The Quiet Before the Storm
The morning was unusually still.No floating toddlers, no runaway carrots, no explosions from over-enthusiastic retirees.
Jaehyun should've known that peace was a bad omen.
He leaned on his hoe, squinting at the horizon. "...Something's off. Even the bok choy's quiet."
A passing kid blinked. "Vegetables can be quiet, Teacher Jae?"
"They can when they're scared."
The air carried a strange pressure — faint, but sharp, like static before lightning.
The Rogue Guild's Shadow
High above the cratered fields, black silhouettes crept through the haze.They moved like hunters, cloaked in dark mana.
The Blightfang Guild.
Banned for illegal dungeon raids and mana siphoning.
Their leader smirked under his hood."Target confirmed. The Green Infant — rumored to accelerate mana recovery by 300%. Secure the baby alive. Eliminate witnesses."
His subordinates readied weapons.
Below them, Jaehyun stretched, yawning. "Another normal day—"
Then the sky split open.
Explosions rocked the fields — shockwaves tearing through rows of vegetables.Jaehyun stumbled as the ground split, mana lightning searing the air.
"THE FARM—!" he shouted, watching weeks of growth disintegrate into smoke.
Children screamed. The old men tried to shield them with barrier scrolls that fizzled out instantly.
Baby Bongyu floated half-awake, confused. "Nap… noisy…"
Jaehyun's instincts kicked in. He sprinted through the chaos, gathering the younger Green Awakeners, dragging them behind the irrigation wall.
"STAY DOWN! DO NOT TRY TO FIGHT!"
"But Teacher Jae, the bad guys—"
"I SAID—STAY—DOWN!"
He could barely keep his voice from cracking.
He could feel their killing intent closing in — fast.But when he called out his status window…
[Active Skills: Growth Boost, Soil Recovery, Mana Circulation, Small-Scale Heal, Single Target Buff.]
Nothing for combat. Nothing to defend.
He clenched his fists. "I can't… I can't even build a barrier…"
He slammed his hand against the dirt, green aura flaring faintly — too faint.The ground shimmered but didn't rise. His healing waves fizzled in the smoke.
He'd always been the soft Awakener. The support. The joke.
Now he was supposed to protect an entire guild — with vegetables.
The Blightfang leader landed hard, boots sinking into what was once the bok choy plot."Choi Jaehyun," he sneered. "The Green Saint, huh? Doesn't look like much without Mommy and Daddy."
Jaehyun raised his hoe. "You're stepping on my crops."
The man laughed. "I'll be stepping on more than that soon."
Energy crackled. Blades glowed.Jaehyun's knees trembled, but he didn't move.
Baby Bongyu floated beside him, tiny eyes half-lidded. "...Farm Daddy, angry?"
"Very," Jaehyun said quietly. "But uselessly."
He shoved Bongyu behind him just as a beam of dark mana tore through the air —
BOOM.
Green light burst from the north ridge.A whip of lightning slashed across the field, intercepting the next blast.
"Honestly, hyung," a voice drawled, "you can't leave for two days without making international headlines."
Jaehyun turned, coughing through the dust — his jaw dropping.
There stood his younger sister, Choi Jina, electricity crackling at her fingertips, flanked by their brother, Choi Jinwoo, blazing with fire.
Behind them, a squad of elite awakeners fanned out, forming a shimmering barrier.
Jaehyun could only croak, "...About time."
Jinwoo smirked. "We were busy cleaning up Mom's diplomatic mess. You know how she gets."
Hana grinned. "Also, we brought snacks."
Fire met darkness. Lightning split the haze.Jaehyun stood in the middle of it all, trying to keep the frightened children alive, pressing glowing palms against wounds, whispering frantic healing incantations.
He couldn't fight — but he could keep them standing.And that was enough.
Every time one of his siblings staggered, green light rippled from his hands, mending burns and fractures.
"Jae, your healing's stronger than before!" Jina shouted.
He didn't answer. His body trembled. The ground beneath him cracked — but life pulsed through it, forcing tiny roots to bloom through the ash.
His bok choy was trying to regrow.Even now.
By dusk, the Blightfang Guild was in chains.Half the farm was destroyed, and Jaehyun's arms were bandaged and shaking.
But the fields were glowing — faintly, stubbornly.Where the soil should've been dead, new sprouts pushed through, small and vivid green.
Bongyu, safely snoring on Jaehyun's lap, hiccuped and released a tiny mana burst that accelerated the growth even more.
Jinwoo crouched beside him. "You good?"
Jaehyun's voice was rough. "No. I can't fight. I can't defend. And yet I'm still standing here, pretending to be a guild master."
Hana smiled softly. "That's because you are."
As the moon rose, a new system window flickered before Jaehyun's tired eyes.
[CHAIN QUEST: The Seed of Salvation]
Tier: Divine
Objective 1:
Restore the Land.
Objective 2: Unite the Green.
Objective 3: Survive.
Note: The soil remembers. It chooses you.
Jaehyun stared at it for a long moment.Then he looked at his ruined field, his sleeping students, his siblings patching the fences.
"…Fine," he muttered, exhaustion softening into grim resolve."If the world wants a farmer to save it, then I'll make it bloom — one bok choy at a time."