Ian copied down the various botanical illustrations of high tier spiritual plants from the internet. However, a copy of a copy only resulted in card rating with at most 20 SP. The cards drawn from photographs didn’t fare any better, around 25 SP. He moved on to the next set of photographs from the ORA archive, but the sound of laughter from downstairs interrupted his train of thought. Even with headphones, the bustling rush of the morning diners and their endless chatter still penetrated through the muffled earpiece.
It was time to consider getting his own separate apartment. Unfortunately, with his impulsive spending habits, Ian didn’t have enough to buy a property. Why bother when he was living rent-free in his parents house? He would much rather spend 50,000 pounds on the micro-balance.
An advertisement suddenly popped up at the bottom of the computer screen with a very tempting offer. In the next hour, they were offering 75% off and an additional 25 pounds mail in rebate. Ian cursed at his browser for tracking all his previous purchases and knowing his weakness. His lab furnace was five-years old, maybe it was time to upgrade. The latest model was only 588 pounds after tax. Even if he emptied his bank account, he could still convert his federation dollars from the ORC app into pounds. After another ten seconds of intense deliberation between his internal selves, he bought the lab furnace.
His fingers backed away from the mouse and pondered over any sense of regret. No time for regret, he thought, and immediately shifted his focus to the item creation space. There were many plants on the internet that could still be documented.
By the end of the week, a notification alarm rang. It was time to book a time slot into the Neuman's realm. Ian stretched out his arms and warmed up his fingers near both his computer and phone.
Neuman’s realm was the only nearby otherworld realm that allowed a non-ranker to enter the field alone. There were many liability disclaimer forms to sign, but it wasn’t too bad. The hardest part was the booking. Different realms had different booking schedules, and Neuman’s only allowed booking schedules for the following week. As soon as the following weekly appointments appeared, people quickly snatched up the time slot. Ian battled the scalpers, other rankers and the app multiple verification screens for a single slot. Fortunately, his hands were dexterous and he booked a solo slot that was scheduled in eight days.
In the following days, Ian copied what he could from the online archive. It wasn’t until Hogan dragged him downstairs to the diner that he had any form of interaction with people. One of the waiters had called in sick, and they needed another waiter.
Downstairs, Marnie shuffled Ian to wait at the table with a pair of college girls. Ian rolled his eyes. Her plans were obvious.
“What do you want?” Ian asked in a curt tone.
The pair of college girls stared at Ian. He had a face, but his tone wasn’t friendly like the usual waiters. Nevertheless, it wasn’t rude enough for them to make a fuss. It was the pair's first time at the diner and although it was known for the casual atmosphere, they didn’t expect the lack of hospitality.
“What do you recommend?” One of the girls asked.
Ian pointed to two items on the menu. The skinny one looked like she needed more bacon and eggs while the healthier ones looked like she could enjoy the waffles. The girls agreed with his suggestions, and placed the order. Ian approached the kitchen window and yelled out their order to his dad, Carla and the sous chef, Evan.
“Dammit Ian, would it kill you to write that down?” Hogan screamed out through the sound of sizzling scrambled eggs and jumping bacon.
Ian scribbled out the order on the paper by the transaction window and passed the slip to Evan, who marveled at the words written on the slip. It was evenly spaced and neatly written as though it was printed from a computer. For Ian to write something down so quickly, he thought it would be illegible.
After completing the order, Ian waited by the corner while partially closing his eyes. Marnie flicked him in the arm, but he moved out of the way before she could inflict pain.
“Darn it!’ Marnie hissed at his reflex. “You’re not expecting to get paid?”
“You never pay me, even if I do well,” Ian replied.
Marnie snarled, wrinkling her face with ugly lines. In reality, she knew Ian wouldn’t have accepted payment even if they offered it to him.
“Oh yeah, I need to borrow some of dad’s gardening tools.”
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
“For what? You’re a farmer now?” asked Marnie. “You sure you’re not heading into those dungeons again?”
“It’s a research trip,” said Ian. “My focus will be to document plants. And otherworld realms aren’t dungeons, most are open spaces, not contained prisons.”
Marnie could care less, they were all dungeons to her. “When are you going to be back?”
“Maybe two to three weeks. My phone will be off during that time.”
“What realm?”
“Neuman’s,” said Ian. “I’m leaving in a few days.”
Marnie and Hogan hesitated. Even if their other sons were far away and working in much more dangerous realms, they couldn’t help but feel that it was their responsibility to keep Ian safe. Despite his assurance that the bridge jumping incident was just a result of something he ate, it didn't reassure them completely. In the end, they didn’t stop him. Afterall, Ian was already 24-years old.
****
On the day of Ian’s time slot, a taxi parked in front of the Neuman’s realm checkpoint. Instead of stopping by the building, Ian directly headed toward the checkpoint gate. The guards recognized Ian as he approached them.
“I know it’s not too difficult for you, but since you don’t have Mitch, you should be careful,” one of the guards warned Ian as he scanned the QR code.
Ian thanked them for the warning.
The guard scratched his head as he saw Ian’s backpack. It looked like a shovel and pickaxe. “You’re planning to farm there?”
Ian smiled. “Maybe.”
“If you do find a nice plot, make sure you register it,” said the guard. The ORA advised everyone to register farming plots to ensure proper ownership. That said, many plots get destroyed by monsters and the otherworld realm environment. Most plots needed to be protected by a magical relic or artifact in order to survive, but to use a magical relic inside a D-rank realm was a waste.
As soon as Ian entered Neuman's plot, he searched for the biggest tree. The yew tree to the west of the realm was close to 15 feet in diameter. There was a decent amount of vegetation around the area, perfect for hiding. He quickly sketched the yew tree, creating a yew tree card with 101 SP. He suspected that the actual yew tree had higher SP. If he spent more time, the card would be rated higher. Trees, unlike plants, had a much higher SP threshold, up to 500, before it was considered spiritual.
He marked the location on the map, and slowly paced his steps to the nearest fence barrier dividing the otherworld and the real world. The fence was on the real world side, and had sensors that would notify the authority of trespassers. He jotted down the estimated location of the giant yew tree inside the realm.
With the information noted on the map, he left the Neuman'a realm. On his way out, he drew as many plants as possible. As he suspected, drawing the plants from within the otherworld realm was most effective. The image cards were as high as 40 SP. The D-rank plants with a slight green glow were typically snatched up by other rankers.
Ian craned his neck and stretched. He had spent close to an hour sketching, but his plan had only just begun. He left the Neuman’s realm gate and walked to the main road.
His plan was to sneak into Neuman's realm, which he had done before. However, that was more than ten years ago when security wasn’t as active. With the ORA monitoring the party entering the realm, he had to be careful. The chance of a party being restricted by his 3 SP was really slim. If they did catch him, ten years in prison wasn’t too bad as long as he could still research and have three regular meals everyday. He was more concerned about the fines.
Ian walked out of the guard’s line of sight. Then, he ventured into a forest area nearby the realm field. The area was closeby, but the overgrown shrubs and tall grasses made it difficult to walk through the area. The guards occasionally surveyed the area, but rarely lingered around more than needed.
Ian found the large overgrown oak tree rooted in an awkward position between a short cliff overhang. He nudged the tall grass by the tree, uncovering a narrow tunnel hidden underneath the tree roots—a passage he had easily slipped into as a child. As an adult, Ian squirmed and pushed his way inside with a shovel, his jacket shielding him from the sharp rocks and roots jutting from all sides.
Deeper beneath the oak's roots, the tunnel widened enough for him to crawl. The light from his phone flickered and abruptly died, a sign that he had crossed the threshold into the otherworld realm. He retrieved an oil lamp from his supply bag and kindled the wick with a matchstick. Then, using his small shovel, he dug a bigger opening. While digging, memories of his brothers played through his mind. Back then, is oldest brother Logan spearheaded the attempt to tunnel their way into the otherworld realm. At the time, they were young and audacious. They didn’t know that tunneling into the otherworld realm was a severe crime with up to 25 years in prison. Luckily, very few people cared enough to tunnel into the Neuman's otherworld realm.
By the afternoon, Ian reached a room-sized cavern aglow with soft green light emanating from clusters of lilac bonnet mushrooms scattered across rough jagged walls. It was Luke’s idea to light the room up with glowing mushrooms while Kane enhanced it to the point it was almost as bright as a dim light bulb. The glow was a combination of the mushroom's natural chemistry and the green mana glow. After ten years, the mushrooms not only survived, but thrived. It had likely lived off of by eating the tree roots.
Ian moved closer to the cluster of mushrooms and began sketching the plant. The lilac bonnet mushroom cards were D-rank. Ian took his time to draw as many as possible. By the time he gathered enough, he wanted to see what would happen if he combined two highest D-rank lilac bonnets (~55 SP).
Much to his disappointment, the best he could make was a D-rank mushroom with 55 SP. The only thing keeping his interest was the lifelike lilac bonnet mushrooms in the item creation space. There was an odd smell from them. When he opened his eyes, he sniffed and blew his nose on his sleeve to remove the stuffiness. He wasn’t sure if he was allergic to the lilac mushrooms, but something smelled off.
Ian looked on ahead toward the rocky cavern wall, getting himself mentally prepared for the next undertaking, tunneling a passage to the yew tree inside the Neuman’s realm. He grabbed the pickaxe and slammed it into the wall.