The SSS+ Rank Hunter Who Farms

15. Solo Double EXP

Map information is something you usually check right after selecting a map and starting the game.

You need to confirm that the map is properly set up before investing time and effort, so you don’t end up realizing later that something was wrong and have to reset.

But in all my time playing Farming World, I had rarely ever checked the map info.

Simply put, there was no real need to.

I spent most of my time on the main map, and for the temporary maps I farmed and discarded, there was no point in checking the map information. Without mods, maps didn’t have any special effects applied to them.

At most, I would open the map info once in a while to check the rarity or deposit levels of the resources I had selected. Other than that, it only displayed additional effects if the map had been obtained through mods.

So, naturally, when I got this map, it never even occurred to me to check its information first.

I only played pure vanilla maps without mods, and as far as I could remember, I had never installed any mods for Secret Farming Map.

Yet, this map had mods applied to it.

"The Rift Dimension is the highest among all dimensions," Lulu rambled. "It holds the energy of both life and death, so life thrives easily, but so does death."

I tuned out her unnecessary TMI.

"I did think things were growing fast…"

Normally, Healing Herbs took five days to bear fruit.

But today was only the third day.

The stems were already stretching outward, and red fruits were beginning to form.

I had assumed it was a bug.

[Healing Herb]

- Rank: ? (Growing)

- A plant consisting of fruit and leaves. Can be harvested year-round and takes 5 days (120 hours) to mature.

- Growth speed increases by 10% in spring and summer.

- Growth speed decreases by 20% in winter.

- Time remaining until full growth: 13 hours 17 minutes / 48 hours

"It's real…"

The entire map had a +50% growth speed effect, and on top of that, Healing Herbs naturally grew 10% faster in spring and summer.

That reduced the original 120-hour growth period down to just 48 hours.

Two days.

By the time I woke up tomorrow morning, the fruit would be ripe and ready for harvest.

"This is insane."

Not just Farming World crops—if I brought real-world crops here and planted them, their efficiency would multiply several times over.

And I was still at Farming Rank F.

That rank was practically useless, but if I leveled it up, I could unlock various skills and fertilizers that would further accelerate growth.

If I combined those with this map’s effects, the growth time would be drastically reduced.

"But I don’t have enough seeds to sell."

At this rate, I could cycle through three full harvests before my logout cooldown reset.

The problem was that I didn’t have that many Healing Herb seeds.

Even after spending all day cleaning the yard, I had only obtained five seeds.

That was an improvement compared to the three I got on the first day, but it was still far from enough to make big money.

Not that I was too worried.

Healing Herbs were one of the most abundant resources in Farming World.

At first, you had to gather them manually with a low drop rate, but as the biome level increased, the drop rate naturally improved.

More shocking than the farming buffs was the experience bonus.

Sure, the increased farming drop rates and hero rewards were great.

But experience—experience was the foundation and core of this game’s growth system.

You could gain experience through various actions, and in Farming World, level = power.

I had already maxed out my level at 999 on my main map.

In the game, there was a way to adjust experience gain using mods, but I had never used that function.

It was a matter of vanilla player pride.

Once you experience the convenience of mods, it’s hard to go back.

If I had played with mods from the start, maybe it wouldn’t have mattered.

But my main map was pure vanilla—if I started adding mods now, what was the point of playing at all?

Of course, mod users always said the same thing: ‘It's more convenient.’

And I understood and even agreed.

Farming World wasn’t just about mindless grinding—it had elements of adventure, equipment upgrades, and more.

I found those parts more enjoyable than simple grinding.

So I couldn’t exactly criticize players who used mods to cut down on the repetitive, tedious farming.

Moreover, the game developers had acknowledged this and incorporated the mods into the game itself.

But for me, I wanted to play without them.

That’s how I was able to play for 10 years, proudly showcasing my map.

If I had decided to use mods, there was one mod I would never have added: the experience multiplier mod.

Just installing that mod would have cut the time spent grinding in half.

If I had played with the current experience rate of +100% on this map, I would have completed my kingdom in 5 years, not 10.

It looked like it could even be leveled up, given the experience feature.

"Haaah..."

I couldn’t accept the fact that, regardless of my will, it had been embedded into my heart.

If it were the old me, I would have been furious.

How dare they put such crap into my map!

I would’ve deleted it right away and gone back to playing with vanilla settings, no mods.

"...But this feels too good."

Yet, my pride didn’t insist here.

Honestly, there was no need to call it pride.

By now, my mind and heart had already separated the Secret Farming Map and Farming World into distinct realities and games that I understood.

Lulu had even said it, hadn’t she?

The being who controlled the Rift Dimension had chosen me and several other testers. The one they picked as the best player of Farming World was me, and I had been granted ownership of the Rift Dimension.

If Farming World was a test game, then this was reality.

Naturally, there was no need to carry my in-game convictions into reality.

I was the type to plan for the shortest route to unlock biomes and level up quickly.

Though I made some adjustments to my plans to fulfill some achievements, I still wanted to level up fast and turn this map into my own kingdom.

"Somehow..."

It was the fact that I had leveled up to 3 after killing five Big Rats on the first day and then gathering resources while cleaning the yard today, along with a bit of casual hunting, that made me suspicious enough to check the map information.

I quietly checked the map’s effects and noticed something about leveling up the experience rate.

[Lv2 Experience Gain Required Resources: 1 Achievement Point.]

So this is it.

It turned out that achievements were going to become more important than I thought.

I figured there might be a feature in the achievement shop where you could buy this ‘mod’ map effect too.

This was getting quite interesting.

Players of Farming World often say that mods aren’t inherently bad, but you should enjoy the vanilla content fully before adding them.

That way, you can experience the game as if you’re playing a completely different game, even though it’s the same one.

I won’t lie, if I hadn’t considered it, I’d be lying.

The map I had spent 10 years perfecting was now at a point where I wouldn’t have to lift a finger to continue it. If I didn’t want to quit, the only thing left to do in Farming World would be to start on a new map.

I had played through 10 years of the hardest difficulty maps. Could I really pour the same passion into a new one?

In the end, it came down to either installing mods or sticking with my old map and quitting.

I found myself stuck in that dilemma, and this situation arose.

Maybe this is how players who chose to use mods felt?

"Let me spend these Achievement Points here first."

Tonight, once again, it's Big Rats' meat for dinner.

While I was grilling the meat, Lulu was peeking around, watching me carefully.

"Master..."

"What?"

"...Aren't you going to have ramen today?"

Her flapping wings and shy demeanor made her look just like a foreigner obsessed with ramen.

Giving her ramen wouldn't be difficult.

Just one Healing Herb would be enough to buy several boxes of ramen.

But that couldn't happen.

"You've done nothing and just eating all the time."

"Hmph..."

"Those who don't work, don't eat."

"Well, I do know the village location..."

"You ate yesterday, remember? And even had snacks."

Her only useful purpose was serving as a navigation assistant, so why should I spoil her by feeding her this and that?

If I gave her food based on her performance, she might unexpectedly reveal some unknown abilities.

Ignoring Lulu's sharp glare, the third day passed.

[Day 4]

[Healing Herb]

- Rank: D+ (Ready to Harvest)

- A plant consisting of fruit and leaves. Can be harvested year-round and takes 5 days (120 hours) to mature.

- Growth speed increases by 10% in spring and summer.

- Growth speed decreases by 20% in winter.

- Can harvest 2 fruits and 3 leaves.

"Resource Deposits are really overpowered."

Resource deposits refer to how much resources are stored in the map. In other words, it indicates the total amount of resources, but it also affects how much of resources like crops and minerals can be gathered. Of course, it doesn’t matter below rank S, but from SS rank, it starts to make a difference.

Normally, Healing Herbs would drop just one fruit and one leaf—or sometimes no fruit at all—but on this map, the Healing Herb had doubled its yield.

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(T/N):

Mods -  refers to modifications or custom content that players add to a game. These can include new features, skins, mechanics, or entirely new game modes.

Vanilla - refers to the original, unmodified version of a game, without any additional content or changes.