Chapter 20 of 100
Chapter 20. Harvesting a New Variety.
9 min read2,155 words
Chapter 20. Harvesting a New Variety.
On the 157th day of the disaster, in the morning.
Crunch, crunch.
"Everyone, listen up. The day has finally come."
Sejun made a significant announcement in front of the rabbits who were enthusiastically eating their morning carrots.
Squeak?
Chirp?
Huh?
The rabbits had no idea what Sejun was talking about, so they opened their eyes wide. What day?
"Today is the day we dig up the sweet potatoes."
It felt like just yesterday that he planted 450 sweet potato vines, but now the time had come to harvest the sweet potatoes as the vines had taken root and grown.
Squeak!!!
Chirp!!!
Huh!!!
The rabbits got excited at the mention of sweet potatoes, seemingly recalling the taste of the roasted sweet potatoes they had eaten before.
And the best part was that they had nothing to do. After all, Sejun would do all the harvesting.
However, the rabbits couldn't remember what they had done before eating the roasted sweet potatoes.
"So, we'll finish all the work in the morning and plant more sweet potato vines in the afternoon."
Before digging up the sweet potatoes, they needed to remove all the vines. Sejun couldn't just throw away the sweet potato vines that could produce more sweet potatoes.
Squeak?!
Chirp?!
Huh?!
The rabbits hurriedly checked the sweet potato field. The vines were growing lushly. The idea of cutting them all and replanting them made the rabbits flustered.
But they were relieved. All the harvesting and replanting would be Sejun's job.
However,
"I have another important announcement. I've decided not to monopolize the joy of planting the sweet potato vines today."
With the field expanding, the amount of work Sejun could do alone in a day had exceeded his capacity. So, he decided to give up on leveling up his seed planting skill.
Farming is all about timing. He couldn't let his skill proficiency ruin the farming.
Thus began the morning farming.
Two rabbits with watering cans watered the field, while the wife rabbit and another rabbit with a sickle cut the leek leaves, and a rabbit with a cart carried the leek leaves away.
And the black rabbit and a rabbit with a shovel prepared the ridges for planting the sweet potato vines.
Chirp, chirp, chirp!
The black rabbit, who treated everything as a warrior's training, ran while dragging the flat part of a hammer to level the ground.
Thud, thud.
Thud, thud.
Two rabbits with shovels dug trenches and raised the ridges by piling up the soil.
Tap, tap, tap.
Sejun hurried to harvest the cherry tomatoes. To finish all the work in the morning, he had to move quickly.
Thus ended the morning farming.
"Phew."
Squeak...
Chirp...
Huh...
Sejun and the rabbits were all exhausted from the excessive labor. They were thirsty from sweating so much.
"At a time like this, a refreshing honey water is just what we need."
Sejun poured honey from a water bottle into a tumbler.
Swish, swish.
He poured two swishes of honey and added pond water.
Then,
Shake, shake.
He shook the tumbler to mix the honey well.
"Is it mixed well?"
Just as Sejun was about to take a sip of the honey water,
Huh?!
The black rabbit called out to Sejun. Are you eating alone?!
In the black rabbit's hand was a carrot cup made by hollowing out a carrot. The idea of making a cup out of a carrot... genius?!
Cluck, cluck, cluck.
Sejun poured honey water into the black rabbit's carrot cup. By the time he had poured honey water into the carrot cups made by the white rabbits following the black rabbit, the tumbler was half empty.
Gulp, gulp.
Sejun downed the honey water in one go. The sweetness in his mouth woke up his brain cells, and the coolness going down his throat seemed to relieve his fatigue.
"Ah!"
Chirp!
The black rabbit followed Sejun's lead and downed the honey water in its carrot cup. It was almost a basin for the black rabbit, but it drank it all with both hands.
Then,
Shake, shake.
The black rabbit shook the empty carrot cup on its head. Where did you learn that? Even our father doesn't do that when he drinks.
Crunch, crunch.
The rabbits finished the honey water and ate the carrot cups that were stained with honey. It was an environmentally friendly cup.
After drinking the honey water and regaining his energy, Sejun hurried to eat lunch and started planting the sweet potato vines.
Today, they worked more efficiently with a better division of labor.
The wife rabbit and another rabbit with a sickle cut the sweet potato vines, while the rabbit with a cart and the black rabbit carried the vines, and the remaining rabbits and Sejun planted them.
There were a lot of sweet potato vines, but with many hands, they finished in just a few hours.
"Done!"
The field with 1,500 sweet potato vines was complete.
[You have created a 150-pyeong sweet potato field.]
[You have gained 150 experience points.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have gained 1 bonus stat point.]
Sejun learned something good. Even if he didn't plant the crops himself, he could still fully gain the experience points for creating the field.
He increased his strength stat by 1 at level 11, so this time he increased his stamina stat by 1.
Then,
"Let's go dig up the sweet potatoes now!"
The highlight of the day, the sweet potato harvest, finally began. After removing the vines, about 270 out of the 450 sweet potato vines he planted had grown successfully.
Thud, thud.
The rabbits with shovels pushed the shovels deep into the soil, lifted the ground slightly, and then pulled them out, while Sejun dug up the sweet potatoes.
He wanted to do this with the rabbits too, but since the sweet potatoes were as big as the rabbits themselves, he had to do it alone.
Crack.
Sometimes, when he pulled out a stem, 10 sweet potatoes would come with it.
[You have harvested a Power Pumpkin Sweet Potato.]
[Your job experience has increased slightly.]
[Your Harvesting Level 2 proficiency has increased slightly.]
[You have gained 10 experience points.]
...
..
.
"Feels good."
While Sejun was looking at the 10 sweet potatoes he had harvested at once with a satisfied expression,
Squeak~
Chirp~
Huh! Huh!
The rabbits were humming and wrapping the sweet potatoes in leek leaves to make roasted sweet potatoes.
[The tower manager is shouting, "Roasted sweet potatoes! Roasted sweet potatoes!"]
Where had they been? The timing was perfect.
Sejun continued the sweet potato harvest alone. Next to him, the sweet potatoes he had harvested were piled up. About 3,000 in total. He harvested about 10-13 sweet potatoes per stem.
Just as he was almost done,
"Huh?!"
A golden light appeared in the soil he had cleared. Sejun's hands moved quickly as he dug up the object emitting the golden light.
Boom.
The light exploded, blindingly bright.
"Wow!"
Sejun quickly covered his eyes with his hands from the bright light.
[You have harvested a Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potato.]
[Your job experience has increased slightly.]
[Your Harvesting Level 2 proficiency has increased slightly.]
[You have gained 10 experience points.]
Compared to its dramatic appearance, the message was rather modest.
Then,
[You have achieved the achievement of creating a new variety in the tower.]
[The tower recognizes your exclusive cultivation rights for the new variety.]
[You cannot cultivate the Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potato without your permission.]
[Your job experience has increased significantly.]
[Your job experience is full.]
[Your Tower Farmer (E) rank has increased.]
[You have become a Tower Farmer (D).]
[Your job rank has increased, and your job traits have been enhanced.]
[Your Harvesting Level 2 proficiency has increased significantly.]
[Your Harvesting Level 2 proficiency is full, and your level has increased.]
The new variety was so impressive that his job rank and skill level increased instantly. Sejun quickly checked the options of the golden Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potato.
[Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potato]
A mutant pumpkin sweet potato that has absorbed the sun's energy by soaking up sunlight at the highest point of the tower.
A pumpkin sweet potato grown inside the tower, rich in nutrients and delicious.
When consumed, it decomposes 100g of fat in the body and increases fire resistance for 1 hour.
When consumed by a non-awakened person, it decomposes 100g of fat in the body and increases cold resistance for 24 hours.
Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
Expiry Date: 30 days
Grade: E
"A new variety..."
Sejun looked at the golden sweet potato in his hand.
Being a new variety meant that he was the only one in the tower with this sweet potato. Moreover, even if he sold the sweet potatoes he harvested, no one else could cultivate the Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potato due to the exclusive cultivation rights.
"I have to cultivate this."
Sejun was curious about the taste of the Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potato, but he decided to plant it first to increase the harvest.
"Grow well."
Sejun planted the Sun Pumpkin Sweet Potato carefully and watered the soil until it was thoroughly soaked.
Then,
Huh!
The black rabbit urgently called out to Sejun. It smells like smoke!
The rabbits looked anxious as the smell of smoke started to spread.
"Got it. Let's go!"
Sejun headed to the fire pit, and the rabbits watched the sweet potatoes in the fire with eager eyes.
However, the smell wasn't quite right yet. Sejun waited for the right moment while watching the sweet potatoes.
'Now!'
Sejun took the roasted sweet potatoes out of the fire pit.
[The tower manager is licking his lips, waiting for his turn.]
"Here. 10 roasted sweet potatoes."
Since there were many roasted pumpkin sweet potatoes, Sejun gave 10 to the tower manager.
[The tower manager thanks you and says he will enjoy them.]
"Alright. Let's eat, too."
Sejun unwrapped the leek leaves and peeled the steaming hot pumpkin sweet potatoes, then shared them with the rabbits.
Puff, puff.
Puff, puff.
Puff, puff.
The rabbits blew on the roasted sweet potatoes to cool them down.
Then, the rabbits started eating the roasted sweet potatoes.
Squeak!
Chirp!
Huh!
The rabbits cheered with delight at the sweetness of the roasted sweet potatoes.
Munch.
Sejun also took a bite of the roasted sweet potato.
"Ah. Delicious. I wonder how Teo is doing?"
By now, Teo should have reached the 38th floor.
***
As Sejun had expected, the diligent Teo had arrived at the 38th floor.
"Hey?! He's here!"
"That's the cat, I think!"
The Phoenix Guild hunters who spotted Teo ran over. The number of hunters had doubled compared to before.
A few of Kim Dong-sik's party members had spread rumors about the magic cherry tomatoes, which led to this increase. The magic cherry tomatoes that made you lose weight just by eating them. Hunters gathered out of curiosity.
"I'll buy them all!"
One hunter who couldn't buy them last time shouted.
"No way! We've changed the selling method today."
Teo had received new instructions from Sejun.
"Starting today, we'll sell 500 magic cherry tomatoes to the person who offers the highest price!"
This meant selling the magic cherry tomatoes through an auction.
"500 for 40 tower coins!"
As soon as Teo finished speaking, Kim Dong-sik shouted. 0.08 tower coins per tomato. Kim Dong-sik, whose status at home had risen due to the magic cherry tomatoes, couldn't give them up.
However,
"41 tower coins!"
Other hunters who couldn't buy them last time immediately raised the price.
"45 tower coins!"
"45.5 tower coins!"
Even other hunters who had come to watch joined in, and the price started to rise.
Then,
"100 tower coins!"
Chris bid an enormous amount. 0.2 tower coins per tomato. He was buying 500 tomatoes at 200,000 won each.
Chris had given the 30 magic cherry tomatoes he bought in the first transaction to his sister, Jenna, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company.
He remembered her complaining about gaining weight from sitting all day. After trying a few tomatoes, Jenna was amazed by their effects and started researching the magic cherry tomatoes.
However, she failed to extract the active ingredients and asked Chris for more magic cherry tomatoes.
'Since my sister is paying for it.'
So, Chris bid without hesitation and paid a total of 273 tower coins for 1,500 magic cherry tomatoes.
After the auction, female hunters approached.
"Teo, can we take a photo with you?"
"Sure. But you have to give me coffee."
"Coffee?"
Churu, not coffee? The female hunters who had brought a lot of churu were surprised.
"Wait. Max, give me some coffee!"
The female hunters took coffee from their companions.
"Or spices like pepper are also fine. Show some sincerity if you want a photo with me."
Teo, driven by the desire to become a representative, was turning into a beggar.