Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World-Chapter 133: The Secret Of The Forest
The dense forest, which had been peacefully letting Kim Haru walk through it freely during the day, had transformed into a menagerie of nightmarish monsters. Towering, massive, bristling with countless writhing tendrils—some blazing with fire, others covered in icy frost, each plant was now turned into a wild and terrifying creatures.
If Kim Haru were awake to witness this scene, his first thought would likely be: A parade of fiends and demons.
But unfortunately (or perhaps luckily), Kim Haru was already fast asleep.
In fact, had the mutated plants not confirmed through his cabin window that Kim Haru was truly asleep, they would never have dared to reveal their true form like this.
Generally, these mutated plants managed their energies carefully; over the years, they’d established an unspoken understanding within this territory. Each mutant plant had its own turf, and without a compelling reason, they wouldn’t intrude upon each other’s domain.
However—
Today’s events had left the mutant plants increasingly infuriated the more they thought about it.
In the end, they simply couldn’t contain themselves any longer and decided to vent their frustrations by intimidating the source of their grievances first.
They had all agreed earlier: before confirming this human’s views on mutated creatures—and understanding the secret behind that incredibly enticing quality of his—no one should recklessly reveal their true nature in front of him.
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The "secret" was only a pretext, of course. Mostly, none of the mutated plants wanted to see the others gain favor with Kim Haru first, to monopolize him.
After all, they all wanted him for themselves. If it came to an all-out battle, no one would win; they would only be worse off. So, they’d reached a truce, resulting in this temporary standoff.
They’d even set up a system: whenever Kim Haru left, the plants would take turns sneaking into his space for a bit of his rich soil, fertilizer, or water. Those who hadn’t had their turn would stand guard, prepared to alert any plants in Kim Haru’s vegetable area if he returned unexpectedly.
They had pulled this off several times without him noticing, each plant being careful not to blow their cover.
But who could’ve expected this? Today, one particular little sapling had broken ranks and succumbed to temptation, disregarding their established rules!
And to make matters worse, that rogue sapling had even caught the human’s attention! Not only was it spared from being cut down by Kim Haru, but he had actually watered it—and with so much delicious water, too!
Did you hear what that human promised it? He said he’d even change its soil and add fertilizer! No need to sneak around; it could openly, proudly have such treatment, all for itself!
Such a grand arrangement! None of them—no matter how powerful they are—had managed to obtain such a privilege. Even the elder tree next to Kim Haru’s cabin didn’t get this special treatment, yet here this tiny upstart sapling had secured it!
Wasn’t it just a matter of helping the human keep an eye on that little piglet? Any one of them could handle it too! Not only that, but they had personally caught the pig themselves and stuffed it into the human’s trap.
Otherwise, how could that tiny trap catch anything? Could it catch a wild bird that could fly away or a wild pig that can destroy it with a simple bump?
They had put a lot of effort into capturing those two little creatures. This whole area was already under the control of the mutated plants, and most mutated animals wouldn’t come near it—especially creatures like pigs that would chew on plants.
The mutated plants had spread the word far and wide, finally finding a suitable little piglet from the territory of other mutated plants, and it had taken several days to capture it and bring it over.
After working so hard to fulfill the human’s wish, none of them had dared to come forward and demand credit. Yet somehow, this little sapling, which had done absolutely nothing, had swooped in and stolen the spotlight!
And it had even been given the name Little Oakie by Kim Haru. How could this not make the other mutated plants seethe with jealousy?
...
The next day, Kim Haru overslept, missed the breakfast, and didn’t get up until mid-morning. His first thought upon waking up was to check how the little piglet was adapting.
As he reached the pig pen, he was startled.
"Little Oakie, what happened to you?"
Yesterday, Little Oakie had looked vibrant and lively, but now it was drooping miserably. While it had never been overly leafy to begin with, today it looked utterly bare, with every single leaf gone.
It was as if, overnight, it had gone straight from autumn into winter.
And yet, the plants surrounding it showed no change from the day before—they were still as lush and green as ever.
"Little Oakie, are you sick?" Kim Haru asked worriedly, reaching out to touch Little Oakie, trying to see if the system could assess the health of a plant that was not grown on his farm.
Not long after that, the system reported back.
[ Plant health: Normal. ]
[ Leaf loss due to external factors. ]
External factors?
Kim Haru looked at Little Oakie, then at Little Snort who is still snoring away contentedly.
"I get it," he concluded, deciding to give Little Oakie an extra dose of fertilizer that day.
Little Snort clearly had been restless last night, trying to escape all night long, and Little Oakie had to stay up the entire time to guard it, causing it to shed all its "hair" (leaves) from the exhaustion.
Who would’ve thought that the effects of an all-nighter would show up so dramatically in a plant?
As someone who also loved staying up late, Kim Haru touched his own hairline, he was determined to go to bed earlier and adopt a healthier routine from now on.
Little Oakie: "…"
Although it was happy to receive more fertilizer, it knew that those tyrannical bullies would come by tonight to snatch it all! Last night, they had stolen every last drop of the water it had carefully saved.
