Ch.146146. The Seed of the World Tree (SS)

“Thank you, human.”

Liere handed me the World Tree seed, offering her thanks to me for the first time.

“But how do I grow this? Do I just plant it?”

“It needs to be planted somewhere with sufficient nutrients and life energy… but this place should be adequate. Are you thinking of planting it near your cabin?”

“That’s right. I’ll plant it nearby.”

“Then that’s sufficient. If you leave enough space around it when planting, it will grow on its own.”

“Come check on it occasionally to see if it’s growing well.”

“…I will.”

“And visit the Naru tribe if you miss them.”

I thought she would say it was fine, but her silence suggested she had deep regrets about her own dimension.

From what I could tell, she would likely visit and help on her own, which was fortunate for me.

The Naru tribe would work hard to settle themselves, but they would need support with other necessities, which meant I had a lot to worry about. If a fellow elf stepped in to help, that would be one less thing for me to handle.

I returned to the cabin with the World Tree seed.

“Where would be a good spot?”

I needed to plant it near the field, which would be advantageous for expanding farming operations in the future.

With the World Tree as the center of a large-scale farming operation.

“Oppa, how about here? I’ve installed totems, so the soil is good.”

Kim Sujeong actively recommended a location for the World Tree.

We wouldn’t know what effects the World Tree would have until after planting it, but at the very least, it would benefit the surrounding nature rather than harm it. Since it was advantageous to select a location that would benefit farming, she was even more enthusiastic than I was.

“Wouldn’t it be better to extend eastward? There’s a lake there.”

“Hmm, you think so? But the Naru tribe is to the south…”

“They can just walk here. What difference does that small distance make?”

“I guess you’re right. The World Tree is still a tree, so being close to water would probably be good. It would make farming easier too. The eastern area seems more fertile.”

In Farming World, city planning is extremely important.

You can’t plan and build everything at once.

In the beginning, when land is limited and dangers abound, it’s impractical to plan far ahead. The distance between the cabin and fields would be too great, fetching water would be inconvenient, and you’d have to travel back and forth daily. Why would you plow and plant fields far away when you don’t know when your territory will expand?

It’s better to build in areas you can quickly patrol and protect.

So at first, you build roughly in the surrounding area, but as your base expands and you gradually organize the biome, once you can adequately protect your base, you start making plans.

Very simply: how to expand the cabin into a house.

And where around the house to create fields for farming.

When focusing on these two basic aspects of base expansion, water access and movement paths are crucial.

Later on, you might use sprinklers, but bringing water still requires planning paths.

Even if you connect underground pipes, the water doesn’t just fall from the sky. If the water lines are too long, problems can arise, and being close to water is always beneficial for farming.

Above all, soil quality is important.

To the east, there’s a lake and river, beyond which lies the goblins’ forest, and beyond that, the Black Monkey forest.

The fertility of the soil is evident from the pure mushrooms and hair-growth plants that grow there.

The south, where the corrupted forest used to be, wouldn’t be a bad choice either, but it’s behind the house. The east would make it easier to go to the village, and given the nature of the World Tree, it would be better to plant it near a forest rather than in open plains, and then use the surrounding plains as fields.

“Let’s plant it here, then.”

I planted the World Tree seed in a position where, if it grew, it would be visible at the far right edge when looking through the window from the second floor of the cabin.

I imagined it someday.

Tall and thick.

The majesty of the World Tree. A tree with the appearance of the World Tree I knew, growing lush.

If I dug a river to flow past it, the view would rival that of the Han River.

And the colorful crops spread across the wide fields.

[World Tree Seed]

– Grade: SS

– A seed imbued with the energy of the World Tree. When planted in suitable soil, it grows into a World Tree.

The description was so minimal that I hesitated a bit when planting it.

“Is this the right spot?”

Well, the Elf Queen had officially stated “this should be sufficient,” so I was less worried, but there’s nothing more disappointing than planting an SS-grade item only to have it rot due to insufficient nutrients.

Still, I decided to trust Liere.

After all, Liere, who brought the seed from her dimension, would want the World Tree to grow well even more than I, its new owner, would.

Just as Kukum brought the dark magic stone, Liere must have brought this seed as the most important thing to her.

I buried it well, promising myself that if any problems arose, I would immediately call Liere to resolve them.

“Hmm.”

“Um… Oppa, we should mark this spot.”

Did I plant it too well?

I had buried it deep to prevent rain from washing away the soil and exposing the seed, but after covering it with earth, it was hard to distinguish where exactly I had planted it.

Unfortunately, it was just plain soil, so if I looked away for a moment, I might forget where I planted it. So I stood at the planting spot while Kim Sujeong went to the cabin and brought back a wooden sign to mark it.

[World Tree♥ Planted Here.]

“Oppa, what day is it today?”

“Day 42.”

[- Summer Day 12 (Day 42)]

“What, are you planting lettuce?”

“Come on, you said it’s SS-grade. It deserves this much. When we look back later, even the planting date will be a precious memory.”

It was amusing to see her plant the World Tree with such care, as if it were her first lettuce, especially after all the crops she had diligently grown and harvested in such a short time.

I understood, though.

Planting ordinary crops feels different from planting a high-grade resource like the World Tree.

Just as I felt a sense of achievement when I obtained the Dark Magic Sword, for Kim Sujeong, who farms, the World Tree—whose effects we don’t even know yet—would be a reward that brings a similar sense of achievement.

The same goes for me.

Although I’ve mostly entrusted farming to Kim Sujeong, this farm is still mine, and in the distant future, I’ve been gradually planning how to decorate this farm in my own dimension. Achieving the feat of planting a World Tree in the front yard—something no other Farming World user has accomplished—is absolutely not to be missed.

“Did they say we don’t need to water it?”

“They said to just leave it alone. It will absorb energy from the earth and grow on its own.”

“Ugh, I wonder how long it will take. I’m so curious. I wish it would at least sprout.”

“Trees don’t sprout like that.”

With my experience in Farming World, I know that even if I feel expectant and excited, fretting over it won’t change anything. Once I plant something, I can let go of attachment and focus on other things.

After all, checking on it daily won’t make it grow faster or better.

Crops, trees, and resources grow when their time comes.

It’s actually better to forget about it, so when you do check, you can feel greater joy thinking, “Wow, it’s grown this much already?”

I didn’t impose this mindset on Kim Sujeong, though.

At her stage, there’s a certain pleasure in checking multiple times a day, nurturing, and saying encouraging words like you would to a cute onion.

Kim Sujeong will adapt over time and eventually learn to wait patiently.

“I should make some fertilizer to sprinkle on it.”

As I watched Kim Sujeong head toward the cabin with cheerful steps, I pulled out the main dish I had been saving.

It’s a bit embarrassing that I keep calling things “main dishes,” but this truly is the main dish.

“SSS+ grade. What should I choose?”

Honestly, when I first chose an SSS+ ability, I deliberated a lot, but that was a dilemma between efficiency and romance.

I knew that melee weapons were good for the early game, and I considered whether to take a slightly longer route by choosing summons.

Looking back, it wasn’t such a difficult decision.

Even if I could go back, I would still choose melee weapons.

When choosing my second SSS+ ability, I didn’t even hesitate.

From the moment I learned that chaos energy counters holy energy, I thought I’d be a fool not to choose holy magic.

If there was a choice, it was between holy magic or a holy shield.

But this time, I was truly conflicted.

It was quite a dilemma.

“Magic or summons, that is the question.”