LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 8: It is a good competitor
TL: Hanguk
Sssss.
The power of the Blue Moon that had settled on the sweet potato stem went along the stem and into the ground.
‘Was there a sweet potato there?!’
All the sweet potatoes planted this time were for seedlings. The plan was to cut the sweet potato shoots when they grew to a certain extent and transplant them.
In this way, sweet potatoes could be infinitely reproduced. Although it was farming learned from the internet, there had been no failures so far.
‘I didn’t even expect sweet potatoes…’
“Hmm…”
Sejun unknowingly drooled at the thought of eating sweet potatoes.
“Should I eat it raw? Or grilled? Can I steam it?”
Sejun stayed awake until the dawn of the 92nd day of the ordeal, thinking about how to eat the sweet potatoes.
Shuk.
Following his daily routine, he first drew a line on the wall and then moved to the sweet potato field.
And then
Sak sak.
Sejun carefully began to dig around the ground where the energy of the Blue Moon had flowed.
“Oh-!”
He had barely dug a bit of dirt with his hands, and already the head of a blue sweet potato appeared.
Sak sak. Sak sak.
Sejun tried to calm his excited hands, even more carefully removing the dirt around the sweet potato as if he were exploring an archaeological artifact.
Soon, Sejun carefully lifted a fist-sized blue sweet potato from the ground.
[You have harvested a Power Sweet Potato Imbued with the energy of the Blue Moon.]
[Your job experience increases significantly.]
[Harvesting Lv. 1 proficiency increases greatly.]
[Harvesting Lv. 1 proficiency is filled, and the level increases.]
[You have gained 50 experience points.]
The job experience and skill proficiency, which had barely increased, rose greatly. On top of that, the skill level also increased.
However, none of that was important to Sejun right now.
Sejun looked at the sweet potato in his hand.
[Power Sweet Potato Imbued with the energy of the Blue Moon]
A sweet potato grown inside the tower, it is delicious with plenty of nutrients.
The taste has been further enhanced by the energy of the Blue Moon.
Permanently increases strength by 0.05 upon consumption.
Grower: Tower Farmer Park Sejun
Shelf life: 30 days
Grade: E
The content said that it was already delicious but now even more so.
Sejun went to the cherry tomato field and also harvested the blue cherry tomatoes imbued with the energy of the Blue Moon.
[You have harvested Magical Cherry Tomatoes Imbued with the energy of the Blue Moon.]
[Your job experience increases significantly.]
[Harvesting Lv. 2 proficiency increases quite a bit.]
[You have gained 50 experience points.]
Perhaps because the Harvesting skill had just leveled up, the skill proficiency increase was smaller than before.
“Hehehe.”
With a blue sweet potato in his right hand and a blue cherry tomato in his left, he felt like he had the world in his hands.
At that moment,
[An additional quest has been triggered.]
A message that ruined Sejun’s mood appeared.
‘I knew it.’
The threat of the extortionist disguised as a quest, always coveting Sejun’s crops, had begun.
[Quest: Offer the Blue Moon Energy-Infused Power Sweet Potato to the Tower’s Manager.]
Reward: None
If refused: Death!!!!!
[Quest: Offer the Blue Moon Energy-Infused Magical Cherry Tomato to the Tower’s Manager.]
Reward: None
If refused: Death!!!!!
Two quests appeared at the same time.
“Is it more serious this time?”
Sejun could tell from the exclamation marks how eager the Tower’s Manager was.
“What should I do?”
Refusing could offend the Tower’s Manager and put Sejun in real danger. However, this time, Sejun didn’t want to give in. So, he decided to complete the remaining quests first to appease the Tower’s Manager.
“I offer the remaining Magical Cherry Tomatoes.”
[The quest has been completed.]
Sejun completed the quest to offer 500 Magical Cherry Tomatoes.
[The Tower’s Manager is delighted with the basket full of Magical Cherry Tomatoes.]
[The Tower’s Manager grumbles about what’s going on.]
The Manager tried to hide their excitement, but their feelings were exposed through the messages. The Administrator’s personality turned out to be simpler than expected.
Sejun decided not to yield today since the Manager seemed to be in a good mood.
“I’ll give you this next time.”
Sejun accepted both quests and put them on hold. He didn’t want to lose these delicious items as he had lost others before.
“I should eat too!”
[The Tower’s Manager warns that you must give it to them next time.]
Although Sejun was angry at the Manager’s attitude, as if they were taking a loan, he decided to endure it for today.
He didn’t want his happiness to be disturbed by such a thing.
“But what should I do with these?”
The sweet potato was big enough to share with the rabbits, but the cherry tomatoes were too small.
“Then there’s only one way.”
Eat quickly and destroy the evidence!
Sejun decided to give the rabbits more Magical Cherry Tomatoes.
Sejun put the blue cherry tomato in his mouth.
Ppopddeuk.
The skin of the Blue Moon Energy-Infused Cherry Tomato was chewy like jelly.
And then
Chyak!
The cherry tomato juice filled Sejun’s mouth with a tangy sweetness that bounced around.
If the Magical Cherry Tomato was a humble local festival, the Blue Moon Energy-Infused Magic Cherry Tomato was a glamorous city festival.
Gulp.
[You consumed the Blue Moon Energy-Infused Magical Cherry Tomato.]
[Magic power permanently increased by 0.05.]
“Uhm…”
Even after swallowing, the lingering sweet and sour taste in his mouth made him oblivious to the message.
Sejun, who had eaten the blue cherry tomatoes, went to the bonfire.
“It’s a shame that there’s no tin foil…”
Sejun had a versatile Scallion leaf.
Ppudeudeuk.
He broke the Scallion leaf and wrapped the sweet potato in the leaf.
And he waited.
“Hehehe.”
Expecting to eat roasted sweet potatoes, he hummed a tune naturally. During the waiting time, he could have caught piranhas or harvested cherry tomatoes, but he didn’t do any of that today.
It was the first day since coming here that he was going to enjoy roasted sweet potatoes. He carefully tended the bonfire to ensure that the sweet potato didn’t burn.
“Indeed, waiting for something delicious is the happiest thing.”
How much time has passed?
Crack. Crack.
As the sound of the scallion leaf firewood popping pleasantly filled the air,
Squeak!
Squeak.
Squeak!
Squeak!
The rabbit family came out of their burrow.
Sniff. Sniff.
The rabbits came out of the burrow and, with their eyes closed, were naturally drawn to the fire where the sweet potato was being cooked.
“Just wait a little bit longer, and I’ll let you eat something delicious.”
Squeak!
At Sejun’s words, the baby rabbits cheered. The rabbit couple also happily waited behind, arms folded.
After a while, the smell of roasted sweet potatoes began to fill the air.
Squeak!
Squeak!
The baby rabbits started to get anxious, wondering if the sweet potatoes were burning.
But Sejun didn’t panic. Timing was important from here on out. If he took the sweet potatoes out too early, only the surface would be cooked; if he took them out too late, the surface would be completely burnt.
Sejun carefully observed and waited for the smell to ripen.
And then,
“Now is the time!”
Sejun quickly took the sweet potato wrapped in the leaf from the fire.
Shush. Shush.
He peeled off the burnt leaf.
A sweet potato with a slightly burnt skin appeared.
Gulp.
Sejun carefully stabbed the sweet potato with a fish bone.
Thud.
The fish bone smoothly went through the center of the sweet potato.
“It’s perfect!”
Sejun grinned and moved the roasted sweet potato onto a clean leaf using the fish bone like chopsticks.
Then, he cut the leaf into smaller pieces and began to peel the sweet potato while holding the end.
“Ouch, it’s hot!”
His hand was hot from peeling, but thinking of the sweet potato he was about to eat, he endured the heat.
With each peel, crumbles of sweet potato fell off, sticking to the skin.
“I’ll eat that by myself later.”
Sejun secretly gathered the sweet potato peels in one place.
However,
Squeak!
Squeak!
The baby rabbits had already smelled the peels and were eagerly licking and eating the sweet potato crumbs stuck to the skin.
“Smart… little ones.”
The rabbits’ behavior was admirable, as they figured things out without being taught. They turned out to be genius rabbits who knew what to do without instruction.
While having the peels taken away by the baby rabbits, Sejun finished peeling the sweet potato, leaving only the peeled sweet potato.
Steam rose.
“Hehehe.”
Looking at the steaming hot yellow flesh of the roasted sweet potato, he couldn’t help but smile.
Squeak!
Squeak!
The baby rabbits, who had already cleaned their peels, were demanding more sweet potatoes.
“Alright.”
Sejun cut the roasted sweet potato into small pieces and placed them on each rabbit’s leaf plate. Since they were sharing the sweet potato, they wouldn’t gain any power from it.
However,
I don’t care.
He wanted to share and eat this first harvested crop with his family. As there were many family members, the amount of sweet potato each of them received was not much.
At that moment,
“No!”
Squeak?
As the baby rabbits tried to eat the roasted sweet potato in front of them, Sejun stopped them, and they looked confused.
“Let’s eat together. Bring your parents over.”
Squeak!
At Sejun’s words, the baby rabbits hurriedly went and brought the rabbit couple as if carrying them.
Finally, everyone sat down in front of their leaf plates.
“Let’s eat!”
Squeak! Spit!
Squeak! Spit!
Squeak! Spit!
The rabbits put the roasted sweet potatoes in their mouths and spat them out in a hurry. It seemed that they didn’t realize that the sweet potatoes were still hot probably because there was no steam.
“Hehe, you need to cool them down. Hoo hoo.”
Sejun showed them how to blow on the roasted sweet potatoes to cool them down.
Hoo hoo.
Hoo hoo.
Puff puff.
The rabbits also followed Sejun and blew on the sweet potatoes to cool them down.
“Shall we try eating now?”
Squeak.
Sejun took a big bite of the roasted sweet potato, and the sweet taste with the hot steam spread throughout his mouth. As expected, the inside of the sweet potato was still hot.
However, Sejun had a special skill.
“Huff, huff.”
Sejun rolled the sweet potato in his mouth, cooling it down with the air inside. Of course, the downside was that it looked a bit unappealing.
Sejun carefully chewed the cooled down sweet potato.
Squishy.
The soft sweet potato crumbled even before Sejun could bite into it. And finally, the long-awaited sweetness exploded. It felt like a burst of sunshine in his mouth.
“It’s delicious.”
Of course, it would have been nice to have a collaboration with milk and kimchi, but it wasn’t lacking without them.
The late Apple CEO also said,
Simple is best.
Rather, without any other distractions, Sejun could focus on the pure sweetness of the sweet potato. The sweet potato confidently competed with just its sweetness, but it was never boring or tiring.
“It is a good competitor to 5-star cuisines.”
Sejun ate the sweet potato down to the peel without realizing it.
‘I won’t tolerate any disrespect towards sweet potatoes as a mere root vegetable. Sweet potatoes are good competitors.’
Sejun got up from his seat with random thoughts in his head.
At that moment,
Gurgle.
His stomach made a noise.
“Why?”
He felt like he had eaten a lot, but his stomach was acting as if it was empty.
“Ah.”
Upon reflection, all he had eaten for breakfast was one cherry tomato and a bit of roasted sweet potato.
It was natural to be hungry.
Squeak!
Squeak!
The baby rabbits began to whine with hunger.
Plop plop.
The rabbit couple quickly broke some leaves and roasted them on the fire, preparing breakfast.
And then,
“Just wait a little bit.”
Sejun went to the storage and got cherry tomatoes to give one to each baby rabbit and ran to the pond to catch piranhas.
Chomp chomp.
Chomp chomp.
Thanks to the cherry tomatoes, the baby rabbits became quiet.
Thus, the fourth Blue Moon passed without any major incidents.