The rain didn't stop that night.It lingered, soft and persistent, like the world itself was mourning Kim Kitae.
Jaehyun sat beneath the shed roof, legs pulled to his chest, watching the muddy puddles ripple under the drizzle.
The others had gone to rest. Even Bongyu had cried himself to sleep, curled up beside Hana like a tiny green bean.
The farm felt empty.Too quiet. Too big.And for the first time since awakening, Jaehyun hated it.
He buried his face in his arms.
"I couldn't even save one person…"
His aura flickered weakly around his hands — a faint green glow that used to feel warm, alive. Now it looked dim, like a dying ember.
Healing small cuts, speeding seed growth — what good were those when the real world bled from the inside?
He laughed bitterly."Nice job, Farmer Choi. The man who can make lettuce but not miracles."
The wind blew, scattering the smell of wet soil and the faint sweetness of the marigolds by Kitae's grave.Jaehyun stared at the field — the only place still untouched by black mana's creeping corruption. His field.
The soil there pulsed faintly with life, roots interwoven like threads of memory. The last thing Kitae helped him till.And in the middle of it, the tiny sunflower sprout quivered, its single leaf lifting toward the cloudy sky.
Jaehyun felt something shift in his chest — not quite courage, not quite acceptance.More like a slow, heavy inevitability.
He got to his feet, brushing mud off his knees.
"Fine. I get it.""You're gone, old man. But this place isn't."
He crouched by the sunflower and pressed his palm to the dirt.The aura around him steadied — a calm, emerald pulse, spreading gently through the field.
"If I can't heal people… maybe I can heal the land.""And if the land can heal us back…"
He straightened, shoulders square for once. His expression hardened — exhausted, but clear.
"Then I'll keep doing it. Even if it's slow. Even if it's stupid."
The sunflower rustled softly in response, as though agreeing.
The next morning, when the council messenger arrived with a sealed parchment marked "Expedition Summons", Jaehyun didn't argue this time.He simply wiped his hands on his muddy pants and said,
"Tell them the farmer's coming."
Behind him, Bongyu sneezed in his sleep and rolled over in the cabbage patch, hugging a carrot like a teddy bear.Jaehyun sighed.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll bring the kid too. Someone's gotta water me when I pass out again."
And for the first time in days —a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.