Atelier Tycoon Episode 2
“But maybe it’s because I’m possessing this body now…”
Regardless of the type, eating a lot made her full. In the game, she would have needed to eat 100 slices of bread to reach full satiety, but doing so here was impossible itself.
Since she was eating anyway, she preferred tasty food, so Liliffe had only been eating her favorites. And today was no different.
She had grown tired of eating only Western food for a while. She chose some of the limited Korean dishes and also took out a slice of cheesecake.
“It’s fortunate that there are Korean food recipes…”
The game’s worldview was Western-style. In the early days, you couldn’t find anything Eastern. However, after Korean-themed items were released for a Chuseok event, a few Korean food recipes began to be added.
After that, packages for Buddha’s Birthday, International Cat Day, and all sorts of other things kept coming out.
As these various packages continued to be released, seasoned users eventually cursed the game company, saying they were getting greedy and doing nonsensical things.
Anyway, because of those events in the game, Korean food recipes existed, and the biggest beneficiary was Lilype.
The kimchi stew from the inventory, which preserved items in their initial state permanently, was incredibly delicious. Steam rose from it as if freshly made, and taking a spoonful revealed a savory flavor.
“Koreans really need Korean food.”
If there had only been Western food, it would have been bleak. If a game official were here right now, she’d probably bow in gratitude.
Lily clicked her tongue appreciatively and finished her meal, polishing off the cheesecake too.
Satisfied, she patted her full stomach and began organizing what she needed to do next.
The ultimate goal was to escape the game, but she couldn’t just sit around sucking her thumb waiting for the protagonist. She needed to take as much action as possible, gather clues, and expand her range of movement.
The easiest thing to do in her current situation was the tutorial from the early game.
Growing crops, harvesting fruit, and using them to create items or food. It was the most basic task required in Atelier Tycoon.
It was a basic task, but an important one. Without resources, you couldn’t earn money, and unless you grinded considerably, bankruptcy was swift. Going bankrupt meant restarting the game.
“So many people went bankrupt.”
Lilife herself hadn’t been able to avoid bankruptcy several times as a beginner. Though now, she was far beyond that level.
“If I go to the Golden Field to plant crops… I might as well check the portal too… Hmm. There’s surprisingly a lot to do.”
She opened the thick book left on the dining table. It was the catalog book she had found in the first-floor workshop on the day she arrived.
The catalog contained descriptions of the materials and items in Atelier Tycoon, complete with illustrations of what they looked like.
Unlike materials, items also had their crafting methods written down. At a glance, the catalog seemed to be hundreds of pages long.
The book, hefty enough to be used as a blunt weapon, was densely filled with text and pictures, but dozens of pages were blank. Except for two lines written neatly on the very last page.
[- Year 00?/-DEC?/?? – u?�ㅡL]
[Year 1/FEB/4th Week – Possessed by Lilipher]
“The first line… are the characters corrupted or something?”
It had been written like that when she first found the book, and it remained the same upon re-examination.
It bothered her, but with no way to decipher it, she pushed aside the uneasy feeling and thought about the second line.
At first, she had been unsure if the body she possessed was truly Lilype. She had even been fuzzy on whether there was a character with black hair and purple eyes.
In that state, she found this catalog and, upon seeing the second line, became certain. She had possessed Liliphe, the protagonist’s teacher and an extra.
‘It was hard enough to believe I was inside the game, but being told I was possessed too… It was difficult to maintain my sanity.’
Remembering her state of denial on the first, second, and subsequent days, Lilife let out a deep sigh.
The workshop where she found the catalog was a mess she had made herself, so it looked like she’d have to clean it before she could craft any items. Why had she overturned the desk and thrown all the books back then?
Recalling that time, she had been a force of destruction. They say you have to clean up the messes your past self makes. It was true.
Lilife sighed and closed the book. She had checked, thinking something new might be written, but it was the same as before, so there was nothing more to see.
She retrieved seeds, a hoe, and a watering can from the wooden box inventory and headed for the field.
In the game, it was just a tap away, but in reality, it took a surprisingly long walk.
The Golden Field was right in front of the mansion, so this was manageable, but starting from the Misty Forest, it was clear she’d be walking a minimum of ten thousand steps a day.
“On top of that, I can’t even open my inventory on the spot.”
In Atelier Tycoon, there weren’t just storage inventory boxes but also user-specific inventory slots. This allowed players to take out items empty-handed, but since possessing this body, she had tried every method possible and found the character’s personal inventory unusable.
The conclusion was that she had to take tools or items out from the storage inventory boxes and carry them by hand.
“Why is this the realistic part?!”
She grumbled that if you’re going to be transported into a game, shouldn’t an inventory be a basic feature?
Arriving at the field, Liliphe filled her watering can from a nearby well and seriously began hoeing.
She first worried about how she could ever plant seeds across this vast field.
Furthermore, judging by the lack of a personal inventory, even basic tasks might be realistic. There was no guarantee that planting seeds would make plants grow like in the game, so the more she hoed, the more doubtful she felt.
Lilife noticed something strange when she reached the end of the field.
Planting the last seed, she looked around the field with a bewildered expression, then looked up to check the sun’s position.
“…What?”
Even after planting all the seeds, her stamina was fine. If this were reality, she wouldn’t have even finished a fraction before collapsing from exhaustion.
Moreover, despite hoeing such a large area, the sun’s position had only changed slightly; it still seemed far from sunset.
Though perplexed, she decided to proceed with the final task for now.
Watering the seeds was simpler than hoeing. If the watering can had been a low-grade one, she would have had to go back and forth to the well multiple times to refill the depleted water, but Lilipe, being a veteran, had long since discarded all her low-grade watering cans.
The watering can in her hand was a golden one that glittered brilliantly. This marvelous tool boasted such a massive capacity that it even had water left after watering the entire field.
It was called the ultimate watering can on the official cafe, and it was a satisfying tool for Lilipe as well.
Combined with the quality of the tool, the watering finished even faster than the hoeing. The fact that planting crops took little time and consumed minimal, almost non-existent, stamina was something to be welcomed.
However, she couldn’t simply rejoice, as the biggest problem remained.
Namely, whether the crops would grow just from planting seeds and watering them.
If the crops didn’t grow, then planting the seeds and watering them would have been a complete waste of effort.
‘If that happens, will I really have to just suck my thumb and wait for Manon…?’
But as if to prove her worries unnecessary, sprouts suddenly began popping out from the ground.
Even Lilipe, who had been thinking negatively, opened her eyes wide at the sight of the sprouts emerging.
The sprouts didn’t stop there; they grew vigorously, shooting up until the stalks reached her waist, and then began to ripen into a yellow hue.
“Incredible.”
In an instant, the barley grew, creating a golden wave worthy of the region’s name, ‘Golden Field’. Unconsciously, Lilipe’s jaw dropped at the sight.
Barley is the most basic crop you can first grow in Atelier Tycoon. Being the first crop, it fully grows in just 30 seconds in the game.
She had planted the barley, thinking that since this is the game world, crops might grow faster than in the real world.
‘I was worried if it would grow just from watering–‘
Seeing the golden wave, she realized her worries were for nothing.
In the game, it was the most basic crop, so it grew quickly in 30 seconds, but seeing it with her own eyes was a different feeling. She felt dazed, as if she had witnessed something miraculous.
Liliphe tried pulling on the barley, but it remained firmly in place.
Thinking the stalks might be tough to handle by force, she touched the ear part. But it was stuck on so firmly that she couldn’t get even a single grain into her hand.
“Do I need a sickle?”
The hoe, watering can, and sickle were the basic tools needed for growing crops.
Remembering that she used the sickle to harvest crops, she decided to postpone harvesting the barley until she could bring a sickle from the atelier.
She was the type to hoard materials until her inventory was full, so she had ample supplies of the materials used for crafting items. Therefore, there was no urgent need to harvest right now.
Instead of harvesting the barley, Liliphe looked around for the portal.
There should definitely be one portal in the Golden Field, but she hadn’t found it until she reached the field.
“It was supposed to have a bluish glow.”
There wasn’t a hint of blue anywhere. Walking around with her head bowed, looking at the ground, her neck muscles began to strain.
Just as her neck started to hurt, she found a geometric pattern engraved on the ground, and a hologram window promptly appeared in mid-air.
[Golden Field Portal (Locked)]
[Unlock Condition: Harvest 3 types of crops]
“Why is it locked?”
It was inoperable, which was why the portal’s characteristic faint glow wasn’t present.
Liliphe stared intently at the hologram window, then ruffled her hair in frustration.
The Golden Field is a beginner area, so she had unlocked the portal here ages ago. So why was it locked?
She had been glad she didn’t have to rebuild the atelier from scratch, but was this an exception?
“Ah, then perhaps…?”
Lilype thought of the other portals.
What if the other portals were also locked like this?
