Chapter 14B: Pepper Ridge Farm
Another long day ended with everyone meeting at the overnight pod rental. Before they started their dive, Alex and her friends sat together at a table and held a meeting. They are currently at an impasse. Everyone including the originally over-leveled Kurt is stuck at level 9 with 99.99% experience. To move on, they have to finish their job advancement quest which involves finishing a full instance dungeon.
“I took a look at the forums for recommendations. Out of the 11,000 or so instance dungeons, only 30 are for beginners our level,” Ruri reported his findings.
His researching ability is amazing. Give him a something to find, and he can search through a database in mere seconds. With his access to the central libraries, it also includes records of previous forum posts by beginners of the past.
“30 huh?” Nell sighed, “Any of them in a quieter place? I don’t want to suddenly dive into a hellish place like a volcano or a dark cave.”
“Well, according to the records, there are three,” Ruri replied.
“Three out of 30?”
“The first one is an instance dungeon called “The hundred beast campaign.” From what people have said, it is a timed hunting dungeon. Good for larger groups and people who enjoy the carnage.”
Ruri flipped through the notes he jotted down.
Nell was constantly asking questions while Kurt and Alex were quietly listening. Alex was analyzing their choices while Kurt…well, Kurt is passed out. His friends didn’t want to bother him, so they kept their voices down. They just assumed he had a long day of physical training.
“The first one sounds like too much effort for just four people. We barely are able to defeat fifteen beasts in a week. I highly doubt we can do a hundred in such a short time,” Alex finally said, “What is the next one?”
“The second one is called “The mystery of Shellion Cove.” People who passed the instance dungeon before said this is not really a combat heavy instance dungeon but rather relied more on wit and luck.”
“Wit and luck?” Nell asked.
“Yea, the exact details change each time, but we have to solve a series of mysteries involving a quiet beach-side town. Apparently, there are around fifty different mysteries. What we get will vary each time we attempt it.”
“That actually sounds kind of fun,” Nell said.
“But none of us are trained in detective work…,” Alex sighed, “I fear that if we end up with a seriously difficult mystery, we may end up wasting our time.”
Ruri silently nodded in agreement.
“The last one is?”
Ruri flipped through the last few pages of his notes.
“The last one is called “Pepper Ridge Farm.””
“That’s it? Just the name of the location?” Alex questioned.
“Yea, apparently it is a newly added instance dungeon.”
“N-newly added?!” Nell exclaimed.
“Yea, to be added to the list of instance dungeon is no easy feat. It had to go through extensive scrutiny before being accepted by the ARK program into its list of instance dungeons.”
“So is there any information on it?”
“Only one, there is tasty food involved with it.”
With that one sentence, their minds were made up. The mention of food also woke Kurt up.
“Food you say?” He said while rubbing his tired arms, “What kind of food?”
“The hint said its fruits,” Ruri answered.
“Sounds like we already know what we are going to choose,” Alex sighed as she looked at the hunger in her friend’s eyes, “Either way, it would be interesting to experience something that only a few have experienced so far.”
Her friends agreed. They chatted for a little while longer while waiting for their pods to be prepared. It was the weekend so they can stay longer than normal. They were planning to dive for a full three days. This would mean they need to prepare fluid as so they don’t harm their bodies. All this was planned ahead in case the instance takes longer than they expected. They don’t want to return to a danger zone whenever they re-dived.
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Alex and her friends opened their eyes to see that they have entered their own respective Agraria worlds. They were separated for now.
“Open Instance Dungeon,” Alex shouted into the sky.
A monitor appeared before her with a large list of instance dungeons. She narrowed down the search to the three Ruri found. Lastly, she clicked the “Pepper Ridge Farm” instance dungeon.
[Would you like to form a party?]
The game prompted.
“Yes,” Alex confirmed vocally.
[Friend list or Guild list?]
“From friend list!”
[Please confirm party members.]
“Nell, Ruri, and Kurt.”
[Sending application…]
[Application received.]
[Nell Accepted.]
[Ruri Accepted.]
[Kurt Accepted.]
“Begin instance dungeon.”
[Beginning Instance Dungeon…Please close your eyes and count to thirty.]
Alex closed her eyes and began counting.
She felt the ground underneath her began to vanish as she floated in nothingness. Then the ground reformed under her feet. The moist scent of the mangroves was replaced with crisp mountain air.
“…Thirty.”
Alex opened her eyes. Besides her was Nell, Ruri, and Kurt.
Endless hills of green pastures spread out in front of them. Countless number of fluffy white sheep grazed majestically under the brilliant morning sun. A gentle breeze blew, making the grass look like a giant moving ocean of green.
Alex took a deep refreshing breath. Compare to the stale air in her workstation, the mountain air felt overwhelmingly better.
She turned around and saw a wooden sign.
[Pepper Ridge Farm -> 5km]
They were still a distance from their target location. Their mission hasn’t even started yet. First, they have to find an AI NPC to give them their main objective.
“Wow!” Nell said with excitement as she opened her eyes too.
Ruri and Kurt also opened their eyes. They admired the amazing view in front of them that Alex saw earlier.
“Hey, guys! We are still a distance away from our target,” Alex said as she pointed to the sign.
“Let’s slowly walk there and enjoy the scenery,” Kurt said with a yawn.
“Yea! Let’s slowly walk!” Nell quivered with excitement.
They began their trek to the distant farm. After the first hill, they could see the magnificent farm off in the distance. A huge fenced area full of trees appeared in their sights. Colorful orbs polka dotted the trees. Alex could tell right away that they were fruit trees.
By the time they reached the farm’s wooden entrance, a good hour and a half have passed.
A suntanned farmer with a straw hat came up to greet them.
“Welcome strangers, to Pepper Ridge Farms!” He said with a toothy grin, “You folks must be the adventurers I called in earlier to help with my predicament.”
“Yes sir, we are,” Kurt replied, “What seems to be the problem?”
“It’s a long story, so let’s first get you folks situated!” The farmer laughed.
Alex and her friends followed the farmer into the farm.
“My name is Jedidiah Smith. My family started this farm and orchard years ago. Back then this place was as barren as Uncle Joe’s shiny bald head!” The farmer joked.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Alex, and these are my friends and team members,” Alex introduced herself nicely.
“I’m Nell!”
“Names Kurt.”
“R-Ruri.”
“Well nice to meet you, folks!” Jedidiah laughed, “Good to see you youngins so eager to help an old man like me.”
They finally stopped in front of a large red barn. An open campfire blazed and crackled beside it. A few shaved logs doubled as chairs were placed beside it.
“Take a seat as I tell my woes,” Jedidiah said with a sigh.
He handed each a mug of apple cider.
Alex and her friends drank with enthusiasm. The bubbly drink had a sharp but sweet kick. The tartness of the apple helped compound a profound flavor profile.
“It all started around a week ago. Here at Pepper Ridge Farm, we farm a large variety of fruits. Most of the time, we sell the fresh fruits. The ugly ones we make into juice or cider like the ones in your hands now. We use fruit slimes from the fertile swamp off in the west as fertilizer.”
Alex and her friends froze.
“Slimes?”
“Yea, slimes. Those sticky and slimy fellers do great work at breaking down fallen fruits and leaves and turn it into grade ‘A’ fertilizer. My farm alone employs over a thousand of them.”
“Amazing!” Alex sighed. She didn’t realize that the instance dungeon already included creatures that cannot exist in reality.
“Anyways, my orchards also have the blessing of a few fairies! They help pollinate the flowers during the flowering season. They also help cultivate the slimes for us! In return, they get access to all the nectar in the flowers.”
“Fairies too?”
“Yep, my ancestors made a sort of a pact with them tiny winged devils. Although they may be mischievous as heck, they sure are damn useful!” Jedidiah laughed again.
“What do they look like?” Nell asked with stars in her eyes.
“Like tiny people but in all sorts of random colors! They also have buggy wings!”
“L-like how tiny are they?” Ruri asked as he began to note down useful information.
“Well, I’d say around the length of my open hand.”
“So around five to six inches?”
“Yea sounds about right,” Jedidiah scratched his head, “Anyways, about my problem.”
“S-sorry, go on,” Ruri apologized and hide behind his notes.
“Starting a week ago, those darn pesky fairies just went and vanished! Not only that, the slimes have started to go berserk. They are uprooting my precious trees and are devouring them whole! Those trees are my livelihood! I can’t afford to lose any of them. But those damn slimes are disposable! I am too old to do it myself, so I need some help from you folks. Can you please clear those berserk slimes for me?”
Suddenly, a monitor appeared before Alex and her friends.
[Instance Dungeon Quest: Jedidiah’s problem. Eliminate 15 slimes. Progress 0/15.]
The quest could not be rejected and was automatically accepted.
“We will definitely help!” Nell said with excitement.
“Great! You folks are helping me a ton! If y’all ever get thirsty and need a pick-me-up. Give me a heads up. I got plenty of fruit juice and cider in me ol’ storage barn here.”
Jedidiah flicked his straw hat up and smiled brilliantly with his enormous grin.
Alex and her friends chatted with Jedidiah for a while longer, hoping to extract more useful information on their targets.
Finally, after the cider in their mugs was emptied, Alex and her friends set off into the orchards.