Had I been too captivated by Levinas’s ability to make plants grow? For days, I had tirelessly planted vegetation throughout the park without taking a break.

Seeing the plants sprout instantly, as if I were playing a game, was so fun. I figured that while I was at it, I might as well turn the whole park into a farm. The labor was tough, but the sense of accomplishment was so fulfilling that I became absorbed in planting, forgetting how much strain it was putting on my body.

"...Winter, wouldn’t it be better to rest a little?"

"Just after I finish this..."

"You’re going to collapse if you keep this up."

"I’m... fine for now."

There was still a mountain of seeds I hadn’t planted. I couldn’t stop now.

Like an addicted gamer insisting on just one more round, I grabbed my gardening tools and moved to the next empty patch of grass.

"Ugh..."

Maybe it was because I had been working for too long, but suddenly, my legs wobbled. My vision blurred, and my head felt dizzy, like I was about to fall any second.

'Huh?'

What’s happening to me?
Just as I questioned it internally, my body lost balance, and I collapsed toward the ground.

*Thud*

My face hit the rich brown soil. I struggled to push myself up with my arms, but they trembled weakly and gave out.

Unable to do anything else, I turned my head toward where Sophia was.

"Sophia, my body won’t move."

"Oh dear, child, did you really think you could work that hard and still expect your body to function?"

"Ugh..."

Maybe it was because I had treated physical labor like a game.
I hadn’t noticed how tired I was until it was too late.

"Hahaha! Levinas has toppled the king!"

Levinas was hopping around like a rabbit, gleefully dashing out of the park. But as soon as the alarm around her neck went off, she yelped and rushed back into the container, much more lively than I was.

"...At least that one’s still acting like a child," Sophia muttered as she glanced at Levinas before turning her gaze back to me. It was the look of someone with something to say but choosing to keep quiet.

"I’m sorry. I got so caught up that I didn’t even realize I was exhausted."

"...It’s fine. Kids don’t realize when they’re pushing themselves too hard."

"Right... I guess."

When she said "kids," she was likely referring to my young body. Perhaps it was because my body had become so much younger that I wasn’t as aware of how exhausted I was. In the past, I used to notice when I was on the verge of collapsing.

"When I was young, I’d run around all day and then collapse from exhaustion."

"Really?"

"Yes, but the problem is, you’ve collapsed from working, not playing."

Collapsing from playing and collapsing from working—it seemed the same to me.
I tilted my head in confusion, but with Sophia’s help, I managed to get back on my feet.

"Sophia, why is it so empty here today?"

"Everyone went off to clear the seventh-level dungeon. Even Encia and Argo went to claim their share."

"Oh..."

The seventh-level dungeon, huh?
Were they trying to take down a dragon or something?
I couldn’t help but worry, recalling how the guild members had struggled with a fifth-level dungeon.

Noticing my expression, Sophia patted my back reassuringly.

"Don’t worry. The guild master went with them."

"The guild master?"

"Yes, that person is a monster. Clearing a seventh-level dungeon should be no problem for him alone."

"Wow..."

I hadn’t realized the Dawn Guild’s master was such a powerhouse.
I glanced up toward the top floor of the building where the guild master would be, and Sophia nudged me forward.

"For now, you should rest. You seem pretty worn out."

"Okay..."

---

A dragon, massive as a mountain, collapsed with a resounding thud.
Yeoreum was hidden in the shadows of the dead dragon, panting heavily.

"Huff... Huff..."

She felt like she could collapse at any moment. Yeoreum leaned on the sword she had plunged into the ground to support herself.

"Yeoreum."

Tap, tap—
Someone lightly tapped Yeoreum’s shoulder, and the small shock caused her to tumble to the side.

"Ugh."

"Oh, sorry."

"It’s fine. I’m just tired."

Lying on the ash-covered ground, Yeoreum looked up at the person who had tapped her.
It was Han Sung-woo, a member of the third team of the black dragon raid.

"I just wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?"

All they had done was come in together to take down the black dragon. What was there to be thankful for?
Yeoreum shrugged her shoulders in confusion.

"I never imagined I’d get the chance to enter the black dragon dungeon. It’s all thanks to the dandelion tea. Even though all I did was provide support from the back."

"Oh, that."

The minimum entry requirement for the black dragon dungeon was magic resistance. To protect themselves from the black magic within, adventurers needed to envelop themselves in mana, meaning only those with high mana reserves could enter.

For someone like Han Sung-woo, who had barely enough mana even after all sorts of doping, the additional boost from the dandelion tea was invaluable.

"Are you sure it’s okay to sell such an effective tea for only 100,000 won?"

"Yes. Winter wanted to sell it as cheaply as possible."

Han Sung-woo remembered seeing Winter once in a beginner dungeon.
He rubbed his neck, feeling a bit guilty for not helping the kid when she had needed it.

"What’s Winter been up to? I heard she recently got a container."

"She’s... slowly learning more about the world."

Slowly getting better.
Yeoreum swallowed those words with a sigh. Winter couldn’t truly be said to be improving until she found a reason to live.

‘I miss Winter.’

What was Winter up to now?
Yeoreum hadn’t been able to talk to her since she had been so absorbed in her garden work.

Surely, Winter hadn’t worked herself to the point of collapse, right? Yeoreum thought as she stood up, eager to finish cleaning up the dragon’s corpse and get home as soon as possible.

---

The next morning.
I woke up earlier than anyone else, just before dawn.

"Mmm..."

There was something on top of my stomach.
I rubbed my eyes and looked down to find Levinas sprawled across my belly. Her legs were stretched out, one of them pushing against Sophia’s cheek.

'This kid...'

She had a terrible sleeping posture.
I adjusted Levinas’s position and carefully stepped outside the container.

"Ugh..."

My whole body was aching, probably from overworking myself for the past few days. Even though I was in the body of a child with great stamina and recovery, I had pushed it too far, just as Sophia had warned.

Still, it had been fun, so I had no regrets.

‘Let’s check on the cabbages.’

I had planted the cabbages next to the azaleas.
Dragging my tired body, I headed over to check on the cabbages.

"My cabbages...?"

When I reached the cabbage patch, I found that not a single cabbage was left.

"Cabbages?"

Where had my cabbages gone?
I rushed over to the lettuce patch, but just like the cabbages, there was no sign of the lettuce either.

"My lettuce...!"

I had spent almost a week planting without rest, and now all the crops had been stolen overnight.
In utter despair, I collapsed backward.

‘I’ve been robbed...!’

I remembered seeing reports of this kind of thing on Earth.
Thieves would romanticize their crimes, calling it an old-fashioned tradition, and steal entire crops.
Some even stole experimental crops meant for research.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would fall victim to such a group.

‘This was a planned crime...’

Most of the guild’s forces had gone to the dungeon. The thieves must have taken advantage of the lack of people to steal the crops. And the fact that I had planted them in a secluded part of the park hadn’t helped either.

The park was so large that I had thought planting deep within it would mean no one would find the crops.
Clearly, I was wrong.

"Argh..."

All my hard work over the past few days had gone to waste.
With a heavy heart, I covered my face with my hands. That’s when I heard someone approaching me.

"Winter, what are you doing here?"

"...Cursing the thieves."

"Thieves?"

"Yes. Someone stole all the crops I planted."

I wanted to cry, but I didn’t.
I’d been through too many moments of despair to break down now.

"What did you plant all the way out here?"

"I’ve been planting crops for days without rest..."

"...You didn’t rest? You didn’t collapse from working too hard, did you?"

"...That’s not the issue right now."

I quickly waved my hands at Yeoreum. She seemed like she had more to say, but she agreed that catching the thieves was more important at the moment.

"Right, let’s catch those thieves first."

"Y-Yeah..."

But how exactly were we going to catch them?
With no other option, I stared down at the ground.

‘How am I supposed to catch a thief?’

Maybe I could use my enhanced sense of smell to track them like a dog?
Just as I seriously considered that, I noticed footprints on the ground.

"There are footprints here..."

"Huh? You’re right."

"Yeah."

Yeoreum and I

 began following the footprints.
The trail led through the cabbage patch, the lettuce patch, the radish patch, and the carrot patch—eventually bringing us to a black van.

"My cabbages...!"

Through the back window of the van, I could see piles of crops stacked up.
I started running after the van, but the engine revved, and the vehicle sped off before I could catch up.