"Eat up and grow strong, my little ones."
Pyureureut.
It trembles its leaves as if it feels good.
"Oh my, aren't you just the cutest?"
I stroked the fellow trembling its leaves and moved to the side.
Sensing my approach, this one opened its bud wide.
A small mouth existed within that gap.
This fellow eats different food.
I took out some finely chopped pork belly from the cart I was pushing and placed it into the fellow's mouth.
Chop, chop, chop, chop.
As if enjoying the meal, it chewed the pork belly while continuously shaking its body left and right.
Though, it was just the stem swaying gently.
"Haha, is it tasty?"
Pyureu, pyureu.
The leaves shaking up and down seemed to be nodding in agreement.
"Good, good. Eat up and have fun~."
After that, I fed the various plants filling the room in their own respective ways and came out.
Yes. They are plants.
And as you might have noticed, the plants I raise are a bit different from known existing plants.
Naturally, things that eat meat and consume Magic Stone fragments would be slightly different from normal plants.
The reason I came to cultivate such plants is entirely thanks to my awakening not long ago.
Just in time, a blue window floated before my eyes.
[You have completed the Daily Quest.]
[You have acquired a Dark Lantern Flower seed as a reward.]
"A Dark Lantern Flower, huh. I wonder what kind of charm this one has?"
A pleased smile emerged as I looked at the black seed that entered my inventory.
I want to raise it right away!
However, it is impossible right now.
First of all, there is no more space to put new plants, and the cost of food for the current fellows is no joke.
It was so bad that despite awakening, the money going out was greater than the money coming in, so I even had to get a separate part-time job.
It is unfair, but it can't be helped.
I awakened, but what can I do when my trait isn't suitable for combat?
[Name]: Yoo Ji-soo (Republic of Korea)
[Level]: 1
[Trait]: Gardener (Cultivated Plants: 2)
[Skill]: Growth Acceleration
This is my status window.
As you can see, I have no combat skills.
Therefore, although I am registered as a Player, I cannot climb the Tower.
Wait a moment here.
Of course, it's not that I haven't tried challenging it.
It's just that I couldn't clear it.
The 'Hard Snail', a monster appearing on the 1st floor of the Tower, is a monster that went all-in on defense, just as its name suggests.
Thanks to that, the danger level is zero, but the problem is that there is no way to catch it unless it is an attack using a skill.
Maybe if my level went up and the power of my basic attacks became stronger, it would be different, but for me at level 1, no matter how much I hit it, not even a scratch appeared on the shell.
Since there seemed to be no method no matter what I did, I gave up on the clear progression.
Thinking about it again, it's ridiculous.
I am probably the only one in the world who failed to clear the 1st floor of the Tower.
Anyway.
Then how do I raise plants?
It has been 20 years since Towers sprouted up like bamboo shoots all over the world.
Naturally, various items have been released into the real world accordingly.
The Magic Stones, which are the main food for the plants I raise, are the same.
Though I can only afford to buy the lowest grade Magic Stones...
Anyway.
It means that as long as there is money, it is fully possible to raise plants!
That is why I am strapped for money despite working several part-time jobs.
Why do I keep raising plants despite that?
Isn't that obvious?
They are too cute!
The sight of them swaying their fresh green leaves in welcome when I enter.
Even the sight of them trembling their pretty petals with a Pyureu sound to show they are happy when I give them food.
They even react somehow when I talk to them.
I was a famous 'Plant Butler' even before awakening.
I liked existing plants that couldn't communicate at all, but plants that return a reaction to my every action?
To use a metaphor, this is like a military enthusiast obtaining a magic gun, or an otaku meeting a character from an anime.
For me, these fellows were the only healing in this harsh world.
It was when I was organizing the cart.
Ttiriring.
Suddenly, the phone rang.
The caller was the owner of the meat restaurant where I recently got a part-time job.
I had an ominous feeling for a moment, but I pressed the call button anyway.
"Yes, boss."
As expected, ominous premonitions are never wrong.
"Ji-soo, are you busy? Can you talk?"
"Yes, it is possible."
"I'm sorry about this. You haven't even worked that long."
"Yes? What do you mean?"
"No, you see, I opened my eyes this morning and found out I awakened. It's even the Flame Mage class that everyone says is good. Maybe it's because I dealt with briquette fires a lot while running the meat restaurant."
"Ah, yes..."
"So I decided to close the meat restaurant while I'm at it... I don't know what to do about being sorry regarding this."
"No, it's okay. You can do that. Yes."
"Still, I'll add a little more to what Ji-soo worked for this month and deposit it. Sorry about this."
"Yes, understood. Congratulations on your awakening. Take care of yourself."
The call ended like that.
Immediately after.
[320,000 Won has been deposited into Yoo Ji-soo's account.]
"Adding a little more means just 50,000 won?"
I was so dumbfounded that laughter didn't even come out.
With this much, I can only buy 3kg of the lowest grade Magic Stones to use as food.
At best, 3kg will last about a week?
I have to buy meat and Magic Stones to give as food again soon, and I have to pay monthly rent too.
It is absurdly insufficient with my current earnings.
Furthermore, the new plants I am raising must be fed regularly three times a day.
Therefore, getting a normal job is also impossible.
That doesn't mean I can just ignore these cute fellows.
In the end, there was only one choice I made.
[Alba Hell]
[Manager to work together at Boogie King...]
[Recruiting kitchen staff at Roasted Chicken...]
[Crew member to work together at Olive Mall...]
[240,000 Won a day! Joyfully at Coupang...]
Various part-time jobs filling the small smartphone screen.
However, since I decided to do it, I made up my mind to find a sure way to make money.
One part-time job recruitment notice caught my eye after scrolling for a long time.
[Urgent! Library Librarian. First come, first served, 1 person. Daily wage 1 million Won!]
Library Librarian?
1 million Won?
A notice that couldn't help but attract attention.
What kind of library is it that the daily wage is 1 million Won?
While feeling the smell of a scam wafting from somewhere, I was instinctively sending an application message.
"1 million Won."
It is a whopping 1 million Won!
To me, who was strapped for cash right now, the large sum of 1 million Won a day was like an oxygen respirator that would allow me to breathe a little.
And getting off work before morning?
Then it is also possible to feed the fellows tomorrow morning.
"I'm definitely doing it."
So I applied immediately.
A while later, a call came from an unknown number.
"Yes."
"Mr. Yoo Ji-soo? You applied for the librarian position, right?"
"Yes, that is correct."
"Can you come right now?"
"Yes, it is possible."
"I will send the location via text."
One text arrived afterward.
Fortunately, the distance wasn't far.
A distance that costs about 100,000 Won for a round trip by taxi.
The 100,000 Won that would slip away was painful, but I decided to invest boldly thinking of it as pump priming for the 1 million Won.
So, right now.
An ominous feeling soared as the taxi entered some mountain.
Wait, am I getting kidnapped?
A familiar repertoire I saw in a movie not long ago came to mind.
While I was debating whether to just turn the car around due to that ominous feeling, the taxi stopped.
"We have arrived."
"Ah, yes."
When I came to my senses, I was already getting off the taxi, and just as I was about to call the driver again thinking this wasn't it.
Vwoom─
"Ah."
The taxi departed.
At a very fast speed.
"Damn it, there's no signal either."
To make matters worse, even the phone was acting up.
Since it turned out like this, thinking I should at least try going, I just started walking in the direction written in the text.
Did I walk for about 5 minutes?
One building started to become visible along with a light in the distance.
"...Is that it?"
A building too heterogeneous to be in a mountain like this.
A building similar to a small tower revealed its appearance.
Creak.
"Excuse me...?"
My mouth dropped open unknowingly at the interior after I opened the door and entered.
If talking about the most famous library in Korea, it is the Starfield Library.
A scale that makes the massive libraries in Gangnam and Suwon look ridiculous.
Bookshelves soaring high into the sky, and countless books packed tightly in there.
...And a massive pile of books visible in front of me.
"So this is why it's 1 million Won..."
Yeah, it's good that it's not organ trafficking.
If it's 1 million Won, there is nothing I can't do.
Just as I was about to head toward the pile of books, something popped out from within the pile.
"Puha-!!"
"Uwoah!"
White hair and red eyes.
A girl with bobbed hair coming down to her shoulders looked at me and clapped her hands.
"Ah! You came! You came early!"
"Ah, hello...?"
She jumped lightly out of the book pile and walked towards me, clack, clack.
She's much younger than I thought...?
A height that looks about 150cm.
A neat white shirt and black pants combined with her youthful appearance to create a somewhat familiar atmosphere.
It feels like watching a school talent show.
Memories from when I was very young came to mind.
"Nice to meet you. I am the librarian, Mary."
"Ah, by any chance, are you a foreigner?"
"Fuhu, let's say I am."
"?"
If she's a foreigner, she's a foreigner; what's with 'let's say I am'?
She's a strange person.
Perhaps feeling my staring gaze, she cleared her throat, Ahem, and continued speaking.
"Normally something like this doesn't happen, but a schedule came up urgently today. You just need to stay until 6 AM tomorrow morning."
Afterward, she turned her head toward the pile of books.
"Um, I would appreciate it if you could organize those too. Have you ever done library work?"
"Yes. I was in the library club when I attended school..."
To be precise, I was in charge of plant management in the library club.
"That worked out well! Then I don't think there is anything else to teach you separately..., Ah! If you have time left, it's okay to read the books here."
That is truly fortunate.
I was worrying about how to endure the roughly 10 hours ahead.
As I nodded and answered, Mary smiled brightly and walked toward the exit.
"Then I will see you at 6 o'clock. Fighting!"
Like that, my one-day library librarian part-time job began.
"This goes to the 5th bookshelf on the right, this is next to that."
I am of the principle that it is better to get the beating over with first.
The eccentric who does dishes immediately after eating.
That was me.
Therefore, I thought about finishing the book organization quickly and reading books leisurely.
After a long 5 hours, that massive pile of books found their places.
And the last volume.
I picked up the last book that had fallen on the floor and froze on the spot.
[Plant Species Native to the Tower and Introduction to Alchemy Utilizing Them]
"Uh...?"
A title I absolutely cannot pass by.
No, in the first place, hearing that there are plants native to the Tower is a first in my life.
I had a rough guess, but...
Since my ability is related to this.
I'd be an idiot if I didn't know.
I did catch on roughly.
However, I couldn't find any stories about plants inhabiting the Tower even after searching the media of any country in the world.
It wasn't long ago that I gave up, thinking I was just a little special.
"...As expected, I was right."
But right now.
The book I luckily discovered was definitely backing up my thoughts.
I turned the pages with a trembling heart, and finally, I could discover what I was looking for.
A representative light-emitting plant of the Yin (陰) attribute mainly found in shaded bedrock areas.
...(Omitted)...
This plant has an extremely introverted nature. When cultivating, creating a stable environment is the key to blooming.
This wasn't simply the end.
Along with a brief explanation of the Dark Lantern Flower, the shape of the seed, the appearance when fully bloomed, efficacy, cultivation method, and management method were written in detail.
Just in case, I thoroughly scanned the pages to see if there was information about the plants I am currently raising at home.
Pictures identical to the familiar appearances occupying a corner of my room at home, and the names I saw via system messages were recorded in the book exactly as they were.
"Crazy..."
So in short.
...I hit the jackpot properly.
(End of Chapter)
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