The Flavor is Different (1)
He blinked.
Mana recovery?
This is a buff!
No way.
Had drinking the water from the Clearwater Herb just triggered a buff?
The trait skill Elixir Master (SSS).
- Appraisal of elixirs possible.
He checked the Clearwater Herb’s information.
A great presence dwells within.
Upon consumption: Mana recovery rate increases for 30 minutes.
Thereafter: Permanent minute increase to mana recovery rate; purification of mana purity.
Whoa.
He was floored.
No way.
What about the other crops?
Potato, sweet potato, Lunadria, Baekyang Herb.
He checked them all in order.
The results:
A great presence dwells within.
Upon consumption: Stamina recovery rate increases for 45 minutes.
Thereafter: Permanent minute increase to stamina recovery rate.
A great presence dwells within.
Upon consumption: Stamina increases for 25 minutes.
Thereafter: Permanent minute increase to stamina.
A great presence dwells within.
Upon consumption: Mana purity rate increases for 50 minutes.
Thereafter: Permanent minute increase to mana purity rate.
A great presence dwells within.
Upon consumption: Mana amplification rate increases for 45 minutes.
Thereafter: Permanent minute increase to mana amplification rate.
“Whoa.”
A gasp of pure admiration escaped him.
What the hell.
They all had buffs!
Even the original Lunadria hadn’t carried a buff before—now it did.
They look a little bigger too. The petals are more vivid.
What was the difference?
Ah.
Could it be that Elixir Master (SSS) had influenced the newly planted Lunadria?
That seemed the most likely explanation.
Hell yeah.
If that was true…
This was a real jackpot, wasn’t it?
Elixir Master was invincible, and the Dragon’s Lair was divine!!
Hallelujah!!
He thrust both arms high toward the sky.
Ping—
Gurgle!
Dizziness and hunger came crashing back in.
“Urgh.”
Why was he so hungry all of a sudden?
He’d fallen asleep stuffed to the brim earlier.
Maybe activating Elixir Master burns both my stamina and mana.
The most reasonable guess.
Probably right.
After all, it would be ridiculous to spam a broken skill like this with zero cost.
Still, it was fine.
If spending only this much stamina and mana could produce results like these, it was basically free.
“In that case…”
Clutching his growling stomach, his gaze drifted to the potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Time to try these guys.
He dug up one root each of potato and sweet potato.
Swish, swish.
He rinsed the dirt off with water squeezed from the Clearwater Herb.
It said they’re fine to eat raw.
Dungeon potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Crops that were safe to eat uncooked by nature.
Sniff, sniff.
Still, better safe than sorry—he gave them a smell check.
Nothing off.
They smelled fresh.
Crunch!
He bit into the potato first.
……!
In that instant his eyes went round.
It felt as if the cool, quiet energy of a deep forest was spreading through his mouth.
That crisp chill melted into a soft sweetness, as though he were tasting the essence of earth steeped in moonlight.
Any bitterness vanished; a gentle life force surged like waves across his tongue.
The strange harmony of freshness and sweetness filled his mouth completely.
It was as if the earth’s own energy was seeping from the tip of his tongue into his entire body.
It’s delicious!
What an insane flavor!
He could say without hesitation that this was the single most delicious potato he had ever eaten in his life.
Stamina recovery rate increases for 45 minutes.
Whoooosh!
The stamina he had thought completely drained surged back at high speed.
With the potato’s intoxicating flavor plus recovering stamina, this place might as well have been paradise.
I’m losing my mind. Seriously.
Crunch, crunch!
He wolfed down the rest of the potato in a frenzy.
His throat caught for a second.
Glug!
Glug-glug-glug-glug!
A mouthful of Clearwater Herb water cleared the blockage instantly.
The refreshing rush made every cell in his body dance.
Ah… I’m happy!
Age twenty-two.
Park Seojun.
Today he finally understood what true happiness was.
But—
I’m still hungry!
Whoosh.
Next, the sweet potato.
What would this one taste like?
Crunch!
The moment he bit into the sweet potato, a dense honey-like sweetness exploded across his mouth.
It was like golden waves of magic dancing on his tongue.
Moist yet intensely sweet.
The sensation spreading from the tip of his tongue through his whole body defied description.
A faint cool energy followed, and the soft, cream-like finish at the end delivered a bliss that felt otherworldly.
It was a moment of pure magical joy.
“Ahhh.”
He could die happy right now.
That was how transcendent the taste was.
Could this really still be called a sweet potato?
Drip.
He’d always liked sweet potatoes, but this was good enough to bring tears of emotion.
Stamina increases for 25 minutes.
The stamina that had been nearly exhausted earlier recovered completely once he finished the sweet potato.
Potato and sweet potato.
With just these two, he felt like his gourmet life would never have a problem again.
Whoa.
He’d even leveled up.
He hadn’t expected a level gain since they weren’t spirit herbs, but it was a pleasant betrayal of expectations.
Wait—thinking about it, he was already Level 10.
Had a passage he could enter opened up?
He thought he should check, but—
Mmmph.
Just one more bite first…
Burp.
“Ahem.”
An involuntary belch escaped.
His stomach was stuffed tight.
Ah, he wanted to eat more, but he was too full!
I wanted to try the Lunadria and Baekyang Herb too.
Would the original Lunadria have changed?
He was curious.
And what would the Baekyang Herb taste like?
Then a sudden thought struck him.
What would roasted potato and sweet potato taste like?
Roasted sweet potato. Roasted potato.
Raw was great, but a little fire made them truly divine.
Drip.
Just thinking about it made his mouth water.
I need to buy a Fire skill.
Fire.
A basic first-circle flame magic.
Once he learned it, he would roast them over a wood fire and try them.
He searched Superhuman Net.
Fire skill.
…Hmm.
1,000 coins.
Expensive.
For a mere first-circle spell?
Was this right?
It was so pricey he searched Superhuman Net again.
He found the reason.
Magic skill cards themselves were simply that hard to obtain, which was why the price was so high.
Still, I have to buy it.
He couldn’t buy it right this second.
He was completely out of coins.
But he wasn’t worried.
Why?
Selling just one more Lunadria would instantly cover the shortfall.
However—
If I list a Lunadria right now, I won’t get a fair price.
A Lv99 Lunadria.
50,000 coins? 100,000 coins?
That would be selling it for dirt cheap.
If the Lv99 status became public, the price would skyrocket, but—
Unfortunately only I can see that.
When he registered it on Superhuman Net’s Trade board, it showed as Lv ???.
Apparently the information confirmed by Elixir Master was visible only to him.
In that case—
I’ll sell the potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Pulling one vine brought a whole cluster of potatoes and sweet potatoes dangling with it.
As expected, these two had the highest yield.
Price?
100 coins each.
One million won in Korean currency. Anyone hearing that might call him crazy for selling potatoes and sweet potatoes at that price.
Well.
For Lv99 potatoes and sweet potatoes, wasn’t it actually cheap?
This taste.
Plus the buffs.
And if you ate a lot, even a tiny permanent stat increase.
At 100 coins, this is still a bargain.
He immediately logged into Superhuman Net and posted.
He was selling potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Then he registered them straight on the Exchange.
“Hmm. They probably won’t sell right away, right? I’ll rest a bit, and once they sell I’ll buy Fire. In the meantime I can check the passage too.”
Just as he stretched—
A private message has arrived from SpicyNuclearFist.
Spicy Fist.
A message from her.
Oh.
She must have already consumed the Lunadria.
Had it worked?
Curious, he was about to open her message when—
All items listed on the Exchange have been sold.
“Huh? Already?”
The potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Barely any time after listing them—
Every single one had sold out.
A little earlier.
The moment Seojun posted, an incredulous reaction appeared almost instantly.
But that didn’t last long.
It was the first time potatoes and sweet potatoes had ever shown as Lv ???.
On top of that, the nickname Madoje had quietly started spreading after the giant Lunadria sale.
And for the finale, the famous named user Bangbaedong Gourmet appeared and bought every last potato and sweet potato.
A situation guaranteed to stoke curiosity.
Word spread little by little across Superhuman Net.
Debate was flying back and forth.
In the middle of it all, Bangbaedong Gourmet—three-star chef An Jaeseong—was staring down at the sweet potatoes and potatoes he had just purchased.
Ten potatoes.
Ten sweet potatoes.
Total: 2,000 coins.
Some people called him crazy for buying at that price.
Well.
“Anyone who’s tasted that Lunadria wouldn’t say that.”
The electrifying flavor he had experienced the moment he ate the Lunadria.
It had been a blissful experience money couldn’t buy.
Sniff, sniff.
“Ah…”
The instant he smelled the potatoes and sweet potatoes, he knew.
“Even the scent is different.”
As the saying went, the method was different.
The spirit herbs and crops sold by Madoje were different starting from the smell.
Gulp.
The sensation from tasting the Lunadria came flooding back, and saliva pooled in his mouth on its own.
So then—
What would these potatoes and sweet potatoes taste like?
Just one raw bite of each first…
Crunch!
He had only intended to take a single bite of the sweet potato first—
“……!!!”
He couldn’t help screaming inside.
Why?
Because it was too delicious!!
“Ah!”
When he came back to his senses, only the wreckage of dismantled sweet potatoes and potatoes remained.
“…This is a flavor that can only be called a revolution in potatoes and sweet potatoes.”
He immediately logged into Superhuman Net.
And left a review.
That day, the review posted by Bangbaedong Gourmet became a storm that swept across Superhuman Net.