Ch.1313. Yard Cleaning

An ice box can’t be expected to perform like a refrigerator.

At best, it’s just a large cooler bag, and you need to put ice packs inside to maintain even a minimal cooling effect.

If we could use electricity here, I’d bring in a refrigerator right away, but unfortunately, to install electricity in the base, we’d need to farm at least A-grade resources.

In reality, electricity is one of the most abundant resources, but in the Farming World, it’s an extremely rare high-tier tech.

That’s why I had to eat the Big Rats meat quickly.

Sizzle-

It would have been more romantic to bring something like a pot lid to grill on.

Quickly packing things from home made it difficult to consider such aesthetics.

Still, a frying pan is better than nothing.

The sound and smell of cooking meat, along with the cool breeze, gives the feeling of being on a camping trip.

Many people enjoy these elements in the Farming World.

Since it’s a game set in nature, you don’t have to travel far to find nature for camping in reality, and it actually feels more natural than real nature.

Moreover, since each biome has a different natural concept, you can have a different camping experience every time.

I, on the other hand, didn’t particularly enjoy such romanticism.

Being more rational than emotional, the dopamine from achievement felt more stimulating than the romance of healing.

But now, while grilling this meat, I realized I’m somewhat of a sentimental person too.

“It was just because it was a game.”

What’s the point of seeking romance in a game?

But thinking of this as reality, it feels quite atmospheric, and I realize this is a special experience that only I get to enjoy.

Well, there are many places in reality where you can create this feeling by turning empty dungeons into camping grounds, but doing it in my own dimension gives it a different feel.

“Mmm.”

Big Rats meat is rat meat.

The taste is closer to chicken than pork.

Still, it has quite a lot of meat, so even without frying, grilling it makes it good to eat like pork belly.

I place a couple pieces of meat on a lettuce leaf, add some garlic and finely chopped peppers, and put it all in my mouth at once.

“Ah.”

Though it’s gotten slightly lukewarm, I open a can of beer and gulp it down, and this feels like heaven.

“Nom nom.”

Beside me, Lulu picks up a piece of meat and eats it enthusiastically with her small mouth.

“Is it good?”

“Yes. Nom nom nom.”

She eats like a starving beggar, making me wonder if she’s really a fairy.

“Do fairies eat meat too?”

“Our main diet is vegetarian, but we have to eat meat sometimes for nutrients.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

Despite saying that, she’s only eating the meat and not touching the lettuce.

Well, there’s plenty of Big Rats meat to spare, and with her tiny body, how much could she eat anyway? So I didn’t bother stopping her.

Rather, if she didn’t eat it, I’d have to throw it away. Since I’ll be seeing Lulu regularly from now on, it’s probably good to feed her well.

After finishing the meal, dessert was, of course, cup noodles.

Having hurriedly packed food in the carrier for this very purpose, how could I possibly skip it?

I boil water in a pot and pour it into the noodles.

After waiting for 3 minutes, I take a bite, and the spicy warmth immediately raises my body temperature that had dropped in the cool evening breeze.

“Nice.”

It would have been good to eat it with the pork belly-like meat as bibim noodles, but unfortunately, I didn’t have any bibim noodles at home.

Lulu, patting her belly while flying, watches me eat and quietly comes to my side.

“Can I have a bite?”

I take out a single noodle with my chopsticks and offer it to her. Lulu takes it with her hand and slurps it down.

“Cough, cough. It’s spicy!”

Well. Though she’s not as useful as I thought, having her chattering beside me isn’t bad compared to having nothing.

The long, long night of the second day passed.

———————

[Day 3]

I discard ten years of myself.

A new map.

A new beginning.

For that, I need to find my beginner’s mind.

Ba-bap ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bap- bap-bap-bap ba-ra-bap-bap-bap bap bap-ba-ra-ba~

The best alarm to wake up a tired body is definitely this one.

[6:00 AM]

I’d like to start moving at dawn, but if I don’t sleep for at least 6 hours, I have to live the remaining 18+ hours with a debuff, so it’s better to sleep for at least 6 hours if possible.

After getting up, I do some light stretching, quickly wash my face, and immediately take out a watering can, fill it with water, and head to the yard.

[Wooden Watering Can]

– Grade: D-

– Made to hold and sprinkle water.

– Can hold up to 5L of water.

Due to the low grade of the watering can, the weight of the water was fully felt in my hands.

With my high strength, it didn’t feel particularly heavy, but the watering can is something that should be upgraded first when focusing on farming, as the difference in performance is significant.

Splash-

I moisten the small garden with the watering can.

Seeing the recovery herbs that have sprouted green stems overnight makes me smile with satisfaction.

Pretty things.

Fill my wallet generously.

Since I didn’t plant many seeds, I only used about 1L of water, which was enough to dampen the garden.

I put the remaining watering can back on my belt.

For now, since the farming scale is small, I just fetch water from the cabin’s bathroom.

If I want to expand, I’ll need to build a well or create a water channel.

“I’ll think about that later.”

Despite not taking any special precautions, there were no signs of Big Rats having visited, probably because I had cleared them out once.

Until the sewers are cleaned up, crop damage is inevitable unless I guard them all night.

I just hope they spare the recovery herbs that I planted on the inside.

“Hey, Lulu! Let’s go!”

“Yes, master!”

I drew my wooden sword, packed some snacks in the small backpack I had in my carrier, and called Lulu to guide the way.

I thought Lulu was just a manager who provided minor information, but surprisingly, she could accompany me on explorations, so there was no reason not to bring her.

“Can you fight at all?”

“Um… if master invests in me…”

“Forget it. Just guide the way well.”

Having a navigation is better than nothing.

The journey to clean the yard and find a Level 0 biome village finally began.

I was a bit nervous.

What’s the big deal?

If it were a different map, I would have just charged ahead recklessly, but since this is an SSS+ grade map with high-grade basic resources and monsters, I find myself being cautious.

A path made by cutting through weeds.

Nothing particularly eventful happened.

There wouldn’t be dangerous monsters around the cabin to begin with.

At most, there were occasional Big Rats, ticks, and bird-like creatures that could barely be called monsters.

Although most of them were F to E grade, noticeably better developed than those on regular maps, my SSS+ grade melee weapon didn’t disappoint.

“Wow, master. Amazing. Your swordsmanship…”

“What was the previous owner good at?”

I didn’t want to ask because it felt like prying into an ex-boyfriend, but to continue exploring this map, it was best to extract all the information from Lulu, who had previous experience.

When I casually asked, Lulu fell into reminiscence for a moment before chattering about what she knew.

“The previous master… was a mage.”

“Hmm.”

“He had incredible talent, but…”

“He died before getting far, huh.”

“…Yes.”

“Idiot. How could he get through the early stages with magic?”

Is that why the opportunity came to me?

I cursed the previous owner I didn’t know, but I actually flinched as I recalled my own moment of deliberation between summoning and swordsmanship.

Could I have been clearing a path so confidently now with an SSS+ grade summoning skill?

It’s not impossible, but I might have struggled desperately with weak summons in life-or-death battles against Big Rats until they became somewhat useful.

Some say there’s no romance in swinging a sword, but no!

For me, it is romance itself.

With light footsteps, I dodge the charge of a Big Rat larger than my body and stab its eye with my wooden sword.

The massive body writhes as the sword penetrates deeply.

Without being swayed, I maintain my center of gravity and cut through to its neck.

Being able to win battles like this without using skills is both exhilarating and moving to me.

The overpowered nature of this passive skill, which makes me a master not just of wielding a sword but of “combat” itself with melee weapons, is satisfying every time I experience it, though those experiences are few.

“Lululu~”

“Yes?”

“Not you, dummy.”

I leisurely butcher the Big Rat, cut weeds, and mine rocks.

I fell trees and slowly clear a path.

By lunchtime, progress wasn’t great—looking back, the cabin was still faintly visible in the distance—but that’s okay.

“This is a real gold mine. Damn. Why am I only getting this map now?”

Basic resources don’t make money.

No fool in the Farming World thinks of making money from basic resources.

Basic resources are literally basic resources.

Weeds. Wood. Stone.

The fundamentals for crafting everything.

Being D-grade doesn’t make them valuable.

Of course, they have slightly more value and could be sold in bulk for either farm currency or real money, but it’s not efficient.

However, the rare items that occasionally drop from them are different.

I’ve already mentioned the seeds that come from cutting trees or weeds.

When mining rocks, there’s a very low chance of finding ore of the corresponding grade.

Usually, even if ore appears, it’s like powder, almost the size of a fingernail, so mining rocks for ore is practically nonsensical, but…

“Wow… why is this coming out so well?”

After nearly half a day of yard cleaning, iron ore had accumulated in my backpack to the point where I could feel its weight.

And then.

“Jackpot!!”

More lustrous than iron.

A shimmering gray gem dropped.