Player Farming in the Dragon’s Lair - Chapter 33

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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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33
Twenty-two days since arriving at the Tower.
“Ahhh. That was a good sleep.”
Warm sunlight was beginning to filter into the cave.
Woojin stretched luxuriously as he sat up.
He unzipped his sleeping bag and pulled himself upright.
“Good morning, meow!”
(…….) A greeting!
“Yeah. You two sleep well?”
The creatures nodded in response.
Woojin slipped on his slippers and climbed out of the sleeping bag.
The morning air was crisp.
[You have acquired Cold Resistance Lv. 2.]
He was startled by the sudden skill level increase, but couldn’t help laughing. Now that his Cold Resistance had gone up a level, the chill didn’t seem to bite quite as hard.
It probably wasn’t just his imagination.
Woojin squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush and stood at the lake’s edge.
He scooped up lake water in a plastic cup he’d bought at Daiso and brushed his teeth, feeling genuinely satisfied.
“Ahhh. So refreshing!”
Next came morning exercises.
After the exercises, it was time for breakfast.
Today’s breakfast was Boiled Sweet Potatoes and Tower Mana Cherry Tomatoes.
He filled an aluminum pot with lake water, added six sweet potatoes, and covered it with a lid.
Bubble-bubble.
While the sweet potatoes cooked, he ate the cherry tomatoes.
Thoroughly washed, their surfaces gleamed.
He’d pinch off the stem with a little “pop,” toss one in his mouth, and with a single bite—crack—the juice would burst forth in a delicious spray.
[You have consumed Tower Mana Cherry Tomato. Your Mana has permanently increased by 0.002.]
[You have consumed Tower Mana Cherry Tomato……]
About twenty minutes had passed.
When he lifted the lid, the sweet aroma of cooked sweet potatoes wafted out.
He removed them with tongs and plated each one on a wooden dish he’d made himself.
[You have prepared Boiled Sweet Potato through Cooking.]
[Your Cooking Lv. 3 Proficiency has slightly increased.]
[Boiled Sweet Potato]
– Grade: D
– Effects
– Taste Bonus +10%
– Permanent Strength +0.002 upon consumption
– Description: Tower sweet potato, boiled to perfection. Still piping hot.
So this is what counts as a new dish.
In truth, from a consumer’s perspective, roasted or boiled made little difference.
It’s still a sweet potato either way.
But the system apparently saw things differently.
Then again, didn’t cup ramen and instant noodles—boiling them—not count as cooking?
That took more technique than simply boiling sweet potatoes.
He’d wondered if the Cooking skill only counted when you prepared crops you’d grown yourself, but then he remembered that stir-fried pork belly and kimchi rice had registered as cooking too, so that wasn’t quite it.
Still, one thing was certain.
Only Tower-grown crops could actually increase his stats.
Rice, ramen, and kimchi brought from outside tasted fine but didn’t boost his abilities.
On the other hand, dishes made from Tower crops both tasted excellent and raised his stats.
That was quite a significant difference.
It gave him every reason to farm seriously going forward.
“Come on now, help yourselves.”
[The God of Adventure lets out a jubilant “Wahoo!” and accepts a Boiled Sweet Potato.]
(…….) Crunch!
They each ate a Boiled Sweet Potato.
Soft and moist, the flesh melted on the tongue.
The subtly sweet flavor was exquisite.
Even without water to wash it down, it went down so smoothly it was absolutely delicious.
After finishing breakfast.
Another day, another vigorous start.
“Let’s see what we’ve got.”
【You Can Do It Too! Your First Steps in Vegetable Gardening】
A thick farming manual stretching well over four hundred pages.
A full-color guide complete with photographs of crops and detailed planting instructions.
It covered nearly every vegetable that ordinary farmers cultivated in daily life, arranged alphabetically for easy reference.
“Let’s start with carrots.”
He pulled out the Carrot Seeds he’d bought at the discount store.
They’d cost a thousand won, containing roughly four hundred seeds according to the packet.
‘That’s right—I should take pictures to show Mom.’
When he’d come out this time, he’d brought his smartphone from his studio apartment along with a couple of fully charged backup batteries, so he’d have no trouble taking photos and exploring for a week.
Click.
Click.
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, Tower Mana Cherry Tomatoes, lettuce, perilla leaves.
He photographed the entirety of Woojin’s farm—roughly a hundred pyeong—from multiple angles.
“Doppelgänger, would you take some photos of me? Just touch that white circle in the middle here and the picture will snap.”
Click.
As Woojin demonstrated, the Doppelgänger understood immediately and nodded.
He stood before the field in a pose pointing at the crops with his palms open while the Doppelgänger snapped several shots. When he went to check them, they’d turned out rather well.
With the photos done, it was time to establish the carrot patch.
“Hmm.”
From what the book showed, there was nothing particularly difficult about preparing the field—just making ridges and furrows, then spreading compost.
“All right. Let’s get started.”
He began preparing the carrot patch alongside the Doppelgänger.
He’d decided to make the carrot bed about ten pyeong.
Woojin surveyed the area with his eyes where he’d establish it.
With the potato bed, sweet potato bed, and lettuce and perilla patch already sprawling across the space, one corner of Dragon Rare had taken on the appearance of a proper farm, but creating a new ten-pyeong field was another matter entirely.
“From here to here, then.”
Woojin traced a rough boundary with the tip of his foot.
The Doppelgänger stared at it for a moment, then moved to his side and gazed in the same direction.
“Make the ridges long and the furrows not too narrow. According to the book, carrots grow long underground, so the soil needs to be deep and fine.”
(…….) *Nod!*
Woojin immediately drove his spade into the ground.
“Soil Leveling!”
Thunk.
Crunch!
As the spade tip bit into the earth, fine soil scattered to either side.
He swept away the surface layer, breaking up the hardened portions below.
The uneven ground began to flatten rapidly with each pass of the blade.
[Your Proficiency with Soil Leveling Lv. 6 has increased.]
[Your Proficiency with Soil Leveling Lv. 6 has…….]
The field was finished in no time.
Next, he spread the compost.
[The following effects apply where you use Compost Cluster:]
– Soil Fertility +10%
– Crop Grade Increase Chance +10%
“Heh heh heh. Excellent.”
The effects of his homemade natural compost looked promising.
Though the compost was still only Grade F, its effectiveness would surely improve as he raised its Grade over time.
“The field’s done, and now it’s time to plant the seeds.”
【If carrot seeds are sown too densely, the roots won’t grow thick and straight. Once the sprouts emerge, it’s important to thin them, leaving only the strongest ones.】
【After preparing the soil so it’s soft and smooth without stones, sow the seeds shallowly and cover with just a light layer of soil. Rather than watering heavily all at once, it’s better to keep the ground consistently moist without letting it dry out.】
He began planting seeds according to the book’s instructions.
Woojin opened the carrot seed packet and poured a small handful into his palm.
The seeds were far tinier than he’d expected.
It looked like they might slip right through the gaps between his fingers if he wasn’t careful.
“Wow. They really are tiny.”
After reviewing the book’s instructions one more time, he crouched before the ridge and used his fingertips to trace a shallow furrow into the soil.
“Seed Planting, Seed Planting!”
[Your Proficiency with Seed Planting Lv. 4 has increased.]
[Seed Planting Lv. 4’s Proficiency has…….]
He dropped the seeds at regular intervals.
Not too densely packed, yet not sparse either.
The Doppelgänger watching from beside him accepted some seeds and began sowing them earnestly.
Tap.
Tap.
After Woojin had finished sowing all the seeds,
he gently pulled over some of the soft soil around them with his fingertips and covered the top.
“Mm. Perfect.”
“Woojin. There’s water here, nya.”
“Huh? When did that get filled?”
By the time Woojin turned around with the water, the watering can was already brimming full. While Woojin and the Doppelgänger had been busily sowing the Carrot Seeds, Kkamangi had fetched the water.
“As expected of you, Kkamangi. You’ve got great instincts.”
“This much is a piece of cake, nya! If you need anything else done, just say the word anytime, nya.”
Kkamangi’s tail was standing straight up in triumph.
Woojin gave him a few approving pats and peeled open a Treat Stick to give him.
“I-is this a Treat Stick, nya?!”
“Because you did such a good job.”
Gulp-gulp-gulp.
Woojin chuckled softly, picked up the watering can, and began weaving between the carrot rows, sprinkling water over the sown seeds.
Whoooosh~
“Grow big and strong now.”
* * *
“Oh, that’s right.”
Though the data connection wasn’t working, Woojin was looking at old photos and videos from his smartphone for the first time in ages, losing all sense of time.
He’d set it aside to charge the battery while he meditated, when the Auction House suddenly came to mind.
“How did that turn out?”
Not long ago, Woojin had
listed an A-Grade weapon, the Lightning Sword, on the Auction House.
Since he’d only ever purchased from the Auction House before, this was his first time selling, and he suddenly realized he hadn’t set a buyout price.
So the auction hadn’t ended yet.
It was still ongoing.
[Auction in Progress]
[Lightning Sword]
[Highest Bid: 100,000 Coins]
– Ethan Coldwell
– Li Wei
– Kamiya Ren
Three people had placed bids at 100,000 Coins.
As if they’d hit some kind of ceiling.
“…Ah!”
Then it hit him.
The Tower imposed Coin possession limits based on Difficulty.
The officially disclosed figures were: Normal Difficulty, 10,000 Coins.
Hard Difficulty, 100,000 Coins.
And the three highest bidders were the most famous Rankers in the world.
Ethan Coldwell, American nationality.
Current Record: Hard Difficulty, Layer 34
Li Wei, Chinese nationality.
Current Record: Hard Difficulty, Layer 25
Kamiya Ren, Japanese nationality.
Current Record: Hard Difficulty, Layer 18
“So that’s why there are three of them.”
The weapons they were currently using would be B-Grade.
So the moment they spotted the Lightning Sword, a weapon one tier higher in Grade, they’d each submitted their maximum available bid in full—and now Woojin had only to touch the “Close Bidding” button.
Woojin immediately tapped the ‘Close Bidding’ button.
Once he did, he could select one of the adventurers who’d submitted the highest bid and declare them the winner.
[Please select the winning bidder.]
Farmer Player at Dragon Rare (Serialized)
Author | Gaebyeok S
Published by │ Kim Joo-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyeok
Address │ 401, Ace Techno Tower 8th, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Gaebyek S2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder. The contents may not be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the company and the author.
Any violation of this 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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