While Riet plowed the field, we fetched intact trees from across the stream and built our own gazebo. We carved the wood into shape and then used the system to complete it. Newcomers and other Transcendents could conjure objects out of nothing, but even with beginner-level system assistance and the proper materials, it wasn’t easy for me.

Still, a decent pavilion was finished. I felt a bit proud.

“It feels like playing a tycoon game!”

“A game?”

“I’ve never really played, but—no computer, no phone upgrades allowed.”

“Of course it’s fully up-to-date now!” Yerim laughed. Phones are so important to kids these days! Yerim was first to don work gloves, then Yuhyun and Noah followed. The gloves offered no special effect—just toughness—but somehow they felt necessary.

‘I wonder what Seong Hyunjae’s up to.’

Without a wyvern form, his team had to plow manually. I checked his window: damp earth being turned over.

“Hey! Seong Hyunjae!”

Director Song was sprinting with a yoke across his shoulders. Seong Hyunjae gripped the plow attached to it.

“What on earth are you doing? Director Song isn’t an ox!”

His strength was worth more than ten oxen, but Director Song was still human. Seong Hyunjae turned and offered a leisurely smile—and even wore a straw hat now. Why not wear full overalls? Why still dress pants? He wasn’t just holding the plow—he was standing on the blade like water-skiing.

“You pull it yourself!”

“I’m in charge of fertilizer.”

Unabashed, Seong Hyunjae sent an electric current through the plow blade just before a root snagged it, scorching it to ash. He then pulverized a sizeable rock. As a result, the field was being plowed smoothly and evenly. He clearly knew how to handle a plow, but still—

“Oi!”

“Mr. Song the Ox, Han Yujin worries about you.”

“I’m fine.”

“Oh dear, Director Song! How did you end up with such a cruel master—er, team leader!”

Director Song reached the edge of the field in an instant and slowed to change direction. Seong Hyunjae called out encouragement.

“Whoa, whoa.”

“Hey—!”

Watching Director Song plow in silence made me want to grab Seong Hyunjae by the collar.

“Switch places! You nasty ox-spawn—strap a bell around your neck and ring it!”

“My backside is sleek, as you can see. I’ll pass.”

I wanted to kick him, but only my foot would get hurt. I glanced at the other three. Hyunah, Mari, and Samir were gathered before the pavilion sorting seeds. Ah, we should prepare for sowing too.

“Let’s see... is this watermelon?”

I checked the stacked seed sacks. The picture resembled a watermelon, but the name below was different.

[590B ? Urot

Growth period: about 30 days

Optimal temperature: 13–22 °C

Water every 5–7 days

Insufficient nutrients may reduce fruit size]

A message then appeared:

“The more variety in harvested crops, the higher your score!”

Thirty days means about four hours of growth time. We have sixteen hours total—one hour per week for sixteen weeks—so about eight minutes per day. This one only needs watering once an hour. Nutrients should be ample.

[Time remaining: 15 h 37 m]

[Temperature: 17 °C]

Temperature and time displayed as well. I checked other seed sacks.

“Whoa, this one needs water every three days. Too much or too little water is bad...”

To cultivate multiple crops simultaneously, we’ll need to carry water ourselves, not rely on rain.

“Don’t worry, Uncle. I’m here!”

Reassuring indeed. But that wasn’t all. Optimal temperatures varied by crop—some liked heat, others cold.

“For now, let’s group crops by similar temperature needs.”

“Hyung, how about I build a greenhouse on one side? I’ll control the fire.”

“We need to keep it warm until they all mature. You sure that’s okay?”

“Of course.”

With both fire and water on our side, how could we lose? While Yuhyun and I sorted seeds, Riet upended the ground and returned covered in ash and soil—but looking impressive. Who needs a tractor?

To water the parched earth, I manipulated the system:

“Connecting to dungeon environment.”

A dungeon, huh? So this really is a system administrator training course. As soon as we connected, the island’s magical currents surged into me.

“Ugh.”

“Hyung? You okay?”

“The system’s mana flow feels... unfamiliar.”

I sensed every corner of the island at once, as if the teacher had cast a skill on it. How could Seong Hyunjae handle this so easily? The gap in rank and experience is huge.

Following the system’s guidance, I slowly conjured rainclouds. The sensation of cloud formation felt strange—a power beyond normal skills, the ability to control weather. No wonder Transcendents act like gods.

‘Even if it’s only usable in dungeons...’

They must find humans struggling in their self-made greenhouses ridiculous.

Drip, drip.

Rain began. Yuhyun raised an arm to shield my head, and Yerim swept the drops away so we stayed dry.

“Let’s go inside, hyung.”

No need to get rained on. We climbed into our pavilion and sat. Raindrops fell from the eaves with a certain charm. Yerim and Noah joined us, but Riet remained outside, unbothered by cold.

“Hey! What are you doing!”

Suddenly Riet stripped off her top. Yuhyun, sitting next to her, covered her eyes. Yerim was female and Noah was her sister, so they could look.

“Ash and dirt are all over me~”

“Go wash at the stream! Out of sight! Don’t strip here! Aren’t you ashamed?”

“Why should I be?”

Riet laughed, rain soaking her.

“Honey, only the shy get embarrassed.”

“It’s a social thing! S-Rank Hunters don’t just walk around nude.”

“But they’re not ashamed. They stand proudly without needing cover. Those in weaker social positions feel more shame if exposed—it’s dangerous if someone finds a flaw. They restrain themselves and act more morally.”

“...Still.”

Being strong doesn’t mean one ignores shame or behaves immorally. Well...

“Yuhyun, you’ve never felt embarrassed?”

“How others think is their business. It doesn’t affect me unless it involves you, hyung.”

Embarrassment is awareness of others’ gazes. I could hug Yuhyun in public and he wouldn’t care. Even if he dated someone, same thing. He simply wouldn’t feel awkward.

“Seong Hyunjae cares about face, but he wouldn’t mind if someone snapped him nude.”

He might critique the photographer’s skill. He’d remain unflappable. Director Song too—unless it was intentional, he’d be unfazed. Public nudity is illegal, but accidental disrobing? He’d take it in stride.

As for Riet, and Huangrim, and Shishio—they’d all handle it proudly. Hyunah, as guild leader, might worry about position but not shame.

“If you can thrive solo, you don’t need social skills.”

“I’d feel embarrassed.”

“Yerim, you’ve been S-Rank less than a year. You’re still learning.”

“Thanks to Uncle, I might have reverted to the wild as a child.”

...Maybe.

“And as a dragon, you’re fully naked~ Scaly reptiles don’t reveal genitals.”

Riet spread her arms and exclaimed. Noah bowed her head in embarrassment.

“Just think of scales as clothing.”

“Of course, Noah.”

Riet’s comment made me weirdly self-conscious—thank goodness dragons are ovoviviparous reptiles.

Soon the rain stopped. Yerim and Noah gathered the seed sacks. The field was large; better to scatter seeds and let survivors grow than plant individually.

“Anyone here farm before?”

I assumed nobody, but Riet raised her hand.

“I worked at a vineyard!”

“What? You grew grapes? You?”

“Yeah. I was strong even as a kid. Many asked for my help in busy seasons.”

When did her and Noah’s parents split? They left long before the dungeon appeared, so Riet, still a child, must’ve taken charge.

“I mostly harvested, though~”

I glanced at Noah. A bittersweet smile touched her pale grey eyes. Despite everything, Riet’s abuse was complex; human relationships aren’t simple. Even the worst people have some good, so victims often hesitate to leave. Ideally we’d expel the abuser, but reality’s harder.

‘At least Noah can choose now.’

Riet’s changed somewhat too.

“I’ll sow the melons and cantaloupes here!”

“Good. Group similar watering times together.”

Yerim and Noah flew off with seeds. Riet headed to the stream to wash her clothes, and Yuhyun and I gathered the rest of the sacks at one end of the field.

“Plastic... plastic...”

We replaced the sacks with thin, translucent sheeting. After some trial and error, a long plastic cover was formed. The system is omnipotent—helped by multiple Transcendents and dungeon-creation power, this was easy.

We built a plausible greenhouse, then tossed seeds for tropical crops inside. Yuhyun lit small flames in spots. The interior air instantly heated.

“This should grow well~”

My self and /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ brother inside the dungeon must be eating and living well. They’d harvest every kind of crop. I missed news from them. No way to contact, though.

“Anything you want to eat? We didn’t kimchi last year. We planted cabbage.”

“You like strawberries. There’s something similar—let’s build another greenhouse.”

“I don’t love them, I just like convenience.”

Fruit skins can be a bother—strawberries are bite-sized with no seeds to spit out. Seedless grapes, too.

With all seeds sown, we just needed proper watering and temperature. Then—

“Yerim, fields 13 and 14—water!”

“Ah, wait!”

Yerim frantically misted water. Deluging water was easy, but the real problem was that seeds were barely set—they’d wash away in a strong spray. More delicate control was needed than usual.

“Mist, mist!”

I quickly summoned fog. Using moisture from the stream to create fog, drawing it into the field, then raising temperature so droplets fell gently.

“Temperature falling!”

“Ahh! Yuhyun, very small flames on plots 4 and 5, please!”

“Okay, hyung.”

Fog caused the temperature to drop; Yerim’s water had the same effect by absorbing heat. We couldn’t use the ash fog tactic and had to fine-tune droplets manually.

“Honey, weeds sprouted here.”

“Yujin, over here too!”

“Please!”

Somehow weeds began sprouting among our seeds.

“Crop 101 is too dry!”

“Crop 39 has excess moisture!”

“Crop 91 is too cold!”

Warning messages flew by nonstop. Helpful, but wait—each day is under ten minutes, so crops literally grew and changed every hour. In just two hours, some were quite tall.

And then—

“Harvest crop 214!”

“The corn is fully grown!”

Corn fruited and ripened in three hours—a cornfield here would rival bamboo shoots. Noah tossed a basket; Riet caught it and began picking corn.

“Look, corn. It’s all husks!”

“What?”

Riet peeled back an ear. Why was it so skinny, kernels sparse and poor? Too little water? Should’ve used chemical fertilizer and pesticides! No disease warning had appeared, though.

“Discard any bad produce in the field! Burn it for nutrients!”

“Whoa, Uncle! Look!”

Yerim fluttered up and pointed toward the sea.

“A monster is appearing to prey on crops!”

“...Kill it!”

Why were sea monsters raiding land crops? Yuhyun sprang toward the shore across willow leaves, wielding a flail instead of a sword. Noah grabbed a sickle and flew after.

“Beware of skills! No fire or poison!”

Whish! Yuhyun swung the flail at a giant turtle-like monster. Its shell shattered, blood spraying. ...Might make decent compost. Then Noah slashed a water-snake’s neck with her sickle. The snakes bared venomous fangs and lunged, but Noah’s high poison resistance negated it. She lifted the snake by its tail and slammed it down. Crack! All the snakes flattened.

“Crop 6 is too dry!”

“Ah, Yerim!”

No time to watch. Through all this, crops kept growing, water lagged, and temperature fluctuated. My life depended on it. I wondered about Seong Hyunjae’s team but had no time to check—just the occasional crackle of lightning told me they were alive.

“Uncle, the cabbages seem fully grown too!”

“Right!”

“But over half are lettuce!”

We were doomed. Why wouldn’t they grow properly? Another temperature warning popped up. I sighed deeply.

‘Makes sense.’

Water sometimes came late or too much, and temperature shifted constantly. Even slight cloud cover plunged it. I had to adjust each time, and my system handling was slow.

Amid watering and harvesting potatoes, I focused on the island’s crops. I felt the seedlings’ tender mana. It felt like the field was registered to me, linked by the teacher’s skill.

‘...Can’t I cast a growth buff?’

This space belongs to me now. Could my own skills apply? I entered the greenhouse where I’d planted strawberries. I set down the potato basket, knelt in the warm air, and whispered to the strawberries:

“I love you all. Grow big and strong.”

Grow, strawberries! I love strawberries! I stroked their leaves and even kissed them. Luckily, no one could see inside.

And once again, time passed like a battle.

“Hyung, the strawberries are as big as the melons.”

Yuhyun, emerging from the greenhouse to adjust temperature, spoke, sounding slightly amazed.