Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World

Go Okrim: "Hyung, this thing probably thinks you're its dad because you're the one who planted it."

To be honest, Kim Haru was also starting to think the same thing.

He looked at the mutated wheat that was clinging to his arm and tried to reason with it. "Look, look here, okay? You're green all over your body, but I'm, have black hair and white skin—no green. I've got arms and legs, but you've just got leaves. I've got eyes, a nose, a mouth, and hair. I can't be planted in the ground, and I don't need watering or fertilizing. We're not the same species, do you get it?"

Mutated wheat: No, I don't get it. I just want a hug.

The mutated wheat continued to stick to Kim Haru, paying no attention to his reasoning.

"Haru, let me try," Go Okrim said, unable to stand by and watch. He'd never even gotten to act cute with Haru's arm, and now a plant had beaten him to it. He was fuming.

Kim Haru stretched his arm out, and Go Okrim grabbed the mutated wheat's roots, pulling it outward.

Pull harder! Pull harder!

With a loud thud, Go Okrim fell flat on his back, but the mutated wheat remained stubbornly stuck to Kim Haru's arm. It didn't break free, even with that much force. It was incredibly elastic.

Go Okrim, frustrated, grabbed the sickle that Kim Haru had set down earlier and threatened the wheat, "If you don't let go, I'll cut you!"

At that moment, the mutated wheat shuddered and shrank away, sliding off Kim Haru's arm as though it were shaking in fear. A pitiful "Ying ying ying" sound seemed to echo.

"Haru, this mutated plant might be dangerous. We should just get rid of it."

"Ying!" The mutated wheat cried out again.

Now, Kim Haru was sure he hadn't misheard—the plant could actually make noises.

Go Okrim heard it too: "Haru, did you hear that? It just said it couldn't talk earlier. It lied to you! This little liar, what good is it? Let's toss it."

"Ying Ying!" The mutated wheat panicked, trying to grab onto Kim Haru's arm again.

Go Okrim blocked it with the sickle.

"Alright, stop teasing it," Kim Haru said, putting the sickle away. "It seems like you can only make this one sound. Since you're harmless, I guess I can let you stay. But what good will be by keeping you around do?"

Kim Haru pointed to the small green plant by the pigsty and the pig grass, then gestured toward the lotus flowers in the pond. "They each have a role—one's a worker, one's food, and one's feed. What about you?"

Hearing that it could stay, the mutated wheat was overjoyed. It immediately began waving its leaves around, trying to show Kim Haru its abilities.

With the previous experience, Kim Haru understood faster this time.

After deciphering the gestures of the mutated wheat, Kim Haru felt overjoyed.

"You can shorten the growth cycle of other wheat?!" he asked, astonished.

"Ying!" The mutated wheat nodded vigorously.

Worried that Kim Haru might not believe it, it jumped off the tea table and quickly walked toward a wheat plant in the sample field, signaling for Kim Haru to touch it.

Kim Haru understood its intention. He checked the wheat's remaining growth days with the system.

88 days.

After Kim Haru touched it, the mutated wheat began moving. Without doing anything obvious, it extended a leaf toward the wheat. Before it even touched the plant, it made a change. Kim Haru checked again.

84 days.

It was indeed shorter!

Kim Haru was excited.

Although it had only shortened by four days, it was still progress. And from the mutated wheat's actions, it seemed that as its abilities grew and it gained more control over the wheat, the growth periods of the plants would shorten even more.
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This was definitely a great skill.

"Not bad, not bad, you can stay," Kim Haru said, even more impressed as he looked at the mutated wheat. "Since you can move around, you can pick where you want to stay. Feel free to root anywhere nearby, just don't take over other plants' territories."

With that, Kim Haru took the mutated wheat over to the other side of the pond, letting it familiarize itself with its future working environment.

"The wheat field is in your hands now." Kim Haru squatted down, patting what he assumed to be the mutated wheat's "shoulder." "To make things easier, I'll give you a name. Hmm, let's call you Little Wheatie. Nice and simple."

The newly named Little Wheatie didn't mind its horrible name at all. In fact, it began to dance happily, or rather, waved its leaves and roots in joy.

Only Go Okrim seemed less than pleased.

He felt his position was being threatened by this little Wheat.

Look at it, wobbling along behind Kim Haru, slowing down his steps. What if it actually tripped him up?

Kim Haru shared Go Okrim's sentiment, though he was more amused than annoyed.

He stopped and looked back. "Could you maybe stop following me so closely?"

Kim Haru didn't mind if he tripped over it, but he was more concerned that the little guy was trailing him so tightly that if he made a sudden turn, he might accidentally step on it.

This was his precious helper, the one that sped up the maturity of his crops. If it got damaged, he wouldn't know where to find a doctor to treat a mutated plant.

"Ying Ying~"

Little Wheatie made a soft, pleading sound while lifting its two leaves toward Kim Haru, as if asking to be picked up.

Why did this feel like a child asking a parent for a hug?

Kim Haru who had been single in the previous life, and single now, and planned to stay single, gave a slight cough and shifted his gaze toward the pigpen.

"Look over there—there's one of your kind. Its name is Little Oakie. Be good, and go play with Little Oakie."