Ch.108108. The Village Alchemist (2)

When I woke up, delicious aromas were wafting through the first floor.

“Boss, you’re up?”

“Did you sleep well?”

Ji-hyun Lee, sitting at the table in casual clothes with her hair braided, drinking freshly brewed coffee, seemed somewhat awkward.

Since I was used to seeing Su-jung Kim around, it didn’t feel strange with her, but having an unfamiliar woman sleeping and waking up in my house in comfortable attire was different.

Plus, when she greeted me so casually, I found myself asking if she slept well without even thinking about it.

“Just a moment. You’ll want to wash up, right? I’ll prepare breakfast.”

“Uh… thanks… but I’m not going to wash up.”

I just went to the bathroom quickly to wipe the sleep from my eyes, and when I sat down at the table, a steaming bowl of white rice appeared alongside a bubbling earthenware pot of hangover soup with wilted cabbage.

“Wow. What’s this?”

“After drinking a bit yesterday, ugh… I thought we might need some hangover soup, so I made some. Su-jung had all the ingredients ready.”

“Wow… that’s impressive.”

“Oh, it’s not difficult to make this. Enjoy your meal.”

The white rice wasn’t instant—she had washed the rice and cooked it in a rice cooker. The earthenware pot contained hangover soup loaded with meat, and there were various side dishes including cubed radish kimchi. It looked just like something you’d get at a proper Korean restaurant.

While Su-jung Kim was still learning to cook, Ji-hyun seemed like a true expert at living independently.

“Do you want to be in charge of meals?”

I asked, half-jokingly but half-seriously.

“If the boss says so, I have to, right?”

Ji-hyun replied with a slight smile.

Of course, I wouldn’t actually use such valuable talent just for cooking, but it was so delicious that I couldn’t help but give a thumbs up.

“I’ve been following the handover instructions, but could you check things over in a little while?”

“Sure, I’ll take a look after breakfast.”

Yesterday, we talked for a while before falling asleep, and today I had planned to organize my belongings and install the air conditioner, so I had slept in a bit.

By the time I woke up, Ji-hyun had already completed her morning tasks and was drinking coffee. Looking around, I could see everything was neatly organized.

She truly was the perfect talent for Farming Company.

“I’ll be making potions upstairs. Call me if you need anything. I’ll come down for dinner.”

“Okay.”

This was the job Lulu used to do when Su-jung wasn’t around, and Ji-hyun seemed to be doing it well, probably with some guidance from the others.

Ji-hyun took her coffee and a few snacks upstairs, and I started unpacking my things.

First, I stocked the food pantry with groceries and stuffed various miscellaneous items into the second-floor storage room.

Since we couldn’t go back to Earth to buy things whenever needed like when Ji-hyun arrived, gathering potentially useful items in advance was a basic principle of the Farming World.

Having already confirmed that I could install solar panels using construction mode, I brought a ceiling-mounted air conditioner that could be installed without much trouble.

It was the latest model with all sorts of features.

Sure enough, when I entered construction mode, the air conditioner appeared as an installable building component.

“First, I’ll put a 4-way unit on the first floor.”

The first floor was a large open space combining the kitchen and living room, except for the bathroom, so one air conditioner was enough.

I had bought dozens of air conditioners, but that was for future use.

On the second floor, I installed a 4-way unit in the hallway and a 1-way unit in each room.

The 4-way had four vents blowing air in all directions, while the 1-way blew in just one direction, making it suitable for smaller rooms. After installation, the air conditioners in the wooden cabin reminded me of a vacation pension.

I’d make it look nicer later.

“Wow, Boss! We have air conditioners!”

“Feel free to use them if you’re hot.”

With the outdoor unit installed in the backyard, it really looked like a proper air conditioning system.

I turned on all the air conditioners to test them.

Although it was spring and the temperature didn’t necessarily warrant air conditioning, air conditioners aren’t just for cooling.

They also dehumidify the air on humid days.

While the Level 0 biome wasn’t tropical, it was somewhat humid, so coming inside sweaty often left the house feeling sticky—the air conditioners would solve that problem.

Once I set the appropriate temperature, the system would maintain it automatically.

“Nice.”

The thought of facing summer without air conditioning was daunting.

Summer in the Farming World was hell.

Having distinct seasons meant each season had very clear characteristics, and summer and winter represented the extremes of hot and cold.

With summer just days away, knowing the hell that awaited us made me rush to prepare.

In the past, I had no choice but to endure the heat until reaching a certain tech level, but now that I was experienced, simply enduring the heat was no longer an option.

While being hot outside was unavoidable, the base needed to feel like paradise when returning.

After organizing everything and sorting materials for completing sub-quests, I headed to the village.

Kukum, Droksan, and Lier were busy working in their shops.

“Oh, you got it. I think you’ll need this.”

“Good job, human. This machine extracts seeds from crops. It’ll be essential for farming.”

After completing the sub-quests and receiving the Farm points, I immediately headed to the alchemy shop.

Once I had Farm points, opening the alchemy shop was a priority.

I needed the hair loss remedy recipe not only for the elixir but also to achieve the real reason I brought Ji-hyun here.

As I was about to draw lots at the alchemy shop:

[A registrable person (Ji-hyun Lee) exists for the alchemy shop. Would you like to register them?]

“Huh?”

An unexpected system message appeared.

—————

I had registered Ji-hyun as a farm member today.

I needed to mark her on the map for any unexpected situations, and it also reflected my ambition to put her to good use.

Plus, Ji-hyun would need to use the alchemy shop in the village later.

But when I arrived at the village, this message appeared.

“What? Can I register someone without drawing lots?”

Out of curiosity, I pressed [Yes].

What would happen if it worked?

Would Ji-hyun become an NPC?

Well, that seemed unlikely.

[Ji-hyun Lee is registered as the village alchemist.]

[Ji-hyun Lee has acquired authority over the alchemy shop.]

[You can grow the alchemy shop using Farming ability points and Farm points.]

“Wow.”

I didn’t know this was possible.

It was quite a surprising system.

Village shops are typically run by NPCs.

Naturally, the system creates Farm points and items for sale, but in the Rift Dimension, these NPCs felt more like species from other dimensions rather than programmed entities, which might explain why this was possible.

After all, from the Rift Dimension’s perspective, Ji-hyun was also a species from another dimension.

Additionally, as a member of our farm, she was assigned a role in the village, allowing her to gain authority over the alchemy shop.

The fact that she could grow the shop with her own farming points was remarkable.

This meant I could also invest in Ji-hyun to help her grow.

“Wow… if this is possible, why would I need to spend Farm points to draw NPCs?”

I wondered if I could just assign Su-jung to the farming shop too, but of course, that wouldn’t be cost-effective.

Having an A-rank alchemist like Ji-hyun was fine because she was already at a legendary level, but bringing in someone useless and trying to develop them would be a waste of Farming ability points and Farm points.

Maybe later, when I had points to spare, I could bring reliable people from the Rift Dimension to develop, but I needed to remember that I didn’t have points to waste right now.

Su-jung might be an S+ rank farmer, but growing a shop was a separate issue.

“Since I don’t have many Farm points, I’ll leave alchemy to Ji-hyun.”

The hair loss remedy wasn’t particularly valuable in the Farming World.

That meant we might obtain it relatively early.

To confirm the details, I needed to consult the person in charge.

When I returned home, Ji-hyun had come downstairs.

“Boss, apparently I’ve become the owner of an alchemy shop…”

“Can you check when we can buy the hair loss remedy recipe?”

Following my instructions, Ji-hyun opened the shop tab and quickly found the hair loss remedy.

“It says Alchemy Rank C-. I can sell it if I spend 1 ability point.”

“Do you have ability points? They should be Farming ability points.”

“Yes, I had some saved up, and they’ve been converted to Farming ability points.”

“Nice. Could you invest just one for now?”

“Yes!”

The recipe was unlocked, and Farm points were needed to sell it.

“It costs 1,000 Farm points to sell one copy, and I can set the selling price starting from 2,000 Farm points.”

“I’ll give you 1,000 Farm points. Would you like to learn it yourself?”

“Yes.”

So this was how shop management worked in the Rift Dimension.

It was fascinating.

And fortunate.

Being able to unlock necessary alchemy recipes for just 1,000 Farm points saved us a lot compared to drawing lots.

Ji-hyun held the recipe in her hand.

“Is this the…”

“Yes, the recipe that’s going to make us rich.”