Chapter 3 : Skills necessary for survival

The content of the Farming World is largely divided into two categories.

One is the base content, where you farm near your home and cultivate crops.

The other is the hunting content, where you leave home to explore and pioneer unknown lands.

When you look at it in broad strokes, there are two main types, but if you break it down, there are countless subcategories.

And even though it’s split into two, ultimately, these two types of content are interconnected.

To farm, you have to manually water and till the soil, but eventually, you’ll need to build an automated system.

For that, you need high-grade resources, which aren’t found nearby—you’ll have to discover mines and hunt the monsters guarding them.

Conversely, hunting isn’t just about heading out and fighting recklessly.

You need to craft weapons and make armor to protect yourself from monster attacks.

You have to build a forge at your base, smelt ores, and create equipment for hunting.

So while these two contents are categorized separately, they are actually the core elements that run through the entire Farming World.

That’s how games of this genre tend to be.

RPGs are fun because you grow your character by hunting monsters and immersing yourself in the role you’ve chosen.

FPS games are fun because of the sheer thrill of shooting.

The Farming World genre is a game made for enjoyment—where you can empty your mind, farm at a leisurely pace, raise crops, and if you wish, go out and hunt using what you’ve cultivated to grow even more.

Generally, to enjoy all aspects of it, you need two to three times the effort and time.

That’s why most people play multiplayer.

So-called “herbivore” users who like healing gameplay usually stick to base-building.

Carnivorous users, who enjoy adventure and hunting like in RPGs, focus on hunting.

But I’ve played solo for 10 years and handled both roles by myself.

Because of that, I can make a more objective comparison.

Which side is more important in the Farming World?

Which side, when you possess SSS+ tier abilities, can have the greatest impact on the other?

“It’s not easy.”

Even if I just try to breeze through the tutorial and think about it lightly, the answer doesn’t come easily.

If it were that simple, people would be saying that Farming World is a poorly balanced game.

Both are important.

Especially on this map, where the overall difficulty is at SSS+ level, comparing the weight of the two types of content is almost impossible.

As important as hunting is, your base also needs to be strong and safe in order to efficiently process the resources you gain from hunting.

So I decided to add a bit of my personal preference into this tough choice between efficiency and performance.

As mentioned, Farming World is part of the farming genre.

It’s a niche genre, but in some ways, it doesn’t fully follow the conventions of a classic farming game.

In most games where farming is the main content, the difficulty is lower.

But in this game, as the difficulty increases, the weight of the hunting aspect needed to explore the map grows.

It even uses real-world resources, and the monsters are basically like dungeon monsters from reality.

So what about the hunters’ abilities?

Same goes.

That was actually one of the three biggest reasons I poured ten years of my life into this game.

Even if I didn’t awaken as a hunter in real life, at least in the Farming World, I could live as a hunter with SS+ level abilities.

“As expected.”

Thinking about that made me lean slightly toward the hunting side.

I became curious about what it would be like to have SSS+ level hunting abilities.

In reality, I’m a pathetic person with no abilities, addicted to virtual reality.

But in a secret hidden map, I can become an SSS+ level, god-tier hunter that doesn’t exist in the real world.

And honestly, choosing hunting abilities is the best and fastest way to get through the early game.

Farming only becomes efficient once you have automation systems in place, and to get there, you inevitably have to find a mine and farm D- to C-grade resources through mining.

Trying to kill monsters with nothing but a copper weapon and no special abilities is literal hell.

Once I began rationalizing like that, the 30-minute-long dilemma lost all meaning.

Now, the only thing left was to decide which hunting ability to choose.

In this insanely free game, “hunting” doesn’t just mean boring swords and bows.

Anything is possible in this world.

You can use swords for a romantic touch, or wield an axe.

If it’s possible, you can even use magic.

Though magic is only available in maps where resource rarity is B grade or higher.

In a world where you can even make guns, what more is there to say?

Of course, with great freedom comes great cost—being able to freely use these weapons takes a lot of effort and time.

And in Farming World, that cost is time and effort.

But there’s one ability that lets you skip all that.

“Sword… magic… summoning…”

There were just too many options to choose from.

As mentioned before, magic isn’t viable in this barebones state—it takes too long to farm the A-grade resources needed.

But thinking about the real-life mages who shine in this game, it’s still a power I’d love to try one day.

“So, sword or summon beast, I guess…”

More precisely, it’s categorized into: “melee weapons,” “ranged weapons,” “summon beasts,” and “magic.”

I’m not particularly fond of greatswords or axes, so if I go with melee weapons, I’d be using a sword.

Ranged weapons—bows are the standard, but you can eventually switch to guns, which is a forward-looking feature.

But honestly, I don’t really like them.

In past Farming World games, if you wanted to use a ranged weapon—specifically a bow—you also had to make your own arrows.

And in this stupidly open game, making arrows was way more annoying and complex than actually shooting them.

Plus, unless you recovered them after shooting, your efficiency would drop sharply.

That memory still lingers.

Easy and convenient is the best.

What’s the ultimate goal of the Farming World?

Automation!

A world of automation built through long, arduous grinding and effort.

You kick the “click” away with your own feet, go through hell, but in the end, it’s a game all for that “click.”

If you want a spoonful of romance—choose the sword.

If you want a bit less “click” and sword, but more romance and personal preference—go with summons.

“Hmm.”

Choosing between these two final candidates was entirely up to me.

Both the sword and summons met all of my criteria:

1. Is it good for getting through the early game? ✔️
2. Is it useful for both base-building and hunting? ✔️
3. Will it still be good in the future? ✔️

The main difference was that the sword and summons excelled in different areas for points 1 and 3.

The sword had the advantage of being useful right away, even with the default wooden sword and no extra resources.

Summons, on the other hand, had a strong advantage later on, being useful for both base-building and hunting.

This tied into point 2 as well. In terms of versatility, summons were overwhelmingly practical.

But from a hunting perspective—if I wanted to stay safe—it was clear that the sword would provide far more protection in the early stages than summons.

“Ugh. This is a real dilemma.”

If I could choose this kind of SSS+ ability in real life…

Sword or summons—

Which would I pick?

After much thought, I finally made my choice:

[You have upgraded your melee weapon to SSS+ rank.]

“You idiot. You’re actually thinking seriously about your future.”

I almost fell for the damn game’s trap.

Of course, I was thinking under the assumption things would go well…

But if I had picked summons, I might’ve ended up suffering unnecessarily during the tutorial.

“Well, summons… they’ll probably give me another chance later.”

Even if it’s not SSS+ rank, summon abilities are something I’ll end up upgrading eventually anyway.

[Tutorial Quest Activated]

[Tutorial Quest 1]

[Check your basic equipment and look around the house.]

[Reward: Unlock Ability (Farming F)]

Finally, the tutorial quest began.

I opened the wooden box next to the door of the small cabin.

Inside the narrow box were all sorts of items.

The contents were neatly divided into sections before my eyes:

[Wooden Sword]

[Wooden Pickaxe]

[Wooden Axe]

[Wooden Watering Can]

[Wooden Hoe]

[Bread (F) x10]

[Water Bottle (500ml) x10]

These were the basic starter items inside a 10-slot “small box.”

Although the game was highly realistic, being a game meant that in this virtual reality world, opening a box would display the contents in a system message, neatly organized like an inventory.

I took each item out and equipped them on the belt strapped around my waist.

Just like that, the gear didn’t interfere with my movements or feel heavy—it all went into my “inventory.”

This belt, called the “Farming Belt,” was part of the basic equipment and had 7 slots.

You could think of it as a simplified inventory for basic tools.

“Whew. Guess it’s time to get started.”

I wasn’t exactly excited…

But I needed to find my house.

I grabbed the wooden sword first.