Ch.227227. Purification Enhancement

It was a feeling of blood boiling after a long time.

Well, it’s not like my blood hadn’t boiled since coming to the Rift Dimension, but how should I put it?

It was such a sudden increase in difficulty that it made me think all those times I conquered up to Level 2 biomes thinking “This is easier than expected” were just build-up for this moment.

Of course, this was because I suddenly entered a Level 5 biome, and as luck would have it, this particular Level 5 biome was at a level where I could barely conquer it by twisting my entire body in my current situation.

If I had stubbornly insisted on finding a Level 3 biome that wasn’t nearby and progressing in order, I might not have felt this tension until reaching Level 5 or beyond.

Whatever the case, it’s true that it’s been a while.

That feeling from the Farming World.

That dopamine rush. That thrill of somehow pushing yourself to the extreme, using every resource at your disposal to take down the guardians of truly rare resources.

Moreover, defeating such creatures not only brings the extreme pleasure of hunting but also the tremendous rewards that motivate you to take on the challenge.

The rewards that pour in after you’ve risked your life and given your all to defeat the creature—before you even have time to feel that emptiness—are not just abundant but have a high probability of containing precious and plentiful resources that contribute significantly to the development of your farm.

So essentially, hunting at such high difficulty is ultimately an investment and challenge for your base.

Real-world dungeons are the same.

Hunters don’t enter dungeons risking their lives because they’re fools.

The precious resources from dungeons.

The rare items that can only be obtained from dungeons.

All of these can be used by hunters, but they’re also resources that greatly contribute to real-world development and trade at high prices, so by selling them, hunters can make money and live life doing whatever they want.

And by equipping rare items that others don’t have and entering higher dungeons to hunt stronger monsters, they can also gain honor.

Especially the honor of being a hunter who contributes to human advancement naturally brings people’s praise and money, so while it’s a different kind of secondary benefit from developing a farm in the Rift Dimension, for hunters, it becomes like a drug that makes them willing to risk their lives for the challenge.

So I too give it my all.

I thought, “When have I ever not given my best?” but looking back, I wonder if I became a bit complacent with the challenges, settling for progressing in order rather than pushing myself in my own intense way.

Originally, I challenged the highest level possible in my current state.

Because I knew that even with time to spare and being a “time billionaire,” eventually I’d reach my goal, but breaking through the ceiling of higher places and coming down is much easier and more efficient in the Farming World, yielding more rewards relative to time spent.

That’s why I was able to invest so much time in Suhyun’s Farming World 1, break through Level 10 biomes, and uncover all other biomes.

Anyway, to do this, I gathered every purification stone I could find.

With my current specs, hunting the golden birds is honestly a bit difficult.

I can somehow hunt the golden birds in the Bratrium Mine, but those are just minor mobs living in Bratrium.

The real ones are those living inside the mine.

And the boss monster guarding the Bratrium crystal.

The fact that it hasn’t come out despite all the commotion I’m making outside means either I haven’t killed enough of them or it’s confident—and that’s probably not baseless confidence.

And if it perceives me as a threat, it makes even more sense for it to stay by the Bratrium crystal.

The dense chaotic energy emanating from there would make the golden bird even stronger.

Anyway, I’m too scared to go in there right now, which is why I’m using every enhancement and resource I can pull.

“Getting purification stones is really tough.”

Still, extracting purification stones by putting in purified resources from Level 2 corrupted resources yielded much more than from Level 0 and 1 resources, and before I knew it, after emptying all the storage I had, I’d accumulated about 80 purification stones.

“…I did collect quite a lot of corrupted resources.”

I’d used up almost all the swamp resources, and I thought the rest were gone because Lee Jihyun had used them, but I heard that Kim Sujeong had been collecting corrupted resources from the Steam Forest with the Black Monkeys.

“Did I do well? I went there to level up my magic too.”

“You did well.”

To accumulate 80 purification stones means she really went consistently to collect them.

Well, I could have done it cleanly in about a week if I’d gone myself, but not having to deal with that tedium and grind and having resources accumulate on their own is definitely a great achievement, so I give credit where it’s due.

“You didn’t touch the cloud sugar, right?”

“Aish, oppa. What do you take me for? I farmed around that area without touching it. It’s going to be the next-generation sugar substitute, so I treated it preciously. I didn’t touch that area at all and even cleaned up around it so monsters can’t approach it.”

“Good, good.”

Although research on cloud sugar isn’t complete yet, I plan to start distribution through Farming Company as soon as Jihyun refines it well enough to create a substitute for the sugar substitute.

Actually, I still have doubts about whether cloud sugar can take the place of the sugar substitute that already took sugar’s place.

Sugar was replaced by sugar substitutes because of clear harmful elements, but that happened after many trials and errors and obstacles.

But now that sugar substitutes have essentially become flavorings that add sweetness without any drawbacks, taking their place…

From the perspective of people who are used to consuming them, there needs to be something powerful enough to eliminate the question of “Why bother?”

With sugar and sugar substitutes, this could be explained by health concerns.

Too much sugar is bad for your health.

Is further explanation needed?

Sugar enthusiasts had no way to counter this simple yet perfect logic.

So they claimed that sugar substitutes could also cause cancer, but you’d have to drink dozens of cans of substitute-containing cola daily to slightly increase the risk, and it’s in the same carcinogenic class as kimchi—claims that actually accelerated sugar’s downfall.

Anyway, now is the era of sugar substitutes.

Even with the emergence of dungeons and hunters and the influx of new resources, nothing has emerged to replace sugar substitutes.

For over ten years.

That’s how flawless sugar substitutes have been, and even though cloud sugar comes from dungeons, it hasn’t been able to take over the market because mass production isn’t feasible—until now.

Can we make this work?

It just needs to turn out well.

Honestly, the effects are flawless.

If it really comes out properly, it has perfect options to take the place of sugar substitutes.

It provides a clean sweetness without the characteristic aftertaste of substitutes, plus a rich, genuine sweetness, and it blends naturally with dishes.

Above all, its ability to lower and stabilize blood sugar levels was a hit.

My question is whether we have the capability for mass production.

“I should give Jihyun an SSS+ skill too.”

What I’ve clearly realized is that after clearing the Level 5 biome main quest, I planned to give each farm employee one SSS+ life skill to develop according to their characteristics.

Rather than feeling uncomfortable about changing my mind after deciding not to give them, my thinking changed as I entered the Level 5 biome.

Especially considering how both Kim Sujeong and Lee Jihyun collected corrupted resources and prepared doping potions on their own.

It won’t be a waste when I invest in them.

And above all, the fact that they’re my peers also led me to conclude that it wouldn’t be bad in terms of return on investment.

“What about mom?”

“Mom… let her do it as a hobby in her retirement.”

“…”

“SS- grade should be enough.”

“Oppa. I thought you’d improved lately, but your personality is still the same.”

“It’s all for the farm.”

“Sigh… the fact that I can’t refute that means I’m a bad daughter too.”

Anyway, this also depends on clearing the main quest.

I went to Kukum with the purification stones.

I take out the Ore Demon Sword for enhancement.

Required purification stones: 30.

With 80 stones collected, I can attempt enhancement about twice.

The enhancement probability is 70%, so unless I’m extremely unlucky, at least +1 level should be possible.

“Wait.”

But as I was about to enhance the Ore Demon Sword, the Corrupted Ring on my finger caught my eye.

“This one needs 70.”

It requires more than twice as much as the Ore Demon Sword.

But the probability is the same, and isn’t the performance of the Corrupted Ring much better?

There were a few concerns, but you always have to try to know.

“Let’s do it.”

I took off the Corrupted Ring for purification enhancement.