Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World

"It's strange, though—why do these people look so healthy? Usually, only in resource-rich safe zones do you see regular people looking this well."

"Exactly. And I heard a lot of them talking about some 'Mr. Kim' with a lot of respect in their voices. How come we've never heard of any powerful ability user called 'Mr. Kim' here?"

Hearing this, the rest of the Draco Virtus Squad listened carefully, noticing the same thing.

It seemed that the positive mental state of these people was somehow connected to this "Mr. Kin."

Curiosity sparked among them. Exchanging glances, each member saw the intrigue mirrored in the others' eyes.

Feigning the need for directions, they approached a group of ordinary people.

Before they even got close, the team's member with Sharp Eyes ability suddenly cried out in surprise: "What is that? How are there such fresh oranges here?!"

...

Since discovering the orchard in that forest, Kim Haru's focus had naturally shifted a bit.

The fields on the farm were growing steadily, and two of the three animals on the farm had excellent self-management skills, needing no attention from him. Little Snort, who hadn't yet developed the same self-sufficiency, was being supervised by Little Oakie. The new lotus in the pond was also thriving—after Kim Haru had tossed it in with some fertilizer a few days ago, it had already sprouted twenty or thirty leaves.

The farm didn't need him constantly; the orchard, however, demanded much more attention.

Over the past few days, Kim Haru had finally mapped out the area of the orange grove and grew increasingly satisfied with it. A full hundred orange trees stood tall, each one laden with plump, ripe oranges. In the center of the grove, there was an ancient orange tree that looked massive and majestic, just based on its appearance he could tell it had lived for a long time.

Kim Haru also could tell that this entire grove had likely grown and spread from this single, old orange tree over time.

He planned to take special care of this old tree, watering and fertilizing it as a token of gratitude for the generous grove it had provided him.

Next to the orange grove, there were a few chestnut trees—not many, it's 8 in total—and only a single short lemon tree.

But Kim Haru wasn't bothered by the limited variety. After all, he hadn't had to plant these trees himself; having them here was more than enough.

After surveying the orchard's boundaries, Kim Haru decided to start building a fence around it.

For a grove this large, the wooden fences he'd previously crafted wouldn't be sufficient. He used up all the wood stacked beside his cabin, and then grabbed his axe to cut more from the mutated iron trees. After two days of labor, he finally managed to enclose the entire orchard with a sturdy fence.

The moment the last section of the fence was complete, his farm system let out a series of cheerful chimes.

[ Ding! Acquired 99 Orange Trees (Top-grade). Orange tree saplings unlocked. ]

[ Ding! Acquired 1 Orange Tree (Super-grade). ]

[ Ding! Acquired 7 Chestnut Trees (Top-grade). Chestnut tree saplings unlocked. ]

[ Ding! Acquired 1 Chestnut Tree (Super-grade). ]

[ Ding! Acquired 1 Lemon Tree (Super-grade). ]

[ Ding! Lemon tree saplings unlocked. ]

[ Ding! Fruit Farmer title unlocked. ]

[ Reward: 2 Scarecrows. ]

[ Scarecrow ]

[ Effect: Can deter birds from pecking at the fruit. ]

[ Ding! Farm area expanded. ]

[ Ding! Achievement unlocked! <<From East to West, It's All My Land>>. ]@@novelbin@@

[ Reward: Farm's Blessing. ]

Curious, Kim Haru clicked on the "Farm's Blessing" description. This reward was permanently bound to him, without a physical item. Instead, if KimHaru encountered danger, the function would automatically trigger, summoning one of his farm's creatures to aid him, no matter how far away he was. The creature would remain by his side until the threat was gone, then return to the farm.

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This was a passive skill; Kim Haru couldn't activate or deactivate it at will.

After reading the reward details, Haru counted off on his fingers: Little Nugget, Sir Peckington, Little Snort, Little Oakie, Little Lily (Luring Lotus Nickname). Perhaps Go Okrim could be included too.

These were all the creatures on his farm. As for the two zombie-bots, he'd rather leave them out of the count. Whether they still qualified as "creatures" was debatable, and even if they did, he had no idea whether they'd help or harm him if they appeared.

As for the others, apart from Little Oakie, who might be able to hold its own in a fight, any of the rest would likely be useless in an emergency. In fact, if things got dangerous, it was hard to tell who'd be saving whom.

If he excluded those few creatures, the only other "living" things on the farm were the crops in the fields and the fruit trees in the orchard. But what good would it do to summon these in a crisis? Were they supposed to buy time by feeding themselves to the enemy?

Kim Haru sighed helplessly.

"System, this reward is pretty useless. Could I get a replacement?"

With his previous achievement for hosting guests, he'd had the option to choose between two rewards. This time, there was only one choice.

Of course, the system didn't answer him, let alone offer an alternative reward.

Kim Haru had no choice but to accept it, and he quickly dismissed this "useless" skill from his mind.

He did notice the system's evaluation of the orchard, especially the old orange tree, which was rated as "Super-grade." Every other variety of tree was at least "Top-grade" or higher—none were merely "Good-grade." It's no wonder they produced such delicious fruit with exceptional nutritional value.

The orchard was now officially within the farm's domain, so Kim Haru pulled up the information for fruit trees from the system. With a notebook and pen in hand, he began inspecting each tree one by one.

He had already numbered the trees from one to one hundred, noting which ones needed branch trimming, which had too many fruits and would benefit from thinning to concentrate nutrients, which trunks were leaning and required support, which showed signs of pests, and which had fewer leaves and might need extra nutrition. Everything was meticulously recorded in his notebook.