Chapter 4: The Herrscher of Sentience Planted in the Vegetable Garden
Roshin wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but after completing the [Snatch the Little Girl's Lollipop] mission, he felt a warm current flow through his body, as if he'd grown slightly stronger.
But when he checked his character stats, he found nothing—or maybe his current abilities just hadn't unlocked the stat-tracking feature yet?
Could his talent actually be a growth-type ability?
Or was it simply impossible to quantify his combat power?
Was he… a measly weakling?
Either way, Roshin now ran with renewed vigor.
Thanks for the lollipop, little girl.
And the 5 Primogems.
He'd buy her a couple more lollipops later.
And then… see if he could trigger another commission.
Roshin was starting to suspect that his talent wasn't about making him a mere tool for others.
The evidence suggested that so-called "helping others" didn't require them to be happy—as long as the goal was achieved, the method didn't matter.
Had he been completing missions the wrong way all along?
Roshin fell into deep contemplation.
Of course, even while lost in thought, he effortlessly vaulted over the laughably ineffective guardrail in front of the security booth.
That thing was more of a suggestion than an actual barrier.
But no matter how much he pondered, rescuing the Herrscher of Sentience was still a priority.
For some reason, that name felt vaguely familiar, but Roshin couldn't recall where he'd heard it before.
Same with the Traveler and Primogems.
He'd heard of them too—probably from a game or something.
It's common knowledge that high school students don't have time for video games, especially someone like Roshin who spends every spare moment helping others. He barely has any free time at all.
This made Roshin suspect that he might be even more overworked than the average corporate drone.
The difference between Roshin and a corporate drone, however, is that the drone works for money, while Roshin works for progress bars.
As Roshin's thoughts wandered, he finally made his way past numerous standalone villas and arrived at his own doorstep.
The first thing Roshin did upon reaching home was open the quest interface and click "Track."
Instantly, a pale blue beam of light shot skyward—visible only to Roshin.
"This direction... seems to be the backyard." Roshin immediately sprinted toward the rear of the house.
"I hope the vegetables I planted are okay," he muttered while running.
While most residents in the villa area preferred planting flowers in their backyards to cultivate their sentiments, Roshin clearly took a different path.
Unfortunately, his vegetable-growing skills were far from impressive, with only a few plants managing to survive.
When Roshin reached the small backyard—originally intended for flower cultivation and sentiment refinement—he found a massive crater.
A humanoid figure lay face-down in the pit, and the already struggling vegetables around it had been completely wiped out.
"Well, no more vegetable planting, I guess. Wait—whose quest was this again? Never mind, doesn't matter. Now that I've awakened my talent, I won't be taking on chores like farming anymore."
Roshin couldn't remember who had requested homegrown vegetables, but it was clear this quest had failed—not a single plant remained.
"Hey, say something if you're alive." Roshin picked up a nearby dry branch and cautiously poked the humanoid figure.
Upon arriving at the garden, Roshin had immediately accepted the quest as soon as it became available.
Since the quest hadn't been marked as failed, it meant the target was still alive.
Despite his poking, there was no response.
Looking at the quest details—extremely low difficulty but with high rewards—Roshin concluded the person probably wasn't dangerous. He slowly crouched down and lightly touched the figure's arm with his finger.
"Warm—means they're not dead yet, at least not completely. But with injuries this severe, how am I supposed to treat them? Traditional medicine... probably won't cut it." Roshin suddenly felt a headache coming on.
Still, headache or not, this person had to be saved—after all, they were worth 600 Primogems.
With that thought, Roshin mustered his courage, stepped closer, straddled the figure, and slid his hands under their armpits to lift them up.
"Surprisingly light. Or did I just get stronger?" Roshin wasn't sure, but it didn't stop him from pulling the person out of the pit.
Only after extracting them did Roshin realize it was a girl. Though her dirt-covered face was hard to make out, the gender was unmistakable.
From the back, the skirt had been visible, but that didn't rule out the possibility of a crossdressing weirdo.
"Should I carry a girl princess-style? But..."
But this girl was really filthy.
Caught between his own clothes and kindness toward the girl, Roshin ultimately chose kindness.
This wasn't to say Roshin didn't care about his clothes—it was mainly because he feared dragging her might cause irreversible damage.
After nervously checking his surroundings like a thief for five full minutes, Roshin finally managed to carry her home.
The reason it took so long was that halfway through, someone passed by his backyard.
"Roshin, why is there such a huge hole in your backyard?" The old man out for a stroll exclaimed in surprise at the massive pit.
"Old man, you might not believe it, but I wanted to plant a tree. Don't you need a big hole for that?" Roshin said with complete seriousness.
"Kid, you're talking nonsense. For planting trees, you don't need a wide hole—you need a deep one. Yours is big but not deep enough," Old man, his hair streaked with gray, remarked.
"You're right, but I'm tired. I'll fix it tomorrow. Take care, Old man." Roshin waved, subtly urging the old man to leave.
With that, the old man had no choice but to move on.
This also made Roshin realize why this was a time-limited request—if he hadn't acted quickly, this old man might have discovered the Herrscher of Sentience.
As a law-abiding citizen, the old man would undoubtedly call the police, and that would mean the request was as good as failed.
"Can my ability predict the future too? That's amazing!" Roshin thought as he picked up the Herrscher of Sentience, whom he had hastily hidden in a blind spot.
The result? A few more vegetable leaves ended up stuck to her head. Not a big deal—she was already plenty dirty anyway.