Tyler stepped back into the shattered clearing where the demon general Xeno lay.

When Tyler sent the claws into the sky, one or two orbs fell down and blasted the ground.

The ground was still scorched from the earlier explosions, soil cracked and blackened. In the center, Xeno’s body twitched unnaturally. His severed limbs had begun to regenerate, but the process was painfully slow, jagged bones pushing outward, dark flesh crawling to reconnect, as if even his demonic body was struggling to keep up.

Xeno noticed him.

His pupils shrank.

"W–Who are you...?" Xeno croaked, his voice shaking. "How can you be this powerful...?"

This was the first time fear had entered his tone.

Tyler stood calmly before him, the spider-leg blade resting loosely in his hand.

"I am Ty—"

"You are Richard!"

Tyler stopped mid-sentence. His introduction was interrupted again.

"...?"

Xeno’s expression twisted as memory flooded back.

"I remember now! I have seen all the details of the enemies." Xeno shouted hoarsely. "You’re from the Hero Party! That cunning princess announced your death during a monster subjugation, she said you were killed in action!"

He laughed, a manic, broken sound.

"But you’re alive. Hiding here. So this is it... you’re their trump card, buried in the forest! How dare you talk about not involving the forest dwellers in the war? When you are hiding among them."

Behind the trees, Chole and Kristina stiffened.

"...Hero Party?" Kristina whispered, her eyes widening.

Chole’s expression darkened.

Xeno’s laughter grew louder.

"Hehehe... this is perfect!" he shouted. "I don’t even need to fight you anymore. I just need to return with this information!"

His eyes burned with greed.

"The Demon King will show mercy! I’ll be rewarded! Maybe even restored!"

Tyler exhaled slowly.

"I mean..." he muttered, stepping forward, "...who the hell said you could go?"

Xeno barely had time to react.

The blade flashed.

SHHHK.

Xeno’s head was severed cleanly from his body.

For a fraction of a second, silence fell.

Then—

Xeno’s eyes blinked.

"...Huh?"

His body collapsed, but his head didn’t die.

With a twisted grin, Xeno grabbed his own severed head using regenerating tendrils and hurled it into the sky like a cannonball, demonic energy propelling it forward.

"Hahahaha—!" his voice echoed. "I will be baaaaack—!"

TWANG.

A thin white web shot through the air.

The web wrapped around Xeno’s head mid-flight and yanked it back violently.

The head slammed into the ground.

More webs followed.

One after another, Dia launched silk threads with incredible precision, wrapping Xeno’s head completely. In seconds, it was sealed into a tight cocoon, muffling his voice entirely.

"MMM— MMMPH—!!"

Dia scurried forward, grabbed the cocoon with effort far beyond her size, and tossed it toward Tyler.

Tyler caught it easily.

"Well," Tyler said calmly, looking down at the wriggling bundle, "you came back faster than expected."

Xeno struggled inside the cocoon, furious but helpless.

"Mmm! MMMMM!!"

"I wonder why I can’t kill you properly," Tyler mused. "Demonic regeneration? Soul anchoring? I’ll check later."

Without ceremony, he took the pocket-dimension pearl and dropped the cocoon inside.

The struggle vanished and the silence returned to the clearing.

Tyler turned around to see Chole and Kristina stepping out from hiding.

Kristina hesitated, then spoke softly, "Mr. R–Richard..."

Tyler stiffened instantly. He has no idea who the heck was that.

"Tyler," he corrected quickly. "Just Tyler White."

Kristina blinked, then nodded, "...Yes. Mr. Tyler."

Chole studied him closely, her expression unreadable, "So... Hero Party," she said quietly.

Tyler shrugged.

"That was another life," he replied. "This one’s quieter."

He glanced at the ruined field and sighed.

"...Or it was supposed to be."

Dia crawled up onto his shoulder, chirping softly as if asking for praise. Serena jumped down from a tree, tail flicking, clearly satisfied.

Tyler looked at the night sky— still faintly glowing from lingering embers of fireworks.

"Well," he said calmly, "Bring those fruit village Tribe people, Let them build a house for us..."

---

A month later

Name: Tyler White/ Richard

Age: 19

Species: Human

Occupation: Level 10 Farmer

Skills:

DNA Fertilizer

Slash

Eye of the Jungle

Familiar: Serena (A Chubby Cat)

---

MP: 2300 / 2300

Strength: 2300

Stamina: 2300

Vitality: 2300

Speed: 2300

EXP: 100,000+

Points: 0

---

Tyler stared at the floating numbers in front of him and clicked his tongue.

"...Too slow," he muttered. "My EXP is growing way too slowly."

He leaned back, crossing his arms as he thought. The fields were flourishing, the crops healthy, and the magic herbs vibrant—but the EXP gain had clearly begun to plateau.

"I need new types of seeds," Tyler said to himself. "At this rate, staying inside the forest won’t be enough."

His gaze shifted toward the forest edge.

"Looks like I’ll have to go out of the forest and buy things."

Before he could dwell on it further, a loud thud echoed from outside.

Tyler glanced out the window.

On the field, Serena was enthusiastically playing a strange game. She slammed her head into a ball wrapped tightly in white silk—using a full cat headbutt.

"Ouch!" a muffled voice cried from inside the ball.

Kristina didn’t stop there.

She dashed forward and kicked the ball cleanly across the field with impressive force.

The silk-wrapped ball flew through the air and bounced directly off Chole’s chest before rolling away.

"Aaan~ " Chole made a moan.

"What was that? Rubber tree?" the ball shouted.

Chole face turned red in anger and kicked the ball, it flew in the air.

"aaaahhh..." The ball flew with pain.

Behind Chole stood a makeshift net built from wooden frames and Dia’s strong spider silk, clearly set up as a goalpost.

The ball rolled back.

"Ow— stop —wait—!"

The ball was, of course, Xeno’s head.

Tyler watched silently for a moment.

"...At least he’s still useful," he muttered.

Around Tyler’s territory, things had changed drastically over the past weeks.

With the help of villagers, Better houses had been built— solid, well-crafted structures reinforced with proper materials. Storehouses stood neatly arranged near the fields, already half-filled with harvested crops. Outside Tyler’s fence, several small houses had appeared as well.

The villagers had moved closer.

Not inside his territory —but near enough to feel protected.

Tyler didn’t mind.

He knew the reason.

It’s because of the Rumors.

Stories spread quickly in the forest, especially among wandering tribes. A human who could grow crops unnaturally fast. Trees that matured in days. Herbs overflowing with mana. Fields that never failed.

To the villagers, there was only one explanation.

A Druid.... Ancient stories spoke of Druids as nature’s chosen— friends of forests, companions of beasts, beings who could command growth itself. Legends said they wandered naked through the woods, lived alongside animals, and treated trees like family.

But Druids had disappeared long ago.

They were said to have gone into hiding when the First Demon King was born.

Now—

A mysterious man appeared, cultivating land deep within the forest, producing endless food and prosperity.

To the Fruit Village, Tyler had to be a Druid.

Even other tribes had begun whispering about him.

Some spoke with awe.

Some with fear.

Some with hope.

Because according to the legends, the Forest God was also a druid.

Even now the fruit tribe villagers are thinking of sending some girls naked to please the ’druid’.

---

Inside the royal castle, tension hung thick in the air.

"There is still no information about Demon General Xeno?" the Princess asked, her voice calm but sharp.

She stood near the tall window overlooking the capital, golden light reflecting faintly off her armor. Despite her composed posture, her fingers tightened slightly at her side.

Before her stood an old woman holding a crystal ball. Deep wrinkles lined her face, and her cloudy eyes glimmered faintly with magic. She was one of the few in the kingdom who possessed the rare skill Fortune Teller—the ability to glimpse luck, misfortune, and the vague threads of fate.

"My visions... are pointing toward the forest," the old woman said slowly. "B–But..."

The Princess turned at once.

"But?" she pressed. "Continue."

The old woman hesitated, her grip on the crystal ball tightening.

"The vision warns me," she said carefully. "It says that it would be better if Your Highness enters the forest alone. You must search for a person blessed with nature’s gift. That person will be the key to the kingdom’s victory."

The words echoed in the chamber.

"Nature’s gift?" the Princess repeated softly. "You mean... a druid?"

Her eyes narrowed.

"There is a druid in the forest?"

The old woman shook her head slowly.

"I cannot see clearly," she admitted. "That forest is obscured. Something—or someone—blocks my sight. I can sense fate moving there, but not its shape."

Silence followed.

The Princess turned back toward the window, staring at the distant green horizon beyond the castle walls. A lone figure, hidden deep within the forest, holding the power to sway the war itself...

If this is true, she thought, then that person could change everything.

But entering the forest alone was dangerous.

Druids, if they still existed, were unpredictable. And fate itself seemed uncertain.

The Princess closed her eyes briefly.

Should I search for this "nature’s gift"... or leave it undisturbed?

The decision weighed heavily on her mind.