Jung peers intently through a microscope, carefully observing the samples in front of him. Then he frowned. The young man had started to understand better the things he saw in the eyes of the microscope, and he’d learned a lot about the samples he brought in to study. But even then, the more he learned, the more questions his research created for him. It was a vicious cycle.

When he was 9 years old, he discovered an unusual plant near his home, and he’d been studying it in and out ever since. As a preparation, Jung befriended the nurse in school and started volunteering help in the nurse station, like cleaning the place up. With a combination of charm and bullshit, Jung is able to convince the nurse to use the only microscope in the area so he can study and better understand the plant and how it works.

It took him several months before he is able to successfully extract seeds from the plant. But when he planted them using various methods, all 6 extracted seeds didn’t grow. He realized later that none of the seeds are pollinated.

It took him a few more months to find out that the damn plant actually has both female and male gametes, and it is possible to self-pollinate it. He had a crude idea of how to do it, and it was semi successful. He extracted another 2 dozen seeds and pollinated them as best he could, again using various different methods. Of the 25 seeds, only 6 successfully reach the nursery stage. Two more died for unknown reasons, but four reach the blooming stage. From there, Jung is able to extract another 40 seeds, and so far the seedlings are flowering nicely, but they are far from successful just yet.

The original plant had finally died after 3 years, and the remains were used by Jung by studying them with a microscope. One of the semi-adult plants died later when Jung attempted to graft them with other plants. The fertilized seeds are now much easier to extract than ever because of Jung’s experience in doing so, but even now he wonders if there are better ways to artificially pollinate the plants so he can have a better success ratio with the blooming process.

When he felt he is able to learn all he could for now, Jung quickly and quietly cleaned up the place and carefully stored the microscope back in its wooden storage box. He returned the sample back to his plastic container before stuffing it in his bag. The plant was surely dead, but he can still use it as fertilizer for the new seedlings. After 3 years of studying the damn plant, Jung didn’t want to just throw it away in the school’s trashcan.

When he is back in his garden, he resolved to apply certain ideas he had just thought about while studying the dead plants. It wasn’t a complete waste anyway, since he did receive some tangible rewards for his efforts.

Jung decided a while ago that he needed to level up one of his specialist skills to help him with the plant. So, when he leveled up a few days ago, he used his points to improve specific skills.

Congratulations!

You have upgraded the specialist skill “Research” to level 2.

-Your knowledge of base science in every level is increased by 20%

-Your learning speed in studying science subjects are increased by 10%

-Any study or test done using scientific tools has a better chance of success and is also 25% safer.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Requirements: Wisdom 1, Intelligence 1, Perception 1 (Requirement met)

Current level: 2

Needed skill points to upgrade to the next level: 3

Remaining Skill Points: 2

He waited for a moment and tried to feel if there were any changes in him, but he felt nothing. He felt slightly more relaxed, though, after investing the necessary skill point in research, so Jung compartmentalized his anxiety with the plant for now and decided to move on to other things for now.

While he was thinking all of this as he walked in the school corridor, Jung's gaze turned to the next class and he looked inside for a particular girl.

It was a habit of his to look at Eun Mei’s classroom every time he passed by and he did so again. Unfortunately, Eun Mei is not in her seat yet. Maybe she is still in the cafeteria. But Jung noticed another friend in Eun Mei’s class, so he smiled and veered towards him.

His name is Oh Sang-ki. The little boy is even smaller than Jung, but his problem is mostly his polio disease from when he was very young. This resulted in him having underdeveloped legs, and he is confined in a wheel chair all his life. Remarkably, though, he is like Jung Hee in many ways. For one, his wheelchair-bound legs didn’t stop him from loving life, and he is always the ray of sunshine in any grouping because of his upbeat personality.

“Oh heya, Jung!” Sang-ki said loudly. Sang-ki is Jung’s classmate and belongs to his class, but right now he is inside Eun Mei’s classroom and talking to a different friend. Guanzu people’s primary school is the main school for leagues away, and most kids in the surrounding area all go there. Some of the kids have known each other since they were in kindergarten. Even in Jung’s 600-strong batch of students, it is all the same. Many knew each other since they were young. Jung and Sang-ki are two of them.

Jung didn’t attend kindergarten class, but every now and then, his mom brought him to the town’s only playground when he was younger, and that is when he first met Sang-ki as an immediate playmate. Despite his wheelchair, Sang-ki knows a lot of things and is interested in almost anything. So he can easily adapt to all the kids and genuinely enjoy what they enjoy, whether it is a cartoon show, a particular comic book, a game, sports, hobbies, or any other manner of thing. Sang-ki can talk to you about it and make you relax with him.

Years ago, when they were in the playground, a group of older kids started getting rough with Sang-ki and they toppled him from his wheelchair. The boy fell and bruised himself. Jung came over, and with his almost glowing eyes, he stared at the boys with such muted anger that all the boys took a step back. “Stop it,” he said, and they stopped their harassment. Jung helps his friend back to his ride and then addresses the older kids.

“The kid in the wheel chair is off limits,” Jung simply said, wheeling his friend away. Of course, that is an oversimplification of what happened, but that is how Sang-ki tells the story.

Ever since that day, it has become a hidden rule not only in playgrounds but in school as well. The kid in the wheel chair is off limits to everyone. Kids can still insult or make fun of the polio kid, but no one is allowed to physically harm him. The rule became a myth, and it became something that everyone just knew about and followed. People even forgot who started the rule; it was just there. Some thought that the older kids gave that rule, and everyone else started following it.

“Yo, Sang-ki,” Jung greeted his friend. “Do you still need my history notes?”

“Naah, I already got that guy’s notes. Don’t worry about it,” he said, thumbing his hand behind him to the kid he previously talked to. “By the way, Kwang is looking for you.”

His wheels got stuck in the door, so Jung guided him out, and when he was out, Jung decided to push him all the way back to their classroom. Unlike Eun-mei, Sang-ki, for some reason, always ended up as Jung’s classmate every year.

“Yeah? What does that big oaf want now?”

“How should I know? Do I look like your secretary?” Sang-ki said, adjusting his thick eyeglasses. “Oh, and by the way, don’t give your history notes to Jin mei if she asks again. That girl is a cheat!”

Sang-ki has always been one of the smartest kids in the school, but he couldn’t care less about it. Except for his eternal rivalry with his childhood friend in class 4, a small girl named Meiyoon, whom he calls Jin-mei. Last semester, Sang-ki was top 7 in their entire batch and Jin-mei is top 8. Last year, the girl was in the top 6 to Sang-ki’s top 9. The two have been in a forever competition in their grades and took it very seriously.

Jung Hee, of course, has been the undisputed top-ranked student since they were in the first grade.

Jung smiled at his friend's head. “But I like Meiyoon. She is always grateful when I lend her something.”

“She is just charming you, you dope. Don’t give her your assignment.”

“Or what? Are you gonna kick me in the ass?” Jung said, deadpan.

Sang-ki smirked. “Don’t think I don’t know that you’ve been pushing me around and talking behind my back!” They laughed. For some reason, Jung’s close-knit group of friends never runs out of wheelchair jokes.

They talk about trivial matters until they arrive at the classroom, where Jung drops him off just in time for history class to begin its lesson.