Chapter: 07
[EX-grade Merchant, Elia has returned.]
Not long after he finished cleaning up the cucumber field—
“I’m back!”
“Huh? Already?”
Elia, who had left for the Free Market, returned to the deserted island.
Minhyuk asked in confusion.
“Your goods? What about the cucumbers?”
“I sold them all!”
“What?”
She sold all of them?
No, how long had it even been since she went to the Free Market?
Of course, the cucumbers were quite special.
But selling out completely in just one hour……
[EX-grade Merchant, Elia delivers the profits.]
[You have obtained 20 Coins.]
Oh, it was real.
[Achievement achieved! → First Transaction]
[You have obtained 30 EXP!]
[You have leveled up!]
[Safe Zone LV.5 → LV.6]
[The Safe Zone expands!]
Thanks to that, the Safe Zone level increased as well.
“A certain man bought everything!”
“All of them at once?”
“Yes!”
Minhyuk nodded and accepted it.
‘It definitely has demand.’
After all, any grown man probably had at least one child entering adolescence.
And if they were middle or high school students, they were likely suffering from pimples, one of the most common signs of puberty.
‘Hmm. Thinking that it was used for something good makes me feel proud.’
The elf kid right in front of him was pretty impressive too.
“Whoa, really? You sold all 10?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Wow. Elia is really amazing. You’re totally a first-class merchant.”
When Minhyuk praised her like he was dealing with a kindergarten child, Elia’s face immediately lit up with a smile.
However, Minhyuk was not a man who only gave praise with words.
“Then we need to give our first-class merchant a special reward, right?”
“A reward?”
“That’s right. A great reward given to a great merchant.”
“What is it?”
“Here, right away—”
Minhyuk took out the cucumber he had hidden.
“A cucumber grown personally by the boss.”
This was not a naturally grown cucumber scattered around the deserted island.
It was a 2 Coin cucumber that Minhyuk himself had worked hard to harvest, complete with skin beauty effects.
He had tasted one earlier.
Compared to natural cucumbers, it was much more delicious.
The freshness and flavor were on a completely different level.
“Ugh…… cucumber……”
However, Elia avoided looking at the cucumber and quietly stepped backward.
Oh? Look at this girl?
“Try eating it once. It’s delicious.”
“……I don’t like it. I won’t eat it.”
“This is a completely different level of taste.”
“Ugh…… I don’t like it.”
No, this was the main product of the Safe Zone that people would be desperate to buy.
And she was rejecting it?
Even though it was free?
‘If that’s the case……’
There were ways.
“Really? If you don’t like it, then we can’t help it. Kkrung, let’s eat it ourselves.”
Krrung!
Minhyuk broke the cucumber in half and shared it with Kkrung.
“Wow. The moisture is insane. This is really delicious, right Kkrung?”
Krrung-krrung!
“What? A taste so good that one person wouldn’t notice another person dying while eating it?”
K-Krrung……
“Oh, no. Don’t die, Kkrung.”
Krrung-krrung!
As they openly enjoyed eating it in front of her, Elia’s pouting expression slowly changed.
It was almost time.
“Me, me too. Give me some.”
Elia approached while slightly sticking out her lips.
“Huh? Didn’t you say you weren’t going to eat it?”
“……I’ll eat it.”
“Really? Can you handle this difficult challenge?”
“Yes……”
Minhyuk smiled and handed her half a cucumber.
“Ugh……”
Elia frowned before taking a small bite.
Crunch crunch—
Ugh. She hated cucumbers.
They were the worst-tasting thing in the world.
What was even delicious about this……
Crunch crunch—
……Huh?
Elia’s face gradually brightened.
“Umm. It’s delicious!”
The Princess of the Elves fell in love with cucumbers.
“See? It’s delicious, right?”
“Yes! Very!”
“Then since you received a reward, can you do one more thing?”
Minhyuk said while looking at Elia eating the cucumber.
“It’s just a simple errand.”
“What is it?”
“Go down below and get a small knife—”
At that moment.
[EX-grade Merchant’s Special Benefit activated!]
[Skill ‘Emergency Purchase (C)’ has activated.]
[Once per day. You can quickly purchase D-grade or lower items.]
A message window appeared above Elia’s head.
[Temporary Shop has opened.]
Then there was no need to ask her separately.
“……Oh. Never mind.”
Minhyuk gently patted Elia’s head and purchased the item he needed from the ‘Temporary Shop.’
[You have purchased ‘Carving Knife (F).’]
[5 Coins have been deducted from your assets.]
An item absolutely necessary for deserted island life.
“Done. Now it’s really finished. You worked hard.”
“Huh? Finished?”
“Of course. Because Elia helped so well, everything I needed help with today ended quickly.”
“Hmm……”
Although Minhyuk told her she could return now, Elia just stirred the sand with her toes.
“I don’t want to go……”
“Hm? You have to go home. Everyone will be worried.”
“It’s boring there. I want to stay here longer……”
Come to think of it.
Although he did not know the details, if she was a princess, that place probably valued manners and dignity.
There was no way a six-year-old child would like such a stiff atmosphere.
Children should run around and play in nature to grow healthy and strong.
And there was no place better than this deserted island.
“Alright. You can stay here longer. But I have work to do, so play nicely with Kkrung, okay?”
“Yes! I understand!”
Minhyuk entered the Safe Zone and began his work in earnest.
Puhk— Puhk— Puhk—
First, he dug out the sand from the cucumber field, which had expanded by another six pyeong, using his bare hands.
Then he planted 10 cucumber seeds collected from Wilson’s old cucumber at proper intervals.
After that, he watered them evenly using the giant leaf water basket.
That was it.
The foundation for harvesting a total of 300 cucumbers had been created.
Clap clap clap—
At the same time, applause came from Elia and Kkrung, who had been sitting side by side and watching.
“Now I’m going to use a knife. It’s dangerous, so go play near the beach. Understand?”
“Yes!”
Krrung!
Elia and Kkrung nodded and played tag at the nearby beach.
“Hehe, catch me!”
Krrung-krrung!
Minhyuk watched the scene happily for a moment.
He never expected that simply gaining one employee would make the place this lively.
It made his heart feel strangely warm.
“It’s nice not being lonely.”
Muttering softly, Minhyuk grabbed the newly purchased carving knife.
Then he sat down and placed a branch he had picked up from the entrance of the jungle onto his knees.
A thick branch bent into the shape of the Korean letter ㄱ.
He planned to make a wooden hoe from it.
Scratch scratch—
Minhyuk slowly carved away the surface of the branch with the carving knife.
Because he had often sharpened 4B pencils with a cutter knife during his school days, he was fairly skilled.
Scratch scratch—
A pleasant sound like ASMR.
This was strangely satisfying.
The smoother the surface of the branch became, the more he felt an inexplicable sense of pleasure.
‘This is surprisingly fun.’
It felt quietly healing.
Maybe because he had always been overwhelmed by complicated office work every day?
This simple repetitive task was strangely enjoyable.
He spent quite a while carving the branch without noticing time passing.
‘Make the handle round, and sharpen the corners as much as possible……’
After some time passed—
“Great!”
Minhyuk looked at the completed wooden hoe with satisfaction.
It was not a perfectly clean appearance like a manufactured product.
But it should have no functional problems.
And that was not all.
[The Trait ‘Jack of All Trades’ activates.]
[You have obtained the Skill ‘Crafting (LV.1).’]
He even obtained a new skill.
“Hehe, this is the feeling.”
A useful tool and a new skill.
It was truly killing two birds with one stone.
Besides, it seemed to suit his personality quite well.
‘Should I have gone to civil engineering instead of business administration?’
Tsk—
A pointless regret came over him.
Anyway.
From now on, he planned to occasionally make tools.
Relaxing while looking at the ocean was nice, but having a hobby like this was also good.
“I should test it first……”
When Minhyuk stood up, he unknowingly smiled like a father.
It had become strangely quiet.
“Zzz……”
Elia was lying down peacefully, sleeping deeply.
Beside her, Kkrung was also dozing off.
‘The more I see them, the cuter this combination becomes.’
Worried that he might wake them, Minhyuk called Kkrung in the smallest voice possible.
“Come here. Let’s go to the jungle entrance for a moment.”
Krrung……?
Kkrung tilted its head as if wondering what was happening, but obediently followed.
It was a simple task.
Now that the Safe Zone had reached Level 6, it had expanded considerably closer to the jungle entrance.
Conservatively speaking, once it reached Level 8, the edge of the jungle entrance would become Minhyuk’s land.
Simply put—
Soon, it would become farmland where he could grow crops.
‘It’s better to prepare early.’
He planned to test the performance of the wooden hoe and try cultivating the future farmland.
[You have entered the Jungle Entrance.]
“Tell me if anything approaches nearby, okay?”
Krrung-krrung!
[Baby Meerkat enters ‘Observation Mode.’]
He was prepared for any possible danger.
While Kkrung climbed onto a rock and looked around to keep watch—
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Minhyuk used the wooden hoe to plow the field.
Hehe, this thing.
Whoever made it, the performance was incredible.
The wooden hoe dug into the ground without difficulty.
The soil, although not as soft as sand, was still dug up quite smoothly.
‘Whew…… using strength after a long time is tiring.’
Maybe because he had only eaten cucumbers since arriving on the deserted island.
His skin had improved greatly, but he strangely felt lacking in strength.
He should probably start exercising soon.
Then.
Puhk!
The wooden hoe struck something.
Minhyuk stopped and looked carefully at the ground.
“Huh?”
Looking closely, he saw a long vine deeply rooted underground.
“What is this? It’s heavy.”
He tried to pull it out easily, but the vine did not come loose.
Even when he gritted his teeth and applied force, it was the same.
This thing had incredible resistance.
“What is so tough about this…… uuuugh……!”
Like pulling a rope, Minhyuk used his entire body weight and pulled the vine with all his strength.
And at that moment!
“Whoa!”
The long vine buried underground suddenly came free, causing Minhyuk’s body to fall backward.
At the same time, round objects attached to the vine poured down onto Minhyuk’s body.
“Ow…… my back. What kind of surprise attack is this…… huh?”
Wait.
Round objects?
Minhyuk looked at the vine wrapped around his body.
[You have discovered a potato.]
No way.
[Potato of the Deserted Island]
Grade → F
Effect → When consumed, ‘Strength’ permanently increases by 0.01.
Description → A potato grown under the blessing of a special land. It is quite salty.
Minhyuk muttered blankly.
“D-Digging treasure…….”
No.
“I found potatoes.”
