I Obtained the Food Storage
| [Quest, ‘Tomatoes for the Altar!’ cleared.]<br>[EXP acquired.]<br>[Level increased.]<br>[Level…….]<br>[Food Storage Key acquired.] |
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“…….”
“…….”
Overlord Operations Team 1.
Team Leader Kang Min-su and team member Kim Min-cheol stared at the message on the monitor with dumbfounded expressions.
“No…….”
“That…… insane…….”
“No! What are we supposed to do if that key gets handed out like that……?”
Kang Min-su spoke in disbelief.
In a way, his reaction was only natural.
The storage key obtained from clearing that quest was never supposed to be acquired that way.
“Ugh…….”
The Temple of the Forgotten God, located in the Spirit Realm.
That place was destined to play a major role in the Main Story that would unfold in the Spirit Realm later on.
Accordingly, extremely valuable things were hidden throughout the temple.
‘Originally, a Spirit Master was supposed to find that place, uncover its secrets, and obtain the hidden treasures.’
A great many valuable items had been hidden inside the temple in preparation for the Main Story that would occur later.
Even an EX-grade item that had not yet been revealed was hidden somewhere deep within the temple.
It would not matter later.
But if those kinds of items were discovered now, there was no telling what kind of chaos they might cause.
“At least this is a relief.”
“What is?”
“It’s the Food Storage Key. That place is empty anyway, and it’s literally just a place for storing food, so it shouldn’t matter.”
“That’s true.”
“At least it wasn’t the Armory Key.”
“…….”
If Yeong-ung had obtained the Armory Key instead, there was no telling what might have happened.
There were no EX-grade items inside, but there were several pieces of equipment close to that level.
“If he had gotten that key…….”
“……I don’t even know how we’d begin cleaning up the mess…….”
Just imagining it was horrifying.
The player who obtained the items would probably be ecstatic over the flood of loot.
Meanwhile, the operators managing the game might lose their minds under the flood of work.
They were already unable to go home, working their asses off cleaning up the mess caused by Yeong-ung crossing into the Spirit Realm and throwing everything off course.
If even more work piled on top of that, they might never get to leave the office again.
“Still, how can it just hand over the Food Storage Key that easily……?”
That temple was effectively a strategic hub meant to be used during the Main Story.
Even the Food Storage Key was originally supposed to be obtained only through a Chain Quest.
But now—
“That damned god…… blinded by tomatoes…….”
| [Temple of the Forgotten God-related quests.]<br>[53 quests related to the Food Storage Key deleted.]<br>[113 items related to the Food Storage Key deleted.] |
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The quests and items created specifically for obtaining the Food Storage Key were being deleted one after another.
Of course they were.
They had been created for the purpose of obtaining the Food Storage Key, but a player had already gotten it, so there was no reason for them to remain.
“No matter how much freedom Overlord has…… isn’t it going too far for that thing to hand it over however it wants?”
They knew perfectly well that Overlord offered an enormous degree of freedom.
Its NPCs were not merely beings made of zeros and ones. It would not be an exaggeration to say they were truly alive.
Overlord was, in every meaningful sense, another world.
A simple game would progress according to a fixed sequence, but in Overlord, countless variables could derail events at any time.
The operations team’s job was to contain those variables as much as possible and clean up the aftermath so events would still follow the intended scenario.
“Tsk…… that bastard shits, and we’re the ones who have to clean it up…… damn it…….”
There was always someone doing the shitting and someone else stuck cleaning it up.
Just thinking about the cleanup related to the Food Storage Key was already overwhelming.
“Enough…… Let’s just get to work.”
“Yes, understood. First, we need to stabilize the NPCs thrown into confusion by the deleted quests…… and replace the deleted items with something else…….”
Kim Min-cheol began hammering away at his keyboard to deal with the aftermath.
At the time, neither of them knew.
| [Success Reward: Armory Key, Armory Access Permit.] |
| -------------------------- |
That the very thing they feared would eventually happen.
But that was a story for much later.
***
“Food Storage Key?”
Yeong-ung checked the key he had received for clearing the quest.
| [Food Storage Key]<br>Grade: B<br>Description: A key that can open the Food Storage door inside the Temple of the Forgotten God.<br>Only the holder of the key is granted authority to use the Food Storage.<br>Requirement: Yeong-ung.<br>Options: Key Recall.<br>Owner-Bound. |
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“What? I’m the requirement?”
It was even a bound item.
Bound items could not be used by other people and were usable only by the player they were bound to.
‘And Recall?’
Just in case, Yeong-ung threw the key far away.
“Yip!?”
DASH!
When Yeong-ung threw the key, Pepper immediately ran after it and brought it back in its mouth.
“……I didn’t tell you to fetch it.”
“Yip? You didn’t, yip?”
“No. Just watch this time.”
Yeong-ung threw the key far away again.
“Key Recall!”
| [The Food Storage Key moves to its owner’s inventory.] |
| --------------------------- |
WHOOOM.
The distant key vanished.
When Yeong-ung opened his inventory, it was inside.
“So that’s how it works?”
If it worked like this, he would not have to worry about losing the key.
“Shall we go find it?”
“Yip!”
Yeong-ung remembered seeing the Food Storage before.
It did not take long for him to find it in a corner of the temple.
“This is it.”
He grabbed the door handle.
| [Access denied.]<br>[You currently lack the required authority.] |
| ------------------------------------- |
That message appeared.
Yeong-ung took out the key, inserted it into the lock, and turned it.
Ding!
| [Food Storage Key used.]<br>[Authority granted.]<br>[You have become the owner of the Food Storage.]<br>[Remarkable achievement accomplished.]<br>[You have obtained the Food Storage of the Temple of the Forgotten God through a special method.] |
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‘A special method? All I did was give it tomatoes.’
| [This is an extremely remarkable achievement.]<br>[Title, ‘Ruler of the Food Storage,’ acquired.] |
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| [Ruler of the Food Storage]<br>Grade: B (Unique)<br>Acquisition Condition: Obtain authority over the Food Storage in the Temple of the Forgotten God.<br>Options: Food Storage Capacity +50%<br>Storage Duration of crops stored in the Food Storage +1,000%<br>Description: He who rules the Food Storage rules the late-night snacks. |
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He had obtained another title.
Yeong-ung entered the Food Storage.
Ding!
| [You have entered the Food Storage.]<br>[You may now view information about the Food Storage.]<br>[View information?] |
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A message suddenly appeared.
Yeong-ung nodded.
“Yeah.”
| [Food Storage]<br>Grade: ???<br>Description: A food storage once used by a certain being long ago.<br>Ancient magic has been placed upon it.<br>It always maintains a constant temperature.<br>Food stored inside maintains its freshness.<br>Security magic has been placed upon it because a certain being was extremely greedy about food.<br>Options: Storage Duration of stored food +500%<br>Maintain Freshness.<br>Maintain Temperature.<br>Maintain Humidity. |
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The part about a certain being being extremely greedy about food bothered him a little.
Other than that, there was nothing particularly unusual about the description.
“Wow.”
“Yip!”
He could not help but marvel.
Unlike how it looked from the outside, the interior was wide and tall.
There were shelves that made it easy to store crops, and empty baskets were stacked along one wall.
‘It’s a little cool in here.’
“Does it regulate the temperature too? This should be perfect for storing crops.”
“Yip! That’s right, yip!”
“Then…….”
Yeong-ung put several empty baskets into his inventory and went back outside.
“All right, put them in here.”
“Yip!”
Yeong-ung and Pepper filled the empty baskets with tomatoes.
Of course, they did not forget the sweet potatoes either.
“These are pretty heavy.”
“Yiiip……!!”
“That’s too heavy. You need to put in a reasonable amount.”
“Yip…….”
Yeong-ung took a few tomatoes out of the basket Pepper was carrying in its mouth.
“Better now?”
“Yip!”
“Let’s go.”
Yeong-ung led the way, and Pepper followed behind with a basket of tomatoes clenched in its mouth.
They neatly stored the crops inside the spacious Food Storage.
There was quite a lot, but with Pepper helping, they finished quickly.
“This should be enough, right?”
“Yip!”
It was more than enough.
The space was large, and thanks to its options, anything stored here could be kept for a very long time.
‘At this rate, I should be able to keep stockpiling crops until I can use the Auction House.’
“Before that, Status Window!”
Yeong-ung opened his Status Window.
| [Status Window]<br>Name: Yeong-ung.<br>Level: 10 EXP: 68.75%<br>Class: Spirit Farmer.<br>Title: Discoverer of the Spirit Realm.<br>HP: 2,500/2,500 Spirit Power: 8,500/8,500<br>Satiety: 63%<br><Stats><br>Strength: 15 + 10 Stamina: 15 + 10 Agility: 5 + 10 Wisdom: 5 + 10 Luck: 10 + 10<br><Special Stats><br>Spirit Power: 10 + 75<br>Remaining Stat Points: 25 |
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The EXP he had gained while harvesting tomatoes, combined with the EXP from clearing the quest, had raised him five levels to Level 10.
‘As for my stats…….’
Yeong-ung hesitated briefly, then put ten points into Strength, ten into Agility, and five into Spirit Power.
There had been a tips post on the Farmer board.
‘It said increasing Agility lets you move faster, so it’s useful when harvesting too, right?’
Agility was another important stat that could not be ignored.
‘I should distribute them evenly.’
Since stat points could not be undone once assigned, he needed to be extremely careful.
“Yip!”
“Yeah, good work.”
“Hehe…….”
“Then.”
Now that the work was more or less done,
Yeong-ung and Pepper went out in front of the temple, sat down leisurely, and took a short rest.
“Hmm…… There are still a few things I’ll need if I want to build a farm here.”
He could not keep sitting on the ground forever, so a chair would be useful…… or perhaps some kind of place where he could rest.
Since Yeong-ung spent most of his time managing the farm, having a proper rest area would not be a bad idea.
‘A farm hut would be nice…….’
“Should I build a farm hut?”
Yeong-ung looked around.
Even if he wanted one, building a proper hut with his bare hands and no decent tools would be difficult.
If there were a Farmer Guild around, he might have been able to find some kind of solution.
But stranded in the Spirit Realm, there was not much he could do.
‘At least I have the temple.’
Thanks to the temple, he had somewhere to shelter from the rain.
If even the temple had not existed, he might have had to grab a shovel and dig himself some kind of underground shelter.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH.
Yeong-ung and Pepper chewed on raw sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes were delicious roasted, but they were also perfectly good eaten raw like this.
The more he chewed, the stronger the nutty sweetness became.
“Good, right?”
“Yiiiiip! CRUNCH, CRUNCH!”
Seeing Pepper eat so happily made Yeong-ung, who had personally grown the sweet potatoes, feel pleased.
There was something deeply satisfying about seeing someone enjoy crops he had raised himself.
‘This is how a Farmer feels.’
“All right! We’re done eating.”
“Yip!”
“Now we need to plant the tomatoes again.”
Harvesting the tomatoes did not mean the work was finished.
Once he harvested them, he needed to clean up and sow seeds again.
If he wanted to sell tomatoes later, he needed to build up a stockpile.
“Shall we keep going?”
“Yip!!”
Twenty-eight days had passed in real time since he became stranded in the Spirit Realm.
Yeong-ung had obtained the Food Storage.