NOVEL WEB I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 16
I made my way back to my chair- a small pile of snow fell from my body as I sat.
Mr. Flippers and I ended up playing in the snow for a few hours, but there was still an abundance of time left before I needed to go back to the academy.
The actual time system in the academy operated on a 24-hour clock similar to Earth's. Since class only lasted from 7 am to 10 am, we were left with 21 hours a day to train, work on our realms, or do whatever else we needed. I assumed that our schedule would be busier once the competition started, but it was very open for now.
With this in mind, despite playing with Mr. Flippers, taking a bath with Julia, adding the pathways through the mountains, and dealing with the whole meeting with Tatton, I still had a lot of time to do the thing I was most looking forward to: introducing my first lifeforms to my realm.
I placed a few white cards onto my desk with various lifeforms pictured on them.
I'm so glad I got these approved before I got flagged.
A cold sweat dripped down my back as I pictured all of my lifeforms being denied by the sheep instructor out of no reason other than spite.
Well, I'm sure there are some rules in place to prevent bias... right? There has to be...
My eyes made their way back to the cards on my desk. At this point I had gotten all of my primary and basic lifeforms approved: phytoplankton, moss, fungi, earthworms, and fish. The only things I was missing were the moderate lifeforms that I had yet to decide upon. Although I wanted some type of fruit tree and livestock animal, the specifics were not chosen yet.
Hopefully she calms down by the time I verify my moderate choices. There's no point in worrying about it now though, I should get started on adding these babies.
One by one, I touched the cards while they were on the desk and the computer instantly began scanning them after verifying their signatures. Icons displaying the lifeforms soon appeared on the screen in front of me- small gauges were displayed next to them which I presumed would signify how many I could add.
I took another look at the realm that had only three colors making up its surface- the blue of the seas, the brown of the barren land, and the white from the glaciers in the north. Within a few days, one of those colors was bound to disappear.
With the mouse in my hand, I clicked on one of the lifeforms.
"Hypnum imponens moss. You will be the first life in my domain," I muttered.
My heart began to beat fast. Although it had only been about 5 days, it felt like it had been at least 5 months since I became a ruler.
All the effort, thought, and preparation led to this moment. I was confident that I made the right choices.
"Dye the ground green, my mossy boys! Spread your spores across the barren and desolate land. You have no predators, no worries, no competition. You have no limits- do not falter from the sun, the heat, or the cold. Adapt and improve and spread even further- you are moss, my creation, so there is nothing that you can't conquer!"
"Squawk?"
"Let me have my moment, Mr. Flippers."
"... squawk."
Settling back down in my chair, I began dotting the continent with small batches of moss. Judging by how fast the gauge was decreasing, there was absolutely no way that I would have been able to outright cover the entire realm, so I had to resort to this strategy to make sure there was moss in every area. With time, I expected them to fill in the gaps.
In spite of the fact that 4.2 days passed in the realm for every second in my domain, it would still take some time for the moss the spread. While I waited, I decided to add the phytoplankton.
There were mainly 5 places where I focused on adding it; the giant lake in the mountains, the eastern gulf, the oasis in the desert, the southern ocean, and the western ocean. I also sprinkled some in any other notable lakes that naturally formed. As phytoplankton was nearly invisible to the naked eye, it was difficult to see how fast it was spreading in my planet-wide view, however, I had no doubts that it was doing fine.
By the time I had prepared to add the first mushrooms, I could already see signs of the moss steadily advancing. This was good news to me considering how the mushrooms would be relying on the moss to grow. I introduced the first fairy-ring mushrooms in the areas that had the densest moss. Wherever there were small gaps in the ground cover, a few would be added.
This might not be the best strategy.
One of my main worries about choosing moss instead of grass dealt with the possible conflict between the moss and the mushrooms. Fairy ring mushrooms usually liked to grow in the grass as they naturally left gaps between their blades. Moss did not do this and formed in clumps instead. Finding spaces where the mushrooms could grow in the dense areas of moss was not an easy task.
Luckily I noticed this before it was too late...
There was one area that had moss present but also had a ton of gaps- the area directly on the edge of the moss cover. As the moss was still spreading in this section, there were plenty of places to add the mushrooms. With this new strategy in mind, I focused on planting the mushrooms alongside the moss as it spread throughout the continent.
After finishing with the mushrooms, the only lifeforms remaining were the two basics: earthworms and Atlantic Menhaden fish. The earthworms were extremely easy to add- all that I needed to do were put them on the dirt near the moss and they immediately began wiggling into the ground. The fish on the other hand were a bit more difficult.
Since the fish needed phytoplankton to eat, I had to make sure they were introduced to areas full of it. The main problem with this was that I had no idea how far the phytoplankton spread or even how dense its concentrations were.
To play it safe, I decided to only add small amounts of fish in areas that I knew I directly added phytoplankton to. After waiting until tomorrow night heavenly time, I planned to see where the Menhaden populations were and use it as a guide for where to add the rest of them.
I leaned back in my chair, watching the display above me. It was almost mesmerizing to see the light brown of the realm being engulfed by the green hues of the moss. Although I was a bit curious to see whether the moss would be able to survive in the cold of the north or the heat at the southern tip of the continent, the only thing that I could do was wait and watch its spread. The next few hours I spent doing just that. The realm was still far from being dominated by the cover of moss when it was time for us to leave for class, but there were no problems of note during the time that I spent observing which gave me confidence in what I had created.
It's a bit early, but I'd rather get to class now before I lose track of time watching this.
"Are you ready to head out, Mr. Flippers?" I asked the penguin.
"Squawk!"
The tiny creature waddled over holding a snowball in his flippers- an evil expression was plastered on his face.
"Hm? You wanna show Julia the snow?"
"... Squawk."
"Well... okay," I picked up the penguin whose feathers felt like ice after sleeping in the pile of snow, "Let's go see her then- transport to the academy!"
The two of us closed our eyes as we vanished from the dark room. After traveling between the two places so many times, we quickly learned that this was the easiest way to spare us from the change in light levels. We kept our eyes shut for a few seconds as our pupils adjusted but were then greeted by the beautifully adorned yet eerily empty audience hall that we grew so used to seeing.
"Squawk!"
"Oi- what's wrong!?"
The penguin immediately started freaking out and wiggled out of my arms. Mr. Flippers immediately started running around in circles as if looking for something.
"...Your snowball disappeared?"
"Squawk!"
Can we not bring things we make with domain creation into the academy? I mean, it does make sense considering it's called 'domain creation', but it still seems weird. I definitely used divinity to make the snow... maybe it's like the golden orbs from the training ground that get teleported back?
"It's alright, Mr. Flippers. You can play with the snow when we get back after class," I said trying to calm him down.
The penguin only squawked at my statement and pouted while hopping around.
"Maybe the snowball ran away because you were trying to be mean."
"Squawk!?"
"Yes, I know what you were planning to do with that snowball- I'm not stupid."
Me revealing his plan to hit Julia with the snowball only seemed to make him angrier and Mr. Flippers once again resumed his mad search.
Getting this upset because his prank was ruined... he really is a baby.
I pulled out my phone to take a picture of the tiny penguin's temper tantrum, but the second my finger touched the screen, a figure appeared between us. Mr. Flippers' fussing immediately stopped as we both stared at the girl.
"Oh- you guys are already here?" The newly-appeared Julia asked as she looked at us.
Neither of us said a word.
"What's that look for?" she asked again, “Is it because of my new outfit? I know it’s different, but I didn’t think it’s that…”
Julia's eyes followed my line of sight and she looked down to realize that there was no outfit to speak of.
“Kyaaaaaaaa! R-return to domain!”
The elf girl disappeared just as fast as she arrived, leaving the penguin and me still standing there in awe.
There is absolutely no way that just happened...
Although I was having trouble believing the scene before me was real, one look at my phone proved otherwise.
"...I think I’ll go with a cherry tree."
Mr. Flippers and I began to make our way to class still stunned over what happened. Although the room was empty upon our arrival, creatures eventually started trickling in.
Just as class was about to start, Julia slowly trudged inside wearing her usual outfit. She tried to hide her beat-red face by looking away but failed miserably.
So her ears get red when she's embarrassed... that's adorable.
She sat down next to me, still looking away.
"Kyaaaa?" I teased.
"S-shut up! Don't talk about it."
"If that's what you want... but you really are beautiful, Julia."
Just as those words leaked from my mouth, the sheep instructor finally entered the lecture hall. Despite looking in the teacher's direction, I could still see Julia in the corner of my eye. Her face was three shades redder than it had been when she sat down.
Upon reaching her desk, the sheep instructor finally spoke to the class.
"Good morning, Seedlings. It appears that I was a bit unclear about domain creation. There have been many reports of Seedlings attempting to bring what they made into the academy. For those of you who have not realized it yet, objects made using domain creation can not be brought out; the power of what you can currently make is far too weak to exist in the academy."
Bang!
"Squawk!?"
A loud bang was heard next to me as Julia slammed her head into the desk. A few creatures looked back at us but quickly lost interest.
The professor paid no attention to it and continued to speak.
"For those of you upset at me, it may please you to know that I was scolded by the Flower Garden for this... among some other matters," the teacher glanced in my direction, "but I will make sure to be more clear in the future. I apologize for the confusion."
With that last statement, the sheep instructor began her lesson which was about geography today, but I ignored it and slipped into thought.
I was half-joking when I said it before, but a cherry tree isn't that bad of an option. The wood itself is very strong and durable and it could probably thrive in most parts of the continent. The cherries themselves would be a good food option, too.
I reaffirmed my decision on choosing a cherry tree after a bit more thinking and decided to decide on my livestock animal while I was at it.
Oh my god, how did I forget about that?
There was a blaring issue that I immediately realized once I started thinking.
I knew I was forgetting something. I was so focused on making sure that there was food to support humans, but I didn't even think about food to support livestock.
Since I had not chosen to use grass, most of the major livestock animals like cows, goats, and even horses would not have a good food source. That being said, it was not as though there were no options- in fact, there was one really good one that could thrive in the environment that I had built.
Chickens would definitely be the right choice.
As chickens could eat moss, mushrooms, and even earthworms, there would be no issues with their sustainability. In terms of humans, these creatures would be an amazing source of protein through their meat and eggs. Their feathers being useful for clothing and arrows were an added bonus.
My mind was made up and I walked out of the lecture hall with two new cards after the class ended.
