Chapter 10
The long night finally ended.
Morning sunlight rose over the land.
The entrance to the village was covered in obvious signs of battle.
But the atmosphere had never been brighter.
We survived.
Not a single person died.
I watched the excited children for a while before quietly returning to my small field in the corner of the village.
My entire body hurts.
Now that the tension had disappeared, every part of my body seemed to be screaming.
But my attention was focused on the System messages floating before me.
Ding!
[Achievement Accomplished!]
[You survived your first Red Moon.]
[Experience acquired.]
[Level Up!]
[You have reached Level 5.]
[Lv.4 → Lv.5]
[Level increase grants Stat Point +1.]
[Class Skill Proficiency has increased.]
[Available Cultivation Slots increased.]
[13 → 15]
[Class Exclusive Skill ‘Peeking’ has been unlocked.]
Apparently, killing monsters gave experience too.
Whatever.
I had finally reached Level 5!
I had just barely escaped being a complete beginner.
And now I had a new skill.
==========
【Peeking】
Description: See through the hidden information of a target.
==========
A very simple explanation.
It literally meant peeking.
There wasn’t much else to say.
Still, I should test how useful it was.
I tightened my stomach.
I couldn’t use skills without shouting the Warrior’s Roar.
I had done this enough times that I was becoming used to it.
It was still a little embarrassing, though.
“BARBARIAAN!”
[Skill ‘Peeking’ successfully activated!]
==========
【Cultivated Farmland】
Condition: Normal
Moisture: Slightly Low
Nutrition: Average
==========
“...”
My excitement disappeared.
That was it?
Seriously?
Couldn’t the skill reveal some hidden seeds or something?
I wanted to start growing crops other than potatoes soon.
I looked at a potato beside me and used the skill again.
==========
【Harvested Potato】
Grade: D
Condition: Fresh
Nutrition: Sufficient
Special Effect: 2x Satiety
==========
“Come on.”
I lightly kicked the potato.
Did I really need a special skill just to learn that?
One look already told me it was a potato.
Sure, it would probably help with farming.
But it didn’t feel impressive enough for a class-exclusive skill.
Feels like I pulled a useless skill.
I pouted.
Then I noticed Malko walking toward me in the distance.
That guy really never stopped moving.
Perfect timing.
Wait...
Curious, I looked at Malko and activated the skill.
“BARBARIAAAAN!”
Malko’s eyes lit up.
“Oh! Izak has lots of energy this morning! I cannot lose!”
He immediately raised his arms.
“BARBARIAAAAN!”
The idiot happily ran toward me while shouting the Warrior’s Roar.
I ignored him.
Then...
Ding!
A completely different window appeared over Malko’s head.
==========
【Target Information】
• Name: Malko
• Race: Barbarian (Northern Rock Tribe)
【Basic Stats】
• Strength: 21
• Agility: 15
• Constitution: 30
• Intelligence: 3
【Potential】
• Overall Grade: A (Scent Tracker)
• Growth Progress: 20%
==========
Holy crap!
What was this?!
I gasped.
This was it.
This was the real purpose of the skill.
As the only Player in this game world, I could level up.
But these barbarians couldn’t.
Peeking allowed me to inspect their potential.
Wait...
Why would a farmer have a skill like this?
Was raising children also a type of farming?
Whatever!
This was incredible.
But why does Malko of all people have A-Rank potential?!
Also...
His stats didn’t include Mental Strength.
What?
Was Mental Strength something only I had?
Who cared?
I was already a farming barbarian.
Nothing was normal anymore.
Anyway...
This was amazing!
I had no idea what “Scent Tracker” meant, but A-Rank was incredible.
C-Rank was around the level of an elite soldier.
B-Rank was roughly knight level.
A-Rank was powerful enough to reach the level of an Imperial Knight Commander.
Of course, that was only if he successfully reached the full limits of his A-Rank potential.
Despite having such amazing talent, Malko’s Growth Progress had stopped at only 20% because he had spent his life starving.
Ah... barbarians.
What have you people been doing with yourselves?!
I looked at Malko differently.
He was standing there with his usual stupid expression, picking his nose.
Apparently, the reason he never became tired while running around and interfering in everyone’s business was because his Constitution was 30.
Still...
Finding out Malko was basically an unclaimed winning lottery ticket was unexpected.
And wonderful.
My heart began pounding.
If even Malko was this good...
Then what about the main pillar of our tribe?
My fragile little chief?
An idea flashed through my head.
I immediately abandoned Malko and ran toward Zakan’s tent.
“Izak! Where are you going?! I go too!”
Malko shouted behind me.
I ignored him.
I practically kicked open the entrance to Zakan’s tent.
“CHIEF! I’M HERE!”
Zakan had been cleaning the greatsword he used to kill the wyvern yesterday.
He stared at me in surprise.
“Izak?”
I didn’t even stop to catch my breath.
“BARBARIAAAAN!”
[Skill ‘Peeking’ successfully activated!]
My roar nearly blew the tent away.
Zakan stared at me in shock.
More specifically...
He looked at me like I was insane.
I didn’t care!
“Gasp!”
A legend had appeared before my eyes.
==========
【Target Information】
• Name: Zakan
• Race: Barbarian (Chief of the Northern Rock Tribe)
【Basic Stats】
• Strength: 35+1
• Agility: 20
• Constitution: 39
• Intelligence: 11
【Potential】
• Overall Grade: S (Legendary Hero)
• Growth Progress: 17%
==========
This is insane...
A weak breath escaped me.
S-Rank.
One of the highest hero grades in the entire history of the game.
No wonder Zakan had been so ridiculously strong when I played LOC.
But...
Growth Progress was only 17%?
He could already kill a Red Moon-crazed wyvern with a single strike.
What would happen if I raised this guy all the way to 100%?
He’s a jackpot.
A thrill ran down my spine.
I finally understood.
I had been thinking about this the wrong way.
This wasn’t a survival game.
This was a simulation game about raising the strongest barbarian army!
My imagination began running wild.
It hadn’t happened yet, but...
What if I eventually learned how to grow Muscle Potatoes?
What if I had an enormous harvest of them and fed all of them to Zakan?
And who said Muscle Potatoes were the only special crop?
Maybe there could be Constitution Potatoes.
Agility Potatoes.
Intelligence Potatoes.
All kinds of crops with stat buffs.
What if I supported Zakan’s growth with all of them?
Then I never need to fear something like the Red Moon again.
I could simply stay behind everyone else.
Farm peacefully.
Cook delicious food.
Enjoy a relaxing life.
Why would I put myself in danger when my monster children could do all the fighting?
Western Volcano Tribe?
Magical beasts?
The Empire?
Come at me!
I have Zakan!
“Hehehe...”
I couldn’t stop laughing.
A beautiful future unfolded inside my imagination.
“Izak?”
Zakan cautiously called me.
No time for this!
Right!
I needed to find the other lottery tickets!
I abandoned Zakan and ran out of the tent again.
The village clearing.
Several young barbarian children were gathered together, playing in the dirt.
I stood in the middle of them.
I took a deep breath.
Then once again...
“BARBARIAAAAN!”
[Skill ‘Peeking’ successfully activated!]
My shout shook the entire village.
The children instantly stopped playing.
They stared at me with wide eyes.
Their expressions seemed to say...
The crazy shaman has finally completely lost his mind.
But I was happy.
[Potential: B+]
[Potential: A]
[Potential: B]
Wow!
Future heroes were everywhere!
That snot-nosed kid was A-Rank.
That one eating dirt was B+.
One after another, talented children were scanned before my eyes.
What the hell is wrong with this barbarian tribe?
Why are their specs so ridiculous?!
The lowest one was C-Rank!
With this...
I could decide who should receive more meat.
Who should become a warrior.
Who should become a hunter.
Their future paths were practically visible before my eyes.
“Hehehe...”
A strange laugh escaped me.
Until now, my vague goal had been,
Let everyone eat well and live well.
But from now on...
Things were different.
Strategic training!
I would create the strongest fighting force through efficient distribution of resources.
And since I had been a professional cook in my previous life, it was a perfect combination.
Ah! I don’t have time to stand around!
Potatoes!
I needed to plant potatoes!
I rushed back toward the field and started planting.
[Title Effect ‘A Barbarian Serious About Farming’ has been activated.]
[Growth Time reduced by 5%.]
[Potato - Time Until Harvest: 2 days 20:24:57]
The farming time had already become noticeably shorter.
I needed to farm as much as possible.
Increase Potato Understanding.
Then produce A-Rank...
No.
S-Rank Potatoes!
Then I would feed them to my adorable future heroes.
My survival rate will shoot upward.
My hands moved faster through the soil.
It felt like I was moving another step closer to my dream with every potato I planted.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
Hehehe!
Two hours earlier.
Zakan’s tent.
Zakan sat silently, remembering what happened yesterday.
Truthfully...
He had never completely trusted Izak.
But now, all his doubts had disappeared.
Izak really was a barbarian blessed with the wisdom of the ancestor god.
Izak saved us.
First, he had solved their hunger with miraculous potatoes.
Then he had protected the tribe when the Western Volcano Tribe had nearly swallowed them.
And finally...
During that terrifying Red Moon.
When even Zakan himself had been afraid, Izak had calmly understood the situation and helped them overcome the disaster.
He had to admit it.
Izak was not an ordinary barbarian.
From the day the ancestor god gave him wisdom, he had become something completely different.
Izak...
Whenever Zakan thought about him now, he felt strangely calm.
He had become chief at a young age.
Even though he never showed it, he had always been afraid.
One wrong decision from him could kill the entire tribe.
Every night, the pressure crushed him.
So did the guilt of surviving by hiding while the adults died.
But now...
He wasn’t afraid anymore.
Because behind him stood a shaman.
Small and seemingly weak.
Yet more reliable and wise than anyone else.
What can I do for Izak?
Zakan thought seriously.
Izak always gave him things.
Potatoes.
Wisdom.
Even his life.
Zakan wanted to repay him.
What would make Izak happy?
For the first time in his life, Zakan began thinking about something unrelated to food, fighting, or survival.
He wondered how to make someone else happy.
He didn’t even realize how strange and new that thought was for him.
And then...
“...??”
Had this barbarian suddenly gone insane?
Izak burst into the tent without warning.
Then he screamed loudly enough to nearly destroy Zakan’s ears.
After that, he simply stood there laughing to himself.
Then he ran away.
Zakan became worried.
He followed.
At the center of the village, Izak screamed at the children too.
Then...
He suddenly ran toward the field.
He began frantically digging soil and planting potatoes.
“Hehehe! Hehehehe!”
That laugh.
That strangely insane expression.
Did the Red Moon’s magical energy possess him?
Zakan became genuinely worried.
If the shaman went insane, the tribe was finished.
He carefully approached Izak.
He reached out to grab his shoulder.
Then stopped.
Izak looked incredibly happy.
For now...
Zakan decided to watch him.
Several days later.
After reaching Level 5, my Cultivation Slots had increased to fifteen.
That slightly increased the size of each harvest.
The warehouse now contained a decent stock of emergency potatoes.
The immediate threat of starvation had decreased considerably.
Muscle Potato...
Had it really only appeared once?
The description said it was a goddess’s gift.
It was unlikely that an item like that existed only once.
Maybe she gave me one as a sample to show me that special crops exist?
I thought about all the games and novels I had enjoyed in my old life.
Still...
No more Muscle Potatoes appeared.
That was disappointing.
But maybe if I kept increasing Potato Understanding and producing higher-ranked potatoes, another one would eventually appear.
Nothing I could do about it now.
“...Tch.”
For now, I should be satisfied simply knowing that crops like that existed.
Still... potatoes are good and all.
I was getting tired of them.
Human desires were really shameless.
At first, I had only wanted to avoid starving to death.
Now that my stomach was full, I had started craving other things.
And since the village had no seasonings or spices whatsoever...
We ate steamed potatoes every single day.
I want kimchi stew loaded with chili powder.
With white rice...
I smacked my lips.
Come to think of it, Zakan had asked me several days ago if I needed anything.
At the time, I said no.
Now?
There were so many things I wanted.
Different crop seeds would be wonderful.
Cooking equipment too.
But what I wanted more than anything was...
Seasoning!
Salt!
Potatoes without salt were torture.
To get things like that, I needed to visit a market or shop.
But there obviously wouldn’t be a store in the middle of this wasteland.
Then I suddenly looked toward the village.
Zakan’s greatsword.
My twin axes.
Leather armor.
The large cooking pot.
Old iron pots.
They were rusty and worn, but they were definitely products of civilization.
Where did these come from?
The barbarians couldn’t have made them.
They didn’t have blacksmithing skills.
So...
They either traded for them.
Stole them.
Or found them somewhere.
Is there a human village nearby?
Or perhaps traveling merchants pass through this area?
Curiosity and desire rose inside me.
I wanted to visit a shop.
Buy salt.
Buy seeds.
And sell the potatoes piling up in the warehouse for money.
“ZAKAN!”
Having made my decision, I charged into Zakan’s tent once again.
The Red Moon was over now.
Surely going outside would be fine.
