Chapter 346: Is Theo~nim Short on Money?
On the way to take the King of Farming to the 4th floor of the tower.
“Meow?! Again, meow?”
A crossroads appeared before Theo.
It was already the 5th crossroad.
By the way, they encountered 10 teams of highway robbers along the way.
All because of Uren’s misfortune.
It would have been only Uren, it would have been a stroke of luck for them to make a fortune.
“Puhuhut. Stamp it, meow!”
Beside him was the golden cat, Theo Park, and their luck turned into the misfortune of stamping a slave contract.
“Puhuhut. How could this be, meow? Uren, you are really unlucky, meow!”
As Theo spoke to Uren,
“Hehehe. Theo~nim, shall I give you some money?”
Uren, the cause of this predicament, noticed Theo’s mood and took out a money pouch.
“Of course, meow! Hand over the money, meow!”
Theo, who never refuses money offered, put the money pouch taken out by Uren into his own bundle,
“Puhuhut. This way, meow!”
He confidently headed towards the left path.
And then,
Thump.
As Theo, Uren, and the King of Farming passed by, the snake’s mouth inevitably closed.
A little later.
Slash.
The snake’s body was split into six parts. It had been struck by Theo’s One-meow Slash.
“Puhuhut. Chairman Park will be pleased, meow!”
After Theo picked up the falling white coins, he set out on the road again,
“As expected of Theo~nim!”
Clatter. Clatter.
Uren and the King of Farming followed Theo leisurely, as if they were on a tour.
***
[You have arrived at the 99th floor of the Black Tower.]
“Toryong.”
Sejun, having reached the 99th floor of the tower, rode on Toryong towards the farm.
And then,
Drip. Drip. Drip.
As soon as he returned to the farm, he dropped a drop of Harvest Elixir on the thick darkness cherry, sunflower¹, and flame bean.
The cherry and sunflower needed it to help the black and white dragons quickly find the power of darkness and light.
The flame bean was difficult to germinate, so he wanted to grow it properly.
The three crops absorbed the Harvest Elixir.
And then,
Sssrk.
The cherry and sunflower grew rapidly.
However,
······
The flame bean didn’t move at all. No, rather, its leaves turned yellow and began to wither.
“What’s going on? Was the elixir too strong?”
Swoosh. Swoosh.
As the condition of the flame bean worsened, Sejun stroked its leaves for treatment.
However,
[Farmer’s Warm Touch Lv. 7 has been activated.]
[The growth speed of the flame bean, bearing the breath of the red dragon, slightly increases while being touched.]
No message about healing appeared, only that the growth speed had increased.
Flame bean bearing the breath of the red dragon? Its name had become too long due to the energy from Ramter.
So,
“Let’s not be sick and grow well, little Beanie².”
Sejun created a nickname and continued to stroke the dying yellow leaves of Flame Bean.
At that moment,
Pluck.
“Ah?!”
A leaf that Sejun was stroking fell from the stem.
“Beanie!”
Startled, Sejun hurriedly tried to reattach the fallen leaf, but once fallen, the leaf would not reattach.
“I’m sorry···.”
Swoosh. Swoosh.
As Sejun stroked Beanie’s stem apologetically,
[Heheh. Master just gave you a name. From now on, your name is Beanie. Beanie, let’s hang in there a bit longer.]
[······.]
Below the ground, Flamie cautiously infused Beanie with vitality, aiding its growth.
Unaware of this, Sejun diligently stroked Beanie’s stem.
At that moment,
Whoosh.
“Ah?!”
Beanie’s body started to burn.
Whoooosh.
“No!”
Before Sejun could do anything, the fire burning Beanie grew ferociously and quickly turned Beanie into ash.
“···!!!”
Sejun was left speechless in shock.
Just then,
Kong-!
From the spot where Beanie was planted, a bean sprout-like red plant suddenly grew rapidly with a strange outcry.
“…Kong?”
Sejun looked at the strangely grown plant with suspicion. Who are you?
Whoosh.
Kong!
Whoosh.
Kong!
Whoosh.
Kong!
The red bean sprout repeated the action of creating fire and then shouting ‘kong!’ in response to Sejun’s gaze.
There was a hole at the tip of the bean sprout, through which it made the sound.
After the red bean sprout repeated the same action dozens of times,
Whoosh.
“Fire.”
Kong-!
“Kong?”
Sejun figured out what the plant was trying to say. (TL: See point 3 at the end)
“Eh?! Could you be Beanie?!”
Kong!
This time, instead of making fire, it responded affirmatively to Sejun’s words.
The red bean sprout was Beanie, a flame bean that had grown by absorbing the Harvest Elixir given by Sejun and the vitality provided by Flamie.
“So, you were listening to everything I said?”
Kong!
As Sejun was conversing with Beanie,
[Heheh. Beanie’s wish has come true.]
Flamie was cheering for Beanie from afar, who wanted to introduce itself directly to Sejun, smiled contentedly.
[Podori, spread your roots further.]
[Yes!]
While punishing Podori that bullied the flame bean.
“Beanie, is it okay if I touch you?”
Kong!
“I’m going to touch you, so don’t make fire. Got it?”
Boom!
Swoosh. Swoosh.
Although Sejun had considerable resistance to fire due to his talent as a Friend of Fire, the timid Sejun checked several times and then stroked Beanie’s head.
Then,
[Farmer’s Warm Touch Lv. 7 has been activated.]
[While being touched, the growth speed of Flame Bean, Beanie, bearing the breath of the red dragon, slightly increases.]
The message appeared. Beanie had now officially been included in its name.
“Let’s get along well from now on, Beanie .”
Kong!
As Sejun spent time getting acquainted while stroking the head of Beanie,
Achoo-Kong!
Suddenly, Beanie sneezed, spitting out a bunch of red beans.
And then,
[You have harvested 100 flame beans.]
[Your job experience have slightly increased.]
[Your proficiency of Harvesting Lv. 8 proficiency has slightly increased.]
[You have gained 7000 experience points.]
Harvest messages appeared.
“Huh? Flame beans?”
Sejun, puzzled, picked up one of the flame beans to examine it.
[Beanie’s Flame Beans]
→ These are Flame Beans produced by the Flame Bean, Beanie, grown in the Black Tower after absorbing sufficient nutrients.
→ They can only sprout when they absorb fire energy in a place with strong fire energy.
→ When they absorb a certain level of surrounding fire energy, they stop growing and spread Flame Beans around.
→ Flame beans can also be used as a weapon in danger.
→ When consumed, flame-related talents are greatly enhanced.
→ Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
→ Shelf life: None
→ Grade: A
“Eating this will enhance my fire talent…”
‘Soon, I’ll shoot Flame Breath too. Hehehe.’
Sejun collected the flame beans that Flamie had spat out, imagining something the other red dragons might laugh at if they heard.
“Good. Picked up all 100.”
Just as Sejun had finished collecting the flame beans,
-Sejun, do you not have any more pears to dry?
Ramter came looking for Sejun. The Pears of Strength and Stamina Sejun provided caused rain in the Red Tower for the first time in a thousand years, increasing the water supply.
The desertified area disappeared, driving the cactus from the 53rd floor of the tower to the 45th floor.
However, as the pears to dry disappeared, desertification progressed rapidly, and the cactus quickly advanced to the 49th floor of the tower.
“I don’t have any. I’d like to give them to you quickly, but it takes time for pears to grow.”
Using the Elixir of Harvest, Sejun could quickly grow a pear tree and harvest a few dozen pears, but that number was insufficient for any significant use.
‘But do I have to submerge the tree once the pears have all grown?’
Originally, the Pears of Strength and Stamina were created because they were submerged in water.
‘Maybe I should try submerging just one tree?’
While Sejun was thinking of ways to produce Pears of Strength and Stamina,
-Hmmm. I see…
Ramter replied with a disappointed voice and was about to leave.
“If you’re in a hurry, would you like to take these instead?”
Seeing Ramter like this, Sejun felt sympathetic and handed over half of the flame beans he was holding.
-These are the same as the beans that absorbed my energy before, right?
Ramter recognized the flame beans.
“Yes. They absorb fire energy, so try planting them.”
-Okay. As expected of our Sejun! Thank you!
“I don’t know yet, its effect is—.”
-Hahahaha. Our Sejun has harvested a new crop!”
Before Sejun could finish speaking, Ramter took the flame beans and flew to the fountain.
***
“Puhuhut. We finally arrived, meow!”
After encountering 20 more teams of robbers and three additional crossroads, Theo finally reached the 4th floor of the tower.
Uren’s misfortune was tremendous.
Of course, for Theo, it had been a very profitable time.
He had obtained white coins, collected 500 signatures on slave contracts, and received a hefty amount of money from Uren.
Thus, they arrived at the grape farm.
“King of Farming, what’s this line for, meow?”
Theo asked as he looked at two long lines facing towards the grape farm.
Clatter. Clatter.
[One line is for people who want to work. The other line is for people who want to buy ‘the grape wine I made’.]
The King of Farming particularly emphasized ‘the grape wine I made’.
It was an attempt to restore his pride, shattered after losing the farming contest to Sejun,
“Puhuhut. There are so many suckers, meow!”
Theo ignored this and ran excitedly towards the grape farm.
“It’s Cat Wandering Merchant, Vice Chairman Theo!”
Hunters queuing up to work at the grape farm stirred at the sight of Theo.
“Boss! It’s Vice Chairman Theo over there!”
The same was true for the agents dispatched by the government to buy grape wine.
Theo’s recent absence made the hunters think there must be some significant event happening.
Then,
“Puhuhut. Humans, I, Vice Chairman Theo, have arrived, meow!”
Theo stopped where the hunters could see him well,
Step step.
“I will start the auction, meow!”
He climbed atop three stacked boxes and shouted loudly. Puhuhut. I can’t just pass by when there are this many suckers, meow!
Thus began the impromptu crop auction.
“Puhuhut. The first crop is this, meow! I will sell 1000 in batches of 10, meow!”
The crop Theo confidently presented was a common sweet potato.
“Ugh… what the…”
“I was expecting something since Vice Chairman Theo came personally…”
The hunters were disappointed seeing the sweet potatoes in Theo’s front paws.
It was expected. Other cat employees were already periodically selling Sejun’s crops on the 41st floor of the tower.
Although the Power Sweet Potato was rare, it wasn’t shockingly special.
“Foolish humans, look at the name properly, meow!”
When Theo got angry at them, the hunters approached Theo and looked at the sweet potatoes.
“Night… sweet potato?”
They finally realized it was a different kind of sweet potato.
“Puhuhut. That’s right, meow! First, look at the options, meow!”
The hunters inspected the options of the Night Sweet Potato.
[Night Sweet Potato]
→ A sweet potato grown within the tower, it has absorbed sufficient nutrients and is delicious.
→ It only grows at night.
→ Consumption allows for sound sleep, and while sleeping, one of the stats—strength, stamina, agility, or magic power—randomly increases by 3.
→ Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
→ Shelf life: 150 days
→ Grade: A
“Wait?! Just by eating and sleeping, any of the stats increase by three randomly?!”
The hunters were astonished by the options of the Night Sweet Potato.
Recently, a bottle of Universal Elixir that raises all stats by 5 appeared at an auction and sold for 1000 Tower Coins.
However, unlike the Universal Elixir, which can only be consumed once per person, the Night Sweet Potato had no such restrictions.
If one could eat a Night Sweet Potato every night and sleep well…
“15,000 Tower Coins!”
“18,000 Tower Coins!”
“20,000 Tower Coins!”
The auction quickly heated up,
“50,000 Tower Coins!”
“Sold, meow!”
10 Night Sweet Potatoes were sold for 50,000 Tower Coins.
“Puhuhut. The next auction starts right away, meow!”
Theo started the next auction with an excited voice.
And then,
“Is Theo~nim short on money? Why does he work so hard to earn money like that?”
Legendary merchant Uren watched Theo with an expression that couldn’t comprehend his actions.
*****
TL Note:
1) The term, 빛바라기, which I have translated as ‘Sunflower’ would literally be translated as ‘Light Seeking’. Whereas, the Korean for sunflower is 해바라기, which when literally translated, would be ‘Sun Seeking’. So, from the similarity, it can be concluded that it is sunflower, just under a different name. Thus, I have translated it as ‘Sunflower’ which makes it easier to read and imagine.
2) The Korean names 불콩이 (Beanie), 불꽃이 (Flamie), and 불싹이 (Little Flamie) literally translated would be Fire Bean, Fire Flower, and Fire Sprout respectively. However, there isn’t a direct equivalent in English that captures the same meaning and also sounds as cute as the original Korean names. Therefore, I’ve translated 불꽃이 as Flamie and 불싹이 as Little Flamie. The author seems to be planning to continue this naming series with 불콩이, which I have decided to translate as Beanie instead of Fire Bean. If you have suggestions for alternatives with a similar meaning, or if there’s anything unclear, feel free to comment. I’m also considering changing Little Flamie to Sparkie or Sparky so let me know in comments if I should keep it as it is or change it.
3) Okay, as I have explained above, the name given by Sejun would literally be translated as Fire Bean. The keen-eyed among you might have already figured this out: the sound of the Korean word for bean is ‘Kong’. So, by repeating the action of first creating a ‘Fire’ and then saying ‘Kong’, Beanie is saying its name to Sejun.
*****