NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6
6. With a Swing of the Sword, the Rat Died
Even without an active skill, I can easily take down the tutorial trash mob, Rats, even if they’ve evolved into Big Rats.
With a +5 wooden sword and Strength S, I can kill them far more easily than in a normal tutorial, and all I’m missing is any kind of armor.
Even so, thanks to Stamina S, even if a Big Rat bites me, I won’t die in one hit.
As long as I don’t get surrounded by five Rats, knocked down, and rendered helpless, I’ll be fine.
Chichichichi—
I charged at the leading Big Rat, which was making an unpleasant noise, stepped onto its head, and swung my wooden sword.
Saaak—
The boundary between the head and the torso.
Though a bit thick, the wooden sword sliced through the neck completely, as if mocking my concern about whether a wooden sword could really cut through.
“Wow.”
The thick neck of the Big Rat dropped straight to the ground.
I had intended to inflict a fatal wound and quickly retreat, but I had to change my plan.
“This is it.”
Master of Melee Weapons.
This is—obviously—a completely broken skill.
I realized it as I swung the sword.
I had a vague feeling since I was cutting weeds, but now that I’ve actually hunted something, I know for sure.
I am undoubtedly the one swinging the sword, but something unknown is adjusting it for me—that’s the best way to describe it.
Since I’ve spent a long time selecting swordsmanship as my main ability across various maps, I have some confidence in fighting with a sword.
Of course, I’m not as precise as a sword master, but I at least had enough confidence to hold my own in the farming world.
But this felt different.
My body moved on its own, naturally and efficiently, taking the most effective path to strike the vital points.
I could see it.
“Wow...”
Confidence surged in an instant.
[Big Rat eliminated!]
[EXP +10]
The tension melted away.
Since this is a secret map I don’t know, I was cautious...
But once I let go of that thought, the supposedly terrifying Big Rats in front of me were nothing more than convenient quest monsters that provided large amounts of meat and farm materials.
Four of them charged at me at once.
I thrust my sword into the open mouth of a Big Rat, piercing its skull completely.
Blood splattered, soaking my body, but I pulled my sword out and leaped behind the corpse.
Fwook—
The remaining three also went down in a single strike each.
The hunt was so easy that it felt almost empty.
I looked down at the sword, now soaked in Big Rat blood, and its hilt.
After spending ten years in the farming world, I realized that skills like swordsmanship and other so-called ‘talents’ don’t necessarily improve just with time.
One simply learns, through countless trials and battles, how to dodge, attack efficiently, deal the most damage, and conserve energy to minimize stamina consumption.
But now, it felt like I had surpassed that barrier.
Just from a single passive skill.
If I use and refine this...
Could I use it in real life too?
That thought briefly crossed my mind.
If I train this sensation well enough for my body to remember it...
“That’s some real dumbass thinking.”
Even if, by some miracle, I had an unknown genius talent that allowed me to retain this sensation, it wouldn’t really matter.
I’m not a hunter anyway, so what good is having SSS+ swordsmanship?
[Quest complete!]
With the five Big Rat corpses, Tutorial Quest 2 was completed.
I briefly considered using this momentum to search the sewers for a possible Big Rat boss but quickly gave up on the idea.
"First, the tutorial..."
Finding the sewer was a task in itself.
Even on an SS-rank map, if the sewer entrance was within a 5KM radius of home, searching for it would take ages. On an immeasurable map, there was no telling how far it could be.
Wandering through overgrown land in the middle of the night, I could lose my way back home, let alone find the sewer.
[100 Farm points acquired!]
[Farming stat +1!]
I dragged the corpses of the Big Rats to the front yard, lining them up neatly.
[Tutorial Quest 3]
[Monster corpses are a reliable food source. Let’s butcher various resources and monsters.]
[Ability (Butchery F) activated!]
[Clear condition: Butcher a monster (0/1)]
[Reward: 100 Farm points. Farming stat +1]
Butchering? A mere ten thousand times?
I’d done it hundreds of thousands of times. Even without the ability’s help, I could handle it alone.
Skillfully, I separated the hides and meat from the corpses. The intestines, blood, and other useless parts evaporated.
[Skilled Butchery success!]
That’s the charm of this game.
It balances both 'realism' and 'gameplay,' so newcomers don’t hit a wall with difficult systems.
With just a 'knife' and the 'butchery' ability, the body moves automatically to process the corpse.
And if you master the game's 'realism' aspect, it rewards you more generously.
I obtained 13 pieces of Big Rat meat and 6 Big Rat hides.
"Graduating from bread on the first day."
Unlike normal Rat meat, a single piece of Big Rat meat was enough to last an entire day.
The night had grown dark, and exhaustion pressed down on me. After getting thrown straight into this map without sleep, I wanted nothing more than to rest and leave everything for tomorrow.
But if I left the Big Rat corpses lying around in the yard, other monsters might come and eat them overnight.
So, I spent an extra hour finishing up.
"Phew."
[2:15 AM]
It was late.
In Farming World, unlike other farming games where sleep schedules were flexible, sleep was locked to the early morning hours. Instead, there was a required sleep quota per day.
If I didn’t sleep at least six hours, my stats would decrease, and I’d get various debuffs. Whether I napped in segments or slept in one go, I had to make sure to get enough rest.
Still, I had things to do.
"The welfare system here is decent, at least."
As harsh as this game was, it had some conveniences, like bathrooms and hygiene.
Even though bodily functions weren’t necessary, a cleanliness system existed, and the hut always had hot water, allowing for a warm wash.
"Ah... nice."
The starting hut had no heating, so this was the only way to warm up.
I washed off the Big Rats’ blood, scrubbing both my clothes and body clean.
Even with only a bar of soap, this felt like heaven.
"Haaa."
Dressed in clean rags and wrapped in a freshly prepared towel, I lay down on the bed. My eyes slowly drifted shut.
[Day 2]
The first day in this Secret Farming Map had passed in a blur.
--------------
[9:00 AM]
Beep, beep, beep— Beep, beep, beep—
The system alarm echoed through the hut.
Since I had gone to bed around 3 AM after a quick wash, I had just managed to hit the bare minimum of six hours of sleep before waking up.
"I'm exhausted."
Back on the stolen map, once I had automation set up, I maintained at least eight hours of sleep to get the Refreshed buff. But at the start of a new map, time was money, and I couldn’t afford to waste it on buffs like that.
More importantly, I'd already been logged into the game for nearly two days straight.
Even though I was practically a gaming addict, I tried to never exceed 48 hours of capsule connection time.
"I need to wrap this up today."
The tutorial wouldn't take long.
If it followed the usual pattern, it would cover basic farming mechanics and introduce a few fundamental skills before the beginner tutorial quests were complete.
Surely, they'd let me log out after that…
[Tutorial Quest 4]
[To progress in Farming World, you need to craft various essential items for your base.]
[Build a Workbench.]
[Reward: 100 Farm points. Farming stat +1]
Time to speedrun this.
"Quick Craft."
At my command, the Quick Craft system opened, displaying an active option for [Workbench].
The required materials: 30 pieces of F-rank or higher wood, 15 stones, and 30 weeds.
This game, for all its harshness, prioritized convenience over realism when it came to crafting. As long as materials were stored in a container within the hut’s range, they could be used directly for crafting or at a workbench.
A workbench materialized in front of me.
A 3D hologram displayed its dimensions, and I carried it outside to place it in front of the hut.
Setting it near the door, right on my usual walking path, was the most convenient spot.
[Quest Complete!]
Tutorials in Farming World were usually considered skippable content.
Once you had cleared it once, there was no reason to go through it again— it explained everything so thoroughly that even newcomers could breeze through it. Plus, it was just tedious.
But right now, I don’t have a choice.
Besides, the rewards from these tutorial quests were pretty decent for early growth, so even veteran players would complete them if they were restarting on a main base map.
- Farm Points: 400
- Farming Stat: 3
I had already accumulated 3 points in my farming stat and 400 Farm Points.
Before the next tutorial quest could even pop up, I grabbed a hoe and headed to the cleared land.
Time to plow the field.