The senior butler who served at the family manor was a former government agent who had retired due to health issues and chronic illness. Grandfather had spent considerable money to recruit him in exchange for his loyalty. Despite being merely a butler, everyone in the family was required to treat the senior butler with the same respect accorded to a blood relative of elder status.

  Only those with Grandfather's permission could call upon the senior butler's services. Sven was one of them—because he contributed to the family through his business acumen. In contrast, the other third-generation descendants had no authority to utilize the senior butler.

  Sven had ordered the senior butler to gather intelligence. As a former agent with extensive connections, it wasn't difficult to dig up footage from the training center's security cameras or even police dashcam recordings that captured Jinyo's Beetle racing down the road. For people with enough money, officials were willing to turn a blind eye when it came to investigating insignificant nobodies like Jinyo.

  On the night when everyone else slept, Sven stayed awake until four in the morning. He couldn't sleep without knowing something. Fortunately, the senior butler met his expectations. Otherwise, Sven might have had a heart attack from the anxiety.

  The senior butler entered his room. His expression was even more grave and cold than when they had met earlier that evening.

  "Why the frightening look, James?"

  "I must apologize, Young Master. The investigation into that insignia has yielded no progress. It appears that woman's organization wields far more influence than I anticipated."

  James accepted responsibility gracefully. He had worked for the government and maintained connections with multiple special agencies—yet even so, he couldn't uncover anything about that organization with its peculiar emblem.

  "Even someone of your caliber can't find this agency?"

  "Correct, sir. If it's not an organization that doesn't officially exist, then it must be one with enough influence to block my network entirely. In this case, knowing nothing may actually be more beneficial for you, Young Master."

  "No... I must know. I nearly died out there. I can't just pretend nothing happened—that goes against my life philosophy."

  Sven despised having anything beyond his control, especially a threat so great it had nearly cost him and his sister their lives. His sister represented the family's future. Among the third-generation heirs, only Sven and Luciria had the capability to serve as pillars for the next generation. Their cousins didn't possess that level of ability. He didn't even want to imagine how disastrous the Halfrin family's future would be if both he and Luciria perished.

  Above all else—if he didn't know what had nearly killed him, how could he possibly face tomorrow?

  "No matter how terrible the truth may be, I want to know. James, you must continue investigating. Consider it a personal request."

  "Understood, sir."

  James accepted his young master's willful demand. It couldn't be helped. Sven had just survived a brush with death, and his mental state was unstable. It was only natural to feel paranoid and need reassurance. James's job was simply to follow his master's orders. Even if the path the Young Master walked led to hell, James would descend into hell alongside him.

  "As for the man named Jinyo, I've already gathered information on him. His background is quite interesting, actually."

  James handed a file folder directly to Sven. Though this was an era of widespread smartphones and computers where sending digital files would be more convenient, certain matters required paper documentation—because paper was far easier to destroy completely.

  "A foreign scholarship student... Completed his doctorate at age twenty-four... Sued for intellectual property theft..."

  Sven scanned the documents.

  "No wonder he ended up working as a contract teacher in the middle of nowhere. So he was blacklisted from research institutions. What a waste of talent."

  Sven couldn't understand why a genius who'd finished his doctorate two years ahead of schedule would do something as foolish as stealing intellectual property. In the research world, such matters were utterly disgraceful. And being alone with no backing made exclusion easy. No surprise he'd hit a dead end.

  The last heir of an old family. Single, never married, but has two children through a genius gene program.

  Jinyo's history read like a novel to Sven. But what interested him most were the travel records—specifically, everything from when Jinyo had entered the training center.

  Jinyo had acted normally until the moment he first laid eyes on Luciria. After that, he'd hovered around her at a distance. His behavior resembled that of a repulsive man stalking a girl half his age. What was particularly interesting was that Jinyo had desperately chased Sven's car from the moment they left the training center all the way to the bridge where the accident occurred.

  Suspicions bloomed like mushrooms.

  "Strange. He really was following me and Luciria. And not long after, that woman showed up too. How did they know in advance that I'd encounter that monster? Do they have some way of detecting when people are being targeted?"

  "I do not know, sir."

  "Hmm..."

  Sven went to his computer and pulled up the dashcam footage. Fortunately, his car had captured the battle between the Mantis Demon and Jinyo perfectly. Sven studied the low-resolution images on his monitor. They didn't make his skin crawl the way seeing it in person had, but no matter how many times he watched, he remained impressed.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  "What do you think, James?"

  "A young man with a bright future ahead of him, sir."

  "Do you recognize the technique he used? It seemed quite effective against that monster."

  "I do not, sir. But given time, I will investigate until I find answers."

  "Please do. Actually—tomorrow I'm going to the training center. It would be good if you came along."

  "Understood, Young Master."

  With that, James departed the room, leaving Sven to piece together the puzzle in private. Though Jinyo had been injured, Sven believed he would appear at the training center again tomorrow. If Sven wanted to get closer to the secrets surrounding those monsters, staying near Jinyo was the best option. Bringing the senior butler along would ensure his safety—at the very least, James's skills far exceeded Joey's and Adam's combined.

  The next morning, Sven had slept only two hours. Dark circles rimmed his eyes like a panda's, but nothing could stop him from going to the training center. Everyone in the family must have been shocked—he'd just barely survived with his life, yet instead of staying at the heavily secured manor, he woke up and ran off seeking excitement at the training center.

  Sven stood waiting for the car. Then a young girl walked through the manor gates and stood beside him. Sven furrowed his brow, his mind filling with question marks.

  "Lucy, why are you here?"

  "I have to go."

  "Go where? You can't go to the training center. Didn't you hear that woman's warning? You're still not safe."

  "Grandfather ordered it. No matter what, I have to go."

  Luciria answered his question. Her voice carried no ripple of emotion, as if all feeling had drained away. The young man's heart ached with frustration.

  He was certain he'd warned them that Luciria might be in danger. Yet Grandfather was still sending her to take the Hunter exam at just twelve years old, even after she'd been targeted by an inexplicable monster. Perhaps in Grandfather's eyes, his granddaughter's life wasn't worth as much as the family's honor.

  Jinyo didn't go to the hospital as the Svens had assumed. He'd asked Rina to take him back to the family estate instead. The Primordial Flora Form was too mysterious to explain to any doctor. If he didn't want to get entangled with strange research institutions and their experiments, keeping the secrets of the Primordial Flora Form and the Nature Synthesis Technique was probably best.

  Naho rushed to cook twenty kilograms of Sage Rice from their storehouse for her beloved elder brother, who looked as haggard as a dying anglerfish. She served him Sage Rice mixed with soy sauce and a carrot omelet. Thank goodness for his special body that could recover far faster than any ordinary human.

  "No wonder you refused to go to the hospital. You're getting further from human with each passing day, you know that?"

  Rina watched Jinyo with a piercing gaze. After eating just five kilograms of rice, he'd nearly recovered from his injuries completely. The only thing still healing was the broken bones from the car crash. Looking back, Jinyo had barely taken any direct hits from the Mantis Demon.

  "Bro Yo, will you be okay tomorrow? Tomorrow's exam is really important."

  Naho worried about her brother.

  "I'll be fine. I want to open the academy next month. Even with a teaching license, I can't open an academy without a Hunter certification."

  "Sigh. My brother just went to take a teacher's exam. Why did he have to run into a monster?"

  She shook her head in disbelief.

  "As if that thing from the other day wasn't bad enough. Bro, I think we should visit a temple on our next day off. Maybe making merit will reduce your bad luck."

  "Ha ha."

  Jinyo shoveled Sage Rice into his mouth. He didn't dare mention that he'd thrown himself into danger deliberately. He could have stayed out of trouble entirely. Changing Luciria's fate hadn't helped anything either—and he'd even gained that highly suspicious Heavenly Enmity.

  The System warned him to avoid leaving the Garden of the Sword's boundaries for now. But Jinyo couldn't do that. Tomorrow's exam was important.

  Ryse and Gretel had already gone to bed. Jinyo dragged himself to the cottage. The Garden of the Sword's Spirit Essence had indeed increased by one permanent unit. It seemed the System rewarded him handsomely for eliminating enemies from Heaven. He'd received a 100-Day Plant Cultivation Ticket—enough to transform seedlings into harvest-ready crops. And within those hundred days, there was a chance of producing status-enhanced yields.

  The only status-enhanced product that could manifest was [Moonlight].

  Jinyo wondered what would happen if he ate another status-enhanced product. And if someone else ate it—like Naho or Rina—would they gain the same results he had?

  Jinyo sat practicing the Nature Synthesis Technique. At midnight, when the moon shone at its brightest, he strolled from the cottage to the Exploding Potato field.

  "Use the 100-Day Plant Cultivation Ticket on the Exploding Potatoes."

  Jinyo clicked to activate the ticket. Spirit Essence flooded into the Exploding Potato field. Through careful observation, Jinyo had learned that Cultivation Tickets weren't without side effects. Accelerating plant growth drew upon the Spirit Essence produced within the Garden of the Sword. If that wasn't sufficient, it would drain natural energy from the surrounding area.

  Jinyo had seen hundreds of trees around the mountain wither—not even grass remained. It was as if the land had become a realm of death. This made him more cautious about using tickets, lest his power damage the environment. The Spirit Essence he'd accumulated over several days was enough to grow the Exploding Potatoes.

  With tens of thousands of potatoes buried underground, at least some had to develop status enhancement. A 1% increased chance was substantial. Statistically speaking, out of every ten thousand, there should be a hundred status-enhanced potatoes.

  "Pop! Come help me dig potatoes!"

  Jinyo called for his servant sprite. Pop came running with farming tools, eyes sparkling that its master had summoned it—until it discovered its master standing in the Exploding Potato field. Its enthusiasm plummeted to nearly zero.

  "Don't make that sour face. Think of the experience points!"

  "....."

  If its master had asked it to dig carrots, Pop would have been happier than getting experience points.

  Jinyo, who had an exam the next day, sat practicing the Nature Synthesis Technique beneath the moonlight while Pop harvested experience points to its heart's content alone. As the garden's owner, Jinyo only received a small portion.

  Pop ran over and tossed him a potato plant bearing bright white-yellow tubers. The skin was so white it seemed to glow with inner light. Jinyo knew immediately—this was a status-enhanced product.

  "Excellent work, Pop. For every hundred, I'll give you three. Deal?"

  "!!!"

  Pop's jaw dropped. Such wonderful terms existed?!

  Pop's enthusiasm for finding status-enhanced Exploding Potatoes surged. But it wasn't easy—even with a 1% increased chance, that didn't guarantee exactly one hundred status-enhanced potatoes. It was merely statistical probability.

  Standard potato yields ranged from 25,000 to 40,000 per rai, but Exploding Potatoes only produced 15,000 to 25,000 per rai. Jinyo hoped Pop wouldn't disappoint him. The young man took the Moonlight-status potatoes inside and cut one in half to bake with cheese.

  The first time Jinyo had eaten status-enhanced produce, he'd nearly lost his mind. He'd barely been able to savor the flavor. But today his consciousness was crystal clear. Jinyo used a spoon to cut into the cheesy baked potato. The rich aroma of potato and cheese punched his nostrils like a straight jab. He sprinkled a little salt before taking a bite.

  The potato's delicate, smooth texture melded perfectly with the rich cheese. A sweet fragrance that nearly melted in his mouth stormed his nervous system, awakening every cell in his body. Jinyo trembled at the nostalgic flavor. It was as if he'd returned to childhood again—the day he'd first tasted cheesy baked potato at school. That initial impression of the dish surged back.

  "Delicious!!! So delicious I want to turn back time!"

  He didn't know what inspired him to say that. Even Jinyo, who wasn't particularly fond of potatoes, was so moved he wanted to cry. If true potato lovers like Naho or Ryse ate this, wouldn't they weep rivers? Above all else—his body had reacted to the special produce.

  [You have consumed an Exploding Potato with Moonlight Status. +0.1 Lunar Element, +0.1 Charm, +0.1 Fortitude. You have activated Moonlight Status for 30 seconds.]

  "!!!"

  Jinyo opened his Status window and discovered his Lunar Element (G) had begun to shift. It had become (G+). Did this mean that simply eating produce with status attributes corresponding to his elements would develop his elemental power?

  "It's this easy? This is clearly a cheat code!"

  Jinyo felt disappointed that the Lunar Element wasn't his primary element. The Lunar Element was extremely rare, and martial techniques or magic related to it were so expensive Jinyo could never afford them.

  Jinyo prepared cheesy baked potatoes using twenty Moonlight-status potatoes. Though he felt a little guilty, he chose to eat them all himself. But he'd set aside five each for his children, his sister, and Rina.

  The message +0.1 Lunar Element pinged repeatedly. The more Jinyo ate, the more benefits he received—until finally, he succeeded in transforming Lunar Element (G+) into Lunar Element (F).

  Equal to the Flora Element (F) he already possessed.

  This meant the damage from his Double Impact technique would now be even more devastating. And that wasn't all—when Jinyo tried the Nature Synthesis Technique, his Planar cultivation speed had doubled compared to before.

  Did higher elemental concentration mean faster cultivation?

  No—at least not according to standard theory. In the textbooks, having more elements meant slower cultivation because you had to nurture two elements simultaneously. Jinyo had seen a greedy classmate at military school try to train two elements at once. That friend never reached his dreams and was expelled mid-semester for inadequate progress.

  Therefore, this phenomenon applied only to Jinyo.

  Jinyo felt refreshed. His body overflowed with two types of power. If he could control them well, they would become ultimate weapons—equivalent to wielding two swords in one hand. Something only he in this entire world could do.