Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World-Chapter 197: Exposed (Part 3)

His expression darkened further as he thought about the dense, jungle-like vegetation surrounding his small farm. It was as if he were living in the middle of a primeval forest. The more he thought about it, the blacker his face became.

So, he’d been living in a nest of mutated plants all this time?

The wood he’d chopped for his fence—mutated plants. The bamboo he’d been eagerly waiting to harvest for shoots next year—mutated plants. The area where he gathered mushrooms—mutated plants. The vines he casually grabbed to use as ropes—also mutated plants. Even the massive tree next to his cabin that shielded him from wind and rain—it, too, was a mutated plant.

And then there were the orange trees, chestnut trees, lemon trees...

Kim Haru didn’t know whether to marvel at his uncanny ability to pick such an "outstanding" location or be amazed that he’d lived in such a place for so long without a single scratch—his life miraculously intact.

"Mr. Kim, is something wrong?" Do Seungjin asked, puzzled.

Kim Haru shook his head. He had no patience to join Do Seungjin and the others in a leisurely drive back.

"Don’t wait for me. You all can head back now—I’ll teleport directly."

With that, Kim Haru disappeared. Go Okrim quickly followed.

Do Seungjin and the others were left standing there, bewildered.

"Forget it. We can never guess what’s on Mr. Kim’s mind anyway. Let’s just head back to the safe zone. First, let’s untie the piglets and let them stretch out a bit. We can’t have them getting injured—they’re the foundation of our future livestock farming!"

...

Kim Haru and Go Okrim reappeared at the farm.

This time, the entire farm showed no trace of the nightmarish mutated plants they had just seen. The roots tangled around the sample fields—gone. The mutated plants at the fermentation pool and the cleared land—gone. By the pond, only a single graceful lotus plant remained.

There wasn’t even a sign of something being dragged across the ground, no fallen leaves that didn’t belong.

The entire small farm was so clean it seemed like everything they’d seen earlier was a hallucination.

How could it possibly be a hallucination?!

Kim Haru refused to believe that.

Recalling the terrifying scene from earlier, Kim Haru told Go Okrim to head back to the dormitory and not come out unless summoned. Go Okrim obediently followed his instructions.

Kim Haru, meanwhile, grabbed an axe in one hand and a watering can in the other. Standing amidst the surrounding plants, he yelled loudly, "Which one of you is a mutated plant? Whoever it is, I’m giving them water!"

As soon as Kim Haru finished speaking, every plant around him—without exception—trembled and raised their leaves nervously. The shorter plants, afraid that Kim Haru might not see them, lifted their branches high, some even helping each other raise their stems higher.

Even the inconspicuous little grasses under the trees weakly positioned their leaves to mimic the act of raising a hand.

Not a single normal plant among them.

Kim Haru’s mind went completely blank.

Without making a fuss, he began watering the plants one by one in mechanical silence, circling around them methodically.

After two rounds of watering, his brain finally began to process what had just happened.

Looking at the vast mountain forest in front of him, he sighed. "Since we’ve been coexisting peacefully for so long without any trouble, it’s clear you all don’t mean me any harm. I’m too lazy to move anyway, so I’ll stay here."

The plants around him rustled their leaves in response, and Kim Haru could almost hear the cheers in their jubilant movements.

Kim Haru chuckled.

He could faintly imagine how nervous and uneasy these plants must have felt, having suddenly been exposed. Now, with his decision, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"There are so many of you. I can’t water and fertilize each of you individually, and there’s no way I’m going to replace the soil for this entire mountain. From now on, I’ll prepare ten extra portions of water, soil, and fertilizer daily. You’ll have to figure out how to divide it amongst yourselves."

Kim Haru knew these plants had their own ways of communicating.

"But let me make one thing clear: you are absolutely forbidden from stealing nutrients meant for my crops! If I catch anyone doing that, I’ll chop them down with my axe."

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After cutting down that orange tree before, Kim Haru was fully aware that his axe worked just as effectively on mutated plants.

"If someone does steal nutrients and I can’t figure out who it is, I’ll reduce the amount of resources I give to all of you. Every time it happens, one portion less."

Immediately, the plants around him shook their leaves frantically.

Being chopped down wasn’t their greatest fear, but losing their share of nutrients? Absolutely unacceptable!

"Also," Kim Haru continued, "I’ll still be wandering through the forest in the future. You all better keep pretending to be normal plants, and I’ll pretend I don’t know anything."

Though he already knew, pretending not to notice was far better than walking through a forest of writhing, animated plants.

"If I end up picking or cutting something that disturbs you, just let me know, and I’ll be careful." After some thought, Kim Haru decided to set some boundaries in advance. "Like the wood I’ve used before—I’ll probably still need more in the future." Continue your journey at novelbuddy

When Kim Haru had cut down plants before, there had been no reaction from the mutated plants, suggesting they didn’t mind such actions. However, now that he knew the truth, he felt it necessary to address the matter.

The plants nodded, then shook their leaves.

Kim Haru understood—they were saying it was fine, they didn’t mind.

Having settled things with these plants, Kim Haru activated his teleportation device.

Next stop: the orchard.

The orange trees in the orchard stood as still as statues.

Looking at these trees, which appeared completely ordinary and unmutated, Kim Haru got straight to the point. "Who’s in charge here?"