Arianne had a simple dream.
A farm.
That was it.
Not a mansion.
Not fame.
Not becoming rich enough to make everyone regret looking down on her.
Just a small piece of land somewhere quiet.
A little house.
A garden.
Maybe some chickens.
Maybe a dog.
A place where she could wake up in the morning and see sunlight instead of a computer screen.
A place where the loudest thing she heard was the sound of wind moving through the trees.
It wasn’t an impossible dream.
At least, she thought it wasn’t.
Unfortunately…
Life had a strange sense of humor.
“Thirty minutes of overtime.”
Arianne stared at the email on her monitor.
Then she looked at the clock.
11:47 PM.
She was still in the office.
Again.
She slowly leaned back in her chair.
“Of course.”
A small laugh escaped her.
Not a happy laugh.
The kind of laugh you made when something was so predictable that getting angry felt exhausting.
Another late night.
Another unfinished task.
Another promise from herself that she would quit one day.
One day.
That phrase had followed her for years.
When she first started working, she thought:
I’ll work hard for a few years.
I’ll save money.
Then I’ll leave.
Simple.
Except somehow…
A few years became many.
Bills increased.
Responsibilities increased.
And her dream kept getting pushed further away.
But she never gave up on it.
Because whenever things became too tiring, she had one thing.
Her little escape.
Farming.
Not actual farming.
Not yet.
But watching videos.
Reading articles.
Looking at pictures of peaceful countryside homes.
She knew everything about things she couldn’t afford yet.
The best crops for beginners.
How to raise chickens.
How to design a small garden.
She even had a folder on her computer called:
“Future Farm.”
It was embarrassing.
But she liked it.
Because it reminded her that there was something waiting for her.
Something beyond work.
Something beyond surviving.
After finally finishing her tasks, Arianne packed her things.
The office was almost empty.
Everyone else had already gone home.
She looked outside the window.
The city lights reflected against the glass.
Beautiful.
But somehow…
Lonely.
“I really need that farm.”
She whispered.
Then she smiled.
Soon.
She was close.
Very close.
Her savings were almost enough.
Not for a huge farm.
Not for some luxurious countryside estate.
But enough to start.
Enough for a small house.
Enough for land.
Enough for a beginning.
For the first time in years…
She felt like her life was finally moving forward.
That night, it rained.
Heavy.
The kind of rain that made the whole world look blurry.
Arianne stood at the sidewalk, holding her bag close.
She looked at the message on her phone.
Her bank account.
The amount she had saved.
She smiled.
“Almost there.”
A silly thought crossed her mind.
Maybe tomorrow she would look at farmland listings again.
Maybe she would finally choose one.
Maybe next year…
She would be waking up somewhere quiet.
No meetings.
No deadlines.
No bosses.
Just peace.
Arianne stepped forward.
Then—
A flash of light.
A loud sound.
And suddenly…
Everything disappeared.
When Arianne opened her eyes…
The first thing she noticed was the ceiling.
A very expensive ceiling.
She stared.
Long enough that her brain started to reject reality.
This wasn’t her apartment.
Her apartment had stains.
Her apartment had a ceiling fan that made a weird noise every few minutes.
This place looked like something from a luxury hotel.
Slowly, she sat up.
Then froze.
Her hands.
They were wrong.
Small.
Tiny.
Child-sized.
Arianne stared at them.
“…”
She blinked.
Maybe she was dreaming.
Maybe this was some strange hospital situation.
Maybe—
She tried to speak.
“What…”
Her voice stopped her.
Because the voice that came out wasn’t hers.
It was young.
Too young.
A child’s voice.
Arianne slowly looked around the room.
The expensive furniture.
The unfamiliar clothes.
The strange atmosphere.
Then she saw the mirror.
And everything went silent.
A little girl stared back.
Pale skin.
Burgundy hair.
Bright emerald eyes with a strange golden shimmer.
Arianne took a step closer.
The girl in the mirror copied her.
“No.”
Her heart started beating faster.
“No, no, no.”
She knew this face.
Not because she had seen it before.
But because she had read about it.
Arianne’s expression changed.
“…Arianne.”
The name left her mouth.
A name from a novel.
This was the world of the novel she had read.
A modern world where humanity changed fifty years ago.
A world where the first Gate appeared.
The beginning of the Hunter Era.
The First Calamity.
Monsters poured into the world.
Cities fell.
Humanity almost disappeared.
Until some people awakened abilities.
They became Hunters.
Those with strength fought.
Those with powerful abilities became legends.
The rankings decided everything.
F-rank.
E-rank.
D-rank.
C-rank.
B-rank.
A-rank.
S-rank.
The stronger you were…
The more valuable you became.
And Arianne?
She was not a hero.
She was not the main character.
She was not even an important side character.
She was an extra.
A girl whose existence barely mattered.
A girl who was adopted by the Rowland Family.
A girl who awakened a weak ability.
A girl who…
died.
Arianne slowly sat down.
“No way.”
Her hands covered her face.
“I became her?”
She remembered the story.
The Rowland Family.
The Awakened daughter.
The famous hunters.
The dungeon incidents.
The characters who would eventually change the world.
But something felt wrong.
A very important detail.
She frowned.
“Wait.”
She looked up.
“I didn’t finish the novel.”
Silence.
Then:
“…I didn’t finish the novel.”
Her expression became complicated.
Of all the possible transmigrations…
She entered a story without knowing the ending.
She didn’t know the final villain.
She didn’t know the last battle.
She didn’t know what happened after the events she read.
Arianne laughed.
A tired, helpless laugh.
“Of course.”
“Of course this happens to me.”
She looked at the ceiling.
“Even my transmigration has incomplete information.”
Then suddenly—
A strange sound echoed.
Ding.
Arianne froze.
Her eyes widened.
No.
Impossible.
But then another message appeared.
[Awakening Process Beginning.]
Arianne stopped breathing.
A system.
A real system.
Her previous disappointment disappeared instantly.
Because she knew novels.
She knew how this worked.
This was the moment.
The cheat.
The advantage.
The thing every transmigrator received.
Her eyes slowly brightened.
“Finally.”
She sat up straight.
“Okay.”
“Let’s see what I got.”
The screen changed.
[Awakening Complete.]
[Unique Ability Detected.]
[Class Obtained.]
Arianne leaned closer.
Her heart raced.
Spirit Gardener
She blinked.
…
She waited.
Nothing else happened.
Arianne looked around.
“That’s it?”
Another notification appeared.
[Rank: F]
The room became silent.
Very silent.
Arianne stared.
Then looked at the ceiling.
Then back at the screen.
“F?”
Arianne stared at the words in front of her.
Spirit Gardener.
She waited.
One second.
Two seconds.
Five seconds.
Nothing happened.
No golden light.
No overwhelming pressure.
No mysterious voice announcing that she had obtained a legendary ability.
Just a simple class name floating in front of her.
Arianne slowly raised her hand.
She poked the screen.
Nothing.
She poked it again.
Still nothing.
“…”
“Is this broken?”
The system remained silent.
Arianne’s expression became complicated.
This was not how transmigration stories worked.
Usually, this was the part where the protagonist received something ridiculous.
A hidden class.
A forbidden ability.
A power that shocked everyone.
Something like:
[Ancient Dragon Bloodline.]
[Supreme Sword Saint.]
[Devourer.]
[Absolute Magic.]
Something cool.
Something that made people kneel.
Not…
Gardener.
Arianne looked at the screen again.
Maybe she was reading it wrong.
Maybe there was a second line.
Maybe the actual ability was hidden.
She narrowed her eyes.
Spirit Gardener.
No change.
“…”
She looked at her small hands.
Then at the room.
Then back at the system.
“I died.”
She pointed at the screen.
“I woke up inside a novel.”
Another point.
“I have a system.”
She took a deep breath.
“So where is my cheat?”
Silence.
The system did not answer.
Arianne slowly collapsed onto the bed.
“Seriously?”
“Even the universe is giving me a hard mode?”
A normal person would probably panic.
A normal person would probably cry.
A normal person would probably wonder if they had lost their mind.
Arianne did wonder about that.
But there was something else.
She was a reader.
And readers knew things.
Especially readers who had consumed way too many stories.
Because there was one rule that appeared again and again.
The abilities everyone mocked…
Were sometimes the most terrifying.
The useless skill.
The trash class.
The support ability nobody wanted.
Those were often the ones that became broken later.
Arianne sat up.
Slowly.
“Wait.”
She looked at the description.
A small screen appeared.
[Spirit Gardener]
A rare growth-type ability that nurtures spirits, strengthens potential, and guides evolution.
Arianne blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then she leaned closer.
“Growth-type?”
Her disappointment disappeared slightly.
Growth-type abilities were interesting.
They were not like attack skills.
They did not show their power immediately.
But their potential…
Could become terrifying.
Especially in a world where every Awakener had limits.
Arianne knew the basics of this world.
Every Awakener had a unique ability.
Some were born powerful.
Some were not.
The ranking system decided how valuable they were.
F-rank was considered the bottom.
The weakest.
The people who were often ignored.
But abilities were not always simple.
Some skills had hidden conditions.
Some evolved.
Some changed completely after reaching certain requirements.
Arianne smiled.
“Okay.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t judge too quickly.”
She looked at her class again.
“Spirit Gardener…”
She tilted her head.
“It still sounds like I should be planting flowers.”
A strange feeling appeared.
Warmth.
A small green light gathered around her fingertips.
Arianne froze.
The light was soft.
Gentle.
Nothing like the destructive abilities she remembered from the novel.
Fire.
Lightning.
Ice.
Strength enhancement.
Those were the abilities people admired.
But this…
This felt alive.
Like something was waiting.
Arianne stared.
“Interesting.”
For the first time since waking up…
She felt a little excited.
Maybe this wasn’t a punishment.
Maybe this was a chance.
Then another notification appeared.
Ding.
Arianne immediately sat straight.
“Finally.”
The system window changed.
[Beginner Quest Activated.]
Quest Name: The First Seed
Description: Find a being with hidden potential and nurture their unstable power.
Objective: Help the target achieve control over their ability.
Reward: System Points + Ability Unlock
Arianne stared.
A target?
Someone with unstable power?
She frowned.
That sounded familiar.
In the novel, there were many characters who struggled with controlling their abilities.
Some became powerful.
Some became dangerous.
Some…
became villains.
Arianne looked at the quest again.
“The system wants me to help someone?”
She thought about it.
That actually made sense.
Spirit Gardener.
Nurture.
Growth.
It wasn’t a combat class.
It wasn’t supposed to make her stronger directly.
It was supposed to help something else grow.
Arianne looked out the window.
The unfamiliar world waited outside.
A world filled with Gates.
Monsters.
Hunters.
Powerful families.
Danger.
And somewhere in this world…
Someone was waiting for her.
Someone whose future could change because of a simple choice.
Arianne sighed.
She looked down at her tiny body.
“First, I need to survive.”
Then she remembered something.
The original Arianne.
The girl whose body she now had.
The girl who died.
Her expression became serious.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I won’t let that happen again.”
She didn’t know the entire future.
She didn’t know the ending.
She didn’t know the final enemy.
But she knew one thing.
This second chance was not something she would waste.
Arianne stood up.
Her legs were still small.
Her body was still weak.
Her ability was still F-rank.
She was still the weakest person in this world.
But…
She smiled.
“I have a system.”
“I have future knowledge.”
“And apparently…”
She looked at her class.
“…I have gardening.”
She sighed.
“Still can’t believe I’m a gardener.”
Far away, in a place Arianne did not know…
A future that should have followed the original story began to change.
A small choice.
A small meeting.
A small girl with an F-rank ability.
None of them knew it yet.
But the world was about to gain something it had never seen before.
Not a new Hunter.
Not a new hero.
Not a new weapon.
A gardener.
Someone who would nurture the strongest beings in existence.