ushernet Chapter 40: Harvesting Green Onions
Chapter 40: Harvesting Green Onions
TL: Hanguk
In the outskirts of the Tower’s 1st floor.
Ten awakened ones were waiting for someone. After a while, a man with blond hair and golden armor appeared from beyond the black wall.
Today was the day to harvest the E-class Magical Cherry Tomatoes planted by Gagel’s Tower Farm Project Team. Michael McLaren, the Vice Chairman of Gagel, personally visited the farm.
“Vice Chairman, this way.”
The research team leader guided Michael to the headquarters of the Tower Farming Project. On the 1st floor of the Tower, individuals or groups could rent buildings if they paid for them.
“How’s the acquisition of the land for the large farm going?”
“Currently, our slaves are driving out the goblin villages on the 2nd floor of the Tower and securing the land.”
The ones they referred to as slaves were the awakened ones who were forced into slavery contracts using the Tower’s contracts, after Gagel took over the debt of the people who wrote promissory notes, and then awakened them with tickets.
They were working tirelessly, unable to leave the tower, in order to pay off debts they could never pay off in a lifetime.
While talking about securing the site for the large farm, they arrived at the headquarters courtyard, where they saw a field full of cherry tomatoes.
“Finally...”
Plop.
Excited Michael approached the field, harvested a well-ripened cherry tomato, and inspected it. Even after a close look, no description appeared.
“So it’s not an item.”
Michael, who had been somewhat hopeful, was disappointed. However, he decided to take pride in securing the seed to start the Tower Farming Project.
‘I wonder how it tastes?’
Michael put the cherry tomato in his mouth.
Pop.
Squish.
The cherry tomato burst, and its juice gushed out.
“...?”
Munch munch.
Michael’s expression hardened as he chewed the cherry tomato carefully.
And then
Spit!
Michael spat out the cherry tomato.
And then
Plop. Plop. Plop.
Michael’s hand hastily harvested other cherry tomatoes and tasted each one.
However,
“What the hell is this?!”
Michael yelled, throwing the cherry tomato in his hand.
“Vice Chairmen, what’s the matter?”
“What’s the matter?! This thing doesn’t taste like anything!”
“What?!”
At Michael’s words, the research team members who grew the cherry tomatoes hurriedly began to taste them.
“This can’t be... How can it taste like this...”
The research team leader looked incredulous. They had injected all the necessary nutrients, but the cherry tomatoes tasted like nothing.
Michael left the Tower with the research team leader and instructed him to analyze the cherry tomatoes.
Even so, using the company’s technology, they might be able to improve the taste of the cherry tomatoes by breeding new varieties.
A few hours later, the research team leader came back with an analysis report on the cherry tomatoes harvested from the tower.
“How did it go?”
“All the components are below the standard. They are of the lowest grade and have no commercial value. Moreover, for some reason, there are no seeds inside.”
“No seeds?!”
“Yes.”
If there are no seeds, not only is it impossible to improve the variety, but it’s also impossible to cultivate cherry tomatoes altogether.
“Phew. When the trading happens again on the 38th floor, secure all the D-grade magical cherry tomatoes by any means necessary and cultivate them again! Got it?!”
“Yes!”
Michael decided to pin his hopes on D-grade magical cherry tomatoes if the E-grade ones were not suitable.
‘The higher the grade, the better it should be.’
Thanks to Michael’s orders, Theo’s sales were expected to hit record highs once again.
***
After Theo left, Sejun prepared lunch throughout the morning.
Today’s menu is spicy piranha soup with piranha, green onions, and carrots in a pot, seasoned with red pepper powder and salt. Sejun found red pepper powder while organizing the items Theo had bought.
“Theo, should have told me earlier that we had such a precious item. Hehehe.”
Sejun thought that when Theo returned, he would let Theo sit on his lap for five hours and let him eat churu to his heart’s content. Sejun tasted the soup with a spoon.
Gulp.Explore new novels on
“Ugh...”
[You have gained 36 Experience Points.]
“Huh?! A crop of a higher grade?”
Sejun quickly checked the options of the green onion.
[Detoxifying Green Onion]
A green onion grown inside the tower, providing ample nutrients and delicious in taste.
When consumed, it detoxifies poisons of grade C+ or lower for 1 hour.
For non-awakened people, it enhances the detoxifying function of the liver for 24 hours when consumed.
Cultivator: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
Expiration Date: 135 days
Grade: C+
It didn’t have the popular fat-dissolving option outside the tower. Also, the grade, which was originally D+, had increased by one grade and became C+.
“Is it good? Well, it’s fine as long as it’s delicious.”
For Sejun, who had no chance of being poisoned, Detoxifying Green Onion was just a delicious green onion. Leaving a few green onions for seeding, Sejun harvested about 200 green onions.
***
Phoenix Guild’s headquarters on the first floor of the Tower.
“Recently, the number of times our guild members are going to the 38th floor of the Tower has increased a lot. What happened all of a sudden?”
Leon, the guild leader of the Phoenix Guild, asked while looking at the tower entrance records. He had just returned from performing a quest on the 36th floor for three months.
“Recently, guild members are getting more into trading with a wandering merchant on the 38th floor, so naturally, their stay time in the tower is getting longer.”
The vice guild leader, Catherine, replied.
“A wandering merchant?”
“Yes. Guild Master, look at this. Isn’t it cute?”
Catherine showed a photo she took with Theo.
“A cat?”
“Yes. It’s a wandering merchant named Theo. And he’s selling these Magical Cherry Tomatoes.”
Catherine showed Leon a grade D Magical Cherry Tomato.
“0.2 magic power? It won’t be much help in battle.”
“You don’t know. Take this to your wife. She will treat you differently.”
“Really?”
At Catherine’s words, Leon was intrigued. Honestly, he was careful because he felt awkward going home after three months.
“Alright. I’ll give you 10 of these, which I got with difficulty.”
“Thanks.”
“More importantly, were there any results from the quest?”
“I’ve barely collected three bottles of antidote now.”
Leon replied in a weak voice. The deadly tarantula, the boss of the 38th floor of the tower, had a pattern of emitting strong toxic gas as soon as the battle began.
Thus, an antidote was needed to defeat the boss, but there was no place to obtain an antidote that could neutralize the potent poison of the deadly tarantula.
While struggling with the 38th floor strategy, Leon coincidentally met an alchemist studying spider venom on the 36th floor of the tower.
And he accepted a quest to bring 100 corpses of poison spiders that occasionally appear in a specific area of the 36th floor of the tower and receive one antidote.
As a result of hunting poison spiders with the 1st and 2nd teams of the Phoenix Guild, he completed the quest three times in three months and obtained three bottles of antidote.
One month to obtain one antidote. At least 20 people are needed to defeat the boss of the 38th floor of the tower, which meant it would take 17 more months to defeat the boss of the 38th floor.
“Phew.”
“You should go home and rest first.”
“Okay.”
Leon, who came home after three months, was able to receive his wife’s warm welcome thanks to the Magical Cherry Tomatoes that Catherine had prepared.
***
“Meow, meow.”
“He’s coming.”
“Attack when I give the signal.”
“Yes.”
Three silver wolves were ready to pounce, watching Theo humming a song coming from the merchant’s passage connecting the 70th floor to the 60th floor.
And then,
“Now!”
With a growl, three silver wolves ran out and surrounded Theo.
Just then,
“...!”
“...!”
“...Chief?”
Following behind Theo, the black minotaurs Woo Cheon-Sam and Woo Cheon-Sa came out of the merchant passage.
“Puhahaha. Now it’s my turn, meow!”
Theo, laughing like a villain, looked at the silver wolves.
*****