“This is all your fault, Guild Master.”
My sister frowned as she spoke.
“My fault?”
“You’re famous for being an old-fashioned stickler. On top of that, you’re obsessed with following the rules. They know there’s no way you would deal with the underworld, so of course they suspect you’ve brought in an unidentified S-Rank.”
“Urgh.”
The Guild Master clutched his chest as though she had struck him where it hurt.
“What’s the point of caring so much about the guild? You don’t lobby anyone, you don’t take bribes, and you personally take on every dangerous request. That’s exactly why they can’t imagine you resorting to anything shady. They can’t just shrug and let this slide.”
“That’s…… not exactly wrong.”
The Guild Master awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
I barely paid attention to either of them.
I was completely fixated on the words I had heard moments earlier.
“An unidentified…… S-Rank?”
Even saying it myself felt unreal.
They had mistaken me for an unidentified S-Rank.
‘……I suppose they aren’t entirely wrong?’
My Status Window listed me as E-Rank.
But according to the buff shown on my sister’s Status Window, my ability was definitely above S-Rank—EX-Rank.
So it was not that strange for them to misunderstand.
‘Still, being the person they’re talking about feels a little…….’
“Sohyeok.”
“……Yes?”
The Guild Master spoke cautiously.
“For us to deal with this properly, and to confirm the facts, I would really like you to tell me the truth.”
“The truth……?”
“Yes. It might not benefit you personally, but think of it as helping your sister and the guild. Please. I’m asking you.”
He bowed until his forehead nearly touched the table.
Had anyone ever asked me for something this earnestly before?
“…….”
My sister had once told me about him.
Back when she first joined White Lotus.
Her assessment of the Guild Master.
‘A man who has staked his life on the guild.’
A man who moved solely for the sake of the guild, without a trace of personal greed.
“……All right.”
I did not need to think any longer.
If my sister trusted him, then perhaps I could trust him too.
“Let’s go.”
“……Huh?”
“To my rooftop room.”
The Guild Master stared blankly at me.
A rooftop room.
Even I nearly laughed when I said it aloud.
Trust required proof.
Rather than explaining everything at length—
it would be faster to show him directly.
My sister quietly approached me.
“Are you sure?”
“Well, you called me here because you thought he was trustworthy, didn’t you?”
“……That’s true, but.”
“Then it’s fine.”
Right.
Someone trustworthy.
The Guild Master of White Lotus.
I found myself curious about what he would say when he saw my rooftop room.
‘……A rooftop room?’
After a little over an hour of driving—
they arrived at exactly what Sohyeok had said.
A rooftop room.
‘Here I thought it was some kind of code word…….’
An old, shabby building.
Seeing it in person left Baek Yulheon feeling strangely unsettled.
“Let’s go up.”
“Ah…… right.”
Step, step.
The stairs were covered in sand.
It was obvious the building had not been properly maintained.
Cracked walls.
Stains where water had leaked through.
‘……It’s strangely nostalgic.’
Long ago, Baek Yulheon had lived in similar circumstances.
The sight stirred a little nostalgia in him.
‘Right. The building I used to live in had vines growing out of the walls too.’
Small green ivy tendrils poking through cracks in the wall.
Small……
tendrils……
“?”
‘What the hell is this?’
Small?
No.
It was not even green.
A plant had consumed an entire side of the building.
Was it some kind of decoration?
“Ah! Don’t touch it!”
“H-Huh?”
“It’s alive. Come this way.”
‘……That isn’t decoration?’
At that moment, Baek Yulheon realized something.
This was no ordinary apartment building.
“You go in first.”
Creeeak.
The old metal door opened.
A rooftop painted blue came into view.
Along with a small rooftop room.
And—
“……What is that?”
“Ah, that’s the cherry tomato plant.”
“……That is a cherry tomato plant?”
Its stem towered far above his head and blocked the sunlight.
Two meters?
Three?
Whatever it was, it certainly was not the cherry tomato plant he knew.
If anything, it looked closer to a Tower Plant.
‘So this is Jeong Sohyeok’s ability…….’
He cautiously reached toward one of the cherry tomatoes.
Pop―.
“Ah.”
With a faint sound, the fruit came away easily.
“Ah, I-I’m sorry…… I accidentally…….”
“It’s fine. Would you like to try it?”
“……Huh?”
Baek Yulheon stared at the bright-red fruit resting in his palm.
Its glossy skin gleamed beneath the sunlight.
“Sniff, sniff…….”
The strange scent made his nose twitch on its own.
It was sweet, mouthwatering……
“Is it good?”
“H-Huh?”
Crunch.
Before he realized it, he was already chewing the fruit.
‘I put it in my mouth without even realizing…….’
After so many years as an Awakened, caution around unfamiliar food should have been second nature.
Yet the tomato slipped down his throat without so much as a warning bell going off in his mind.
Gulp.
“……It’s delicious.”
“Thank you.”
It was delicious.
That was no exaggeration.
Even the stevia tomatoes he had once received as a gift had not tasted this good.
‘If he sold these to restaurants alone, he could make a fortune…….’
“Urgh……!?”
Then—
his body suddenly grew hot, as though it were burning up.
“W-What is this……!”
His muscles throbbed as though he had just finished an intense weight-training session.
He had spent so many years living as a businessman that his body had long since fallen out of shape.
And yet—
‘I feel as strong as I did right after I Awakened……!’
He hurriedly turned toward Jeong Sohyeok.
“Sohyeok…… This is……”
“This is it. This is how my sister got stronger.”
“……!”
Baek Yulheon turned toward Jeong Sohyeon this time.
She smiled faintly and nodded.
“……Impossible.”
Among every buff he had encountered during his years running the guild—
no, even including his own active years as an Awakened—
had there ever been a buff of this caliber?
‘This is completely outside the norm.’
Only now did he understand why Jeong Sohyeon had been so overprotective.
With an ability like this, not only domestic guilds but even foreign powers might target him.
Baek Yulheon’s mind began racing.
‘What if he can grow more than just cherry tomatoes? What if…… What if every plant produces a different buff? What if those buffs can stack?’
“Guild Master.”
“Ah…….”
At that moment—
Jeong Sohyeok lightly tapped Baek Yulheon on the shoulder.
“……Are you all right?”
“Ah, haha. Of course. More than all right, actually. I have so much energy I don’t know what to do with it.”
“Then take a look at this too.”
“……Huh?”
Jeong Sohyeok called over Jeong Sohyeon as well.
“Sis, come here too. That thing finished growing.”
“W-What!? Why didn’t you contact me!?”
“I was going to…… but you told me to come to the guild…….”
Step, step.
Jeong Sohyeok trudged past the cherry tomato plant with his shoulders slumped.
Then he turned around the side.
And—
“?”
‘Another…… plant?’
What stood there was something entirely different from the cherry tomato plant.
It only reached about thigh height.
The problem was……
its appearance.
“Wow…….”
It was mysterious.
It looked unlike any plant Baek Yulheon had ever seen.
Several stems curved together toward a single point, forming something like a birdcage.
At its center hung a fruit so beautiful that it looked like a piece of glasswork.
Baek Yulheon circled around it, examining it from every angle.
What kind of plant was this?
The cherry tomato plant had changed so dramatically from its normal appearance.
Perhaps this was another ordinary plant that had undergone a similar transformation.
But—
“Haha, I have absolutely no idea. Sohyeok, what kind of plant is this?”
“Ah, it makes sense that you wouldn’t know. It’s a Tower Plant.”
“Ah, a Tower……”
Baek Yulheon froze halfway through bending down.
‘……Tower?’
“A Tower Plant!?”
“……You scared me.”
His hands began trembling.
His breathing grew rough with excitement.
‘A Tower Plant……?’
He looked back and forth between Jeong Sohyeok and the plant.
An unknown plant.
An ability beyond all established standards.
“Me too! Let me see!”
Jeong Sohyeon shoved Baek Yulheon aside and rushed toward the plant.
“Wow…….”
She immediately became captivated by it.
‘Has anyone ever successfully cultivated a Tower Plant before?’
No.
Of course not.
If anyone had, that achievement alone would have caused an enormous upheaval throughout the Awakened world.
Tower Plants possessed overwhelming effects merely from being consumed.
Some strengthened the body.
Others healed severe injuries in an instant.
And there had even been rare cases involving Mana, which naturally made almost every Awakened desperate to find them.
But—
despite that enormous demand, their supply was extremely limited.
Every single Tower Plant currently circulating on the market came from one source.
Tower Clear Rewards.
Even if someone harvested a plant inside the Tower without killing the boss—
the moment they killed the boss and left the Tower, anything acquired directly from inside the Tower disappeared.
It was not as though no one had ever attempted to mass-produce Tower Plants.
Extracting seeds.
Gathering large numbers of botanical experts.
Investing enormous amounts of manpower and facilities.
There had occasionally been reports of successful seed extraction.
But for decades, no one had progressed any further than that.
‘And yet…….’
What countless experts had failed to accomplish—
a single young man living in a rooftop room had achieved.
“Does it have a name?”
Jeong Sohyeon asked with sparkling eyes.
“Uh…… Azure…… Breeze?”
“Did you name it yourself?”
“No. It showed up in the Information Window.”
“So Tower Plants show information too…….”
Baek Yulheon suddenly cut into their conversation.
“I-Information? Can you also see its effects or properties?”
His voice rose with excitement, briefly startling Jeong Sohyeok.
But Sohyeok quickly smiled and answered.
“Yes. For reference, the cherry tomatoes from earlier had Strength as their Blessing Type.”
“Th-Then what about this one……?”
Both Baek Yulheon and Jeong Sohyeon listened intently.
How could they not?
A single cherry tomato had already saved the guild from disaster.
The effects of an actual Tower Plant could hardly be compared to that.
Jeong Sohyeok gave them a meaningful smile.
“Mana.”
One hour earlier.
White Lotus Guild.
My sister and the Guild Master had left the office first.
I used the excuse of going to the restroom to step away from them for a moment.
I needed time to think.
‘Use your head, Jeong Sohyeok.’
Earlier, Baek Yulheon had told me that telling him the truth might not benefit me.
But that was not necessarily true.
Simply establishing a connection with a guild—
was an opportunity in itself.
Could White Lotus serve as a sufficient shield for me?
What could I gain from them?
‘They still don’t know that I successfully grew a Tower Plant.’
How would Baek Yulheon react when he saw my diamond goose?
One thing was certain.
He would be far better at figuring out what to do with it than I was.
‘Sis said he’s a businessman without personal greed.’
A Tower Plant capable of causing an upheaval the moment it entered the market.
This was not a business I could handle alone.
What if I borrowed my sister’s strength?
Even that would not be enough.
But—
‘What if I had the power of a Major Guild behind me?’
Keeping my identity secret.
Distributing the plants.
Generating profits.
I believed a Major Guild possessed enough power to accomplish all of that.
The problem was trust.
‘If they betray me, I lose both my anonymity and my profits.’
To be honest, the profits were not the real issue.
As long as I still had my ability, I could always produce more plants.
The real problem was my safety.
‘I have to protect myself.’
My sister had told me—
Baek Yulheon was a man who lived solely for his guild.
A man who would do anything for his guild.
Would a man like that really throw away a golden goose like me?
Especially when I was the younger brother of his guild’s star, giving him a perfectly good reason to protect me.
“Let’s trust him.”
If I never took the first step, nothing would ever begin.
I decided to trust White Lotus.