Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Day 13 since entering the Tower.

Woo-jin had been crouching in front of the sweet potato field since morning.

The Sweet Potato Slips, which had been spreading their leaves thickly until yesterday, had grown up to knee height.

He could see that the soil beneath the stems had swollen slightly.

“Is this about enough?”

Woo-jin gently brushed away the soil with his hands.

The damp earth flowed softly between his fingers.

When he dug a little farther, one sweet potato revealed itself from within the soil.

[You have harvested a Tower Strength Pumpkin Sweet Potato.]

[Harvest Lv. 2 proficiency has increased.]

[You have learned Harvest Lv. 3.]

[Tower Strength Pumpkin Sweet Potato]

- Grade: D

- Effect

- Permanently increases Strength by +0.002 when consumed.

- Description: A Tower pumpkin sweet potato cultivated by someone. Eating it seems likely to make Strength slightly stronger.

[Achievement - ‘Novice Tower Farmer’ achieved.]

[Reward: Gain experience from farming activities.]

“Whoa!”

Woo-jin shouted in surprise.

At the sound, Blackie approached.

“Adventurer, what is it, nyah?”

“Jackpot! I can gain experience now!”

“What are you talking about, nyah?”

“I’m saying I can level up! Hehehe.”

“Say something that makes sense, nyah.”

Blackie shook his head.

There was only one way to raise one’s level in the Tower.

And that was clearing a floor of the Tower.

Each time one climbed a floor, one’s level rose by one.

For Normal’s 1st Floor, it would be 1. For Normal’s 10th Floor, it would be 10, and so on.

But Woo-jin’s target floor was set as the 99th Floor of the Mythic Tower, and clearing it was absolutely impossible, so his level was supposed to remain 1 for the rest of his life.

And yet he was saying he could level up?

It made no sense.

This was also the first Blackie had ever heard of raising experience.

In the first place, climbing the Tower equaled leveling up.

Of course, the concept of experience did exist, but it was not a commonly used term.

“Has this cat only ever been deceived? I just dug up a sweet potato, and a message popped up saying I’d achieved an achievement. It said that as a reward, I’ll gain experience when I do farming activities.”

Just in case, Blackie checked the administrator manual, but there was not a single line written about gaining experience through farming.

For now, whether Blackie believed him or not came second.

Woo-jin checked the sweet potato he had harvested.

Apparently, eating it increased Strength by 0.002.

That meant if he ate 1,000 of them, his Strength would increase by 2.

‘Do the other vegetables raise stats too?’

For now, he should harvest first.

Woo-jin began digging up sweet potatoes.

[Harvest Lv. 3 proficiency has increased slightly.]

[Harvest Lv. 3 proficiency has…….]

And.

[You have gained experience by harvesting.]

[You have gained experience by…….]

[Your level has increased.]

“I leveled up!”

As he harvested sweet potatoes, his level increased.

And not just once, but twice!

In other words, Woo-jin’s current level had become 3.

“Status Window.”

Name: Lee Woo-jin

Title: Novice Tower Farmer

Level: 3

Abilities

- Strength: 3

- Agility: 3

* Stamina: 3

- Magic Power: 3.07

- Resistance: 0.022

- Remaining Points: 2

Skills: Soil Tilling Lv. 3, Seed Planting Lv. 3, Harvest Lv. 3, 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

Once he harvested all the sweet potatoes, the total came to 400.

Each Sweet Potato Slip had produced four sweet potatoes, and since he had planted a total of 100 Sweet Potato Slips, it worked out perfectly to 400.

If he ate them all, his Strength would rise by 0.8.

He had not tried eating them yet, so he did not know how they tasted, but if he thought of the potatoes or cherry tomatoes, they were definitely going to be delicious.

In the first place, could sweet potatoes ever not taste good?

“Y-you really leveled up, nyah! Your level became 3, nyah!”

“Hehe. What do you think? Now you know I wasn’t lying, right?”

“How did this happen, nyah? You even have a title now, nyah!”

“I told you. A message popped up.”

After Woo-jin gathered the dug-up Strength Pumpkin Sweet Potatoes to one side.

He next harvested the Tower Cherry Tomatoes and Resistance Potatoes too.

“Harvest, harvest!”

[Harvest Lv. 3 proficiency has increased slightly.]

[Harvest Lv. 3 proficiency has…….]

The potatoes he had planted after cutting up the sprouted potatoes into seed potatoes had grown beautifully, so he dug through the soil with the Hand Hoe and began earnestly digging up potatoes.

Naturally, his experience went up too.

[You have gained experience by harvesting.]

[You have gained experience by…….]

His level rose by one as well.

Woo-jin then began harvesting cherry tomatoes.

In the case of the cherry tomatoes, as long as he kept managing the suckers that continued to grow, cherry tomatoes grew again.

“Harvest, harvest!”

[Harvest Lv. 3 proficiency has increased slightly.]

[Harvest Lv. 3 proficiency has…….]

[You have gained experience by harvesting.]

[You have gained experience by…….]

His level rose once again.

He had thought the Harvest skill’s level would rise too, but unfortunately, the Harvest skill stayed at level 3.

Still, this was more than enough.

Woo-jin’s current level was 5.

His remaining stat distribution points were 4.

With these, he could choose among Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Magic Power and raise them by 4.

Woo-jin distributed the stats evenly, one point at a time.

The stats that had stayed at an average of 3 became 4.

Now that his stats had gone up, he felt as though his body condition had improved by a very tiny amount.

“Blackie. I’m level 5 now.”

“I-I’ve never even heard of anything like this, nyah. Isn’t this cheating, nyah?”

“What cheating? Me entering Mythic difficulty is the real cheat.”

True.

If they were talking about cheating, that was a much bigger cheat.

Though for Woo-jin, it was the bad kind of cheat.

In any case!

“Let’s eat lunch.”

Naturally, today’s lunch was sweet potatoes.

The weather in the Dragon Lair felt chilly, so it was perfect for eating roasted sweet potatoes. The scent of roasted sweet potatoes in winter was incredible from the start.

However, how would he roast the sweet potatoes?

That was the problem.

‘It would be nice if I at least had fallen leaves.’

Roasted sweet potatoes made over a leaf fire were delicious.

But here, he could not see even a single tree, let alone fallen leaves.

All he had were leafy scraps.

Leafy scraps…….

Cherry tomato suckers.

Potato leaves.

Sweet potato leaves and vines.

“...Sss. Should I try it?”

These were piled up like a mountain.

Could they become excellent fuel?

Rustle! Rustle, rustle!

He brought back an armful.

If it was not enough, he could just bring more.

Woo-jin lit the gas burner, then picked up one leaf and set it on fire.

“Ooh. It burns well.”

“Adventurer. What are you doing, nyah?”

“I’m going to roast sweet potatoes.”

He placed the burning leaf where the leafy scraps he had brought earlier were gathered.

The fire gradually began to spread.

It burned better than he had expected.

Woo-jin quickly brought five sweet potatoes and tossed them in.

The sweet potatoes lay among the burning leaves.

Crackle, crackle!

Whenever he lacked fuel, he brought over a few more leaves at a time and kept the fire from going out.

“I-it smells delicious, nyah!”

The skins of the sweet potatoes placed over the fire gradually began to change color.

At first, there had been no change, but as time passed, a gentle sweetness began rising from the sweet potatoes.

When the sweet scent mixed with the smell of the crackling leaves, his mouth watered on its own.

Thin wisps of steam leaked from the surface of the sweet potatoes, and one side of the skin split slightly, revealing the yellow flesh inside. As the heat made the sweet potato skins shrivel, the smell grew richer.

“Ah, that looks delicious.”

Before he knew it, Woo-jin had drooled a little.

He tidied the flames slightly and turned the sweet potatoes over.

Every time the skins touched the fire, they made a hiss, and the sweet scent slowly spread through the cave.

Before he knew it, Blackie was crouching in front of the fire, unable to take his eyes off the sweet potatoes.

His tail swayed.

That was when it happened.

SSSSHHH!

A loud sound suddenly rang out inside the cave.

“A-a quake?!”

The sound faded.

Then, a deep, heavy baritone voice echoed through the Dragon Lair.

“What are you doing?”

“Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!”

Blackie slipped behind Woo-jin’s back and hid.

Woo-jin bowed his head politely in greeting.

“Hello.”

Perhaps because Woo-jin had shown proper manners, the Dragon Lord nodded as if rather pleased.

Or perhaps not.

In any case, the Dragon Lord’s gaze was on the roasted sweet potatoes.

Woo-jin remembered how he had enjoyed the Yukgaejang cup noodles, small size, before.

Did he want to eat this too?

In any case, as a tenant(?) living in the Dragon Lair, Woo-jin had a need to get on the good side of the Dragon Lord, his landlord.

“These are roasted sweet potatoes. If it’s all right with you, would you like one?”

There was no suitable place to sit.

Most of this place had a stone floor.

However, the Dragon Lord did not mind and sat roughly on the ground, just as Woo-jin had been sitting.

[You have made Roasted Sweet Potato with Cooking.]

[Cooking Lv. 2 proficiency has increased.]

[Roasted Sweet Potato]

- Grade: D

- Effect

- Taste Bonus +10%

- Permanently increases Strength by +0.002 when consumed.

- Description: A Tower Strength Pumpkin Sweet Potato that has been roasted. It is piping hot.

He rolled out a roasted sweet potato with wooden chopsticks.

At a glance, it looked extremely hot.

He roughly put out the fire, let it cool, then picked it up with his hands.

In the meantime, his Fire Resistance skill proficiency increased.

Snap.

When he split the roasted sweet potato in half.

Steam rose in wisps from the yellow flesh.

It looked incredibly delicious at a glance.

“Here you go!”

The Dragon Lord accepted the roasted sweet potato.

This time, it was Blackie’s turn.

“Th-thank you for the food, nyah.”

Blackie still seemed afraid of the Dragon Lord and kept watching his expression.

While Woo-jin was rolling the roasted sweet potato in his hands, saying, “Hot, hot,” the Dragon Lord took a bite of the roasted sweet potato.

Nom.

Nom.

The Dragon Lord ate one roasted sweet potato in an instant.

Woo-jin showed him another roasted sweet potato he had in his hand.

“I have more.”

“Thank you.”

He ate another roasted sweet potato in an instant.

“It is delicious.”

The Dragon Lord’s gaze turned toward Blackie.

“Are you an administrator?”

“Th-that is correct, nyah! I am Blackie, ah, no! Administrator No. 350, nyah!”

The Dragon Lord nodded.

Then he looked at Woo-jin.

“I have business at the temple, so I will go out. I will tell you just in case. Do not cross that wall and wander around.”

It meant Woo-jin should live only in the place where he had originally been.

“Yes, sir.”

No sooner had Woo-jin answered than the Dragon Lord vanished.

Blackie stood there in a daze.

“Blackie. What’s wrong?”

“Th-the Dragon Lord was a Constellation, nyah?!”

What’s that supposed to be?