The next morning, Oh Hyunseong woke up looking disheveled.

When he raised his head, bright morning sunlight streamed in through the window.

"Yawn."

After letting out a long yawn, Hyunseong left the room.

"Did everyone sleep well?"

"Whimper."

The spirits sprawled across the living room sluggishly stirred awake.

There were around a dozen of them, yawning and waving their arms around.

But apparently they were still half asleep, because they soon flopped back down again. Hyunseong let out a dry chuckle and looked away.

Even after another look, the house really was in excellent condition.

Since it had been left vacant for a long time, he had expected there to be plenty of things that needed fixing, but just as Kwon Gyeongmin had said, everything had been taken care of before his arrival.

Apparently, he had even hired professionals to repair everything that needed work.

Gyeongmin did owe him a favor from the past, but Hyunseong had never expected him to go this far.

Either way, it made things easier for him.

He had checked yesterday, and both the water and heating worked without any problems.

Feeling hungry, he slipped his feet into his shoes and headed out into the yard before eating breakfast.

There were already spirits awake all over the place.

Some were bursting with energy and running around from first thing in the morning, while others lay sprawled flat here and there. Even so, the grounds were so spacious that it did not feel crowded.

The difference was obvious compared to the apartment where he had lived alone. The one time he had released all of them there at once, he had barely had room to set foot anywhere and had immediately summoned them back.

"Hmm... So what do I do now?"

For Hyunseong, doing nothing was an extremely unfamiliar experience.

His life as a hunter had been an endless cycle of grueling missions and training, with barely enough time even to sleep.

Even in the hospital, he had been forced to devote himself entirely to treatment and rehabilitation.

This was the first time since childhood that he had been given free time with absolutely nothing he needed to do.

Look at me, feeling awkward just because I have time on my hands. Ridiculous. I guess I'll move around a little for now.

Hyunseong walked with a slight limp.

His left leg, which had once been completely destroyed, was now only somewhat inconvenient.

Thanks to more than a dozen successful major surgeries, the loss of function had been kept to a much smaller degree than expected.

If he was willing to tolerate a little pain, he could even walk without limping at all.

During the entire trip from Seoul, Gyeongmin had not noticed anything wrong with his leg.

Of course, actually running was completely impossible, but at least it did not seem like he would have much reason to run around here.

Right. For the time being, I'll clear my head and take it easy.

Feeling the gentle breeze as he walked, Hyunseong headed toward the kitchen garden.

He had suddenly remembered the lettuce he planted yesterday.

Naturally, he did not expect any changes from seeds that had only been in the ground for a day. He merely wanted to make sure the spirits had not dug up the soil while playing or caused some other problem.

But when he reached the garden, he was met with an astonishing sight.

"Wha... what the hell is this?"

Hyunseong stopped dead and stared at the kitchen garden.

Fresh lettuce had grown there in full abundance.

One corner of the previously empty garden was now filled with vibrant green lettuce.

"..."

Hyunseong stared at it as though locked in a staring contest, but no answer presented itself.

The situation made absolutely no sense.

Even dumping illegal growth stimulants loaded with side effects onto the plants would not have made them grow this quickly.

I didn't plant seedlings. I planted seeds. And they've already germinated and grown enough to harvest?

There had been a period when humanity was pushed to the brink by an extreme food shortage.

Even back then, when growth stimulants had been used without restraint, they had only managed to shorten growing periods by five or six times.

Yet this lettuce had taken just one day.

No, not even twenty-four hours.

It had fully matured overnight.

Could it be a mutation? I've heard prolonged exposure to excessive impure energy can cause severe mutations in crops... No. If the impure energy were strong enough for that, there'd be no way it wouldn't show outward signs.

"Whimper, whimper!"

Just then, the life spirits emerged from among the lettuce.

Looking extremely pleased with themselves, they bounced around and began babbling at Hyunseong.

Hyunseong knelt down and listened carefully, only to recoil in shock.

"This... was you?"

The spirits nodded.

A brief silence followed.

It was difficult to believe, but the spirits had no reason to lie about something like this.

"Huh... So you had an amazing talent like this all along. You can make crops grow quickly."

"Whimper, whimper!"

Delighted by his praise, the spirits hopped up and down.

Hyunseong affectionately patted a few that crowded against him, impressed by what they had done, but at the same time he was still stunned and bewildered.

We've been together all this time, and I never even dreamed you had an ability like this. Then again... at some point, nearly all my memories with the spirits became memories of the battlefield.

As Hyunseong's achievements as a hunter drew more attention and his position steadily rose, he became increasingly busy.

Toward the end, even ten bodies would not have been enough to handle everything demanded of him.

And a hunter who spent all his time rushing from one frontline to another had no reason to leisurely visit fields or farms.

Seen that way, it was only natural that he had never discovered this ability.

Now I've gone and reminded myself of the old days for no reason.

Hyunseong brushed off his knees and stood up.

The lettuce in the kitchen garden looked incredibly fresh, but he left it alone instead of harvesting it right away.

The reason was simple.

He did not feel comfortable eating it yet.

It's not that I don't trust the spirits... but I can't help feeling uneasy.

This was growth on an almost transcendent level.

A plant that should have spent at least several dozen days absorbing nutrients and growing had reached full maturity overnight.

Remembering the brutal side effects of growth stimulants that had plagued society during the early days of the Gate crisis, Hyunseong could not bring himself to immediately shove this mysterious lettuce into his mouth.

"Well... I'll watch it for now and see what happens."

After breakfast, Hyunseong went down to the village and met Gyeongmin.

Just as they had arranged beforehand, Gyeongmin dragged him all over the village, introducing him to the residents and making sure he greeted everyone.

Thanks to that, Hyunseong ended up meeting nearly every person in the village.

His first impression of them was good.

Gyeongmin seemed to have built up a fair amount of goodwill in the village, and the residents appeared even more welcoming when they learned Hyunseong was his close friend.

Apparently, all the confidence Gyeongmin had shown on the way here had not been empty boasting.

In any case, Hyunseong greeted the villagers sincerely as well.

If he intended to put down roots here rather than remain an outsider who would leave after a few years, it was important to blend in well with the locals.

He had even brought gifts to make a good impression.

He had once heard that in rural communities, newcomers sometimes had to pay something called a village development fund, but apparently this village did not collect one.

According to Gyeongmin, that was fairly unusual.

They don't have anything to gain from me, yet they're welcoming me this warmly just because I'm a neighbor. You definitely don't see much of this in cities these days.

Hyunseong returned home in a fairly good mood.

Then, as he entered the yard, he came face-to-face with the kitchen garden he had forgotten about.

"Right. There's still this."

The lettuce remained exactly as it had been.

It had not rotted, started giving off poison, or undergone some burst of excessive growth that made it as large as a house.

It was still as fresh and vibrant as before, practically flaunting itself as though trying to tempt him.

"...I'll just eat dinner."

Hyunseong strode past the kitchen garden and went into the kitchen.

It was a little early, but after spending the day walking all over the village, he had grown hungry and decided to have dinner ahead of schedule.

He set out a table and placed his meal on it.

There was a bowl filled with darkish rice, along with stew and a few simple side dishes.

As far as a single meal went, there was nothing lacking in the spread.

But despite being hungry, Hyunseong's face held no anticipation whatsoever.

He scooped up a spoonful of rice first and ate it.

As he chewed the grains, his expression gradually twisted.

Just as I thought. It feels like chewing a lump of clay.

Even though the rice had just been cooked, it was unbearably dry and crumbly.

No matter how many times he chewed, there was no sweetness whatsoever. Instead, it stuck unpleasantly to the inside of his mouth as though he were playing with clay.

Even its appearance in the bowl, with the distinctive color of factory-made synthetic rice, was enough to suppress his appetite.

I should be used to it by now... Is it just bothering me more because I've left the city?

Escaping the harsh, hectic life of the city and enjoying small but delicious meals amid a peaceful rural life.

That was the image of moving to the countryside he remembered seeing on television when he was young.

The beautiful scenery and leisurely lifestyle seemed to have worked out perfectly.

But without the enjoyment of good food to go with them, it all felt somewhat hollow.

Back then, I never even had time to pay attention to how anything tasted. Maybe that's why I'm noticing the disappointment more now.

Hyunseong smacked his lips.

But there was nothing he could do about it.

There was no way a washed-up hunter hiding away in the countryside could enjoy luxuries unavailable even to the president of a country.

All he could do was force the rice and side dishes into his mouth.

"Whimper!"

Just then, a life spirit crossed the threshold and approached him, babbling excitedly.

But behind it, the spirit was carrying a lettuce leaf larger than its own body.

It had personally plucked the leaf from the kitchen garden and carried it all the way here, and now it thrust the leaf toward Hyunseong with all its strength.

"You... want me to eat it?"

"Whimper!"

The spirit nodded vigorously.

It was panting heavily.

Having carried a lettuce leaf bigger than itself all the way here alone, it was now drenched in sweat.

Hyunseong was taken aback by the spirit's sudden behavior, but he could not bring himself to shake his head.

If he rejected it now, the little thing would probably be devastated.

It might spend the next few days sulking under a cabinet.

Right. If it wasn't safe to eat, it wouldn't have brought it to me.

He accepted the offered lettuce leaf.

If it contained toxins or some fatal mutation, there was no way a life spirit would have failed to notice.

Of course, Hyunseong still turned the lettuce over several times and examined it with wary eyes.

But when he found nothing unusual about its appearance, he cautiously put it into his mouth.

Crunch.

"...?!"

And at that moment, an entirely new world opened before him.

Chapter 3

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