Player Farming in the Dragon’s Lair - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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101
Lee Woo-jin reached for the Meju first.
It was rock-hard, dried to brittleness.
When he tapped it with his fingertips, it crackled sharp and clean.
He broke the Meju into small pieces.
Crack!
Pop!
The dried Meju shattered and crumbled apart.
The chunks were roughly the size to fit through the hole at the top of the Millstone.
Now he fed the Meju pieces into the Millstone’s opening one at a time, grasped the handle, and began turning it slowly.
Grind…
The top and bottom discs of the Millstone rotated, crushing the dried Meju.
At first came coarse crumbs, which he scooped up and fed back into the opening, turning again and again until,
Meju powder—done.
Next, he prepared a vessel for the gochujang.
He brought over a Lock and Lock Container and was about to add the red pepper powder when he paused.
“If I’m just going to put it in the earthenware jar anyway, wouldn’t it make more sense to make it there from the start?”
The deliberation didn’t last long.
He brought over the jar at once.
[Unknown Stone Earthenware Jar]
– Grade: C
– Effect: Significantly increases fermentation and maturation speed. (Aging time -70%)
– Description: An earthenware jar carved from the mysterious stone that comprises the Dragon Lair.
“Lululu.”
Lee Woo-jin hummed to himself as he poured the red pepper powder into the jar.
Whoosh.
Brilliant red pepper powder settled thickly along the bottom of the jar.
The color was remarkably vivid—dried well in the sun and ground fine with the Millstone.
A scarlet hue that looked spicy even to the eye.
Over it, he dumped all the freshly ground Meju powder.
Whoosh.
Yellowish Meju powder descended onto the red pepper powder below.
The pungent scent of pepper and the savory aroma of Meju intertwined, rising together in a strange fragrance from the jar.
“Oh, it already smells almost like gochujang.”
Kkamangi sniffed from beside him, then stepped back one pace.
“Spicy and savory, meow.”
Lee Woo-jin added salt.
Just enough to balance the flavor.
Too much would make it inedible, so he adjusted the amount with care.
And honey.
Glug.
Golden honey flowed into the jar.
The honey pooled atop the red pepper powder. Since he wasn’t certain how much was the right amount, he’d need to taste it as he went.
Time to mix.
Press.
The moment he inserted the wooden spatula into the jar and began stirring,
“Hgh.”
It was far stiffer than expected.
The pepper and Meju powders absorbed the honey, clumping together into something dense.
Each stroke of the spatula sent effort up his arm.
Thick and heavy.
“This is way too stiff.”
The Doppelganger peered into the jar from beside him.
(…) Nod.
Without knowing the exact method, what lay before him looked less like gochujang and more like a spicy Meju paste. Lee Woo-jin decided to add a little water.
“Rainfall.”
Pitter-patter.
Then he stirred again.
As the moisture added some give, the spatula moved more smoothly than before.
The clumped powder gradually loosened, beginning to blend together.
Partway through, I lifted a wooden spatula, touched it lightly with my fingertip to taste, and detected the gochujang flavor. But something was missing—the sweetness fell short.
Glug.
I added more honey.
Then resumed stirring with the wooden spatula.
With each stir, the color deepened, growing richer and more crimson.
The hue and texture began to match the gochujang sold in supermarkets—the kind I knew back home.
At last.
[Tower’s Gochujang has been completed.]
[Cooking Lv. 8 Proficiency has increased.]
[You have acquired Cooking Lv. 9.]
[Craftsmanship Lv. 5 Proficiency has increased marginally.]
“Excellent!”
I peered into the earthenware jar.
[Tower’s Gochujang]
– Grade: A
– Effects
– Taste Bonus +100%
– When cooking with Tower’s Gochujang, skill-related bonus effects apply
– Description: A homemade gochujang made with meju, red chili powder, and honey. Cooking with this feels like it’ll bring good fortune.
“It’s finished!”
I dipped a fingertip and tasted it.
“Mmm. Now that’s the stuff.”
It had a spicy yet sweet flavor.
The kind you find readily in stores.
But with far richer umami.
“Heh. Might as well make some tteokbokki right now.”
Lunch would be ready soon.
If there’s one essential ingredient for tteokbokki, it’s the rice cakes themselves.
Since I’d already made rice cakes while preparing injeolmi, rolling out these wouldn’t be difficult.
Whoosh!
I cooked rice in the Black Mithril Pot.
Once the rice was fluffy, I scooped it with a spatula into a bowl.
I wet my hands with cold water and grabbed a handful of rice with my bare hands.
Knead, knead.
I pressed and molded the rice with my hands.
I shaped it into thin, elongated rice cake form, then cut it into bite-sized pieces with a knife and laid them one by one on a wooden tray beside me.
The Doppelganger came over and helped with the rice cake preparation too. Soon, a chewy mound of tteokbokki cakes filled the wooden bowl.
“Heh.”
Making tteokbokki is straightforward.
I’d cooked it at home a few times before.
The ingredients were just rice cakes, gochujang, corn syrup, and scallions.
I prepared a large frying pan.
And gathered dry firewood.
“Sunlight!”
[Sunlight Lv. 2 Proficiency has increased.]
[You have acquired Sunlight Lv. 3.]
I lit a fire without bothering to use the gas burner.
I added water and rice cakes to the pan and brought it to a rolling boil.
Then I scooped out the gochujang I’d made earlier with a wooden spatula, generous portions, stirred it in well.
– Sizzle! (What a delicious smell!)
(…) I nodded.
But we weren’t done yet.
Normally I’d use corn syrup, but I substituted honey instead.
Since too much would make it cloyingly sweet, I added just a touch—enough to bring out the gochujang’s natural sweetness.
Bubble, bubble!
I kept the heat on, letting it simmer so the gochujang seasoning would soak into every rice cake.
A tangy, spicy-sweet aroma wafted up.
Now all that remained was to sprinkle chopped scallions for garnish.
[You have made Tteokbokki through Cooking.]
[Cooking Lv. 9 Proficiency has increased.]
[Tteokbokki]
– Grade: A
– Effects
– Taste Bonus +100%
– Upon consumption, all attributes +30% for 60 minutes
– Upon consumption, immunity to all status ailments +10% for 60 minutes
– Upon consumption, additional Experience Points gain +30% for 60 minutes
– Description: A dish born from combining rice cakes with gochujang. The flavor is stimulating. Caution: it may be somewhat spicy.
An extraordinary buff!
Lee Woo-jin picked up a piece of tteokbokki with his chopsticks and placed it in his mouth.
First came the spicy yet subtly sweet taste of the gochujang sauce, and as he chewed, the chewy rice cakes blended beautifully with the sauce, delighting his tongue with each bite.
Simply.
Delicious.
[By consuming Tteokbokki, all your attributes rise by 30% for 60 minutes.]
[Your immunity to all status ailments rises by 10% for 60 minutes.]
[Your additional Experience Points gain rises by 30% for 60 minutes.]
A swallowing sound was heard.
Kkamangi and Dungeon Mouse were gulping their saliva as they watched Lee Woo-jin eat.
“Hold on just a moment. I’ll portion some out for you right away.”
Lee Woo-jin pulled out a ladle, plunged it deeply into the frying pan, and scooped up the tteokbokki.
Since he’d made such a large quantity, the tteokbokki and sauce broth overflowed.
He spooned tteokbokki generously into bowls.
And ladled out the sauce with the casual abundance of a kind-hearted market grandmother.
The perfectly colored tteokbokki.
“Meow meow! This tastes so good, meow!”
(……) Nod nod!
Dungeon Mouse ate just as enthusiastically, sauce smeared across its snout.
Its mouth full of sauce.
The gods ate well too.
[God of Adventure says this flavor is completely addictive and that his chopsticks won’t stop moving.]
[God of Order laughs heartily and says that with the spice balanced against the sweetness, it’s truly a captivating taste.]
.
.
.
Ugh.
He was full.
Very full, in fact.
Despite eating tteokbokki mindlessly, about half of it still remained in the frying pan—an inevitable result of making so much.
He thought about packing it up and storing it in his Subspace Backpack for a snack later, when he suddenly remembered the neighbors living with him in the tower.
Hephaestus.
Treasure Goblin.
“And……ah, the Apostles too.”
In truth, they could hardly be called neighbors—they were really just being kept there—but Lee Woo-jin occasionally visited the Apostles to bring them snacks like cherry tomatoes or ramen.
He spoke to Kkamangi, who lay sprawled out with belly exposed.
“Kkamangi.”
“Meow?”
“While I’m taking tteokbokki to Hephaestus and the Treasure Goblin, would you deliver this to the Apostles in the Abandoned Dungeon?”
Lee Woo-jin spoke as he prepared portions of tteokbokki.
Kkamangi nodded.
“Sure thing, meow!”
* * *
Tap!
Kkamangi descended slowly through the Manager’s passage with a bowl of tteokbokki secured to his body by a cord.
The Manager’s passage, normally so narrow that Kkamangi could barely squeeze through, was now spacious and pleasant enough to dash about in freely.
After passing the junction that led toward the Abandoned Dungeon and descending a bit further, a cavern appeared—the Abandoned Dungeon itself.
There, bound tightly against the wall, were two Apostles.
Ninth-ranked Apostle, Paimon.
Tenth-ranked Apostle, Buer.
Kkamangi set the bowl of tteokbokki he’d been carrying down before them.
When Paimon and Buer sensed Kkamangi’s presence, they easily deduced the fact that he was a Manager.
It wasn’t unusual for a Manager to wander through the Tower.
But that aside.
“What… what is this?”
“Tteokbokki, meow. Woo-jin told me to bring it to you, meow.”
Woo-jin!
The moment that name left the Manager’s mouth, the Apostles flinched.
They had been under the impression that Woo-jin was a god.
“Y-you there—what is your relationship to Lee Woo-jin?”
“Me? I’m Woo-jin’s family, meow!”
“…Family?”
“That’s right, meow. And I’m the president of Lee Woo-jin Agricultural Management Corporation, meow! Woo-jin is the chairman of the company, meow.”
“….”
What was that?
I couldn’t quite make it out.
But it seemed the Manager was trying to convey the existence of an organization called Lee Woo-jin Agricultural Management Corporation.
I wasn’t sure why it had to do with agriculture, though.
In any case.
Gulp.
“I’ll eat well, then.”
“Enjoy it, meow. And leave the bowl here, meow. I’ll come get it later, meow.”
A Player Farming in the Dragon Lair (Serial)
Author │ Gaebyeok S
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Publishing House │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ Room 401, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Ace Techno Tower 8th)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Gaebyeok S 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. pursuant to a contract with the copyright holder. No part of this work may be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
Violation of this restriction may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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