Chapter 24:
Jung Hee stayed on his hands and knees as he stared intently at the mysterious flower he had planted in his garden. He knew it was a risk but a month after he discovered the mysterious flower, Jung decided to replant the flower in his garden so he can better take care of it. It drooped a little when he transplanted it from a distance of 2 miles away, from the inner mountain forest to his home, and it scared him a bit, but after a few days, it was vibrantly alive once more.
Jung spent an entire 2 weeks researching the plant and conducting safe but informative tests on it. Only after he was comfortable with the flower's characteristics did he begin tampering with it in order to grow more of it.
He spent enough time studying the flower to identify the stamen and carpel parts of the plant, which are the plant's male and female reproductive parts, respectively. He has no choice but to use self-pollination to fertilize his flower because he only has one. If he has a few of them, he might try cross-pollination in the future.
Using an old tweezer, Jung carefully grabbed a few of the pollen grains, which he is relatively sure contain the male gametes, and then placed them on top of the carpel's stigma. He is tempted to put multiple pollens in it to give it a better chance of fertilization, but he is concerned that doing so will slow down the process rather than speed it up.
So he decided to be content with this action for now, and then carefully fixed the wooden framework guarding the plant. Jung started weeding the surrounding area and outright inspecting every roaming insect that comes even near the flower to make sure they are not pests that could harm his precious plant
If his self-pollination doesn't show any results by the end of next week, he will try again. Then he will try grafting it into another plant and see if it survives that way. When he finished weeding the ground, Jung hee started watering the plant in a controlled and documented amount of water. Too little and Jung might impede the growth of the plant. Too much and it might drown it. So he needed to find the optimal amount of water, sunlight, and nutrients needed to keep the damn plant growing. Also, the colorful flower and leaves it produces gave him a general idea of how much sunlight exposure the flower needed. Later, he will contemplate if he needs to get a handful of the fertilizer available in the co-op and place it in the garden, but Jung is confident with the compost he made for his own garden. But, just in case
When he is satisfied, he stretched out and planned to do the laundry next when a new prompt interrupted his thoughts.
Congratulations!
You have upgraded your general skill "Gardening" to level 7.
-70% increase in the growth speed of any plant you take care of directly.
-210% percent increase in the resistance of any plant you tcare for against insects, temperature, and the environment.
Current level: 7
Needed skill points to upgrade to the next level: 1
Remaining Skill Points: 1
The edge of Jung's mouth lifted slightly as he read the notification. When he was younger, he activated the skill on a whim because his mother enjoys gardening. It is now an invaluable skill in assisting him to complete a critical quest. Life is truly unpredictable.
And fun, mused Jung to himself.
When he finished fixing the plant, Jung took a break and returned his attention back to the system. He noted to himself that the new 15 skill points he received from his latest quest vanished almost instantly, as did his remaining 4, when he decided to place them in skills that he might not be using all that much just to balance his overall skill tree. He added skill to a few obscure things like:
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Congratulations!
You have upgraded the specialist skill “Spot” to level 2.
- Once activated, you have a 25% chance to notice obscure things that might pique your interest within a 15-meter radius.
Requirements: Perception 1, The skill “Seeing,” at least level 5 (Requirement met)
Current level: 2
Needed skill points to upgrade to the next level: 3
Remaining Skill Points: 17
Congratulations!
You have unlocked the specialist skill “Well rested” to level 1.
-From now on, you only needed the bare minimum of 6 hours of sleep. Once you wake up, you will feel well rested both in body and mind for the next 12 hours, and feel normal for the other 12.
Requirements: Perception 1, Endurance 1, Wisdom 1 (requirements met)
Current level: 1
Needed skill points to upgrade to the next level: 2
Remaining Skill Points: 16
Congratulations!
You have Upgraded the specialist skill “Well rested” to level 2.
-From now on, you only needed the bare minimum of 5 hours and 30 minutes of sleep.. Once you wake up, you will feel well rested both in body and mind for the next 12 hours, and feel normal for the other 12.
Requirements: Perception 1, Endurance 1, Wisdom 1 (requirements met)
Current level: 2
Needed skill points to upgrade to the next level: 3
Remaining Skill Points: 14
Congratulations!
You have unlocked the specialist skill “Communication” to level 1.
-You instinctively know what to say in any situation.
-10% chance that you will have a good first impression.
-12% percent chance that the person you are talking to will have a better impression of you.
-8% percent chance in diffusing a tense situation.
Requirements: Perception 1, Wisdom 1 (Requirement met)
Current level: 1
Needed skill points to upgrade to the next level: 2
Remaining Skill Points: 13
Congratulations!
You have upgraded the Specialist skill “2nd tank” to level 1.
Once you feel that you are very tired doing a task, your body will receive an unexpected surge of energy comparable to half of your original base stamina. Cool down: 24 hours.
Requirements: Endurance 1, Agility 1 (requirement met)
Current level: 1
Needed skill points to upgrade to the next level: 2
Remaining Skill Points: 12
Jung also spent 12 skill points to unlocked a dozen basic general skills to level 1. Many of these skills he didn’t really particularly care about, but he felt needed to upgrade them at least to unlocking stage. Skills like “basic reading” seems redundant to him since he already have the skill “Literacy” to level 10. Even so, he forced himself and unlocked the skill to level 1.
A year ago, he encountered a different form of punishment for failure to do a quest. It was when he was first asked by the system to extend his membership to the gym. He is able to extend that by a combination of selling small embroideries made from his tailoring skill, chopping woods for the town and making small buttons made of wood using his wood crafting skill and selling them to a cloth merchant in town. He is able to complete that quest and the next membership extension quest after that.
But what caught his notice was the unusual punishment if he failed the mission.
Failure to complete the quest will result in a level decrease in 3 random skills.
It will suck to lose levels in a skill that you work hard for or paid an enormous amount of skill points, but what he was concerned about is what will happen if the skill that lose a level… is already level 0? What will happen to him then?
He didn’t have any proof but he felt that if that happens, then it will become very, very dangerous to Jung’s health. And if it happens to multiple skills, then it can even become lethal very fast.
So to protect himself, he is now trying to lower his vulnerability by making sure that most if not all of his skill are at least level 1. But it won’t be easy. He still has like 3 pages of skills in his status with 0 level. He simply keeps getting skills no matter what he do, and yet the skills are still in tier 1 which implies that there are more higher tier level skills out there.
Even so, Jung couldn’t help himself from grinning just a little. Despite losing all his skill points, he still felt better now that he felt himself improving with all his new skills. The specialist skills in particular are getting better and better and it will definitely help him out in the future, especially the “Second tank” skill.
He sighed and continued maintaining the rest of the garden as he whistled a happy tune. The potatoes are ready to be harvested in a matter of days and the lettuces and celeries are blooming just nicely. Maybe they will have a vegetable soup tonight, Jung daydreamed.
Later, Jung’s mother called him inside and the little boy happily walked back home to his family.