Chapter 10

Chapter 10

[The trade has been completed.]

He gave Anonymous one boiled potato.

For a while, he said nothing. He was probably eating the potato.

- Anonymous 3861: It’s delicious.

- Anonymous 3861: Mine doesn’t turn out like this even when I boil potatoes. How did you do it?

- Me: I boiled it in boiling water. For 20 minutes.

- Me: I think it’s because you don’t have the Cooking skill.

- Anonymous 3861: There’s a skill like that too?

Woo-jin told him the details of the skills he had.

Soil Tilling, Seed Planting, Harvest, Cold Resistance, Fire Resistance, Cooking, and Stealthy Footsteps.

He even told him all their skill levels.

After hearing the explanation, Anonymous was silent again for a while.

As though he had lagged for a moment.

His replies came in broken fragments.

- Anonymous 3861: This

- Anonymous 3861: makes no sense

- Anonymous 3861: You have seven skills? And what are Cold Resistance and Fire Resistance? How can you have skills at level 3?

- Me: Exactly.

- Me: It makes no sense.

- Me: My guess is that it’s a perk of Mythic difficulty?

- Anonymous 3861: Wow lolololololol

- Me: You want to trade places with me, don’t you?

- Anonymous 3861: Ah. Not really.

Tch.

It was not as though they could trade places anyway.

But seeing Anonymous reject the idea as firmly as a brick wall the moment he suggested it made Woo-jin realize just how bleak his own situation was.

- Me: Also, I met the Dragon Lord.

- Anonymous 3861: ?

- Anonymous 3861: Then how are you alive?

- Me: He said he’d let me live as long as I don’t bother him.

- Me: I think he’s sleeping in the room next door right now.

- Anonymous 3861: Sh-sh-sh

- Anonymous 3861: Seriously, am I supposed to believe this or not?

Honestly, even I’d have a hard time believing it, Woo-jin thought.

- Me: Should I boil potatoes for you?

- Anonymous 3861: Really? I’ll give you 100 coins per potato.

Since the man was willing to give him that many coins, he had no reason to refuse.

He had nowhere to spend coins right now, but when it came to coins, the more, the better.

In truth, boiling potatoes was not difficult.

He had been planning to do it for free.

His Cooking skill proficiency went up every time he boiled potatoes.

But he would even get coins for it?

That was killing two birds with one stone.

[The trade has been completed.]

He received forty potatoes from Anonymous.

I’ll cook ten more as a free service and round it up to fifty.

- Me: Please wait! I’ll boil them nice and tasty for you.

- Me: Whew, and I’m not just saying this, but I bet you’re incredibly handsome. You must hear that you look like Kang Min-woo all the time, right?

For the sake of pleasing a customer who spent coins so lavishly, he even piled on flattery he would never normally offer in his life.

- Anonymous 3861: lol

Was he shy?

After that “lol,” there was no reply.

Bubble, bubble!

Woo-jin filled the aluminum pot with lake water.

He boiled five at a time for twenty minutes, repeating the process.

Each time, his Cooking proficiency increased.

[Cooking Lv. 2 proficiency has increased slightly.]

[Cooking Lv. 2 proficiency has…….]

By the time fifty boiled potatoes were complete.

The Cooking skill’s proficiency had risen to level 3.

- Me: Here you go! I’m giving you 50.

- Anonymous 3861: (moved)

[Boiled Potato ×50 has been sold.]

[4,750 coins have been settled.]

What a huge gain.

---

In the afternoon, he decided to try planting sweet potatoes.

They were one of the famine-relief crops, just like potatoes.

They tasted good too.

He thought of roasted sweet potatoes, the ones that stimulated the nose like crazy when walking down the street in winter.

“Let’s see.”

- Sweet Potato Slips ×100

He opened the farming book.

【Sweet potatoes are cultivated by planting slips, not seeds. When preparing the field, make the ridges high. Sweet potato slips are planted at an angle or planted so that only part of them sticks up above the ground.】

THUD, THUD!

Woo-jin immediately put it into action.

He gathered more soil on one side of the field he had already prepared and made a long ridge.

With his hands and the hand hoe, he scooped up the soil, raised the center.

Then he smoothed the edges into gentle slopes.

Woo-jin untied one bundle of sweet potato slips.

Young leaves were still attached to the ends of the pale-green stems.

Instead of planting the sweet potato slips upright, he laid them slightly on their sides over the soil.

He covered only the nodes where roots would emerge with soil, leaving the leaves at the tips exposed outside.

[Seed Planting Lv. 3 proficiency has increased slightly.]

[Seed Planting Lv. 3 proficiency has…….]

Slide, slide.

Each time he planted one, he lightly pressed the soil down to fix it in place.

The book had said not to press too hard, since there had to be space for the plant to breathe, so he followed the instructions exactly.

“This is completely different from potatoes.”

The sweet potato slips were longer than expected, so he could plant many in one row. As he calmly transplanted them while keeping regular intervals, one row of the field was filled before he knew it.

After Woo-jin planted all the remaining sweet potato slips.

He filled the watering can with lake water and sprinkled it over the field.

When the water ran out, he drew more lake water and sprinkled it again.

The water soaking into the ridges flowed down much faster than in the potato field.

When he raised his head and looked around…….

On one side was the potato field, on another side were the cherry tomatoes, and now there was even the newly made sweet potato field.

【You Can Do It Too! First Steps to Vegetable Gardening】

Looking at this book, even a complete beginner who knew nothing about farming could tend a vegetable garden, just like the title said.

Thank you, Mr. Farmer!

.

.

.

Evening came.

A faint blue moon hung in the night sky.

The inside of the cave was dark, but the moonlight was brighter than expected, so he could make out objects fairly well.

[You have learned Dark Adaptation Lv. 1.]

[Dark Adaptation Lv. 1]

- Description: Your vision adapts in the darkness, allowing you to distinguish your surroundings.

It felt as though his surroundings had suddenly become brighter.

With this, Woo-jin now had eight skills.

His current Status Window was as follows.

Name: Lee Woo-jin

Level: 1

Abilities

- Strength: 3

- Agility: 3

- Stamina: 3

- Magic Power: 3.07

- Resistance: 0.022

Skills: Soil Tilling Lv. 3, Seed Planting Lv. 3, Harvest Lv. 2, Cold Resistance Lv. 1, Cooking Lv. 2, Stealthy Footsteps Lv. 1, Fire Resistance Lv. 1, Dark Adaptation Lv. 1

Coins: 6,353

Difficulty: Mythic

Floor: 99th Floor

Khhh.

I have eight skills!

Woo-jin clapped for himself.

Growl.

It was time to eat dinner.

Tonight’s dinner was Yukgaejang cup noodles, small size.

However, this one was a little special.

Riiip!

Even though he had not poured in water yet, he tore the lid off completely.

Then he took out the noodles and, with some force, snapped them into four pieces.

He took out the soup powder and sprinkled it over the noodles.

“Hehe. Uncooked ramen is a delicacy too.”

Crunch, crunch!

Yukgaejang cup noodles, small size, were a very good cup noodle to eat uncooked. Some other cup noodles or bagged ramen were soggy and had an unpleasant texture, but the texture of Yukgaejang cup noodles, small size, when eaten uncooked was truly nice and crunchy.

“Hss. Hsshaa.”

It was subtly spicy.

Maybe because he was eating it uncooked.

Still, it was salty and spicy, making his hand keep going back for more.

Before long, he had eaten the whole thing.

He sucked the ramen soup powder off his fingers.

Since he was done eating, he washed his hands roughly and cleaned up.

Woo-jin got inside his sleeping bag and looked at the moon and stars in the night sky.

There were so many stars they seemed ready to pour down, the kind one could only see in a remote countryside village.

Slide.

He looked toward the side where the Dragon Lord was, to his left.

There was still no movement.

The opened hole.

This time, he looked to the right.

Suddenly, he felt curious.

Could there be a room over there too?

Since he had already met the Dragon Lord, there was a high chance there was nothing on the opposite side, but Woo-jin was bored anyway because he had nothing to do.

He brought the shovel over.

“Soil Tilling!”

THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD!

Soil Tilling Lv. 3 activated, and the cave wall was dug out as easily as soil. Along with a message that his proficiency had increased slightly, he began excitedly digging out the cave wall.

THUD, THUD!

Rattle, rattle!

He was digging away so hard like that.

When, suddenly, he felt the tip of the shovel catch on something with a thud.

Wondering what it was, he dug around that area and saw it.

“...A door?”

It was a door made of wood.

But the door was quite small.

It was about the size of something only a child could go in and out of.

Of course, even an adult man could probably enter if he had a slender build and lowered his head.

Clack.

Clack, clack.

It did not open.

[Administrator’s Key required.]

What’s that supposed to be?

Woo-jin blinked.

“Soil Tilling!”

THUD!

He tried to strike the door with the shovel and dig through it, but it had no effect at all.

Having no choice, he was about to give up and go back when Woo-jin stopped.

Instead of the door, he focused on the “cave wall” near the door.

Now that I think about it, if I can open a hole, doesn’t that make doors pointless?

‘Good. Let’s try it.’

He dug out the wall near the door with the shovel.

Fortunately, Soil Tilling worked well.

After digging about another fifty centimeters like that.

CRUMBLE!

He felt as though he had swung the shovel into empty air.

A space had appeared.

‘What is this place?’

There was another passage inside the cave.

However, it was a narrow passage for a person to pass through.

“Agh! Why is it so narrow? Soil Tilling, Soil Tilling!”

[Soil Tilling Lv. 3 proficiency has increased slightly.]

[Soil Tilling Lv. 3 proficiency has…….]

[You have learned Soil Tilling Lv. 4.]

He was in the middle of expanding the passage when it happened.

A chill ran down his spine.

From behind him.

He whipped around.

Two eyes were glowing in the darkness.

‘D-don’t tell me it’s a mons…….’

...It was too small to be called a monster.

And it looked familiar.

“Are you a cat?”

Thanks to the Dark Adaptation skill, the identity of the two eyes began to appear vaguely even in the darkness. Just as Woo-jin had seen, it was a cat.

A black cat.

Because it had been in a dark place, only its eyes had looked as if they were floating in the air.

“H-hiss!”

“…….”

“...Hiss!”

Now that he looked, the cat’s fur was standing on end.

It seemed to be hissing.

Woo-jin took one step back.

“I’m not your enemy. Don’t worry.”

Apparently cats lived in the Tower too.

He was about to step back without thinking much of it.

When the cat’s bristling fur returned to normal, it stopped hissing and asked with gentle, innocent eyes,

“D-don’t tell me you’re an adventurer, nyah?!”