How a Loner Spends Her Birthday
As soon as morning rolled around, I headed straight to the annex with the kimchi fridge.
"Hmm... I think I saw it here before... Ah! There it is!"
After rummaging through the corner of the annex for a while, I found some farming tools in a yellow basket. They looked brand new—no scratches, not even used once. The blue plastic wrapping wouldn't even peel off.
"No need for the hoe... A trowel should be enough."
I wasn't planning to till the entire field—just a small flower bed sized patch—so I grabbed one trowel and slipped out of the annex.
The warm sunlight and cool breeze. I could really feel that autumn, the season of clear skies and delicious sleep, had arrived.
Savoring the fall vibes as I crossed the yard, I reached the field next to the house. Our place was at the foot of the mountain slope, so the fields were terraced like stairs.
"Ugh... It looks even worse up close."
Weeds had overgrown the field wildly. Yeah, the empty plot had already become their cozy home. It wasn't this bad when I first got here... I'd totally neglected it.
Winter was coming soon anyway, so if I left it like this, they'd all wither on their own. But aesthetically, it didn't look great.
As I massaged my shoulders by tapping them with the blunt end of the trowel, a brilliant idea popped into my head.
"Yes! Let's go with slash-and-burn farming."
Who knew I'd get to use something from elementary school social studies like this? Fire magic wasn't my specialty, but weeds in a field? Piece of cake.
"Still, blasting fire magic outright could spread to the surroundings, so I need a safer approach."
To maximize efficiency, I stood in the center of the field, touched the ground, and channeled mana throughout the entire plot.
Infusing mana into a field like this could boost crop quality big time, but that's not what I was going for. This was just oil to light the fire.
Once my mana permeated the whole field, I detonated the primer: Attribute Change.
Boom—!!
Whoosh—!!
The mana soaked into the field instantly turned to flames, accompanied by a faint vibration as fire seeped up from underground. The weeds burned down to their roots. Perfect result.
"Kyaah~ Weed removal is a breeze!"
Who else farms this easily? I'd solved both the weeds and fertilizer issues in one shot.
About ten minutes later, all the weeds were ash, and things cooled rapidly.
"Hmm... Then why did I even bring the trowel?"
My right hand felt awkward clutching it for no reason. Come to think of it, with magic, I could cultivate fields like this without breaking a sweat.
I should be cheering Magic for the win!, but... how to put it...
"No sense of accomplishment..."
Probably more rewarding to till it by hand, even if it took longer. I didn't come here to go full farmer, but now that I was, I wanted to squeeze every bit out of it.
Two days passed. As an unemployed bum, every day was a holiday for me, so weekends meant nothing.
After lunch, while bingeing the drama I'd been hooked on since yesterday, Ra-yoon—who had less than a month until her college entrance exam—showed up at my place.
"I'm heeeere~!"
"Why're you here~?"
"Bored, so I came~!"
Is this girl really a high school senior?
"More importantly, teach me magic~!"
Ever since I showed her that space magic the other day, her eyes sparkled with even more enthusiasm as she stared at me.
"Hey Ra-yoon, if you keep coming over every weekend, don't your parents say anything?"
"Hehe, my folks are laissez-faire types—they don't care! Even today, they just said, 'Do whatever~'?"
"..."
Ra-yoon's parents had given up. What to do with this pitiful high school girl...
Still, hearing they opposed her becoming a hunter made it seem like they cared about her deep down.
I'd become one with the sofa, still glued to the TV.
"Like I said before, just do hardcore workouts and you'll be strong enough to crush A-rank hunters."
"But I wanna use magic~?"
"Keep training, and one day you'll feel the mana. Then come beg me again."
"Really?! How long does it usually take to sense mana?"
"Dunno... Varies by person. Fastest is a year, slowest maybe ten?"
Of course, I sensed it in three days.
"Aaaah, sis!!"
Ra-yoon finally crawled over to me on the couch and clung to my waist like a sulky kid. But I ignored her.
It was the crucial moment in the drama where the male lead finally noticed his girlfriend cheating!
I stroked her head to placate her appropriately.
Pat pat.
"There there, our Ra-yoon~ You're an idiot~"
"Normally it's 'good girl'!!"
"Fine, good girl~"
"Too late!!"
What does she want? Now she was stuck to me like a cicada.
"Sis is busy watching drama, so go play by yourself over there."
"Hey...!! Teach me magic quick, or I'll spoil the drama ending!!"
This brat? Daring to commit the ultimate taboo?
Even for Ra-yoon, I couldn't let that slide. I yanked her up to my chest.
"Let's sleep, our Ra-yoon."
Squeeze—!!
I hugged her lovingly with all my might.
"Eek...!! Ung...!! Uwweeeek...!!"
Thud—
Ra-yoon flailed a bit before passing out, letting me finish the finale in peace.
"I got wrecked in that last stream. Been grinding to recover, so no broadcasts. Hehe."
"Thanks for the 10k donation, HolyWaterMaker! Yep, that's right. I was in top form yesterday."
Na Hyun had been streaming for over a year and a half now, and she was one of the most famous streamers on Twitch. Her flashy controls, overwhelming physicality, and childlike middle-schooler voice that clashed so perfectly made viewers smile involuntarily.
Turning on her stream after just five days, Na Hyun was super hyped.
"Do you guys know what day it is today?"
"Hmm? Is it related to streaming? Kinda?"
Her signature teasing style was setting the chat on fire.
From the early days, she'd been careful not to drop wrong info or cause misunderstandings, so she often gave vague answers like this—which drove viewers insane.
It had even become a meme tied to "Massacre Saintess," but that wasn't what Na Hyun wanted.
"No, really! I'm just unsure if it's stream-related or not!!"
Na Hyun's frustration came through her 2D live avatar turning teary-eyed on screen. Dressed in a nun outfit with green eyes and dark brown hair, the cute avatar was a "moe-fied" version of her real self, made by a virtual avatar creator friend who'd seen her in person.
The avatar's expressions shifted with hers in real-time. Na Hyun thought she'd explained enough, but viewers kept jeering.
Finally, fed up, she pulled out her secret weapon.
"F-Fine, keep this up and I'll end the stream!"
The chat filled with "me" → "hell" spam, but it backfired on the do-it-when-she-wants Na Hyun.
"Hmph! It was my birthday and I was in a good mood... Look what you guys did!"
Massive donations poured into Na Hyun's stream in real-time.
"Thanks for the donos, Line1Villain and BankCoffeeMixThief!"
Her previously gloomy voice brightened instantly.
Orphaned Na Hyun had no family or even close friends—her only connections were faceless online buddies.
Before awakening, her small stature led to bullying and isolation, making her introverted. Hunter life helped a bit, but two years ago, a "accident" in a dungeon cut ties with most people she knew.
"Yeah, that's right. Part 1 today is birthday celebration booze mukbang!"
A few clicks, and her avatar appeared holding a beer glass on stream—her favorite feature for light drinking streams.
"Sides are dried pollack from the market and nut mix—oh, no raisins of course."
Not picky overall, but Na Hyun hated raisins specifically. She'd carefully picked a mix without them this time.
Feeling the chat heat up, Na Hyun jumped in to mediate.
"Oops! Got too sidetracked. Starting part 1 booze mukbang now!"
She'd already solo-drunk two days ago, so the dried pollack was half-gone, but plenty left to fill her glass.