I Ate Dried Sweet Potatoes
Yeong-ung’s Farm.
Cleanup of the garden plot after the tomato harvest was in full swing.
“Let’s move that over there.”
“Squee!”
“Gather these over here…… We’ll need to use the supports again.”
“Squee!”
First, Yeong-ung removed the supports he had driven into the ground to keep the tomato vines from falling over, then pulled up the vines and piled them to one side.
After that, he picked up his hoe and began clearing the land.
[You have used the Land Clearing skill.]
[Work Speed + 15%]
[Stamina Consumption While Working – 13%]
[Land Clearing skill experience has increased slightly.]
[You have gained Class Experience.]
THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!
Was it because he had raised his Agility?
The speed of his hoe was clearly different from before.
He was fast.
‘This isn’t bad.’
“Squee!? M-Master! You’re fast!”
Pepper, who had been digging beside him, jumped in surprise at Yeong-ung’s increased speed.
THUNK! THUNK!
‘I have around 230 Tomato Seeds, right?’
He had obtained a total of 230 seeds through Seed Collection from the Water Tomatoes.
To plant them all, he needed to expand the garden plot considerably.
“Pepper. Water over here!”
“Squee!”
“Watering!”
[You have used the Watering skill.]
Yeong-ung sprinkled water over the hard ground to soften it a little, then swung the hoe with all his strength.
Thanks to the points he had invested in Strength, the force behind the hoe was noticeably greater than before.
THUNK!
The hoe sank deep into the soil.
When he pulled hard, a large section of earth turned over at once.
[Land Clearing skill…….]
[Land Clearing skill experience has slightly…….]
[You have gained Class Experience…….]
Several hours passed like that.
“This should be enough, right?”
Yeong-ung wiped away his sweat and straightened his back.
It had taken longer than he expected.
There was no helping it.
If he wanted to plant 230 Tomato Seeds, he had to expand the garden plot enough to accommodate them.
It was not an easy task.
“Pant, pant! I’m done, squee!”
“Good work. Now let’s sow the seeds.”
“Squee!! Leave it to me, squee!”
When Yeong-ung took out the seeds, Pepper ran ahead and made holes in the furrows.
Yeong-ung sowed the seeds into them.
[You have used the Sowing skill.]
[Growth Speed + 13%]
[Yield + 7%]
[Sowing skill experience has increased slightly.]
[You have gained Class Experience.]
Sowing the seeds did not take very long.
His back hurt a little, but the pain-relief patch he had put on made it somewhat more bearable.
“Phew…… That should be all of them, right?”
“Squee! I checked them, squee!!”
“Really? Then we’re done.”
Yeong-ung straightened his back again.
He had been bent over the entire time while sowing, and it felt as though his back was starting to curve.
He needed to be careful.
No matter how useful the pain-relief patch was, it was not a cure-all.
‘I should be careful before I hurt myself.’
“All right! Now to finish up! Pepper! Watering!”
“Squee!”
[You have used the Watering skill.]
[Crop Growth Acceleration + 20%]
[Germination Rate + 5%]
[Watering skill experience has increased slightly.]
The range of Watering was narrower than he had expected.
It was probably because the skill level was still low.
Its cooldown was only one second.
Yeong-ung used the skill several times so that the entire garden plot was watered evenly.
“I watered everything, squee!”
“Yeah. Good work.”
“Squee!”
“We’ve replanted the tomatoes too…… Shall we get something to eat?”
“Squee!”
Pepper’s eyes sparkled at the word food.
What was one of the best parts of farming?
The snack break, of course.
A snack after a hard stretch of work tasted better than any feast.
‘That was one thing I liked even when I moved to the countryside to farm.’
Back when he had moved to the countryside,
Yeong-ung had been constantly called out and put to work simply because he was a young man.
Whenever anyone needed something done, they summoned him at all hours.
It had been exhausting.
But the snacks at least made it bearable.
‘Those snacks were good. Wasn’t there a saying that hunger is the best seasoning?’
It was ordinary food, yet after finishing farm work, it tasted better than rice mixed into ramen by the Han River.
Better even than rice mixed into ramen at a mountain lodge during a hike.
“I put up with it for a whole year because of that. If there hadn’t been any snacks, I would’ve bolted long before then.”
“Squee? Bolted, squee!? Is there a monster……?”
“That’s not what I mean. Just wait. I’ll give you something delicious.”
“Squee!”
Yeong-ung had prepared something to eat today.
‘Did it dry properly?’
There was a flat rock near the temple.
Sweet potato leaves had been spread over the rock, and sweet potatoes were laid out on top to dry.
“Let’s see…… Looks like they turned out well. Inspect!”
[Delicious Dried Earth Sweet Potato]
Grade: E
Description: A delicious snack made by cutting Roasted Earth Sweet Potato into easy-to-eat pieces and naturally drying them.
Its sweetness has intensified, and the sweet potato’s distinctive flavor has deepened.
It is imbued with Spirit Power.
Options: Health Recovery + 2,000
Mana Recovery + 1,300
Spirit Power Recovery + 1,300
Satiety + 20%
‘It’s different from Roasted Earth Sweet Potato.’
The dried sweet potato restored only Health and Mana.
‘This is basically a potion.’
At this point, it would not be an exaggeration to call it a recovery potion.
Not bad.
Normally, only one food effect could be applied at a time.
‘Roasted Earth Sweet Potato has Health Recovery too, but it only restores Health once.’
Dried sweet potato, however, restored it immediately whenever he ate some, regardless of that restriction.
‘Nice. If I get the chance later, selling this might not be a bad idea either.’
“Pepper.”
“Squee?”
“Try this.”
“What is it, squee?”
“It’s called dried sweet potato.”
“Squee?”
“Just try it.”
“Squee!”
When Yeong-ung handed it over, Pepper bit into the dried sweet potato without hesitation.
“Squeeeee!?”
Pepper’s eyes widened in surprise.
“It’s delicious, squee!”
“Right?”
Yeong-ung put a piece of dried sweet potato into his own mouth as well.
[You have consumed Delicious Dried Earth Sweet Potato.]
[Due to the effect of the hidden title, ‘Greedy Farmer,’ the options of monopolized crops are applied at double value.]
[Health Recovery + 4,000]
[Mana Recovery + 2,600]
[Spirit Power Recovery + 2,600]
[Satiety + 20%]
“Mmm…… This is good.”
Dried sweet potato was a snack made by drying sweet potatoes.
They had simply been dried, yet the flavor was different from Roasted Earth Sweet Potato.
If Roasted Earth Sweet Potato was sweet and soft, dried sweet potato was sweeter and had a deeper flavor.
Chewy, chewy.
“The texture’s good too.”
The outside was crisp and the inside soft, making it several times more enjoyable to chew.
“This is delicious.”
“Squee! It’s so delicious!! Squee!!”
CRUNCH, CRUNCH!
Pepper devoured the dried sweet potato, happily wagging its tail.
DING!
While Yeong-ung was enjoying the dried sweet potatoes, a message window appeared in front of him.
[Achievement Accomplished.]
[You are the first Revelator to make dried sweet potatoes in the Spirit Realm.]
[Cooking skill experience has increased greatly.]
[Skill Level Up!]
[Cooking LV. 1 -> Cooking LV. 2]
“Oh, the level went up too?”
Yeong-ung checked the skill.
[Cooking LV. 2]
Grade: E
Classification: Passive.
Experience: 11.53%
Description: Allows you to cook better.
Grants special effects to completed dishes.
Effects: Cooking Adjustment.
Completed Dish Effects + 15%
Completed Dish Duration + 10%
“Nice.”
Not bad.
The higher the level of the Cooking skill, the better the effects of his dishes became, which was good for him.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH.
CRUNCH, CRUNCH.
For a while, the only sound echoing quietly through Yeong-ung’s Farm was the sound of them eating dried sweet potatoes.
***
Several days passed.
“Squee…….”
Pepper sat forlornly inside the temple, endlessly waiting for Yeong-ung.
“Master…… squee…….”
The cold silence that had gone unnoticed whenever Yeong-ung was around filled the temple.
It felt as though Pepper were alone again.
Pepper had experienced something like this before.
When monsters attacked, Pepper had fled desperately to survive.
To avoid them, Pepper dug a small burrow and spent several days there, hiding in complete silence.
The loneliness and isolation Pepper had felt then were difficult to imagine.
But now was better than back then.
“Squee.”
Because Pepper was no longer alone.
Back then, no matter how much Pepper called out, no one heard its voice or came looking.
Trembling in fear inside that dark burrow, Pepper had felt as though it would be alone forever.
But now things were different.
‘Master will be back soon, squee.’
Yeong-ung would definitely return.
Pepper could wait because it was certain that he would come back to its side.
***
“Hmm…….”
As usual, Yeong-ung browsed the Overlord community while eating.
He was checking the general mood.
‘Will crops sell well? How much would sweet potatoes sell for?’
At the moment, crops did not have a particularly strong market in Overlord.
Player-grown crops, in particular, did not sell well.
Their quality was low, and the available quantities were limited.
Most importantly, there was no particular advantage to buying crops sold by players.
‘If that’s the case, it’s much better to buy what NPCs sell.’
The crops sold by NPCs were of decent quality and available in large quantities.
More than anything,
‘They’re cheap.’
NPC crops were cheap.
Players were trying to sell one sweet potato for 100 gold after factoring in labor costs.
But NPC sweet potatoes cost only 100 gold for three.
That price alone gave them an overwhelming competitive advantage.
‘If they aren’t selling, they should lower the price and do whatever it takes to move them…… Why be so stubborn……?’
He could understand wanting to turn a profit after putting in all that work, but it was a foolish way of thinking.
Sometimes, you simply had to accept a loss.
If you stubbornly refused to budge, going under could happen in an instant.
‘Well, it has nothing to do with me.’
While eating, Yeong-ung checked something else.
“How are potions selling?”
Yeong-ung checked the market price of recovery potions as well.
[Low-Rank Health Recovery Potion]
Grade: E
Description: A Health Recovery Potion made by a reasonably skilled alchemist.
Drinking it restores Health.
Drinking too many may cause Potion Addiction, so avoid excessive use.
Usage Requirement: Level 1 or higher.
Effect: Health Recovery + 3,000
“So one of these is 200 gold?”
One potion that restored 3,000 Health cost 200 gold.
Considering that 100 gold was worth 1,000 won in cash, that meant each one cost 2,000 won.
“Potions definitely restore more Health than my crops.”
But—
“My dried sweet potatoes restore Mana and Spirit Power at the same time too, though?”
Even if the amount of Health restored was lower, restoring Mana at the same time was an enormous advantage.
Most importantly, players could not overuse potions in Overlord.
Was it meant to make the game more realistic?
If players kept drinking potions, they became addicted and suffered a status ailment.
[You have overused potions.]
[You have been afflicted with the status ailment: Potion Addiction.]
[All potion effects – 50% until Potion Addiction is removed.]
It was a status ailment caused by drinking too many potions.
To remove it, players either had to find and soak in a special hot spring…… or go an entire week without drinking any potions.
‘But if you have to hunt, how easy is that? It’s not like healers are everywhere…….’
“But my crops don’t cause that kind of addiction. Mine are snacks, not potions.”
That was another clear advantage.
A recovery item that did not cause Potion Addiction.
It was bound to sell like crazy.
“If I want to do that, I should start figuring out how to get an Auction House Access Permit.”
After finishing his meal, Yeong-ung cleaned everything up neatly and returned to his room.
Then he lay down inside the capsule.
WHIRRRRRR!
[Please select the game you wish to launch.]
“Overlord.”
[Launching Overlord.]
Yeong-ung logged into Overlord again today.
Today was the day.
“Are the sweet potatoes ready?”
It was time to harvest the sweet potatoes.