Chapter 50: A New Egg

〈Use the magic stone?〉

“Please.”

〈Magic stone used.〉

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Geo’s Home Garden
Level 43 193 / 215
Garden Area: 201,000 / ∞
Skills: Wall Creation Barrier Generation Fortress Wall Generation Guardian Creation Mega Guardian Creation Giga Guardian Creation Garden Concealment Garden Teleportation Garden Movement Remote Cultivation Harvest Preservation
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〈Level Up!〉
〈Skill Acquired: Remote Cultivation〉
〈Skill Acquired: Harvest Preservation〉
〈New crops can now be cultivated〉

I’d leveled up by a full six levels in one go.

As expected of Atlas’s magic stone.

“…Remote Cultivation… I wonder what that does?”

Reaching level 40 had unlocked a brand-new skill. Curiosity tugged at me, and I quickly checked its description. Apparently, this allowed me to cultivate crops even while being far away from the garden. In other words, even if I needed to go out, I could start growing something from wherever I was.

Up until now, I had been running back and forth between my first and second home gardens, meticulously tending to every plant. But with this skill, all that exhausting travel became unnecessary.

And, surprisingly, I could even harvest remotely.

“Handy, I guess… but do I really need it?”

I thought about it. Honestly, I spent most of my time at home. There were few reasons to go out. It was… a little lonely, if I admitted it.

I wished I could go on another date with Shifa-san…

As for the Harvest Preservation skill, it seemed pretty self-explanatory. I should be able to save whatever I harvested for later. To test it, I picked a perfectly red tomato that had just ripened nearby.

〈Save the tomato?〉

“Yes…!”

The moment I tried, the tomato vanished before my eyes.

〈Retrieve the tomato?〉

“Yes. …Ah, there it is.”

Where on earth had it gone? It was a mystery.

“But… what’s the point of this? Maybe it just makes carrying things easier?”

I imagined a scenario: a huge haul of crops that needed to be transported somewhere. Until now, I would have had to lug the heavy goods by hand, but with this skill, I could move freely without carrying anything, then simply retrieve the crops at my destination.

“Convenient, yes… though I probably won’t use it much. Maybe it also helps keep the harvest fresh?”

That could be useful if I ever produced too much. Curious, I stored the tomato again, planning to check on it later.

Testing other items, I found that non-harvest objects couldn’t be saved—no surprise, considering the skill was specifically for crops.

With the skills somewhat understood, I turned my attention to the newly unlocked crops. But…

“I can’t even keep track of all of this anymore…”

Unlike skills, new crops were added every time I leveled up. Now, the list had grown ridiculously long. Honestly, I didn’t need so many.

Recently, crops I had never even heard of were appearing: burdock root, matsutake mushrooms, sea urchins… I had tried cultivating each at least once.

Burdock was like a gnarly tree root—stiff and practically inedible.

Matsutake looked like a mushroom, but… well, its shape was strangely suggestive. I decided not to grow that one again.

Sea urchins were even more alarming. Covered entirely in spines, they even twitched slightly. Was it a type of caterpillar? I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t want to find out.

Herbs had grown in variety too. Some could now be cultivated at higher quality, including the essential Aimu grass for healing potions.

Speaking of which, when I had brought some high-quality Aimu grass to Merlin a while ago, he had glared at me and said, “…Are you trying to kill me?” It had been terrifying.

I never went back after that. But why had he been so angry?

There were other crops I wanted to ask about—Holy Spirit Grass, Cursed Grass—but I was scared Merlin or anyone else would scold me again. Perhaps Lilcarlia-san could explain them… though I had been relying on her a lot lately.

Minerals had expanded too. I could now produce high-quality diamonds and mithril ore.

Ah, right… I’d also meant to ask Lilcarlia-san about adamantite ore. She was the only person I knew who really understood minerals.

〈New crops are now available. Check them?〉

“…Ah, yeah.”

Prompted by the mysterious voice, I skimmed the list. Sure enough, dozens of new crops had been added with the sudden level-up.

“Hmm… is there anything that catches my eye…”

Monster Egg, Medium.

“Oh!”

Naturally, I immediately decided to try cultivating the monster egg.

“It’s… huge!”

The eggs Milk had laid were only about thirty centimeters in diameter, but this one seemed at least twice that size. Its shell was pale yellow, mottled with black spots.

“Nyaa!”

Milk spun excitedly around the egg, clearly overjoyed. From her perspective, this would be like welcoming a younger sibling into the world.

“I wonder what kind of creature will hatch this time…”

I gently stroked the egg, anticipation fluttering in my chest. I could hardly wait to see who—or what—would emerge from it.