The S-Classes That I Raised

Chapter 656: Farming Is the Foundation of the World (1)

“The final task for the temporary System Administrator is farming.”

Mr. Myungwoo said that. Huh?

“Farming, out of nowhere?”

“You must safely grow crops within the given space. The System Administrator adjusts the environment for the crops’ growth and must also prevent pests and diseases.”

In other words, it was like studying how to configure dungeon environments. Managing dungeons would be one of a System Administrator’s main jobs.

“Aren’t they making us do the full–on administrator job a bit too seriously?”

“Of course there’s an auxiliary system prepared. I’m also puzzled that they’re teaching you this far, but…”

Myungwoo slightly furrowed his brows and trailed off.

“It probably means both of you are candidates.”

“Candidates?”

“Transcendent candidates who will take on system management.”

I reflexively turned to Seong Hyunjae standing beside me. His golden eyes shifted slightly, looking down at me.

“I can understand it for him, but me too? They say even an F–rank can grow once they’re out of the system, but it would take at least a few hundred years.”

Nine times out of ten I’d die of old age before that. As it is, my lifespan already changes day by day.

“Even if you never become a Transcendent, they can still make use of you.”

Myungwoo spoke without hiding his displeasure.

“Once you’re no longer a ‘living organism’, your lifespan can be extended indefinitely depending on your maintenance status.”

“…R–right.”

My chest twinged for no reason. It was a method I’d thought about too. If Young Chaos could turn living beings into swords, of course other Transcendents could do the same. Even Chatterbox had tried to change me.

“The Sesung Guild Leader is a textbook Transcendent candidate though.”

“But he isn’t accepting scouting offers.”

If another Transcendent recruited him, it would basically be a double contract. That thought suddenly made me curious.

“What happens if you make the exact same contract with two Transcendents?”

“Normally the later one would be invalid. Unless the gap in standing between the two Transcendents is so huge it nullifies the first contract. But that almost never happens. For a later–priority contract to override the earlier one, you’d need a difference like a Transcendent versus an SSS–rank. About that big.”

So between Transcendents, whoever stamps the contract first wins. I stole a glance at Seong Hyunjae. It meant that even if I revived Diarma’s contract and got tangled up with other Transcendents, I couldn’t nullify Crescent Moon’s contract. And Crescent Moon seemed to be top–tier even among Transcendents.

“…How are you and your ‘you back home’ getting along?”

“Who knows. I might start feeling a little hurt.”

“What are you even talking about. Why would you be.”

If anyone should be sulking, it’s me, with how he does whatever he wants. Seong Hyunjae lowered his eyes slightly and let out a regretful sigh.

“Back then you were unexpectedly more sociable. Even though all your hackles were up.”

“Look who’s talking, pot and kettle! You’re both just as bad, but at least the one who’s fifty steps away is better than the one a hundred steps away.”

He’d done a ton of stupid things after my regression too, but he was still a little less obnoxious than the current one.

“The less cute one.”

The golden eyes turned directly toward me.

“Easier to throw away, at least. That’s a relief.”

“Right back at you. Not that I’m saying you’re cute.”

Seong Hyunjae’s gaze pressed down on my whole body, heavy. Like he was appraising some rare artifact.

“So you still haven’t realized yet.”

“Could you try talking so a normal person can understand? You’re always the only one who gets it.”

That jerk Seong Hyunjae curled his lips in a smug smile. I wanted to smack that mouth.

“The time given is the same for both of you, and your score will be calculated based on yield and quality. In the given space, one week of crop growth time equals one hour. You will farm for roughly four months, sixteen weeks – sixteen hours. Skills are allowed, items are not, and you will be given farming tools.”

“Is it okay to operate them without a license, sir?”

“They’re not machines.”

“Huh?”

“Hoes, sickles, spades, A–frames, plows, and so on.”

“W–wait a second, Mr. Myungwoo! This is way too unfair to me! Look at the size difference!”

I pressed right up against Seong Hyunjae and protested. Look at this, look! He’s a whole hand taller than me!

“His forearms are twice as thick as mine, twice! He’s tall, good proportions, his clothes hide it so he looks slim, but his muscles are no joke, okay? Strip him and he looks totally different! You wouldn’t need a separate ox to plow the field.”

“Have you stripped me before?”

“I’ve threatened to strip you before, sure, but that’s not the point!”

Technically I’d only wanted to unwind his yarn. Even with farm machinery, farming is all about stamina, and they’re telling us to plow fields with a plow! I can’t win this.

“It’s not a competition. You just have to pass.”

“If we’re doing it, I want to win! And I might not even pass, Myungwoo. Not unless they mean ‘it’s fine even if you completely ruin the farm’.”

One week per hour. If you mess up the environment and cause a drought, who knows how many times you’d have to haul water in that one hour. And harvest? Even a small garden plot takes hours to harvest; everything would wither while you’re at it.

“You each get the four members of your main party from your rooms. Isn’t that enough?”

“Yes, sir!”

Phew, with just Yuhyun and Yerim we’d be done with the farming. I knew Director Song and Hyunah were on Seong Hyunjae’s team, but who were the other two?

“Your harvest will be delivered to Transcendents, and there may be rewards depending on it.”

“Really? The Transcendents?”

“Food they create directly and crops they grow themselves are a little different. It’s hard for them to pull crops out of worlds they can’t interfere with. But it’s a hassle to farm themselves, and more importantly, once you’re a Transcendent, if you grow crops your power inevitably seeps into them.”

So ordinary food items often get traded at pretty high prices, Myungwoo said.

“Even though they’ll adjust time and environment, they’re still crops you grew yourselves, so they agreed to take them.”

“Myungwoo, you sound like you know a lot about Transcendents.”

“I’m the system’s auxiliary. I can’t tell you anything beyond limited information either. And you, Yujin, don’t go poking around carelessly.”

“Okay.”

“No.”

“Okay.”

So the system really did have info on Transcendents. Myungwoo gave me a stern look, then transported the two of us. My vision darkened for a second and then brightened again. I was standing in a small clearing in a dense forest. First, I checked the space through the system.

“…An island?”

It was a small island. There was a single stream running through it; the rest was all forest. On one side of the clearing, I could see a pile of farm tools.

“And what’s with the clothes and straw hat.”

As soon as I put on the red work gloves, a message appeared.

[Ten minutes before task start]

Then a window about the size of a tablet popped up.

[You can scout and contact the opposing team.]

Through the window I could see an island similar to mine. Seong Hyunjae had taken off his coat and gloves and was also pulling on red work gloves.

“Since we’re at it, why don’t you change clothes too? Farming in dress pants really doesn’t suit you.”

[Is that a new hobby of yours.]

“Huh?”

[Stripping me.]

“I told you, I never stripped you! If it’s forearms, I’ve seen Yuhyun’s of course, and Mr. Noah’s, Hyunah’s, Shishio’s, Director Song’s, and so on.”

[So your hobby is stripping peo–]

“The pool, the pool!”

Director Song hadn’t been at the pool, though. I’d seen Yuhyun since he was little. Strictly speaking, the only one I’d ever fully stripped was Yuhyun.

“Well, I’m going to win again anyway, so I’ll let that slide.”

I said confidently, then transported the people in my room. Yuhyun, Yerim, Noah, and Liette appeared, looking around.

“Mister! Where are we?”

“An unnamed island. We’re going to farm here starting now.”

“Farm? I did a school garden project back in elementary school. Growing kidney beans and stuff.”

I’d heard the curriculum had changed a lot, but I guess they still grow beans. Yuhyun and I had grown them too. I explained the task to the four of them.

“Should we clear the forest?”

Liette spoke like she was ready to turn into a dragon right away. We’d have to clear it to make fields, but…

“No. We don’t have fertilizer.”

To grow good crops, the soil has to be fertile. The land here was small but heavily forested. Which meant those trees had probably sucked up all the nutrients. At times like this…

“Yuhyun, burn it all.”

Good old slash–and–burn. Burn the plants, and the ash becomes fertilizer. Of course, it’s not something you’re supposed to do these days.

“But we need to leave enough ash. Can you make it close to ordinary fire? The forest has to disappear quickly, the stream can’t be damaged, and it needs to burn just enough to be perfect for farming.”

“Yeah. I can do it.”

Willow leaves scattered as Yuhyun leapt into the air. Yerim took off as well, and Noah fully dragonized to carry Liette and me. The ten–minute countdown ticked all the way down.

[Begin the task!]

“Yuhyun, now!”

Fwoosh–

Flames bloomed at Yuhyun’s fingertips. Not black, not blue, but red fire. The flames leapt to the willow leaves, and the leaves scattered from high in the sky. Fresh, water–laden trees don’t catch fire easily. But wherever that crimson fire fell, in an instant—

Whoom.

The flames roared up. The fire that had taken hold grew fiercer, spreading through the entire forest. Even though there was almost no wind, it moved at an incredible speed. And it avoided the water’s edge. Crack! Trees wrapped in fire toppled one after another, smoke billowing in thick clouds. Noah beat his wings wide, driving the smoke away from us.

“Good, keep it up and put it out at just the right time!”

We wouldn’t even need thirty minutes to clear the forest. I’m going to win this too. Seong Hyunjae’s team could probably clear their forest fast, but they had no fertilizer. And simply setting it on fire would take way too long. Ordinary flames would need at least half a day in real time to burn a forest that big properly. When would they even start farming?

I looked into the window to see what Seong Hyunjae was doing. Rumble, the ground–shaking sound came faintly through the window. It was Moon Hyunah. Since they couldn’t use her greatsword, she’d taken a hatchet instead and was felling trees in a single blow. She chopped them down with the axe and sprinted forward, kicking the trunks to break them.

On the other side I could see Director Song. In a light shirt with work gloves on his fists, he strode through the forest. Wherever his feet, shoulders, or fists touched, the trees toppled and were shoved aside in waves. A human bulldozer.

And one more person.

‘Huh?’

It was Samir, holding a sickle in each hand. What the hell, why was the kidnapped prince over there? Don’t tell me Seong Hyunjae was the kidnapper. While the three of them worked hard, Seong Hyunjae was… building a little rest hut. Next to him I saw Mari wearing a straw hat. Miss Mari?

‘That team is really… not the lineup I expected.’

Mari and Samir, of all people; we hardly had any information on those two. In contrast, Seong Hyunjae probably knew our team’s abilities relatively well. He should have gotten some information from his current self, and the Chatterbox party broadcasts made it easy to study us.

“Are you just dumping all the work on your team and relaxing?”

I didn’t have anything I could do right now, sure. But he was different. You too, take your shirt off and go clear the forest.

[My part starts now.]

Seong Hyunjae said, watching the forest vanish in an instant. Shoving the trees aside was indeed faster than burning them. Many trees had been yanked out with their roots, exposing bare, red soil all over. After the three of them pushed the trees down into the sea, a short while later—

Plip, plip.

Rain began to fall. Oh, environmental control. I hurried to check the system too.

[Rain

Wind

Sunlight

You can control temperature using the three items above.]

All three had clear limits. Rain only allowed basic adjustment of rainfall; you couldn’t pour enough to cause floods. Same with wind and sunlight. In short, you couldn’t use them offensively.

‘So in future team battles, that must mean we can’t inflict direct damage using environmental control either.’

Even indirect use would be plenty effective though. Especially if it rained during Yerim’s fights – that would be game over for the enemy. But the opponent could just as easily stop the rain. And they could make it rain during Yuhyun’s fights too. We’d better get used to it in advance—

Kraaack!

Just then, the sound of thunder crashed from beyond the window. What, you couldn’t make lightning with weather control.

“What are you doing?”

It was Seong Hyunjae. He was scattering lightning over and over. He wasn’t burning trees, so what was he doing?

“I’m fertilizing the ground.”

“…Excuse me?”

What kind of thunderbolt nonsense was that.

[Have you never heard that a year with lots of lightning brings a good harvest.]

“…Isn’t that just a superstition?”

[The energy of a lightning strike breaks apart nitrogen in the air and makes it combine with oxygen. That becomes nitrogen oxides – what people commonly call nitrogen fertilizer.]

“Fertilizer?”

Lightning makes fertilizer now? It helps with farming too? If I ever get stranded on a deserted island, I’m definitely taking Seong Hyunjae. Is there anything he can’t do?

‘In the end, our conditions ended up about the same.’

I’d thought Seong Hyunjae’s team wouldn’t be able to make fertilizer. At best I figured they’d burn a little to make some ash and be done. The forest below was almost completely burned through now. Once we plowed through the mounds of ash, we’d be ready to sow.

“Next, Liet— ow!”

Liette, who was seated behind me, suddenly grabbed my waist tight. Noah twisted his head in surprise.

– Yujin.

“Hey! What are you suddenly— hands off!”

“Sweetie, you still look delicious.”

“What?”

Where do you think you’re putting your hands, hey! Hey!

“That’s just, you’re mistaken, okay? It’s a skill effect, a skill effect! Because I have a lot to do with dragonkin!”

“Yeah, and that makes you even more attractive. It’s gotten stronger than before.”

– Sis, please let go of Yujin!

At first it had just been Dragon Slayer. But after that, I took Diarma’s dragonkin abilities, and with his magic stone and the magic stone of a humanoid dragonkin inside me, Gyeol, another dragonkin, was born. On top of that, the Black Dragon got mixed in too, so it made sense Liette felt that way.

“I don’t plan on doing anything with anyone I don’t like that way!”

“But I like you, Sweetie.”

Her voice whispered right behind me as she hugged me even tighter, and my ears suddenly burned. It’s just because of the titles and everything else, calm down.

“Enough, let go.”

Valerie was heavily affected by skills too, and the thought made me feel just a tiny bit bleak.

“Hunter Liette, please take your hands off my brother.”

Before I knew it, Yuhyun had stepped over the willow leaves and come up to us, speaking in an icy voice. Liette laughed, ha ha ha, wrapped her arms around my neck, and ruffled my hair. Hey!

“I’m just showing I like him~ Sweetie’s little brother hugs and kisses Sweetie too, right? Just like I do with Noah!”

“There are no kisses!”

“Why not? Being pressed up close to someone you like feels good. Warm and cozy. Skinship is good the more you do it~ Noah liked it too!”

Noah, who had craned his neck to look back at us, flinched and blinked. Liette’s touch was definitely rough yet gentle at the same time.

‘They do say hugs and things are good for your emotional health.’

I could kind of understand Noah’s feelings, hating and liking Liette at the same time. She must have been like this since they were kids. Honestly telling her little brother he was useless while just as honestly pouring affection on him. Hugging, stroking, kissing him and saying, pretty, pretty. When she shouted I love you more freely than anyone else, how could he completely throw that away?

That affection had turned poisonous when it combined with you’re weak. If she’d only ever abused him, it might have been easier for him to break away.

“It’s done, hyung.”

Yuhyun pulled me out of Liette’s arms as he spoke. Noah, Liette, and Yerim also descended to the ash–covered ground. Ash was scattered around the clearing too, but the provided supplies were intact, as if protected by a barrier.

“Noah, you like this kind of thing, right?”

“No, sis– wait…”

Liette yanked Noah, now back in human form, into a hug and planted her lips on his cheek. Mr. Noah didn’t exactly look like he hated it either. W–well. Skinship is nice. Come to think of it, I give Peace and Gyeol little kisses all the time. I’m always carrying them around too. Koreans really do need to be more generous with affection!

“Yuhyun, you come here too!”

“Yeah, hyung.”

Yuhyun ducked his head like he’d been waiting for it. My hands twitched awkwardly, but I still hugged him and, for the first time in ages, kissed his cheek. Then Yerim… felt like I should do it for her too.

“Hard pass.”

Yerim crossed her arms with a ugh look in her eyes.

“It’s not that I don’t like you, Mister, but I don’t want my cheek touching Han Yuhyun’s even indirectly, you know?”

…Yuhyun’s cheeks are clean though.

“And Mister, I saw it a few times while I was sightseeing in Paris. French people just make a little smooch sound with their lips; they don’t actually kiss.”

“…What? They don’t? But!”

“Liette’s Liette. That was out on the street, so maybe families really kiss for real.”

“Everyone does it~”

Liette declared confidently. Is that actually true? Well, in our country too, kids get a lot of cheek kisses when they’re little.

“…Let’s just plow the field.”

Still, just in case, I’d better be careful in front of other people. Liette shouted okay and turned into a huge Black Dragon. The Black Dragon stomped down with a thud and began tearing up the darkened earth. Soil and ash mixed and billowed up. This year’s harvest was going to be great.