Kim Sehee has been spending more time outside than at the company lately.
Even though she could sit and work, given her personality, she felt more at ease moving around and seeing things firsthand.
Now, let’s summarize the information about the plants Hana has created so far.
Based on the crops grown from her tooth, plants grow within a 20-kilometer radius. If they go even 1 meter beyond that, they can still grow but face various issues, like not bearing fruit properly.
Also, if these crops were moved elsewhere, they’d be fine for about a day. But after two days, the fruits of the plants in the original area would shrivel up and dry out. That’s why protecting the first crop from Hana’s tooth was crucial.
So, this crop was displayed in a heavily guarded building, sturdy enough to withstand typhoons or earthquakes that could flip South Korea upside down. Dozens of security guards were protecting it with ironclad security.
Even if this plant died, Kim Sehee thought Hana’s ability might allow her to designate a new plant with similar powers. But it was just a thought. Kim Sehee wasn’t bold enough to try such an experiment.
“We need to build a structure strong enough to withstand typhoons or other disasters so we can farm there.”
Kim Sehee planned for the worst-case scenario while setting up the farming space. Using byproducts from the Gate, they could construct a massive glass greenhouse, securing enough space for farming.
“As the boss said, we’re doing our best to build it first.”
For now, they’ve temporarily patched things up with a plastic greenhouse, but Kim Sehee wasn’t satisfied. Her ultimate goal was to construct buildings to grow plants, similar to how major agricultural companies in the U.S. do it.
Just a few years ago, if she had said this to her employees, they might have thought she was crazy. But now, she had the earnings to back it up. The money from cherry tomatoes, coffee, and green tea was substantial.
A company that used to make a few billion a year was now making hundreds of billions monthly, with significant operating profits. Later, when royalties were adjusted and Hana’s share increased, profits might decrease, but for now, they were maximizing their earnings.
With more earnings came bigger spending. It’s the economy of scale—the more you invest, the more profit you gain. Of course, if you mess up, you could lose all your investment, but Kim Sehee avoided such risks. She only made safe attempts to expand farming space.
Currently, finding 20 kilometers of suitable farmland within the radius was tough, considering Korea’s limited land. Even the first cherry tomato they discovered hadn’t filled half of the usable area yet.
On the bright side, Hana’s plants bore three to four times more fruit than others, so despite the limited land, they could still produce a lot. A silver lining in an unfortunate situation.
While Kim Sehee was busy discussing with executives, her phone rang in her pocket. She checked the caller ID, took a deep breath, and answered.
“Hello?”
[Boss!]
It was a call from the Starlight Research Institute. Since they rarely contacted her, Kim Sehee couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. She had a vague idea of why they were calling.
“Yes, did something happen?”
[Hana! Hana lost another tooth!]
“I’ll be right there.”
After exchanging a few more words, Kim Sehee put her phone back in her pocket.
“Please wrap things up here.”
The executives, who seemed to have overheard the call, didn’t try to stop her. Kim Sehee hurriedly began preparing to head to the Starlight Research Institute.
“Driver, please take me to the Starlight Research Institute right away.”
Though she sometimes drove herself, she now had the luxury of a chauffeur. Sitting in the back seat, Kim Sehee naturally made the request.
“Oh, right! Driver, let’s stop by a store on the way to the research institute!”
She needed to pick up a gift for Hana. It had been a while since she last saw her, and Kim Sehee’s hands were itching with excitement. It was unthinkable to visit the adorable Hana without a gift.
———————————————————————————
“Ugh…”
Hmm…
The crop that grew from Hana’s tooth showed an incredible growth rate. To put it bluntly, it grew fully in less than a day. Of course, if you planted the seeds from that crop and grew them again, it took about two weeks. Even that was an absurdly fast speed.
Ordinary plants take almost half a year to grow into a full crop.
But when I saw the crop from Hana’s tooth this time, I was a bit disappointed. It was a plant that was way too common.
“Is this… rice?”
“I think we’re looking at the same thing.”
This time, the plant that came from Hana was rice. For Koreans, it’s a plant you can’t go without for three meals a day. The downside, though, was that it was just too common. Of course, the quality and taste of the rice from Hana would be incomparable, but still.
“By the way, there are so many grains of rice on this stalk.”
It looked at least 5-6 times more than regular rice. If we planted and grew this rice, it could probably handle a significant portion of Korea’s consumption.
And the rice stalk was so heavy that it was bowing its head deeply. It’s normal for rice stalks to bow as the grains ripen, but this one was bending at a much steeper angle. It was bowing its head at almost a 90-degree angle, like a civil servant meeting the president.
But Kim Sehee couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. Rice is such a common crop, and it’s what most farmers in Korea grow.
She also wondered if she might get in trouble for encroaching on the market. After all, rice is a staple food for the people, and the government regulates it. Still, Kim Sehee decided to go ahead and cultivate it.
Even if she couldn’t sell much domestically due to government regulations, she could always sell it overseas. Besides, she had struggled to make ends meet until just last year, so it felt silly to complain about this opportunity.
For now, she would focus on growing it diligently and worry about the rest later. As the boss, she just needed to set the guidelines, and the employees could handle the rest. That’s why she hired them and paid them those hefty salaries.
The number of employees had already tripled compared to last year. Of course, most of them were experienced workers. There just wasn’t enough time to train new hires, so she had no choice but to hire people with relevant experience.
Kim Sehee, with tight security, carefully carried a stalk of rice.
She had already secured the land for farming. Before the tooth fell out, she had put all her effort into securing enough land to farm, so she could start cultivating as soon as a new plant appeared.
———————————————–
“Wow!”
In front of me was a bowl filled with rice and a mouth-watering grilled mackerel.
“Hana, this rice is made from the rice that came from your tooth! They say it’s super delicious!”
“Really?”
Bora explained it to me. It was definitely the same rice she gave me last week, but it had already grown enough to cook like this… I must be amazing. After all, this rice came from me.
I picked up my spoon and placed a piece of mackerel on top of the white rice.
Just looking at it made my mouth water. It had been a while since a food visually tempted me like this. I grinned and put the spoonful into my mouth.
Yum yum.
Normally, rice doesn’t have much flavor. This was similar, but the texture was really good. Compared to regular rice, this rice was much better to eat. Though, compared to the other plants that had come out so far, it was a bit bland.
Is this the kind of food that makes you healthier when you eat it?
I scraped every last grain of rice from the bowl until my stomach was full. The rice made from the new crop was somewhat successful.
