Chapter 2:

8-month-old Jung was playing with his toys on the wooden ground of their hut, and he was being supervised by his father, who is on a break from planting rice in the soggy fields outside. The province is in the growing period, and most of the farmers of their people’s cooperative are waiting and praying for the undisturbed maturation of their rice plants.

Just because the plants are growing doesn’t mean that there is nothing else to do but wait. The farmers needed to protect the plants from a variety of dangers, from birds and other animals to insects that burrow in the ground and eat the root system. There are also weeds that grow next to the plant and compete with the limited minerals in the soil. All of these need to be manually eradicated if they want the crops to grow properly. The old farmer sighed as he fanned himself with his straw hat. His wife just arrived from town, buying a few necessities with her limited budget, so he is stuck taking care of the baby while his wife prepares lunch.

***

Jung frowned as he glared at the blue screen in front of him. He was just happily playing with the colorful plastic toy on the ground when the blue screen popped up in front of him out of nowhere. The stupid screen is blocking his gaze of his toys, and he wanted it to go away. He leaned to his right, and the screen followed him. He leaned to his left, and the screen did the same.

Unknown to the baby, the screen is giving him a quest to "play with his toys for the next 30 minutes," a simple easy-to-do quest that would have earned him experience points he would need in the future.

Unfortunately for the system, it did not account for the fact that Jung is, well …, a baby. And baby Jung did not have the time, skill, or necessary patience to read the gibberish in front of him. Instead, the annoying screen is blocking his view and distracting him from playing.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"Gaah! Bu-buuh!" Jung exclaimed, waving his short arms in the air. However, the screen remained. Jung tried to reach for it, muttering to himself in baby talk, but his chubby little hands were just too short. So he tried again.

And again.

In his frustration, the baby snapped. "Gaaah!"

You stupid thingy!... I'll get you if it is the last thing I do! Come here! Jung angrily thought.

Kim Hyusil, Jung's father, stopped fixing the crumpled, rolled-up tobacco in his hand and blinked his eyes in disbelief. He smirked to himself when he noticed his little son's antics.

"Hey, Jin Ae! Come see this! The little brat is starting to crawl."

Jung was so intent on his task to grab the blue screen that he didn't notice the bubble that floated on top of his head depicting a certain rune. Jung, who is the only one who can see it, will not recognize it for now, but the symbol depicted the numeral number 1 for a second or two before dissipating several inches away from the baby's head. Whether the symbol is written in the baby's local language of korean or the runic alien symbol it is written now, it didn't matter, for the baby is not interested to understand the symbols.

Jung might have failed the quest, but Jung's effort to crawl was recognized by the system, and he just received his first experience point because of it.

But the baby never notices it or will he care as his nemesis continues to torment him. Come here, blue screen! Jung thought instead as he pushed his little body to crawl even faster.

When I get my hands on you...

"Da-buuh!" Jung said as he crawled in a circle in the dirt, and his father laughed his heart out while pointing at his cute son.

Jung never remembered this moment, but what the screen said in the unknown old language of the creators’ symbolic language was this:

Analysis completed.

The candidate's DNA sequence and cellular configuration passed basic requirements. Unity System is activated.

Congratulations! You are now designated as an awakened being. Main species classification: Higher Human.

Hyusil laughed again at his son’s determined face as the farmer clapped and egged the baby on. Although the father and son were unaware of the historic event that day in Earth history, the system managed to capture it for future generations to analyze.

The lazy day continued in the backwater province of Guanzu.