Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World

Anyone who had spent any amount of time with Mr. Kim was well aware of his fondness for sleeping in. Not to mention, Moon Baein vividly remembered that when he became one of Kim Haru's contracted employees, there was a specific rule stating, Never disturb his sleeping time.

Of course, no one dared to criticize Mr. Kim for sleeping late. After all, this was Kim Haru—someone so remarkable that he had every right to sleep in. Who would have the audacity to judge him?

Kim Haru himself saw no issue with everyone knowing about his love for sleep. In fact, he preferred it that way. The more widely known it was, the less likely anyone would bother him unnecessarily.

Kim Haru asked Moon Baein, "Where is the hamster tribe located? I need their help with something."

"They're in the office on the far-right side of the basement level," Pyeongseong Safe Zone Commander replied. "Would you like me to accompany you?"

"No need."@@novelbin@@

Kim Haru made his way to the basement on his own.

The hamsters' office was easy to locate. For the convenience of others, the wall had been decorated with a simple drawing of a hamster's head, with its paw pointing toward the far right. The office, now belonging exclusively to the hamsters, had undergone renovations. A small door was installed at the bottom center of the main entrance, allowing the hamsters to open and close it themselves with ease.

When Kim Haru arrived, he happened to see a hamster crack open the small door, poking out half its head to look outside.

It must have heard the vibrations of Kim Haru's approaching footsteps.

"Hello," Kim Haru greeted them. "I need your help with something. May I come in?"

Kim Haru's social anxiety only applied to interactions with his own species—humans. Talking to a group of hamsters posed no psychological barrier for him at all.

The hamster at the door, recognizing the human who had garnered their admiration, immediately waved a paw to invite him inside.

With a soft click, Kim Haru heard the main door unlock. He tested the handle and found it opened smoothly.

The hamsters were far more sensitive than humans in every way. Even though the basement level was untouched by the raging wind outside, all the hamsters were already wide awake and gathered together.

The hamster Kim Haru had seen at the door was the one chosen to investigate the situation outside.

Now that it had opened the door for Kim Haru, it abandoned its original plan and shuffled back to its companions. Together, they edged closer to Kim Haru, each trying to get nearer to the pleasantly scented human.

It would be perfect if they could get a chance to sniff this human up close.

"Squeak squeak."

The hamster leader jumped onto the table and pointed at a chair, inviting Kim Haru to sit.

Kim Haru didn't hesitate. After sitting down, he took out a pile of peeled chestnuts from his system backpack and handed them to the hamsters. Then he explained his purpose: "I want to hire some of you to help me pick up the fruits. There are quite a few oranges and several chestnut trees."

As for the lemon tree, since the hamsters didn't like the smell of lemons, Kim Haru planned to keep those for himself and Go Okrim. The apple tree, of course, would remain under the care of Little Cinnamon.

"Squeak?"

How many of us do you need?

The hamster leader gestured with its tiny paws to ask.

"As many as you can spare—anyone available." Kim Haru placed no restrictions on the number. The more hamsters there were, the faster the fruit could be harvested. If his guess was correct, once the wind subsided, winter would be right around the corner.

Enjoy new tales from My Virtual Library Empire

And Kim Haru's guess turned out to be spot on.

The strong winds howled for two full days. When they finally stopped, Kim Haru led a troop of hamsters into the orchard, racing against time to pick the fruit. They worked tirelessly until midnight.

Then, in the darkness of night, snow began to fall.

The orchard at night was dimly lit. After two days of fierce winds, the weather still hadn't improved. The thick cloud cover showed no signs of breaking. The brightest light sources came from the orange trees.

Ever since the orange trees revealed their mutated nature, they had been producing glowing oranges at intervals. These glowing oranges were much larger than their edible counterparts. At night, their soft yellow glow made them look like small lanterns hanging among the trees.

These orange lanterns were a great help during fruit picking and allowed Kim Haru to notice the change in weather as soon as snow began to fall.

The snowflakes drifting down from the sky were thin and sparse. Back in his previous world, such snow would have melted into water droplets before even hitting the ground. But here, Kim Haru realized as soon as he touched the first snowflake that the common sense he had before crossing worlds no longer applied.

"Get all the hamsters back—it's starting to snow," Kim Haru quickly ordered.

The snowflake he had just touched was already discarded on the ground. Yet even after coming into contact with his body heat, it showed no signs of melting. The bone-chilling cold that had spread to Kim Haru's hand upon touching it still hadn't subsided.

If those little hamsters were touched by such snowflakes a few more times, who knows how frozen they might become.

Right now, the snowfall was still light, but if it got heavier later, it would be a serious problem.

The hamsters reacted even faster than Kim Haru. The moment it started getting colder and snowing, they stopped what they were doing and began clustering together. By the time Kim Haru spoke, they had almost completely gathered.

Go Okrim and Kim Haru didn't hesitate. They scooped the hamsters into backpacks lined with dry straw and prepared to teleport back to the small farm.