The seeds grew vigorously. Watching them grow rapidly day by day filled me with pride. In less than a week, they even bore fruit.
Inside a large, pomegranate-like shell, there were countless fruit seeds. Of course, securing a place to plant them would take some time, as mass production wasn’t immediate. We probably needed to secure farmland around the Research Institute. Fortunately, we had already purchased most of the surrounding farmland, so there was no need to buy more. I heard that when we planted Cherry Tomatoes, we bought the surrounding farmland at 2-3 times the market price. This kind of thing happened often.
We also bought land in other areas. Starlight Food and the Research Institute were jointly and relentlessly purchasing farmland. With a bit more time, we might secure an area as large as Gyeonggi Province.
“Wow…”
Maru, who had been watching me farm diligently, looked impressed. I stood on tiptoe and plucked a fruit. Peeling it open to reveal the flesh inside made me feel good. Farming was indeed rewarding and enjoyable.
“Is this plant good for baldness?”
Maru asked me curiously. Since it was a plant from another dimension, she wouldn’t know. I only knew because of what Linea had told me. If I hadn’t heard her story, I wouldn’t have known about this plant either.
“Yeah. It’s a miracle cure for baldness.”
Maru immediately contacted the higher-ups. She must have been unsure when to report, given how fast the plant grew. It was growing like crazy every day.
I took one of the fruits filled with blue seeds and popped it into my mouth. It tasted amazing, like eating blueberries.
—
Kim Ji-ho was a remarkable young man. He graduated from a top university with excellent grades and immediately joined Starlight Group, a company so well-known in Korea that not knowing it would make you seem like a spy.
He worked at Starlight Food, one of the most promising subsidiaries of the conglomerate. Although it hadn’t been long since it started doing well, and its revenue was still a fraction of that of steel, shipbuilding, and automotive industries, it had immense growth potential. He got in through a highly competitive recruitment process.
However, he had never had a girlfriend. It wasn’t due to any personality or physical flaws. He was 180cm tall, good-looking, and had a muscular build from working out.
“Ah!”
While preparing for work, Kim Ji-ho discovered his wig was broken. Yes, he was a young man in his 20s suffering from baldness. The mirror reflected his clearly balding head. He had somewhat come to terms with it now, but during the worst of it, he had been so stressed he wanted to smash the mirror.
In some foreign countries, baldness was more accepted, and shaving one’s head could even look good. But as a Korean, Kim Ji-ho cursed his baldness. On blind dates, nine out of ten women would react poorly to his balding head. Even those who seemed okay at first didn’t end well. He had long dismissed the idea of shaving his head completely.
The thought of his completely bald self seemed too bizarre. Kim Ji-ho rummaged through his drawer for a spare wig. With the wig on, he looked perfect. But without it, he was just a bald man.
Though he tried to hide it, his coworkers had already found out. Still, wearing a wig was essential for going outside. Going out without it felt like going out naked.
“Sigh…”
He suppressed the refined energy within him, but the reflection in the mirror didn’t disappear. His bald spot was glaringly obvious.
There was nothing but his miserable appearance that didn’t look like someone in their 20s. Kim Ji-ho, who looked his age when wearing a wig, magically turned into a 40-year-old the moment he took it off. When he removed the wig, his appearance aged drastically—if that’s not magic, what is?
He should’ve realized it when his father started losing hair… Maybe it was because even medication stopped working, but Kim Ji-ho dragged his heavy body to work. Even as a bald man, he had to go to the company.
“Good morning!”
As a new employee, he worked diligently, showing a lively attitude. Sometimes, his bald boss would take him to a store and buy him something delicious. Meeting a fellow comrade might’ve felt nice, but Kim Ji-ho didn’t appreciate the gesture. The boss was a complete bald man with no hair left to grow, while Kim Ji-ho still had some hair on the sides and back. That was a massive difference. At least Kim Ji-ho still had some living hair.
Of course, this thought didn’t make him forget about his own baldness.
“Sigh…”
After a hard day’s work, Kim Ji-ho prepared to leave. Maybe because more people were working at Starlight Food, there were no more late-night shifts like before. Everyone left on time now. Of course, Kim Ji-ho would never know there was a reason behind this.
Then, he noticed a flyer posted on the company bulletin board.
[Fruits good for baldness… Welcome those suffering from hair loss…]
“Baldness?”
It seemed Starlight Food was selling special fruits. Working there, Kim Ji-ho was well aware of the products they sold. From Starlight Coffee, which tasted like heaven, to Starlight Cherry Tomatoes that filled you up with just one bite—this was his favorite breakfast. For someone with a sensitive stomach in the morning, one cherry tomato was enough to feel full like magic.
What’s more, finishing breakfast in just one minute was incredibly satisfying. With the usual 10-20 minute breakfast time cut down to one minute, he had plenty of time to get to work. And then there was Starlight Rice.
Since the Gate appeared, many strange ingredients had emerged. So, people didn’t find it odd when Starlight Food released new products. But the moment they tasted the effects, they couldn’t help but be amazed.
Because it was incredibly delicious.
Anyway, Kim Ji-ho, as if hypnotized, entered the phone number written on the flyer into his mobile phone. If it was good for baldness, he’d even chew on a rock.
Of course, everything that claimed to be good for baldness so far had been a scam. Unless it was a proven medication like Propecia, nine out of ten… no, ten out of ten were scams. As if mocking those desperate from hair loss, none of the so-called effective treatments worked.
And they were expensive, too. But Kim Ji-ho trusted the name Starlight Food. It was the company he worked for, and based on the products they’d released so far, he was confident they wouldn’t lie. As an employee, shouldn’t he trust his own company?
There was also a small note at the bottom asking not to share or post about it online since it was still in the testing phase. Kim Ji-ho understood that sentiment. If it turned out to be ineffective, it would tarnish the name of Starlight Food.
After making the call, Kim Ji-ho successfully joined the experiment. He didn’t expect a complete cure for baldness, but he hoped at least a little hair would grow on the bald spot in the middle of his scalp. If that happened, he could get a hair transplant and live without a wig for a while.
