The First Harvest
The waiting period was shorter and longer than I had anticipated. When the number 48 hours first appeared on the System window, I had wondered how I would ever get through it. But after checking the various facilities in the Research Bunker and engaging in heated discussions with Eve about the factory's development, the time had arrived before I knew it.
Ding!
[Notification: High-Efficiency Cultivator 'Potato' cultivation complete.]
[Crops are ready for harvest.]
“Oh! It’s finally done!”
I had set up the notification feature I’d discovered recently for the cultivator, and it had worked perfectly for the potato production. I sprang up like a spring toward the cultivator installed outside the Research Bunker. Eve followed close behind, her eyes filled with curiosity.
The high-efficiency cultivator was covered by a transparent tempered glass lid. I released the lock and pushed the lid upward. With a ‘click,’ a pleasant, earthy scent wafted out from inside.
Fresh potatoes, lightly dusted with fertile potting soil, were revealed. There was no need for me to harvest them manually; the roots and stems had already been removed, leaving several potato tubers sitting in the bin.
“They’re real potatoes. They’re actually quite plump for something that grew in just two days!”
I picked up a soil-covered potato with my bare hands. A heavy weight transmitted through my palm. Overwhelmed by the cool, firm texture of the freshly dug potato, I rubbed it against my cheek and cheered like a child.
“Congratulations, Jaero.”
Eve looked at the potato I was holding, visibly stunned by the factory’s miraculous production capability. Metal processing was already a cheat-level process, but growing potatoes in two days was a phenomenon on an entirely different level.
I carefully brushed the dirt off the potatoes and counted the yield. There were exactly 20. Since I had started by inserting 10 potato seeds when I unlocked the agriculture tree, it had exactly doubled. To sit back and produce potatoes in just two days with a few clicks—the efficiency of the agriculture tree was truly ‘broken.’ If I had enough power from the generators, I could run dozens of seed generators and cultivators to produce an infinite supply of food.
While it would be fine to eat a few of the 20 potatoes I’d harvested, I couldn't eat them all. Some had to be put back into the seed generator to keep the production line moving.
“Eve, pick out the 10 that look the plumpest and sturdiest. Put the rest into the seed generator so we can use them as seeds for the next harvest.”
“Understood.”
“Yeah. If we eat everything just because we have food in front of us right now, we might be full today, but we’ll have to go back to chewing on those disgusting, dirt-flavored energy bars tomorrow.”
The thought of the energy bars made me shudder.
“I will select the 10 inferior potatoes and put them into the seed generator to operate it.”
Eve had become quite accustomed to the factory equipment now. Following my request, she set aside the 10 potatoes for cultivation. That left me with 10 heavy potatoes that we could consume entirely as our meal.
“Alright, now all we have to do is roast these until they’re golden brown…”
The problem started there. The Research Bunker was overflowing with high-tech processing machines, but there wasn't a single tool or kitchen facility to cook food. Since I couldn't exactly throw potatoes into a blast furnace, we had to find another way to start a fire.
I wandered around the forest near the bunker, gathering dry twigs, leaves, and thick firewood. Considering the wind direction, I cleared a safe spot on the outer wall of the bunker, arranged stones in a circle, and stacked the wood inside to create a small, campfire-style hearth. It was the perfect setup for roasting potatoes.
However, as I knelt before that perfect setup, I faced the most fatal and fundamental flaw in my survival plan.
‘Wait. How exactly am I supposed to start a fire?’
I searched the bunker, but there were no lighters, no matches. I even checked the shop terminal just in case, but there was nothing useful. But I didn't panic or despair. Even primitive humans from long before the dawn of civilization had started fires in the harsh wilderness, and the knowledge I’d gained from survival programs and wilderness survival videos on Tube remained vivid in my mind.
“Eve, don't worry too much. I know a very reliable, scientific method. I know how to create embers using frictional heat from wood. I’ll have a fire going and some roasted potatoes ready in no time.”
I declared heroically and set off to explore the surroundings with confidence. I picked up a flat, dry piece of wood to serve as a base, a long, straight branch to hold and create friction, and some leaves and grass to catch the spark. Using a knife, I carved a small groove in the center of the wooden board and piled the dry leaves and grass neatly around it.
The preparation was complete. I stood the straight branch upright in the groove, gripped it with both hands, and spun it relentlessly, as if rubbing it together.
Swish-swish! Swish-swish!
A rhythmic, consistent friction sound echoed through the quiet forest. The theory and the mental simulation were perfect. If I maintained this speed and maximized the friction, heat would build up in the groove of the wooden board, it would char black, and soon, a red ember would appear. Then, I would just have to add the crushed dry leaves and fibers and blow on it to make flames rise.
Ten minutes passed. Beads of sweat began to form on my forehead, and my arm muscles started to ache. But there was no smoke, not even the smell of burning wood. The wooden board just creaked, holding onto a slight warmth.
“Huh, that’s strange. In the videos, there’s supposed to be smoke by now. Did I lack strength?”
I rubbed the branch with even greater force.
Thirty minutes passed. The muscles from my shoulders to my forearms screamed as if they were tearing. I had already broken dozens of branches. Every time a branch broke, I wasted time finding a new, straight one. I had used up all my strength with zero results.
“Hrrraaaagh! Please! Just give me some smoke, just burn, damn it!”
I let out a beastly roar and spun the branch like a madman. Sawdust was being ground out, but it wouldn't give me a spark. Only a faint, acrid smell of ground wood drifted into the air; the trace of the red ember I so desperately wanted was nowhere to be found.
“Jaero, perhaps I should try another method…”
“No, Eve! I can do it! Please, just believe in me!”
After saying that, another 30 minutes passed. My breathing was ragged, sounding like a rusted saw. My arms trembled regardless of my will, and my palms were rubbed raw and red.
“…Haa, haa… I’m done. I give up.”
In the end, I admitted my limits, threw the branch away in frustration, and sprawled out on the dirt floor. My palms throbbed as if they’d been burned, and my entire body was drenched in sweat and covered in dirt. I had fought for an hour without stopping, but all I had to show for it was a handful of charred wood dust.
“The experts in the videos make it look so easy, but actual survival is on a different level… Should I just give up on the fire and chew on raw, hard potatoes?”
I muttered to myself, staring at the sky while lying on the ground in despair. More than the physical pain, the situation itself—having boasted that I would start a fire only to fail—was humiliating and miserable.
Just then, Eve, who had been watching me quietly from the side, approached. She knelt down and gently wiped my forehead and cheeks, which were covered in sweat and dirt. Even though I had completely lost face, her calm blue eyes held no disappointment or mockery.
“Jaero, please do not be too disheartened.”
Eve’s voice was infinitely gentle and calm.
“Even though you failed to create a spark, it is fine. Your heart, which tried so hard to feed me warm and delicious food, is enough. The sight of you trying to roast potatoes for me was truly wonderful.”
It was a bit embarrassing, but thanks to her sincere comfort, the throbbing pain in my palms seemed to wash away. The fact that she fully affirmed the ‘effort itself’ rather than the result touched me deeply. I slowly clenched and unclenched my sore hands and gave a faint, hollow but comfortable smile.
‘Yeah, if Eve says it’s cool, then it’s cool. I can fail sometimes.’
I steadied myself, pulled myself together, and sat up. While catching my breath, I projected a translucent window into the air to check if there were any other alternative means to start a fire within the game-like system that I might have missed.
Swiping through the menus with my finger, I tapped the ‘Tools’ tab located in the very corner. It was a space where the survival and gathering tools I’d been given by default when I first arrived in this world as a factory manager—axes, sickles, hammers—were neatly lined up.
And the next moment, as I scanned the screen, my gaze stopped at a very small, familiar-looking icon tucked away in the corner, right next to the hammer icon.
[Portable Electric Torch]
“…….”
The moment I read those words, I briefly lost my mind. I couldn't believe it, so I tapped the icon with trembling hands.
*Whoosh*
A cluster of blue light gathered in the air, and a sleek, ergonomic, SF-style electric torch dropped into my hand. The matte black handle had a dial to adjust the heat, and a red ignition switch stuck out prominently.
Holding the heavy electric torch in my right hand, I looked back and forth between my sore, tattered hands and the miserable remains of my fire-starting attempt on the ground.
“…Uwaaaaah! My hour! All my suffering!”
I let out a scream of frustration, pounding the dirt floor in agony. There had been a perfect ignition tool in the tools tab all along, and I had spent over an hour playing caveman, suffering for nothing. They say ignorance makes the body suffer, and that was exactly my situation.
‘This was here? It definitely wasn't there when I checked last time?!’
As I despaired, pounding the ground, Eve approached me quietly and patted my back with a gentle touch.
“Jaero, please do not blame yourself too much. The most precious and useful things in the world are often hidden in the closest places, making them hard to find. But since you found such an excellent tool without giving up, it is truly fortunate.”
Her infinitely warm comfort felt like a dagger to my heart, unlike before. Objectively speaking, I was ridiculous. Receiving her pats, I couldn't help but let out a hollow, self-deprecating laugh at my own pathetic state.
I had acted like a fool, but it was a happy ending since I could finally start a fire. I steeled my heart, aimed the torch at the hearth, and clicked the ignition switch.
*Whoosh!*
A flame of overwhelming intensity, making my hour of struggle look pathetic, erupted from the tip of the torch. The wood pile I had carefully stacked caught fire in just three seconds, turning into a roaring campfire.
‘Ah, this is the power of science and the greatness of civilization.’
After adjusting the heat to create a stable bonfire, we carefully placed the 10 potatoes I had set aside into the center of the flames.
As we sat basking in the warmth of the bonfire, the surfaces of the potatoes began to char black. Soon, the hard skins cracked, and a savory, sweet aroma began to vibrate through the air. The frustration and the pain in my palms from moments ago melted away like snow in the memory.
“Sniff, sniff. Eve, look at this! The smell is incredible. It’s done!”
Using a stick like chopsticks, I carefully pulled a well-cooked potato out of the ashes. After letting it cool slightly, I held it with both hands and split it in half.
As I pulled apart the charred, crispy skin, the snow-white, fluffy flesh of the potato revealed itself, puffing out a cloud of white steam.
I brought the potato to my lips, blew on it to cool it down, and took a big bite.
“Hot, hot!”
Along with an intense heat that felt like it would burn the roof of my mouth, the savory taste of the perfectly steamed potato spread through my entire body. It was the pure taste of potato without a single grain of seasoning or salt, but it was more ecstatic and moving than any delicacy I had ever tasted in my life. It was the taste of real ‘food,’ incomparable to those dry, terrible, dirt-flavored energy bars that I had to force down with water.
“Ah, hot… but seriously, this is so good it makes me want to cry! Eve, you eat this too! It’s really hot, so be careful not to burn your mouth!”
I carefully gave Eve half of the well-cooked potato that was still steaming. As she took the hot potato and chewed it, her blue eyes curved prettily into crescent moons, as if she were pleased. Seeing her eat so happily made me happy, too. Even the black soot on her pretty lips looked infinitely lovely and cute to me.
I had wasted an hour playing caveman, but that didn't matter anymore. Sitting face-to-face with the woman I loved in this world, sharing the joy of this first harvest in front of a crackling, warm bonfire—this was undoubtedly the best feast of my entire life.