Player Farming in the Dragon’s Lair - Chapter 11
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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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11
Black Cat was in fact a Manager of the Tower.
[Normal]
[Hard]
[Hell]
[Mythology]
The Tower was classified into four Difficulties.
A Manager assigned exclusively to the Mythology Difficulty Tower.
Someone unfamiliar with the truth might assume that only the competent and the strong could become a Manager of the Mythology Difficulty Tower, but the reality was quite the opposite.
The Tower Manager Academy.
Each year, the Academy selected exceptional Managers and assigned them to towers, and the highest-performing and most capable were placed in the Normal Difficulty.
The reason was simple.
It had the largest number of Adventurers.
The more Adventurers registered, the more work the Managers had to do.
Conversely, the higher the Difficulty.
The fewer Adventurers there naturally were.
And in the case of Mythology Difficulty, there wasn’t a single Adventurer.
Not since the Tower first appeared until now!
— Number 350! What’s wrong with you? Why do you look like this?
— How could you ever do the job of a Manager properly like this?
— A worthless thing like you should just sit in the Mythology Difficulty Tower where no one ever goes and twiddle your paws.
The Manager called Number 350, Black Cat, was assigned to the Mythology Difficulty Tower in this manner.
On reflection, it might even be for the best.
At least there was no risk of causing trouble by going to a different Difficulty Tower.
So he spent his days alone in a tower where nobody came.
He’d long since forgotten the manual and everything else.
No Adventurer would ever arrive.
That’s how it had been until now.
And that’s how it would remain.
But then something changed.
“Oh no, oh no, meow!”
An Adventurer had appeared.
And an Adventurer of Mythology Difficulty, no less!
Surely they would possess an incredible Level.
Yet there was something distinctly off about this.
[Lee Woo-jin][Lv. 1]
Even this pathetic Level was difficult to explain.
Why would someone of such a Level—meant for the first floor of Normal Difficulty—be here?
An Adventurer in Mythology Difficulty had to have a minimum Level of 301.
Because one’s Level rose by one for each floor climbed.
Floor 1 of Normal Difficulty meant Level 1.
Floor 10 of Normal Difficulty meant Level 10.
Floor 100 of Normal Difficulty meant Level 100.
Floor 1 of Hard Difficulty meant Level 101, and so on.
“Why is that door like this, meow?!”
The Manager door leading to the Mythology 99th Floor.
The critical thing wasn’t the door itself, but the wall that surrounded it.
A hole had been cleanly torn through, exposing the Manager Corridor beyond.
Black Cat had completely fallen apart.
* * *
“Are you alright?”
When Black Cat asked if Woo-jin was an Adventurer, he answered yes. But Black Cat showed no real response, instead repeating fragmented words with a vacant expression.
“W-what do I do in a situation like this, meow?”
Woo-jin scratched his cheek.
“Cat!”
At the loud call, Black Cat startled and raised his fur on end again. He didn’t hiss, but it was clear the creature was on high alert.
“Let’s introduce ourselves first. I’m Lee Woo-jin. What’s your name?”
“…I-I’m Manager Number 350, meow.”
“Your name?”
“I don’t have a separate name, meow. Just call me Manager Number 350, meow.”
“Okay. I’ll call you Black Cat.”
Black Cat blinked as if the whole thing were absurd.
What on earth was this adventurer?
Manager 350, who had suddenly become Black Cat, felt the tension drain from her shoulders more than it had a moment before.
Woo-jin asked.
“What’s a Manager?”
He’d never heard of it.
There was a separate Manager for the Tower?
This was information unknown to the other Awakeners.
Woo-jin, who had been staring at Black Cat for a moment, suddenly widened his eyes as if he’d figured something out.
“Black Cat! You said you’re a Manager!”
“Y-yes, but…?”
“I got an Invitation Token and entered the Tower, and I ended up on the Mythology 99th Floor? And I’m only Level 1!”
“Is something like that even possible?!”
Black Cat asked back, eyes wide with shock.
How would I know that?
Woo-jin continued, thinking that as a Manager, she would know better than anyone.
“Look, I don’t know how it happened. Anyway, send me back to the Normal Difficulty Tower, Floor 1. It doesn’t make sense for me to be here.”
But Black Cat said nothing in response.
Then a book suddenly appeared in the air with a soft pop.
[Tower Manager Manual]
The pages flipped rapidly through the Manual.
Black Cat’s eyes darted back and forth across the text.
Then.
“…T-there’s no method like that, apparently.”
“What?”
“I’m serious! To begin with, there’s never been an error in Difficulty or Floor assignment. And it’s not in the Manual either!”
Woo-jin slumped to the ground.
A sigh escaped him.
Just when a thread of hope had appeared, it vanished.
But only for a moment.
Woo-jin stood up again with sudden resolve.
‘No. Don’t give up yet. The situation’s changed, after all.’
Compared to when he’d first arrived here, his circumstances had improved considerably.
The Dragon Lord, master of the 99th Floor, had spared his life.
Thanks to an Adventurer called Anonymous 3861, he now had plenty of Coins and no longer had to worry about survival.
That alone meant he’d found happiness in the midst of despair.
And now he’d learned of the existence of a Manager in the Tower itself.
The situation was definitely shifting in a positive direction.
Woo-jin’s gaze drifted.
His eyes turned toward the corridor.
The narrow passageway stretching out behind Black Cat, extending far into the distance.
“Black Cat. Where exactly does this corridor lead?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
“It’s in the rules that a Tower Manager can’t provide special benefits to any particular Adventurer! If another Manager found out, I’d lose my position!”
Tch. Strict, aren’t they.
“There are other Managers too?”
“Yes. I’m Manager 350, and there are Managers all the way up to 1,000!”
“Wow, that’s quite a lot.”
Woo-jin glanced around the area.
“But I don’t see any other Managers around.”
“I’m the only one in the Mythology Difficulty. The others are all in Normal, Hard, and Hell Difficulties.”
Woo-jin was taken aback by that revelation.
The sole Manager of the Mythology Difficulty.
“Wow! You must be incredibly competent!”
“…Huh?”
“You’re the only one assigned to the highest Difficulty, right? That means you’re exceptional, doesn’t it?”
Black Cat’s heart raced at Woo-jin’s praise.
She had never been praised by anyone in her entire existence.
This was a first for her.
Perhaps that’s why.
Black Cat found herself telling a lie without even thinking.
“Y-yes, that’s right! I am the greatest among all Managers!”
“I thought as much. A Manager of Mythology Difficulty—that’s impressive.”
“Heh… hehehehe.”
Lee Woo-jin spoke.
“But if there’s no other Manager here and you’re alone, it wouldn’t hurt to share some information with me, right? The other Managers won’t find out anyway.”
Lee Woo-jin sent a chat message to Anonymous 3861.
– Me : Hey
– Me : Can you get some Churu for the cat?
– Me : Right now
– Anonymous 3861 : ?
– Anonymous 3861 : Sure, fine
[Transaction complete.]
A stick of Churu was placed in Lee Woo-jin’s hand.
It felt like a coffee mix stick.
He tore open the lid.
“We’ve met by fate. Here—a gift for you.”
“What is this?”
“Churu. You’ve never tried it?”
Lee Woo-jin squeezed the Churu stick slightly.
The contents began to ooze out, trickling downward.
Black Cat found herself licking the Churu without thinking.
The smell was irresistibly delicious—utterly impossible to resist.
Lick.
The moment her tongue touched it.
A spark of electricity seemed to run through her.
‘W-what is this?!’
A flavor so stimulating, so delicious.
In all her life, she had never tasted anything like it.
“Meow, meow, meow.”
She licked up every drop of Churu and sucked on the stick itself.
The corners of Lee Woo-jin’s mouth rose in a grin.
“So? What do you think of the Churu?”
“It’s so delicious. Absolutely exquisite.”
Black Cat watched Lee Woo-jin’s face carefully.
“Could you give me more Churu?”
“Maybe. Depends on what you do for me.”
Black Cat sank into deep thought.
Helping an Adventurer was grounds for disqualification as a Manager.
If the other Managers found out, it would be serious trouble.
In fact, even showing herself to an Adventurer like this was not a good look.
Managers’ existence was not a secret from Adventurers.
But she had never revealed herself in all her time serving.
Yet, as Lee Woo-jin had said, there was no chance of any other Manager coming to the Mythology Difficulty Tower.
In other words, there would be no risk of being questioned for helping him.
“You wanted to know about this corridor?”
“Yeah.”
“This place is called the Manager Corridor. It’s a passageway where Managers can move about! And this door is a Manager door—you can open it with a Manager Key.”
Black Cat spoke readily, words flowing smoothly.
“Then is there no way to return to Earth through the Manager Corridor?”
“If you want to go back to Earth, you must clear your current Objective.”
It was a textbook answer.
The problem was that clearing the current Objective—”Eliminate the Dragon Lord”—was impossible.
“Tch.”
Lee Woo-jin clicked his tongue with disappointment.
“So, are you giving me more Churu now?”
“No.”
“Y-you’re stingy! Squeezing information out of me and giving nothing in return!”
“That’s not it. Churu’s supposed to be eaten only every so often. Otherwise he’ll get chunky.”
Anyway.
“Can I look around the corridor for a bit?”
“I want a Churu in exchange, though.”
This character.
His fixation on Churu was quite something.
Woo-jin laughed and pulled out a Churu for him.
Black Cat grinned widely and began eating the Churu.
And what about Woo-jin?
Manager Corridor exploration began.
“Soil Digging, Soil Digging!”
Thwack! Thwack!
He started digging along the passage without hesitation.
The current width and height made it difficult for Woo-jin to pass through, so he was expanding it.
Black Cat, having finished the Churu, stared blankly at the “expanding Manager Corridor.”
The situation unfolding was simply absurd.
Naturally, it wasn’t in the manual either, so he simply let his paws fall idle.
The Churu had been tasty, at least.
“Soil Digging!”
Thwack!
Continuing on like that,
a wooden door appeared before Woo-jin’s eyes.
He expanded the passage by digging toward it.
It was labeled “98th Floor.”
A Player Farming in Dragon Lair (Serialized)
Author | Gae-byeok S
Publisher | Kim Ju-hyung
Published by | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae-hyuk
Address | 401, Ace Techno Tower 8th, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email | [email protected]
Website | www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Gae-byeok S 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder. The content may not be used in any form or manner without the permission of the company and the author.
Violation of this provision 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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