Do-cheol's Secret Origins

Installation complete. To use it, just do it like this...

The employees from Cheonma Bio Farm gave a detailed explanation about the newly built farm shed.

Honestly speaking, my gut reaction was,

What the hell did I even do?

The Cheonma Bio Farm staff arrived around a time that was a bit early for lunch. Then they unloaded something from the truck they'd brought and assembled a farm shed in no time flat. It was state-of-the-art, shiny and sleek—nothing like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the one I'd built. And it came loaded with every feature imaginable. Of course it had electricity and running water hooked up, and there was even a computer inside for handling small orders.

"Ugh..."

Is this the power of a massive corporation? Small businesses are doomed, you bastards.

"...That's it. If there's anything unclear, please refer to the user manual. Feel free to contact us if you need anything."

"...Yeah."

"Alright then."

I signed the documents they handed me. And that was it. The staff bowed politely with thanks and began preparing to leave, acting like this was no big deal at all.

It only made me more pissed off.

...Think positive. I'll be the one using all this anyway.

"Boss?"

"...Yeah? Me?"

"Yes. We heard you received the Do-cheol prototype."

"Oh, that."

'It's smashed to bits with just the head floating around.' I couldn't exactly say that, so I mumbled something vague.

"Haven't had time to open it yet 'cause I've been busy."

"Hmm, I see. We're from the construction division, so we've never even seen Do-cheol ourselves. We were hoping to get a peek this time."

"Too bad."

"It's supposed to be amazing. Loaded with its own AI and all sorts of functions. I heard a hoe pops out of its arm or something."

"Ahem. Really? Looking forward to it."

"Yes. Sorry for chatting so long. We'll be off then."

The staff bowed once more and left. It seemed like departments kept their secrets airtight. Even they hadn't seen their own company's new product?

Lucky for me.

I'd been worried they'd inspect Do-cheol while they were here and find something off.

"Ughhh..."

As I returned to the yard in front of the house, a pleasant groan came from the warehouse direction.

"Haha, you think? Probably 'cause Soo-hyeok's been working me too hard lately."

"You're angry?"

"Huh? Soo-hyeok! You're back!"

"I could've sworn you were badmouthing me."

"Ahem. Never mind. You're overreacting, Soo-hyeok."

I wasn't imagining it.

Should've just asked the staff earlier to format it while they were here?

Do-cheol had been acting weird since then. Fawning in front, but ready to stab me with a tree root behind my back.

"Hey. Do-cheol."

"What the hell are you really? I was too busy with the Cheonma Bio Farm staff arriving earlier to ask."

"Not that. What are you really? Want me to format you?"

"Oh? Good answer."

"Hmm."

It seemed like a spirit soul had been overlaid onto Do-cheol's AI. So it followed orders it recognized as commands pretty well.

"Then why'd you try to secretly stab me earlier?"

"Don't play dumb."

"...Tch."

The emoticon on Do-cheol's face panel suddenly shifted to '...' mid-sentence.

"...Oh. For real?"

I was debating whether to scrap this thing, and then this unexpected info drops. Ent Master Brahim was basically a spirit by nature.

"So you can use spirit arts too?"

It reacted like it'd never heard of spirit arts before.

So the original built-in wasn't a spirit soul after all?

That made sense. This world seemed largely unaware of spirit arts' existence in the first place.

So what the hell had been installed originally?

"Hmm."

It felt fishy, but since it claimed to be reborn as a new entity, digging deeper would be tough.

Fine, skip that for now. The key point was this new Do-cheol could use spirit arts.

"Then revive this."

I pointed to a withered pinch harrow weed shriveled on the ground.

I could use spirit arts too, but only at a beginner level. Even with them, weaker plants I'd grown would dry up and die. About ten percent loss rate on large batches.

Not a huge deal for other crops, but still.

A tree root extended from Do-cheol, who gave a curt reply. A thin root wrapped around the withered pinch harrow weed.

Poof!

With a burst of blue light, the plant regained its vitality.

"Hmm. This is plenty."

"S-Soo-hyeok! This robot can use your magic too!"

"Yeah."

This thing's useful.

I'd been worried since Do-cheol's limbs were smashed and its mental state was off, but spirit arts? I liked that a lot.

For now the scale was small, but soon I'd expand properly. Couldn't manage every crop with spirit arts myself every time.

Come to think of it, more useful than Yelena...

"Soo-hyeok. Why're you staring?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing."

This was enough to put off formatting for now. No point losing a worker who could handle spirit arts.

Formatting? More like smashing it again.

It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was awkward having a soul that saw me as an enemy overlaid, but that risk was tolerable.

"...So do you have Ent Master Brahim's memories or whatever?"

"Not even a little?"

I pressed it to see if I could squeeze anything out. Truth be told, I wasn't obsessing, but this world had way too many unknowns—even for its own people, maybe.

Why were the spirits from the otherworld here on Earth too? Polluted into monsters just like there. And the monsters were weird too—ones you'd expect from the otherworld. Earth never had stuff like that back when I lived normally.

Ent Master Brahim, once a spirit that fell and became a monster. Its memories would hold answers to a lot of that.

"Oh?"

Do-cheol displayed a deeply furrowed emoticon, as if straining to pull up memories.

It finally spoke, barely recalling.

"Something?"

The memories were spotty, like ant-eaten patches. Was that 'part' the Druid?

"Ahem. Right."

I knew that last part.

"......"

Do-cheol let out a choppy, mechanical laugh laced with static.

Well, how was I supposed to know? I thought it was just a big tree.

"Sorry about that. Feet hadn't touched home soil in ages—couldn't control my strength."

"Something like that."

"Huh?"

"Ha! This guy."

It was my fault, so I couldn't really snap. It'll get over it eventually.

Yelena, who'd been watching from the side, asked,

"Soo-hyeok. Planning to use this machine at full power?"

"Full power?"

"Yeah. Won't we have to fight Cheonma Group eventually?"

"Oh, that."

Worry filled Yelena's eyes. I grinned at her.

"No need to worry right now. Don't think we need more firepower anyway."

"You sure that's okay?"

"Yeah. That eavesdropping device installer? Ruled a suicide in the end, right? Means they don't wanna escalate either."

"Urgh. Really?"

We'd dodged the worst case. Even I wanted to avoid clashing with Cheonma Group head-on.

Don't even know their full strength yet.

That Lee Sang-hoon who'd broken in was an A-rank hunter. Seemed like a low-level boss type, and he was A-rank. Higher-ups would be stronger. Maybe even run into those '1st gen awakeners.' Better avoid uncertain foes.

I don't wanna die.

Already died once. Another death here was likely permanent.

Problem's that Executive Director Ju Ho-ryeong.

Most curious part. Why would a Cheonma exec go so far as bugging normal folks like us?

Most plausible: Wanted my otherworld crop cultivation method. Sujin refused their buyout offer.

That explained Jin So-wol too. Ju Ho-ryeong trying to steal her achievements.

Everyone thinks the other guy's rice cake looks bigger.

Then he got wrecked by me. That was my conclusion. Puzzle pieces fit.

Which made it weirder.

Feels like someone handed me puzzle pieces on purpose.

"No thanks. Don't wanna get stabbed by a tree root again."

Do-cheol retracted its roots and started crafting something. Looked like those beach chairs from TV—perfect for lounging seaside.

"Oh. You make furniture too?"

Do-cheol proudly finished three beach chairs in a flash.

"Hold up."

Poke.

Crash.

Just to test, I tapped it lightly, and the chair collapsed spectacularly.

"Wanna die?"

The remake was solid. Sized perfectly for my build, like it accounted for it. I reclined comfortably, lost in thought. Yelena naturally sat beside me. Do-cheol's head settled on the last one.

"We'll see how they move first. That Executive Director Ju guy."

Cheonma Group would make some play. At me, or that bald exec.

Bam!

"Damn it all!"

Executive Director Ju slammed the desk in frustration. His computer screen showed an official notice from headquarters.

"Me, at 60 years old, writing 100 pages of self-reflection?!"

That was the reprimand from headquarters. Simple as that.