The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log Chapter 12

A few days later, the sprout that had emerged from the seed didn’t look like a plant at all.

 

Its stem was a reddish color dotted with colorful spots, and its thin leaves were trembling like a lizard’s tail.

 

Above all, there were protrusions looking like gear teeth attached to the tips, which suddenly moved with a clack clack! sound, interlocking together.

 

Whoa!

 

Hana flinched in surprise and quickly backed away into the distance.

 

“Ahem! I wasn’t scared. I just felt a bit stiff so I did some stretching.”

 

【SYSTEM】 

<Did anyone say anything? ┐(´～｀)┌>

 

Despite the brief commotion, she somehow managed to plant the seed and carefully cover it with soil. 

 

She brought a small watering can and watered it diligently.

 

With a dirty face smeared with soil, Hana’s eyes sparkled. Full of anticipation.

 

“Alright, this is your home now. Live well!” 

 

Even at this point, Hana hadn’t imagined it at all.

 

That this one small, strange seed would make a mess of the garden ecosystem just a few days later!

 

* * * 

 

“He still hasn’t read it.”

 

Hana scratched the back of her head and stared at her phone.

 

The Hunter Exchange message window was open on the screen.

 

The recipient was ‘KingKongFallsKingKong’.

 

Yesterday, after sending her carefully harvested potatoes by parcel delivery, Hana had also left a confirmation message.

 

However, the number ‘1’ next to the message refused to disappear. 

 

“Well, I’m sure he received it fine.”

 

She wasn’t certain, but decided to let it slide for now.

 

There was a more urgent matter right now.

 

The soil she had patted down so neatly was being overturned here and there. 

 

Because the new seed was growing at a bizarre speed.

 

“Ugh, what am I supposed to do with that?” 

 

Hana massaged her throbbing forehead. 

 

The seed had shot up from root to petal in just one day, and was now wrapping around the entire garden.

 

“Ack, my cherry tomatoes and potatoes!”

 

Hana hurriedly ran to the garden and fell to her knees.

 

There, the cherry tomatoes she had carefully grown over the past few weeks were drooping weakly.

 

The color of their stems had turned murky, and the leaves were limp like crumpled tissues.

 

It was the same for the potatoes. 

 

They were rotting at the root before the tubers could even form.  

 

“What I planted was an ecosystem-destroying bullfrog!”

 

At this rate, every crop in the garden was going to be annihilated.

 

Hana stomped her feet in frustration. 

 

Whether it knew her feelings or not, the system window turned her inside out today as well.

 

【SYSTEM】 

<Oh my. It seems the current home is too cramped for our new seed friend. (∩❛ڡ❛∩)>

 

【SYSTEM】 

<For you who are worrying! A special offer! This isn’t an opportunity that comes every day!> 

<Try transplanting the new plant into a gate!>

 

Doesn’t it seem like it’s enjoying this a bit?

 

Hana’s expression turned sour.

 

“No wonder leveling up felt too easy.” 

 

Isn’t this a complete scam?

 

How was she supposed to plant a plant in a gate swarming with monsters?

 

As if reading such thoughts of Hana’s, the system window promptly answered.

 

【SYSTEM】 

<Put your worries away! There just happens to be a suitable gate!> 

<It doesn’t have an owner, so it’s perfectly! suited for a garden! (ง •̀_•́)ง>

 

“I’m not falling for it! And I’m a registered Hunter now, you know?” 

 

Hana hung her Hunter license around her neck. And then placed her hands on her hips.

 

“I’m not going to sneak in through side paths anymore! I’m going to proudly use the official entrances too.”

 

【SYSTEM】 

<Hmm, if that’s the User’s opinion, it can’t be helped. But you haven’t forgotten the mission, right? ☞☜>

 

Following closely, the system window popped up a notification.

 

【SYSTEM】

 <Warning! The new seed still hasn’t found a home!> 

<Penalty for Mission Failure: Unstable seed grows excessively → Destruction of surrounding crops + Risk of 100% loss of the User’s garden>

 

100%?

 

Hana’s eyelids trembled minutely.

 

But she tried to hold her ground without yielding.

 

However, things never go as planned.

 

Crackle!

 

Turning around at the sound of soil splitting, she saw the roots of the monster plant swallowing a cherry tomato whole. 

 

The potatoes were popping out of the ground, flailing in the air as they were being sucked in.

 

“No, my potatoes! Fine, I’ll do it! I said I’ll do it! I just have to transplant it to a Gate, right?!” 

 

Witnessing the unilateral massacre of her potatoes, Hana threw her hands up in the air and shouted. 

 

As if it had been waiting, the system window popped up a notification. Satisfied.

 

【SYSTEM】 

<Casting skill ‘Opening a Shortcut for Fertilizer Collection Lv.1 (F-rank)’.> 

<The skill rank is adjusted due to the change in the User’s level.> 

<Casting skill ‘Opening a Shortcut for Fertilizer Collection Lv.1 (F-rank)’ → ‘Opening a Shortcut for Cultivating Monster Crops Lv.1 (D-rank)’.>

 

A blue door, a gate, opened right in the middle of the garden.

 

It was a clear color, but she somehow felt uncomfortable.

 

“I don’t know if this is the right thing to do, really.”

 

In the end, Hana stood in front of the gate wearing an apron over her overalls and even cotton work gloves.

 

It was an appearance that looked like a farmer to anyone, definitely not a Hunter.

 

“Wait, but what kind of gate is this?”

 

Hana narrowed her eyes and asked.

 

But instead of answering, the system feigned ignorance.

 

【SYSTEM】 

<There’s no time! At this rate, the garden will be completely ruined! We need to transplant it quickly!>

 

“Honestly. It always dodges the answer when it’s disadvantageous.”

 

Hana had already figured out the system’s tendencies in that short time.

 

Stepping into the gate half voluntarily and half forced, dry wind wrapped around her face.

 

The inside was an empty wasteland.

 

It was exactly as described—an empty house with nothing in it. 

 

There was only a desolate field and a somewhat eerie atmosphere.

 

“…Is farming even possible here?”

 

Hana lifted her shovel and stabbed the ground with a skeptical look. Then, 

 

“Kkiieeeek—!”

 

The ground cried.

 

No, I’m telling you it really cried?

 

“Mother!”

 

Startled, Hana quickly scrambled backward. 

 

Something like sulfur fire was bubbling up from the spot where the shovel had been struck. 

 

“Yeah. It’s impossible. This isn’t the place.”

 

It was a conclusion drawn from a very rational judgment.

 

But the system window didn’t leave it at that.

 

【SYSTEM】 

<You impatient person! You have acquired a new skill!> 

<Name: ‘Plentiful Nutrition for the Earth Lv.1 (D-rank)’>

 

For a split second, another sentence flickered faintly behind the main window. 

 

<Skill ‘Terraforming (L-rank)’ has been automatically downgraded to match the User’s status. Earthification of the gate will proceed.>

 

However, it was so small that it remained outside Hana’s field of vision. 

 

It was suspicious, but figuring she had nothing to lose, Hana tried activating the skill.

 

And then, the soil really began to change.

 

The rough earth where ochre dust blew gradually turned into soft soil, and as a faint scent of grass seeped in, a warm breeze blew past.

 

“Wow, amazing.”

 

Hana clapped her hands without realizing it.

 

A production class Hunter. Might it be better than expected?

 

【SYSTEM】 

<How is it, my handiwork?>

 

The system window flashed brightly as if asking for praise.

 

She wouldn’t know about other times, but right now she had to acknowledge the system’s greatness.

 

After giving some appropriate praise, Hana carefully transplanted the thing she had captured from the garden onto the ground.

 

Then, a small fanfare went off above her head.

 

【SYSTEM】 

<Mission Success!>

 

It was the moment a peculiar green sprout took root right in the middle of the desolate gate interior.

 

And so began the wise gate gardening of official Hunter Yoon Hana.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, at the same time.

 

It was the moment Kanghyun, who had just gone into a gate and come back out again, was about to collapse his exhausted body onto the sofa.

 

The Association call bell rang within the guild.

 

[Association Emergency Notice] 

[Emergency Summons of All Executives / Location: Main Office Meeting Room A / Time: In 30 minutes]

 

Kanghyun let out a short sigh.

 

As expected, he wasn’t allowed the luxury of indulging in peaceful sentiment. 

 

And so he headed to the meeting room.

 

The faces of the executives who had already arrived were taut with tension. 

 

“As you all know, the account of Hunter ‘1’ was recently changed to online status for a brief moment.” 

 

“The connection time?” 

 

“17 seconds. In addition, recently at the ‘Gangnam Station Gate’, a faint but definite energy reaction of a living organism was detected.”

 

“Does that Gate still remain?” 

 

One of the executives let out a sigh.

 

“I understood that at the time, the Gate itself closed after ‘1’ sacrificed herself to induce an internal explosion.” 

 

“That is correct. However, for some reason, the gate didn’t disappear even after the explosion ended. It still remains in that spot, left as an empty shell.”

 

A murmur broke out. 

 

“…Could she possibly be alive?”

 

There was no subject, but everyone knew who they were pointing to.

 

At that question, the meeting room briefly fell into silence.

 

“Three years have passed without any signal. Logically speaking, it is impossible.” 

 

“But the connection record proves it. There is a sufficient possibility that ‘1’ is alive.” 

 

“A reinvestigation of the inside of the gate will be necessary.”

 

“I agree. And the Hunter who will be put in charge of the Gangnam Station Gate reinvestigation is…”

 

The executive raised his head and swept a glance over the surroundings.

 

A short silence. No one could easily exhale.

 

At that moment, a strange tension flowed inside the meeting room.

 

“—Hunter Seo Kanghyun.”

 

Heads turned simultaneously. All eyes focused on Seo Kanghyun.

 

“Because there is no one who desperately wishes for ‘1’s return as much as Hunter Seo.”