The SSS+ Rank Hunter Who Farms

5. The Majesty of SSS+ Swordsmanship

Sasasak—

Swish!

I was just doing what I always did.

What I'd been doing for the past ten years.

They say even a dog that listens outside a school for three years can recite poetry.

I had never so much as swung a sickle in my life, never even gotten a handful of dirt on my hands. But after ten years in the Farming World, wielding a sword, and cutting weeds was nothing to me.

Some habits had naturally built up over time.

I was used to the sensation of slicing through all kinds of weeds.

But this was different.

"Hmm..."

It felt... natural?

It wasn’t just me randomly swinging the sword. It felt like I was cutting along some kind of flow.

I was definitely the one swinging, definitely the one choosing to cut, yet it somehow felt like I wasn’t the one cutting.

I had no idea what kind of nonsense this feeling was, but it was strange.

Strange, but effective.

Of course, with S-rank strength, it was expected that cutting weeds would be easy.

And something I only noticed a little late—

[Wooden Sword]

Rank: D-

Description: A slightly dull sword that seems to have multiple uses.

Details: Made from fairly sturdy wood, increasing its durability.

Attack Power: +5

The original basic wooden sword was F-rank, with an attack power of +1.

But since the resources in my front yard were D-rank, even the basic wooden sword had become D-.

For a wooden sword, that was an incredibly high attack power.

+5 attack power meant that, in the original map, this was about as strong as a D-rank iron sword.

So with S-rank strength and a D-rank weapon, slicing through weeds smoothly wasn’t strange at all.

The problem was—why was it too easy?

Why was it too efficient?

Well, calling it a ‘problem’ would be a stretch.

This was a good thing.

I could clear weeds with minimal effort and maximum efficiency.

You might wonder, Why does that even matter?

But it does matter.

In the Farming World, the most frequent actions were cutting weeds, chopping trees, and mining rocks.

And because of the game's damn ‘realism,’ the method, posture, and amount of force you applied all affected stamina consumption and efficiency.

"This is SSS+?"

It felt a little pathetic to be in awe of an SSS+ ability over something like this, but I had to admit it—I was impressed.

I had spent ten whole years researching the most efficient ways to gather resources with the least effort.

And now, just by getting some system-assisted correction, I was suddenly experiencing an even smoother and more efficient gathering method than what I'd developed over a decade.

I wasn't some conservative old man who rejected new advancements, so I could just accept it and move on.

But still, it was pretty damn shocking.

Thanks to that weird, subtle feeling—like my body was moving on its own—I actually enjoyed the process of clearing this ridiculously large yard.

"Haah..."

By the time I looked up, the sun had set.

At least I had cleared enough space to see some open ground.

Even just clearing out enough to fit two or three huts had taken several hours.

If it were just weeds, I could’ve cut through them with a few swings, but there were also rocks and trees in between. It wasn’t like running a vacuum cleaner; I had to take care of everything properly.

Honestly, everything about this Secret Farming Map felt excessive compared to normal maps.

Even the basic resources were abundant and of high grade.

Looking at how even the default equipment provided was higher grade, I could tell—this really was a map worthy of an SSS+ difficulty level.

That also meant I needed to stay on guard.

After all, in any map, the thing most affected by difficulty wasn’t the resources—it was the monsters.

Of course, I was only planning to go through the tutorial before putting this on hold, so it wasn’t something I needed to think about just yet.

I dragged out a small wooden storage box that had been sitting next to the hut’s door.

Every player had their own preferred way of arranging storage.

When I built a mansion, I would make a separate warehouse, but in the early-to-mid game, efficiency was key. Most people placed their storage where it was easily accessible.

Personally, I liked lining up my boxes right next to the door so I could grab what I needed the moment I stepped outside.

Inside, the ten inventory slots were already full of weeds, wood, and stones.

"I barely gathered anything, but it’s already over 100 units."

Stack was the term used in Farming World to refer to resource units.

I wasn’t entirely sure about the technicalities, but in this game, the number of resources that fit in a single inventory slot was called a stack.

This number wasn’t fixed—it varied depending on the container.

For a small box, the stack limit per slot was 99.

So each slot could hold up to 99 weeds, 99 pieces of wood, or 99 stones. Anything beyond that would take up another slot.

Today's haul: 123 Weeds,101 Woods, 88 Stones

That was a lot.

Even considering that I’d been working for hours, I hadn’t even cleared the entire front yard—just the space right in front of the house.

"An ‘Unmeasurable Resource Deposit’ sure is something else."

Should I call this easy mode?

Or was this the game balancing itself due to the high difficulty?

At least in the tutorial phase, it didn’t seem like a bad thing.

As long as crafting requirements didn’t also increase because of the SSS+ difficulty, having more resources definitely made base-building easier.

Feeling satisfied with my stockpile, I tore into two F-rank Bread and chugged water from a canteen.

In the early game, this was the only food available, so conserving it was usually the best strategy.

But since I was only focused on the tutorial, and my melee skill was SSS+, I figured I could always get more food if needed.

[Quest Complete!]

The first tutorial quest was done.

[Farming (F) Unlocked!]

After seeing SSS+ abilities, an F-rank skill barely registered to me.

I had already seen this tutorial thousands of times anyway.

[Tutorial Quest 2]

[Stronger monsters roam at night. To begin farming, eliminate the uninvited guests near your home.]

[Clear Condition: Defeat Big Rats (0/5)]

[Reward: 100 Farm Coins, +1 Farming Stat]

"Big Rats, huh?"

The next tutorial quest had appeared.

It wasn’t much different from the standard tutorial, but the details were slightly altered.

Just like how the default resources in Quest 1 had been D-rank, the enemies in Quest 2 were different from usual.

Normally, you had to defeat Rats—just regular rodents that nested around overgrown weeds. The idea was to clear them out before starting your farm.

But here, I had to defeat Big Rats—five of them.

If regular Rats were F-rank monsters, then Big Rats were D-rank.

"So the boss monster from the original map is just a regular Rats-tier enemy here, huh?"

Still, with my melee weapon upgraded to SSS+, it wasn’t anything to worry about.

I just had to be a little careful since I didn’t have any armor.

I stuffed the remaining piece of bread into my mouth, drained the last of my water, and grabbed my wooden sword before stepping outside again.

Unlike the hut, where a small lantern provided some light, the outside world was completely engulfed in darkness, with only a faint crescent moon to rely on.

Shhhhhh—

The wind rustled the overgrown weeds and trees, creating an eerie sound.

Most newbies in Farming World would immediately dive into bed and sleep through the night as soon as darkness fell.

And not just because of the atmosphere—nighttime was genuinely dangerous in this game.

Most monsters were nocturnal, and in the pitch-black darkness, it was nearly impossible to dodge sudden ambushes.

That’s why every tutorial guide for Quest 2 had the same tip:

‘Hunt during the day.’

Rats were active at night, so hunting them meant venturing outside in the dark—but that didn’t mean they were completely unfindable during the day.

Still, I wasn’t going to bother with that.

If I, with my S-rank melee and physical stats, couldn’t even take down some Big Rats at night, I might as well throw away my 10 years of experience.

Tsstsstsst—

Even though the wind wasn’t blowing, the untouched weeds ahead of me rustled unnaturally.

During the day, I would have to search through randomly spawned ‘Sewer’ locations near the hut to find these creatures.

But at night?

They came right to me in search of food.

And in the darkness, Rats were aggressive.

Tsstsstsst—

A pair of glowing eyes pierced through the tall grass.

A giant rat, roughly the size of my own body, emerged with its plump figure covered in thick, gray fur.

It bared its two large front teeth, its signature trait.

Normally, Rats targeted crops.

That’s why, before clearing out the Sewers, players either had to stand guard at night, set up Rat traps, or just accept some losses.

But tonight, there were no crops planted yet.

And this hungry Big Rat, driven by instinct, had decided that I was its meal instead.

I raised my wooden sword, pointing it at the creature.

On a normal map, if a Big Rat spawned on Day 1, the best choice would be to reroll the world.

But this time, things were different.

"Come at me."

For once, I stood before the Big Rat with superior stats.

The game’s broken balance was compensated for by my lack of armor, so I didn’t need to feel guilty.

Excitement, rather than tension, ignited within me.

Hunting.

The reason I love Farming World.

Tsstsstsst—

Four more gray-furred beasts appeared beside the first one.

"Perfect. I can take care of this in one go."

Instead of waiting for them to attack—

I charged first.