It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 56

Chapter 56: The One Who Makes Bread from Air (1)

The guest was Liant, the former village head of Ria Village.

“How can I help you?”

“I came to give you the usual report.”

“Ah, has it already been that long?”

Kyung-joon received a detailed report from Liant on the progress of the project.

There were a total of three projects currently underway at Study Villa.

“The construction of the Study Village is going smoothly. The houses for the residents of our Ria Village only need finishing touches, so starting tomorrow, we plan to remove half of the construction personnel from the finishing work and put them on new construction.”

Kyung-joon didn’t build the houses just for the residents of Ria Village.

He also considered new residents who might come later.

He didn’t know when that day would be, but it wouldn’t hurt to build some in advance.

“Next, the magic tower…… no, the Energy Tower parts work is also going smoothly. At this rate, I think we’ll be able to prepare enough parts to spare in a week.”

This was the second project Kyung-joon ordered after the construction of the Study Village.

It was to make parts for the Energy Tower.

At least 400 Energy Towers were needed to effectively protect the 1km*1km wide territory.

That’s 40 times more than the original 10.

He had to make that many more Energy Towers.

But there was no problem.

Before, it was only Kyung-joon, but now 107 residents, 107 times more, were making parts for him.

Of course, in the case of quartz processing, which was a core part, Kyung-joon had to do it himself because no one else could do it…….

“It’s already progressed that far. I guess I’ll have to start extracting quartz from today.”

If the residents made other parts, including the skeleton, for him, he could do the rest of the work alone.

If he extracted and processed 10 pieces in between his studies, 400 pieces would be done in a few days.

“How about the farmland reclamation? Is it going well?”

“Yes, the farmland reclamation is also progressing smoothly. However…….”

“However?”

Liant cleared his throat slightly, changing the mood.

“I’m a little worried about what happens after that.”

“After that? Are you talking about farming after the farmland reclamation is finished?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Kyung-joon asked what the problem was.

“Well… Didn’t a lot of our carts get destroyed last time? One of the carts that were destroyed was a fertilizer cart. So, I’m worried that we might have to farm without fertilizer…”

“Aha, was that something like that?”

The bottom line is that there was no fertilizer to farm with.

“Then I’ll go to the village tomorrow and buy some fertilizer.”

“Yes? Oh, no. If you give me the funds, I’ll go myself and use your name, Kyung-joon-nim, like last time.”

When he was trying to buy lumber before, Kyung-joon sent Liant to Beginner’s Village instead.

This was because Kyung-joon had to fix his Study Villa, which he had destroyed in order to postpone the fight against Black Secret Village.

But this time, he decided to go himself.

“I’m going to say hello to people after a long time.”

“If that’s what you want, I understand.”

He had become a hero in Beginner’s Village after more than a year of interacting with the people there.

It wouldn’t hurt to show his face occasionally.

He also had to go to the library and renew the books he had borrowed.

Of course, this wasn’t the only reason.

[Dimensional Study Room (OFF)]

▶Time Dilation: 2.0x

▶Accumulated Time: 78 hours 34 minutes

He had been studying so hard that the Dimensional Study Room time had been reduced to less than 100 hours.

78 hours would be used up in a week.

“I wanted to see how farming works here.”

Infinite Knowledge Seeker, Kyung-joon, accumulated Dimensional Study Room time by studying game-related subjects.

It was time for him to take on a new subject.

The new subject he was going to study this time was farming.

To be precise, it was about 『fertilizer』.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

The next day.

Upon arriving at Beginner’s Village, Kyung-joon headed straight for the farming NPC shop.

“Anyone here?”

“Yes, welcome. Huh?! Kyung-joon-nim!”

[The effect of the unique title 『Hero of Beginner’s Village』 is activated.]

[You are welcomed as a hero by Agro.]

[Intimacy starts from Friendly (50), not Unfamiliar (0).]

Agro, the NPC who sold farming supplies, welcomed Kyung-joon warmly.

Kyung-joon was already treated as a hero in Beginner’s Village, and his fame had recently increased due to his defeat of the bandits.

There was virtually no NPC in Beginner’s Village who didn’t know Kyung-joon.

“Aha! So you’re the otherworlder who’s pioneering the grasslands where the wolves come out, Kyung-joon-nim?”

“That’s right. I’m trying to do some farming.”

“So you need fertilizer at first. Hmm, I understand.”

Agro nodded pleasantly and said he’d show him some fertilizer samples right away.

He soon emerged from the warehouse behind the store and showed him two items.

[Common Growth Potion]

▶When sprayed on soil, it accelerates the growth rate of crops. No effect on hair loss.

▶Crop growth rate doubled

※One per square meter

▶Item Grade: Common

[Wanoo Powder]

▶Improves soil fertility.

▶Increases crop growth rate by 30%

※One per square meter

▶Item Grade: Rare

One was common grade while the other was rare grade.

He was curious about this, but first, Kyung-joon listened to Agro’s explanation.

“First of all, if you spray this growth potion on the soil, it will make the crops grow several times faster than wild crops.”

“Hmm.”

Kyung-joon felt it as he lightly touched the potion.

He could faintly feel the flow of mana in it.

“It feels like an alchemy potion, am I right?”

“You’re absolutely right. You need mana to make a growth potion. That’s why people like me who sell farming supplies learn a little bit of alchemy, even though we’re not experts.”

“Alchemy, that’s nice.”

Alchemy was very familiar to Kyung-joon, who had a very delicate control over mana and also possessed the Transmute skill.

Of course, he had never formally learned alchemy.

“What is this Wanoo powder? From what I’ve heard so far, it seems like the growth potion alone would be enough.”

Kyung-joon pointed to the dark turquoise powder next to the growth potion.

The description said it improves soil fertility.

“This is Wanoo ore powder. It has a mysterious power that improves soil fertility. It’s practically a set with the growth potion.”

“Set?”

“Yes. If you keep using only the growth potion, the soil will die. Of course, if you grow beans often, Kyung-joon-nim, you won’t need it. It’s not as good as Wanoo powder, but beans also improve soil fertility.”

“Ah, I see.”

Kyung-joon learned this in world history class.

The three-field system that was practiced in medieval Europe.

(※A system in which only two out of three fields are cultivated and the remaining one is left fallow.)

In Korea, instead of the three-field system, people used to spread human and animal excrement on the land.

They also grew beans between rice farming.

It was all a way to restore soil fertility.

It was similar in the world.

The growth potion rapidly depleted the soil fertility, so Wanoo powder was used to restore it.

“How much are they?”

“The common grade growth potion is 5,000 liyan per bottle, and the Wanoo powder is 100,000 liyan per square meter.”

“The potion is one thing, but the price of Wanoo powder is no joke.”

“Yes. As you can see, Wanoo ore is rare grade, so it’s hard to come by. That’s why Wanoo powder is rarely used unless it’s a crop like ginseng where soil fertility is important.”

“I see.”

Kyung-joon thought for a moment, resting his chin on his hand.

Soon, Kyung-joon, who had finished his thoughts, spoke.

“Okay. I’ll take both.”

He was going to farm anyway.

He shouldn’t save money since he came all the way here to buy it.

Agro’s face brightened at Kyung-joon’s generous choice.

“Oh, thank you for your purchase! So how much would you like?”

Someone buying Wanoo powder, after all this time!

He didn’t know how much he would buy yet, but even if it was only 100 square meters, it would instantly increase his sales by more than 10 million liyan.

‘Moreover, he’s a hero! Heroes are usually generous!’

Agro looked forward to Kyung-joon’s next words, anticipating a big sale after a long time.

“Please give me one square meter of each.”

“Ye~ Alright. One square meter of each, right? I’ll empty the warehouse right now…… Huh?”

Agro tilted his head, wondering if he had misheard.

Unfortunately, he didn’t mishear.

“Yes, just give me one square meter of each, and if you have a skill book related to fertilizer, please give me that too.”

The reason Kyung-joon stopped by this fertilizer shop wasn’t to buy fertilizer for farming.

He just needed it.

Materials and reference books for his fertilizer studies.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

7 billion people on Earth.

What was the reason why the Earth was so crowded with people?

They say there were less than 10 billion just 200~300 years ago.

People usually say it’s because of the Industrial Revolution.

Technological development, medical development, scientific development.

Steam engines, airplanes, trains, cars, etc…….

The fact that we can play the virtual reality game The World like we do now can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution.

[Rare Skill 『Fine Mana Manipulation (Lv.6)』 ]

Wooong.

Kyung-joon was applying mana to a pot.

A pot filled with soil from the grasslands and weeds planted on it.

It was sprinkled with the 『growth promotion potion』 he had bought at the fertilizer shop.

‘The faint mana contained in the potion is rapidly delivering something. It must be nutrients.’

Kyung-joon had been spreading his mana over the pot for hours, sensing it.

He felt the mana particles contained in the growth promotion potion moving very quickly between the soil and the weeds.

Considering the ability of the growth promotion potion, it must be delivering the soil’s fertility, or nutrients, to the weeds.

That’s why spraying this potion speeds up crop growth.

At the same time, it rapidly depletes the soil’s fertility.

Sss.

Kyung-joon took out the Wanoo powder and sprinkled it on the pot.

Then he closed his eyes again and began to apply mana.

There was a change in the movement of the mana particles that were transferring nutrients from the soil to the weeds.

The place where the potion’s mana particles were concentrated was where he had sprinkled the Wanoo powder.

“This confirms it. As expected, Wanoo powder was a lump of nutrients.”

To be precise, it was a lump of nutrients that plants need to grow.

More precisely, it was a ‘nitrogen compound’.

Scribble. Scribble.

Kyung-joon stopped the magic and began to write something down on the paper next to him.

The paper was filled with all sorts of numbers and formulas.

After filling about three or four sheets of paper with black ink, Kyung-joon began to gather mana in his hand again.

“Teemo, I need your help.”

<ᕙ ( ᐛ )ᕗ>

<Understood.>

With Teemo’s help, Kyung-joon continued to concentrate mana in his hand.

However, there was nothing in Kyung-joon’s hand right now.

When he synthesized sodium hydroxide before, he at least used salt and water as ingredients.

At least it wasn’t empty-handed like now.

However…….

<The required ratio of nitrogen to hydrogen is 1:3, and the required amount of mana is 14:3, respectively.>

The ingredients were scattered all around him.

It was just invisible because it was transparent like air.

No, it was air itself.

The ‘air’ that was spread all over the world was all Kyung-joon’s material.

<A temperature of 530 degrees and a pressure 290 times higher than atmospheric pressure must be created. The optimal mana delivery rate required for this is 50 mana per second with Energy Bolt…….>

Kyung-joon learned this while studying chemistry.

The true protagonist of the Industrial Revolution was not the steam engine, trains, airplanes, or automobiles.

The true hero that made the Earth with its current population of 7 billion possible was the 『fertilizer revolution』.

The ammonia synthesis method invented in 1907 by a chemist named Fritz Haber.

He found a way to artificially concentrate the nitrogen present in the air and synthesize it into ammonia, creating artificial nitrogen fertilizer.

With this stable supply of nitrogen, there was no longer any need for fallowing, crop rotation with beans, or fallow periods.

Three years after the introduction of this artificial nitrogen fertilizer, food production doubled the population growth rate, kicking off the start of the 7 billion people on Earth.

Therefore, Fritz Haber was called this at the time.

The greatest chemist in history and…….

The scientist who 『made bread from air』.

[You have synthesized the unique item 『???』.]

[Dexterity increased by 20.]

[Mana increased by 20.]

[You have created the Unique Skill 『??? Synthesis』.]

[100 hours have been added to the Dimensional Study Room.]

[There is no suitable name in the system data.]

[Please give it a separate name.]

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