Peace Before Disaster (a.k.a. Breakfast)
The day started deceptively calm.
Birds chirped above the wooden fence — mechanical drones disguised as wildlife, deployed by the council to "monitor mana stability." One got stuck in a tree. Again.
Jaehyun ignored it, flipping omelets with grim precision. "Kids, eat up. It's your last normal breakfast before we face the screaming forest of death."
Bongyu blinked sleepily from his chair, a bok choy leaf sticking to his cheek. "Can I nap instead?"
Yeonjin smiled. "Of course, sweetie. You can nap while saving humanity."
Minho, in full hero armor and pink gardening gloves, slammed his fist on the table. "Don't worry, son! I'll protect your crops while you're gone!"
Jaehyun: "…You burned them last time you 'protected' them, Dad."Minho: "That was training fire."Yeonjin: "You screamed and ran away from a butterfly."Minho: "It was aggressively fluttering!"
Jaehyun put his head in his hands. "I'm surrounded by toddlers. Half of them just pay taxes."
Departure — The Sobbing March of the Green Kindergarten
They set off mid-morning, a small caravan of chaos.The council had assigned them a small corrupted patch of forest nearby — once vibrant, now covered in oily black moss.
The "Green Kindergarten" marched behind Jaehyun in what he optimistically called formation, though it looked more like a wobbly parade of exhaustion.
Old Man Han carried a shovel like a sword.Jina tripped over her own vine spell every three meters.The twins argued about who should be "team leader."Bongyu was asleep in a wheelbarrow.
Jaehyun muttered under his breath, "I was supposed to be a quiet farmer. Not… this."
Solaria, the sunflower, rustled cheerfully from Jaehyun's pack. "You are the sun to their sprouts, Jaehyun!"
He deadpanned, "I'm the fertilizer. They step on me to grow."
The Screaming Forest
When they reached the border of the corrupted zone, the air felt heavy.Trees twisted unnaturally, their bark pulsing faintly with dark veins. The ground oozed with mana like black sap.
"Okay, sprouts," Jaehyun said, clapping once. "Lesson one: Don't touch anything that looks like it wants to kill you."
Old Man Han squinted. "That's… everything."
"Exactly. Observation complete. Let's go home."
Yeonjin's voice crackled through the comm crystal from base. "Jaehyun."
He sighed. "Yes, Mom."
"Be brave."
"Yes, Mom."
"And no crying."
"…No promises."
The First Healing Attempt
The team spread out around a clearing. The corrupted soil was soft and hissing.Jaehyun knelt and motioned for the kids. "Remember: steady aura flow, not too strong. If it fights back, don't panic."
He pressed his hand to the ground. Green light bloomed beneath his palm, spreading outward in slow circles.The children followed his lead — timid, trembling energy joining his.
The soil shuddered.
A faint patch of green broke through — real grass. Real life.The twins cheered. Hana almost cried.
Then the ground moved.
"Teacher, the Dirt's Angry!"
From beneath the new grass, roots shot upward — black, sharp, and writhing. They coiled around the fresh sprouts, choking them.
"Teacher!" Hana yelped, falling backward. "It's fighting us!"
Jaehyun's green aura flared brighter. "Stay back!"
He poured his energy into the ground — the black roots recoiled, screeching in psychic tones. The kids huddled together, wide-eyed.
Yeonjin's voice came again, urgent. "Jaehyun! Your aura output is unstable!"
"I KNOW, MOM!"
Minho chimed in helpfully from the background: "Should I bring snacks?!"
"DAD, NOT NOW!"
Bongyu's Nap-Pocalypse
As the roots closed in again, one tendril lunged toward the wheelbarrow.It stopped.
Because Bongyu, still asleep, had rolled over — his tiny hand touching the corrupted soil.
A massive wave of green light exploded outward.
The forest went silent.The roots turned white, then disintegrated into glowing dust.Half the corrupted zone purified in one nap.
Yeonjin (through comm): "…Was that the baby?"Jaehyun stared in disbelief. "He just… sleep-purified a kilometer of forest."
Minho: "That's my grandson!"Jaehyun: "He's not your grandson, Dad."Minho: "Spiritually, he is."
Aftermath — Jaehyun's Breakdown
Hours later, the team rested beside a newly purified pond. The air was fresh again. The kids were laughing.
Jaehyun sat apart, staring blankly at the water. "I'm obsolete. Replaced by a sleeping baby. Fantastic."
Solaria tried to cheer him up. "You guided him, Jaehyun! Without your teaching, he would not—"
"He's been asleep for 18 hours, Solaria. He's stronger unconscious than I am fully awake."
Yeonjin arrived via teleport circle, radiant as always. "You did well."
Jaehyun pointed dramatically at Bongyu. "HE did well! I just screamed and cried in the mud!"
Minho proudly handed Jaehyun a towel. "That's my boy! Crying builds character."
Yeonjin smiled. "And mud builds fertilizer."
Jaehyun groaned. "I hate this family."
The Quest Window Appears Again
That night, as Jaehyun sulked by the campfire, the familiar holographic text reappeared.
[Chain Quest — Stage 1: COMPLETE]Progress: 1/5 regions purified.Bonus objective unlocked: Teach the next generation before they surpass you.New Quest: [Stage 2 — The Green Uprising Begins.]
He stared at the glowing text for a long moment.Then he whispered flatly:
"…The world really just told me to raise more overpowered toddlers."
Solaria: "At least they listen to you."Jaehyun: "They don't. They just sparkle and destroy ecosystems by accident."
He sighed, rolling over to sleep.Somewhere behind him, the purified grass swayed gently — and faint whispers of laughter echoed through the night.