The Blood Stem

“Hurry and grow~.”

“Look at her, who sings to a plant?”

“People actually do that. I saw it somewhere once — they say plants grow better when you play music for them.”

“Really? But she can’t sing though?”

“That’s true.”

For a moment, anger surged up, but Garam held it back. After all, those two had already been beaten up plenty earlier.

Just then, Lee Jaeheon climbed over the barbed wire fence and went out.

“What exactly is a bodyguard supposed to do?”

“Well, guard things, I guess?”

While the two whispered among themselves, Garam faithfully continued his work.

Life wasn’t so bad these days. He ate well, slept under a roof, and though building a farm had been hard, it would soon be finished.

Now, all he had to do was wait for the sprouts to grow and keep training his skills.

“Peaceful.”

Yes — at least until Jaeheon came back from his outing.

“What’s that?”

When he returned, Jaeheon held several large, suspicious-looking purple seeds in his hand.

“Seeds.”

“What kind of seeds?”

“Blood Stem.”

Even the name sounded ominous. Apparently, the self-proclaimed bodyguards thought the same.

“What kind of name is that? Blood — as in blood?”

“Right? Then what’s ‘Stem’ supposed to mean?”

“No idea.”

Kang Jung-bae replied confidently and examined the seeds closely.

Whether Jaeheon knew their unease or not, he continued calmly.

“I thought maybe the more seeds, the faster I could level up, so I got a few.”

He was talking more than usual — which somehow made it even more unsettling.

Casually, he handed Garam the purple seeds.

There were three in total, each the size of a fist — so large they overflowed from both hands.

‘Are we really supposed to grow these?’

Garam gave him a doubtful look, but it was useless. Jaeheon’s expression was as unreadable as ever.

‘Well… if he says plant them, I guess I have to.’

Maybe it was just the name that sounded strange.

So Garam planted the so-called Blood Stem seeds at the edge of the field.

He watered them, used his skill — and before long, sprouts began to emerge.

“Those are growing awfully fast.”

He agreed. They were definitely not normal crops.

A chill crept down his spine again, but he kept quiet. Saying something ominous out loud might actually make it come true.

The Blood Stem grew frighteningly fast — even faster than his beloved Carrot No.1.

Normally, he’d applaud such healthy growth, but the sprouts’ color was deeply unsettling.

“Why are the sprouts purple?”

Near the roots, a reddish hue glowed — almost like blood.

“Is that… a monster?”

“A plant-type monster, you mean?”

“Yeah. Plant-type monster. Never seen one myself, but my instincts are screaming — that’s a monster!”

No way. Would Jaeheon really give a farmer a monster seed? Garam shook his head.

“If it’s that guy, he totally would.”

Park Deok-pal added fuel to the fire.

“Enough weird talk! Get to work!”

“There’s nothing to do!”

They replied boldly.

“Then train or something!”

“Fine, we will!”

The two started wrestling with their bare hands. Watching them strangely reminded Garam of his goblin-fighting days.

‘Shouldn’t have told them to train.’

He sighed and wiped his sweat, continuing to tend to the plants.

Now and then, he even used his skill on Jaeheon’s potted plant pet. Life went on peacefully — until one day, when Jaeheon went out again.

“My cute Carrot No.1, you’ve grown so well today.”

Garam gently stroked the sprout, smiling to himself. Soon he’d be able to harvest it — that thought alone made him happy.

“You deserve a wipe-down.”

He removed the towel from his neck and began to wipe the sprout. It wasn’t easy with his flat hands, but it felt rewarding.

Then suddenly, something tapped his back.

“Huh?”

Maybe a bug had brushed past, he thought, shaking himself off and returning to his carrot — but this time, something hit his butt.

“What the—?”

Of course, he thought it was Kang Jung-bae or Park Deok-pal fooling around again.

Who else would sneak up and slap his butt?

How dare they interrupt his beautiful moment with Carrot No.1! Ready to scold them both, he turned around — and froze.

“Why… is that moving?”

The Blood Stem’s vine, now waist-high, was right in front of his face — moving.

His earlier dread came crashing back.

“Ahhh!”

He tried to bolt, but a vine snared his ankle. Before he could cut it free, another wrapped around his waist.

Plants shouldn’t move like this — at least, not this easily.

‘Is this even a plant?’

No matter how he looked at it — this was a monster.

“Uwaaaah!”

He struggled desperately, but the vines wouldn’t let go.

In moments, his limbs were bound and he was dragged toward the Blood Stem.

“Let go! Let go, damn it!”

He jabbed at the vines with his hoe, but they didn’t even scratch.

Bulletproof vines — wonderful. He couldn’t die here, not before raising his beloved carrot babies!

There had to be a way out. As he twisted his body, one vine slithered up his leg and inside his pants.

“Hrk?!”

The slimy touch against his skin felt horribly wrong — like the plant was testing the texture of its prey before eating.

“Not there!”

Maybe this was a nightmare? He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them — but nothing changed.

The plant was still toying with him mercilessly. His pure life was being utterly violated.

“Ahhh!”

Strange noises escaped his mouth.

As he whimpered and cried, someone rushed over and grabbed the vine — Park Deok-pal.

“What the hell is this?!”

“I don’t know! Just get it off me!”

“It won’t come off! Damn it, if only I had a weapon—”

“There!”

Garam pointed to the hoe he’d dropped. Deok-pal snatched it up and struck the Blood Stem.

This time, unlike before, the vine split open with a deep gash.

“What the—!”

Then Kang Jung-bae appeared. Maybe the monster panicked seeing another human, because it went berserk.

Deok-pal fought bravely, but with only a hoe, he was struggling.

“Hyung!”

“Forget it! Let’s just run!”

Jung-bae hesitated, realizing this might be their only chance to escape.

With Jaeheon gone and Garam entangled, when else would they? He turned to flee — but Deok-pal didn’t follow.

“Hey!”

Deok-pal kept fighting.

“That sentimental idiot…”

Jung-bae sighed, grabbed a nearby basket, and jumped into the fight.

“Strong Shield!”

The basket hardened from his skill, blocking the vines.

But since it was still just a basket, its durability quickly ran out.

The battle descended into chaos.

Exhausted, the three of them barely held on — until Jaeheon finally returned. Seeing the commotion, he simply walked toward the house.

“Mr. Jaeheon! No — Sir Jaeheon!”

Garam screamed his name desperately.

“Please help!”

“Why?”

Why?! Every time that man said “why,” Garam wanted to punch him in the mouth. His face flushed red with fury.

‘Calm down. Calm down.’

He couldn’t. If his body were free, he’d have already attacked Jaeheon with a shovel.

“If you don’t help right now, I’ll never touch your flowerpot again!”

The words burst out of him — and instantly, the vines lost strength, dropping him to the ground.

Thud!

Garam landed on his butt, trembling.

“Say that again.”

Jaeheon stood over him, voice cold.

“Hahaha…”

He tried to laugh it off, but it didn’t work.

“I just meant… I wouldn’t touch it when using my skill. That’s all. Yep.”

Garam replied meekly. Above him, a small laugh escaped someone’s lips. Who was laughing at a time like this?

He glanced around — both Jung-bae and Deok-pal were staring wide-eyed.

‘No way…’

He slowly looked up.

Jaeheon was smiling — with the same unreadable expression as always.