The Scarecrow in the Empty Farm

The woman with sharp features, Kim Sun-young, stood in front of the door and straightened her clothes.

And then she knocked on the thick door.

Knock knock.

With the knocking sound, a voice came from inside.

“Come in.”

Kim Sun-young entered and bowed her head.

“A report on Lee Jae-heon’s recent activities.”

“Speak.”

“He is currently on his second date with a young man named Park Garam, to whom he gifted a citizenship certificate.

Today, they had lunch at a famous restaurant and spent the evening whispering love in a park.”

“Hm, and what do you think, Sun-young? Do they look like real lovers?”

“I heard from the watcher that he let Park Garam touch his flowerpot. I think that’s enough of an answer.”

“Ah, the flowerpot.”

Normally, Lee Jae-heon hated anyone even showing interest in his flowerpot.

He never allowed anyone to touch it or even ask about it.

So the fact that someone was allowed to touch it? Anyone would assume they were lovers.

It made sense, because he had no family. So letting someone touch it meant he saw them as a lover.

“Well, that’s true.”

But one thing bothered Choi Geon-woo.

He knew about the artificial farm No. 3 that Jae-heon had gifted to Park Garam.

“Farm No. 3 is empty. It’s not a farm full of crops like everyone thinks. And he’s not helping him cultivate anything.”

“Maybe he just gave it as a hobby?”

“Lee Jae-heon?”

Choi Geon-woo laughed quietly.

“Even if he fell in love, he’s not the type to generously give everything away. And think about the value of an artificial farm.”

“It is enormous.”

“Exactly.”

Tapping the armrest with his finger, Choi Geon-woo spoke again.

“Let’s send in a spy.”

“A spy?”

“Yes.”

“And tell him to find out what that man, Park Garam, is doing inside artificial farm No. 3.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to directly watch Park Garam instead?”

“With how close Jae-heon sticks to him these days, it’s too dangerous.”

At that, Kim Sun-young nodded with a stiff face.

“Then I’ll tell the spy we placed earlier to infiltrate the farm and check it.”

“Yes. And warn him to be extremely cautious.”

“Of course.”

Thus, the brief report concluded. Not long after, the spy already infiltrated in the Hatch Guild received a new mission.

[Investigate the interior of artificial farm No. 3.]

The spy confirmed the note, burned it to ashes, and scattered the ashes into water.

“Artificial farm No. 3…”

It was a well-known place, because it was the gift the guild leader Lee Jae-heon had given to an otherwise penniless lover.

“Infiltration won’t be hard.”

Compared to other artificial farms with strict security, No. 3 was relatively lax.

With a few tricks, he could slip in easily. The spy smirked confidently.

Just a few more years of this, and he would return to rise to a higher rank.

He would climb as high as a non-awakened civilian could.

Pressing down his ambition, he waited for a chance.

And the chance came quickly.

Due to an error in farm No. 2, all workers were diverted there.

Lucky.

The spy slipped down an empty corridor and used the manager card he had prepared in advance to enter farm No. 3.

“Let’s see.”

Since he wouldn’t get chances like this often, he had to gather as much information as possible.

He couldn’t turn on the lights, so he put on night-vision goggles and looked around.

There were crops planted, but only in parts.

It didn’t look like a place meant for mass cultivation.

“Is it really just for hobby use?”

While roaming around to check further, he spotted something standing ahead.

Thinking it was a person, he quickly drew his knife and stabbed at the stomach.

But he hit nothing. No resistance. No movement.

Only then did he sense something was off.

Looking closely, he realized it wasn’t a person but a scarecrow.

“What the…?”

The sound escaped his mouth without thinking.

“What’s a scarecrow doing here?”

Artificial farms were tightly secured from intruders.

The spy had slipped in more easily because he came from inside, but entering from the outside was nearly impossible — whether you were a person or an animal.

This was not an outdoor farm, so a scarecrow looked out of place.

“Don’t scarecrows chase away birds?”

He tapped the scarecrow. It looked like an ordinary scarecrow.

“What a weird taste.”

Clicking his tongue, he turned to leave.

His investigation was mostly done — time to go back and write the report.

But something suddenly struck the back of his head.

“Ugh!”

Fortunately, he managed to swallow the scream.

“What… what was that?”

He quickly turned — and saw only the scarecrow. No one else.

But the pain pulsed sharply at the back of his head.

It wasn’t a hallucination. And then — something hit him again, harder.

He had to either eliminate the attacker or escape. As he hesitated, the scarecrow moved.

It swung its right and left arms like punches, then even hopped up.

“What the hell!”

The spy’s eyes widened at the impossible sight.

It wasn’t a golem, just some wooden scarecrow — why was it moving? And with skills like it had done this many times before!

All thanks to Jung-bae beating it senseless every day… but the spy didn’t know that.

He simply dodged left and right, desperately trying to fight it off.

“Piercing won’t work.”

Its body was made of sturdy, thin wood. Stabs were useless.

So he put away his knife and clenched his fists for a frontal attack.

The scarecrow wiggled one arm.

“Is it provoking me?”

What an attitude.

“Fine. I’ll take your challenge!”

Losing to a lifeless scarecrow would be humiliating.

And although he had confirmed the cameras were off, who knew if the scarecrow had another intruder-detecting mechanism? Better to destroy it completely.

He lunged at the scarecrow — and realized he had underestimated it.

Not long after he charged, he was already beaten half to death.

They were just wooden sticks, but they hurt far more than expected.

And continuing the fight would only end in defeat.

“What do I do?”

Eyes darting around, he decided to retreat.

“Yeah, I’m a brains-type anyway!”

He fled with all his strength. The scarecrow hopped after him eerily.

But in the end, it was still a scarecrow — he managed to lose it.

“A scarecrow with no brain… figures.”

Sighing in relief, he walked toward the exit. But just as he opened the door, someone appeared.

“Huh? Who’s this?”

It was Park Deok-pal, who had been forced to work in farm No. 2 and came here to slack off.

The spy tried to hide his tension and put on an innocent expression.

“I was assigned to help, but mistook the farm.”

But the reply was not what he hoped for.

“What nonsense. You can’t enter here without a card.”

“If you pretended you didn’t know, you could’ve lived!”

the spy shouted viciously, pulling out a dagger and lunging.

But Deok-pal dodged easily, then punched him in the solar plexus.

“Gah!”

He thought he could beat any ordinary person.

So why was this low-class laborer so strong? Being beaten one-sidedly, he felt wronged.

“You… you’re not a normal human, are you!”

“Yeah. I’m awakened.”

“Damn it.”

Grinding his teeth, he took another punch.

And that was the last thing he remembered.