Three days later.
The promised three days had passed, and every member of the Northern Rock Tribe had gathered around my small field on the outskirts of the village.
After my little performance as the ancestor god, almost no one openly laughed at or mocked me anymore.
That didn’t mean they completely believed me, though.
They still watched me with curiosity and a fair amount of doubt.
Chief Zakan stood in front of the field with his arms crossed.
The enormous greatsword on his back still looked terrifying.
Gulp.
If what I had said turned out to be false, that sword would probably take my head off without hesitation.
I swallowed and looked down at the field.
As if it were a lie, fresh green leaves had sprouted from the soil.
Potato - Ready to Harvest
The System message glowed blue.
Success.
For the past two days, I had clung to the bars of my cell and begged Zakan.
I told him the miracle would wither away if the potatoes weren’t watered.
Eventually, I was allowed to water them once a day under the supervision of a guard.
My devotion.
No.
The power of Growth Acceleration had not gone to waste.
Still, I couldn’t relax.
What if. Only the leaves grew?
A sudden fear crept over me.
Just because the leaves looked healthy didn’t mean the potatoes underground would be large.
What if I dug them up and found only one or two potatoes the size of beans?
It would still technically be a miracle.
But not enough of one to save my life.
The time has come.
Zakan’s low voice broke the silence.
Izak. Prove it. Show us whether this is truly the blessing of our ancestor or just a lie.
I silently nodded.
With trembling hands, I gripped the sharp stone I had brought instead of a hoe.
The barbarians surrounding me held their breaths as they watched my hands.
I carefully grabbed the stem of the first potato plant.
It felt strangely heavy.
When I pulled, the soil resisted.
Please.
Snap.
I felt the faint vibration of roots tearing underground.
Holding my breath, I pulled harder.
Rustle!
Black soil burst upward in a cloud of dust.
And then.
Yellowish lumps emerged into the sunlight.
!
I gasped before I could stop myself.
Potatoes! Many potatoes!
Miracle! It really is the ancestor god!
The shriveled piece of seed potato had transformed into thick, healthy potatoes, each larger than my fist.
They hung from the roots like bunches of grapes before dropping onto the dark soil.
One, two, three.
Even from a quick glance, there were more than ten.
Ding!
You have harvested your first crop!
You have obtained 15 F-Rank Potatoes.
Crop Understanding has increased.
A cheerful notification rang inside my head.
Another System message appeared.
Achievement Accomplished! First Barbarian Farmer!
You are the first barbarian to harvest a crop. Experience acquired.
Title Acquired! ‘A Barbarian Farming?!’
Stat Point +1, Fame +1
I didn’t even have time to read everything properly.
The barbarians had already gone wild after seeing the potatoes in my hands.
Mage! Izak is a barbarian mage!
Now our Rock Tribe is the richest barbarian tribe!
Thud. Thump.
Fifteen potatoes from a single seed piece.
Without stopping, I dug up the remaining four plants.
The second produced thirteen.
The third produced seventeen.
By the time I finished digging, a small mountain of potatoes had formed at my feet.
Around eighty in total.
More than four times the twenty potatoes that had originally made up our entire food supply.
WAAAAAAH! Potato rich!
Izak is Potato God!
One shout triggered an explosion of cheers that bordered on madness.
One potato became ten!
Ancestor watches over us! BARBARIAAAAN!
The barbarians hugged each other and jumped around.
Life returned to the eyes of people who had been exhausted from hunger.
.I still had no idea how they maintained all that muscle while eating so little.
Anyway, while the barbarians caused a scene, Chief Zakan slowly pushed through them and approached me.
His massive shadow covered me.
I nervously looked up.
Zakan stared down at the pile of potatoes for a long time.
Then he turned his eyes toward me.
His terrifying gaze seemed slightly softer than before.
Izak.
Yeah.
I was wrong.
A short and direct admission.
No excuses.
No justification.
That was the barbarian way.
Just as you said, the great ancestor gave you wisdom. I am sorry.
It is fine.
I accepted his apology just as simply.
Barbarian style.
You have permission to farm.
Official approval from the chief.
Only then did the tension leave my body.
My legs almost gave out.
Damn.
I nearly crossed into the afterlife because I planted one potato.
At least I had survived.
No.
Maybe this was only the beginning.
That was when the barbarians reached toward the pile of potatoes.
Potato! Eat!
I eat potato too!
Stop.
Zakan’s shout froze them in place.
The barbarians flinched and quickly pulled back their hands.
These potatoes belong to Izak. Izak risked his life to make them.
Zakan spoke firmly.
Well.
That was technically true.
I had almost died because of these potatoes.
Dozens of desperate eyes turned toward me.
I could hear people gulping all around me.
Holding back a laugh, I spoke.
No. I did this for tribe. Ancestor gave me wisdom for that reason.
Was it my imagination, or did Zakan’s stiff expression soften slightly?
He stared at me for a moment before speaking.
Tell me whatever you need to farm. From now on, everyone will help Izak when he asks.
I make ten potatoes too! Exciting!
I learn magic from Izak! Potato mage!
The barbarians began shouting excitedly after hearing Zakan’s order.
I hadn’t expected him to support me this much.
It was an unexpected gain.
Feeling secretly pleased, I nodded.
Thank you, Chief.
After everyone left.
I remained alone beside the field for a while.
The sun was setting, painting the canyon in a deep red glow.
Standing beneath that magnificent scenery, I quietly raised a hand into the air.
Status Window.
Player Information
• Name: Izak (Kang Jinho)
• Race: Barbarian (Northern Rock Tribe)
• Class: Beginner Farmer
• Level: 2 (▲1) New!
Basic Stats
• Strength: 20 / Agility: 15 / Constitution: 22 / Intelligence: 20 / Mental Strength: 8
• Fame: 1 New!
• Remaining Stat Points: 2 New!
Farming Journal
• Potato New!
Titles
• A Barbarian Farming?! New!
Hmm.
I rubbed my chin.
One point from leveling up.
One point from earning the title.
That gave me two stat points in total.
In this game, raising a stat by even one point was extremely difficult.
The average Strength of an adult man was around 10.
A trained soldier had around 15.
Stats didn’t automatically increase when you leveled up.
You could only raise them using stat points.
As expected from the barbarian race.
Barbarians weren’t normally a playable race.
Zakan, the barbarian who played an important role in the story of LOC, was a heroic NPC who helped the protagonist save the world.
Barbarians naturally have high Strength and Constitution.
But I remember the setting book saying their Intelligence was low.
My Intelligence being 20 was probably because the soul inside this barbarian body belonged to Kang Jinho, a modern man.
Anyway, getting two stat points just from harvesting potatoes once was completely broken.
I couldn’t stop the corners of my mouth from rising.
If I could gain levels, experience, and stats just by farming.
This was amazing.
For now, everything goes into Mental Strength.
Without hesitation, I invested both points into Mental Strength.
Mental Strength: 8 → 10.
My Mental Strength had been so low that I bled from my nose until I nearly became anemic.
Sure, that had helped make the ancestor-god performance convincing.
But remembering how I had nearly died simply because I couldn’t explain farming properly sent a chill down my spine.
For the time being, I would keep investing my stats into Mental Strength.
I needed to resist this damn Barbarian Mind.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but once Mental Strength reached 10, I felt like I had slightly better control over my body.
That was reassuring.
And then there’s this Understanding stat.
What happened when I reached 100% understanding of potatoes?
Would I be able to talk to potatoes?
Or would I unlock higher-ranked crops?
I had no idea.
I remembered that higher-grade crops in the game sometimes had special effects.
Well, I’ll find out if I keep planting them.
Either way, I needed to plant potatoes as my life depended on it.
Because surviving the brutal Great Famine this winter would require an enormous amount of food.
I planted five more seed potatoes into the empty cultivation slots and stood up.
Oh, right. Dinner tonight.
I had promised the barbarians something.
It was time to show them the skills of Kang Jinho, former professional cook.
Just wait.
A huge bonfire burned in the village square.
Above it hung the same large pot that normally held the thin, dirty porridge that tasted like dishwater.
But tonight was different.
I poured a shallow layer of water into the pot.
Then I placed loosely woven branches over it.
It was a makeshift steamer.
After that, I carefully stacked all eighty freshly washed potatoes on top.
Izak. I am hungry. Just put potatoes in water and boil!
I do not like waiting! Bad! Smells strange!
The barbarians complained from every direction.
Their cooking methods were simple.
Roast something, although they usually just burned it.
Or throw it into water and boil it.
The idea of steaming food was completely unfamiliar to them.
Wait! Ancestor taught me this method!
I wait! I listen to ancestor!
Using the ancestor god really did shut them up.
It was useful for everything.
I covered the pot with a wide wooden board and waited.
The bonfire crackled beneath it.
Soon, white steam began escaping through the gaps.
Hissssss.
Sniff, sniff.
The barbarians began twitching their noses.
A warm, earthy, slightly sweet fragrance filled the air.
Compared to the sour-smelling watery porridge they normally ate, the rich scent of carbohydrates was on an entirely different level.
Drool quickly began running from their mouths.
Done. It is ready.
I removed the lid.
Whoosh.
A cloud of white steam rose into the air.
The potatoes inside had split slightly at the skin, revealing their soft flesh.
Pretty. Potato is pretty!
Someone shouted.
I stabbed one with a small branch.
It slid in smoothly.
Perfect.
After checking the potatoes, I bowed my head slightly toward Zakan.
I wasn’t sure why.
It simply felt like I should.
The chief quietly looked down at me before stepping toward the pot.
Everyone received exactly two potatoes.
Hot! Be careful.
I didn’t even finish speaking.
The sound of barbarians biting into potatoes came from every direction.
They didn’t use utensils.
Of course they didn’t.
Zakan bit straight through the skin of the steaming potato.
Then he closed his eyes.
Crack.
The thin skin broke apart.
The soft inside crumbled in his mouth.
Heat spread across his tongue.
Then came the mild, rich flavor unique to potatoes.
A faint sweetness emerged the longer he chewed.
Most importantly.
The heavy feeling of fullness slowly settled into his stomach.
The watery porridge they had eaten until now had only tricked their stomachs into forgetting their hunger.
This.
This was real food.
.Delicious.
Zakan muttered quietly.
That single word became the signal.
Cheers erupted throughout the village.
Hot! Does not matter! Very delicious!
Does not taste like dirty cloth water! Best thing I ever ate!
The barbarians shouted in amazement from every direction.
Zakan watched them with a satisfied expression before eating the rest of his potato.
Izak. Really delicious. Never ate anything this good.
Malko bowed his head toward me, his eyes already moist.
Sorry I reported you! I thought you hid potatoes. I am a bad barbarian! Punish me!
Then he began slamming his forehead against the ground.
Thud! Thud!
Even their apologies were violent.
No. Malko did not know his ancestor’s will then. It is fine.
Izak.
Deeply moved, he suddenly lifted his head.
Seeing him up close somehow made him look even uglier, so I instinctively took half a step back.
That was when.
Grab!
Guh!
My ribs!
They were going to break!
Malko suddenly wrapped me in a crushing hug and burst into tears.
Izak! You are jealous because you, an ugly one, envy handsome Malko! But I did not know you were such a kind barbarian!
What the hell was he talking about?
This guy looked like a horse demon.
From now on, Malko helps Izak! Izak, do not worry. Malko smart!
No.
You were exactly the one I was worried about.
You couldn’t even count past twelve.
Ignoring my expression, Malko gave me a bright smile, smacked my back hard enough to nearly dislocate my shoulder, and disappeared.
Seriously.
Even after he left, other barbarians came over and thanked me.
All I had done was steam potatoes.
No salt.
No sugar.
No butter.
Just plain steamed potatoes.
In my previous life, I wouldn’t even have looked twice at something this simple.
But here, in this barren wasteland, where these people crossed the boundary between life and death every day.
It was probably a feast beyond imagination.
Munch. Munch.
The crackling of the bonfire mixed with the happy chewing of around forty barbarians.
When I first saw them, their faces had looked wild and savage.
Now.
Maybe they looked a little different.
With that thought, I picked up my share of the potatoes and took a bite.
The soft, fluffy texture filled my mouth along with its earthy aroma.
It was dry enough to catch in my throat, but somehow it went down even without water.
A strange feeling spread through my entire body.
My farming.
My knowledge.
Had provided dinner for all of these people tonight.
It was a different feeling from the satisfaction I had experienced as a cook.
Heavier.
More like responsibility.
Yeah.
I can do this.
I looked up.
Countless stars filled the night sky as if they might fall at any moment.
Chief Zakan had been silently staring at the same sight.
Then he opened his mouth.
Izak.
Huh?
W-Why are you calling me?
You’re scary when you suddenly do that.
