It started with a vegetable. It ended with a national crisis.
The world hadn't seen real bok choy in fifty years.But now—thanks to one perpetually sleepy man and a hose that leaked just right—there was a patch of it swaying proudly in the capital.
Naturally, the government lost its mind.
Capital Conference Hall – Emergency Meeting #1272
"Ladies and gentlemen!" the Minister of Reconstruction slammed the table. "We have achieved a miracle! Actual vegetables! Edible! Green! Crunchy!"
All the Awakeners in suits clapped like they'd just witnessed the Second Coming.A trembling aide lifted the small crate of bok choy like it was holy relic.
"Sample Number 001—'Choi's Miracle Crop.'"
Cue heavenly chorus.
Meanwhile, at the same moment—
Choi Jaehyun was sitting in a folding chair, halfway asleep, eating instant noodles.
He didn't even know that his lunch break was being broadcast on national television.
"Wait, wait, WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY FACE IS ON THE NEWS?!"Jaehyun spat out noodles, eyes wide.
Yuri waved a tablet in front of him. "You're trending! They're calling you the Green Messiah!"
"I JUST WANTED TO TAKE A NAP—NOT START AN AGRICULTURAL RELIGION!"
Woojin puffed up his chest. "You've brought hope to mankind!"
"I brought bok choy!" Jaehyun screamed. "One! Plant! Species!"
"Hope tastes like bok choy," Nari said dreamily, munching a leaf.
Jaehyun grabbed his head. "I hate this planet."
The Capital Erupts.
Merchants sold "Jaehyun's Miracle Seeds" (actually grass).Churches prayed facing his farm.People wrote fanfiction about him single-handedly defeating famine with divine vegetables.
Someone even made a song:
"Oh Choi, our soil, make the earth recoil~"
It went viral.Yuri cried from pride. Woojin bought 200 shirts.Jaehyun contemplated reincarnation.
Then came the bureaucrats.
A convoy of armored vehicles arrived at his dirt patch.
Out stepped men in black suits, carrying clipboards and cameras.
"Mr. Choi Jaehyun?""...I plead the fifth.""You're being promoted.""What?""Effective immediately, you are now Director of National Agriculture and Reclamation. Congratulations!"
Jaehyun stared blankly. "Director of—What reclamation?! We have one farm!"
"Exactly! You'll make more!"
The man handed him a tablet filled with government projections:
Target: 100 new farms.Goal: 5000% food production increase.Timeline: three months.
Jaehyun blinked twice.Then screams internally for a solid minute.
(Cue dramatic zoom-in panel)
Choi Jaehyun (Age: 27)
Power: Green Aura (Growth)
Titles: Savior, Messiah, Director of Agriculture
Mood: Pure suffering.
"I'm not a hero!" he yelled, voice cracking."You are now," Yuri said cheerfully. "Think of it as… forced national service."
Woojin slapped him on the back again. "You're our hope, kid!"
"I don't WANT to be hope! I want to be UNEMPLOYED!"
Three days later…
Jaehyun stood in front of a massive field — fifty times larger than his old one — surrounded by construction drones, soldiers, and Awakeners.
All eyes were on him.
The Minister stepped forward. "Go on, Director. Show us how you did it."
Jaehyun took a deep breath.He knelt, placed a hand on the soil, and muttered,"Please grow… or I'll throw myself into this dirt."
His green aura flickered faintly.A few sprouts appeared.Everyone gasped.
The crowd erupted in cheers.
"THE SOIL LIVES AGAIN!""THE MESSIAH HAS DONE IT!""BOK CHOY IS BACK, BABY!"
Jaehyun just stood there, expression blank.
"I'm going to die surrounded by vegetables, aren't I?"
Back at HQ, the higher-ups toasted champagne.
"The new age of abundance begins!" they declared.
Meanwhile, in the field, Jaehyun sat down in the mud, staring at the sprouts swaying under the sunset.
He took out a can of instant coffee and muttered, "You know what's funny? The more they call me a savior, the less they pay me."
The bok choy rustled softly, almost like laughter.
And thus began the great agricultural revolution… led by one man who just wanted a nap.