Wings of Opportunity
With the expansion of her activity radius free from time constraints, Donghee's steps felt as light as if they had sprouted wings. As she walked, pondering what to fill her generously expanded inventory with, she forgot all about the troubles that had plagued her just yesterday.
Donghee headed straight for the first floor of the mart without glancing anywhere else. The path to the mart was still shrouded by towering walls of hazy fog, but unlike before, she no longer feared something might leap out at her. Her mind was now occupied solely with thoughts of what she could bring back from the first floor.
Upon arriving at the mart, Donghee took a deep breath to steady her trembling heart before stepping through the massive glass doors.
“Whoa.”
The interior of the mart, which she had visited several times before, now felt like an entirely different world.
The first thing that caught Donghee's eye was the corner selling fresh fruits and vegetables. There were apples, grapes, tangerines, pineapples—everything imaginable—and the vegetables like zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, and bean sprouts were all vibrant, colorful, and looked as if they had been harvested just yesterday.
But what truly made Donghee's heart race was the meat section. She dashed straight for the meat counter at the farthest end from the entrance, ignoring the open dumpling stand completely.
Inside the chilled glass display case, glistening crimson meat greeted her.
“Hello, Hanwoo. Mind if I try eating you?”
Donghee smiled shyly at the Hanwoo boasting its magnificent marbling. Without hesitation, she loaded her inventory full of it. After filling a hundred slots of her now eight-hundred-slot inventory with Hanwoo, she added various cuts of pork for grilling and boiling.
“Time to grill some meat.”
The packaged meat was quite heavy, making her arms ache, but thinking of the people who would enjoy it made the effort feel worthwhile.
After filling half her inventory with meat alone, Donghee moved to the egg section.
“Where are the fertilized eggs?”
She carefully stocked her inventory with free-range organic fertilized eggs, something she could never have afforded before. Since there was no guarantee every egg would hatch successfully, she bought plenty to account for failures.
Excitedly filling her inventory with various proteins, Donghee also added a box of sweet potatoes on her way out. She had worried the individual items might take up too much space, but fortunately, the sealed box registered as a single slot.
“Let's plant some sweet potatoes too.”
Donghee added ten more boxes of sweet potatoes to her inventory. After hauling so many, her arms throbbed painfully.
“Wow, this is no joke. Having an assistant right now would be amazing.”
-A skilled assistant! Do you need one? Right here, a prepared assistant is available.
Donghee was rubbing her aching arms with her fists when a status window suddenly appeared before her eyes.
“Could it be! Taechang?”
-Yes, that Taechang.
“Can I use you as an assistant?”
-Of course. As long as you pay the appropriate usage fee, I'll do anything.
“How much?”
Donghee's voice was filled with suspicion. She was certain he would overcharge her, but she couldn't completely dismiss the faint hope.
-Is the labor you require carrying items into the inventory?
“That's right.”
-Calculating usage fee.
The status window displayed unknown characters on its blue screen before flashing a message with a cheap sound effect.
-Considering the weight and simplicity of the labor, Taechang's usage fee is as follows.
Pay 10 hidden points. However, an additional fine may be imposed if used outside the designated area. Do you wish to hire?
“Great!”
The surprisingly low fee made Donghee nod enthusiastically. With her arms feeling like they might fall off, she was more than willing to pay ten points.
-Contract established. Thank you.
The moment the thanks ended, a silver-haired man burst out from within the blue screen as if pushed.
He immediately tried to turn back inside, but the status window vanished in an instant. The man, who had charged like a bull into empty space, stumbled forward a few steps before standing there dazed like a lost child.
His back somehow looked lonely.
“Hi, Taechang.”
Donghee greeted him first as he showed no sign of turning around. Seeming annoyed, Taechang clenched his fists and glared at where the status window had disappeared for a long while before reluctantly turning his head.
The man's face, pale as snow, flushed red.
“How dare you to me⋯⋯”
“Will you load twenty boxes of sweet potatoes and fifty boxes of tangerines first?”
“Do I look like someone who would do such menial work?”
Taechang approached one step, trembling, and asked. Behind his back, green square light fragments rippled like an aura.
His gaze was fierce enough to make grabbing him by the collar seem natural. But Donghee had just completed the contract and felt no intimidation.
“Yeah.”
“What?”
“If you want to argue about minimum wage, take it up with that blue guy, not me. I simply hired you according to the contract. Did I say ten points first? No. So whose fault is it?”
“That's!”
“Ah, whatever! I've already paid. If you don't want to do it, give back the points you took.”
At the mention of returning the points, Taechang quickly covered his mouth and stepped back.
Seeing Taechang's startled reaction, Donghee smirked and took a step closer, thinking he really didn't want to return the points.
“You really don't want to give them back?”
“What do you know to act like this⋯⋯”
Donghee stared quietly at his reddened ears before pointing firmly at the sweet potato boxes.
“I know. I know everything.”
Taechang covered his mouth with his palm again. Donghee chuckled derisively at the sight.
“So if you don't want your points taken back, hurry up and carry them. Sweet potatoes. Tangerines. Ah! Some green onions too, please. Not the trimmed ones, but with roots. If I plant them, I can pull them out whenever I cook and eat them fresh without going back and forth. I'll put some in ramen. The chef will like them too. What are you doing? Not carrying?”
The man trembled as if humiliated, but since there was only one way to return the points, he reluctantly trudged toward the sweet potato boxes.
“This humiliation will definitely—”
“What? You'll return the points?”
“Carrying five boxes at once is fine, right?”
Taechang asked while lifting five boxes of sweet potatoes at once.
“Be careful not to damage them.”
Soon after, the leveled-up inventory quickly filled with various items.
After filling the last inventory slot with large-capacity cooking oil, Taechang vanished as abruptly as he had appeared. His beautiful hair, reminiscent of moonlight, seemed especially melancholic today.
In just a few days, more than half of the wasteland had been reclaimed. Donghee, who had gone outside the castle with Helsa and Farmer to inspect the completed land, couldn't hide her amazement at the unrecognizably changed soil color.
“Is that really the same wasteland?”
The land that had once been so dry that dust flew with every breeze and frozen solid like ice, impossible to till with farming tools, had now transformed into moist, fluffy soil like soft velvet.
Donghee stepped down from the carriage and gazed in disbelief at the chocolate-colored earth, marveling. In the distance, people were still working the unreclaimed land with dural fertilizer. Everyone seemed excited by the changes they had achieved themselves. Their lively laughter carried on the wind to where Donghee stood.
“This is really happening.”
“It is all thanks to you, my lord. Every time the people touch this soil, they marvel at the miracle.”
Helsa spoke with an expression as moved as Donghee's while gazing at the vast land. Farmer, standing beside her, already had a reddened nose and was sniffling.
Born a farmer, he had never started or ended a day with such overwhelming emotion.
“We can plant anything in this land.”
“Yes. Sob, once winter passes and spring comes, sob! This place will be filled with green.”
Donghee nodded at Farmer's tearful words. Perhaps because Farmer was crying, her own nose tingled.
“Handsome, bring what we prepared.”
The moment Donghee spoke, Handsome brought over a box and set it on the ground. Helsa and Farmer's gazes naturally followed the box. Inside were both familiar and unfamiliar crops.
“Do you know what these are?”
Donghee asked with a hint of anticipation.
“This looks like pumpkin, but why is it so small?”
Helsa was the first to recognize the kabocha squash.
They grow pumpkins here too! Delighted, Donghee picked up a kabocha and held it out to Helsa.
“Can we grow this here?”
“Pumpkins grow well in cool, dry places, but this one looks a bit different. I've never seen such small pumpkins before.”
“It's kabocha.”
Helsa tilted her head as if hearing the name for the first time and fiddled with the kabocha Donghee had handed her. What had filled Donghee's hands now looked as small as a tangerine in Helsa's grasp.
“Kabocha, you say?”
“Yeah. When steamed, it's incredibly sweet and delicious. It can be used in many dishes too. Want to try growing it?”
“Yes. I'll give it a try.”
“Good. There are other things here too, so discuss with Farmer and try growing them well. I've stocked the Grace Castle warehouse full, so cook with these today, and plant the rest next spring.”
“Yes! We'll do our best.”
“The future of our territory rests on you two. Give it your all.”
At Donghee's words, the two seemed momentarily tense, but soon bowed respectfully toward the lord who believed in them.