“Podori, what’s all this?!”
Sejun approached Podori, astonished by the enormous number of grape clusters it had produced. When he had asked a short while ago, Podori had said it would take time for the grapes to ripen, but now they had suddenly appeared in great abundance.
[Ah! This?! It’s… ]
Podori, about to respond, suddenly hesitated.
“This is?”
[Po-po-po. This is the result of my love for… No, not that! It’s the result of my loyalty to Sejun!]
‘Aah, this is hard…’
After answering Sejun, Podori felt like crying.
Initially, Podori had intended to say that Flamie provided it with nutrients.
But then,
Whoosh.
[Podori… just try talking about me to Sejun!]
Flamie suddenly burst into flames from its roots, shouting. Flamie felt too embarrassed at the thought of Sejun finding out, heating up its body, but to Podori, it seemed like a threat of death if it revealed the truth.
So, Podori quickly changed its answer.
Then,
[The Black Tower’s administrator says she will kill you for flirting with to Sejun!]
This time, the Black Tower’s administrator threatened to kill Podori.
[No, Miss Aileen! You misunderstand!]
Podori hurriedly responded to Aileen and had to change its response again.
‘Why only me…? What did I do wrong?’
Thus, unbeknownst to Sejun, Podori faced death threats from two beings, causing stress that wilted about five of its grape clusters.
“Podori, are you sick? Why are the grapes wilting all of a sudden?”
Sejun, using his skill Farmer’s Warm Touch, stroked Podori, bringing it comfort.
‘Indeed, the only one I can trust here is Sejun!’
Both beings would succumb to Sejun, so the only entity Podori could rely on to protect it from these fearsome beings was Sejun.
As Podori regained its peace of mind, the wilted grape clusters began to revive.
“They’re better now. Podori, I’m going to harvest the grapes.”
[Yes! Take as many as you like!]
Podori, now on Sejun’s side, cooperated enthusiastically.
Pluck.
Once Sejun had Podori’s permission and plucked a cluster of grapes,
[You have harvested 1 cluster of Vitality-Infused Fragrant Grapes (23 grapes).]
[Your job experience has increased slightly.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 7 has slightly increased.]
[You have gained 1,610 Experience Points.]
The harvest messages appeared.
“Fragrant?”
The harvested grapes had ‘Fragrant’ as an added descriptor. Considering the scent attracted all the animals on the farm, the description was well-deserved.
Then,
[You have achieved the feat of creating a new variety in the tower.]
[The Tower acknowledges your exclusive cultivation right to cultivate this new variety.]
[Without your permission, no one can cultivate Vitality-Infused Fragrant Grapes.]
[Your job experience has increased greatly.]
[Due to the job characteristic, all stats increase by 10.]
Messages appeared announcing the achievement of creating a new variety.
And then,
[You have achieved the feat of creating 9 new varieties.]
[As a reward for the Great Farmer’s feat, the prestige of the Black Tower increases.]
[The prestige exceeds a certain level, increasing the number of entrances to the Black Tower by one.]
[The number of entrances to the Black Tower increases from 100 to 101, with the 101st entrance spawning in the safest location.]
Messages appeared regarding the creation of 9 new varieties and the appearance of the 101st entrance to the Black Tower.
“Huh?! The 101st entrance? …Guys, let’s eat grapes!”
Since the increase in entrances had nothing to do with him, Sejun drooled as he offered the grapes to the animals, who had been patiently waiting for him to harvest.
It was impressive they had waited without giving in to the tempting scent of the delicious grapes.
“Our Cuengi waited well too. Here.”
Especially Cuengi.
Kuehehehe. Krueng!
[Hehehe. It’s delicious!]
As soon as Cuengi received the grapes from Sejun and put them in his mouth, he couldn’t help but laugh with joy at the delicious taste.
“Is it that tasty?”
Krueng! Krueng!
[Yes! It’s really delicious!]
Cuengi vigorously nodded in response to Sejun’s question.
Pat, pat.
“Here, have some more.”
Charmed by Cuengi’s cuteness, Sejun stroked his head and handed him another bunch of grapes.
After distributing grapes to the animals,
“I should check the options first.”
Sejun closely examined the grapes before eating them.
[Vitality-Infused Fragrant Grapes]
→ These are top-quality grapes grown inside the tower, produced by a grapevine that absorbed tremendous nutrients.
→ They have a very good taste, and the fragrant aroma of the grapes spreads far.
→ The scent of the fragrant grapes can attract monsters that like the smell of blood.
→ If turned into wine, the aroma will spread even further.
→ Grower: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
→ Expiration Date: 180 days
→ Grade: A+
Top-grade grapes with excellent taste and aroma.
“Can attract monsters that like the smell of blood?”
Despite one concerning detail,
“Let them come.”
Sejun bravely declared. This was the 99th floor of the Black Tower, home to the mightiest. Any that followed the smell of blood would soon see blood themselves.
“Of course, I’m not the mightiest…”
Sejun muttered to himself, having a moment of realization,
“Chairman Park, cheer up, meow! I’ll earn a lot of money to make you stronger, meow!”
Theo, still misunderstanding that Sejun got stronger by burning money, patted Sejun’s knee to comfort him.
“Uh… yeah, thanks.”
Sejun wondered what earning a lot of money had to do with him getting stronger, but he appreciated Theo’s caring gesture and accepted the comfort without comment.
Then,
Yum.
Sejun started eating the grapes.
“Mm!”
They were delicious before, but this time the grapes were even sweeter and richer in flavor.
Yum, yum.
“Wow! They’re so delicious!”
Sejun devoured an entire cluster of grapes while standing there.
Then,
Stare.
He felt sharp stares at the back of his head. Eating alone, huh?! The animals were intensely looking at Sejun, implying they wanted to join in.
Shortly after,
“Here you go. Enjoy your breakfast.”
Animals holding plates gathered in front of Sejun harvesting grapes from Podori’s branches. Rabbits took two clusters, monkeys five, and Cuengi and Pink-fur each received a thousand clusters.
After sharing about half of the grapes from the vine with the animals,
“I should eat some more too.”
Just as Sejun was about to sit down and eat more grapes,
Krueng?
[When do we eat breakfast, Dad?]
Cuengi, having eaten the grapes, asked Sejun. For Cuengi, a thousand clusters of grapes were just an appetizer.
“Just a moment. Crop Gigantification.”
Sejun used the Crop Gigantification skill on the remaining grapes in front of Cuengi, enlarging a grape to the size of a baseball. About a hundred clusters should be enough, right? Sejun used the skill on a hundred clusters for Cuengi.
And when he enlarged the last, the 100th grape cluster,
[Your proficiency in Crop Gigantification Lv. 4 slightly increases.]
[Your proficiency in Crop Gigantification Lv. 4 is filled, and the level increases.]
The skill level of Crop Gigantification increased to 5. It was all thanks to Cuengi. After all, he almost exclusively used the Crop Gigantification skill for Cuengi.
“Here, now you can eat.”
Sejun gave the enlarged grapes to Cuengi and also ate some himself.
Spit, spit.
He removed the grape seeds as he ate.
“If I plant these, I’ll become a grape tycoon in no time. Hehehe.”
Sejun laughed as he looked at the grape seeds collected in his hand. He had also asked the other animals to collect seeds, so he expected to gather quite a lot.
Shortly after,
“Time to wrap up.”
Sejun stood up to finish harvesting the remaining grapes.
***
On the 55th floor of the Tower.
Ppyak! Ppyak!
[One! Two!]
A Black Rabbit was harshly training other Black Rabbit soldiers.
Ppiya?!
[You think that’s good enough?!]
Ppyak!
[Can’t you do it properly?!]
The Black Rabbit kept scolding the soldiers, seemingly dissatisfied with their performance.
Pi Ppi. Pi Ppi.
[Black Rabbit, that’s enough. The soldiers will collapse at this rate.]
Chuchu intervened as Black Rabbit had been harshly training the soldiers for several days.
Ppiya…
[But with their current level, they can’t protect uncle…]
Pi Ppi…
[That’s…]
ChuChu, knowing how vulnerable Sejun’s body was, couldn’t continue her sentence. Black Rabbit’s concern was understandable. Sejun could withstand one hit with the Dragon’s Scale, but not two.
Therefore, Black Rabbit was rigorously training the soldiers to guard Sejun.
Pi Ppi. Pi Ppi.
[Don’t worry too much. It’s unlikely anyone will ambush Sejun, and he has master, Uncle Theo, and Hyeong~nim Cuengi guarding him.] (TL: Hyeong~nim = brother-in-law)
Pyeak.
[Okay.]
Black Rabbit felt slightly relieved by Chuchu’s words.
But then,
Ppi!
[Your Majesty! The high-quality blanket for Lady Iona has arrived!]
Pi Ppi!
[Quickly show them in!]
Chuchu was just as worried about Iona, who had trouble sleeping. 𝘪.𝑐ℴ𝘮
As Chuchu left to see the blanket,
Ppyak! Ppyak!
[Break time! I’ll go check the food storage and come back!]
Black Rabbit gave the soldiers a break and headed to the food storage to check if there was enough of Theo’s favorite fish and Cuengi’s favorite sweet foods.
Ppyak…
[To think marriage would be this hard…]
Black Rabbit trudged to the food storage. His body was so dark it couldn’t be seen, but he was so tired that dark circles reached his paws.
***
“Let’s start now.”
Ook!
Ook!
After harvesting grapes, Sejun and the monkeys began preparing the base liquor for Samyangju in the brewery.
Two hours later, the base liquor preparation was completed, and Sejun proceeded to add a second round of ingredients to the pre-fermentation Iyangju to make Samyangju.
“I should try brewing this too.”
After the Samyangju was done, Sejun washed 1,000 clusters of grapes, detached the grapes, and began placing them in jars. He planned to make grape wine.
At that moment,
-Huh?! Sejun, what’s that?
Kellion, who had hurriedly gathered money from the warehouse after hearing Sejun’s plan to sell liquor for Tower Coins, found Sejun preparing grape wine.
“This is grape wine.”
-Really? Take this money first!
Kellion hastily handed over a money pouch to Sejun.
How much is all this?! Sejun was surprised by the amount of money in the pouch as he opened it. It was a considerable sum at first glance.
-Exactly 1 billion Tower Coins. Half for Samyangju and the other half for grape wine reservations.
Kellion made a reservation for grape wine without even tasting it, trusting that anything made by Sejun would be delicious.
As Kellion secured his grape wine reservation,
-Huh?! Sejun, are you brewing a new kind of alcohol?
Kaiser, having not found much money in his own storage and thus rummaging through Anton’s, arrived.
-Kahaha! I’ll reserve that alcohol too. Take this!
Kaiser also handed Sejun a money pouch for the remaining hand.
But,
-Kahaha! You may have been faster with the Samyangju, but I beat you to the grape wine.
Kellion gloated over Kaiser for reserving the grape wine first.
-What?! Get out of our Tower right now!
Kaiser, infuriated by Kellion’s response, shouted.
-No way. If you’re upset, why don’t you go to the White Tower?
-Why would I go there when Sejun isn’t there? You go!
-No!
-Go!
As the two argued,
Tap. Tap.
Theo tapped Sejun’s leg to get his attention.
And then,
“Chairman Park, lend me some money, meow!”
Theo’s eyes sparkled as he saw the money pouches in both of Sejun’s hands.
*****
Updated from 𝑖𝘳.𝒸ℴ𝑚