abcnovels
Chapter 32: Harvesting Corn
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.
Now, all that was left was to wait for the corn to be cooked to perfection.
However,
[The Tower’s Administrator urges you to keep your promise..]
There was still some things left to do.
“Alright. I was just about to do it.”
Se-jun went to the cherry tomato field and harvested cherry tomatoes containing the energy of the Blue Moon.
Pop.
[You have harvested Magical Cherry Tomato 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.]
Pop.
[You have harvested Magical Cherry Tomato containing the energy of the Blue Moon.]
…
..
.
In total, Se-jun harvested 13 cherry tomatoes containing the energy of the Blue Moon.
“Such a bumper harvest. Hehehe.”
Se-jun smiled as he looked at his hand full of blue cherry tomatoes.
“Here, take these.”
Se-jun gave 5 blue cherry tomatoes to the Tower’s Administrator.
[The Tower’s Administrator is grateful to you.]
[The Tower’s Administrator promises to repay you in the future.]
“Sure.”
He didn’t have high expectations. How could he wait for 300 years?
“This will be delicious.”
Se-jun looked at the cherry tomato in his hand. Since it was a D-grade with the energy of the Blue Moon, it would be even more delicious.
However,
“Let’s hold back.”
He decided to resist in order to fully enjoy the flavor of the corn.
Sejun got up from his spot an spread the corn silk on his designated sun-lit spot to dry well. If the corn silk is well dried, he could make corn silk tea.
“Now I have one more drinkable beverage.”
Se-jun returned to the fire with a satisfied expression.
And while waiting for the corn to be ready, the sweet and savory smell unique to corn began to spread through the gap in the pot lid.
One. Two. Three…
Se-jun counted 30 seconds in his mind, removed the pot from the fire, and opened the lid. Moderation is key. If he steamed it too much, the corn kernels would burst, so he had to be careful.
Whoosh.
As soon as he opened the lid, steam and the aroma of corn spread in the air.
“Wow!”
Se-jun carefully picked up the corn with tongs and put it in his bowl.
And then,
Whoosh, whoosh.
In his eagerness to eat quickly, Se-jun blew on the corn to cool it down.
“Is it ready?”
Se-jun touched the corn to check if it was still hot. The corn was hot enough to hold for 1 or 2 seconds.
“Good.”
Se-jun held the ends of the cooled corn with a husk and
Snap.
Cut it in half. Half of the corn was for the rabbits.
Se-jun took a bite out of the other half-corn.
Crunch.
Se-jun’s teeth scooped up the corn kernels like a shovel.
“Slurp.”
As the corn kernels decreased, Se-jun hastily slurped up the sweet juice flowing from the corn cob. Ah! It’s sweet!
Crunch, crunch.
Having sucked up the sweet juice, Se-jun started to chew the corn kernels in earnest.
Each kernel was bursting with life. Therefore, as he chewed, they playfully resisted in his mouth before popping out with a crackling sound.
Chew, chew.
The more he chewed, the more the savory sweetness rose up. Se-jun ate the corn passionately, playing it like a harmonica.
And then,
[You have consumed the Stamina Corn containing the energy of the Blue Moon.]
[Your Stamina permanently increases by 0.1.]
Before he knew it, Se-jun had eaten all the corn including the part that he had left for the rabbits.
“I can’t believe I ate all of it…”
Se-jun made a disbelief expression as he looked at the message in front of him and sucked the remaining sweet juice from the corn cob.
But Se-jun had already sucked it dry, leaving no more sweet juice to come out.
“That’s a shame.”
Se-jun hastily threw the corn cob and leaves into the fire to destroy the evidence.
And as he added another stroke to the wall, starting his morning…
Growl…
The baby bear quietly announced its arrival, so as not to wake the baby rabbits.
Se-jun went up to the surface. The arrival of the baby bear meant that the mother Crimson Giant Bear had come, which meant that the surroundings were 100% safe.
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.
*****