Ch.116116. Swamp Alligator

I wouldn’t want to miss out on learning new skills either.

Whether it was holy magic skills or melee weapon skills, I could easily learn at least one with the points left over after raising my login level.

But choosing gathering was definitely an investment for the future.

The best approach would have been to learn gathering earlier and level it up to use in the Corrupted Forest, but that’s water under the bridge now.

Either learn another flashy and powerful skill or improve the quantity and quality of gathering in the new biome.

I was simply following the rules of the farming world I’d been playing in.

“I should have just learned a different skill.”

Since I could have chosen anything, it was fair to say I had invested in building a foundation for future growth.

Anyway, with my current stats, I was confident I could easily clear a Level 1 biome without needing additional skills.

After seeing the Level 2 Black Monkey, I figured Level 1 monsters would be around the Black Monkey’s level or slightly lower.

The only concerning part would be boss monsters in areas filled with chaos energy, but I could figure out how to deal with them using the stats I’d gain from farming in the Level 1 biome.

As soon as I set foot in the Level 1 biome swampland, a quest appeared.

[Sub Quest]

[Achievement – Novice Explorer 2]

[The true master of dimensions begins by knowing all maps.]

[Reveal more than 80% of the Level 1 biome]

[Reward: 2 Achievement Points, 10,000 Farm, 20 Farming Stats, 20P Base Increase, Random Base Box(C) x10]

“Right. It had to appear.”

There must definitely be hidden quests here too.

And then another quest appeared.

[Main Quest]

[Foul-Smelling Forbidden Swampland]

[A forbidden area has formed in the swampland, and the surrounding area is being tainted by its stench. Investigate the area where even approaching causes stench and damage, and eliminate the source of the foul odor.]

[You can purify the swampland by removing the corrupted swamp core in the foul-smelling forbidden swampland.]

[Reward: SSS+ Grade Ability Selection Ticket x1, 25 Farming Stats, 50,000 Farm, A+ Grade Random Accessory Box x2, 5 Achievement Points]

“Wow… Don’t tell me they give this for each biome?”

The Level 0 biome’s main quest was village restoration.

The Level 1 biome’s main quest about the forbidden swampland also offers an SSS+ grade ability selection ticket as a reward, which means this main quest has similar importance to the village restoration.

Looking at it, it seems related to chaos energy, so it might be connected to Main Quest 2.

“This is a real gold mine.”

Just clearing main quests makes you stronger and earns you money.

Wondering if everything in this swamp was corrupted, I dug into the mud where I was standing, but unfortunately, it wasn’t corrupted mud.

“There’s no point in being stingy with this.”

If chaos energy exists in every biome like this, it might not be efficient to save chaos energy and sell resources without clearing the main quests.

I’m not even sure how quickly resources become corrupted by chaos energy, and if chaos energy is so widespread across the map, it would be faster to just find and consume the abundant chaos energy rather than cultivating it.

And not all chaos energy is the same.

Seeing how the Level 0 biome’s chaos energy no longer gives experience in the chaos stone purification cauldron, it’s reasonable to assume that each biome level has different effects or concentrations of chaos energy.

It seemed better to quickly clear the main quests and collect SSS+ grade abilities one by one.

Even if it wasn’t better, I wanted to do it anyway.

“What should I choose for my next SSS+ grade ability?”

I was already lost in happy contemplation.

Of course, it won’t be easy.

The difficulty level will be equal to or greater than the Corrupted Ogre.

That would make the difference between Level 0 and Level 1 biomes meaningful.

But I wasn’t worried.

With my current status, I was confident I could take off the Corrupted Ogre’s head without even needing any buffs.

My stats had increased thanks to the corrupted ring, and I had learned holy magic, which is super effective against chaos energy.

While the difficulty might have increased proportionally to the additional SSS+ grade ability, I had become even stronger.

Plop. As I shoveled, a load of mud came up.

[Swampland Mud]

– Grade: C

– This is mud from a mana-rich swampland. It can be used for various purposes.

– Purity: 88%

“The purity is quite high.”

I couldn’t easily find 100% purity mud near the entrance.

But this level of purity from a single shovel of mud seemed pretty good.

After digging a few times, most of the mud had 85-90% purity, so I collected and stored it.

As I started working, I encountered a problem.

“Ugh.”

Every time I shoveled, I scooped up mud, but my feet also sank deeper. If I applied just a little force and stood still, my legs would naturally be sucked in, causing considerable discomfort.

Even trying to pull my feet out was difficult as the mud firmly wrapped around my legs.

And this was with S+ strength.

“I need to get some swamp boots.”

This is a normal situation in swamplands.

There are swamps covered with shallow mud, and there are swamps like this where people can get sucked in and die. This felt like a genuine swampland.

In the Farming World, you could craft special swamp boots for traversing such areas.

It should be possible here too.

There seemed to be quite a few resources to gather from the swampland.

I didn’t bother with the hassle of pulling out my sinking feet while shoveling mud.

I just kept digging until I sank to my waist, then used [Leap] to get out and started again.

[Leap] could be used as a teleportation concept, so constraints like having my feet stuck didn’t matter.

As I was shoveling mud, I felt something strange.

“Huh?”

Slightly to the left.

I noticed something twitching between the weeds growing on the mud-covered swampland, creating a tingling sensation on my skin.

It was a very subtle movement.

At a glance, it looked so natural that you might think it was just the wind.

But the moment I thought that and was about to move on.

Splash!

Something huge jumped out from the twitching swampland, opening its mouth and lunging at me.

An incredible movement.

What is this?

Before I could process the thought, dozens of sharp teeth were already covering my face.

Swish!

If I hadn’t used Leap Slash, I would have been done for.

Even with my good reflexes, I couldn’t use more than 50% of my agility in this swamp.

Just the time it takes to pull out my feet would make it difficult to keep up with this sharply lunging monster.

At best, I might have been able to dodge by leaning back or lying down.

Splash-

As if using the swamp like water, the creature that failed to pounce on me dove straight into the swampland and disappeared.

Still, in that brief moment, I saw it.

“Wow. A swamp alligator?”

This was definitely the first encounter that made me feel the Rift Dimension.

While Level 0 biome had relatively cute monsters with higher grades, Level 1 biome introduced biome-specific monsters, as if announcing the tutorial was over.

Biome-specific monsters.

Monsters that utilize the biome’s environment—the Black Monkey could be considered one too.

They have characteristics like climbing trees, making them tricky opponents.

These swamp alligators use the swampland as a weapon, moving and attacking from it.

What makes them difficult is that there’s no way to fight them when they’re hidden in the swamp.

Even if you go down into the swampland, you can’t fight them like underwater combat, and you’d suffocate and die even without the alligator.

The only way to catch a swamp alligator is when they jump out to attack.

But they’re so agile and fast that timing is difficult.

Plus, as I just saw, this swampland slows movement and restricts mobility unless you can fly over it.

It’s hard enough to dodge their attacks when they emerge, let alone catch them.

That’s why swamplands were one of the biomes beginners avoided in the Farming World.

The mud is certainly useful and needed for fertilizer, so people would try to farm mud while avoiding the swamp alligators.

Craaack!

Well, that doesn’t apply to me.

I use Leap Slash on another alligator that jumps out from my blind spot.

Swish-swish-swish!

I don’t even bother drawing my sewer sword.

The [Copper Shovel] I’m holding, the first tool I made through Kukum using copper ingots, was enough.

“GRAAAH!”

A long gash opens on the giant alligator’s belly, spilling its innards as it falls with a thud.

I quickly butcher the swamp alligator before it sinks into the swampland.

“Preserve the hide.”

Alligator hide has many uses in reality too, like wallets.

I deliberately cut along the belly following what looked like a crease line to avoid damaging the hide.

“This will be a nice side income.”

I was liking the start of this Level 1 biome.