Chapter 7

007.

The calm before the storm.

There was probably no better phrase to describe our tribe’s current situation.

‘At least on the surface, everything looks peaceful.’

The deal with the Volcano Tribe had been made, and the potatoes were growing well.

The barbarians were filling their stomachs and regaining their vitality.

But…… this was not true peace.

I sat inside Chief Zakan’s tent and looked down at the old bone calendar lying before me.

A red mark had been made on today’s date.

And beyond it were 4 empty spaces. Past those, a large circle painted blood-red glared back at me.

‘4 days.’

That was how much time remained until the Red Moon rose.

We had decided to borrow the Volcano Tribe’s military strength, but that alone was not enough to put me at ease.

Burta. Would that greedy beast really only ‘protect’ us?

What if he tried to swallow our tribe amid the chaos of the Red Moon?

Could he really have felt no greed after seeing those plump, tempting potatoes?

There were far too many variables, and naturally, we held far too few cards.

“Chief.”

Zakan was leaning against the wall, polishing his greatsword.

The sound of the blade scraping against a rough whetstone rang out rhythmically.

“I’m listening.”

“We need to make a plan.”

“A plan?”

“A plan for the day the Red Moon rises.”

Zakan’s hands stopped.

He put down his sword and looked at me.

“We already have a plan. We made a promise with the Volcano Tribe. Warriors do not break promises.”

“That is how our Rock Tribe thinks.”

Oh, you innocent teenage chief……!

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

How wonderful would it be if the world ran on nothing but honor and promises?

But the essence of the world I had lived in, and of this savage world as well, was ultimately profit.

I remembered the gleam in Burta’s eyes when he saw the E-rank potatoes.

It was a look I had often seen in the world I came from.

[Success! You resist Barbarian Spirit.]

Glancing at the system message, I explained to Zakan.

“Listen carefully, Zakan. When someone without strength possesses something valuable, it gets taken away.”

Zakan’s deep, pure eyes looked at me.

“Burta is curious. He wants to know how potatoes like those came from this dead land. If he finds out that potatoes can be grown from the ground, do you still believe he will protect us?”

Zakan’s brow furrowed.

He was simple, but he was not stupid. No, he was actually rather intelligent.

He understood what my words meant.

“He will try to take it.”

“That’s right. He will kill us and take the land, or turn us into slaves.”

I lowered my voice.

“We are still weak. You are strong, but you cannot defeat Burta yet.”

“…….”

Zakan did not argue, but he clenched both fists tightly in frustration.

“So we must hide it. Until we become stronger. Until you can stand above Burta.”

Zakan nodded.

Determination filled his eyes.

I explained in detail what our tribe needed to do on the day the Red Moon rose, and he nodded.

Did he really understand everything……? Anyway, there was no other choice.

If I wanted to survive, I had to trust them.

“Gather the tribe members. Then give them the order.”

“Understood.”

Zakan stood and headed outside.

.

.

.

A little while later.

The central clearing of the village.

Every member of the Rock Tribe had gathered.

Around 40 people.

Half of them were teenagers who had yet to fully lose their youthful features, while the other half were little kids who barely came up to my waist.

“Waaah-! It’s the shaman!”

“Izak. Steam potatoes for us.”

The children chattered with innocent smiles.

Completely unaware of the terror of the Red Moon approaching them, or the threat posed by the neighboring tribe.

Pure souls who were simply happy that they could eat their fill today.

When I glanced at Zakan’s stiff expression, a corner of my chest ached.

How hard had Zakan struggled alone to protect those smiles?

- Boom!

Zakan struck the ground with the tip of his greatsword.

As the heavy vibration spread across the clearing, the noisy chatter died away instantly.

The chief’s presence always overwhelmed the atmosphere.

He might have been young, but the spirit he radiated was anything but immature.

“Rock Tribe, listen.”

Zakan’s voice rang out.

“When the sun sets after four nights, the Red Moon will rise.”

“……!”

The tribe members’ faces stiffened.

The Red Moon.

The fear caused by those words was instinctive.

The memories of that night when the adults had bled and died were embedded like trauma in the children’s minds.

“We fight! I fight!”

“I fight too! I’m brave warrior, I avenge Dad!”

Several hot-blooded warriors raised their weapons and shouted.

But I could see it.

They were trying to cover their fear with anger.

Zakan shook his head.

“No. This time, Rock Tribe does not fight.”

“What? What do you mean!”

Everyone began murmuring.

Not fight? That meant certain death.

“We bought the Western Volcano Tribe.”

“Huh? How do you buy a tribe?”

“Then are we Western Volcano Tribe now?”

The children looked at one another in confusion.

For people who had no concept of employment, it was difficult to understand.

“No. We bought the Volcano Tribe’s blades. On the night the Red Moon rises, they will fight monsters in our place. Then we give them potatoes.”

“That is cowardly!”

“Only cowards do that. I will fight!”

As expected, objections erupted.

Especially hot-blooded fellows like Malko, who practically threw fits.

Avoiding battle was shameful to barbarians.

Zakan quietly looked down at them.

Then he spoke in a low but powerful voice.

“True cowardly cowards…… are those who hide without paying a price. Fools are those who charge in without preparing.”

“…….”

“We paid a fair price. With the potatoes we worked hard to grow, we bought their strength. That is not shameful. It is wise.”

As he said that, Zakan looked at me, so I nodded.

The crowd fell silent.

There was a strange persuasiveness to Zakan’s words.

“Look at yourselves. We are still young. We are not ready yet. That is why we bought them. Survive. Live and become stronger. That is the chief’s order to you.”

Wow……! If I could, I’d love to see his Status Window. What’s his Intelligence?

Anyway, the innocent eyes blinked at Zakan’s impressive speech.

An order to survive.

It felt far heavier, and at the same time warmer, than being told to fight and die.

“And.”

Zakan paused for a moment and looked around.

“One more order. Never speak about farming.”

“Why! Farming is something to be proud of.”

“I want to boast. Our potatoes are huge!”

“That’s right! Barbarians rich. Need to spread rumor! Want to boast about potato wizard!”

The crowd grew noisy again.

Of course.

Malko already looked like his mouth was itching to tell someone.

That guy really was the problem.

- Boom!

Zakan stomped the ground once again and roared.

“If you talk……! Volcano will take it away!”

“……!”

“Is it fine if those red monsters take all our potatoes and take Izak too?”

“No!”

“Don’t want potatoes taken. Izak not taken either!”

The barbarians changed their attitude at the speed of light.

“I keep mouth shut.”

“I keep secrets well too. Won’t tell anyone.”

Startled, they covered their mouths and nodded.

Simple, but because of that, certain.

Before I knew it, both potatoes and the shaman had become treasures they wanted to protect.

I sighed in relief.

This was enough.

Our kids might look a little lacking, but they listened well to the chief’s orders.

‘Did I do well?’

I felt a piercing gaze on the left side of my face and turned my head to find Zakan staring at me as if asking exactly that.

I chuckled and nodded to him. I saw his gaze soften.

Yeah, you did well. Little chief. You’re a fine leader.

Zakan looked at me for a moment, then pointed to the oldest children among the tribe members and spoke.

“Remember this. And the ones I call, come to my tent. There is work for you.”

_____________

That afternoon.

‘Hmm…… it takes 3 days until harvest, so if I harvest today, I can harvest one last time.’

4 days until the Red Moon rises.

I planned to harvest one more time before taking a short break so the Volcano bastards would not notice.

I sat between the furrows, looking with satisfaction at the potatoes more precious than gold.

Now I only had to harvest one last plant.

The moment I put strength into my hands and lifted the heavy potato stalk,

a cheerful notification sounded and a message window appeared.

- Ding!

[You have harvested a D-rank Potato. When consumed, a D-rank Potato provides twice the satiety.]

[Achievement Accomplished! First Barbarian! You have harvested a D-rank crop.]

[Title Acquired! ‘A Barbarian Serious About Farming’ acquired. Cultivation Speed +5%, Fame +1, Stat Point +1]

[Experience acquired.]

“Oooh……!”

I could not help exclaiming.

Amazing. Not an E-rank potato, but a D-rank potato! It seemed to be because my Potato Understanding had reached 40%.

And a potato that made you twice as full.

This was it! With this, I could solve the food problem dramatically.

Eating just one had the effect of eating two, so my effective harvest had basically doubled.

If there were a god of potatoes, I felt like bowing in worship.

‘Farming really never betrays you.’

Just as I was about to close the Status Window, filled with satisfaction.

- Ding!

[Beginner’s Luck! You have obtained 1 <​Special Mutated Crop> as a gift from the Goddess.]

“Huh?”

A special crop? What is that?

I sprang to my feet and looked through the pile of potatoes I had just harvested.

One of them stood out with a particularly strange glow.

I quickly picked it up. It was about the same size as the other potatoes, but its skin was red.

==========

【Target Information】

• Name : Shining Muscle Potato

• Rank : ?

【Detailed Description】

• A special crop received as a gift from the Goddess. Tough and tastes bad.

• When consumed, permanently increases Strength +1.

==========

After checking the item information, I doubted my own eyes.

The Goddess gave this as a gift? So you did feel guilty!? You damned Goddess!

Even while cursing her inwardly, the corners of my mouth lifted as I happily examined the potato.

‘Amazing.’

Thinking I might have seen it wrong, I rubbed my eyes and checked again. Strength +1.

“Huh.”

A disbelieving laugh escaped me.

Amazing. This was seriously amazing.

My gaze suddenly moved toward the busy tribe members.

Especially toward Chief Zakan, who was silently training in the distance.

‘If this works like this…….’

I swallowed.

I had awakened as a hidden-class Farmer and was freely raising stats that were normally difficult to increase by even 1, but what about them?

What if I could harvest 10, or 100, potatoes like this? What if I fed these to them like ordinary food?

Wouldn’t our tribe become an army of super-monster muscle barbarians with Strength over 100 each?

‘Raise the strongest barbarian tribe!?’

My mouth watered just imagining it, but I shook my head and cast away the delusion.

Calm down, Kang Jin-ho. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. First think about surviving the Red Moon in 4 days.

I carefully tucked the Muscle Potato into my clothes.

‘I should give it to Zakan.’

Because after seeing the Western Volcano Tribe, I had realized something.

Ah…… there was absolutely no way I could survive alone.

Then I needed to invest in the strongest guy and maximize efficiency.

Of course, that target was Zakan, the barbarian hero and protagonist of this game. That was how I would survive.

At that moment, one final notification appeared before my eyes.

[Level Up is imminent. Upon reaching Level 5, a new class-exclusive skill will be unlocked.]

[Barbarian Farmer Exclusive Skill ‘Peeking’.]

“……Huh?”

Peeking? Why is the skill name like that?

Why would a farmer have a skill called Peeking?

The name was a little questionable, but at the same time, my heart began to pound.

Level 5, and a new skill.

Because it made me feel like I was managing to adapt fairly well to this barren and dangerous world.

‘Ah! My fragile little guy.’

First, let’s try feeding him the Muscle Potato.