The Gardener in a Hunter World

Disclaimer: This is an edited MTL. Thus, I can’t guarantee that my editing to be proficient. But I hope you enjoy this story with me. If there are any corrections, it is highly encourage to leave a comment.

T/n: This is the chapter for last friday. Sorry for the late update and Thank you for all your love.

The night that Yoo Ji-Ha went through an earthquake.

Hunters all over Seoul were frightened about the sudden appearance of a large-scale Dungeon.

The reason why they are nervous is the type of dungeon that can produce more money.

An Underground Dungeon, which is worst compared to the polar Dungeon, has emerged.

The temperature was quite high, and it seemed to be located about a kilometer below ground. Polar or desert dungeon are awful, but it is open above ground, so they have a good view.

However, these underground dungeons were often avoided as it is dark, suffocating, and monsters are often strengthened.

But this dungeon could not be avoided.

This is because about one hundred Dungeon appeared at once.

The heads of large companies and guilds were startled by the numbers and hurriedly set up a counterstrategy.

All hunters from the Seoul metropolitan area were called up and put into the dungeons.

Seo HyeJin came to be with the people of Happy Hunters Guild, who she was a little close to.

Park SeongHo and Lee JuMi are people who know each other, and Hwang SeonYoung is a little vague but knows her face.

And the other one was a rather frivolous man.

“Huh, I heard it’s a cave full of vipers. Aren’t there many snakes waiting inside?”

Kim KyungBaek of the Happy Hunters Guild stood at the entrance of Dungeon.

SeongHo grabbed his ear.

“You’re noisy. Hurry up and go in. People are waiting behind you.”

“Hyungnim¹Boss, hold on a second. Jumping is a concept when entering a gate.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”²Same reaction. IDK what he’s talking about.

When the two entered the dungeon, Jumi and Hyejin also exchanged glances and entered.

As soon as they entered, a quest window appeared.

The goal is to kill the Viper King.

“If you say Viper, it’s that snake, right?”

“Those little poison. Sister-in-law, are you okay?”

“Ugh, I hate snakes!”

When JuMi shrank her shoulders, KyungBaek opened his eyes.

“Heh, you don’t know the true value of snakes. If I hold it tight, boil it well and give it to brother, it will be a mess³Studies shown that eating snake can promote male hormones 😉.”

“What’s the fuss?”

“Oh my, you’re crazy.”

When the SeongHo tried to hit him, he turned his head to avoid it.

“Shh, they’re coming.”

When Seo HyeJin warned him, KyungBaek also smiled and pulled out the bastard sword on his back.

His class is a warrior.

Although he calls himself a warrior, but in-fact, he has the nickname ‘Namsan Wild Boar’, who only knows how to charge.

Such a fool who whines looking for a healer after a few hits.

Fortunately, he’s good at turning off monster’s aggro.

When several snake monster vipers with a body shape similar to that of a cobra appeared, SeongHo stepped forward.

“You’re backing up from the rear and hit it right away! Do you understand!”

“Yeah! Leave it to me, Hyungnim!”

“Don’t rush like a wild boar and get poisoned!”

“Ah, Hyungnim, did I do business only for a day or two?”

gulp. gulp

Four hunters⁴Not sure where SeonYoung gone to took poison resistance potions at once.

SeongHo stepped forward with his shield and KyungBaek went to the rear as back up.

HyeJin took on the role of cutting off the weak breathing viper with a single blow with an intangible sword, and JuMi is responsible for the stamina of three people.

The roles of these three are pretty well distributed, so they’ve managed to deal with both the Viper’s stinger and head attacks.

After that, it is the dealer’s responsibility.

PapaPapapat!

HyeJin’s intangible sword shot out through the cave, killing Vipers indiscriminately.

The cave was narrow and so she’s using only straight-line skill, but this worked very well.

After all, there are limited places to avoid.

However, as KyungBaek was rushing, it seemed that he slightly touched the intangible sword.

The hip part of the pants was torn a little, and the two women were embarrassed.

“I can’t let you two fall for my sexy ass. Hyejin, is this enough?”

When KyungBaek took a dazzling pose, SeongHo immediately slapped his head.

“Stop it, you idiot.”

“Don’t pay attention to it, Hyejin. He is originally like that.”

“Ah! Yes.”

Hyejin smiled at JuMi.

The atmosphere was a little burdensome, but she didn’t feel bad.

There is something about talking to her naturally.

The four of them entered the depths of the dungeon, swarming the vipers.

Even though the hunters had high heat resistance, it was so hot that sweat dripped from their body.

After slaying a group of vipers, KyungBaek, who ran like a wild boar on fire, was fed up.

“What kind of dungeon is this long? I wish there would be and earthquake and everything will collapse.”

“Hey, even if you say that….”

When SeongHo was about to say something, out of nowhere, the cave shook.

Rumbling!

The entire cave was about to collapse.

The four of them were leaning tightly against the wall, and the terrain was falling apart, and a monster’s roar was heard.

Kuaaaaak!

“The Viper King!”

“Oh my God.”

The Viper King was falling into the dark underground.

The terrain of the cave itself was completely destroyed and the quest was cleared.

And the four witnessed an unbelievable sight.

“Oh my. I can’t believe it…”

There was little sun was far beyond the darkness.

Are the longs things that’s moving around the sun possibly be snakes?

The sun was so bright that only the shapes could be distinguished.

“I don’t what on earth is on there or why it’s wandering around.”

KyungBaek grumbled and SeongHo barely opened his mouth.

“I’ve never heard of something like this underground in Gahenna.”

“I know, right. What is that? It’s hard to tell how big it is.”

“Oh, it’s coming this way!”

HyeJin shouted and the party hid in the half-collapsed wall.

A snake-like creature approached, and the party was terrified of its size.

[Earth Worm]

An animal that they could not tell whether it was a dragon or a snake flew through the darkness.

The size of the eye was as huge as a hole in the cave.

As the creature glared at the group and passed by, the group barely let out their breaths.

Meanwhile, in addition to SeongHo’s party, hundreds of hunters who entered the dungeon witnessed the same scene.

Some said it was a harbinger of disaster, while others made hopeful observations that it would help them.

One thing is clear: no one knows what the Earthworm and the underground sun are doing.

Hunters who had nothing to do came out, and dozens of dungeons that were open overnight were quietly closed.

***

On the other hand, Yoo Ji-Ha, who met an earthquake in his dream, was hiding in the cave.

At first, he didn’t know why the Theradrones moved the crops, but now he understand.

His garden itself was being shattered.

But the World tree is fine.

“It seems to shine a little more, but……”

Yoo Ji-Ha observed the situation while holding Beom who was wailing next to him.

As soon as the shaking stopped, a strange phenomenon appeared.

The ground is wriggling, and it’s being aligned as if putting a puzzle together.

His garden was restored.

The Theradrones move and began to plant crops again, and a bright glow, brighter than before rose from the World Tree.

“Wow.”

Yoo Ji-Ha and Beom closed their eyes at the same time.

After a while, they witnessed a world tree that was much larger than before.

“It’s big…”

Wow.

It’s grown to the same size as the tallest tree in the world in America.

It’s so high to see the end properly.

The two of them looked up, their necks falling off, but then, branches slid down and began building a house.

“Oh my God.”

Yoo Ji-Ha was at a loss for words due to an unheard-of phenomenon.

The World Tree built a house out of its own branches.

Eventually, a small hut was completed, and the World Tree slowly retrieved its branches.

“Did you build a house for me?”

Sararak.

There was a sound of wind from somewhere.

Yoo Ji-Ha smiled and went inside with Beom on his shoulder.

“I have a room… I can use this as a kitchen. Wow its nice. You like it too, don’t you?”

Wow.

Beom also cried lowly that he liked it.

When he came out, the Theradrones suddenly started drawing.

Big balls and snakes flying around?

“What’s this?”

The Theradrone Knight drew a straight line over the picture.

Also, a lot of trees and grass on the line and he’s seen it somewhere?

“Oh, you mean this down here? Right below?”

nod nod.

How did he understand it and shook his head.

This must what caused the earthquake.

“Hmm… Aren’t these the earthworms I’ve seen before…”

Earthworm.

This is the first earthworm he met in the garden of his dreams.

He wondered what they were doing and didn’t know they’ve would have grown like that.

According to Theradrone’s expression, the size of a single animal was likely to be several kilometers.

‘Then how big is that ball?’

Several branches grew above the head of Yoo Ji-Ha that spoke.

At first, it was a world tree where only wooden pillars were visible, but now it looks like it is covering the sky.

Leaves bloomed at the ends of the branches, and fruits grew in an instant and began to fall off.

“Wow!”

Ji-Ha hurriedly escaped with Beom.

The fruit of the world tree, which was bigger than before, fell.

Thank you for giving me, but this is too many.

“What should I do? I don’t have anything to give you…”

It’s okay.

Because you’re doing great.

“Huh?”

Yoo Ji-Ha was bewildered and then smiled.

The reason why the World Tree gives him so many gifts.

That is probably the story of asking him to give as much as he received.

He once thought that there must be a reason for inviting him into the dream and giving him various abilities.

Yoo Ji-Ha spoke to the World Tree,

“I just have to do it like how I have been doing, right?”

Yes.

The World Tree responded and gave him a golden glow.

After his whole body was covered in ether, he exhaled lightly and opened his eyes.

Somehow, his head became clear.

Beom rubbed his head to see if the scent of his body was good.

By the way.

Yoo Ji-Ha looked around.

The area that he thought was a garden was very wide.

“Now it’s a real forest.”

He walked through the forest with Beom.

***

Bruleung- 

Early in the morning, two cars stopped in front of Yoo Ji-Ha’s general store.

With Beom on his head and just stretching, Ji-Ha met Seo HyeJin and a man who came out of the car.

“Hello, I’m Kim HyungSeok…”

He, in a suit, couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the large cat resting on top of Ji-Ha’s head.

For some reason, he’s staring at him as if he doesn’t like it but he doesn’t know what to say.

It felt like a good fit with this small general store, a young man with a good face.

“Welcome.”

When Yoo Ji-ha greeted, Seo HyeJin smiled slightly and greeted with her eyes.

HyungSeok coughed and said to him.

“My name is Kim HyungSeok, who is in charge of a team in a small company. I don’t know if you know, but I’m also a Hunter. I’m here today because I have something to tell you.”

“Ah. Is that so? Come inside.”

This is the first time for Kim HyungSeok to have actually seen Yoo Ji-ha.

Hunters and subordinates around him said he had a pretty face, but somehow, he seemed more handsome than the picture.

HyeJin also look over and over to see his face, which had changed for some reason but couldn’t point out where.

‘I think the atmosphere has changed a bit…’

In the past, he was good but a bit sluggish, but now he looks as clear as the morning sun.

Is it just her?

The three of them went into the store and sat down.

After fixing his tie, HyungSeok opened his mouth seriously.

“Whew… I don’t know where to start. The appraisal skill that Ji-Ha has… To be precise, it doesn’t seem to be appraisal, it seems like it’s higher, but could you tell me the name of the skill?”

“An ancient interpretation.”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard of ancient interpretation.”

HyungSeok raised his eyebrows slightly.

He thought he had awakened his appraisal skill, but it seems he hasn’t.

“I think we need a report on this… All right for now. Ji-Ha, by any chance, how many people did you give an appraisal to yesterday?”

“Um… I don’t know. I did do it until the evening.”

“I heard rumors that you didn’t even eat.”

“Yes, there are people who look desperate. Some people said that they brought all their possessions and flew from Jeju Island, so I couldn’t tell them to wait.”

“Hmm…”

You might be wondering what it mean when you say a hunter who is tired, but there are quite a few hunters who have only awakened one skill or one characteristic.

It is difficult to hunt because of their weak combat power in the first place, and essence rarely come out of lower monsters.

Even if it does, they spend all their money to buy artifacts to join higher dungeon.

It would be good if the artifacts could be used properly, but the system was incomplete and there was no exact explanation.

HyeJin who thought up to there, made an ahh sound.

That’s why.

HyungSeok nodded and spoke.

“I understand roughly. You could have been able to get a little bit of money though. Excuse me, but appraisers in other countries charge a 3% fee. For Ji-Ha-ssi, who even evaluates exact skills and attributes, they won’t be able to say anything about it even if you take 5%.”

“I didn’t want to do that.”

“Do you hate money?”

“No. I need money to live. I sell potions so there is no problem in my life. But I… I thought that there was a reason I had this kind of power.”

“What reason?”

This time, HyeJin asked.

After thinking about it for a while, Yoo Ji-Ha put down Beom.

The little guy did not cry as if he understood the atmosphere and went into the studio.

“I don’t know yet, but if someone gave me strength, I would like to use it like I’ve been thinking about helping people.”

“Hmm.”

HyungSeok folded his arms in response to the ambiguous answer.

Before coming here, he was thinking about criticizing.

The existence of Yoo Ji-Ha disturbs the market.

There is a lot of demand so the few appraisers around the world will not starve, but it is inevitable to cause a backlash.

To put it in extreme, isn’t it possible for a foreign assassin to come and slit his throat?

It is undeniable that his existence would make Korean hunters more powerful.

No matter how isolated each country is, it was not good that the world’s power balance to collapsed.

‘But…’

Seeing the clear expression on his face, the thought of talking about these troublesome things completely disappeared.

To him who just wanted to help people, he wondered what it was worth to talk about the existence of the market or the power balance.

Looking sideways, HyeJin seems to have similar idea as she nodded her head eagerly.

“Wow… I get it. Ji-Ha, I understand your desire to share that ability, but at this rate it will be difficult for people to gather and welcome them. So, how about adjusting the time.?”

“How do I time it?”

“How about if we set it to 8:00 to 12:00 in the morning and 1:00 to 6:00 after lunch? Hunters can be persuaded by us. It’s not compulsory, but everyone will understand.”

“And I need permission from Ji-Ha, I thought about how to donate to academies or orphanages with a small fee from those who are appraised. What do you think?”

When HyeJin asked, Yoo Ji-Ha immediately agreed.

“That’s a good thing. I think both are fine.”

Ji-Ha hasn’t decided how much the fee should be.

Looking at that attitude, it seems that money doesn’t matter.

HyungSeok discarded numerous business items that came to mind when he first heard of his ability.

‘I guess that’s how I became a vicious businessman.’

He smiled bitterly inside.

At the same time, he wondered how a person could not be so greedy.

Money is everything you eat, wear, sleep, and live on.

He was too greedy that he was like a tree, not a person.

Anyway, the purpose of the visit was achieved.

“All right. Ji-Ha, then we will do that and go.”

HyungSeok did not say about preventing Ji-Ha’s abilities from being known to foreign countries as much as possible and thoroughly investigating foreign hunters entering Korea.

‘That’s something people like me should think about.’

HyeJin, who came out after saying goodbye, said with admiring eyes.

“As expected… He’s a good person.”

“He has a very good heart, but the people around him will be a bit busy. I think I have to take on that role.”

“I heard you don’t do things that don’t make money.”

“Haha, it’s still just from a business level, but I have no intention of applying it to someone like Ji-Ha. And… When I saw him, somehow made me feel like I had to protect him like a natural shrine.”

“Natural Shrine?”

“I can’t explain exactly how it feels… but maybe there will come a day when I will get a lot of help from that person. Just like 10 years ago.”

Ten years ago. When the first dungeon opened and the Awakened made a contract with a demigod.

The two glanced back.

Suddenly, they saw Beom, who came out of the studio, rushing toward Yoo Ji-Ha.

A smile naturally appeared on their lips.

• 1Boss
• 2Same reaction. IDK what he’s talking about.
• 3Studies shown that eating snake can promote male hormones 😉
• 4Not sure where SeonYoung gone to