Chapter 21

021.

Wait a second…….

What am I looking at right now?

“What the hell is that.”

At the unbelievable sight unfolding before my eyes, my jaw dropped open without me realizing it.

The identity of the thieves revealed beneath the faint moonlight filtering in was…….

Five scarab beetles? Or maybe rhinoceros beetles, each as large as my palm.

Their shells gleamed like jewels, and they had impressive horns and saw-like jaws.

- Rustle, rustle.

“Eeeeeek-! H-huge bugs!”

Awakened by my presence, Malko spotted the enormous beetles, jumped into the air, and threw himself into my arms.

Before I knew it, I was holding a muscular barbarian in a princess carry while staring dumbfoundedly at the creatures.

“B-bugs……! The bugs are stealing our potatoes, Izak!”

“……Get down first.”

I tossed the trembling Malko aside and turned my gaze back toward the potato thieves, observing their behavior.

Even after coming face-to-face with the owners of the potatoes, the potato thieves merely glanced at us without looking surprised, then calmly continued with their theft?

Their shameless confidence was so absurd I was at a loss for words.

They busily moved their six legs while rolling away plump potatoes. And without exception, a shiny pebble had been left in the place where each potato had been.

Only then was the mystery of why the potatoes had turned into stones finally solved.

“Hey, bugs. What are you doing right now?”

- Freeze

The creatures that had been diligently rolling the potatoes stopped moving and twitched their antennae.

“Were you the ones stealing them?”

Ah…… what am I doing? It’s not like bugs are going to answer even if I talk to them…….

- Shake, shake

They answered!?

Of course, it was somewhat different from a human shaking their head, but they were clearly rocking their bodies from side to side to express a strong denial.

“Eeeeeek-! Izak is talking to bugs!”

“Malko…… please go back to your tent.”

“No! Malko protects shaman and warehouse!”

Whew…….

Anyway, the potato-thief bugs were shamelessly lying and insisting they had not stolen anything.

If I left them alone, they would keep coming back to steal potatoes, wouldn’t they?

Let’s change the question.

“Did you exchange this stone for a potato?”

“……!”

The beetle-like bugs all raised their front legs in perfect unison, drew circles in place, and cheered.

“That’s stealing.”

“……!?”

Why!?

The creatures bounced up and down in protest as though insisting they had ‘exchanged’ stones for potatoes, not ‘stolen’ them.

“Because we don’t need stones.”

Why!? They’re so pretty!

The bugs bounced up and down in protest again.

“So…… potatoes can be eaten, but…… ah, what the hell am I explaining to bugs right now?”

As I earnestly tried explaining things to them, reality suddenly hit me hard.

“Izak, can you understand bug language now too!”

I ignored Malko, who was getting emotional beside me.

You stay quiet. My head already hurts enough.

“Anyway, if you keep swapping our potatoes for stones, I won’t forgive you.”

Why! Why!

Ignoring the noisy buzzing complaints of the protesting beetles, I recovered the potatoes and got out of there.

“Malko. Guard the warehouse more carefully from now on. Block every gap so bugs like those cannot get inside. If you want, you may appoint one deputy warehouse keeper under you.”

“D-deputy warehouse keeper!?”

Malko’s eyes widened at the unprecedented proposal.

“I-if that happens…… then…… I! I! Do I become Head Warehouse Keeper!?”

“…….”

“Grrrr! Don’t worry, Izak. Head Warehouse Keeper Malko will perfectly protect potatoes from thief bugs. Eeeeeek-! Izak, the bugs got angry and charged at me!”

Sigh…… seeing the Head Warehouse Keeper running around dodging bugs made everything go dark before my eyes.

In the end, the potato-to-stone transformation incident turned out to be the work of the thief beetles.

The next day.

“Izak, this is Warehouse Keeper Yangko, my direct subordinate. He is my younger brother.”

“I became warehouse keeper too! I guard well so bugs never come!”

Malko…… and his younger brother Yangko.

The fact that these brothers somehow seemed to operate on the same intellectual wavelength was worrying, but.

Thanks to the two of them taking turns guarding the warehouse entrance like an iron fortress, the shameless beetles never managed to steal potatoes again.

Of course, the bugs that had lost their legitimate trading partner(?) came to my tent every night to protest.

You really do see all kinds of things in life.

“Shaman. I’ve finished processin’ all the monster hide too. I reckon it’s about time I headed into town. I just gotta buy everything ya told me to, right?”

Tofu asked, securely carrying an enormous bundle almost as large as his own body.

The monster Varg that had driven us to the brink of death last night had been dismantled and processed by Tofu after he stayed up all night.

We had no potatoes to take to town and sell this time because we had been too busy dealing with various problems, but Tofu had quietly informed me that the Varg’s hide would sell for far more than potatoes.

‘It was appraised by someone with the bloodline of an A-rank Super Merchant, so it should be trustworthy.’

Setting aside the kids walking around in clothes full of holes…….

These days, with the village being rebuilt, there were simply far too many materials we lacked.

We would gather whatever we could ourselves, and we had no choice but to buy the rest.

Even combining the money earned from selling potatoes with the money from selling the Varg’s byproducts would leave us short.

But at the very least, I wanted to replace our current crude fence—which shattered pathetically whenever a monster charged into it—with a sturdier, more reliable defensive wall.

“Yeah. Buy as many construction materials as you can.”

“Got it! Then I’ll hurry there and back.”

After seeing Tofu off as he departed with light steps, I headed toward the construction site on the outskirts of the village, where work was now in full swing.

Jack’s designs, backed by his knowledge of human construction, combined with the labor of barbarian warriors who were basically human heavy machinery. Surely things were getting done in no time, right?

‘I wonder how well they’re doing.’

Thinking that my odds of survival rose with every section of defensive wall being built made me hum cheerfully.

“Nooooooo! Please! Huh? Please! I’m beggin’ ya! Handle it gently, gently……!”

Contrary to my expectations, Jack was sitting on the ground with sawdust covering his head, wailing.

“Understood. I really do gently. I do well.”

- Crack! Snap!

“I’m gonna lose my mind, seriously…… please…… we hardly got any materials left. Please use less strength! Huh? Like you’re handling a baby…… gently…… Aaaaaagh!”

- Craaash!

“I definitely did gently. Wood weak.”

It was complete chaos.

Unable to control their strength, they were smashing entire pieces of timber apart, and when told to drive in a wedge, they pulverized the wedge itself.

Eventually, Jack collapsed onto the ground, covered his face with both hands, and began sobbing.

“Why…… why do you keep doin’ this to me…… huh? Why do you keep smashing everything I carve…… sob.”

“Huh? We really did gently! It’s true!”

“He did it hard. I saw. I did gently.”

When Jack burst into tears, the little ones standing beside him began blaming one another and making excuses with guilty expressions.

‘Well…… their basic strength is absurdly high.’

Sigh. It wasn’t the kids’ fault.

Jack, who had been tearing at his own hair while shedding streams of tears, spotted me watching from a distance and came running over while crying.

“Ohhh! Shaman! Please, please save me! The barbarians…… they’re smashing all the materials to pieces!”

“Hmm…….”

Looking around with a grave expression, I could see that thanks to Jack’s blueprints, the overall basic framework and skeleton had already been completed.

The problem was that while the barbarians could carry logs and drive pillars into the ground, they were completely incapable of delicate manual work.

‘This is an unexpected obstacle.’

But Jack could not possibly do all this work alone either.

The next Red Moon wave would arrive before we ever finished everything.

‘What should we do?’

Jack and I put our heads together and discussed it for quite a while, but no obvious solution emerged.

For a moment, I even considered asking the Western Volcano Tribe for help, but those guys were barbarians even more brutish than our Rock Tribe.

Anyway, there was no immediate way to solve Jack’s construction problem, but that did not mean I could afford to sit around doing nothing.

The potatoes we had stored in the warehouse were gradually running low, so I had to farm like my life depended on it to prepare for the Great Famine and earn money.

‘I also need to level up quickly and get the Intermediate Farmer title.’

After planting potatoes and applying Growth Acceleration, I checked my Status Window for the first time in a while.

==========

【Player Information】

• Name : Izak (Kang Jin-ho)

• Race : Barbarian (Northern Rock Tribe)

• Class : Novice Farmer

• Level : 9

【Basic Stats】

• Strength : 20+5 / Agility : 15 / Constitution : 22 / Intelligence : 20+1 / Mental Strength : 8+2

• Fame : 5

• Remaining Stat Points : 7

【Farming Journal】

• Cultivation Slots Available : 30

• Potato

- Harvest Quantity 1120/2000

- Understanding 40%

【Owned Special Items and Familiars】

• Random Draw Ticket : 1

• Earth Spirit (Mutant) : Potatodori

==========

‘Level 9.’

The Varg was a high-level monster that someone with my current stats should never have been able to kill.

Because I had personally dealt the finishing blow, I had instantly gained 3 levels.

[Class advancement is imminent.]

At that moment, a blue system message flashed before my eyes.

Do I become an Intermediate Farmer at Level 10?

Along with leveling up, my cultivation slots had also increased to 30, doubling my harvesting efficiency.

‘Good. Grow big and strong.’

That way I could farm potatoes on this barren land and successfully raise my children(?) too.

For now, I dumped all my remaining Stat Points into Mental Strength, raising it to a total of 17.

The incidents where my nose would gush blood every time I tried saying something intelligent had noticeably decreased, but occasionally, regardless of Mental Strength, the uniquely barbarian tendency to act first and think later still burst out.

Once I reached 20 Mental Strength, I planned to begin investing in other stats like Constitution.

‘I need to become stronger.’

After fighting the Varg, I clearly realized that clever tricks alone had their limits.

Besides, I couldn’t rely on Zakan alone.

I needed to increase my own durability and survivability so I could survive by myself.

I might never grow as powerful as Zakan with his S-rank potential, but I needed to become as strong as I possibly could.

“All right, that should do it. Huh? Random Draw Ticket?”

Ah! I had one of these. I completely forgot.

I can never resist a random draw. Let’s use it right now!

[Would you like to use 1 Random Draw Ticket? Y/N]

The instant I selected Y, a holographic roulette wheel appeared before me and spun so violently it hurt my eyes.

- Rrrrrrrrrr

A cheerful sound effect that sent dopamine surging through my brain.

The wheel gradually slowed before stopping with a click-.

Pop-!

Golden text suddenly appeared amid a dazzling firework effect.

[Congratulations! You have obtained a ‘Shining Gift Box.’]

“Oh?”

The instant the message disappeared, a box with a satisfying weight dropped out of thin air and landed in my hands.

The box emitted a dazzling golden glow that looked anything but ordinary.

I had this instinctive feeling that at the very least…… some Hero-rank weapon was about to appear, so I carefully touched the box.

Brilliant light spilled out, and what finally appeared was.

[You have obtained 1 Savory-Smelling Bone.]

“…….”

- Plop

A smooth white bone resembling a chicken drumstick dropped into my hand.

“God damn it.”

I grumbled as I roughly stuffed the bone into my pocket.

Still, it was an item…… surely it would be useful somehow.

Then again, who am I kidding with a Hero-rank weapon?

Just as I was trudging back toward my tent.

- Rustle, rustle.

“POTATOOOOOO-!”

Huh? Along with that familiar rustling sound I had heard somewhere before came Potatodori’s desperate scream.

“What the hell!?”

I immediately sprinted at full speed toward the sound.

Had another monster appeared?

“Izak, what happened!”

Zakan also came running out with his greatsword, his expression sharp.

“I don’t know either.”

“Dangerous. Stay behind me, Izak!”

We tensely reached the place where the scream had come from.

The moment we did.

Zakan and I both stopped dead at the absurd sight before us.

Heave-ho! Heave-ho!

“POTATOO!”

The five thief beetles had joined forces to hoist Potatodori over their heads and were scurrying away with it!

“S-stop right there! Potatodori is not a potato! It’s a spirit!”

Don’t believe you!

The beetles snorted and fled while kidnapping Potatodori.

- Plop. Roll…….

Meanwhile, a single shiny pebble rolled toward me.

“I SAID I’M NOT TRADIIIIING!”