The SSS-Class Hunter’s Garden Log - Chapter 87
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 87
After several trials and errors, Hana finally succeeded in setting up the first support stake.
“This is surprisingly tricky to get the hang of.”
Hana stopped his hands and examined the condition of the Bubble Puff.
The bent stem was now naturally climbing up along the support stake.
After pressing it lightly with his fingertips to confirm it wasn’t shaking, Hana quickly added support stakes to the other stems as well.
And next, it was time to prune the side shoots.
It might not seem like much, but if you just leave these alone, they’ll suck up all the nutrients.
“These are the problem, these guys.”
Hana plucked off the side shoots one by one.
The way they cleanly broke off each time he touched them brought a strange satisfaction and addictiveness.
“This is actually getting fun as I do it.”
Before he knew it, Hana was even humming a tune.
Earlier he’d wondered when he’d ever finish all this. Time passed without him noticing as his hands moved on their own.
Each time the tilted tomatoes straightened up one by one, a sense of accomplishment welled up—this was indeed the charm of farming.
Watching the field become visibly more organized with each pass of his hands brought peace to his mind.
Just then, the leaves of the Bubble Puff trembled. As if greeting him.
“Huh?”
Hana thought he might have seen wrong and moved a little closer.
Then this time, the green leaves shook up and down a bit more clearly.
【SYSTEM】
【You have successfully communicated with the crops.】
【’Stamina Boost Tomato🍅’ says its stiff body feels refreshed and offers thanks to the user.】
【’Stamina Boost Tomato🍅’ gains strength from the user’s loving care.】
【’Stamina Boost Tomato🍅’ has been upgraded to A- grade.】
“Huh? Huh huh?”
Surprised by the unexpected harvest, Hana bounced up from his spot like a spring.
“I just added some support stakes and tidied up the leaves, and the grade went up?”
Hana covered his mouth.
Good heavens, what kind of day is today that rewards keep pouring down like this?
A grin leaked out from the corners of his mouth.
As if synchronized with Hana’s emotions, the Bubble Puffs all fluttered their leaves left and right in unison like they were dancing.
After showing off their dance moves like that, the Bubble Puff dropped a few fruits to the ground with soft thuds.
“Don’t tell me you’re giving these to me to eat?”
Whoooosh—.
As if answering Hana’s question, the leaves rustled again.
“Amazing. So this is why people farm. I’ll eat them well!”
The sense of fulfillment was beyond words.
Hana picked up the Bubble Puff and blew off the dirt.
“Popcon, do you want to eat one too?”
“Squeak!”
One Bubble Puff each went into Popcon’s and Hana’s mouths amicably.
Hana gently pressed the plump Bubble Puff with his teeth.
Then pop! The skin burst and tangy juice exploded out.
“Mmm. Whoever grew this really made it delicious.”
As he closed his eyes and savored the fresh taste, his stamina quickly filled up from the item’s effects.
Hana’s eyes sparkled as he rolled up his sleeves further.
“Great! Now that my stamina’s recovered, shall we work even harder?”
Getting excited and moving his hands diligently like that, the Bubble Puff maintenance was finished in no time.
“Now it looks much better.”
Hana stepped back with a satisfied face and looked at the Bubble Puff.
Thanks to the side shoots being trimmed, the leaves were spread out much more refreshingly—just organizing this one thing seemed to brighten up the entire Garden.
【SYSTEM】
【Now you can proudly call yourself a farmer anywhere you go (・ᴗ・)b✧】
Even the system window, which usually teased him at every opportunity, gave him a thumbs up for once.
“What’s gotten into you?”
【SYSTEM】
【What’s gotten into me? I’m always cheering you on, you know? ⪩(ᐢᗜᐢ)⪨】
“Hmm?”
If this wasn’t suspicious, nothing could be.
Hana looked at the system window with dubious eyes.
Then sure enough, the system window sparkled again.
【SYSTEM】
【In that spirit, how about giving me just one Bubble Puff too? ᕑᗢᓫ】
There it is.
Hana let out a hollow laugh at the consistent system window and pretended to give in as he handed over a Bubble Puff.
Then the system window flashed and reacted.
The tomato instantly converted into a pixel image and—
Pop.
Got sucked into the screen.
The system window that had slurped down the pixel Bubble Puff smacked its lips.
【SYSTEM】
【That was delicious. (๑´ڡ`๑)】
Watching that somehow made Hana feel hungry too.
“Come to think of it, what time is it now?”
It felt like quite a bit of time had passed since he’d entered here.
Hana habitually fumbled through his pockets to check the time.
But it was futile. All that was in his pockets were a few receipts.
“I must have dropped it on the sofa?”
Hana scratched the back of his head.
He remembered that he’d rushed over so quickly earlier that he hadn’t brought his phone.
“Well, nothing serious should happen.”
Instead of his phone, Hana raised his wrist to check his watch.
“Good heavens, it’s already this late?”
Much more time had passed than he’d thought.
It was already well past dinner time.
“No wonder I was getting hungry.”
Hana rubbed his stomach.
Thanks to eating the Bubble Puff, he wasn’t terribly hungry, but moving his body continuously was making his appetite return.
Hana popped the last remaining Bubble Puff into his mouth and hurried his actions.
“I need to finish quickly and get out.”
The next target was lettuce.
Hana, who was about to widen the spacing between the densely packed lettuce, paused his hand.
The lettuce spacing was already excessively wide.
After a brief moment of thought, he remembered the reason.
The lettuce he’d thrown to the Snowbunnies just before.
The empty spaces left behind were more extensive than he’d thought.
“…”
Hana’s gaze naturally turned toward the Portal.
Beyond the blue rippling surface, like a video playing, he could see the situation on the Snowy Plains side.
The portal’s direction was fixed toward the Strawberry Patch in case the Snowbunnies tried to do something strange again.
The rabbits were huddled together next to the Strawberry Patch, enthusiastically chewing on the lettuce that Hana had left behind.
“All of that should be here.”
Hana soothed his upset stomach. Then he tilted his head with a “Hmm?”
Anyway, wasn’t it good that bringing lettuce to the rabbits meant he had less work to do right now?
With less work to do, didn’t that mean dinnertime was moved up too?
“Now that I think about it, that’s really true, isn’t it? Should I be grateful to the Snowbunnies?”
Scratching the side of his head, Hana skipped the lettuce and headed straight for the potatoes.
“Then if I just lay down the plastic, today’s work will be finished.”
Hana picked up the mulching plastic that was placed nearby.
As he unrolled the plastic that had been rolled up, rustling sounds filled the Garden.
Then he buried the starting end of the unfolded plastic deep in the dug earth and stomped on it firmly with his foot.
After securing the plastic like that, Hana began unrolling the rolled-up plastic.
The black plastic slid down over the furrows of the field where new seed potatoes had been planted.
The potato field that had bare soil exposed just moments ago began to be neatly covered in an instant.
Having finished organizing the potato field as well, Hana stretched with a refreshed feeling.
“Ugh, finally done!”
It had been a rewarding day in many ways.
Hana patted his stomach as he thought.
Having moved around this much, wouldn’t eating chicken for a late-night snack not prick his conscience?
“Good. Tonight’s dinner slash late-night snack is chicken.”
After quickly deciding on the dinner menu like that.
Hana began cleaning up quickly.
But then a system window popped up with a ding!
“What, again? Is it just my imagination that it seems to appear unusually often today?”
Hana, who had been rolling up the leftover plastic, carefully read through the system window’s text.
【SYSTEM】
【Mission: Try to wake the Association Chairman from his coma state of deep sleep.】
【Reward: 3,000pt Experience】
【Current Experience: 6,900/8,000pt】
【Hint: ‘Ice Tag Needs Strawberries!🍓(B+ Grade)’ has a certain probability of awakening the target’s consciousness.】
“Of all times, why now?”
To think the item that could wake the Association Chairman was strawberries.
Hana wrinkled his nose bridge in perplexity.
“I don’t have any strawberries right now. What should I do?”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————