Signs
A few days had passed since Han Su-yeon had left.
As always, Oh Hyeonseong spent his days leisurely.
Of course, he wasn’t simply emptying his mind and doing nothing. During that time, he had also cleared the amount of farmland he had originally set as his goal.
After moving his body appropriately and finally completing the work, he felt a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
So this is what makes owning your own land so enjoyable.
“All right, everyone. Let’s go.”
Oh Hyeonseong went on a picnic with the spirits.
Hundreds of spirits followed behind him, chattering and singing. Once he spread out a picnic mat on the lush, empty field, the spirits immediately rolled around on it.
“Hey! I’m not done spreading it out yet!”
He pushed the giggling spirits aside one by one and finished laying out the mat.
He had brought the largest one he could find, but there were so many spirits that it was packed so tightly there wasn’t even room to step.
Fortunately, several of them quickly got bored of sitting still and ran off to play, leaving plenty of space.
As soon as Hyeonseong lay down comfortably on the mat, the spirits climbed onto him or nestled up beside him and lay down as well.
A few particularly restless ones were running around near his head, but he caught them, placed them beside him, and gazed up at the sky together with them.
“What do you think? Pretty relaxing, huh?”
Kkiing!
The quiet countryside sky was perfectly clear, without a single cloud.
He had finished everything he needed to do, and there was no one around to bother him.
Oh Hyeonseong hadn’t been away from the city for very long, but he seemed to have already adapted quite well to this lifestyle.
As he leisurely enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, Hyeonseong took out the potato lunchbox he had brought along.
Let’s see… shall I have one?
He licked his lips and picked up a potato.
He had been eating nothing but potatoes for several days now, but he still wasn’t tired of them in the slightest.
Delicious, simple to eat, and impossible to get sick of.
Could there really be a more perfect food?
Yet the spirits had gathered around him and were staring intently at him as he ate.
Was watching someone enjoy food really that fascinating?
They were staring so intently that he was almost embarrassed, so Hyeonseong playfully broke off a small piece of potato and held it out.
“Want some?”
Chomp!
“…Huh?”
The spirit suddenly swallowed the piece of potato he had offered.
It moved its mouth a few times, chewed, and then gulped the potato down.
Hyeonseong froze on the spot, completely caught off guard.
“What the hell? Are you okay?”
This was the first time a spirit had ever consumed any kind of food.
Until now, they had violently rejected Earth’s food.
Even when he gave them pieces of things like chocolate bars, they would grimace, wave their arms around, or simply run away without responding.
Whenever he tried to eat together with them, the spirits acted as though he were subjecting them to torture.
But this time, he had offered the potato merely as a joke—and it had actually eaten it.
Kkiing!
The water spirit that had eaten the potato began hopping excitedly.
Then it turned toward the other spirits surrounding it and began jumping up and down while chattering excitedly.
The spirits listening to it let out a collective gasp of delight.
“…What are you guys doing?”
Kkiing, kkiing!
The spirits swarmed around him, making a tremendous fuss.
They wanted some of that potato too.
“Huh. Why are you guys suddenly acting like this?”
Oh Hyeonseong was baffled by their sudden change.
But after thinking about it carefully, he thought he understood the difference.
Humans ate food to survive.
It wasn’t a choice. It was a matter of survival.
No matter how bad something tasted, people had to put something in their mouths to stay alive. So they willingly ate and adapted to even tasteless food.
But spirits had no need to consume such material things.
Therefore, they had never had any reason to adapt to food that tasted bad.
In other words, they didn’t eat it before because it tasted like crap.
And now they’re eating it because it tastes good?
Oh Hyeonseong broke the potato into small pieces and handed one to each of the spirits.
The spirits, each receiving their own piece, visibly brightened and savored the taste.
It was almost laughable how much they genuinely enjoyed the food after all this time of him mistakenly believing they simply disliked eating.
“When did there get to be this many of you…?”
Even the spirits that had been running around playing, and those that had been sprawled out sleeping in the grass, came over after hearing the commotion.
As one after another began receiving pieces, the potatoes Hyeonseong had brought were quickly devoured.
I had no idea these guys were this greedy for food…!
Oh Hyeonseong diligently divided up the potatoes and handed them out.
Seeing how happy they were made him happy as well.
Now he could finally share delicious food with them.
However, after discovering the taste of food, the spirits seemed dissatisfied with just this much. They began looking up at him with pleading eyes, asking for more.
“That’s all I brought. I’ll give you more when we get home.”
Hyeonseong soothed the spirits and sent them away.
The potatoes he had grown and harvested from his garden had been steadily consumed, so there weren’t many left.
He had already used up the second batch of potato seedlings he had planted.
If they like them this much, I should give them more. In exchange, though, they’ll have to do some work.
Oh Hyeonseong let out a sly smile to himself.
Afterward, he leisurely enjoyed the rest of the day with the spirits before finally getting up.
He packed up the picnic mat and their belongings and headed home.
But on the way, his toe caught on a rock hidden among the weeds.
Thud!
Damn it…!
His body began to topple sideways, so he hurriedly planted his other foot to regain his balance.
But at that moment, Oh Hyeonseong felt a jolt of panic.
He realized that the foot he had instinctively planted was his injured left leg.
Even simply walking without limping required him to endure pain. With this much impact, naturally, excruciating pain should have surged through him.
Huh? It doesn’t hurt.
Oh Hyeonseong stared down at his ankle in confusion.
Contrary to the panic he had felt instinctively, he hadn’t actually felt even the slightest bit of pain.
What?
At first, Hyeonseong was relieved.
But then a question occurred to him.
While undergoing rehabilitation at the hospital, his leg had once struck against a piece of equipment, causing him excruciating, almost unbearable pain.
Could he really feel nothing after taking this much impact?
Come to think of it… I’ve felt like my whole body has been getting lighter these past few days. My leg has been hurting less, too.
His body had improved considerably through treatment and rehabilitation.
Even so, the injuries he had suffered fighting the Queen were severe.
The nation’s best doctors had been unanimous: he would be left with permanent aftereffects that could never fully recover.
In reality, no matter how hard he worked at rehabilitation, his condition had refused to improve beyond a certain point.
Yet strangely, ever since coming to the countryside, he felt as though his physical condition had been improving.
At first, he had dismissed it as his imagination.
But the feeling had continued for so long that he had begun to wonder if something was actually happening.
Could my ruined body actually be recovering this late? If so… could it be…?
Oh Hyeonseong’s eyes sharpened.
He stood straight on both legs.
Then he began moving them one step at a time, gradually increasing his speed.
He felt the cool breeze against his face, and a smile began spreading across his lips.
Crash!
“Urgh…!”
Oh Hyeonseong lost his balance and went sprawling onto the ground.
Apparently, running was still beyond him.
“Damn it. I got carried away.”
Holding his throbbing leg, he shook his head and limped back toward the house.
“Has the time finally come?”
Standing inside the storage shed, Oh Hyeonseong spoke with a solemn expression.
Countless boxes were stacked before him.
With the final delivery that had just arrived and been brought inside, all the seeds and seedlings he had purchased for serious farming had finally arrived.
With this much, I wouldn’t have to worry about starving even if a war broke out. That’s reassuring.
From staple grains such as rice, barley, and wheat, to survival crops such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, and corn.
And countless other grains, vegetables, and fruits.
The entire large warehouse was filled with every kind of seed and seedling he would need for cultivation.
I went through hell trying to get all of this.
Unlike the seed potatoes he had casually purchased online last time, this time he had put considerable thought into every single purchase.
He wanted to obtain high-quality seeds and seedlings.
His plan was based on the theory that superior seeds, when combined with the environment infused with the spirits’ power, would produce even better crops.
To that end, he had sought advice from the Yoo siblings, who were farmers themselves, as well as other villagers, asking for tips and information on where to obtain the best seeds.
The siblings, in particular, had been extremely helpful thanks to their extensive agricultural knowledge.
But this cost me considerably more money than I expected.
It’s not enough to put a strain on my finances yet, but it’s still too large an expense to ignore.
Oh Hyeonseong had savings from his years as a hunter.
However, there was no way his savings could compare to the enormous salaries earned by the top hunters in today’s massive market.
Hunter salaries had skyrocketed in recent years, and even government-employed hunters now received enormous salaries under specially established pay scales to prevent talent from leaving the government.
But that concept hadn’t existed back then.
Of course, he hadn’t exactly been paid poorly in those days.
Even though he was technically a government employee under the administration, he received special treatment and additional compensation.
Still, even adding his severance pay to all the salary he had saved, it wasn’t remotely enough to make him a billionaire.
I’ll probably need to build additional facilities like a proper warehouse.
And I’m going to need food in the future too. If I’m planning to keep farming… I’ll need some way to bring money in.
Even after retiring, he couldn’t simply keep increasing his expenses without any income.
Of course, now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
Farming came first.
Carrying a sack over his shoulder, Oh Hyeonseong called out to the spirits gathered around him.
“All right, guys. Let’s go!”
Ding!
“Ah, why does this keep happening?”
Yoo Seungsu picked up his phone and frowned.
Another alert had appeared through the management app, reporting a problem at their smart farm facility.
“This happened last time too. That’s already the fourth time.”
Problems were bound to occur when operating a facility, but the frequency was absurd compared to normal.
Even worse, all four problems had occurred in completely different devices.
The temperature controller, nutrient solution dispenser, and unmanned pest-control system had all malfunctioned independently.
“The main crops are almost ready for harvest. This is driving me crazy.”
Yoo Seungsu abandoned what he was doing and headed toward the facility.
When he entered the large-scale facility beneath the mountain slope—large enough to resemble a factory—he found rows upon rows of crops growing indoors.
Grumbling, he took out his phone and headed toward the location where the problem had occurred.
“Let’s see. Why are you acting up now?”
Yoo Seungsu approached the cultivation unit and tilted his head to inspect the area beneath it.
But the moment he looked underneath, his eyes widened in shock.
A huge hole had opened in the floor beneath the cultivation unit, as though the ground itself had melted away.
“W-What the hell is this?!”
Yoo Seungsu stumbled backward with a clatter.
An ominous, pitch-black energy writhed within the hole.
The unmistakable signs of Corrosion.
His face turned deathly pale.
“E-Emergency.”
