Irim stood in front of the cave that had once been Marina’s hideout.
“Guess I’ll head to Badran now.”
Badran was located not far from the cave.
Even walking slowly, it would take only about twenty minutes.
A vast plain stretched out before Irim.
This place was called the “Void Plain.”
As the name implied, there was literally nothing here.
No fields, no monsters, no animals, no plants.
Only players heading to Badran and the occasional NPCs mixed among them.
The way to distinguish players from NPCs was, first, whether a name was hidden above their heads or not.
Second, NPC names were displayed in gray, unlike player names.
Irim approached an NPC he passed on the road and asked.
“Excuse me… may I ask you something? Why is this place so desolate?”
At Irim’s words, a man named “Eddie” looked him up and down.
“An outsider?”
“Yes.”
“Good grief, I don’t know why outsiders keep crossing over when there’s nothing left to take in this world. And another thing. Don’t outsiders know anything about manners? If you want to ask something, at least introduce yourself first. Just barging in with questions like this makes me not want to answer even if I was going to.”
Watching Eddie grumble, Irim thought to himself.
‘Illusion even reproduces personalities like this…?’
Normally, when an NPC acted this way, players would get annoyed and start a fight.
Although Illusion had created NPCs as individual personalities indistinguishable from real people, from the players’ perspective they were still soulless artificial intelligence.
So most treated them as lower beings and were rude by default.
But Irim was different.
He quickly introduced himself.
“Ah, I’m an outsider named Rice.”
The moment he heard the name “Rice,” Eddie’s pupils trembled.
“W-what did you just say? Rice? Your name is Rice?”
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
“The Rice who subjugated the witch Marina?”
“That’s me.”
“Oh no! I have committed a grave discourtesy to the savior of our territory!”
Eddie suddenly lowered his posture dramatically.
He bowed so deeply his head nearly touched the ground, then suddenly grabbed both of Irim’s hands.
“Because of this rotten personality of mine, I failed to recognize my benefactor even when he stood before me. Please forgive my rudeness, Rice.”
Irim was so flustered he lost his words.
The moment Eddie heard his name, the situation flipped 180 degrees.
“You know me?”
“Of course I know you! Everyone around me knows. Didn’t you subjugate the witch Marina? I live in Rubatn, and I’m on my way to see my younger brother in Tirko Village. To deliver this joyful news in person.”
Eddie spread his arms wide, laughed heartily, and continued.
“My brother married a woman born in that village five years ago and soon had a child. But when the child turned four, he caught a plague and died. Not just him—all the children in the village died. Everyone believed it was a plague. But the truth was that it was the work of the witch Marina. Because of that, our liege Countess Beatrice issued a subjugation order, yet no one succeeded, and time passed in vain… until you appeared, Rice.”
Listening to Eddie, Irim felt a bitter taste in his mouth.
Although Marina had willingly played the villain, it still saddened him that there were people rejoicing so much over her death.
“Already more than half the people in Rubatn know of your deeds, Rice. Countess Beatrice officially announced the witch’s death, and word of your exploits spread along with it. But the news hasn’t reached Tirko Village yet, so my brother probably doesn’t know. That’s why I’m personally going to tell him. Thank you so, so much, Rice.”
An NPC he had never met before treated him like a long-lost benefactor the moment he heard his name.
The fame Irim had gained from resolving the Marina-related quest was shining in this way.
“I see.”
“Oh, right! You asked earlier why this place is so desolate, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“When the Demon King descended, it wasn’t just humans who fell under the curse of oblivion. This land was once fertile. The whole area was nothing but fields. But the land forgot its own richness. All the crops withered in an instant, and nothing planted since has ever sprouted again. There is no more fertile soil around Badran. No matter how hard the farmers try, nothing grows.”
“So the crops won’t grow? Then what do the people of Badran live on?”
“Some come to Rubatn to buy food, and I’ve heard others risk entering the forest despite the danger of monster attacks to forage. Of course, even then there isn’t enough, so everyone is suffering from famine.”
“That sounds serious.”
“Ah, lately I’ve heard many outsiders are bringing famine-relief crops from the Cave of Famine Relief. The villagers buy those crops from them and barely manage to eat.”
“The Cave of Famine Relief? Where is that?”
“I’m not exactly sure about that location…”
Eddie scratched his head in embarrassment.
Deciding he had gotten all the information he needed, Irim bid farewell.
“Understood. I’ll find the rest myself. Have a safe journey.”
“Yes. It was an honor to meet you. I will engrave the name of Rice deep in my heart forever.”
Eddie bowed deeply just as he had when they met, waved, and walked away.
‘The Cave of Famine Relief, huh.’
Irim was instantly fascinated by the mention.
It wasn’t because he wanted to solve Badran village’s crisis.
‘Potatoes. Sweet potatoes. Corn. Peanuts. Ahh, they’d be so delicious.’
It was simply because he could finally taste famine-relief crops he hadn’t had in ages.
He couldn’t just wander aimlessly looking for the cave.
Irim accessed the in-game fan cafe and searched for “Cave of Famine Relief.”
Several posts appeared.
He clicked on one titled “Where is the Cave of Famine Relief? (TitleIsContent)”.
As the slang implied, the post’s content was exactly the same as the title.
Irim checked the comments.
– Going to the Cave of Famine Relief? There’s tons of food in there. But just because you see it doesn’t mean it’s yours.
– Ugh, it’s that damn cave where only the top damage dealers win everything.
– You can’t enter the Cave of Famine Relief just like that. In the Void Plain, there’s a green-haired NPC sitting on top of a tall rock, staring blankly ahead. I don’t know his name, but you get the quest from him to enter.
‘Got it.’
Having obtained the information, Irim looked around.
Far away, he could see a tall rock with someone sitting on top.
When he hurried over, there was indeed a boy NPC with green hair, just as the comment described.
His name was “Pertle.”
A green question mark floated above his head.
From Irim’s perspective, this was the first public quest he had encountered in Real.
Several other users were already approaching Pertle and receiving the quest.
Irim walked up to him as well.
Pertle, who had just given quests to the previous users, looked at Irim with bored eyes.
“You want to enter the Void Cave too?”
The kid was speaking informally.
But since it was a game, Irim let it slide.
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“To get famine-relief crops.”
“Haa. More and more fools are being tempted by trivial things. Fine. I’m the guardian of the Cave of Famine Relief. I’ll grant you permission to enter. However, you can only enter once.”
“And you can’t enter alone. The cave only allows groups of exactly ten. Don’t worry about it being crowded inside—there’s only one entrance, but each group enters a different instance of the cave. Don’t ask how that’s possible. It just is. Your objective is simple: reach the end of the cave and kill the boss monster that’s rampaging there.”
At the end of his explanation, Pertle snapped his fingers with a snap.
A quest window appeared before Irim.
[Group Quest – Cave of Famine Relief]
Clear Condition: Hunt the cave’s boss monster “Giant Crop”
Reward: All items obtained in the cave go exclusively to the player who dealt the most damage to the Giant Crop.
Irim read the quest details.
It was his first group quest ever.
The clear condition was straightforward.
But the reward was unusual.
Everything collected in the cave would go solely to the player who dealt the highest damage to the boss.
In other words, items gathered didn’t go into personal inventories but were temporarily stored elsewhere.
Seeing that, Irim finally understood the meaning of the fan cafe comments.
‘Interesting. Anyway, this quest…’
It seemed like an event the developers had added so that players struggling with poor food could at least eat famine-relief crops.
Of course, now that Irim had taught cooking at the pig restaurant, the situation had changed, but otherwise players would have continued suffering with tasteless meals.
In that context, things like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn that tasted good just by roasting would have been like rain in a drought.
The single person who received the reward would walk away with an enormous amount of famine-relief crops—an absolute jackpot.
“I hope you’re not an idiot. Look at the big picture, not the small things. That’s how you obtain what’s truly valuable. The Cave of Famine Relief is straight that way.”
Irim walked in the direction Pertle pointed.
Suddenly, the ground ahead dipped sharply downward.
In the deep crater, as if a meteor had struck, there was a single narrow entrance leading underground.
Irim carefully descended the sloped ground.
Nineteen people were already gathered below; ten entered, leaving nine.
The moment they saw Irim, they exchanged glances and nodded.
“Now that this person has joined us, we have ten. Shall we go in?”
“Sounds good.”
The players didn’t even exchange names—they were eager to enter the dungeon.
It wasn’t a particularly difficult dungeon; the goal was simply to grab famine-relief crops and leave, so everyone just wanted to collect their share quickly.
Irim didn’t mind this approach.
In fact, it was more comfortable without anyone bothering him.
One by one, the ten players stepped into the cave entrance.
Inside was a narrow, enclosed space.
Nine people entered first, and finally Irim stepped in.
Suddenly, the surroundings changed.
The entrance they had come through vanished, and a wide open passage appeared on the opposite side.
‘So that’s how it works.’
Irim followed the others down the passage, marveling.
The passage was quite wide with a high ceiling.
And the floor was made of rich, fertile soil.
‘Soil? Could it be…’
While walking with the group, Irim eagerly scanned the surroundings.
Then something caught his eye.
‘Rucola!’
It was rucola.
A vegetable commonly used in Italian cuisine, with long, green leaves.
It often appeared on top of pizza or pasta, or as a salad ingredient.
Its crisp texture and slightly peppery aroma paired perfectly with rich, heavy dishes.
Like a miner who had struck gold, Irim excitedly began gathering rucola.
A window appeared before him.
Shared Inventory (INVENTORY)
Rucola [12]
The rucola he collected was stacking in the shared inventory, not his personal one.
That was the moment Irim fully understood the rules of this cave.
“It’s here!”
At someone’s shout, Irim’s gaze turned sideways.