The next morning, the world's first farming department in fifty years was officially founded.Its members had no idea what they were doing.
"Let me get this straight," Jaehyun said, rubbing his face."You want me to farm. Inside this capital? In the middle of monster season? The monster is freaking aggressive when mating."
Across the conference table sat five Awakeners who looked like they'd just been pulled from five different genres.
Dr. Han Yuri — head researcher, lightning Awakener, and the proud owner of seventeen failed hydroponic experiments.
Sergeant Kang Woojin — muscle-brained earth Awakener who thought "soil" was short for "solid oil."
Priestess Nari — light-type healer with a divine complex and a halo that changed color depending on her mood.
Rex, a wind Awakener and ex-mercenary who called fertilizer "tactical residue."
And finally, Choi Jaehyun, whose green aura had doomed him to horticulture.
"Welcome to the Capital Agricultural Research Division," Yuri said, beaming. "Codename: Project Re:Growth!"
Jaehyun stared at the banner hanging behind her.It was hand-painted, glittery, and misspelled."'Re-Gorwth'? Seriously?"
Yuri ignored him. "Your aura is the key, Jaehyun! If we can grow even one edible plant, humanity's future will change forever!"
"Yeah," Jaehyun said flatly, "I can already smell the hope. Or maybe that's fertilizer."
Two days later…
The Capital Farm Bureau — a fancy name for a dirt patch behind the eastern wall — officially opened.Fifteen square meters of cleared rubble, a few bags of salvaged soil, and one very confused Awakener holding a watering can.
Jaehyun squatted by the ground, staring at the faint shimmer of his green aura."So… I just touch the dirt and hope something happens?"
"Exactly!" Yuri said cheerfully, holding a clipboard. "Channel mana gently. Think growth."
Jaehyun sighed, placed his palm on the ground, and muttered, "Grow or whatever."
For a moment, nothing happened.Then the soil pulsed faintly — a whisper of warmth, the tiniest breath of life.And in the center, a single sprout peeked out.
Everyone froze.Yuri gasped. "It's working!"
Jaehyun blinked. "...Is that bok choy?"
Three hours later, the team was still staring at the single, trembling green leaf like it was the birth of the universe.
"Mark the data!" Yuri shouted. "Miracle Growth Rate: 0.1 millimeters per hour!"
Woojin leaned in. "So… when do we eat it?"
"Probably next century," Jaehyun muttered.
Still, something inside him felt… oddly warm. The plant wasn't much, but it was alive. And that alone was a miracle in this gray world.
He set up the makeshift irrigation tube — an old water pipe connected to a half-functional purifier — and began slowly watering the soil.
The rhythmic drip… drip… drip filled the silence.
Day 3 of the Bok Choy Project.
There were now four bok choy sprouts.All equally unimpressive.
The team took turns staring at them like expectant parents.Yuri wrote forty pages of notes. Woojin tried to name them. Nari prayed over them.And Jaehyun… fell asleep in the field.
When Yuri found him, he was lying on his back, mouth slightly open, the watering hose still in his hand.The stream of water flowed gently across the soil — evenly, constantly, perfectly.
And under that half-conscious care, the bok choy glowed faintly green, swaying as if breathing with him.
"He's… sleeping while farming?" whispered Nari."Is this… some kind of cultivation technique?" Woojin asked, awed."No," Yuri said softly. "This is… divine laziness."
By the end of the week, the sprouts had turned into real plants — crisp, green, alive.The team gathered around the small patch of bok choy like it was treasure.
"It worked…" Yuri breathed. "It actually worked!"
Jaehyun yawned awake, blinking blearily at the little field."…Huh. Guess I'm a farmer now."
Nari's halo brightened. "A farmer blessed by the Goddess!"Woojin slapped him on the back hard enough to shake dust from the sky. "You're a legend, kid!"
Jaehyun just looked at his dirt-stained hands and the rows of leaves swaying gently under the morning light.For the first time, the world didn't look so gray.
"If this keeps up," he muttered, "we might actually eat something that isn't canned despair."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city...
A shadowed figure watched the surveillance feed of Jaehyun's small farm.Green light pulsed across the screen, steady and alive.
"Confirmed," the agent said quietly. "He's the real thing. The soil recovered. Oxygen levels increased. The bok choy are edible."
The figure in the dark leaned forward. "Then prepare the transport units.""Transport?""For the soil," the figure said. "And for the Awakener."
"If one lazy farmer can make the land bloom...""...then imagine what he could do for the entire world."
Jaehyun, blissfully unaware of the chaos his vegetables were about to cause, turned in his sleep, the watering can still gently dripping beside him.
And that was how the world's first farm in fifty years was grown by a man who couldn't even stay awake for it.