Chapter 58 of 100
Chapter 58: Securing a Supply Contract
8 min read2,001 words
Chapter 58: Securing a Supply Contract
[1,003,781 Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the tower have been eliminated.]
[6,038,810,191 Red Locusts remain on the 67th floor of the tower.]
[The number of Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the tower has increased by 7 compared to an hour ago.]
"Phew."
Aileen sighed in relief as she read the notifications from the crystal orb. She was relieved because the rapid increase in the number of Red Locusts had almost stopped.
"Hehe. It's all thanks to that clever human. When Grandpa comes, I should tell him to give the clever human a reward."
Aileen, who lacked mana, could only see up to the 99th floor through the crystal orb. Therefore, she couldn't know what was happening on the 67th floor of the tower.
However, even without seeing, Aileen knew that Sejun had played a significant role in the elimination of Red Locusts on the 67th floor.
[Red Locust Elimination Contribution on the 67th Floor of the Tower]
1st - Park Sejun (303,113 Red Locusts)
2nd - Iona (123,812 Red Locusts)
3rd - Lizardman Warrior Tamuro (11,929 Red Locusts)
...
..
.
This was due to the contribution rankings displayed on the crystal orb. Thanks to this, Aileen's gloominess disappeared.
Rumble.
Instead, hunger crept up on her.
"Hehe. I should ask the clever human for something to eat."
Today, she was craving something sweet.
***
Day 228 of the Stranding, afternoon.
Crack. Crack.
Gweungyi broke off the sturdy blade leek leaves with its strong blade.
"You're doing well, Gweungyi. Well done. Well done."
Sejun clapped and praised Gweungyi.
Gweung! Gweung!
Pleased, Gweungyi wagged its bottom and started singing and dancing to its own rhythm.
Then,
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The black rabbit, excited by Gweungyi's dance, started creating dissonance by beating its hammer to the beat.
At that moment,
[The tower's manager says they want to eat sweet roasted sweet potato chips.]
"Can't you see that we're working to handle the Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the tower instead of you?"
Gweungyi and the black rabbit were in rhythm, and Sejun had only clapped for Gweungyi, but he confidently said,
[The tower's manager says they know about your contributions.]
[The tower's manager says you will receive a reward when the Red Locusts on the 67th floor of the tower are eliminated.]
"Reward? What kind of reward?"
[The tower's manager says the better your contribution to eliminating the Red Locusts, the better the reward, and encourages you to work hard.]
"There was a reward?"
You should have said so earlier. Sejun quickly took out the roasted sweet potato chips.
"Aileen, give me a quest."
After giving the roasted sweet potato chips to Aileen, Sejun thought about ways to increase his contribution on the 67th floor of the tower while cutting the leek leaves.
At that moment,
"Sir Sejun, I'm back."
Elka and the wolves who had delivered the sturdy blade leek leaves to the 67th floor of the tower arrived.
Iona, thinking that the urgent situation was under control with the defense line set up at the waypoint on the 67th floor of the tower, was about to return to her magic tower.
So she asked Sejun for permission to transport the sturdy blade leek leaves through the traveling merchant guild in her place.
"Transport? We can do it."
Instead, Sejun asked for the cost and had the wolves deliver the blade leek leaves to the 67th floor of the tower. Of course, he also received payment for the sturdy blade leek leaves. He had secured a supply contract for the blade leek leaves.
In return for delivering the sturdy blade leek leaves to the 67th floor of the tower, he received 2.5 tower coins per leaf, including the transportation cost. Compared to the effect of eliminating Red Locusts, it was a very cheap price. However, there was a reason.
The sturdy blade leek leaves would wither 3 to 5 days after being cut, making them a consumable item. Thanks to this, Sejun could steadily sell the sturdy blade leek leaves for 2.5 tower coins each, which wasn't bad.
"Here's the payment."
Elka took out a money pouch from her fluffy fur with her front paw. The money pouch contained 75 tower coins, the price for 30 sturdy blade leek leaves.
Compared to the money Theo was earning, it was very small, but if the harvest of sturdy blade leek leaves gradually increased, it had the potential to become another source of income for Sejun.
"Good job, Elka."
"Yes, I'll go back down now."
The wolves, carrying 200 blade leek leaves that Gweungyi had cut, went back down to the 67th floor of the tower. Meanwhile, the production of blade leek leaves had increased several times by dividing and planting the roots of the sturdy blade leek.
At that moment,
[Your crops have eliminated pests.]
[You have gained 1 experience point.]
...
..
.
A message appeared indicating that pests had been eliminated. It seemed that the Red Locusts had attacked again.
Recently, Sejun had leveled up to level 20 and received a job quest as the experience points from harvesting crops and eliminating pests added up.
[Job Quest: Harvest 1,000 crops.]
Reward: Level 21, 50 tower coins.
It was an easy quest, so Sejun completed it in two days by harvesting cherry tomatoes and continued to gain experience points.
Then,
[You have leveled up.]
[You have gained 1 bonus stat point.]
He leveled up again to level 21. This time, he increased his mana with the bonus stat point.
***
West of Sejun's cave.
Roar.
The mother Crimson Giant Bear was patrolling.
At that moment,
Rustle. Rustle.
The mother Crimson Giant Bear heard the movement of an intruder.
Rustle. Rustle.
A tree about 10 meters tall was moving its roots and walking. Such a large creature usually stayed deep in the west, but today it had revealed itself.
Roar!
Crack.
The tree branches tried to bind the mother Crimson Giant Bear, but it didn't hinder her movement at all.
Bang!
Crack.
The mother Crimson Giant Bear embedded her front paws into the tree trunk and split it in two.
Crack.
The tree monster died, and the mother Crimson Giant Bear broke off the hardened branches and ate the tree trunk and roots on the spot.
Then,
Thud. Thud.
She carried a few branches and brought them to Sejun's cave.
***
At the headquarters of Gagel's Tower Farm Project on the 1st floor of the tower.
"Are these cherry tomatoes?"
Michael, who had rushed over after receiving a report from the research team leader Thomas, asked while looking at the cherry tomato branches that were moving and wriggling. There were no fruits.
"Yes, Vice President. It seems to have undergone a mutation due to the growth accelerator."
"Mutation? You should have quickly disposed of it! Why are you still growing it?!"
Michael shouted. It was understandable. If it became known that Gagel had created such a strange thing, it would not be good for the company's image.
"We were planning to do that, but..."
"But?"
"While removing the plant, we discovered something good. Cut the bottom part of the cherry tomato and see."
Thomas handed Michael a sword.
"What for..."
Swoosh.
Michael, with an annoyed expression, cut the bottom part of the cherry tomato.
[You have eliminated a contaminated cherry tomato.]
[You have gained 29 experience points.]
"What?"
Swoosh. Swoosh.
[You have eliminated a contaminated cherry tomato.]
[You have gained 27 experience points.]
[You have eliminated a contaminated cherry tomato.]
[You have gained 33 experience points.]
...
..
.
Michael, in disbelief, cut a few more cherry tomato trees.
"The tree gives experience points?"
"Yes, when we eliminate the plants we grow, we can gain experience points. Moreover..."
Thomas brought over a pot with a small sprout.
"It can reproduce on its own."
"Really?"
"Yes. It needs food, but it's true."
With Thomas's answer, a good idea came to Michael's mind.
"Good. Plant all these trees on the land we secured on the 2nd floor of the tower."
"Understood."
***
Day 230 of the Stranding.
Finally, Sejun's brick house with a room and a kitchen was completed. There were no pieces of furniture yet.
"Now I can sleep alone."
Sejun temporarily made a bed with leek leaves and a blanket in the room he would use as a bedroom.
At that moment,
"Huh?"
He noticed a wooden box the size of an apple box with a door in the corner of the bedroom.
"What's this?"
Click.
When he opened the door,
Thump! Thump!
The black rabbit, who was organizing its belongings, got angry at Sejun for opening the door without knocking.
"Sorry."
Sejun quickly closed the door.
Then,
"Huh?"
He recalled the inside of the black rabbit's house. What was it?
There was not a single chair in Sejun's house yet, but the black rabbit's house already had a bed, a dining table, and chairs.
Just as Sejun was thinking he needed to urge the gray rabbit to make wooden crafts,
"Is this the bedroom? It's shabby, but I'll live here! I'm a generous Theo, so I'll let you stay! Hehe."
Theo, using a Theo time ticket, entered with Gweungyi and lay down on Sejun's bed as if it were his own.
"Gweungyi, when you come up here, shake off your feet first."
Acting like the owner, Theo even gave Gweungyi a warning.
Gweung!
Tap tap.
In response to Theo's words, Gweungyi shook off the dirt from its feet and lay down on Sejun's blanket.
The blanket that Sejun had just cleaned and brought in from outside was soon covered in dirt thanks to Theo and Gweungyi. Sejun needed to have the gray rabbit make a brush out of wood before getting furniture.
Giving up on sleeping alone, Sejun left the bedroom and went to the kitchen.
The kitchen was built in a somewhat modern style. It had an island brick table for preparing ingredients and eating, and a four-burner brick stove that could control the fire separately.
"Good."
After looking at the kitchen with satisfaction, Sejun went outside to start working again.
"Where are you going?"
Thump?
Gweung?
Theo, the black rabbit, and Gweungyi also came out and followed Sejun closely. They seemed more excited than usual today.
While Sejun was working on farming with the three of them following closely, Elka, who had delivered the blade leaves to the 67th floor of the tower, approached.
"Sir Sejun, I'm back. Here's the payment."
Elka handed the money pouch to Sejun.
"Good job."
"Also, the lizardmen on the 67th floor of the tower want us to handle the Red Locust corpses. Can our Silver Wolf tribe take on this task?"
"Handle the corpses?"
"Yes. The lizardmen are having trouble with the large number of Red Locust corpses. Of course, we will give the profits to you, Sir Sejun."
With the blade leaves, the number of Red Locusts being killed far exceeded the speed at which the lizardmen could eat them. The problem was that the Red Locusts were eating the corpses again.
If the lizardmen couldn't handle the overwhelming number of Red Locust corpses, the Red Locusts would eat their fallen comrades and lay eggs, so it was necessary to handle them quickly.
So, the lizardmen, hoping for the best, proposed a deal to Elka, who was eating the Red Locust corpses deliciously every time they went to the 67th floor of the tower, offering 0.01 tower coins for every 100 kg of corpses eliminated.
It was a win-win deal. Elka was planning to bring all the Silver Wolves to the 67th floor of the tower if Sejun allowed it.
"Of course, it's fine."
Sejun was thinking that with the increased harvest of blade leaves, three wolves were not enough, and he welcomed the idea of involving more wolves.
Thus, the Silver Wolves set off to the 67th floor of the tower to supplement their protein.