abcnovels
Chapter 16: Digging Carrots
Chapter 16: Digging Carrots
TL: Hanguk
“The price has gone up?”
“That’s right meow!”
“How much?”
“0.07… tower coins meow!”
Theo cautiously spoke while watching the humans’ reactions. His timid nature couldn’t be helped.
Theo’s cautious demeanor appeared endearing to the hunters due to the cat-like filter, and they easily accepted the increased price of the magical cherry tomatoes.
‘It makes sense to raise the price.’
‘He didn’t seem too happy when he sold them cheap last time.’
‘Look at that clueless expression. He must be losing money.’
‘That must be a reasonable price.’
Theo’s naive appearance and racial characteristics actually gained him the hunters’ favor and trust.
“Alright. I’ll buy 200.”
Kim Dong-sik handed over 14 tower coins. His original plan was to buy only 100, but when he entered the tower, his wife came up to him and quietly asked him to buy some for her as well.
‘Honey, daughter, trust me!’
Kim Dong-sik had 200 tower coins now. It was enough money to buy 1,000 magical cherry tomatoes.
Since the magical cherry tomatoes had a 30-day shelf life, Kim Dong-sik would have bought them all for his wife and daughter if there were no expiration dates. Of course, other hunters were no different in their thoughts.
“Oh?! I want 500.”
“I want 200!”
“I want 400 too!”
As Kim Dong-sik took the lead, Jessica and the other hunters quickly put out their money and began to announce the quantities they wanted to buy.
And then,
“Sold out meow! All 1,500 magical cherry tomatoes I brought today are sold meow!”
The last hunter who called for 400 could only buy 250.
“When will you come next time?”
At Kim Dong-sik’s question, all eyes turned to Theo. They wanted to trade again next time.
Especially those hunters who couldn’t trade this time were even more focused. They had to buy next time since they couldn’t buy this time.
“Will you be waiting here next time meow?”
“Yes.”
“Then it will be about 10 days from now meow.”
There was no time to rest if he wanted to become a mid-tier wandering merchant before being caught by Sejun.
“Alright. See you in 10 days.”
As soon as the leader, Kim Dong-sik, finished speaking, some female hunters approached.
“Kitty, can we take a picture together?”
“My name is not Kitty, it’s Theo meow.”
“Oh, your name is Theo. Theo, can we take a picture together? If you do, I’ll give you this.”
The female hunters held out a wet pouch.
“What’s that meow?”
“It’s called Churu¹, you peel it like this and lick it.”
“Is that so meow? It smells nice meow.”
And so, Theo took photos with the female hunters and received Churu in return.
*****
Day 149 of being stranded.
“Hehehe.”
Today, as usual, Sejun ate breakfast, hummed a tune, and harvested the Cherry tomatoes.
[You have harvested ripe Magical Cherry Tomatoes.]
[Your job experience increases very slightly.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 2 increases very slightly.]
[You have gained 10 experience points.]
…
..
.
Swoosh.
The sound of white rabbits watering the crops and
Bang!
Thud!
The sound of the black rabbit hitting the wall pushed away the silence in the cave along with Sejun’s humming.
Then
Peep-peep.
A strange sound began to echo.
“Huh?”
Squeak?
Bang?
Not only Sejun, but the other rabbits also looked puzzled at the unfamiliar sound, looking towards where it was coming from.
The beehive of the poisonous honeybees that had been staying indoors for days, causing concern. Ten bees, the size of a thumb, were flying around the beehive.
[Baby Poisonous Honeybee]
“So, they were raising babies.”
Sejun finally understood why the poisonous honeybees hadn’t left their hive.
A moment later
Buzz.
The poisonous honeybee also came out of the hive. Its size hadn’t changed much, but its body became more colorful, and its abdomen grew plump.
And
[Queen Poisonous Honeybee]
Its name had changed.
Buzz.
Peep-peep.
As the Queen Poisonous Honeybee flew to Sejun’s side, the baby poisonous honeybees followed her as if to escort her.
However, the baby poisonous honeybees’ purpose was to protect their queen.
Snap!
When they saw Sejun, they drew their stingers.
“Uh?!”
Squeak?!
Bang?!
When Sejun and the rabbits were taken aback by the baby poisonous honeybees’ actions
Buzz! Buzz!
The Queen Poisonous Honeybee stopped and started scolding the baby poisonous honeybees with strong wing beats.
Fortunately, after the queen’s discipline, the baby poisonous honeybees understood that Sejun wasn’t an enemy and put away their stingers.
And then
Rub-rub.
The Queen Poisonous Honeybee rubbed her body against Sejun to show affection, and as she started to suck honey
Peep-peep.
Rub-rub-rub.
The baby poisonous honeybees also followed the Queen Poisonous Honeybee, rubbing their bodies against Sejun to show affection, and then sucking honey from the cherry tomato flowers like the queen.
In this way, Sejun’s cave family grew.
*****
The next morning.
“Eyah!”
Sejun got up energetically and walked to the cave wall where he recorded the dates.
And then
Swoosh.
He added one stroke to complete the third line. (TL Note: See image at the end)
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“It’s already been 150 days.”
Sejun looked at the time etched on the wall with a newfound appreciation. Though only one more stroke had been added since yesterday, the feeling was different.
In the past, each added stroke felt overwhelming, but nowadays, he felt proud of himself for living another day in this place with each stroke.
It was thanks to the thriving crops, the rabbits and bees that kept him company, and even the tower’s administrator who provided some help.
“I’m Park Se-jun and I’m living well.”
Se-jun said, as if making a promise to himself. It wasn’t just for self-consolation. Se-jun really was living well. The 48 Tower coins in his hand proved it.
He managed to make money even while trapped in the cave with terrible conditions. When he went outside, it was worth 48 million won. It was more than what Se-jun earned working at a company for a year.
He made this money in just a few days and would gather another 48 Tower coins in a few more days. Since he arrived here, his situation had been improving day by day.
‘Someday I will break through from here eventually’
Just as Se-jun was strengthening his resolve,
Buzzing sounds.
The diligent baby poison honeybees woke up and approached Se-jun.
“Did you sleep well?”
The baby poison honeybees rubbed their plump bodies against him, as if answering to him. Those who couldn’t rub Se-jun’s face rubbed themselves against his hand.
“You cute little things.”
The baby poison honeybees had grown to about the thickness of three fingers in just one day. It was curious how they could grow so big just by eating honey.
Buzzing sounds.
The baby poison honeybees stamped their attendance with Se-jun and went off to suck honey. The queen poison honeybee had gone back into the hive after confirming that the babies were sucking honey well yesterday.
It seemed like she was laying eggs again.
A little later,
Squeak!
Peep!
Bang!
The rabbits came out of the burrow and gave Se-jun a lively morning greeting.
“Right. Hello!”
The day started energetically again.
Today, Se-jun had one more task in addition to harvesting cherry tomatoes in the afternoon.
It was teaching the black rabbit how to swim.
The black rabbit, who had been able to hunt piranhas on his own a few days ago, leveled up again yesterday and became so cocky that he walked into the pond on his own and almost drowned.
The black rabbit was unaware that he was like a fish out of water.
If Se-jun had been a little later in noticing how quiet it was and going to the pond, the black rabbit would have been torn apart by the piranhas.
That’s why Se-jun decided to teach the black rabbit how to swim.
So after lunch, the black rabbit stood in front of a small pond with leaf earplugs Se-jun had made to prepare for the Blue Moon.
“Are you ready?”
Bang!
The black rabbit answered energetically.
“Alright, let’s start with kicking.”
Se-jun gently held the black rabbit’s body and immersed it halfway into the water.
“Now, straighten your body and kick.”
Bang!
Splash, splash.
Following Se-jun’s instructions, the black rabbit kicked the water hard.
“Hey! You’re splashing everywhere. You should kick underwater.”
Bang!
At Se-jun’s words, the black rabbit immediately corrected his kicking.
And as soon as Se-jun let go,
Paddling.
The black rabbit quickly swam forward, reaching the end of the small pond in no time.
“Well done. Now let’s practice breathing.”
A little later,
Paddling, paddling.
The black rabbit mastered Se-jun’s swimming class and leisurely swam around the small pond.
The black rabbit, who mastered swimming in just one day, began hunting piranhas while swimming the next day.
And the sixth Blue Moon approached.
The rabbits had already gone into their burrows and closed the entrance, and the poison honeybees had also entered their hive and blocked the entrance.
The little monsters seemed to avoid the Blue Moon in this way.
[The Tower Administrator asked for one of the crops infused with the energy of the Blue Moon this time.]
“Alright.”
Lately, there were no threats, and the tone wasn’t as rude as before, so Sejun gladly agreed.
And on the 152nd day of being stranded, as the date changed, the Blue Moon began, and a blue light descended through the hole in the cave ceiling.
In anticipation of the monster’s roar, Sejun, who had prepared earplugs and cherry tomatoes, held his breath and watched the corner of the cave for any changes in the crops.
How much time had passed?
Sssss.
A blue light began to form on five cherry tomato trees. Five magical cherry tomatoes containing the energy of the Blue Moon were being completed.
“Wow.”
Sejun stared in awe at the mysterious and beautiful sight. And around the time the energy of the Blue Moon began to be contained in the cherry tomatoes,
Sssss.
A blue light formed on one carrot stem.
“Huh?! There’s still a lot of time left before the carrots should be harvested.”
A few days ago, when Sejun had dug up one carrot, it was still only the size of a finger.
“I’ll have to dig it up later.”
Sejun waited for the Blue Moon to end and eventually fell asleep with a sullen expression.
Slap! Slap!
Sejun woke up to the slap of his rabbit husband after a long time.
“Uhm.”
As soon as Sejun opened his eyes,
Peep!
Meow!
Pong!
The rabbits were in chaos.
“What’s going on?”
The black rabbit urged Sejun, who was rubbing his eyes.
“Just let me write the date.”
Sejun drew a line on the cave wall with a piranha spine, marking the beginning of the 152nd day.
And he followed the rabbits to where they led him.
“Ah!”
There was a carrot, shyly showing its blue top on the ground.
Peep!
Meow!
Pong!
The rabbits drooled and urged Sejun to quickly dig up the carrot. They seemed to want to taste it right away.
“Alright.”
Swoosh.
Sejun grabbed the carrot stem and pulled it upward, easily extracting the blue carrot. The carrot was about as thick as a tumbler.
Peep!
Meow!
Pong!
The rabbits were excited about the giant carrot size.
[You have harvested the Blue Moon’s energy-infused Agility Carrot.]
[Your job experience increases significantly.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 2 increases significantly.]
[You have gained 70 experience points.]
“Agility carrot?”
Sejun checked the carrot he was holding.
[Blue Moon’s energy-infused Agility Carrot]
A carrot grown inside the tower, it is delicious due to its full nutritional intake.
The taste is even better with the energy of the Blue Moon.
When consumed, agility permanently increases by 0.05.
Grower: Tower farmer Park Sejun
Expiration date: 45 days
Grade: E+
The grade was E+. It seemed that he had gained 70 experience points instead of 50 due to harvesting a high-quality crop.
“Here, enjoy.”
Sejun handed the carrot to the rabbits.
He was curious about the taste, but he decided to save it for later. The rabbits, who had helped with the farming, deserved it.
Gulp.
Peep!!!
Meow!!!
Pong!!!
The rabbits tasted the carrot and let out a happy scream.
Tock. Tock.
Meanwhile, Sejun harvested the magical cherry tomatoes infused with the Blue Moon’s energy.
Five blue cherry tomatoes.
“Here, take this.”
Sejun handed one blue cherry tomato to the tower administrator.
[You have completed the quest.]
It seemed that the previous quest had been completed.
[The Tower Administrator is grateful.]
“Be grateful and give me another skill later.”
[The Tower Administrator thinks they might be able to give you one soon.]
“What can they give me soon?”
Sejun, puzzled, put one of the harvested blue cherry tomatoes in his mouth and bit into it.
Pop.
“Gah.”
It bursts. It’s bursting! The sweet and sour taste set off fireworks in Sejun’s mouth.
[You have consumed the Blue Moon’s energy-infused magical cherry tomato.]
[Magic power permanently increases by 0.05.]
Sejun ignored the message and focused on the taste.
Pop.
He put the remaining blue cherry tomatoes in his mouth one by one. The cherry tomatoes disappeared in no time.
In the afternoon,
“I’m back, meow!”
Theo, who had succeeded in selling out for the second time, returned.
****
1) Churu is a type of cat food that comes in a soft tube or stick form. It is commonly used as a treat or reward for cats.
2)
****
Anyway that’s all for today.