Chapter Thirty-Four: Administrative Training! Corn Innovation!
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Name: Moriko
Race: Man-Ki
Gender: Female
Age: 11 Years and 11 Months
Lifespan: 10–100 Years
Status
Stats
Strength: C
Resilience: D+
Agility: C+
Spirit: B-
Abilities
Stamp
Ki Charge
Ki Destruction
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Peter decided to temporarily remain inside the Livelihood Dungeon.
Why, you ask?
He noticed that Iyashi still was not at 100 percent ever since it devoured the giant bear slain by Moriko.
He planned to wait until Iyashi had completely digested the spirit beast before they continued exploring the Eternal Forest.
Their death battle against the giant bear also served as a wake-up call for Peter. It made him understand even more just how dangerous that forest truly was.
It was not a place they could casually wander through, freely enter and leave, or repeatedly return to without paying a heavy price.
If not for Iyashi and its extremely ferocious healing ability—and if they ever encountered something even more savage than the bear—their lives would surely be placed in grave danger.
He also planned to temporarily leave Moriko inside the dungeon so she could familiarize herself with her primary responsibilities.
Because of this, Peter became even more cautious about planning another trip into the extremely dangerous forest.
They needed to make sure they were in perfect condition before heading out again.
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Our protagonist was serious and completely focused.
He stared at the miniature map of his Livelihood Dungeon while carefully and delicately moving his pointing finger.
Slowly, he dragged the images of the still-small banana trees across the map.
Whenever he made a mistake, Peter could only shake his head.
Coincidentally, the female monkey Moriko happened to pass by the dungeon master's location.
Was fate really toying with Peter?
He had already positioned himself far away from his banana crops—far from Moriko's judgmental gaze—yet he still ended up in such a situation.
After all, from the perspective of an outsider, he looked like a lunatic fiddling with something in the air that only he could see.
Moriko merely shook her head, leaving behind a judgmental glance before continuing her stroll.
Meanwhile, the poor and completely unaware man remained busy trying to further enrich his dungeon with every passing second.
Peter wiped the sweat from his forehead after finally relocating the planted trees.
He had gone through quite a lot of trial and error.
Sometimes, the relocation of the trees would be rejected because they slightly slipped or overlapped with other trees already positioned in the destination area.
He moved the trees farther away to clear the area where the Master's Lodge, the Magical Fountain of Life, and their other establishments were located.
That was because he planned to separate that place and turn it into an exclusive area meant only for himself and a select few trusted subordinates.
If he ever gained the opportunity and capability in the future, he even planned to surround the area with towering walls.
The young monkey's body was also buried within that area.
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"So you're finally here, Moriko! Were you satisfied with your tour around Master Peter's dungeon?" said the small floating fairy who served as the dungeon guide.
However, the pleasant smile on her tiny lips suddenly froze.
That was because she noticed that the female monkey was not paying attention to her at all.
Confused, Moriko's gaze repeatedly shifted between her child's resting place and the nearest tree beside it.
She was certain that it looked very different compared to yesterday.
She looked at the cross planted on her child's grave.
After that, she turned her gaze toward the only vacant patch of land among the row of one hundred nineteen banana trees.
Moriko tilted her head as her hand instinctively reached up to touch it.
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Peter headed toward the newly arranged row of banana trees to plant the remaining seeds he had purchased earlier.
He also made sure not to forget the highest-grade fertilizer he had bought.
He approached the row with a single vacant spot.
The arrangement felt familiar because even though he had relocated the one hundred nineteen banana trees, he had not changed the positioning of each one.
He began loosening the soil before planting the seed.
Afterward, he applied fertilizer before covering it again and watering it.
Peter failed to notice that a pair of intense eyes was silently watching him.
"Okay," Peter said after finishing his task.
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Peach guided Moriko and taught her the proper way to water the trees, along with other knowledge regarding the intricacies of tree care.
Moriko obediently followed along.
They had already discussed it beforehand, and she intended to fulfill her promise.
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The following day...
Peter hummed cheerfully as he placed a fairly large box in front of his Master's Lodge.
He sat down on a wooden chair he had brought out earlier.
For a long time, he stared at the new box.
That box was the very same one Peter had commissioned from Thomas during their first meeting in the Village of Beginnings.
It was a magic tool created by a magic engineer.
He intended to use it now for a major experiment.
If that experiment succeeded, he would greatly reduce the consumption of one type of crop.
And if that happened, he could then focus his LP on other crops and necessities.
Peter glanced to his left, where the cluster of establishments stood.
He caught sight of the grave of the young monkey who had once been his friend.
Peter slightly bowed his head to offer a sincere prayer for the departed monkey.
After that, his gaze wandered once more until it stopped at the Crop Storage situated between his Gristmill and Livestock Storage.
Peter headed inside the Crop Storage.
What he failed to notice was that he was being silently watched by the mother of the deceased young monkey—his Forest Administrator, Moriko.
The mother monkey's eyes dimmed as she stared intensely at her new master.
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Corns
Amount
- 35, 000
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The amount of corn Peter had in stock had not increased by much. The additional supply had not even reached ten thousand since the first time he stored corn inside the Crop Storage.
That was because the dungeon master of the Livelihood Dungeon had become too focused on other types of crops.
He had also added other crops suitable for the summer season.
Even so, he still planted more hay, oats, and wheat in preparation for the future.
In the end, Peter first took five thousand pieces of corn as a starting supply.
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Corn
Amount
- 30, 000
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Peter repeatedly went in and out of the Crop Storage to slowly transport the massive pile of corn in front of his home.
With a smile, he looked up at the mountain-like heap of corn before him.
He picked up several ears and began the simple task.
Using only his two hands, Peter separated the corn kernels from their cobs one by one.
Whenever he gathered enough, he tossed them into his box-shaped magic tool.
Once the magic tool was full, he immediately closed it. Afterward, he watched as the kernels dried under the intense heat emitted by the transparent glass of the magic tool.
At first, he set the timer to five minutes.
However, after noticing that the first batch of corn kernels was still not dry enough, he added another ten minutes, bringing the total drying time to fifteen minutes.
After that, he noticed that the kernels had become overly dry—to the point that they turned almost into dust when even a small amount of pressure was applied.
In the end, Peter settled on ten minutes and achieved the exact texture he was looking for.
He also took short breaks whenever his hands became sore.
He repeated the entire process over and over again.
He became so absorbed in his work that he failed to notice the passage of time.
The sun gradually climbed higher above him until its rays became scorching hot, yet he continued working diligently.
Eventually, the sun shifted behind him. The surroundings turned cool and refreshing, but Peter still remained unmoved as he observed the intense heat emitted by the magic tool.
He only stopped once the surroundings began to darken.
The dungeon master could only laugh after realizing that evening had already arrived.
He hurriedly cleaned up his equipment.
First, he carried the wooden chair inside the Master's Lodge, followed by the magic tool he treasured the most.
Afterward, his gaze landed on a deep wooden basket.
It was one of the baskets he often used to carry large amounts of crops every day.
He paused to think about where he should temporarily place it—inside one of his storage facilities or within his lodge.
After a brief moment of consideration, he decided to bring it inside his home as well.
Inside the lodge, Peter first prepared their meals for the following day.
He kneaded dough and baked bread using the magic tool.
After that, he prepared fried food for Ichiro using the remaining meat from the giant wild boar.
Only then was Peter finally able to properly rest before falling asleep.
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It was already noon when Peter woke up.
He had gotten up late due to a mixture of exhaustion and lack of sleep.
As soon as he got up, he immediately began his day by preparing their food and organizing the items he had left outside the Master's Lodge.
He left the corn and the magic tool outside, then carried the basket filled with dried corn kernels before heading toward his new Seed Storage.
He entered while dragging the massive deep basket behind him.
He immediately searched for any empty container.
Fortunately, it did not take him long to find one.
He approached it, picked up a single dried corn kernel from the basket, and tried placing it inside one of the Seed Storage containers.
"Thought so," Peter casually remarked.
Through that experiment, he was trying to determine whether his externally dried corn could still qualify as new corn seeds.
And just as he had hypothesized, they were apparently already considered "cooked."
Peter stepped outside to continue the next phase of his plan.
He headed to the Gristmill and placed several dried corn kernels from the basket inside to be ground.
After several trials, he finally found the correct grinding duration to achieve the result he wanted.
From the Gristmill's basket, he picked up several grains of crushed corn.
It was different from the cornmeal he had made before.
This time, he made sure to stop the machine immediately after the kernels had been crushed just enough.
He repeated the process over and over until he finally perfected it.
After properly grinding the dried corn from more than a thousand corn cobs, he immediately moved on to the next step.
He set aside one kilogram of crushed corn before heading toward his two chicken coops.
He scattered the crushed corn for both types of chickens.
The Silkies greedily devoured the food he had thrown to them.
Meanwhile, the male Frosty Chicken also ate with great enthusiasm.
However, when his gaze landed on the female Frosty Chicken, Peter could only instinctively shake his head.
It had turned its back on him and was snubbing the food he brought—as usual.
It still stubbornly insisted on surviving on nothing but water.
Peter left the area afterward.
He did not allow that incident to ruin his good mood.
After all, he had been running dangerously low on chicken feed over the past few days, so the success of his experiment was a tremendous help.
Now, he could only hope that his next plan would also succeed.
He then headed toward the Crop Storage.
He searched for an empty container and attempted to place the crushed corn inside.
"Yes..." Peter let out a relieved sigh.
He had genuinely been nervous while doing that.
If it failed, his entire schedule would be ruined.
He might have something to feed the chickens, but he would not have a proper place to store it.
And without storage, he would be forced to grind fresh feed every single day.
That alone would completely ruin his plans.
Because of this, he immediately began piling large quantities of crushed corn into the container.
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Cracked corn
Amount
- 3, 210 kilograms
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Peter nodded in satisfaction.
Three hundred fifty kilograms of feed was not bad at all for only a few dozen chickens.
Besides, he only had four adult chickens for now, so their consumption was still not that heavy.
Because of that, Peter currently planned to stockpile enough feed in preparation for the continued growth of his poultry farm.
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That evening...
The dungeon master had learned his lesson.
Before the sun had even fully set, Peter had already prepared their meals for the following day.
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The following morning...
Peter was overflowing with energy as he organized his equipment.
Instead of repeating the process of drying corn kernels with the magic tool, he chose to head back to his Crop Storage once again.
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Corn
Amount
30,000
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Corn
Amount
20,000
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He gradually took out the ten thousand pieces of corn.
On the vacant land near his house, he carefully arranged them one by one with spaces between each piece.
He planned to dry them using the natural method.
Before the sun fully set, he successfully finished arranging every piece of corn.
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