Gender-swapped Saintess: A Survival Diary on Hell Difficulty

Tess carefully stepped out of the bar, clutching the mushroom cultivation manual in both hands.

The passage of time has made the pages very fragile, and she was worried about accidentally damaging the manual that represented eight years of hard work, so she slowed her pace.

Linglu's bare feet left a trail of footprints on the tavern's oak floor, which quickly disappeared in the cold air.

Tess walked to the sofa, meeting Roland's puzzled gaze, and presented the manual to Roland like a treasure, letting out a short, excited cry.

"what……"

"What is this?"

Roland vaguely guessed that it was related to mushroom cultivation. She took the book and opened it. The book contained various mushroom cultivation guidelines.

Records exist for everything from low-end saprophytic mushrooms to the magic king oyster mushroom favored by the middle class, and even the golden butter mushroom from the upper city.

Of course, the mushroom farm where Tess used to work was not of a high standard, with very few records of cultivating high-end varieties.

But for mushroom cultivation novices like Roland, this is the most suitable guide, a veritable beginner's dream.

However, there is still one problem.

Roland looked up and met Tess's gaze.

"Little guy, were you really just an ordinary worker back then? This record is so detailed, it could almost be used as an agricultural textbook."

This is not an exaggeration. Even the employee training manual for the greenhouses of the Roseland Group in the ground world is about as detailed and rigorous as this.

That agricultural employee training manual was revised with the combined efforts of many people, and with the help of the Harvest Tree Spirit, Ms. Tree.

Tess shook her head slightly and began to write, supporting the slate with her left hand.

"I started as a regular worker, worked hard, and was promoted to management."

"Hey, why not continue working on the farm? You've already established yourself in management, haven't you?"

"The Demon Merchant Guild made a malicious acquisition, went bankrupt and liquidated, leaving everyone with nothing and some debts."

Tess paused halfway through writing, her knuckles tightening slightly as she gripped the charcoal pencil, revealing her inner turmoil. She hesitated for a moment before continuing to write.

"Knowledge of mushroom cultivation is nothing new. After the farm went bankrupt, I could only find very bad jobs."

After reading the text on the stone slab, Roland immediately began to re-examine the "Guide to Mushroom Cultivation" in her hand.

The knowledge contained here may not be particularly valuable, but it represents the happiest and most hopeful period of Tess's life, until the farm went bankrupt and she became a helpless loser in the fierce competition of Black Iron City.

In other words, this thing is like Tess's precious memories, and in some games, it would definitely be an important material for character breakthroughs.

"Um, Tess, are you really going to give this to me?"

Tess nodded, her large, lake-green eyes filled with sincerity.

Loran was deeply moved and immediately pulled Tess into his arms, affectionately ruffling the goblin girl's hair and showering her with compliments.

"Thanks, little guy, you're great! I'll give you a raise."

"This thing is really a great help. I've been looking at those ordinary mushroom encyclopedias for ages and I'm still completely clueless."

……

Roland and Tess played around for a while.

With the next day's work in mind, she sent Tess to a temporary room in the warehouse.

It was called a temporary room, but it only contained a simple wooden bed and freshly made bedding. It was the furniture left over from the renovation of the staff lounge on the second floor of the tavern.

Roland wasn't discarded; instead, she stored it in the warehouse, and unexpectedly, it came in handy now.

Tess sat on her single bed and wrote on the stone slab.

"Thank you, Miss Laura, this is the best house I've lived in all these years."

Laura thought Tess was being sarcastic, but after thinking about the environment of the slums...

Yes, I feel relieved.

The warehouse was indeed a thousand times better than the slums; it was draft-free, had no holes, and was free of cockroaches and damp walls.

Even the floors here are warm light brown oak floors, and there's a warm-colored magic crystal lamp. What can a shack in the slums compare to this?

"As long as you can accept it," Roland said. "I will expand the tavern in a while, and I will prepare a dormitory for you on the second floor."

Laura's subtext was to get Tess to move from the slums of the lower city to the Goldfinch Tavern.

Having spent thirty-five years struggling in the lower classes, Tess immediately understood the meaning, and her big eyes narrowed with delight.

Her hamster-like cuteness made Roland unable to resist touching her little head.

"Alright, you can rest now. I'll go back to my room to rest too."

After bidding farewell to Tess, Roland turned off all the magic crystal lamps in the tavern's lobby, took Tess's "Guide to Mushroom Cultivation" in her hand, and went up to the second floor.

However, she did not actually go back to her room to rest. Instead, she turned at the corner of the corridor and arrived at the door of the alchemy laboratory, which had been converted from a lounge.

The laboratory's wooden door was cut from thick, twisted jungle wood, which effectively blocked magical energy fluctuations. A brass lock was also attached to the doorknob to prevent outsiders from entering.

Roland unlocked the door and entered. The room had been renovated twice, and the 30-square-meter space had been divided into two parts.

The half near the entrance is used as a refining area, while the inner half is separated by glass and oak frames, forming a sealed aerosol chamber.

Roland walked directly into the mist chamber, where oak shelves were arranged in an orderly fashion, like a small library. However, the oak shelves were filled with brewing ingredients, most of which were mushrooms.

These are all raw materials that are purifying the magical pollution.

As for the source of purification, it is the misting array operating in the center of the room.

The name sounds high-end, but it's actually just a misting humidifier.

Pouring stabilizing potions into the silver container at the center of the magic circle will generate a stabilizing potion mist that blends into the surrounding air, slowly diluting and neutralizing any residual magical contamination on the ingredients.

Although this neutralization method is relatively slow, its advantages include a closed environment and low overall consumption.

Once the purification scale increases, the cost per unit of raw material becomes very low.

The benefits don't stop there.

With a stable, pollution-free environment, Roland can try her previous idea: to grow mushrooms in an aerosol chamber and see if she can grow delicious mushrooms that rival those in the terrestrial world.

This is why she kept flipping through the Dark Underground Mushroom Encyclopedia after taking a shower.

Roland stood beside the misting array and began to peruse the "Mushroom Cultivation Guide" contributed by Tess, searching for suitable mushrooms to cultivate.

Finally, her gaze settled on a familiar picture.

In Tess's hand-drawn illustration, there is a plump and juicy magical king oyster mushroom, the very delicacy the two of them enjoyed this morning. Its stem is thick and its cap is round and full, making it perfect for mid-range cuisine.

According to the Tess Handbook, the cultivation of magic king oyster mushrooms is neither particularly difficult nor particularly simple.

The main problem is the high environmental requirements, and the cultivation of the substrate requires alchemy, making it as difficult as an apprentice-level potion.

This was no problem for Roland at all.

In terms of environment, it's probably impossible to find anything comparable to an aerosol chamber in the entire downtown area.

As for alchemy... she, Roland, is a top-notch alchemy master!

Roland swished her tail and hummed a little tune as she walked downstairs.

There happened to be a batch of unused magic king oyster mushrooms left in the kitchen. Since it was too late to cook them as a late-night snack for the staff, they were perfect for planting.

As for Tess... I'm sure the little one won't mind missing out on a meal of king oyster mushroom and cheese baked rice.

Once successfully cultivated, the Golden Sparrow Tavern will produce Magic King Oyster Mushrooms, and Tess can eat one and discard one as she pleases.

She was also very curious about what kind of difference there would be in mushrooms cultivated in a purification room.