Player Farming in the Dragon’s Lair - Chapter 62

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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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62
Lee Woo-jin arrived at the entrance to Floor 60 and set down the Teleportation Ring.
Kkamangi emerged from wherever she’d been waiting, poking her adorable head forward with a pop.
“I was just about to call you, actually.”
“I had a feeling you would be. But you’ve already reached Floor 60 already, meow?”
“Heh. I’ve been digging hard.”
Kkamangi blinked her eyes.
At this rate, wasn’t Lee Woo-jin practically a master excavator?
He dug earth well, farmed well, cooked well.
She was starting to think of him as a genuine survival expert.
Pop!
She pulled out the Manual.
Lee Woo-jin crouched beside her and reviewed the Floor 60 information displayed in the Manual together.
[Floor 60 Objective]
– Hephaestus’s Gift (0/1)
[Floor 60 Information]
– Hephaestus.
– He is a blacksmith king who has reached the realm of the semi-divine.
– The legendary blacksmith Hephaestus, known to have forged weapons and armor for the gods, has survived the Impossible Difficulty and, upon your arrival at Floor 60, chooses to show respect by offering you a gift.
– (It appears you will be able to obtain one SS-Rank Weapon of your choosing.)
Hephaestus.
She’d heard of him before.
He appeared in Greco-Roman mythology, games, and anime—a legendary blacksmith of exceptional skill.
And he was waiting beyond Floor 60.
‘And I can obtain an SS-Rank Weapon?’
Of course, that didn’t apply to Lee Woo-jin.
But it was worth meeting him at least once, wasn’t it?
“Ahem, Kkamangi?”
“Understood, meow.”
Click.
[Using the Administrator Key to open the Manager’s Door on Floor 60 of the Tower.]
As the door swung open, a smithy came into view.
Waves of scorching heat and the smell of iron.
There stood a muscular man well over two meters tall, his physique reminiscent of a bodybuilder—all impressive, rippling definition.
First impressions mattered.
Lee Woo-jin approached and greeted him.
“Hello?”
The man presumed to be Hephaestus regarded Lee Woo-jin with a look of pleasant surprise.
“Well then. So an Adventurer has finally made it this far. What is your name?”
“I’m Lee Woo-jin.”
“I am Hephaestus.”
Hephaestus, sitting at his workbench, studied the young man before him.
Yet something felt off—several somethings, in fact.
For someone who’d climbed all the way to Floor 60 of the Myth Tower, he appeared far too weak, and his equipment seemed shockingly sparse. To Hephaestus’s eye, it was as though the boy stood nearly naked—a thread away from complete exposure.
Moreover, the Adventurer’s status information—specifically that of “Lee Woo-jin”—could not be confirmed at this current floor. That was strange.
But most troubling of all was that standing alongside this Lee Woo-jin was a Manager of the Tower itself, and that they had entered through the Manager’s Door.
.
.
.
“What! Is all of that truly the case?”
“Yes.”
Lee Woo-jin withheld nothing, laying out two pieces of information for Hephaestus.
First, that when he awoke, he found himself on Floor 99 for the first time.
Second, that after meeting Kkamangi, he’d been traveling through the Manager’s passages and had only just arrived at Floor 60, where they’d opened the Manager’s Door to enter.
“Hm! Quite extraordinary!”
Was this Manager, Kkamangi, in her right mind?
From what he understood, such actions were not supposed to happen in the first place—but managing that was the Manager’s own responsibility.
“Originally, I had intended to forge and gift one SS-Rank Weapon as a token of respect for any Adventurer reaching Floor 60. But I see no reason to do so for you.”
Lee Woo-jin nodded in understanding.
He hadn’t expected anything anyway.
That wouldn’t work either.
That’s when it happened.
Growwwl.
A sound like thunder and lightning roared out.
The source of that sound was Hephaestus’s stomach.
“It’s mealtime, it seems.”
He turned.
Hephaestus looked at Lee Woo-jin and Kkamangi.
To his eyes, the two of them were like grubby little things.
Dust-motes that would scatter at a single poke.
It was actually remarkable that they’d survived at all in the Myth Tower, a Difficulty designated as Impossible.
Normally he wouldn’t do this, but Hephaestus had decided to show them special mercy.
Click.
He produced a rectangular container that looked like plastic.
It was a bento box.
“Pasta?”
“Hmm? Do you know this food? We call it Pasto. It has no flavor, but there’s nothing better for filling the belly. You must get hungry often while you’re in the tower, so I’ll share this with you.”
Lee Woo-jin received the Pasto that Hephaestus offered onto his plate.
From the looks of it, it wasn’t aglio e olio—just pasta noodles boiled in water, nothing more.
And the taste was actually—
‘Yeah, it matches.’
Honestly, it tasted like nothing.
Kkamangi was equally disgusted, but in front of Hephaestus, he pressed his nose down and kept eating.
Fortunately, the portion was small enough to finish quickly.
About half a serving for an adult.
Growwwl.
So even after eating the Pasto, Hephaestus’s stomach still growled.
“You’re not still hungry because you shared your meal with us, are you?”
“It’s fine.”
Growwwl!
“Doesn’t sound fine to me. Why don’t we cook some ramen together instead? I’ve already eaten from you, so it’s only right I repay the favor.”
At the mention of ramen, Kkamangi’s ears perked up.
“Woo-jin, I want ramen too!”
“Sure, sure.”
“Ramen? What’s that?”
“It’s something like this Pasto.”
“Ah, I see.”
Hephaestus remained silent.
It seemed the Adventurer was trying to make something similar to Pasto. Since he’d already shared his one-person portion of Pasto and the amount had naturally fallen short, he’d agreed to accept some of this “ramen” they were offering.
He turned.
Lee Woo-jin pulled out a stone pot of appropriate size.
“Rainfall!”
Water poured down in sheets.
“Ho, so you have a skill too?”
“Yes.”
Rainfall, was it…
So there were skills like that too.
Well, the tower had every kind of skill imaginable.
But that Rainfall skill didn’t seem like it would help much for surviving in the tower. How could you hunt even a single monster properly with that?
Click.
Lee Woo-jin produced bundles of firewood.
Using a gas burner, he lit the kindling ablaze.
He drove four Unknown Stone rods firmly into the ground to support the stone pot.
Whoosh!
“You’ve got quite a few tricks up your sleeve, haven’t you?”
“Ha. I have to eat, after all.”
The water began to boil quickly.
He pulled out three packages of Shin Ramen.
Normally you’d use the number of people plus one or two packages, but since they’d already eaten something, he decided three would do.
He added the powder seasoning and vegetable broth.
Shin Ramen broth boiling at full heat.
“Aah!”
Hephaestus let out an exclamation without thinking.
He hadn’t tasted it yet, but the aroma alone was so stimulating that his mouth watered involuntarily.
Plop.
Lee Woo-jin added the noodles and covered the pot.
He held up three fingers.
“Just three minutes now.”
The broth bubbled and churned.
They set wooden chopsticks and a Stone Pot in front of each person.
A plate of Kimchi as well.
Three minutes passed.
When Lee Woo-jin lifted the lid, a great plume of white steam burst forth.
“Here, let me serve you first.”
Lee Woo-jin heaped noodles into Hephaestus’s bowl.
Kkamangi, familiar with the ritual, fished out noodles and placed them in her own bowl.
Lee Woo-jin claimed his portion as well.
Before anyone could say a word, he seized a forkful and slurped it down.
Then a piece of Kimchi to finish.
“Mmm. Delicious.”
After Hephaestus swallowed, he followed Lee Woo-jin’s lead—grasping noodles with his chopsticks and drawing them into his mouth with a long slurp……
“……!!!”
Hephaestus’s eyes flew wide open.
What on earth was this food?
It burned!
But it was delicious!
Salty and fiery at once—intensely stimulating to the palate.
It matched perfectly the flavor he’d caught from the aroma.
And these mysterious red vegetables.
They looked quite spicy too.
Crunch.
“H-hot, indeed.”
Yet this too was addictive.
Moreover, these noodles paired extraordinarily, remarkably well with this Pasto-like broth.
Slurp-slurp-slurp!
Lee Woo-jin and Kkamangi watched Hephaestus eat.
Their eyes met, they exchanged smiles, and continued eating their ramen.
“Gulp!”
The noodles were soon gone.
Hephaestus peered into the Stone Pot regretfully, smacking his lips.
“Not enough?”
“……Well, to be honest, I’d like more. I’ve never tasted food this delicious in all my life.”
It would have been no trouble to boil another bowl of ramen.
But there was an even better way.
Lee Woo-jin pulled leftover rice from his Subspace Backpack.
It wasn’t stored fresh from the pot, but rather cooled slightly so it was lukewarm—which was actually preferable.
Cold rice in ramen broth is delicious—a time-honored combination.
That’s a scientifically proven fact.
Lee Woo-jin scooped up a generous spoonful of rice, dropped it into the Stone Pot with the remaining ramen broth, and stirred gently.
The white grains soaked up the bright red broth, growing moist and rich.
Lee Woo-jin handed the spoon to Hephaestus.
“Go ahead.”
“Aren’t you two eating?”
“We’re fine.”
“Well then, I won’t be shy about it.”
Slurp-slurp-slurp!
Hephaestus, unconcerned with propriety, lifted the Stone Pot itself and began scraping and scooping its contents into his mouth with the spoon.
He didn’t forget to add a piece of Kimchi between spoonfuls.
In the blink of an eye, Hephaestus had polished off nearly two servings’ worth of rice, broth, and Kimchi.
“Aaaaaah.”
A satisfied expression by any measure.
Not a drop of broth remained in the stone pot.
He’d scraped it completely clean.
“I’m truly grateful. To think I’d ever taste something so precious.”
“I’ll make it for you again next time.”
“What?! Do you really mean it?”
“Yes. We’re neighbor-cousins now, after all.”
“Neighbor-cousins?”
Lee Woo-jin nodded.
“I live on Floor 99, and you live on Floor 60. We may be on different floors, but we live in the same tower—doesn’t that make us neighbor-cousins?”
What kind of logic was that?
Hephaestus let out a dry laugh.
But… it wasn’t bad.
Besides, he’d get to eat delicious food again.
He had no reason to refuse.
“Well, let me say this upfront—don’t think currying favor with me like this will get you an SS-Rank Weapon. If that’s your aim, you’d best give up now.”
“Pfft. What kind of person do you think I am? Don’t worry about that.”
Lee Woo-jin smiled knowingly.
“I should get going now.”
“Come visit again soon, meow!”
Lee Woo-jin and Kkamangi waved and departed.
Watching their receding figures, Hephaestus broke into a genuine laugh.
After all these ages, he’d finally encountered an adventurer truly one of a kind.
“…But what in the world is happening on Floor 99?”
Hephaestus never would have imagined that Lee Woo-jin dwelt in the Dragon Lair.
A Player Farming in the Dragon Lair (Serialization)
Author │ Gaebak S
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 401, Acetech Tower 8, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Gaebak S 2026
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder, and the contents may not be used in any form or by any means without the permission of the company and the author.
Violation of this may result in civil and criminal 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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