Chapter 39 of 100

Chapter 39. Turning the Toubeluk

8 min read1,885 words

Ucheonsam, where are you going?

Ucheonsa, a colleague, asked Ucheonsam, who had been waking up early every day for three days and heading to the wasteland.

"To get some delicious food!"

Ucheonsam replied cheerfully. He was very happy that he could eat grass for lunch every day now. Ucheonsam had completely forgotten about the debt repayment and the orders from Uma-oh.

"Delicious food?!"

"Yeah! If you flip the soil with your horns and cover it again, you'll get food."

"I want to eat too! I'll go too!"

Ucheonsa got up excitedly.

"Sure! Let's go together!"

Ucheonsam took the new worker Ucheonsa and went to Sejun's cave.

***

"Kueong!"

Sejun woke up to the cry of a baby bear.

And

Swish.

He drew a line on the cave wall, marking the start of the 195th day of his ordeal.

As Sejun climbed up the rope to the ground to give instructions to the Black Minotaur Ucheonsam for the morning,

"Huh?!"

Mmm!

Two Black Minotaurs were waiting for Sejun. There was one more. Sejun could distinguish between them because of the different patterns on their shoulders.

While Sejun was thinking about the situation,

Bow.

The Black Minotaur who came with Ucheonsam bowed to Sejun.

Mmm!

"Ucheonsam is asking if his colleague Ucheonsa can also work here and eat food," Theo, hanging on Sejun's leg, translated Ucheonsam's words.

"Sure. I can provide food, but I can't pay a wage. Ask if he still wants to do it."

"Got it."

Theo relayed Sejun's words to Ucheonsa. Since Sejun didn't need to pay money and there was no immediate urgency to create more fields, he saw no reason to hire an additional Black Minotaur.

Mmm!

Since Ucheonsa had come to eat, he nodded eagerly and accepted. Thus, the two Black Minotaurs started turning the soil diligently.

Rumble.

Sejun came down to the cave, listening to the sound of the two Black Minotaurs turning the soil. He decided to divide and plant the roots of the leeks that had been neglected.

To prevent moisture from evaporating, he needed to cover the ground fields, and to feed the two massive workers, he needed to increase the production of leek leaves.

Until now, the leek leaves had always been abundant, so he hadn't increased them, but leeks grow more roots the more they are cut. Leeks could be multiplied as much as he wanted.

Sejun started by separating the roots of the leeks he had planted first when he was stranded. The leek roots had grown as thick as a tumbler, and there were nearly 30 of them.

Sejun took the leek roots he had separated and went up to the ground, where he planted them in the soil that Ucheonsam had turned and covered the day before.

The reason he planted the leeks on the ground was to eliminate the need to carry the leek leaves up from the cave.

After planting the leek roots, the leek field on the ground became about 20 times larger than the one in the cave.

[Created a 200-pyeong leek field.]

[Received 200 experience points.]

If he continued to divide and plant the roots as they grew, the leek field would soon be several times larger.

There was just one problem to solve.

Shhh.

Sejun looked at the watering can rabbits watering the leek field. The number of watering cans was limited, so they couldn't water all the crops.

Currently, Sejun was solving this by fetching pond water to water part of the cave field, but that also had its limits.

While Sejun was pondering how to solve the water problem,

Puff.

The male rabbit's body glowed brightly. Like the black rabbit's hammer, the male rabbit's watering can changed, and the part that held water became larger.

"Second awakening."

Second awakening was a term Sejun used to distinguish when rabbits leveled up and their equipment also grew. A rabbit that had undergone second awakening became significantly more capable.

Beep...

The male rabbit, having completed his second awakening, looked proudly at his changed watering can.

"How's it? The water capacity increased a lot, right?"

Sejun asked with anticipation.

Beep!

The male rabbit nodded vigorously and held up two fingers. Twice as much!

"Wow!"

With the male rabbit's second awakening, the water shortage problem was solved for the time being. This allowed Sejun's farm to grow even more.

***

Day 197 of the ordeal.

"Let's eat!"

Today, the baby rabbits came up to the ground for the first time to eat together.

After the meal,

Kueong!

Kueong seemed happy to meet the younger baby rabbits and approached them first to greet them.

Squeak!

The baby rabbits, unafraid of Kueong's massive size, approached him and started playing together.

Kueong!

Kueong, wanting to teach the baby rabbits what he knew, took them to the field and taught them how to plant. "Plant it here, and it will grow more later."

"Teaching planting to the white rabbits with the farmer's blood in them."

Sejun watched Kueong and the baby rabbits with interest while drinking coffee. Of course, Theo and the black rabbit were napping on Sejun's lap while he drank coffee.

Squeak?

One of the baby rabbits, having listened to Kueong, took out a dried sweet potato from a leather bag and planted it in the ground.

Kueong!

Kueong laughed at the baby rabbit. It seemed he had forgotten that he had once planted sweet potatoes and piranhas.

While they were enjoying this peaceful break,

Buzz buzz.

The sound of baby venomous bees' wings was heard.

"Huh?"

Sejun looked puzzled. Venomous bees don't usually let their babies out of the cave because it's dangerous. What's going on?

When Sejun looked in the direction of the sound,

Buzz buzz.

Seven baby venomous bees were flying around the beehive built on a rock. The second beehive had finally produced its first baby venomous bees.

Sejun put the sleeping black rabbit and Theo on the ground and approached the baby venomous bees.

Buzz buzz.

Thanks to being recognized as the owner of the venomous bee queen, the baby venomous bees approached Sejun without hesitation and showed affection.

"Kids, let's go get some delicious food."

Sejun led the baby venomous bees down to the cave and took them to a place with flowers to let them suck nectar.

Buzz buzz.

The existing venomous bees, initially wary of the new bees, relaxed and resumed sucking nectar when they saw Sejun with them.

Thus, the baby venomous bees from the second beehive settled in. The honey production would increase, and Sejun would finally have a way to expand his activity area.

Sejun started turning the beehive Toubeluk smoothly.

In the afternoon, he cut leek leaves to cover the fields and went down to the cave to start harvesting cherry tomatoes.

While Sejun was harvesting the cherry tomatoes,

[Harvested 8 ripe magical cherry tomatoes simultaneously.]

[Job experience increased slightly.]

[Harvesting skill level 4 proficiency increased slightly.]

[Proficiency increase level 1 effect: Harvesting skill level 4 proficiency increased by 5%.]

[Received 176 experience points.]

[Leveled up.]

[Received 1 bonus stat.]

Sejun's level increased to 17. Since he hadn't lacked strength or stamina so far, he invested the bonus stat in agility to increase his work speed.

In the evening,

Roar.

The mother Crimson Giant Bear came to pick up the baby bear,

Mmm!

And the two Black Minotaurs also finished their work.

"Mr. Tae, isn't it time to go down for trading?"

Sejun stroked Theo's head, which was on his lap after dinner. He would have let Theo play for a few more days, but it was time to send a message to his family.

"I want to go down, but I can't!"

"What do you mean?"

"On the way here..."

Theo told him about being attacked by wolves.

"The wolves asked about the straw hat and tried to eat me."

"This straw hat?"

Are there other people farming in other layers? Sejun touched the straw hat he was wearing and asked. It was a relic with good effects, but it had options that were only useful for farmers.

"Yes! That's why I can't go down!"

"Don't worry. How dare they target our Mr. Tae! I'll take care of it."

How dare they target Theo's life! Sejun thought of a strong solution, enraged.

"How, exactly?"

"We have Ucheonsam. Mr. Tae, can you hire a free mercenary?"

"I can!"

"Hire Ucheonsam as a free mercenary to go down and come back."

A mercenary hired by a wandering merchant can use the merchant passage while hired as a free mercenary.

Sejun would also like to go down the tower as a free mercenary, but one condition made it impossible.

The condition was to be born in the tower. There was no other way except to be reborn. He later found out that this was also true for wandering merchants.

Wandering merchants, free mercenaries, and a few other professions were only allowed for those born in the tower.

"Right! If the wolves attack this time, Ucheonsam and I will teach them a lesson!"

Theo gained courage from Sejun's words.

Gurgle.

Thus, Theo decided to go down the tower with Ucheonsam the next day and fell asleep on Sejun's stomach.

***

The next morning.

Sejun proposed to Ucheonsam that if he worked as a free mercenary to protect Theo, he would reduce his debt by three times the daily wage, 3 tower coins.

However,

Mmm!

Ucheonsam shook his head and refused.

"Why? I'll triple your daily wage?!"

Mmm!

"He says he doesn't want to leave because he can't eat if he does," Theo translated.

"What?!"

To Ucheonsam, food was more important than debt reduction.

"Alright. Then I'll provide three meals a day."

When Sejun promised to provide three meals a day,

Mmm!

Ucheonsa, who had been listening, raised his hand. "I'll go too! I need a job that provides three meals a day."

"Um... Sure. Then I'll give you 3 tower coins and provide three meals a day as well?"

Sejun thought that with two Black Minotaurs, one could fight while the other protected Theo, ensuring his safety.

Mmm. Mmm.

Ucheonsa shook his head. He didn't need money, just food.

"Alright."

Sejun quickly started cutting leek leaves to prepare 10 days' worth of food for the two Black Minotaurs.

"No, I need 15 days' worth."

Sejun added 50% more leek leaves to Theo's backpack.

If the trip took longer due to unforeseen circumstances, the leek leaves might run out, and the hungry Ucheonsam and Ucheonsa might eat Theo.

"Then we have a problem. Should I get a contract that they won't eat Theo?"

While Sejun was thinking about this, 15 days' worth of leek leaves for the two Black Minotaurs were packed into Theo's backpack.

It was a huge amount, but it only took up a third of Theo's backpack.

"Wow! It fits a lot?"

"Yes, because I'm now a mid-level wandering merchant!"

Theo said proudly. If Theo hadn't upgraded to a mid-level wandering merchant, increasing his backpack capacity, they would have only taken leek leaves for the trip.

"Be careful and come back safely!"

"Sure, I'll be back!"

On the 198th day of the ordeal, Theo, with Sejun's farewell, went down the tower with the two Black Minotaurs.