Within the Black Tower, numerous merchant passages and Lindgens were installed.
“Burp. What’s this? Why does my stomach feel so bloated?”
Amidst all this, a fragment of Jǫrmungandr, hidden in the shadows, spoke. The reason for its discomfort was that Theo and Uren’s caravan had not yet been digested.
“Seems like they’re tough ones. Well, it doesn’t matter; they can’t escape from inside me anyway.”
Squeeze.
Having finished speaking, the fragment of Jǫrmungandr bit its own tail again and hid itself more deeply.
***
“Yes! Of course! I’m overflowing with money!”
Uren naively answered Theo’s question. Theo was certain now. This pink pig was a pushover, meow! Why ask for help if it’s just about following the path? I’ll save him and get a lot of money, meow!
“Puhuhut. Just follow me, meow!”
Thinking he had found an gullible target, Theo happily led the way.
A short while later,
Sssss. Sssss.
The white snakes appeared again.
“Stay back, you guys, meow! Meow-meow Storm Fist!”
Theo stopped the caravan guards from intervening and dealt with the snakes himself. I can’t share these coins, meow! Puhuhut. All these coins are mine, meow!
After defeating all the snakes,
“My slave, Gaeron, come out, meow!”
-Did you call me, Master?!
“Right, meow! Gaeron, just quietly pick up the coins, meow!”
-Yes!
Theo summoned Gaeron to collect the coins.
Several hours later.
“Meow?! Why isn’t the exit of the 70th floor of the Tower appearing, meow?”
After battling snakes and moving for quite some time, Theo finally realized something was amiss. He should have reached the 70th floor of the Tower long ago.
Then,
“Lord Theo, didn’t you know? This path is endless. We’ve been walking in the same place all along.”
Uren, who had been trapped for several days, informed Theo of what he had discovered earlier.
“Meow?! Does that mean we can’t get out of here, meow?!”
“Yes. We had no way out, so we requested your help, Lord Theo.”
“…Meow?!”
Shocked by Uren’s words, Theo panicked. Does that mean I can’t go back to Chairman Park’s lap, meow?! That can’t happen, meow! I must return to Chairman Park’s lap quickly, meow!!!
The idea of being separated from Sejun’s lap was unthinkable for Theo, who was fanatically obsessed with it. Nobody can come between Chairman Park’s lap and me, meow!
“Uren, give me the money, meow!”
Theo extended his front paw confidently, asking for the money he had been promised by Uren.
“What?! Oh. Yes, I can give you as much money as you want, but… why?”
“Just give it, meow!”
“Alright.”
Uren handed over his money pouch to Theo.
And then,
Flash!
Receiving the money pouch, Theo began burning Uren’s money and started shining in a golden light.
***
“Ugh.”
Sejun woke up in bed, got up, and looked at his knee.
“He’s still not back… Theo, what trouble are you causing now?”
Worried that Theo, who usually returned by dawn, had still not come back, Sejun wondered if Theo had gotten into some trouble.
But then,
“No. That doesn’t feel right…”
Sejun’s intuition told him something had happened to Theo.
“Golden Bat, go to Iona and ask her to look for Theo.”
(Yes!)
After sending the Golden Bat to Iona, Sejun got up, marked the date on his bedroom wall, and began his 350th day of being stranded, starting with the morning.
“I’ll make Samyangju and rice noodle dough in the morning, and in the evening, I’ll make rice noodles with Cuengi.”
Checking his plans for the day, Sejun headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.
Then,
“Huh?!”
Sejun spotted a bunch of grapes of an unusual color in the cherry tomato field. They were purple grapes, growing on a grapevine grafted onto a cherry tomato plant.
There hung a bunch of grapes, each as big as a cherry tomato.
“Wow! They look delicious!”
The grapes appeared luscious, with a pleasant aroma and large size.
Snap.
As Sejun picked the bunch of grapes,
[You have harvested 15 Large Seedless Grapes for Beginners.]
[Your job experience has slightly increased.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 7 has slightly increased.]
[You have gained 1050 experience points.]
A harvesting message appeared.
“Seems like a failure by the name of it…”
Sejun sensed a failure but still decided to check the grape fruit, hoping for a positive outcome.
[ Large Seedless Grapes for Beginners]
→ These are grapes grown from a seedless grapevine branch modified to strengthen the body of a beginner, grafted onto a cherry tomato. The size of the grapes has increased due to the influence of the cherry tomato.
→ Eating one grape increases all stats by 1.
→ Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
→ Expiration Date: 150 days
→ Grade: A
“Hmm… it’s a failure.”
It was indeed a failure. Aside from the description of the grapes being enlarged due to the cherry tomato graft, there was no significant change.
“Well, since it increases stats, I might as well eat it.”
Sejun grimaced as he ate all 15 bitter grapes. Had Theo seen him, he would have said his face looked ugly again and called for Theo’s massage.
[You have consumed Seedless Large Grapes for Beginners.]
[All stats have increased by 1.]
…
“Euh-eup! I will definitely make proper grapes!”
After finishing all 15 grapes, Sejun, still struggling with the lingering bitter taste, resolved with determination.
Despite the unpleasant taste, all stats increased by 15 points was, at least, a consolation to him.
Thus, Sejun, having eaten the grapes grafted onto cherry tomatoes, set out to check other crops he had grafted grapevines onto.
But,
“There are no fruits.”
Most of the attempts were failures.
“Now I just need to check the ones in the kudzu field. Toryong!”
Sejun decided to head to the western forest where the kudzu field was located, riding on Toryong to check his final grafted grapevine.
***
Sniff sniff.
Kuehehe, Krueng!
[Hehehe, it smells good!]
While digging herbs and taking a break, Cuengi followed a delicious scent and discovered a bunch of grapes on a grapevine branch grafted onto kudzu.
Krueng!
[Cuengi should bring these to dad to eat together!]
As Cuengi was about to pick the grapes with the intention of sharing them with Sejun,
“Hold it right there. Cuengi, I got you now! You were going to eat them alone again, weren’t you?”
Sejun, having arrived at the kudzu field, caught Cuengi red-handed trying to pick the grapes. How long has it been since you were caught eating alone, and here you are eating alone again?! You’re really a habitual offender!
Krueng! Krueng!
[No, it’s not like that!]
Cuengi protested in response to Sejun’s accusation.
“Really?”
Krueng! Krueng!
[Yes! Cuengi was going to bring these to dad to eat together!]
Sejun decided to trust Cuengi’s response. After all, Cuengi might eat secretly but wouldn’t lie about it.
“Alright, I’m sorry for suspecting you.”
Sejun apologized to Cuengi,
Krueng! Krueng!
[It’s okay! Cuengi have deceived dad before, so it’s understandable!]
Cuengi coolly accepted Sejun’s apology.
“Thanks for understanding. Come here.”
As Sejun called,
Dadada.
Thump.
Cuengi immediately clung to Sejun’s leg.
“Let’s see?”
Sejun, with Cuengi hanging on his left leg, waddled over to the bunch of grapes. Cuengi, having eaten a lot lately, had become noticeably heavier.
Sejun approached the bunch of grapes and
Snap
harvested them from the grapevine branch grafted on kudzu.
[You have harvested 22 Grapes Overflowing with Vitality.]
[Your job experience has slightly increased.]
[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 7 has slightly increased.]
[You have gained 1540 experience points.]
“Grapes Overflowing with Vitality?”
The name was missing the term ‘seedless’. Sejun, feeling good about this, immediately checked the grapes.
[Grapes Overflowing with Vitality]
→ These grapes were grown by grafting a branch of a seedless grapevine, modified to strengthen the body of a beginners, onto kudzu.
→ The overflowing life force of kudzu infused into the grapes, creating a variety with seeds.
→ The bitter taste has disappeared, and its tangy flavor is enhanced.
→ Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
→ Expiration Date: 150 days
→ Grade: A
“Great!”
Although the effect of increasing all stats by 1 had disappeared, Sejun was happy that he could finally eat delicious grapes.
Swoosh.
“Here, Cuengi, this is how you eat them.”
Sejun showed Cuengi how to eat a grape by roughly wiping one with his clothes and detaching the grape from the bunch, creating a small hole where he put his mouth.
And then,
“If you gently squeeze it and suck, the grape skin will naturally separate.”
Squeeze.
Pop.
Continuing his explanation, Sejun gently squeezed the grape skin and sucked on it, smoothly drawing the grape’s flesh into his mouth.
Chew. Chew.
As he chewed the grape, the unique aroma and sweet and sour taste of the grape filled Sejun’s mouth.
‘Yes, this is the taste!’
Satisfied, Sejun relished the flavor,
“Ptui.”
Gulp.
He spat out the grape seed and swallowed the grape.
And then,
Swoosh. Swoosh.
“Here.”
After demonstrating, Sejun put the spat-out grape seeds in his pocket and cleaned another grape to hand it to Cuengi.
“You can do it too, right?”
Krueng!
[Cuengi can do it!]
Responding energetically, Cuengi brought the grape to his mouth.
However,
Pop.
The grape burst as soon as Cuengi slightly pressed it.
Krueng!
[Cuengi can’t do it!]
Instinctively, Cuengi put the burst grape, skin and all, into his mouth.
And then,
Chew. Chew.
Gulp.
Cuengi swallowed the grape whole, seeds and skin.
Krueng…
[It’s hard to spit out the seeds…]
Cuengi, unable to spit out the seeds, replied in a downcast voice.
“It’s okay. Let’s eat them whole.”
Swoosh. Swoosh.
Sejun quickly cleaned five grapes and stuffed them all into the disheartened Cuengi’s mouth. With Cuengi’s digestive system, eating seeds wouldn’t cause any problems.
Chew. Chew.
Kuehehe, Krueng!
[Hehehe, Delicious!]
Thanks to this, Cuengi quickly regained his spirits and became cheerful.
“I’ll go then.”
Sejun cut the branch he had grafted onto the kudzu and returned to the farm. Re-grafting this branch onto the grapevine would complete his quest.
***
The golden light faded from Theo’s body after burning all the money in Uren’s purse.
“If we can’t get out, I’ll break through, meow!
Snap.
Having become stronger from burning the money, Theo drew his dragon claws and,
“Meow-meow Storm Fist!”
relentlessly swung his paw at the wall, but only managed small scratches. Moreover, the scratched wall rapidly repaired itself.
“Uren, give me more money, meow!”
“Yes, here you go.”
Overwhelmed by Theo’s prowess, Uren handed over another money pouch to Theo.
“Meow-meow Storm Fist!”
Theo burned the money in the pouch and attacked the wall again. This time, the wall was more damaged, but it was extremely thick.
“This won’t do, meow! Uren, give me everything you have, meow!”
“What?! Oh… uh…”
While Uren was flustered, Theo rummaged through Uren’s belongings and took out ten more pouches, starting to burn the money in them.
Whoosh!
This time, a much brighter light erupted, as each of Uren’s purses contained 100 million Tower Coins.
“Puhuhut. I’m overflowing with power, meow!”
Snap!
Feeling confident while burning the money, Theo unsheathed his dragon claws and
“Meow!”
struck the wall powerfully with his front paw.
Scrape.
This time, the wall easily tore like paper, creating a large hole.
Scrape.
Theo’s attack, still having power left, tore through an adjacent merchant passage,
“Huh?!”
revealing people moving through the passage. They were agents of the Secret Inspection Bureau searching for the mysterious path where the missing persons had vanished.
“Lord Uren!”
“We’ll save you!”
The agents quickly used ropes to connect and rescue Theo, Uren, and the members of Uren’s caravan.
Then,
-Who dares to make a hole in my belly?!
Angered by the hole in its body, the face of Jǫrmungandr’s fragment appeared before them.
And,
“You did this, meow?! You’re the one who got in the way of me and Chairman Park, meow?! I won’t let you get away with this, meow!”
Theo swung his golden paws at Jǫrmungandr’s fragment, furious for delaying his happy journey back to Sejun’s lap.
*****
