Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World

Chapter 129 New Additions to the Farm

The piglet's small, soft trotters in his grip were pleasantly squishy, and he could almost imagine how tender and bouncy they'd be when he stewed it.

Its body could be stuffed for a roast piglet, with crispy skin glistening with oil.

The pig's face would be ideal for a chilled dish—the ears crispy, with the face meat balanced between lean and fatty, and the snout offering a unique texture and blend of fat and meat.

The brains could be used for hot pot, while the intestines could be partially braised and partially made into sausages, smoked for preservation and enjoyed gradually over time.

Ahem.

Kim Haru shook his head quickly, clearing his mind of the dishes he'd been imagining.

The little piglet was so pitiful—how could he even think about eating it?

"We must been fated to meet, so you'll stay at my farm from now on," Kim Haru said, smiling down at the piglet. "I'll make sure you're well-fed and well-cared for. No more worrying about finding food, alright?"

Although, truth be told, it would be even better if it grew a bit bigger and meatier first—then it would be worth it.

With this thought in mind, Kim Haru decided he'd build a pigpen back at the farm. Should he have it do some exercise every day? Fatty meat was too greasy; he preferred a leaner cut.

The piglet didn't even try to escape as Kim Haru tied it up with a vine—only wriggling occasionally as if it had resigned itself to its fate.

Kim Haru began to suspect his trap must have been set at some mystical point of fortune. First, it had caught a wild chicken, and now it had managed to catch a piglet. Who knew what it might bring him next time?

He decided to leave the trap as it was, in hopes of finding more surprises in a few days.

Back at the farm, worried the piglet might make a run for it, Kim Haru placed a large basket over it to keep it contained.

It was the perfect chance to use that unsightly basket he had woven earlier, the one he'd tossed aside in a corner because it was too ugly to look at.

The moment he untied the vine from the piglet's legs, it sprang to life, bumping around inside the basket, almost managing to knock it over.

Kim Haru quickly placed a heavy weight on top of the basket to keep the little guy from escaping.

The commotion caught the attention of his two chickens, Sir Peckington and Little Nugget, who came over and circled the basket, they were curious with what containing inside the basket.

Little Nugget didn't seem particularly interested in the piglet, since it looked so different from her. But Sir Peckington was surprisingly chatty, it clucking and squeaking back and forth with the piglet as if they were having a lively conversation.

Listening to their exchange of clucks and grunts, Kim Haru grew curious and leaned closer. "What are you two chatting about? Mind if I listen in?"

Naturally, as a human, he couldn't understand the language of chickens and pigs, even if he was the farm owner.

Feeling a bit childish, Kim Haru chuckled and left the space for his animals, heading over to the woodpile instead.

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"Oh well, I might as well go work on that pigpen."

When the piglet entered the farm's area, just like when Sir Peckington had arrived, a new blueprint for a Basic Pigpen appeared in Kim Haru's crafting options.

The required materials were items that was already available on his farm—specifically, his stockpile of wood.

This basic pigpen was quite different from the ones Kim Haru remembered from traditional farming setups in his past life.

Those pigpens usually looked like small houses, with fences or stone barriers inside, creating a comfortable and weather-resistant shelter for the pigs. Such a structure was practically a building in itself, but since Kim Haru was only at the beginner level, he hadn't unlocked any construction functions yet.

This Basic Pigpen was entirely made from the woods, consisting of just a fenced-in area and a simple canopy.

Kim Haru didn't want to place the pigpen too close to his wooden cabin. If he ended up raising a few messy pigs, he might not want to stay in the cabin anymore.

He decided to situate the pigpen near the forest, where there was ample space between the trees. Given that the pigpen's fence needed to be sturdier than the one around his vegetable patch, he planned to use the trees to secure it.

Selecting four trees that were spaced appropriately, Kim Haru tied the rope around them to form a square. This would serve as the boundaries of the pigpen.

Inside this area, there were some weeds and shrubs. Kim Haru decided to leave the shorter ones untouched—they could serve as a soft mat for the piglet or as snacks. However, the half-height shrubs that obstructed the area needed to be cleared. With the scythe and axe provided by the system, getting rid of these was a breeze.

In no time, he had prepared a grassy pigpen area.

Next, he began placing wooden stakes into the ground along the ropes. Although the piglet was still small, it would grow strong one day. In order to prevent it from breaking out, the stakes had to be driven as deeply as possible.

The stakes couldn't be placed too close together either, or the piglet might slip through.

But without a sledgehammer, embedding the stakes into the ground would be challenging.

Studying the depth requirements on the system's blueprint, Kim Haru frowned.

"What's wrong, Kim Haru-hyung?" Go Okrim asked as he approached.

Kim Haru pointed at the ground, explaining his predicament. Seeing Go Okrim also start to frown and ponder a solution, Kim Haru remembered to ask, "Why are you here, anyway? Have you finished with the zombie-bots?"

Go Okrim immediately broke into a grin. "All done! Do you want to check them out?"

Of course, he did.