Player Farming in the Dragon’s Lair - Chapter 49

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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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49
Korean Apartment Building 101, Unit 1001.
Tap-tap-tap!
With her husband and daughter off to work, Kim Misouk was doing what she did best — her hands moved with practiced efficiency across the cutting board.
Just days ago, Ujin had stopped by while she was out, and he’d made off with every side dish she’d carefully prepared and stored in the refrigerator.
Tap-tap!
With the dexterity of long practice, she julienned the potatoes and carrots, then began to sauté them.
Over decades of marriage, she’d cooked countless meals, and more than once the neighborhood mothers and members of the community association had asked her to share her culinary secrets — Kim Misouk’s skill in the kitchen was exceptional.
Clink.
The potato and carrot stir-fry was ready.
By the way, Ujin had mentioned he’d harvested these potatoes and carrots from the Tower, and the quality was remarkable.
Just looking at them, tasting them — they put even regional specialties to shame. It was almost bewildering how Ujin, who’d never farmed a day in his life, could grow vegetables like these.
“What’s so different about growing things in the Tower?”
In any case, delighted to have fresh, high-quality vegetables for her side dishes, she decided to turn on the television for company. She reached for the remote and pressed power.
— We turn now to our next story. Since the Tower’s appearance, research institutions have reported that the ongoing Erosion has slowed dramatically in recent weeks, making headlines worldwide.
— According to the research organizations, this timing coincides precisely with record-breaking achievements by major world Rankers, and they attribute this to the Rankers’ outstanding efforts.
— Meanwhile, Hunter Kang Min-woo has been clearing through Hard Difficulty Layer 17 at a remarkably rapid pace, garnering international attention, and appears to be having a significant impact on containing Erosion……
.
.
.
“Soil Cultivation, Soil Cultivation!”
Thump-thump-thump!
[Soil Cultivation Lv. 7 proficiency has risen marginally.]
[Soil Cultivation Lv. 7 proficiency has…….]
Day thirty-one in the Tower.
After watering the World Tree and the vegetables in the field, and having breakfast.
Ujin’s day began — quite refreshingly (?) — by widening the space in the Manager Corridor.
Getting a bit tired?
Then drink some Carrot Juice.
Glug-glug-glug!
[You have consumed Carrot Juice. Your Stamina has permanently increased by 0.01.]
[For the next 30 minutes, your Stamina recovery rate increases by 10%.]
“Ahh. Delicious.”
As he continued expanding the corridor, two paths came into view.
One was the standard route that bypassed the Layer 77 Manager’s Door, and the other branched off in the opposite direction.
“Kkamangi, what’s over there?”
“That’s where I used to live, meow.”
“Where you used to… ah, I see.”
Even a Manager needs a place to live.
So somewhere in the Manager Corridor, he’d roughly dug out a burrow and made it his den.
“Mind if I take a look?”
“Of course, meow. I’ll show you, meow.”
Thump-thump!
Using the Dark Moon Shovel to dig through the earth, he headed toward Kkamangi’s lair.
They’d only dug a bit further when a small burrow appeared nearby.
The size was comparable to a five-pyeong studio apartment where Ujin used to live.
It was cramped for a person living alone, but for a cat, it seemed reasonably comfortable.
There was no furniture inside.
Only a single large sack sitting alone in the center.
[High-Capacity Manager Snack]
– Category: Consumable
– Grade: F
– Description: Large-quantity provisions distributed to Managers stationed in the Tower. Tasteless, but fills the stomach when consumed.
He’d seen it before, but it really did look seriously unappetizing.
Rather than a snack, it was more like… cheap pet food?
‘After eating this stuff and then tasting those treats, it’s no wonder his eyes lit up.’
There didn’t seem to be anything else worth looking at, so he turned to leave — then stopped himself.
“What’s wrong, meow?”
“I just got curious about something. Did you dig out this entire Manager Corridor yourself?”
Looking at the size of the corridor, it certainly seemed possible — but before he could finish the thought, Kkamangi nodded his head.
“That’s right. But the manager corridor was designated from the very beginning.”
“I see. Still, that’s impressive. How did you manage to dig all of it alone?”
As Ujin labored with his shovel, he’d come to realize just how vast the tower was.
Beyond each floor’s doors lay entirely separate spaces with wholly different environments, but even accounting for that, the distances to reach each floor’s manager corridor were considerable.
“It wore me out too. I kept digging bit by bit until I reached the ninety-ninth floor. Besides, no one ever comes looking, and there’s only me, so I took my time. But I bet I’m the only manager who’s ever dug a corridor alone!”
His eyes gleamed with unmistakable pride.
His tail stood straight up and his hindquarters rose—a clear signal that he wanted a celebratory pat.
“You really are something, Kkamangi.”
Ujin praised him and gave him the pat he sought, and Kkamangi began to purr contentedly.
Then suddenly, as if remembering something,
Thump!
“I got a map when I first came here!”
“A map?”
It didn’t look particularly special at first glance.
A Mythic Difficulty tower.
Dots marked the locations of manager corridors from the first to the ninety-ninth floor, and lines connected the places where corridors were to be made.
“Hmm.”
It seemed Kkamangi had dug the corridors following those lines.
Moreover, looking more closely, there were also distinct markings—separate lines and dots—indicating rest areas.
One on the seventy-seventh floor.
One on the fifty-fifth floor.
One on the thirty-third floor.
One on the eleventh floor.
Everywhere else was marked as if to say: do not disturb.
It appeared that managers operated strictly according to their manuals and these difficulty-specific maps.
“What happens if you go somewhere else?”
“I don’t really know.”
Curiosity getting the better of him, Ujin was expanding the manager corridor toward the seventy-sixth floor when he decided to veer slightly to the right and forge a new path.
Ordinarily, he should have discouraged such behavior.
But introducing an adventurer into a manager corridor was itself a dereliction of duty as a manager, and moreover, the Association chairwoman had said Ujin was to be treated with utmost care—so Kkamangi simply let him be.
Besides, Kkamangi himself was naturally curious.
Thump!
Crack!
Thump!
Crack!
[Soil Cultivation Lv. 7 proficiency has increased slightly.]
[Soil Cultivation Lv. 7 proficiency has…….]
As he dug through the wall and pressed forward,
suddenly the shovel plunged through with a soft thump—and kept going.
There was no more wall ahead; empty space had opened up.
Ujin tilted his head curiously and peered through the hole.
[You have discovered a Gap Region.]
[You have discovered the Abandoned Dungeon of High-Level Witch.]
‘A dungeon?’
As one ascended through the tower’s many floors, you’d eventually notice three broad patterns.
First: monster hunting.
Second: escape.
Third: gimmick evasion.
Upon arriving at a stage, you might encounter monsters immediately, but there was something else that appeared frequently—dungeons.
Dungeons were mostly cave-like in form, and within them, the objective was achieved by evading monsters, defeating them, or finding an exit.
In any case, discovering a dungeon was no ordinary occurrence.
Yet finding one here, outside the tower’s designated stages, was genuinely disorienting.
And “high-level witch” at that.
It was a hierarchy he’d never heard of before.
“A dungeon just appeared!”
“Looks like it.”
“W-what are we going to do?”
Normally, the prudent choice would be to flee without hesitation.
But Ujin decided to take a brief look at the dungeon.
Had it been an “active dungeon,” he would have turned and run without a second thought, and sealed the hole back with earth to avoid it entirely.
But this was an abandoned dungeon.
Abandoned Dungeon of High-Level Witch
– Monsters: 0
– Traps: 0
It was truly an empty space with nothing left.
At this point, it could hardly be called a dungeon—more like an abandoned lot.
Thud.
“Here goes.”
Landing on the floor.
Kkamangi, who had hesitated for a moment, bravely followed after Ujin.
“You could’ve stayed up there, you know.”
“The Association director told me to serve you well, meow!”
Ujin let out a soft laugh.
Stealthy Steps Level 1 proficiency has increased.
You have acquired Stealthy Steps Level 2.
Just as Ujin was thinking he’d take a quick look around and then head back up, something caught his eye—a brownish clump of fur.
“…Huh?”
Wondering what it was, he took a closer look.
Dungeon Rat
“A Dungeon Rat? What is that?”
“U-Ujin! Be careful, meow! It’s the witch’s familiar, meow!”
“…But it’s not moving?”
To begin with, the monster count had been zero.
It meant there wasn’t a single monster in the dungeon.
Given that no level was displayed, the Dungeon Rat didn’t seem to be a monster at all.
But it wasn’t a corpse either.
If it were dead, it would have been labeled as “Dungeon Rat Corpse.”
That was when.
– Squeak, squeak… (M-master. You’re not abandoning me…)
The Dungeon Rat whimpered and groaned weakly.
“It looks like it’s barely hanging on.”
“…That does seem to be the case, meow.”
Ujin reached into his Pocket Dimension Backpack and pulled out something.
It was Carrot Juice.
“Why are you taking that out, meow?”
“To give it to him.”
“Dungeon Rats are enemies of adventurers, meow. You don’t need to give it Carrot Juice, meow.”
“But it looks like its master abandoned it.”
Witches created dungeons to kill adventurers.
Naturally, the Dungeon Rat, being the witch’s familiar, was an enemy to adventurers and to Ujin as well.
Most adventurers would have finished it off or simply passed it by.
If the Dungeon Rat tried anything hostile, Kkamangi had already decided to land a swift pounce.
Setting aside Kkamangi, who was flicking his tail and preparing for hunting (?), Ujin carefully picked up the Dungeon Rat, cradled it against his chest, and slowly poured the Carrot Juice into its mouth.
The Dungeon Rat consumes Carrot Juice; maximum HP permanently increases by 0.01.
For 30 minutes, HP recovery speed increases by 10%.
For now, he’d done what he could.
Ujin pulled out a spare t-shirt, laid it on the ground, placed the Dungeon Rat on top, and covered it like a blanket.
Rumble.
Looking at the time, it was lunch hour.
“Let’s take him and head back.”
A Player Farming in Dragon Rare (Serialization)
Author │ Gaebuk S
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 401, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Ace Techno Tower 8)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Gaebuk S 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder, and no part of the content may be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.
Violation of these terms 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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