TL: Hanguk
“Huh?! A wandering merchant!”
“Oh my! It’s a cat!”
“A cat wandering merchant?!”
“Let’s see what it’s selling.”
The hunters approached Theo with interest.
“Huh? Cherry tomatoes?”
The approaching hunters were disappointed to see the cherry tomatoes piled up on Theo’s mat. They had expected weapons or mysterious potions from a wandering merchant, so it was understandable that they were disappointed with the cherry tomatoes, which they could eat outside.
“Foolish humans, I knew you’d think that way, meow. These are not the cherry tomatoes you know.”
Sejun had learned that Theo was good at following instructions when he sold items like tumblers, so he had given very detailed instructions.
“Different?”
“That’s right, meow. Check the options once, meow.”
As instructed by Sejun, Theo emphasized that the cherry tomatoes were items.
“Options?!”
“These were items?”
The hunters began to check the options of the cherry tomatoes.
“Magical Cherry tomatoes?”
“0.1 increase in magic power for 10 minutes?”
“It’s too low.”
As expected, the male hunters’ reactions were not so good. Their levels ranged from 45 to 48. At their level, with equipment options included, a 0.1 magic power boost was insignificant.
However,
“Just by eating this, it breaks down 10g of fat?”
“Is this really possible?”
The female hunters’ reactions were different. They immediately recognized the true value of the product. Countless women wanted to maintain their figures while eating delicious food outside.
And, above all, the options written on the items do not lie.
“How much is this?!”
Jessica, one of the female hunters, excitedly asked for the price of the cherry tomatoes. As soon as she saw them, she thought of her younger sister Anna.
Anna had undergone gastric bypass surgery due to morbid obesity, but her weight had risen to 120kg again since last year due to depression and binge eating.
The magical cherry tomatoes felt like a ray of hope to Jessica, who had been worried about Anna’s health lately.
“Each magical cherry tomato is 0.05 Tower Coins, meow.”
“What?!”
The other hunters were surprised by Theo’s words. The price of one cherry tomato was outrageously expensive.
“I’ll buy half of what’s here.”
“Huh?! Really, meow?! Half is 500, meow!”
Theo was surprised by Jessica’s words. 500 meant 25 Tower Coins. It far exceeded the 5 Tower Coins in sales from the contract. That meant Theo would have to sell Sejun’s crops forever.
“Yeah. I’ll buy 500. Here’s 25 Tower Coins.”
Jessica handed over the money. Compared to the cost she had already spent on Anna’s treatment, it wasn’t a huge amount.
“Wh… why don’t you think about it again, meow? Human, you’re making an impulse purchase, meow.”
Theo tried to dissuade Jessica from buying, not accepting her money, in an attempt to break the lifelong contract.
However, it backfired.
‘She’s buying 500, and he’s trying to dissuade her?’
‘Isn’t there something wrong about this?’
“How many should I buy to give to my girlfriend?”
Seeing Theo’s reluctant attitude to sell, the hunters became even more curious.
“I’ll take 100.”
“I want 50.”
“Me too, 50!”
The hunters began to competitively buy the cherry tomatoes. Although the price of one cherry tomato was expensive, it wasn’t a lot of money for elite hunters like them.
The amount of tower coins could be earned in just a few days of hunting. They were willing to pay enough to satisfy their curiosity.
As soon as their break was over, the hunters went back to hunting spider monsters.
“How… how can this be…”
Theo sobbed as he looked at the empty mat.
“Wow… it’s sold out, meow.”
The first-ever sellout in cat life. The legend of Theo, the cat wandering merchant, was beginning.
****
Day 134 of being stranded.
“Alright!”
Sejun woke up energetically again today.
Every time he leveled up, he increased his strength and stamina with bonus stats. His body condition was already good, but now he was full of energy every morning. On top of that, the farmer’s job trait of not getting sick was surprisingly good.
Swoosh.
Sejun went to the wall and drew a line on it as he started his day.
Peep!
Beep!
Brrra!
Bang!
The white rabbits and the black rabbit woke up and greeted Sejun in the morning.
“Right. Good morning.”
The rabbits who greeted him each began their own tasks. Sejun also washed his face in a small pond and started harvesting cherry tomatoes.
Tap. Tap.
[You have harvested a well-ripened Magical Cherry Tomato.]
[Your job experience has increased very slightly.]
[The proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 2 has increased very slightly.]
[You gained 10 experience points.]
…
..
.
While he was harvesting cherry tomatoes,
[You have leveled up.]
[You have gained 1 bonus stat.]
It had been a while since he reached level 10. Sejun increased his strength with the bonus stat.
“He must be doing well, right?”
Sejun thought of Theo. He must have met the hunters by now.
“How many would he sell and come back?”
He didn’t even expect a sellout. He was worried about whether the young and naive guy could sell properly.
“But I taught him the secret techniques. He would at least sell half, right?”
Sejun had taught him the secret techniques of free samples and cat cuddle service. However, Sejun never imagined that the cherry tomatoes would sell out within a few minutes before Theo even used the secret techniques.
“When the cherry tomatoes start selling, my name will become known, right? Hehehe.”
Sejun felt proud that his name was attached to the crops being sold.
Then,
Buzz.
A poison honeybee flew in through the hole in the cave ceiling.
“You’re here?”
Rub rub
Today, the poison honeybee rubbed its body against Sejun’s face, showing affection while marking its attendance.
And then,
Buzz.
It flew to the cherry tomato field to suck nectar.
And after some time passed,
Peep!
The wife rabbit began putting dried leaves on the fire. Before he knew it, it was lunchtime. Harvesting cherry tomatoes and helping the rabbits water the fields made time fly by.
Bang! Bang!
The black rabbit, who was practicing hitting the wall with a hammer, called out to Sejun. It was the time of day when the black rabbit could be the most active, so it always looked forward to piranha hunting time.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Sejun hurried to the pond and waved the torches left and right.
Splash!
Plop!
A clean hammer blow. Now, the black rabbit hunted piranhas very skillfully.
When they had caught 5 piranhas, the black rabbit’s body shone for a moment.
“Huh?! Did you level up?
Nod nod.
The black rabbit nodded its head vigorously.
Sejun had seen the white rabbits leveling up while doing farm work a few times, but this was the first time he had seen the black rabbit level up.
“Congratulations on leveling up.”
Brrra!
The black rabbit looked at Sejun proudly. Aren’t I awesome?
The black rabbit seemed excessively excited after leveling up, which made Sejun a little worried. He wondered if it would soon try to catch piranhas in the water.
In the meantime, the black rabbit ran to another white rabbit and loudly announced its level up news.
Peep!
Beep!
Brrra!
The white rabbits congratulated the black rabbit.
Thanks to that, lunch was a bit noisy. While the rabbits were chatting, Sejun quietly finished his lunch of grilled fish and roasted green onions. Lately, Sejun had developed an indulgence after lunch.
“Hehehe. Time for coffee.”
Sejun got up from his seat and picked up the tumbler he had placed on his designated seat with a light step.
When he opened the tumbler to use as a cup after Theo left,
“Coffee!”
There were 10 packs of coffee inside the tumbler. It seemed that neither the selling merchant nor Theo had opened the tumbler.
It was a tremendous find. If Theo had sold coffee instead of the tumbler, Sejun would have paid for it.
Seojun took the tumbler to a small pond and filled it with about a quarter of water.
Tap. Tap.
He held the end of the Kanu (coffee stick) and lightly flicked it with his index finger to remove the residue. He couldn’t afford to miss a single coffee granule. After preparing the coffee, he tore the opening of the Kanu coffee sachet and poured it into the tumbler.
Then,
Shake it, shake it.
He closed the lid and shook it to dissolve the coffee granules.
Click.
Slurp.
Seojun took a sip of the coffee.
Swoosh.
The bitterness of the coffee and the fishy smell of the grilled fish with the sweetness of the green onion were washed away cleanly.
“Ah, indeed, coffee is perfect after a meal.”
Although he couldn’t make a hot coffee without boiling water or iced coffee without ice, the coffee made with cool pond water wasn’t bad.
Moreover,
Drip.
Seojun poured a little honey he had collected in his water bottle.
“Ah, this is good.”
The harmony of bitterness and sweetness created a new flavor.
The rabbits shook their heads as if they couldn’t understand Seojun smiling while drinking coffee. He gave them a little coffee on the first day, and they shuddered after tasting it. The coffee with honey was the same. Rabbit’s tongues seemed to be more sensitive to the bitterness of coffee.
Seojun, who had properly enjoyed coffee as dessert, began his afternoon farming.
“Hehehe.”
Seojun hummed as he harvested cherry tomatoes and watered the fields. Just a cup of coffee at lunch made the afternoon enjoyable.
He ended the day in a good mood.
Squeak!
Squeak!
The rabbits said goodbye to Seojun and went into their burrow to prepare for sleep.
“Goodnight!”
Seojun also said goodbye to the rabbits and went to his sleeping place, making a bed by tapping the ground.
Then,
Buzz.
The poison bee flew busily around the cave ceiling.
“Are you still not leaving?”
Lately, the poison bee had been coming early and leaving late, but it was the first time it hadn’t returned at this time.
“Go and sleep quickly.”
Buzz.
The poison bee ignored Seojun’s words and continued to fly around diligently.
“Fine. I’ll sleep. See you tomorrow.”
Snore.
Seojun fell asleep as soon as his head touched the dirt pillow.
Buzz.
The poison bee busily created something on the cave ceiling.
******
“Why isn’t he coming?”
Skaram, the goblin traveling merchant who had scammed Theo, waited for Theo to return. He was sure that Theo wouldn’t have been able to sell the item and would return disappointed.
‘And I’ll comfort the disappointed guy, telling him there’s a bigger opportunity, and lend him money.’
From then on, the guy would become his slave, working for him for a lifetime to pay off the ever-growing interest, let alone the principal.
“Hehehe. It’s been a long time since I last caught a real sucker.”
Skaram grinned maliciously.
As he waited for Theo, Skaram went to the bulletin board displaying the sales rankings of traveling merchants. Checking his ranking once a day and feeling proud was one of the joys in his life.
[Traveling Merchant Sales Rankings]
…
..
.
999th place – Skaram [45.2 Tower Coins] 1UP
“Hehehe. I finally made it into the top 1000.”
He had moved up one step from the 1000th place to the 999th. It was a ranking barely achieved by beating many rookie traveling merchants.
Skaram, who had checked his ranking, began to look over the names of the merchants with higher rankings than his, starting from the bottom. They were the ones he would eventually have to step on and surpass.
At that moment, Skaram’s gaze stopped as it slightly moved upwards.
“Huh?!”
A name that he never expected to see in the Rankings caught his eye.
982nd place – Theo [50 Tower Coins] NEW!
“How could this happen? He definitely couldn’t have sold it…”
Skaram muttered as if he couldn’t understand.
*****
Buzz.
Seojun woke up to the sound of the poison bee’s wings. The poison bee was still busily flying around the ceiling until morning.
Then,
“Huh? A beehive?”
A small beehive caught Seojun’s eye. It seemed that the poison bee had been working diligently since yesterday to make this.
“Did you move in?”
Buzz.
Rub, rub.
In response to Seojun’s question, the poison bee moved up and down three times and then rubbed its body against Seojun’s face as if to say, “Please take good care of me.”
On the 135th day of being stranded, the poison bee became independent and moved into Seojun’s cave.
****
TL Note: I plan on releasing 2 more chapters in a few hours, so stay tuned.
