The Jelly Alien Will Save You! Chapter 25

[Reward]

 

-Random Seed (F): An F-grade crop grows randomly.

-Cosmic Coin +2

 

[Reward]

 

Random Seed (F): An F-grade crop grows randomly.

Cosmic Coin +1

 

Two seeds and three coins came into my hands.

 

Excited, I ran straight to the field.

 

As soon as the seeds were planted, they started growing rapidly—

 

“Cherry tomatoes again?”

 

Slightly disappointed, I planted another seed right next to it.

 

“Cherry tomatoes again….”

 

And the last one.

 

A pale green tip appeared, and it started shooting up.

 

‘That’s green onion, isn’t it…?’

 

It was indeed green onion.

 

‘Cherry tomatoes and green onion.’

 

Pouting, I opened the <Survival Handbook> and said as I set up a support stake for the cherry tomato vine. 

 

“I like strawberries. I’ll be able to grow strawberries soon too, right?” 

 

At that, Frey nodded.

 

I laughed happily and purified the cherry tomatoes and green onions. After all, I can’t eat them if they’re crunching.

 

Soon, I looked back and forth between the perfectly fine cherry tomatoes and green onions.

 

‘As expected, cherry tomatoes are better for juice, right?’ 

 

I plucked the fresh cherry tomatoes by the stem.

 

[Purified Cherry Tomato] 

 

Instantly purifies a moderate amount of contamination.

 

“Oh.”

 

Cherry tomatoes also purify instantly?

 

This could be quite useful.

 

I picked the cherry tomatoes one by one and put them in a basket.

 

I also popped some into my brother’s mouth.

 

Because the sight of him munching on them was so cute, I kept giving him more and more until he shook his head, signaling he couldn’t eat anymore.

 

“Eat a lot, Oppa. You never know, you might become human if you get purified more.”

 

I stroked my brother’s head.

 

My brother tapped my hand with his tentacle as if to tell me not to worry.

 

“Then, with this….” 

 

I put the cherry tomatoes into the juice cans I had ordered.

 

The cans closed on their own and started grinding with a whirring sound.

 

‘Wow, alien technology!’

 

[Juice processing is complete.] 

[Please register the selling price for ‘Cherry Tomato Juice’.]

[30~40cc]

 

I wanted to set it to 100 coins, but the appropriate price seemed to be between 30 and 40 coins.

 

‘Hmm, how much should it be?’

 

30 coins? Or 40 coins?

 

I pondered the price before typing in an ambiguous number.

 

[35cc]

 

Once the price was set, the juice cans disappeared without a trace.

 

[Starting the sale of ‘Cherry Tomato Juice’.]

 

Good, good.

 

Hurry up and buy it, Earthlings!

 

I giggled while holding my basket of cherry tomatoes. 

 

But where did Cha Haeeon go, though?

 

I looked around.

 

He was in the house just a moment ago, though?

 

* * *

 

[Cherry Tomato Juice]

 

Gong Juwon wrinkled his face deeply upon seeing the simple text written on the vending machine.

 

When he opened the can, a blood-red liquid sloshed inside.

 

Gong Juwon stood motionless, holding the can for a while.

 

He felt eyes on his back. His team members were staring at him holding the can with an almost burdensome intensity.

 

Of course they would be curious. Whether this substance could truly ‘purify’ contamination.

 

“…But didn’t they say it was bottled water?”

 

“The smell is like tomatoes, though.” 

 

Listening to the team members whispering, Gong Juwon closed his eyes and sniffed.

 

It really did smell like fresh tomatoes. It was as if the drink were strongly appealing its own harmlessness. 

 

He immediately dipped a tester into the sloshing liquid. After a short wait, the result showed no specific toxicity was detected.

 

Then, it was time to taste it himself.

 

Gong Juwon closed his eyes tightly.

 

Actually, consuming an unknown substance in a contaminated zone was a huge gamble in itself, but he had no choice if he was to report to his superiors.

 

Gulp.

 

The moment Gong Juwon took a sip of the cherry tomato juice.

 

A fresh flavor, like eating a newly picked cherry tomato, swirled in his mouth.

 

“…!”

 

Gulp, gulp-gulp!

 

As the subtle, clean sweetness spread through his mouth, he unknowingly gulped down every last drop.

 

“Haa!”

 

He exhaled and wiped his mouth.

 

The lingering sweetness on his lips was almost moving. He couldn’t remember the last time he had tasted such fresh juice.

 

But that wasn’t the only surprising thing.

 

The truly shocking event occurred when he opened his status window. 

 

‘My contamination level is….’

 

[Contamination Level: 0%]

 

The contamination was completely purified? With just one can of juice? 

 

The moment this fact became known, the whole world would be turned upside down.

 

Even using the best purifier with a large amount of mana stones would only purify 1% an hour.

 

But to completely purify contamination with a single juice—it went beyond ridiculous and was hard to believe.

 

“Team Leader, are you alright?”

 

Only then did Gong Juwon realize he had been standing absentmindedly, holding the juice can.

 

“Is there something wrong….”

 

“No, nothing is wrong.” 

 

Rather, the problem was that there was too little wrong. 

 

Clink, clink.

 

The coins they had collected were inserted into the vending machine.

 

9 items left.

 

Fortunately, they had enough coins to purchase all the cherry tomato juice.

 

As Gong Juwon placed the last juice into a capsule, he was contemplating whether there was a way to take the whole vending machine.

 

That was when the faces of the team members standing behind him reflected in the glass of the vending machine.

 

“…!”

 

Gong Juwon quickly lowered his gaze and tried hard to calm his pounding breath.

 

He was young, but he was a team leader. He had spent a considerable amount of time in the field, and his experience was not shallow. 

 

His instincts were warning him.

 

The reaction of his team members, who were staring so hard their eyes might pop out, was unusual.

 

“Is this the last of the stock?”

 

He spoke as naturally as possible and raised his gaze back to the vending machine’s glass.

 

The team members standing behind him had their eyes opened so wide it seemed their eyeballs would pop out. It was as if someone were pulling their lids up and down. 

 

That bizarre sight gave him goosebumps.

 

‘Have they mutated from contamination?’

 

But when he checked last night, everyone was in the safe zone?

 

Everyone should be wearing their purifiers. And yet, such rapid contamination? 

 

Gong Ju-won slowly placed the capsule in his coat.

 

‘What should I do?’

 

Should I pour the cherry tomato juice into their mouths?

 

Can they even be purified if they’ve already mutated?

 

Just as he was debating—

 

Hiss— hiss— 

 

The sound of breathing from outside the hazmat suit reached his ears.

 

Gong Juwon quickly drew his gun and turned around.

 

‘Yellow hazmat suit…!’

 

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!