The Ranker and the Farmer

“It’ll be dangerous.”

“Everything’s dangerous these days anyway. Thank you for saving me.”

Garam bowed politely, then turned to leave.

The man — Lee Jaehun — didn’t stop him.

Good.

That was it.

It was over.

Garam took a few hesitant steps forward, already worrying about what to do next — and then froze, retreating just as fast.

“Uh, excuse me.”

“Lee Jaehun.”

“Right, Mr. Lee Jaehun… Where are we, exactly?”

Why were there two, maybe three orcs roaming around in groups?

“There’s an orc village nearby.”

“…What?”

Garam’s stomach dropped.

Wait.

So all that food earlier — was that just fattening him up before the kill?

You said you needed me!

Then why bring me to a place crawling with orcs?!

“W-why?”

“Your level’s too low.”

My level? What does that have to do with you?!

Garam bit back the words with effort.

“You need to level up for your skills to be effective.”

Why does he care how effective my skills are?!

Garam’s shoulders trembled.

No, seriously — he tried to cut my leg off yesterday!

How was I supposed to level up without legs?!

Jaehun must’ve read his expression, because he spoke again.

“You don’t need legs to win. I can fix you up if necessary.”

The devil himself couldn’t have sounded scarier.

Garam’s whole body shivered.

“I-I can’t fight orcs! You saw me running from them before!”

“It’s fine. I’ll prepare them for you.”

He said it as casually as if he were talking about gutting a fish.

“It’s fine,” he repeated.

No. It’s not fine!

Garam desperately tried to talk him out of it, but Jaehun didn’t budge.

He simply started walking again — in what was, without a doubt, the orc village’s direction.

Garam planted his feet.

He wasn’t going.

No way.

Then, from behind, came that guttural, wet, snarling sound unique to orcs.

“Chrrrghh!”

Garam’s courage melted instantly.

He swallowed his tears and hurried to follow Jaehun.

Right now, staying close to the scary guy felt like the safest option.

Thankfully, Jaehun didn’t storm straight into the village.

Instead, he captured two orcs that had been patrolling the outskirts — alive — and threw them in front of Garam.

“Kill them.”

Garam swallowed hard.

Sure, the orcs couldn’t move their limbs — but the fire in their eyes was still burning bright.

How was he supposed to kill that?

He stood there trembling until Jaehun gave him a light shove on the back.

“You need to level up.”

Why do you care about my level?!

Still, Garam gripped his hoe tightly.

Maybe this was a chance.

He’d been handed a perfect opportunity — if he wanted to survive, he’d have to take it.

Maybe once his level went up, he’d even get some kind of attack skill.

‘Come on. Just do it.’

Garam squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again.

He rushed at one of the orcs and swung his hoe wildly.

Thwack!

It landed hard — but all it did was make the orc glare even angrier.

At least it left a small lump.

Encouraged, Garam wiped the sweat from his forehead and swung again.

Another bonk.

Another lump.

“Haah… haah…”

Damn it, how resilient were these things?!

Couldn’t it just die already?!

Instead, the orc snorted hot air through its nose, furious.

Jaehun, watching silently, finally sighed.

Then he handed Garam his own weapon.

It was meant as help — but the weapon was absurdly heavy.

“Oof!”

Garam struggled to lift it, back straining from overusing his body with the hoe earlier.

It looked less like he was swinging the weapon and more like the weapon was swinging him.

“Not fit for orcs.”

Jaehun took it back, then, in one smooth motion, finished off the wounded orcs himself.

Without a word, he started walking again.

Garam, legs shaking, stumbled after him.

“Goblins,” Jaehun said next.

The difficulty had dropped sharply — but for Garam, goblins were no joke either.

At first, he tried to mimic a proper battle stance.

Within a minute, it devolved into pure chaos.

A clumsy, flailing, desperate mess.

Eventually, Jaehun seemed to realize something — namely, that Garam’s combat ability was hopelessly bad.

He took pity — or maybe just got bored — and brought Garam back home.

“What’s the problem?” he asked seriously.

What’s the problem?

Everything.

Everything is the problem.

Garam stared glumly at the floor.

“I… don’t know.”

He truly didn’t.

Why was he even going through all this?

Wouldn’t it be nice if leveling up worked like eating candy in some old video game?

“I think monsters are just too much for me.”

“Then how will you level up?”

“Good question.”

Jaehun fell silent, deep in thought.

Then he stood.

“Keep training.”

He turned and walked out.

Even now, the flowerpot was tucked safely in his arm.

A perfect pet plant.

Outside, Jaehun broke into a run.

He even cast a small barrier spell — to protect the flowerpot from jostling.

Before long, the ruins gave way to something completely different — a vast, shining city.

Built on the remains of old Seoul.

The Artificial City of Haetae.

Around its edges, drifters and refugees lingered, living in shacks built from stacked garbage and scrap.

They weren’t allowed inside, but this was the safest place they could stay.

As Jaehun passed through, their eyes followed him.

They recognized him — or rather, what he carried.

No one else in the world walked around with a sword on their back and a flowerpot in their arms.

He was Lee Jaehun, Rank 1 in the world.

Among the “awakened,” only the top thousand strongest earned the title of Ranker.

And Jaehun was number one.

Untouchable.

“Open it,” he said calmly.

The guards at the city gate immediately obeyed, bowing their heads as they let him in.

Inside, the contrast was staggering.

Clean streets.

Towering buildings.

People well-fed, well-dressed, and healthy.

Jaehun spared them only a glance before heading deeper into the city.

Soon, he stopped before a sleek skyscraper in the heart of downtown.

“Mr. Lee! You’ve returned!”

A broad-shouldered man hurried up to greet him.

“Yes.”

The man was Kang Yujun, another Ranker — a tank, and one of Jaehun’s few trusted associates.

“I thought you’d be gone longer this time. Did something happen?”

“I needed to find something out.”

“What is it?”

“How do production-types level up?”

“…Production-types?”

Yujun blinked, confused, but he didn’t question further.

Instead, he summoned one of the production-type Awakened working in the building — a blacksmith.

The man appeared, soot-stained and exhausted.

It looked like he hadn’t left his forge in days.

Still, his voice carried respect as he greeted Jaehun.

“It’s simple, sir. Production-type Awakened grow stronger by repeating actions tied to their job.

Forge enough, craft enough, and the system will eventually issue quests.”

“I see.”

“Though I’m curious — have you taken in a new recruit? A blacksmith? Alchemist?”

Jaehun didn’t answer.

He simply turned and started walking.

It was close to being rude — but neither Yujun nor the blacksmith minded.

They were used to him.

“You came all the way here just to ask that?” Yujun asked.

“Partly. We’re running low on food.”

“Ah, right. I was about to restock you anyway.”

Yujun moved to organize supplies while the blacksmith yawned.

“I’ll get back to work,” he said, shuffling off toward his forge.

Meanwhile, Yujun led Jaehun to the building’s food storage.

“You could take proper meals — you do have a pocket-dimension pouch.”

“Canned food is easier.”

“…If you say so.”

Jaehun gathered several crates of canned goods and stored them in his spatial pouch.

“Then I’ll head back.”

“So soon?” Yujun frowned but didn’t press it.

“Oh — by the way, Mayor Choi Geonwoo wanted to see you. Something about the next Tower climb.”

“When the time comes, I’ll handle it.”

“Understood. I’ll tell him that.”

Choi Geonwoo — the man who’d built Haetae from the ruins and now served as its mayor.

Stoic on the outside, but endlessly ambitious inside.

He’d long tried to form ties with Jaehun, who avoided him like the plague.

“Take care out there,” Yujun said as Jaehun walked away.

He raised a hand in farewell, watching the back of the world’s strongest Ranker disappear into the distance.