Ch.113113. Farming Mad

I was one of the famous “Evil Spirits” when I played Farming World.

“Did you know there’s an Evil Spirit who farmed one map for 10 years using vanilla?”

The fact that I was known as an Evil Spirit happened quite by chance.

One day, someone posted on the community forum offering to share some beautiful architectural items. Despite having most architectural items already, there were a few I didn’t have, including custom structures.

I was terribly lacking in architectural sense. Most of the beautiful buildings I made were just copies inspired by others’ work. I rarely created anything from my own aesthetic sense. This is probably true for most users who engage with architectural content. Still, I preferred to use what I could get my hands on, choosing designs I could replicate with available materials, but this time I just couldn’t resist.

It was a gorgeous Japanese-style cherry blossom path with a pavilion and pond. What caught my eye most was the beautiful stone path beneath the cherry blossoms. It was impossible to obtain in Farming World because the creator had personally gathered and carved the stones. Even if I tried to copy the style, it wouldn’t be easy. Plus, the colors matched perfectly with the blooming cherry blossoms, so rather than making a poor imitation, I just wanted those specific stones.

But this person’s sharing conditions were quite unusual.

“Let me see your map, and I’ll give them to you.”

“Why do you want to see my map?”

“This stone path takes a week of work to create like in the screenshot. I’ve made enough for five people, but I’ll personally judge each map to see if it’s worthy of my stones. If it is, I’ll make you a unique version with cherry blossoms and a pavilion, not just this standard version.”

“Can’t you just give me the stones?”

“No, that’s not an option.”

I considered giving up, but at that time, I was finishing almost all content and aiming to turn a Level 0 biome into my own massive village, so it felt wasteful to abandon the opportunity. Having already seen it, settling for second best wasn’t an option. If it had required installing mods, I would have coolly given up.

“Sigh… damn it…”

I hesitated because I’d never shown my map to anyone before. I wanted to wait until I considered it complete by my standards.

But I had no choice.

“OK, come over. I’ll invite you.”

I granted temporary permissions and invited the user. As soon as they entered, they wandered around my map like a tourist, taking it all in.

“Wow! Amazing. You’re quite the grinder, aren’t you? Holy shit, how is your playtime this high?”

It was understandable they were surprised at my playtime, given it was a nine-year-old map.

“Hmm… your architectural sense is a bit lacking, but damn… are these all Level 9 biome materials? You’ve absolutely demolished the farming. Wow… in all my time, I’d count you among the top three Evil Spirits.”

The reaction to my first map reveal wasn’t bad at all. As a gaming enthusiast, what could be more satisfying than being called an Evil Spirit? Moreover, this person was also quite famous in the community as an Evil Spirit themselves, with an impressive playtime, though not as much as mine.

“You pass. This is worthy of my Japanese cherry blossom path, pavilion, and pond.”

“Thank you.”

“But with a map like this, I’m surprised I haven’t seen it on the community forum?”

“What’s the point of posting in that cesspool of idiots? I’d just get flamed.”

“Haha, true. I’ll give you the materials. Want to install them yourself? You’ll probably change the layout anyway, right?”

“No, please do it. Over here.”

If someone else was going to contribute to my map, I wanted it done beautifully.

After installing the pond, the user asked me:

“Mind if I look around a bit more?”

“Go ahead.”

I had only granted entry permissions and temporarily gave building rights before taking them away again, so they couldn’t do anything else. I continued with my tasks, and after a while, I assumed they had left since I couldn’t see them anymore.

A few days later, a post appeared:

“First time seeing someone with over 30,000 hours of playtime. Over 10,000 in-game days. Wow… I’m genuinely impressed. All Level 9 biomes unlocked, and even Level 10 biome development like I’ve never seen before. And what’s more amazing is that this person has mined almost all resources from an SS-grade resource map. How much grinding must they have done to cover hundreds of square meters of buildings with rare resources? And all in vanilla…”

“Yeah, sure they did”

“LOL, is this your new way of seeking attention?”

“Well, there are so many Farming World players, it could be true…”

Fortunately, I had blocked screenshots, so only one verification shot of the pavilion was posted. Since the poster had some reputation in the community, there was a bit of debate about whether their claims were true or false. It quickly got buried, though, as it wasn’t particularly important.

Anyway, that’s how I became an Evil Spirit, not famous in the community but recognized even by veteran players.

Now, I don’t have the desire or time to grind that hard anymore, but when something like a Chaos Stone Purification Cauldron appears, I can’t just let it pass by.

“The ant goes doon-doon. Today too, doon-doon.”

I hum a tune while farming the Forest of Corruption. The corrupted trees, filled with chaotic energy, had been cut down, and the surrounding mist of chaos had disappeared, but the resources already affected by the energy still maintained their chaotic properties. Even after harvesting a lot, there was still plenty left.

“It would be nice to find another field of corrupted healing herbs.”

If I put corrupted healing herbs in the cauldron and purify them, I’d get purified healing herbs, and if their grade gets upgraded too, they’d sell for much more than regular healing herbs.

“Ah!”

I suddenly regret cutting down the corrupted tree. Of course, since the main quest reward was an SSS+ ability, I had to cut down the corrupted tree if I wasn’t going to abandon the farm. But if I had left it alone, this Forest of Corruption would still be here, continuously emitting chaotic energy, and I could have planted healing herbs here to duplicate money.

“I should check Level 1 biomes and find a way to introduce chaotic energy.”

Just because a quest tells you to do something doesn’t mean it’s the right or just thing to do. Even if I eventually have to complete it to progress the story, until then, using what I can is a tip for surviving and farming more efficiently in this Farming World.

“Today too, doon-doon. The ant goes doon-doon.”

Day 29, Day 30.

I spent all my time farming in the Forest of Corruption.

[Day 31]

“Master! It’s summer!”

The season of heat has begun.

——————–

“Wow… it’s really hot.”

Lee Ji-hyun wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead as she came in after finishing her morning routine. It had only been a few days, but she seemed to have adapted to farm life, fully embracing it with a straw hat and overalls—the symbols of a farmer. No wonder she was hot. Watering plants, plowing fields, sowing seeds, and tending crops.

Even though the Black Monkeys helped, Ji-hyun handled the delicate tasks herself, so sweating was inevitable.

“This is just the beginning.”

But beads of sweat are nothing compared to what’s coming. Summer doesn’t mean 30 straight days of unbearable heat. Just as spring has its three cold days and four warm days pattern, with temperatures gradually rising toward the end, summer too has its own distinct characteristics with highs and lows throughout days 1-30.

For about the first five days, it’s just “Oh, it feels like summer”—humid and a bit hot. But from day five onward, the real summer begins.

“Phew. Thank goodness for air conditioning…”

“From day six onward, it’s best to finish work before noon.”

“Can you still go out and move around in this weather, boss?”

“I won’t die from the heat.”

People don’t die just from heat. They might die from a combination of heatstroke, dehydration, and other factors that pile up. Whatever the case, it’s undeniable that this season isn’t good for hunting-type gameplay.

Still, I continued to farm the Forest of Corruption today. After living there for 2-3 days, along with my previous farming, it seemed like I could harvest all the corrupted resources with just a few more days of work. Yesterday, toward the end, I discovered another field of corrupted healing herbs, so despite summer starting, I decided to continue farming the Forest of Corruption for a few more days.

I wonder how much my purified energy level will increase after farming all the corrupted forest resources in the Level 0 biome.

So, obsessed with farming the Forest of Corruption whenever my logout cooldown reset, I continued until there was no more corrupted forest left in the south.

“Wow. It’s all gone.”

I finished farming, looking at the barren southern plains.

And beyond that, I set my next destination: the visibly humid swampland.