Chapter 22: Conveying Well-Being to the Family

"Who is it?"

A young man's voice came from the other side of the door.

"It's me, I've come at the request of Mr. Park Sejun."

"Really?! Mom!"

"Dear!"

The inside became noisy in response to Kim Dongshik's answer.

'What's going on here?'

As Kim Dongshik was contemplating whether to break down the door and enter,

Clunk.

The door lock opened.

And,

"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting. Please come in."

A young man in his 20s opened the door from the other side.

'Is this Sejun's brother?'

Kim Dongshik entered the house with a gift set of beef. The house, though showing signs of age, felt warm and well-maintained.

In the living room, a man in his 50s, who looked similar to the one who opened the door, was present.

'This must be Sejun's father.'

Sejun's mother seemed to be in the bedroom due to the earlier commotion.

"Let me introduce myself formally. I am Kim Dongshik, the leader of Team 5 of the Phoenix Guild."

"Phoenix Guild?!"

Tap-tap-tap.

Sejun's brother, Sedol, quickly started searching on his smartphone.

The Phoenix Guild is so famous that its members have all appeared on TV for interviews at least once. And the leader?!

If it's a leader of a Phoenix Guild team, a search on the internet would yield tens of thousands of photos.

After finishing the search, Sedol alternated his gaze between the smartphone photos and Kim Dongshik's face.

"It... It's really him. This is really Mr. Kim Dongshik, the leader of Team 5 of the Phoenix Guild."

"Then Sejun..."

"Of course, my brother..."

The atmosphere suggested that Sejun's family was misunderstanding the situation.

"I've come to deliver this at the request of Mr. Park Sejun."

Kim Dongshik quickly handed over an envelope to clear up the misunderstanding.

However,

"Sejun..."

"Wha...?"

This led to an even greater misunderstanding.

"It's not a will. It's 50 million won."

"Really?!"

"...?!"

Sedol quickly took out the contents of the envelope.

A dazzling check with '50,000,000 won' written on it emerged from the envelope.

"Mr. Park Sejun asked me to tell his family that he is doing well. And this is my gift."

Kim Dongshik offered the beef gift set.

"Is our Sejun really doing well?"

"Yes, he is doing well."

"Thank you. Dear!"

Sejun's father, Park Chunho, quickly snatched the check from Sedol's hand and ran into the bedroom.

***

After Sejun sent a message saying he was entering the tower, his family requested the Korean Awakened Association to check if Sejun was inside the tower, as he hadn't returned for over three months.

However, with no contact for two months, they started to think the worst.

In such a situation, when Kim Dongshik said he had come at Sejun's request, they mistakenly thought he was delivering the news of Sejun's death.

A little while later,

Park Chunho came out of the bedroom with his wife, Kim Miran.

"Thank you. Is our Sejun really okay? But why isn't he coming out?"

"He can't come out because of a quest. Don't worry, ma'am."

Kim Dongshik answered confidently. The quest was a spontaneous idea he came up with. Sometimes, quests in the tower become invalid if the player leaves the tower.

Moreover, after a brief conversation with Sedol, he learned that Sejun had been in the tower for a little over five months.

No hunter had reached the 40th floor of the tower in ten years, and Sejun had done it in five months? He must be a genius!

Kim Dongshik began to develop a growing admiration for Sejun's talent. This led him to notice Sedol. Given that Sejun had such remarkable talent, it was likely that his brother also had some talent.

He was tempted. He wanted to give Sedol a ticket and awaken him himself.

However, he didn't know what Sejun thought, so he didn't do it.

Becoming a hunter means gaining fame and wealth, but it also means risking one's life. Many hunters don't recommend their family members to become hunters.

He didn't want to risk worsening his relationship by awakening Sedol without permission.

"Then I'll take my leave now."

"No, please stay for a meal."

"No, thank you. I came straight here from the tower, and my family is waiting."

"Oh, I'm sorry for keeping you. Please be careful on your way back."

"Yes, I'll be going now."

Kim Dongshik blocked the family as they tried to see him off and left the house.

Whoosh.

The contract in his pocket began to burn with a blue flame, indicating that the contract had been fulfilled. The magical fire didn't burn anything else.

"Done."

Vroom.

Kim Dongshik started his car and headed home. It was time to take the magic cherry tomatoes and establish his status as the head of the household.

***

Day 161 of the ordeal.

As soon as he woke up, he made a mark on the wall and washed his face.

"I hope it was conveyed well."

Sejun thought about his family. He believed they would know he was alive once the magic cherry tomatoes became known outside.

He wanted to send money to show that he was doing well.

At that moment,

Buzz-buzz.

The venomous bees were busily flying around the tall corn.

"Huh?"

As Sejun approached, he noticed that the corn, which had grown tall like grass and hadn't attracted much attention, now had flowers blooming at the tips of the stalks.

The sprouts of the seed potatoes he bought from the seed shop were also coming up.

"Sorry, guys. I haven't been paying much attention to you lately."

Swish.

Sejun quickly washed his face and watered the corn and potato sprouts, apologizing to them.

Thanks to this, the rabbits also started working as soon as they woke up.

Out of 200 corn seeds, 139 had grown, and out of 400 seed potatoes, 282 had sprouted. The germination rate of the seeds from the seed shop seemed to be around 70%.

'I should keep an eye on them for a while.'

Sejun watered the growing corn and potatoes and prepared breakfast.

Today's breakfast was sun-dried sweet potato chips and carrots. He had flipped the sweet potato chips once before going to bed to ensure they dried well.

Sejun picked up a sweet potato chip to check if it was dry. The outside was well-dried and didn't stick to his fingers.

"Good."

Satisfied, Sejun put the sweet potato chip in his mouth.

Munch.

As soon as he chewed, the unique aroma of the sweet potato and the concentrated sweetness from the sun-drying process delighted his tongue.

And,

Chewy.

The chewy texture of the sweet potato chip added to the enjoyment of eating.

Crunch.

Squeak?

Chirp?

The rabbits, having finished their carrots, looked at Sejun with hopeful eyes, asking if they could have some.

Nod.

Sejun nodded, and the rabbits dashed towards the sweet potato chips.

Squeak!!

Chirp!!

Chirp!!

The rabbits started eating the sweet potato chips with a dazed expression, as if intoxicated by the intense sweetness.

[Tower Manager: Did you forget something?]

"Got it."

Sejun filled the bag of the cleansing apple he ate on the first day with sweet potato chips.

"Enjoy."

The bag of sweet potato chips disappeared.

[Tower Manager: The Tower Manager is pleased with the sweetness of the sweet potato chips.]

Sejun, having informed the rabbits and the Tower Manager about the taste of the sweet potato chips, started eating them himself. He had dried 40 sweet potatoes, and they would likely be gone by the end of the day.

After breakfast, Sejun took the carrot tops, about a finger's length, left by the rabbits and went to the field where he had harvested the sweet potatoes a few days ago.

The field had already been leveled by the black rabbit with a hammer, and two rabbits with shovels had prepared the ridges for planting new crops.

Sejun dug into the ridges and planted the carrot tops so that the stems wouldn't be buried in the soil.

[Carrot top planted.]

[Effect of Seed Planting Lv. 2: Increased probability of carrot roots growing.]

[Seed Planting Lv. 2 proficiency slightly increased.]

After discovering that carrot tops could sprout, Sejun banned the rabbits from eating them.

He planted 3-5 carrot tops left by the rabbits each day. He also prepared to save seeds by letting a few existing carrots flower.

When he planted the third carrot top,

[Seed Planting Lv. 2 proficiency slightly increased.]

[Seed Planting Lv. 2 proficiency filled, level increased.]

"Wow!"

The level of the Seed Planting skill increased. Farming is great. Hard work gradually accumulates and provides unexpected rewards.

Today started off fulfilling.

"Hum-hum-hum."

Sejun hummed a tune as he started harvesting the cherry tomatoes.

While harvesting the cherry tomatoes,

[1 mL of cherry tomato flower honey obtained.]

[Beeskeeping Lv. 2 proficiency slightly increased.]

[1 mL of cherry tomato flower honey obtained.]

[Beeskeeping Lv. 2 proficiency slightly increased.]

...

..

.

"Why no corn flower honey?"

The venomous bees were clearly busy with the corn flowers, but there was no message about obtaining corn flower honey.

"Do corn flowers not have honey?"

As Sejun pondered whether corn flowers had honey,

Chirp! Chirp!

The black rabbit approached proudly. What's up? I leveled up!

It seemed to have leveled up again by catching piranhas. At this rate, it was almost a piranha slayer.

"Huh?"

Sejun noticed a sweet potato chip stuck to the black rabbit's bottom, likely from eating earlier.

"Ha-ha-ha. Saving it for later?"

Sejun removed the sweet potato chip from the black rabbit's bottom.

Rip.

He felt something tear.

Chirp!

The black rabbit yelped, tears welling up in its eyes.

"Oops!"

Looking at the sweet potato chip in his hand, Sejun saw it was covered in black fur.

"Sorry."

Chirp!

The black rabbit, looking upset, lay on Sejun's lap. It was in pain, so please pat it.

"Got it."

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Sejun patted the black rabbit's plump bottom, taking a short break.

As he was about to get back to work,

Tap.

A venomous bee placed a yellow, candy-like object on Sejun's hand before entering the hive.

[10g of corn pollen obtained.]

[Beeskeeping Lv. 2 proficiency slightly increased.]

"Corn pollen?"

The venomous bees must have been collecting this pollen instead of honey from the corn flowers. Sejun examined the corn pollen in his hand and put it in his mouth.

Melt.

As soon as he put it in his mouth, the corn pollen dissolved like cotton candy.

"Sweet."

As Sejun smiled,

Tap. Tap. Tap.

[10g of corn pollen obtained.]

[Beeskeeping Lv. 2 proficiency slightly increased.]

...

..

.

The venomous bees placed more corn pollen on Sejun's palm before returning to the hive.

Soon, 15 clumps of corn pollen were piled up in Sejun's hand.

"Hmm."

As Sejun put another clump of corn pollen in his mouth to savor it,

"I'm back, meow!"

Theo returned after completing his third full sale and running errands for Sejun.