Player Farming in the Dragon’s Lair - Chapter 111

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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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111
Day fifty-eight in the Tower.
[You have harvested Tower’s Vision-Enhancement Perilla Leaf.]
[Harvesting Lv. 10’s proficiency increases slightly.]
As Lee Woo-jin harvested the perilla leaves, he pruned them at the same time.
The leaves grew at a rapid pace.
Without pruning, the perilla would grow only upward and the yield would drop—so the farming manual claimed.
Snip.
The pruned shoots he collected in the corner of the dirt floor were destined to be buried in the earth along with leaves from other crops, eventually becoming compost.
‘Quite a pile already.’
Rice straw, cherry tomato stems, carrot peels, perilla shoots.
The perilla shoots bore flowers, and every day the honeybees visited to harvest the nectar there.
Of course, the pruned shoots—withered and starved of nutrients—attracted no interest from the bees.
It was as Lee Woo-jin gathered a handful of perilla flower stems in his arms and carried them toward the compost-making soil.
Something like a tiny seed tumbled to the ground with a soft patter.
Curious, he checked what it was.
[Tower’s Vision-Enhancement Perilla Seed]
– Grade: C
– Effect: Consumption slightly improves eyesight.
– Description: Perilla seeds cultivated by someone in the Tower. Eating them seems to sharpen one’s vision.
“Perilla seeds?”
Ground perilla powder.
Perilla oil.
The seeds used to make that?
Why were they suddenly falling to the ground?
Lee Woo-jin stared at the perilla shoots in his arms.
“Wait—could it be coming from here?”
Patter.
Patter-patter.
When he shook the withered shoots, perilla seeds poured from the flowers blooming on them. His suspicion had been correct.
“Amazing!”
An unexpected harvest indeed.
Now that he thought about it, when he’d bought the perilla seeds, he recalled hearing they were called perilla-leaf seeds.
When he’d purchased them, he hadn’t cared whether they were perilla or sesame seeds—he hadn’t paid much attention—but now he’d stumbled upon an unexpected bonus drop.
Lee Woo-jin immediately began stripping the seeds with Doppelganger’s help.
.
.
.
The stone vessel overflowed with pure perilla seeds.
Using a sieve, he’d filtered out all impurities—stones, dirt, and the like—leaving only the clean seeds.
“Smells nutty,” Kkamangi said, approaching to sniff.
The cat licked his whiskers appreciatively.
Lee Woo-jin planned to make perilla oil from this.
The method he’d devised was simple.
1. Roast the perilla seeds in a skillet over heat.
2. Grind the roasted seeds in a millstone to extract the oil.
If it failed, that would be a shame.
If it succeeded, that would be wonderful.
After all, the seeds were just a bonus from harvesting the leaves.
‘Or so I tell myself, but I really want the perilla oil!’
How fragrant and delicious it would be drizzled over vegetables.
Even the bibimbap he’d eaten yesterday would have had so much more nuttiness and depth if he’d drizzled a ring of perilla oil around it.
Whoosh!
He set the skillet over the wood fire.
To avoid burning them, he’d heated the pan thoroughly over the flames first, then lifted it away and poured in the seeds while the residual heat remained.
Rattle-rattle!
The seeds began to roast as heat was applied.
Though only the lingering warmth of the pan, the residual heat was sufficient to roast the seeds.
As the seeds’ moisture evaporated from the heat, a glossy sheen formed on their surface.
The deep, nutty fragrance characteristic of perilla gradually bloomed into the air.
(…) Staring intently.
The savory aroma made saliva pool in his mouth.
The fragrant, nutty scent of perilla seeds releasing oil.
As he roasted them longer, the color deepened and the aroma grew richer.
[The God of Life watches what you’re doing with wonder in their gaze.]
[The God of Adventure chuckles softly and says, “You really are talented at everything, aren’t you, Woo-jin?”]
[The God of Life nods vigorously with a bright smile, as if in agreement.]
“Ahem.”
He felt oddly embarrassed.
‘Think that’s enough?’
Woo-jin pinched up a few roasted perilla seeds between his fingertips.
The small seeds crumbled delicately in his fingers.
A subtle oiliness seeped out.
The aroma was perfect.
“Good. Let’s grind them now.”
He fed the roasted perilla seeds bit by bit into the hole at the top of the Millstone.
Patter-patter.
The small seeds tumbled into the Millstone’s chamber.
He grasped the handle and began turning it slowly.
Grind-grind…
The upper and lower stones of the Millstone meshed and rotated, crushing the seeds as coarse perilla powder streamed down below.
Woo-jin gathered it and fed it back into the Millstone’s hole.
Grind-grind…
With each turn, the perilla powder grew finer and finer.
At the same time, its color deepened slightly.
The dry powder-like seeds gradually took on a moist quality.
Continuing to turn the Millstone’s handle, the roasted perilla slowly crushed and its oils began to seep out.
The dampened perilla, now holding its oils, ground out with a paste-like consistency.
Perilla oil dripped through the Millstone’s stones.
Drop by drop, it pooled in the stone bowl he’d set beneath.
Though perilla oil had collected this way,
the perilla residue left from grinding held far more oil within it.
Woo-jin wrapped the residue in a cloth like cheesecloth, then twisted and squeezed it hard, continuing to extract the Tower’s Perilla Oil into the stone bowl.
[Your Craftsmanship Lv. 5 proficiency has increased.]
[You have completed the Tower’s Perilla Oil.]
[Due to the effect of Craftsmanship Lv. 5, the Tower’s Perilla Oil now possesses an even richer and deeper flavor.]
[Tower’s Perilla Oil]
– Grade: B
– Effects
– Taste Bonus +60%
– Upon consumption, eyesight increases.
– Description: Homemade perilla oil crafted from Tower’s Vision-Enhancement Perilla Seeds.
“Done!”
He dipped his pinky in to taste it.
That same rich, savory flavor that Kim Mi-suk used to bring home from the market years ago bloomed across his palate.
“I’m craving Kimbap.”
The first food he’d ever eaten when he arrived at the Tower.
Kimbap!
Woo-jin immediately sent a chat request to Kang Min-woo.
[You are requesting a chat with Kang Min-woo.]
[Kang Min-woo has accepted your chat request.]
– Me: Guild Master!
– Me: Are you busy?
– Kang Min-woo: Not at all! Is there something you need me to do?
In truth, despite what he’d said, Kang Min-woo was swamped.
As Guild Master and as a Ranker climbing the Tower, there were countless things to prepare—reports to approve, meetings with government officials and business executives that filled his schedule to bursting.
But what did any of that matter?
Looking good in Woo-jin’s eyes.
Could anything be more important than that?
– Me: Would it be alright if I asked for 20 basic Kimbap rolls to go?
– Kang Min-woo: Yes! I’ll prepare it right away!
In reality, the kimbap was ready in less than ten minutes.
– Me: Wow.
– Me: That really was fast.
– Me: Thank you for the meal, Guild Master.
– Kang Min-woo: Not at all! Please let me know if there’s anything else you need at any time.
A plastic bag appeared before Woo-jin’s eyes.
Inside were ten wooden chopsticks and aluminum foil tightly bundled together.
When he opened the foil, kimbap came into view.
Basic kimbap, individually wrapped one roll at a time.
A simple composition of burdock, carrot, ham, and pickled radish.
[The God of Authority asks if this is what kimbap is.]
“Yes, just a moment. Let me brush some perilla oil on it for you.”
He scooped up the perilla oil with a wooden spoon, coated it, and then brushed it across the surface of the kimbap.
A nutty aroma wafted up.
“Here, have one roll each.”
[The God of Adventure takes the kimbap.]
[The God of Authority picks up one piece of kimbap with a wooden chopstick, tastes it, and remarks that it’s genuinely quite delicious.]
“Right? I ate it often when I was in Korea. I even had kimbap when I first came here. I bought it at the Auction House with Coins back then.”
He picked up one piece of kimbap and tasted it.
The sweet flavor of burdock within the basic kimbap.
The chewy texture of the pickled radish.
The flavors of carrot and ham weren’t particularly noticeable.
But the nutty taste of the perilla oil, which filled in all the gaps perfectly, was utterly splendid.
The Doppelganger also tried a piece of kimbap.
(…) Thumbs up!
“Heh heh. Eat plenty.”
Kkamangi was sharing half a roll each with the Dungeon Mouse.
There was still plenty left, so if anyone needed more, they could have it.
* * *
Woo-jin decided to share the perilla oil-brushed kimbap with his neighbors in the Tower.
There were five rolls of kimbap left.
One roll each for distribution would work out perfectly.
He gave one roll to Hephaestus, who lived on the 60th floor.
He gave one to the Red Dragon on the 54th floor as well.
Then one more to the Treasure Goblin on the 48th floor.
“Last are the Apostles. Are they still around?”
He moved to the Abandoned Dungeon.
It took an hour to get there.
He hadn’t left a teleportation circle in this place.
In fact, he’d been planning to leave it abandoned, but if he ever had spare teleportation circles, it might be good to set one here too.
Thump!
When he entered the Abandoned Dungeon, Buer and Paimon came into view.
“Chairman, you’ve arrived!”
The two of them saluted with almost grandiose flourish.
Woo-jin tilted his head in confusion.
Chairman?
What was that about?
Then he remembered—a few days ago, he’d made a “contract” with these two on terms similar to that with Am-wol, and had taken them on as employees of the Lee Woo-jin Agriculture Company.
The Lee Woo-jin Agriculture Company wasn’t a formal organization, which was why Woo-jin kept forgetting about it. It was more like a pretend game he played with his family, like Kkamangi and the Doppelganger.
Anyway.
“Yeah. How have you two been?”
“Great! But is there anything you’d like us to do?”
“Nothing like that. I came because I have some food to share.”
Woo-jin pulled out the kimbap.
At the mention of food, Buer and Paimon broke into wide smiles.
The food Woo-jin had given them so far.
Cup ramen and tteokbokki had been incredibly delicious.
Surely this kimbap would be delicious as well.
“Kugh, gulp! Thank you so much, Chairman!”
Woo-jin handed out kimbap wrapped in foil, one roll at a time.
Along with wooden chopsticks.
Though wrapped in foil, each piece was already coated with perilla oil inside.
“But you two have been here the whole time?”
Buer and Paimon shook their heads at Woo-jin’s question.
“After you freed us from our shackles, we stepped out for a while and came back. And we have a meeting this evening, so we’ll be heading out again, squawk!”
Woo-jin scratched his cheek.
“Sure. Do as you like.”
They’d handle their comings and goings on their own.
It wasn’t as if he’d forced them.
“What kind of meeting are you talking about?”
“An Apostle meeting, squawk!”
Not entirely sure what that meant, Woo-jin nodded and headed back toward the Dragon Lair.
A Farmer’s Life in the Dragon Lair (Ongoing Series)
Author | Gaebokh S
Publisher | Kim Joo-hyung
Publishing House | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae-hyuk
Address | Suite 401, Ace Techno Tower 8, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul
Email | [email protected]
Website | www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Gaebokh S 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder, and the content may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and 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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