A stale, musty smell stings my nose.

    Cold air touches my skin, making my body shiver.

    The unpleasant, cheap feeling of rough fabric against my flesh.

    My back aches from the hard, mattress-like surface beneath me, and my neck is stiff despite lying down—whoever found this piece of shit excuse for a pillow deserves to be cursed.

    This feeling.

    It’s familiar.

    “Ah. Fuck. What is this?”

    When I open my eyes, the high ceiling I’m used to is gone, replaced by a low wooden roof of a hut.

    Despite having windows, the interior is dark—perhaps tall trees outside block the sunlight—and the narrow bed leaves my limbs dangling in the air with the slightest movement.

    “Give me back my farming world, you bastards!”

    Shouting and thrashing around while lying down does nothing to transport me back to my mansion.

    They’ve simply kicked me out using the game’s authority.

    Who?

    I don’t know.

    No way to tell if this is an intended game quest or if the company has directly reclaimed my game server.

    [Congratulations on becoming the owner of the Secret Farming Map!]

    This tactless message only pisses me off more, oblivious to my mood.

    “Hah…”

    [The Secret Farming Map is provided exclusively to only one user who accepts the hidden quest, making you the first and only owner.]

    [This map is the only dimensional rift across all dimensions and…]

    [Secret Farming Map]

    [Resource Deposits: Immeasurable (SSS+)]

    [Resource Rarity: SSS]

    [Map Size: Immeasurable (SSS+)]

    [Overall Difficulty: Immeasurable (SSS+)]

    I skip past the rambling explanation that clearly exceeds 500 characters, but even in my pissed-off state, being a 10-year veteran of Real World, I can’t help but carefully read the map information.

    “SSS-grade resource rarity means…”

    In Farming World, a map’s resource rarity literally indicates how rare the resources can be.

    In RPG terms, it’s about what item grades can appear.

    Typically, tutorial maps have C-grade resource rarity. Small map size, small deposits, but in tutorial maps, C-grade resources are the maximum you can find.

    Of course, if you’re not familiar with this, you might wonder what C-grade actually means.

    I wouldn’t have cared about these grades either if I hadn’t played Farming World.

    Still, there’s something about these grades that modern people can relate to.

    The resources in Farming World are generally similar to materials obtained from what we call “dungeons” in reality.

    From exotic ores to weapons that can be crafted from them.

    There was controversy about the game copying reality, but since dungeons weren’t created by any game company, there were no issues with copying names or properties.

    So a map with SSS-grade resource rarity means you can farm SSS-grade materials that have never appeared in reality, even if only in the game.

    “But is that even possible?”

    The game itself reflects and incorporates elements from reality.

    There’s an A-grade resource called Octagonal Stone.

    A single fist-sized raw stone costs around 5 billion, and it’s appeared on the market fewer than five times.

    When such materials appear, rumors spread that they also appear in Farming World.

    Some say that these materials existed in Farming World first, and people only started searching for them in-game after they were discovered in reality, but does that make any sense?

    Anyway, despite my irritation, I couldn’t help but feel curious about all these urban legends.

    “Hah…”

    Of course, it seemed unlikely that I’d find even S-grade resources, let alone SSS-grade ones, in this miserable wooden hut that barely functioned as shelter against the wind.

    “This is bullshit.”

    I know exactly what I need to do.

    Even after 10 years, I haven’t only played maximum difficulty maps.

    To perfect those high-difficulty maps, I’ve farmed countless other worlds, and I’ve gone through tutorials like this literally thousands of times.

    That’s why I’m sick of it.

    “I don’t want to do this.”

    I don’t know what will happen later.

    Whether these Farming World bastards kicked me out and gave me this to steal my world,

    Or if it’s a quest acceptance bug and I can get my world back.

    I’ll decide whether to do this Secret Farming whatever when I see the results.

    For now, I just want to leave.

    “Log out.”

    [Logout is not possible until the tutorial is completed.]

    “Huh.”

    These assholes really know how to piss people off until the end.

    Their scheme is obvious.

    Right. They want me to enjoy the tutorial first, and only then can I request a refund or complain.

    It’s like forcing food into someone’s mouth and saying, “Let’s talk again if you don’t like it.”

    This is ridiculous.

    What is this, some porn where you struggle at first but then moan with pleasure once it’s in?

    Such an unpleasant experience will only create resistance, no matter how well-made this map is or how enticing it might be for someone like me.

    “This isn’t fun. Log me out.”

    [Logout is not possible until the tutorial is completed.]

    “Hah…”

    After about 10 minutes of this nonsense, I finally surrendered.

    Shouting at the wooden walls of an empty hut won’t help; it’s not like the operators are watching.

    “You bastards. Just wait until I get out.”

    I have no choice.

    Trapped in the game, the only thing I can do is clear this fucking tutorial or whatever it is—my only clue and hope.

    Sitting on the bed, I read through the system messages.

    [Special benefit for the owner of the Secret Farming Map!]

    [SSS+ Grade Ability Selection]

    [To survive in the difficult Secret Farming Map, you need powerful abilities! Please carefully select the ability you need for survival and nurture this dimensional rift map as its owner.]

    “SSS+, you say?”

    Reading the first visible benefit, I couldn’t help but jump up from the bed.

    SSS+ grade.

    This grading system is similar to that of hunters in reality.

    Each hunter’s abilities have grades, and naturally, higher grades mean stronger powers for hunting monsters in dungeons.

    The difference between Farming World and reality is that in reality, SS-grade is the highest level.

    Well, even I just learned about SSS-grade in Farming World from this Secret Farming Map.

    Anyway, in this game, SSS+ grade is beyond overpowered.

    Even the previous top grade, SS+, makes you practically a god in the game for that specific ability.

    For example, with SS+ grade swordsmanship, you can freely use the strongest techniques from martial arts novels, like the Yijiangchen.

    The game demands a certain realism, requiring various stats and other necessities.

    Even after playing for 10 years, I’ve only achieved SS+ grade in a few abilities in the last 1-2 years—that’s how difficult it is.

    But SSS+ grade?

    They’re giving that away for free?

    “Hmm…”

    I feel my anger subsiding a bit.

    If they’re offering this kind of special benefit for early growth, things might be different.

    If you asked 100 Farming World users what they hate most about starting over, 90 would mention the early growth phase.

    It’s too tedious and difficult.

    Another way to describe the game’s realism and freedom is hellish grinding and unfriendliness.

    But what if one of those elements is completely eliminated?

    The difficulty of other related aspects would significantly decrease.

    For instance, if I use this SSS+ ability selection on farming skills, I’d instantly gain farming abilities that my 10-year character couldn’t achieve, and I could immediately build a farm next to this shabby hut that’s even bigger and better than the automated farm in my original world.

    Of course, I know it’s impossible to gather the resources needed for such a farm due to the game’s realism, so I won’t waste my SSS+ selection on farming.

    “What should I choose?”

    Whatever happens, I need to select an SSS+ ability to clear the tutorial.

    A few options come to mind:

    An ability that will let me breeze through the early stages.

    An ability that will help me clear the tutorial quickly.

    An ability that would be useful and enjoyable if I somehow end up back in this map later.

    Looking for common ground among these criteria, I narrowed it down to a few options.

    Further refining my choices, I ultimately faced a decision between two options:

    Base building or hunting.

    I had to choose one of the two main content pillars of Farming World.


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