n

n

nThud.

nSleeping on the floor made my body so stiff. The good thing about this place is that there is no night. So, if you sleep where the sun is just right, you can sleep comfortably at a pleasant temperature.

nSplash! Splash!

nSejun washed his face briefly at the pond.

nAnd then

n.splash, swish, swash.

nHe washed the sweet potatoes and cherry tomatoes he would eat today.

n“It feel strange to wash them with the water I used to wash my face?”

nSejun put aside his discomfort and bit into a sweet potato.

nCrunch.

nThe more I chew, the sweeter it becomes.

nDid I ever have the luxury of chewing on something sweet like this without having to go to work?

nHe sat down on a dry patch of dirt where the sun was shining, laid out his bag, and chewed on a sweet potato slowly. There was complete silence, except for the sound of chewing. His heart beat started to slow down, and his mind also calmed down.

nHe was lost, and his food would run out in a few days. He might starve to death.

n‘Strange.’

nSejun tilted his head. He was amazed by his own feelings. But it was better than being anxious.

n“Every time Manager Go called out ‘Sejun, can you come over here for a minute,’ my heart would race. But, how peaceful it is now.”

nSejun leisurely enjoyed the sweet potato, relishing the peace that he couldn’t feel easily before.

n“Shall we move on to the next menu?”

nAfter finishing the sweet potato, Sejun put a cherry tomato in his mouth and chewed.

nPop.

nThe skin of the cherry tomato couldn’t withstand the pressure of Sejun’s teeth and burst. Sourness filled his mouth as the juice of the cherry tomato exploded.

n“It’s delicious…”

nIt was so delicious that he doubted whether it was the same cherry tomato he usually ate. Perhaps his taste buds had become extremely sensitive due to hunger.

nSejun focused solely on the taste of the cherry tomato and chewed slowly. However, chewing on the cherry tomato for a long time didn’t make it taste better, so the five cherry tomatoes quickly disappeared into Sejun’s mouth.

nAfter finishing his meal, Sejun began his daily routine.

nStaring at the hole in the ceiling.

n“······”

nSejun stared blankly at the hole in the ceiling.

n“Ah··· I’m bored.”

nOf course, he occasionally shouted, ” Is Anyone Here?!” But even that was done while looking at the ceiling. After staring at the ceiling for several hours, it was so tiring that he felt like he was going crazy.

n“Is there anything to do?”

nSejun started looking for something to do.

n‘Let’s water the crops first.’

nSejun filled a water bottle and watered the onions, cherry tomatoes, and sweet potatoes.

nJoljoljol.

n“Grow fast. Grow huge. Daddy is hungry.”

nHe went back and forth to the pond three times, thoroughly soaking the ground where the crops were planted.

nThen

nGgororug.

nHis stomach informed him of the fuel shortage. Just moving a little made him hungry again. Sejun poured the remaining water from the water bottle into his mouth.

nGulp. Gulp.

nHe felt his stomach fill up a bit. Sejun returned to his spot and stared at the hole in the ceiling.

nAfter several hours.

n“……”

nSeojun stared blankly at the ceiling when

nBeep-beep. Beep-beep.

nThe alarm went off.

nMay 12th, 10 PM

nThere is no sunset here. So, he set the alarm to match his bedtime.

n“It’s time to sleep.”

nSeojun got up and prepared for bed. There wasn’t much to do in terms of preparation.

nTap tap.

nHe leveled the dirt floor where he would lie down and covered his head with his bag so he couldn’t see the sun. That was the end of his bedtime preparations.

nSurprisingly, sleep came easily.

n*****

nIn the middle of the night, by Seojun’s standards.

nGrrrr…

nGrrrr…

nGrr…!

nSeojun woke up from sleep due to the ground-shaking vibrations.

n“Uhm… what’s going on?”

nJust then,

nGrrr!

nHe felt another strong vibration. It was close.

n“…!”

nSeojun hurriedly removed the bag from his face and got up.

nAnd then he witnessed the bizarre scene.

n“Wh… what is this?!”

nThe light coming down from the cave ceiling had turned blue.

nAnd

nScreech!

nCaw!

nHe heard strange, threatening noises.

nAt that moment,

nRoar!

nA huge black dragon appeared in the sky and roared. The sight of it flying high alone, cutting through the blue light, was astonishingly beautiful.

nThe black dragon roared and disappeared gracefully. The other monsters became silent, perhaps frightened by the dragon’s roar.

nHowever, Seojun’s mind was noisier than ever.

n“Monsters… this can’t be happening…”

nSeojun thought something was wrong. He believed that this place was somewhere on the 1st floor of the tower. He wanted to believe that the light illuminating the cave all day was the chandelier lighting of the 1st floor of the tower. But there were no monsters on the 1st floor.

nIn other words, Seojun was not on the 1st floor of the tower.

nMoreover, the blue moon, where the sun turns blue.

nEvery floor has sunlight all day long. But on each floor, there is a periodic time when the sun turns blue. Hunters called this phenomenon the Blue Moon.

nDuring the Blue Moon, monsters become more aggressive and powerful, so hunters avoid the floors where the Blue Moon occurs.

n‘The Blue Moon is a phenomenon that occurs only on the 10th floor and above…’

nThis meant that Seojun was on the 10th floor or above. There was still a chance he could be rescued.

nHowever,

n‘There’s a catch.’

nThat was the dragon.

nAfter the tower appeared ten years ago, the Phoenix Guild, the most powerful force on Earth, recently achieved the feat of clearing the 37th floor.

nFrom the 31st to the 37th floor, guilds were keeping each other in check, so they didn’t release any information. But below the 30th floor, quite a few clear videos were uploaded to YouTube for money or publicity.

nAccording to the known information, skeletons appear on floors 2-10, goblins on 11-20, orcs on 20-30. And from the 31st floor onwards, spider monsters appear, although no videos were released.

nThis was credible information, as multiple hunters had mentioned it in interviews.

nNone of them mentioned dragons. They hadn’t even heard of lizard-like monsters appearing in the tower.

n‘Which floor is this?!’

nSejun clutched his head and wailed. He might have been stranded on a floor that even the top hunters had not reached.

n‘Why is this happening to me?’

nSejun looked at the hole in the ceiling with a heavy heart, bathed in blue light.

nHowever, his purpose had changed. Previously, he had looked up hoping someone would pass by, but now he hoped that no one would. After seeing the dragon, Sejun realized that there were monsters in this place.

nBeep beep. Beep beep.

nMay 13th, 6 AM .

nThe alarm went off.

nSejun greeted the fourth day with sleepless eyes after standing guard all night. Fortunately, the blue moon turned back to its usual yellowish light around 4 AM.

n5 hours later.

n“……”

nSejun’s head drooped as he stood guard. Then he fell into a deep sleep. It was understandable, as he had been keeping watch, staring at the ceiling since yesterday.

n“Ugh… water…”

nAs soon as he woke up, Sejun felt a burning thirst. He fumbled for the water bottle he had placed beside him.

nAnd then

nGulp, gulp.

nHe drank the water in one shot.

n“Whew! Now I feel alive.”

nHis thirst quenched, hunger set in.

nHe went to the pond and quickly washed his face, as well as five sweet potatoes and cherry tomatoes.

nSejun chewed on a sweet potato while looking at the hole in the ceiling.

n‘Even if I don’t know where I am, if it’s above the 41st floor, the chances of someone coming are almost 0%.’

nThat meant he had to survive on his own.

nSejun looked at the field where he had planted crops.

n‘Should I water them?’

nThinking that he had to survive on his own made the crops seem more precious.

nHe watered them.

n“You guys have to be strong.”

n“Sweet potatoes, grow huge.”

n“Tomatoes, bear lots of fruit.”

n“Green Onion… umm… just grow big and strong.”

nHe watered the plants and spoke kindly to them. He had heard on the news that playing music for plants could help them grow, so he thought a few kind words wouldn’t hurt.

nAfter watering the plants, Sejun sat down and stared at the hole in the ceiling again.

nHowever, boredom quickly set in.

n“Should I eat this?”

nSejun saw the Green Onion leaves he had pulled off when planting the roots on the first day.

n“Ugh… it’s spicy.”

nAs soon as he put the Green Onion leaves in his mouth and chewed, a spicy taste filled his mouth, accompanied by the strong scent of Green Onions. The taste had become more concentrated after drying in the sun for a couple of days.

nSejun continued to chew without swallowing.

n‘There’s sweetness in Green Onion too.’

nAs he kept chewing, the spiciness faded, and the hidden sweetness of the Green Onions gradually emerged.

n‘Great!’

nHe chewed on the Green Onion and managed to endure the drowsy afternoon hours.

nAnd then

nBeep beep. Beep beep.

nMay 13th, 10 PM

nThe fourth night of the ordeal had come.

n“Will I be okay tonight?”

nSejun couldn’t fall asleep easily.

nThe monsters had been active at dawn because of the blue moon. However, that didn’t mean they were friendly when it wasn’t a blue moon.

nSejun decided to prepare a sleeping place where there was no light. It would be cold, but nothing was more important than his life.

nSince he didn’t have to sleep under the sun, he folded his bag and used it as a pillow.

nAnd then

nSrrrrr.

nAs soon as Sejun laid his head on the bag, he fell asleep snoring.

nWhile Sejun was asleep.

nThe scallions with their roots in the ground began to grow in earnest.

n*****

nBeep-beep. Beep-beep.

nThe alarm went off.

nMay 14th, 6:00 AM

nThe fifth day of survival began.

nSejun’s eyes opened wide.

n“Ugh! Why do I feel so light?”

nSejun stretched out refreshingly. He always felt heavy when waking up, but today his body felt extremely light. In addition, he thought it would be cold sleeping without the sun, but it wasn’t cold.

n“Is it because the fatigue from working at the company has been relieved?”

nSejun thought it was strange and went to the pond.

nSplash! Splash!

nHe washed his face and picked out the sweet potatoes and cherry tomatoes to eat today.

n“Uh…”

nWhen he picked up the sweet potatoes and cherry tomatoes for today, half of the food in the plastic container had disappeared. There wasn’t much food left.

n‘Should I start eating only half from today?’

nSejun washed the picked sweet potatoes and cherry tomatoes while pondering.

nPop. Pop.

nAnd

nSnap.

nHe cut the sweet potato in half and put half of it and three cherry tomatoes back into the plastic container. He was already running out of food, and the thought of having to cut back even more was disheartening.

n“Sigh.”

nSejun sighed and moved to his usual spot with flat rocks well lit by the sun and sat down.

nHowever, something felt off. He was in the shade.

n“Huh? What’s this?”

n“The Scallion, which had grown to Sejun’s height, was blocking the sun that should have always been shining.”

nThere was no significant difference when he looked at it while watering it yesterday… and there was no change before going to bed. The scallions had grown tremendously overnight.

n“When did it grow like this?”

nAs Sejun approached and examined it closely, the white part where the scallion roots were had grown to the thickness of a wrist. Sejun grabbed and tore off one of the new scallion leaves.

n“Uh?!”

n“What?!”

nThe scallion leaves appeared fragile as they fluttered in the wind, yet they were surprisingly tough.

n“Ugh!”

nSejun put in effort and tore off the leaf.

n“What? Why is it like this all of a sudden?”

nIt seemed that the appearance of plants changed depending on the climate and habitat.

n“How will it taste?”

nHe hoped that the taste would change as much as the appearance had.

nSejun put the scallion leaf in his mouth and chewed.

nFollow current novels on 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝑚

n