Chapter 19 of 100
Chapter 19. Planting Potatoes
8 min read1,951 words
Day 154 of the Stranding, morning.
"Ugh!"
Swoosh.
Sejun got up and drew a line on the cave wall.
At that moment,
Buzz.
Buzz.
The sound of wings flapping from behind. The venomous bees were already up, sucking nectar. It seemed that the queen venomous bee had started laying eggs again, as they were collecting nectar more diligently lately.
While Sejun was watching the venomous bees,
Squeak!
Chirp!
Squeak!
The rabbits came out of the burrow in a line, greeting him energetically. Each of them was holding a carrot left over from yesterday.
The carrots were about the same size as the rabbits, so they had eaten half of a carrot as big as their bodies until their bellies were full yesterday. It was amazing how they could fit so much in their stomachs.
But the rabbits were just frustrated with the leftover carrots. So they had stared at the carrots resentfully, taken them back into the burrow, and brought them out again in the morning.
The carrots had shrunk considerably from when they were brought in, suggesting they had eaten them even at night.
Crunch. Crunch.
The rabbits, rubbing their eyes, started to finish off the leftover carrots.
"Is it that delicious?"
Sejun looked at the black rabbit with a mix of envy and amusement.
Squeak!
The black rabbit nodded at Sejun and said, "Carrots!"
Thanks to this, Sejun, swept up in the mood, had a simple breakfast of cherry tomatoes and carrots and then started the morning farming.
Sejun had a lot to do today. He had to harvest the cherry tomatoes and the carrots.
But today, the venomous bees and the rabbits were even busier than Sejun.
The venomous bees had to travel farther as the new cherry tomato field started to bloom, making them even busier.
And the rabbits had the rabbit couple sending their children out of the burrow.
Squeak!
Chirp?!
They were making their children independent. The six rabbits that had been kicked out of home started to build their own burrows.
"Why do they have to be independent?"
Could it be?! Not that again?!
Sejun hoped not.
Cherry tomatoes quickly lose their grade if the harvest time is missed, so Sejun started by quickly harvesting the cherry tomatoes.
After finishing the cherry tomato harvest, Sejun went to the carrot field and started harvesting the carrots.
Squish.
Sure enough, the carrots came out easily.
[You have harvested a well-ripened Agile Carrot.]
[Your job experience has increased slightly.]
[Your Harvesting Level 2 proficiency has increased slightly.]
[You have gained 12 experience points.]
Fortunately, the first carrot was an E+ grade.
Squish. Squish.
Sejun started the carrot harvest in earnest.
Squeak! Squeak!
As Sejun pulled out the carrots and piled them up, the black rabbit, under the guise of physical training, carried them to the storage with one carrot on each shoulder.
The carrot storage was a pit dug neatly next to the cherry tomato storage, lined with carrot leaves, which he had prepared the day before.
Chirp...
The black rabbit made about ten trips, but then seemed to run out of energy and the speed of his trips slowed down significantly.
Thud. Thud.
Roll. Roll.
He was caught by the mother rabbit for secretly kicking the carrots to the storage with his feet and received a scolding.
"Hehehe. I knew you would do that."
While Sejun was laughing at the scolded black rabbit,
[You have obtained 1 mL of cherry tomato flower honey.]
[Your Beekeeping Level 1 proficiency has increased slightly.]
[You have obtained 1 mL of cherry tomato flower honey.]
[Your Beekeeping Level 1 proficiency has increased slightly.]
...
..
.
The venomous bees filled the water bottle with honey.
And then,
[You have obtained 1 mL of cherry tomato flower honey.]
[Your Beekeeping Level 1 proficiency has increased slightly.]
[Your Beekeeping Level 1 proficiency has reached its limit and leveled up.]
The Beekeeping skill leveled up.
Sejun checked the upgraded Beekeeping skill.
The options didn't change much, just from "slightly increased" to "increased a little." Honestly, it was ambiguous how much "a little" meant.
But there was a definite change. The number of hives he could own increased from (1/1) to (1/2), adding one more.
Although not yet, if the venomous bees were to split the hive in the future, he would be able to own two hives.
"Good job."
Sejun, feeling proud of the hardworking venomous bees, patted the plump tails of the nearby bees.
Thud. Thud.
Meanwhile, the black rabbit, who had returned feeling depressed after being scolded by his mother, noticed Sejun patting the bees' tails.
Squeak?! Squeak!
The black rabbit also offered his plump bottom to Sejun, saying, "Me?! I have a plump bottom too!"
"Sure."
Sejun patted the black rabbit's bottom, which had rolled over, and they had a brief healing moment.
Crunch.
Crunch.
While munching on carrots.
And then,
"Where are you going?"
After the break, Sejun caught the black rabbit trying to sneak off to the pond and made him carry the carrots again.
While Sejun was intensively harvesting carrots again,
[You have harvested a well-ripened Agile Carrot.]
[Your job experience has increased slightly.]
[Your Harvesting Level 2 proficiency has increased slightly.]
[You have gained 10 experience points.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have gained 1 bonus stat.]
He reached level 10. Sejun used the bonus stat to increase his stamina. As his stamina increased, his body felt a bit lighter.
[A quest has been triggered.]
"What?! Can't you see I'm busy?"
Sejun, without checking the message content, complained to the tower's manager.
[The tower's manager is upset, saying it's not him.]
"Huh?! It's not you?"
Sejun belatedly checked the quest message in detail.
[Job Quest: Expand the farm to over 50 pyeong.]
Reward: Level 11, 10 tower coins, 1 additional job trait
He had heard of this before. The job quest at level 10. Completing this quest was necessary to obtain a new job trait and advance to the next level.
While other hunters' quests usually involved slaying a certain number of monsters, his quest as a farmer was different.
"Expanding the farm shouldn't be hard."
Having expanded the fields several times already, it wasn't difficult for Sejun. It just meant more work.
[The tower's manager is disappointed, pointing at the quest.]
"Sorry. But I'll make you cherry tomato juice later."
Sejun appeased the tower's manager.
Then, he hurriedly finished the carrot harvest and started making more fields.
The rabbits dug the ground with shovels, and Sejun planted the cherry tomatoes. Although he ended up planting too many cherry tomatoes, it was the only seed he could immediately plant.
By the time he finished planting the cherry tomatoes, it was almost bedtime. He planted 1,000 cherry tomato seeds. He had been greedy, and the scale had grown a bit.
[You have completed the quest.]
[You have reached level 11 as a quest completion reward.]
[You have gained 1 bonus stat as a quest completion reward.]
[You have gained 10 tower coins as a quest completion reward.]
[You have gained 1 job trait as a quest completion reward.]
[Job Trait: You can gain experience points for every 1 pyeong of rice field or field you create.
Until now, you could only gain experience points when harvesting crops, but now you can also gain experience points when creating fields or rice fields.
"Sounds good?"
Sejun was satisfied with the new job trait.
That night, as Sejun had predicted, the rabbit couple was preparing for a significant event.
However, while the rabbit couple was trying to create a romantic atmosphere, an unexpected intruder appeared.
Roar. Bang.
Roar. Bang.
Squeak?!
Squeak?!
The rabbits, thinking a monster had invaded, rushed out of the burrow at the late-night roar echoing through the cave.
And then,
Roar.
Puff.
They realized it was Sejun's snoring from his hard work and had to push his body to the side to let him sleep, before returning to the burrow.
Inadvertently, Sejun had disrupted the rabbit couple's plans.
***
Day 155 of the Stranding.
Today was an important day as the seed shop opened. Sejun got up, drew a line on the wall, and went to the pond to wash his face.
Squeak...
Chirp...
Chirp...
The rabbits came out with tired faces, having had a restless night.
"What? What were you doing all night?"
Squeak!
Chirp!
Chirp! Chirp!
The rabbits, especially the rabbit couple, were furious at Sejun. It's your fault!
"Ha ha ha. Sorry."
Sejun calmed the angry rabbits by offering them carrots.
Then, he started the morning farming.
"Hum hum hum."
While Sejun was whistling and focusing on harvesting cherry tomatoes,
[The seed shop is now open.]
[Three types of seeds will be randomly displayed for sale today.]
[At your current level, you can only purchase one type of seed.]
The seeds available for purchase today were displayed.
[100 seed potatoes - 5 tower coins]
[100 strawberry seeds - 0.5 tower coins]
[1,000 lettuce seeds - 0.1 tower coins]
"Lettuce is useless without meat, so I'll pass."
The remaining options were seed potatoes and strawberries. He had plenty of money, so price wasn't a concern.
"Ah, I'm torn."
Sejun pondered which to buy, imagining eating potatoes and strawberries.
Wrapping a potato in carrot leaves, roasting it, and peeling it while blowing on it, then taking a bite of the steaming, fluffy potato with its subtle saltiness...
"Ah!"
Just imagining it made his stomach feel warm.
What about strawberries? Picking a bright red, ripe strawberry and taking a bite, the unique flavor of strawberries, along with a tangy and sweet taste like sprinkled sugar, filled his mouth.
"Smack."
Sejun wiped his drooling mouth and looked at the seed shop window.
"What should I buy?"
After much deliberation, he chose the seed potatoes with a tear in his eye.
He had been craving carbohydrates lately.
[You have purchased 100 seed potatoes.]
[5 tower coins have been deducted from your Seed Bank account.]
[50 points have been added to your Seed Shop mileage.]
[Your total Seed Shop mileage is now 56 points.]
[Thank you for using the Seed Shop.]
[You can use the Seed Shop Level 1 again in 30 days.]
Thud.
A bag containing 100 seed potatoes appeared in front of Sejun.
"Great."
Sejun quickly finished harvesting the cherry tomatoes and carrots and started planting the seed potatoes.
He had asked the rabbits to prepare the fields in advance, so he only needed to plant the seed potatoes.
"Cut them like this."
He had seen it before, so he asked the rabbit with the scythe item to cut the seed potatoes into quarters. The sprout points were visible, so he just needed to make sure each piece had one.
Sejun planted the quartered seed potatoes.
[You have planted seed potatoes.]
[The effect of Sowing Level 2 increases the probability of the seed potatoes sprouting.]
[Your Sowing Level 2 proficiency has increased slightly.]
...
..
.
Sejun planted all 400 seed potatoes in an hour.
Now, Sejun was completely proficient at this.
Swoosh.
The rabbits with watering cans watered the potato field, completing the planting.
"Ah, satisfying."
While Sejun was proudly looking at the field with 400 seed potatoes planted,
[You have created a 10-pyeong potato field.]
[You have gained 10 experience points.]
1 experience point per pyeong. It wasn't much, but it felt like a side income.
"Isn't it amazing? My farming skill of planting 400 potatoes from 100 seed potatoes?"
Squeak?!
Sejun, feeling proud, said this, but the black rabbit looked at him pitifully. What farmer doesn't know that?!
He had just said it for nothing and was ignored.
On Day 155 of the Stranding, potatoes started to grow in Sejun's field.