Ch.232232. Farming Sugar

The atmosphere at the farm was jubilant after the record-breaking bonus celebration.

“Cheers!”

“Drink like there’s no tomorrow!”

“I think I’ll get drunk today too.”

“You, Jihyun? Wow. Are you taking tomorrow off?”

“Yeah. I’m going to rest tomorrow.”

Everyone was in such a good mood that they continued the company dinner until late at night, drank heavily, and slept in the next morning.

Still, the farm’s daily operations continued more or less as usual.

The farming work didn’t necessarily require Kim Sujeong to be awake; the Naru tribe and Black Monkeys took care of their assigned tasks. Typically, Kim Sujeong’s job was just to get up later and check that everything was running smoothly. As for Lee Jihyun, taking a day off from alchemy didn’t matter since she had completed all her assigned tasks long ago. Besides, she wasn’t even taking the whole day off—after nursing her hangover with some ramen in the morning, she dove back into alchemy in the afternoon, holing up in her room with no intention of coming out.

For Kim Sol, who was practically the closest thing to a freelancer among the farm’s employees, a hangover wasn’t important since she could work whenever she wanted.

Even Mom came by for a drink and enjoyed the celebration.

A few days later, they made all the preparations to launch Farming Company’s new product.

The power of SSS+ grade alchemy was truly remarkable, enough to immediately confirm that giving it had been the right decision.

It was so impressive that even Lee Jihyun, who used SSS+ grade alchemy herself, was amazed.

“Boss, this is incredible. I think we can distribute Farming Sugar right away.”

To capture the number one market share in the alternative sweetener market, they would need to cultivate at least one million tons of cloud sugar annually.

But that would be impossible with the current cloud sugar orchard in the Steam Forest biome.

They had just over 500 trees, and even combined with SSS+ grade alchemy, producing one million tons would be an impossible feat of magic.

However, there was no need to compete on quantity.

Cloud sugar—the alternative sweetener to be distributed under the name “Farming Sugar”—had different effects from other alternative sweeteners.

They would compete on uniqueness.

The limited quantity would become an advantage in their premium pricing strategy, allowing them to establish a special position in the market.

“How did you make 500 tons?”

“If we combine it with the components of the absorption fruit that Sujeong developed, we can increase the volume up to 500 times. In the current state, we could make up to 10,000 tons, but we’re short on absorption fruit supply, so I heard they’re expanding the fields. Apparently, it grows well in the Steam Forest?”

“That’s amazing.”

This area of combinations is now beyond my expertise.

Even though I’ve played Farming World for a long time, I don’t know every improved farming method. Inventing things through alchemy connections isn’t my style—I just memorized and implemented profitable farming methods and improvements, while simply harvesting according to recipes and storing everything in the warehouse.

If I had been alone in the Rift Dimension, I probably wouldn’t have even attempted to think about and implement these kinds of connections.

With such a high difficulty level, I would have been too busy focusing on hunting content rather than settlement content, just trying to keep up with leveling and meeting specs.

It’s obvious I would have completely abandoned farming.

I headed to Earth after a long time, with plenty of Farming Sugar stored in my spatial inventory.

Now we don’t need to be selective about who goes out.

Everyone can come and go through the settlement portal to Earth as needed, so they can just follow along if necessary.

This time, only Kim Sujeong came with me.

“Oh, what’s this?”

After taking the portal to Earth, I saw that construction of the mansion on the Farming Company property had progressed from the outer walls.

It seems Kim Sol had started construction here, as she had mentioned making the passage between Earth and the farm sturdy once the Bratrium arrived.

I had just imagined a mansion that would be difficult for outsiders to break into, but seeing how the portal was positioned underground with a path leading upward, it looked like Kim Sol was planning to hide the portal at a bunker-level of security.

Not a bad idea.

If possible, it’s better to keep it safely hidden.

Even though people who aren’t employees can’t use the portal, it’s best to eliminate any exposure risks while coming and going through it.

Farming Company on Earth was also being well-managed by Dad.

Well, there wasn’t much to manage.

Following the principle of high volume, low margin, Farming Distribution focused solely on customer acquisition without worrying about company losses, so it would have been strange if it wasn’t successful. They had already achieved the number one market share in the distribution industry for quite some time.

Dad even said he enjoyed distributing goods to more people than when he was distributing hunter items, so there was no need to worry. We also restocked Farming Cosmetics for people waiting for inventory.

We posted an announcement about Farming Sugar on the Farming Company website, creating another sensation.

– What’s Farming Sugar?

– Says it’s an alternative sweetener.

– Like aspartame or something?

– Alternative sweeteners seem… not very competitive?

– Yeah… alternative sweeteners already perfectly replace sugar.

– It won’t be easy.

People expressed concerns.

But when they saw the ingredients and effects of Farming Sugar, the reactions changed.

– What? Did I read that wrong? It stabilizes and lowers blood sugar? Is that even possible?

– No way. Sugar is supposed to raise blood sugar. Not only does this alternative sweetener prevent blood sugar from rising, but eating sugar actually lowers your blood sugar? Is this really sugar?

– The dungeon world truly has no limits.

– So this is it. Cloud sugar. This comes from extremely rare trees found only in A-rank dungeons or higher. People have been saying for years that whoever could make an alternative sweetener from this would make a fortune. And now it’s here.

– Wow… what exactly does Farming Company do?

– Is pre-ordering closed already?

– Not open yet… VVIP and VIP customers will purchase first, then reservation dates will be released.

We live in a health-conscious world.

Just as sugar, despite decades of desperate resistance from sugar companies, eventually lost to alternative sweeteners in a world where blood sugar is considered the main enemy of health.

People who care about health but can’t give up sweetness can’t help but be tempted.

As soon as pre-orders opened, 500 tons of Farming Sugar sold out in less than 30 minutes.

This time, we set purchase limits: 1 ton per VVIP, 100kg per VIP, and 1kg per regular customer.

Since everyone had to come pick it up in person and there were no refunds if they didn’t show up on the scheduled date after payment, we thoroughly prevented hoarding.

Even VVIPs could only purchase 1 ton, so how could anyone hoard with just 1kg?

Farming Sugar will be our main product going forward, so people who actually use it will be able to purchase enough.

Regular customers might have to go through ticketing more competitive than concert reservations or course registrations, but if they’re upset about it, they can just become VIP or VVIP members and purchase whenever they need.

The Farming Department Store was bustling again after a long time.

With cosmetics back in stock and a Farming Sugar store on the first floor, people gathered in crowds.

Though they didn’t stay long since there wasn’t much to do there.

Reviews came in quickly.

– I cooked with Farming Sugar and it’s insane. I just added it to white rice, spam, and kimchi stew, and not only did my blood sugar not rise, it actually dropped by 20% and stayed that way for 8 hours. Is this really sugar or some kind of drug? Is it tricking my brain?

– What makes Farming Sugar so delicious? I wasn’t sure how much to use, so I just added a pinch as the instructions said, and the sweetness was perfect… not too sweet, balancing sour and salty flavors. My husband always complains about my lack of cooking skills, but today he asked if I bought the food! Thank you so much. My husband says he’ll pay a premium to get more.

– I grudgingly paid 500,000 won for 1kg, thinking they must have mixed gold into sugar, but it’s worth it. As a diabetic who can’t eat sugar or alternative sweeteners, I cried today after eating this. Thank you. If I can freely enjoy sweetness for 500,000 won, I’d pay 5 million.

It’s simple. Simply put.

Eating it reduces blood sugar by 20%.

Maintains for 8 hours.

After 8 hours, it doesn’t increase—it maintains.

If you consume Farming Sugar with food after 8 hours, you can continue to maintain that state.

I don’t know if it keeps decreasing if you keep using it, as I haven’t tested that yet.

But that one effect alone allowed us to sell Farming Sugar at an incredible price.

And the problems we anticipated began to emerge one by one.

– Farming Sugar: Unknown Ingredients? Reports to the Food and Drug Administration pile up…