The Gardener in a Hunter World

Book 1: Chapter 4: Visitors

~POV: Ji-ha~

The landscape of the forest changed again. It was about 20 pyeong wide, and it was full of trees and bushes I hadnt seen before. Above all, the branches that had been newly planted by Ji-ha grew like trees, adding to the sense of pride. 

That is a cave

The entrance to the cave was located around the fog. Not thinking about looking inside I looked around. 

Ether Herbs and Sun Apples are new.

A new fruit has grown on the Sun Apple tree. Its small, so it cant be harvested yet, but it should take too long. Ji-ha was surprised by the growth rate. Could it be that there is some kind of magic that speeds up the growth of crops here?

Thats a strawberry.

The strawberry trees didnt exist before and are new. 

{Winter Strawberry LVL 1: Increases cold resistance by 20% for 30 minutes.}

It is a simple explanation, but the effect is enormous. The resistance stat was an effect that was not easily seen, and even if it was attached to armor, it was normally only 5% or 10%. High-level hunters wore all sorts of artifacts acquired in dungeons, but those attributes rarely exceeded 20%. The cold resistance potion was something found in dungeons very rarely and was sold by hunter maniacs. 

It is higher than most cold resistance potions.

Ji-ha recalled that the hunters had failed to capture the polar dungeon. It was too cold and they couldnt stand the cold-type attacks of the monsters, so all of them fled. Even in Korea, which has a high attack success rate, it was so bad that they couldnt even think of attacking other countries. Dungeons are more difficult because you cannot bring various cold protection items that were made with advanced science into it. 

If I only have strawberries this winter, Ill be able to clear such a dungeon, right?

Its a possibility, but there is no way the rampaging monsters will jump out. Ji-ha focused on the LVL 1 figure behind the winter strawberries.  Doesnt that mean that I will be able to see LVL 2 someday?

Maybe I can change this garden to make it look better.

Thinking this was correct, he rolled up his sleeves and began to clean the area around him. It would have been convenient to have brought various cleaning tools in the dimensional pouch. 

Lets bring it next time.

Beads of sweat formed on my forehead as I cleared the cluttered bushes and spread the soil evenly. While working like that, Ji-ha found small insects. 

{Theradron}

Earthworms also had an impressive name but this little insect is a Theradron.

Look at this.

Little creatures that didnt fit their names were carrying something hard under the winter strawberry trees. 

Its a strawberry that fell on the ground.

The sight of the small insects flocking in groups to carry strawberries and dig into the ground was quite impressive. Are they making a house?

Lets help a little.

When I poked it with my finger, the insects were surprised and backed away. But they didnt run away at all, which was amazing. Usually insects run away when they see something big. I dug a small hole and the insects went inside and started to dig up the soil. 

Everyone works hard.

Looking through the hole, I saw only a stocky butt and hind legs scooping dirt. The insects showed off the technique of digging a hole by lumping the soil together and passing it back out. It is no different from a person carrying a load backwards. 

Its pretty cute.

I never knew that insects could be so cute. I turned my attention away from the insects in the soil and continued on working. As I moved carefully so as not to break down the nest of the insects, I looked into the entrance of the cave. 

Whats inside?

A strange sound of wind came from the entrance, which was large enough for two people to enter. It seems to be connected somewhere. But the dark space was so scary that I didnt even think about going in. 

It will be a big deal if there is a monster inside.

Although he has awakened, he is a hunter without any skills or characteristics, so if he encounters a monster, he has no choice but to die. Besides, there is no place to escape here. But suddenly, it started to rain. The raindrops fell with a thud, and soon turned into a torrential downpour that seemed to wipe out the forest. Ji-ha confirmed that the insects had entered their nest and took refuge in the cave. 

Its as if I am being told to go into the cave.

It seemed like a trick by someone, but he had no choice. He sat down at the entrance of the cave and waited for the rain to stop. 

*Shoot-ahhhhh*

The rain didnt seem to stop easily. Ji-ha, bored, thought about sleeping on the floor, but soon changed his mind. Since he had already entered the cave, it seemed better to explore inside. If there is something that is inside, there is no choice but to die, so it is better to do something. 

Whoa, nothing will come out.

Carefully following the walls of the cave and going inside. There is a light source, so it was not as dark as expected. 

Its because of this.

 A light shone from the stones that were sparsely embedded in the walls and floor.

{Glow-stone}

Is it just a shiny stone?

When I touched it with my hand, crumbs fell. The material is weak, so I think that it can be dug out with a pickaxe. I decided to bring my tools next time and continued inside. Two glowing stones were visible in the dark wall space. 

{Ignition Stone}

Following the logic of the glow stone, the ignition stone Can I light a fire?

Is it possible to hit two stones together like a flint? By the way, the inside of the cave was getting narrower and narrower. I was breathless at the thought of going into that dark cave. Ji-ha gave up further exploration and came out to the entrance. I guess I will have to go to the store and pick up some tools. 

Lets sleep.

He fell asleep listening to the rain. 

***

The rain has stopped. Ji-ha, who brought various tools from reality and put them in a leather pouch, began to clean up the forest after the rain with great care. Fallen trees were sawed off, the ground leveled, and the undergrowth was cleared. After removing all kinds of grass and tree branches that had fallen on the ground, I was sweating quite a bit. 

Puha (laughing sound)

I washed my neck and face with the cool water of the stream, and at least that area felt better. Ji-ha sat under the Sun Apple tree for a while and ate the chocolate bar that he had brought while cooling off his sweat. 

Lets take the glow stone, ignition stone, and winter strawberries.

There were only a limited number of things that could be done in the forest, so I stayed there until I couldnt see anything else to be done. The best thing to do is to quickly finish what you can and then go to sleep. Taking a deep breath, he took the pickaxe and entered the cave. 

*Kang, Kang*

Hitting around the glow-stone with a pickaxe, it dug deep as expected. It is definitely a soft bedrock. Ji-ha was able to obtain a fist-sized glow-stone after 30 minutes of pickaxing. 

It is pretty.

Luminous stone with a soft glow. With this, I will be able to move in the dark. I decided to take only two out of the five and continued using the pickaxe to dig up the bedrock. 

I cant help it, because I need two spark stones.

I took the ignition stone and went out to collect winter strawberries. Not all of them, just half. 

Lets not be greedy.

Ji-ha has been living without much greed until now. If there is one thing that I have learned from living alone after the death of my parents, its that if I dont get too greedy, I can live well enough. Compared to other hunters, he was not pessimistic about his situation. It must have been his fate, so he accepted and was satisfied with his life. 

Is that why you gave me a present?

There must be a huge number of people who accept and live with their fates like me, so that cant be it. He carried the leather pouch on his back and pondered how to use the glow-stone. I also think that it would be nice to attach a handle and use it like a torch. I could tie a few long pieces of wood together and insert the glow-stone into the end to make a decent torch. 

If I convert the leather pouch into a backpack and insert a torch, Ill be able to use both hands.

As the fog grows wider, so does the space that he can explore. Maybe one day he will be able to roam the forest like a real adventurer?

I have to go inside the cave at least once.

All of this space may be thanks to the branches planted in the middle of the forest. The branch was growing rapidly at a speed that was different from that of the other trees. Ji-ha after thanking the tree, lay down on the floor of the cave. As he fell asleep, the tree in the middle of the forest turned golden and emitted light in all directions. 

***

On the Korean internet, there is a community that can only be used by hunters, HunterNet. One of the most viewed places on HunterNet is none other than the review board. Many hunters tell stories of when they challenge dungeons, clear them, and sometimes even of their failure. Since it was a system that used real-names, it wasnt often that nonsense was posted. Sometimes irregulars would appear and try to annoy the hunters, but they would be systematically blocked. Today, a post was made on the review board. However, it was not an ordinary review. 

Bae Kang-min: I heard Seo Hye-jin destroyed a dozen Man Stalkers, isnt that shocking?

Hyeon Seung-ah: Who said that?

Bae Kang-min: It was written like that in a juniors battle reports.

Ashley: That information is interesting. Id like to hear about it in detail if possible. 

Hyeon Seung-ah: Wait, when did it happen?

Bae Kang-min: They said it was just yesterday. Wasnt there a dungeon open at area 11 in the 7th district? It was originally a category 2 class, but suddenly changed to a category 4 class. 

Cha Hwa-yeon: Is that not a lie and actually true?

Bae Kang-min: Do you think everything is a trick? Its true.

Seongho Park: Ive heard that rumor too. There hasnt been an official battle report yet, so Im not sure

Hwayeon Cha: What makes no sense is that our guilds 1st team went all out and managed to catch four of them. You know they regenerate health really fast if you cant kill them right away? I cant do it because I dont have enough firepower. 

Ashley: Man Stalkers regenerative power is known to be high even among hate grade monsters. 

Seongho Park: Still, those hunters wouldnt have lied

Hyeon Seung-ah: I could have just been an exaggeration. Maybe it was exaggerated and it wasnt a Man Stalker, but a Blue Scorpion. 

Kangmin Bae: I cant look past that. Are you saying your juniors lied?

Hyeon Seung-ah: Im not saying it is a lie, but it makes no sense. It isnt uncommon for dungeon quests to suddenly change, but thirteen Man Stalkers is a bit much. 

Kangmin Bae: Oh, I forgot to mention that only one was an adult. The rest were babies. 

Cha Hwa-yeon: No, why are you saying that now? I am dumbfounded. 

Kangmin Bae: I forgot about it for a while. So, are you satisfied if it is thirteen including the cubs?

Hyeon Seung-ah: But it is difficult alone Its no joke and they blow poison needles. Even if you unleash skills first, it wont be long until you have to dodge the poison stings. 

Seongho Park: Then, how did Hye-jin kill them?

At this point, several hunters interjected, each sharing their own experiences. Many people were suspicious and couldnt believe Bae Kang-min, but he didnt back down, saying that he trusted his juniors until the end. At that time, a hunter hinted at another question. 

Kim Chul-soo: What would it have been like if it was Mr. Han Seung-hyuk?

Hyun Seung-ha: Why are you bringing up that older brother suddenly?

Kim Chul-soo: Its nothing special, I am just curious. Because he was the undisputed number one in the rankings

Cha Hya-yeon: If it were him, he would have smashed the prey himself. The scope of abilities is different. 

Bae Kang-min: Recognized. Seung-hyuk had his damage amplification trait, right? If he used an ether blade and charged, quite a few monsters would be destroyed. 

Hyun Seung-ha: It reminds me of a fight with a calamity level monster from before. He was the one that fought alone until the end even when I shouted to run away like that. 

Seongho Park: Lets stop talking about the missing person. 

After that, everyone changed the topic and suggested the possibility that Hye-jin used an Ether consuming potion. 

Kangmin Bae: This is the most likely solution, but what was the duration of the longest Ether consuming potion posted on Hunter Mania?

Hyun Seung-ha: Im checking all the special potions, but the 4 second ones were sold 3 days ago. And of course, Hye-jin wasnt the one that bought it. 

Cha Hwa-yeon: 4 seconds from the potion, including her existing ether, it gives 7 seconds total Still it is a bit lacking. 

Bae Kang-min: I am so frustrated. Does anyone have Hye-jins number?

Cha Hwa-yeon: Even if you call, she wont answer it. I want to talk a little more about the Man Stalkers than we have. 

Long fingers tapped the keyboard. Cha Hwa-yeon, the head of the Eternal Flame Guild, chatted for a while and collected information about Seo Hye-jin and the Man Stalker. Then, they contacted Choi Cheol-heon, the guilds chief alchemist. 

-What do you think? Seo Hye-jin. 

-Hmm I dont know if I have this much information. What is certain is that Hye-jin alone could not catch a group of Man Stalkers. In fact, no one, not just not Hye-jin, could catch them alone. 

They would either need a helper or receive help from some kind of item.

The number of people that enter into a dungeon isnt hidden. And it is hard to believe that Hye-jin was hunting with someone. It could be possible that she could have been helped by artifacts. I checked Hye-jins movements for the past month. 

The movements of the top rankers were almost obvious, because so many people knew them. Hwa-yeon opened the file and checked on the movement. 

Im going out of my mind. Does it make sense to only go home and to the dungeon, back and forth? What a dedicated girl.

Well since her lover is missing, isnt it natural? By the way, I went to the hospital yesterday.

Three years have passed, how long will she wait? Sometimes it is good to just forget about it and let things go. 

You said it. 

Thats okay. But where are you? A convenience store? Why is Hye-jin going to this corner? It doesnt look like anything. 

She stopped by right before entering the Man Stalker Dungeon. And she went again after clearing the dungeon. Isnt that suspicious?

Hwa-yeon twisted her red hair into her hand. It was a habit of hers when she was thinking about something. 

*Crash*

Her fingers tapped the keys again.

Check into it.  

Ill got there myself. 

That is how the conversation ended. Hwa-yeon turned on the map and checked the general store. 

Nothing.

It was a really shabby store. She wondered how bad it would be since there were no customers, and only one rating. She sighed and closed the laptop. While this conversation was going on in the high-rise building, Ji-ha was immersed in making potions in a shabby workshop. When his alchemy skill rose to level 2, something amazing happened. 

Oh, this is good.

The potion made by Ji-ha has a whopping 32% cold resistance. When his alchemy skill level rose to 2, the word concentrated suddenly appeared and the value rose. But where did the 32% figure come from?

Hmm Assuming that the original 20% is 1.2x for Jackpot Success and 1.2x for Blessing Attributes, this enhanced option is 1.1x

His calculations show that this figure is plausible. Just in case, I purified other winter strawberries and made them into a potion, but no other potion with a concentrated effect was produced. 

It looks like there is a chance. Anyways, I made five potions.

{Special Concentrated Potion LVL 1: Increases cold resistance by 32% for 48 minutes.}

Whoa.

It has the potential to be a really great potion. With this potion, you would be able to fight even in a fairly polar dungeon. Ji-ha placed the five bottles of potion on the table and prepared for business. The convenience store opens at 8:00am, but that didnt actually mean much. He didnt want to be lazy, so he just opened it early in the morning. 

Its 7:30, after I have visited the forest and sorted things out, so the time is right.

He opened the store door and went out to stretch. With the advent of dungeons and monsters, if there is anything that has improved, it is the quality of the air. The fine dust concentrations in the air have decreased considerably since the news broke several years ago that dungeons had opened up in many factory zones in China. It isnt as good as the air in the forest, but it still felt refreshing to breathe in the morning air.  Ji-ha came out with a broom and swept the front. The time is 7:40. Like District 7, which has the highest migrating population in Korea, it was crowded with people from the morning. Since the price of oil has long exceeded 10,000 won ($7.88 USD) per liter, most people use public transportation. The road looked empty because the people who were too important were walking hard. There were many places that were completely damaged here and there, probably because there was no budget to repair them. Ji-ha was looking at people for a while and found someone. 

Brother.

A man with a huge body broke through the people and appeared in front of Ji-ha. 

Oh come in. After all, I am diligent from the morning.

Are there any guests today?

It is just like this.

I just cant You have to succeed quickly to put my mind at ease.

Im fine as it is.

The man that was called older brother sighed slightly when he saw the shabby signboard and store. Then, he put his strong arm around Ji-has shoulder and dragged him into the store. 

Come on, didnt I bring you some good information? Wont you be surprised when you hear it too?

This mans name is Park Seong-ho. As a hunter who had awakened the knight class, he was about 100th in the rankings. He set up a small guild called Happy Hunters, and after getting to know Ji-ha, for some reason, he was constantly tempted to come inside. At least he keeps me from starving. Ji-ha politely declines, saying that I wasnt desperate even now, but he was eager to talk to Ji-ha. 

He is a good older brother.

The Happy Hunters guild had a tendency to be like that. Soon after entering the store, Seong-ho sat down on a simple chair and took out his smartphone. 

Can you see this?

It is a polar dungeon.

What appeared on the phone was the HunterNet app. Easy and fun arctic dungeon appears! It was full of missing and misleading information. A dungeon with a minimum temperature of -70 degrees could not be easy and fun. 

Uh. A category 1 arctic dungeon is now open. Do you have some time? With this, you could go in as well.

What Seong-ho took out was a small potion bottle. 

I can see the information again.

{Cold Resistance Potion: Increase cold resistance by 10% for 15 minutes.}

I thought that I would only be able to see the ones that I made, but I could even see the options for potions that had come from drops. It is an insignificant number compared to the potion that he had made, but JI-ha didnt say anything because it was obvious that Seongho had saved this potion for him. 

This potion looks good for some reason?

Seong-ho grinned and shook the bottle, and the blue liquid flowed around. 

This is a cold resistance potion. You know that sometimes potions come out of the drops. If it is blue, it is usually said to be cold resistance. Electricity-type buffs do also come out very rarely, but they probably wont come out in a category 2 dungeon. Its a slightly different color.

Yes, I know.

There are quite a few places in dungeons with artifacts such as ruins and villages. If you clear such a place, when you finally kill the boss monster, you will acquire a treasure chest. Depending on the difficulty of the dungeon, the number of chests and the quality of treasures vary. I had no experience with treasure boxes in the dungeons, but I had heard the stories and knew about it. 

It was hard to get this Since your older sister suffered especially, say thank you later.

The older sister in this case refers to Hwang Seon-yeong of the Happy Hunters Guild. They are three years older than Ji-ha and have the same hobby of collecting old books and scrolls, so they sometimes go to the wholesale center together. She was nicknamed the book ghost, and she was a person who literally read books all the time. 

I But I dont think that I need this.

I have no need to enter the dungeon anyways. Seong-ho put his hand on my shoulder. 

You should go in with us this time. It really isnt dangerous there. In case you didnt know, if you keep going into dungeons, you might get skills or characteristics.

I have been in there a few times, but it has never been like that.

Ji-ha laughed awkwardly, and Seong-ho let out a sigh. 

Still, you should keep going in. There isnt anything down there, right? You arent saying that you cant leave the store empty because it is doing too well, right?

As you can see, there are not many guests.

Haha, you should get better.

Ji-ha was grateful for the care of the big brother in front of him.  Come to think of it, I often go to Seong-ho hyungs house and get treated to meals. His sister-in-law, Lee Joo-mi, also welcomed him more warmly than a younger brother. If you think about it, it is like entering a dungeon. 

Alight, I will go.

Heh, it looks like we are asking for something, but you are coming. You know the Witchs Cauldron? Meet us there at 10:0am tomorrow. 

Who are you going with?

Na-ha, Jumi, you and me. The other two have been dispatched, so the four of us can go in.

Ji-ha suddenly remembered the Sun Apple. It would be nice to make it into a potion, but I wanted to give it to my close friends to taste one by one. 

Oh, brother, would you like an apple? I got them in a dungeon

Uh, I dont know what it is, but I will eat that later. I am going.

Ji-ha was going to treat him to a Sun Apple, but Seong-ho rushed out of the store as if he had work to do. Not long after he disappeared, a large sedan stopped in front of the store. 

Who is it?

Eventually, the person got out of the car. He was a man in his thirties wearing a cape. The status attached to the rare class of the cloak was also great. Obviously, 10 billion is something that goes beyond small scale. Seeing that he had a driver in a large sedan, it was highly likely that he was a senior hunter. 

Ah, that is him, an alchemist from the Eternal Flame Guild.

 Among the hunters, if you say alchemist, he is ranked first. He doesnt have a separate skill or characteristic, but he put in a lot of effort and it paid off. It would not be an exaggeration to say that about 30% of his efforts went into formulating recipes for various potions. But why did he come here? Cheol-heon took a look around and found Ji-ha that came out of the store and bowed slightly. 

Excuse me, are you the owner here?

That is correct.

Ah, that is right. If there is no issue, may I take a look around? I came here to buy something.

Yeah, what

It seemed that an alchemist like him should have no intention of visiting such a shabby shop, but Ji-ha moved out of the doorway for now. Cheol-heon went inside and slowly looked around. Potion bottles were nicely displayed on the stand, and old books and scrolls were placed in jars on the table in the middle. 

Its old, but it is well organized.

However, that alone would not attract Hye-jins attention. There is definitely something that she needs here. 

Or there was

Cheol-heon looked around the display stand and his eyes widened when he saw a yellow fruit. Why is that fruit here?

I wonder if that fruit may I ask where you got it?

Ah, that. I got it from a category 0 dungeon. They said that adding it to the potion had a surprisingly good effect.

Which customer?

Sorry, I cant say more.

it is forbidden to inform others about transactions with customers. It was the first time Cheol-heon had seen a yellow fruit up close, so he looked at it with a curious expression. 

Its quite fragrant.

It looked so delicious that he almost reached out without even realizing it. He barely restrained himself, and smiled at Ji-ha. The whole story of the incident was that he got access to a category 0 dungeon, obtained fruit, turned it into a potion, and then sold it to Hye-jin. He probably will not have a chance to make such a potion again. As a courtesy, Cheol-heon bought several potions and asked Ji-ha to check him out. 

If you look at the potions color or concentration, its not like he doesnt have skills.

However, there are many alchemists of this caliber under his command. Cheol-heon finished checking out and left directly. He then reported to Cha Hwa-yeon, the head of the guild. 

It isnt anything. He was a lucky man. 

Exactly.

He obtained yellow fruit from a category 0 dungeon, added them to potions, and sold them to Hye-jin.

Yellow fruit? Not sure exactly what the effect is?

It is most likely related to Ether consumption. 

He is a lucky man. He must have received ten thousand won, right?

Probably so. It was the driving force behind catching the Man Stalkers. 

What was he like?

Hmm He was a good-looking young man. the lines are a bit soft It might be the guild leaders taste. 

You are so noisy. Anyway, the next time you find that yellow fruit, you need to secure it first. 

How about you, how many times have you found it in dungeons? It is always so far away. 

That means we have to work together. It is difficult, because we are so focused on firepower, but who is the fastest hunter?

-Ill find out. 

Almost every conversation between the guild leader and the chief alchemist ends this way. Cheol-heon smiled bitterly, took off his cloak and set it on a chair, and went straight to work. However, he secretly thinks about the yellow fruit. 

Shouldnt I have bought one and eaten it?

However, he had no intention of wanting to eat the 1 million won fruit. Thinking that far, Cheol-heon wondered why the young man had left all the fruit on the display stand. 

Something so precious Something is strange.

Did you bring a lot out of the dungeon at once? Still, if he had noticed the effect of the potion in his conversation with Hye-jin, he wouldnt have treated it that way. 

Its a bit too much to openly show the fruit

if it was Cheol-heon, he would have made all of them into potions or hid them. What are you doing? His troubles deepened. 

***

Animal friendly Plant friendly

HunterNet, where information about dungeons and hunters is uploaded. Ji-ha is first of all a hunter, so he is registered here. I put two words in the search box and searched, but nothing came up. When I put Alchemy and Blessing, only irrelevant things were listed. 

Definitely, this is the first skill I acquired.

I am the only one in the world that has it. What does this mean? 

Maybe someone entrusted me with a mission.

But no one talked to him. Maybe it was shown through the environment rather than through words. Like a forest in a dream. 

Anyways, I just need to take good care of that forest.

If you do what you can do without being greedy, the reward will follow. After organizing his thoughts, Ji-ha got up from his chair and closed the shop door. 

I have to go in and do

These days he has enjoyed entering the forest of his dreams. Its because if you do a good thing that doesnt even have a great outcome, the reward will follow. He put the dimensional bag in his backpack, tied some wood together, and put a glow-stone in the middle, and I made a decent torch. 

If I put this in my backpack now.

the torch is fastened to the backpack. Turning off the lights, I could see the surroundings clearly. Ji-ha was satisfied with the glow-stones performance. 

I think it would be nice to process ignition stone and make it like flint.

I decided to do that later, so I hurriedly ate dinner, laid down on the bed, and closed my eyes. As soon as he feels the familiar forest air, he looks around. 

Also.

The small Sun Apple was fully mature. For some reason, it was more crowded than the first time.

Even if I take half, there are more than 10 of them.

Winter Strawberries hadnt bloomed yet, so I decided to wait and see. 

Other than that, nothing special

Then he saw something wriggling at his feet and Ji-ha had almost stepped on it. 

Wait, what?

One of the Theradrons was biting something, put it down at his feet, and ran away.  Is there such an absurd thing such as insects giving gifts? Are you giving me this just because I helped you dig a hole before?

{Seed of Humming Bell}

I dont know what a Humming Bell is Thank you anyways.

Its not an ordinary forest, so I thought that it would grow well on its own. So I dug a hole in the ground and planted the seed. Then he scooped up some water from the stream, put it in a bottle, and carefully entered the cave. Fortunately, there was nothing that was a threat to him. 

Its not that deep

Within a few minutes of walking by relying on the light of the glow-stone, Ji-ha was able to come out of the cave. 

Oh my god.

His eyes widened. There was an open white sandy beach and emerald sea.