16 – Plants in the Greenhouse

Saturday was spent exercising and training, and the day passed quickly.

So Sunday morning.

When I arrive at the academy portal, smelling the pleasant smell of grass, the kiosk greets me.

[Please enter a destination.]

It was early in the morning, so the portal site was quiet. I entered ‘Jeongseon, Gangwon-do’, the meeting place of the hunting club, and received a ticket.

[Identification: 1 Ymir cadet]

[Destination: Gangwon-do Jeongseon field hunting ground]

[20% Discount on Hunting Circle]

[10% Discount for new students]

[Automatic payment completed.]

Surely, this type of automation is convenient. Because I don’t have to see the tired faces of the staff in the morning.

“Ahhhhh~.”

As I was stretching and heading towards the portal location, I felt a presence from behind. When I turned my head, a girl with pointy ears, who looked like an elf, was standing there with her blonde hair fluttering. It was Ha Yeon-si.

“Oh… hi.”

As if she was tired, she only blinked at my greeting, then passed me by and finished issuing the portal ticket. Even if she is different on the outside and inside, she seems weak early in the morning. Her eyes are out of focus.

“Uh….”

After she finished issuing her ticket, she belatedly found me and said.

“Oh, hi… good morning. So the name… Ymir? Right?”

“Yes.”

“Are you in the hunting circle too?”

“Hey, you two?”

“Yes. Me too.”

She doesn’t pretend to know anything about objects that have no use value. She is a prudent figure who understands to move as needed. The current me seems to have quite a bit of use value.

Perhaps they are curious about the sudden increase in the overall cadet rankings, the dungeon training incident on Tuesday, and the steady stream of my gossip.

“As expected, you didn’t rise in rank for nothing. There’s still a long way until the circle assembly time, but I can’t believe we’re already leaving. That’s great. You must be very sincere as usual.”

She gave me a soft compliment and tapped me on the shoulder. Each of these trivial gestures must have touched the heartstrings of many men. But not me.

“I have something to go and prepare.”

“Ready? What are you ready for?”

Ha Yeon-si’s eyes shone.

“Just. It’s my first time hunting monsters in the field. In case you don’t know, find out about this and that, and find out where the ambulance is… Well, to prepare for something like that.”

“Ah, yes.”

The shining eyes quickly die as if they were sinking. I laughed inwardly. As expected, she is not good at managing facial expressions. Emotions come out as they are.

Ha Yeon-si said.

“But during your dungeon practice….”

“Why?”

“That… Rumor has it that you alone dealt with the suddenly appearing monster… Is it real?”

As expected, this was the purpose.

If you want to be friendly with her, it’s good to tell her the truth to some extent.

“Yes.”

“Oh. Are you really saying you handled it by yourself without the instructor’s help?”

“Uh.”

“Wow, that’s great.”

Her pointy ears pricked up. I mean really surprised.

“But there is something a little different from the rumors.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes.”

“What is it? What?”

Ah, that’s cute.

As she looks at those cute eyes, her conscience stings that she must lie. But the gap shouldn’t be too wide. Within the expected range. Now, she tends to shy away from characters whom she judges to be out of control.

“It was a regular ant, not a queen ant.”

“… Hmm. But according to rumors, it’s definitely a queen ant…. Didn’t the instructors also say that?”

“The instructors inflated it.”

From noble mtl dot com

“Why?”

“It must mean that you pay more attention to safety. If I were the queen ant, would I be alive here right now?”

He’s alive and well.

“Well….”

Her ears drooped.

“… I guess so too.”

Looks like you’ve lost interest. However, given that he seems lost in thought, he doesn’t seem completely disinterested.

“Let’s go ride a portal.”

After entering the portal, we inserted the issued tickets. After a while, the portal activated and the scenery changed. When I opened my eyes, I was at Jeongseon Field in Gangwon-do, which is said to be the first market-type hunting ground.

* * *

More than 150 years ago, after the tower appeared, monsters rained down all over the ground like a shower. The Korean Peninsula, which had been pushed back to Busan due to the monster invasion, was restored to the southern part of Gangwon-do with the help of heroes. This is where the 38th parallel used to be.

Since then, as human civilization has prospered against the backdrop of tower relics, the development of magic engineering, and advanced industrialization, monsters have ceased to be a threat to mankind. Rather, monsters became a resource and money.

In response to the increased demand for monsters, the government expanded the authority of hunting and gathering to private areas, and instead attached a proviso that a professional license was required.

It was the birth of the Academy.

Since then, the rights have been further expanded, and it became possible to hunt monsters after graduating from an institution certified by the state, such as an agent academy, a cadet academy, or a specialized hunter academy. Just graduating from a specialized institution gave them the right to use field hunting grounds or dungeons.

Thanks to this, most of the new cadets who had just graduated from the cadet academy were using the field hunting ground for the first time. Including Ha Yeon-si who is next to me.

“… Hey. But after all, is actual hunting better than combat training grounds to grow stats quickly? What do you think?”

Although she was able to visit the hunting grounds enough right after graduation, because of her position as a flower in the greenhouse, she did her first hunting today.

And today, coincidentally, the greenhouse effect and beginner’s luck are activated at the same time, and she discovers a special dungeon.

“If you prioritize the senses, the actual battle is good. But in terms of perfecting my stats, the training ground is better.”

“Oh…. Why do you think so?”

“Monsters are dangerous, but the battles are irregular. It’s hard to set yourself a break time and a fight time. But at the training ground, the user has full control over the process. So the sense of actual combat is lower, but on the contrary, in terms of training, the efficiency is better.”

“You… Oddly enough, he thinks the same as me.”

As we were having a conversation that was common sense at the cadet level, but common sense at the normal hero level, the portal opened and people appeared one by one. At that time, Ha Yeon-si, who had been talking for a while, stopped as if it had hardened.

“… ….”

I looked at Ha Yeon-si because it looked unnatural. Ha Yeon-shi stood firm like a mannequin, looking straight at her. Following her gaze, she turned her head and saw Yoo Seong-won, a cadet holding a long spear.

Ah.

Unfortunately, there was Mo Ye-ji next to Yu Seong-won. I exclaimed inwardly because the sight was intriguing.

Ha Yeon-si likes Yoo Seong-won. And Yoo Seong-won likes Mo Ye-ji. But she, Mo Ye-ji, is not interested in anyone.

She only decided to become a hero, she graduated from the academy without interacting with anyone, she was not interested in anyone, like a lofty crane. Even though she is the same age, she dares to say her honorifics as a way of expressing her promise.

Then Mo Yeji looked this way. At the same time, her pupils vibrated violently. Perhaps Ha Yeon-si’s eyes were fierce.

The two women had a snowball fight to prove that they were rivals. And soon, Mo Ye-ji turned her body around, and Yoo Seong-won panicked and followed him.

“…… Chit.”

Ha Yeon-shi wrinkled her expression as if she was in a bad mood. And she said, without taking her eyes off the two of them.

“Hey, Ymir.”

“Why?”

“… Would you like to go with me today? After all, circle activities are at least two people in one group. You seem to be on good terms with me….”

I readily agreed to the request. Originally, I was going to follow him as if he were following me, but it turned out well when the question I wanted popped out.

* * *

“Then, each person can freely use the hunting grounds, and in case of an emergency or an emergency, please call me or a member of the circle committee.”

Lee Min Yu, head of the hunting club, said.

“Let’s see, since it’s 10:00 AM, you can take care of your lunch and come to the portal by 6:00 PM. You can’t be late.”

After the cadets scattered, Ha Yeon-shi headed to a place where people were rare.

To be exact, on the other side of the meteor.

There are no people and no monsters because I ignored the mountain road and made a road.

Sometimes monsters popped up, but they were all plant-type monsters that were evaluated as having little marketability.

The value of a monster tends to be proportional to its level of danger, and plant-type monsters are as safe as they are, so their value is also terrible.

How much did it move like that?

I suddenly saw the footprints of a large monster on the ground. The ugly toenails seemed to be traces of a fairly dangerous monster. We followed the footprints and soon found broken footprints and pools of blood.

“Ah.”

I realized that when I saw it.

As expected, it is said to be a flower in a greenhouse.

Flowers cannot do anything by themselves.

You can only grow in a greenhouse.

Ha Yeon-si seems to have realized the cause of this unnaturalness.

“… hahahaha, here it is again I decided not to interfere this time….”

She seems to have guessed to some extent. She knows the existence of the greenhouse surrounding her.

Ha Yeon-si stood up on the spot holding her sword like a staff. Perhaps, to them, the fact that she now holds a sword instead of her staff seems nothing but childish whining.

Haa, with that in mind, you look better with a staff than a sword… Do you have to do this sh*t? My situation is also very vague and there is no answer.

“Hey, do you want to go over there?”

Then Ha Yeon-shi looked around her and she pointed in one direction with her slightly angry face.

There was a cave that looked like it would be f*cked if anyone saw it.