanding, but there was no one to eat the green onion leaves. The production rate was overwhelmingly higher than the consumption rate.

“It’ll get better once Woo Cheon-Sam and Woo Cheon-Sa return.”

Even then, it would only slow down the rate at which the pile of green onion leaves was growing. It was already more than what two Black Minotaurs could handle.

Just then,

Kooeung!

Baby Bear jumped into the pile of green onion leaves. He seemed to like it because it was fluffy.

“If you like it, you can take it to use when you sleep.”

Kooeung?

At Sejun’s words, Baby bear looked delighted and asked. Can I also take mom’s share too?

“Yeah.”

Just as the mother Crimson Giant Bear and baby bear were about to take 10 piles of green onion leaves to use as bedding,

Hmm...

Thunk, thunk.

A Black Minotaur, similar in size to the mother Crimson Giant Bear, came charging towards Sejun’s green onion field with bloodshot eyes.

*****

TL Notes:

Previously, I changed the names of the Minotaurs, for example, Minotaur 1303, etc. As more of them are introduced or mentioned in future chapters, should I continue using literal names like Minotaur 1, Minotaur 2, and so on? Or should I use Konglish names like Woo Cheon-sam or Woo Cheon-sa, etc.?