Chapter 8: Farming Alone (2)
I stood in front of the field and looked at the marmots.
"Alright, marmots. These are precious crops that will become your dinner. I'll teach you how to grow them, so take good care of them."
"Understood, marmot!"
"Leave it to us, marmot!"
The marmots stood up straight, wearing straw hats they had found somewhere. They were fully prepared.
I touched the status window.
[Plowing] [Sowing] [Watering] [Harvesting] Actions remaining 3 / 3 ▶ View field status. [Field 1] [Field 2]
The mini-game, [This Is Farm], had started. The field information, action count, and action list were displayed.
In the dungeon, you could enjoy little mini-games like this whenever you installed a new facility. There was an endless amount of content to gather resources, so it was great for passing time.
Each action consumes 1 mana. So if I use the remaining marmots? I can grow crops for free, that's what it means.
"I've already plowed the field and sowed the seeds. What you need to do is this."
When I touched [Watering], a magic circle appeared in the air, and a small cloud formed.
Shwoosh, rain fell on the field.
"You have to water the field before it dries up and cracks. But don't make it too wet. The crops will rot. Also, catch the bugs on the plants. Got it?"
"Water, bugs. Remembered, marmot. Can do, marmot."
"Eat delicious things, marmot."
Seeing the enthusiastic marmots made me feel reassured.
"I'll also do my best. So that I can eat jajangmyeon...so that the lord can eat it!"
Sitri was also full of enthusiasm. With enough labor available, I returned to my room on the third floor.
"Come to think of it, I was in the middle of cleaning."
Apart from the living room and bedroom, the living area was still mostly empty and somewhat messy in places. I picked up visible trash and mopped the floor, but something was still missing.
"I get it, the lighting is weak."
Being underground, there's a lack of sunlight. There are torches hanging on the corridor walls at 1-meter intervals, but they're not fluorescent lights, so it doesn't feel bright.
"Is there a solution?"
While searching through the status window, I noticed an alarm with a red dot.
: You have a daily free summon ticket remaining.
Oh, a daily free summon? Come to think of it, it's standard practice in social games to offer one free gacha draw per day.
It's a sales strategy to encourage daily logins. So that's why the first summon I did in the morning always seemed to use less mana. I thought it was because I was in good condition, but no.
"If it's free, there's no reason to refuse."
Without hesitation, I touched the 1-time summon. A brilliant magic circle appeared, and summoning formulas began to form around its perimeter.
"Now, what will I get today?"
I rubbed my hands together in anticipation. The free summon is only one chance, but it's completely random. With really good luck, it's entirely possible to draw a 5-star hero.
Flash, a light appeared.
-Ding!
Orbs...one.
"Hmm, hmm. The usual gacha, I see."
: ☆ You have summoned a Sun Slime.
"Oh, at least it's a creature...a Sun Slime?"
—Pyong! A bright yellow bouncy ball emerged from the summoning circle, glowing brightly. Oh my, my eyes. It bounced toward me, radiating presence with its whole body.
"Kyup kyup."
I'm not sure where the cry is coming from since it has neither eyes nor mouth. When I caught it with both hands, it felt soft and plush like a pillow.
: Recording 'Sun Slime' in the bestiary! [ 7 / 107 ]
Well, at least I got something new, so that's good. The way it snuggled up to me right after being summoned shows it's quite friendly, which is cute. The only problem is that I feel like my eyesight decreases by 0.1 every time I look at it.
"Wait, if it can emit such bright light..."
Couldn't I use it as lighting? I was just complaining about how dark the corridors in the living area were, with no windows at all.
"Hey, Sun."
"Kyup?"
"Don't you have a skill like division or something?"
When I asked, Sun shivered and then split into two on my palm. The brightness also decreased slightly from before.
"This is it."
I immediately got to work. I used [Design] to create stands for each corridor, then [Placement]. When I asked Sun to divide into 100 parts, it became just about the brightness of a fluorescent light. Placing one on each stand created perfect lighting.
"From today, this is your spot."
"Kyup?!"
Sun spat slime on my face. It seemed to be a form of protest. I mean, I too would get tired of staying in the same place all the time. While removing Sun's slime from my lips, a bit got into my mouth, and it tasted surprisingly good. Like refreshing carbonated water. Not that I'm saying I'm going to eat it or anything.
"Sun, everyone in the dungeon has to work."
"Kyup...."
"If not here, you'd have to guard against intruders, you know? It's very dangerous there. Could you handle it?"
"Kyup kyup."
"Hey, I worked at a black company too, but I won't make you work all day. I'll let you go home at night. I'll feed you delicious grass too."
"Kyup!"
"Yeah, yeah, turn off the lights when you leave."
"Kyup kyup."
I dramatically concluded the negotiation with the worker. As expected of a herbivorous slime with a good appetite, Sun showed great interest in 'delicious grass.'
Now it's much brighter inside. It's so bright that you'd believe we were on the 3rd floor above ground.
I spent the rest of the time managing the field, and at night, I lounged around fiddling with the TV. Perhaps because I used to work at a black company, I feel grateful for a life with work-life balance.
There wasn't much content on TV, but I could browse the Wizard's Board.
The Wizard's Board is a community that any wizard on the continent can access.
[Wizard's Board] New posts 6811 / New comments 85322 / Online users 918
Title) 1st Tier Firebolt VS Icebolt
Author) BasementGuard Same intelligence, same mana amount which is stronger?
└Def Ibolt
└Usually ice-element has better conversion efficiency
└Is this dismissing 100 million fire-element wizards worldwide?
└Honestly, it's Ibolt
└This person periodically posts controversial topics, please ban
└(No Feeding cone)
└Are there really 100 million fire-element wizards?
└Whatever you believe is the truth
└Just use both
It's a place where trivial topics like this are discussed.
Time flies when you're browsing it. If there's one thing truly impressive about this world compared to modern times, it's magic and skills—spells.
Spells solve most problems and greatly improve quality of life.
They cause just as many problems too, but well.
Although my specialization is summoning, I also enjoy it as it's been my field throughout my life.
I spent the rest of the time lurking on the board.
The next morning, as I was stretching and heading to the field, I saw the marmots surrounding the field in a circle dance.
"Harvest dance, marmot."
"Festival, marmot."
My mouth fell open as I saw crops that had grown taller than me.
"What? They grew this much in just one day?"
: First cultivation bonus!
: Crops have grown 10 times faster!
"So there was such a thing, that's lucky. But even at ten times, this is extremely fast growth."
"Dungeons are infused with mana everywhere, so perhaps that's why? They look tall and vibrant, I wonder how they taste!"
Sitri stroked the crop stems with a watering mouth.
"Alright, let's see what we've got."
: You've harvested Sugar Cane!
: You've harvested Vanilla!
: You've harvested Coca Fruit!
...Huh?
Wait a minute, where's my spicy green onion? Where's the wheat flour that would have made crispy pancake batter? Where did all these spices come from instead?
"How could this be?"
Come to think of it, I never decided what to plant at the beginning. Maybe the seeds most suitable for the soil were randomly selected. I was too complacent expecting the crops I wanted to grow automatically.
"Lord, marmots see this."
"Lots of fruits, marmot."
"This stalk is sweet-sweet, marmot."
The marmots proudly showed me baskets full of fruits and sugar cane they had harvested.
"Yes, good job. We might not be able to fill our stomachs, but we could at least open a candy store."
"These are crops I've never seen before. Can we make the foods you mentioned with these?"
Sitri seriously examined the fruits.
"I wish we could, but unfortunately not. This stalk, when dried and ground, produces sugar, and these black seeds are spices that enhance flavor. Don't eat the red fruit as it is, it's dangerous. I saw once that when making cola, they boiled it for a long time..."
Wait. Knowledge from a trivia YouTube channel I once watched flashed through my mind like lightning. Coca fruit, an ingredient in cola. Thanks to the sugar cane, we now have plenty of sugar.
This might be in reverse order, but these revolutionary raw materials could completely change the terrible food culture of this fake medieval world.
"Carbonated water."
Sun can make it. As it happens, I have plenty of slimes on the first floor of my dungeon. Slimes reproduce well and quickly increase in number just by feeding them grass.
"That's it."
"Looks like you've thought of a new plan."
"Yes. I can make a set menu."
From Korean food to Western food. Although it's very different from my original plan, why should I care as long as I can recreate modern food? I immediately got to work.
I fed the remaining vanilla leaves to the slimes to make them multiply, then generate carbonation.
I mixed it with clean water from the nearby river, and pristine carbonated water was created. I thoroughly boiled the coca leaves to extract the essence. The sugar was melted at high temperature to make caramel, and I poured in whatever I had. Finally, I added vanilla flavor to complete it.
"Wow."
It was the birth of the miraculous black liquid, cola.
Of course, the first glass was a strange concoction that was just bitter and sour due to wrong proportions, but after trial and error, it started to taste similar.
Adding some juice from strawberries picked from the planter made it even more plausible.
[Refreshing Cola] : Consumable Item (Potion)
: Effect Increases comfort by 1 for 5 minutes & Increases magic power by 1%.
: Creator Lord Ain
"It became an item?"
Perhaps because it was made with dungeon-grown ingredients, the cola was classified as a potion rather than just a beverage.
Thanks to this, a proper set menu was finally placed before me.
"Main course is a sandwich, side dish is vanilla-flavored sugar cane chips, and."
For the drink, cola. A composition worthy of any fast food restaurant.
"Huh... it, it looks delicious..."
Facing the set menu, Sitri almost lost her mind and nearly buried her face in it. Saliva was embarrassingly dripping from the corners of her mouth.
"Is this black liquid... a potion? It has a sweet scent."
"Just try it. Take a bite of the sandwich, then a sip."
I bit into the bread. It's the same hard and slightly salty medieval sandwich as usual. But what happens when you add a sip of cola?
Gulp, gulp—
"Ahh, that's it!"
Right now, this place was no different from a S○bway in Apgujeong during lunch hour. Seeing my reaction, Sitri dubiously took a sip of cola.
"Mmm...?!"
Sitri's eyes widened with surprise. Her mouth, which had only been nibbling until now, began to quickly chew and swallow the sandwich as if savoring a delicacy.
"How is it?"
"It's delicious! I never imagined such a liquid existed in the world...To think a mere drink could change the very flavor of food...!"
"See, I told you it would be tasty."
"Marmot, marmot."
"Marmots want to eat too, marmot."
The marmots were drooling under the table. I poured small amounts of cola into cups and gave one to each of them.
Gulp gulp, they received the cups with their tiny hands and drank it well.
"Taste...?!"
"Ma-marmot!"
The shock of the carbonation made them gape for a moment, but as the refreshing sensation passed through their heads, they smiled brightly.
"Delicious marmot!"
"Is this really water from the field, marmot?"
"Marmot never tasted such sweet water before, marmot."
"Lord is a magician, marmot."
The excited marmots eagerly held out their cups to me, eyes sparkling. I grinned and said to them:
"Well, do you like it?"
"Marmot, marmot."
"You'll have to take good care of the field to get more cola, right?"
"That's right, marmot."
"This is a reward for working hard yesterday. If you take good care of the field tomorrow too, I'll give you more."
Everyone was excited, ears perking up as I poured another cup of cola for each of them. One of them even started performing a ritual with the cola on the floor.
"Lord, I, I also..."
Sitri timidly raised her hand.
"Of course, Sitri can have as much as she wants. It's not that difficult to make."
"Really? Thank you! Hehe, I simply can't imagine how you managed to create such a thing. As expected of you, Lord. Those who have reached enlightenment truly see the world differently."
Sitri's reaction was excessive as usual, but this time I decided to understand. After all, medieval food was so unpalatable that I couldn't bring myself to eat it.
: Comfort has increased! (2/100)
: Mana production has increased! (0.2 / hour)
: Tutorial Quest [Facility Management] completed! (5/10)
: Excellent! Keep going just like that!
"Good. As we continue farming, the field's level will increase, and the variety of crops we can cultivate will expand. I hope blue wheat becomes available soon."
"I don't know about green onions...but you need wheat seedlings, correct? I understand. I will obey your command. There was a human territory nearby, wasn't there?"
Sitri adjusted her scabbard with a crisp sound.
"Originally, this territory belonged to the lord. It's only natural for them to pay taxes to their master. To those who refuse, I shall show them the lord's reputation—"
"That's right, there was quite a large village. We can purchase from there. Sitri, you're a genius."
I had been too dependent on the status window. I hadn't thought of such a simple solution.
"Purchase... you say?"
"Yes. You should come along too as an escort, just in case."
Sitri tilted her head but soon nodded.
"A secret inspection, you mean. I will obey your command."
Sitri's enthusiasm may be excessive, but she's always cooperative, which is very reassuring.
"Ah, but I don't have any money."
Naturally, the Empire doesn't provide civil servants with national pension and four major insurances. In an era where the common sense is "With so many people, who cares if we use them all up? We can just replace them," this is to be expected.
"I'll need money if I'm going to live in my own house from now on."
I open the status window to check. There are three main icons on the resource bar at the top.
[Chaos Stone] (0) A valuable resource. Used for purchasing gacha tickets, installing and upgrading mini-game facilities, and shop purchases.
[Mana] (22) The source of life. Used for magic and skills, maintaining objects, and leveling up.
[Gold Coins] (0) The common currency of the continent. Used for facility maintenance, purchasing facility materials, and development.
I'll need gold coins to buy new crop seedlings or to repair the dungeon later. It's natural to pay maintenance fees when living in a building. At least I don't have to pay property tax. I should earn at least this much.
"Selling summoned equipment...even the low-tier items have their uses."
During this, my gaze turned to the cola with bubbles rising to the surface.
"I wonder how much this could sell for?"