Tower Farmer

[Overload69]

Synopsis:
In a world where the classless are treated as inferior, Johan wants to become a Hunter to keep his promise. Instead, he's stuck behind the counter of a Hunter convenience store—until a freak accident awakens his class.

But instead of a flashy combat role, he receives Tower Farmer. A class for raising rare ingredients, accelerating crop growth, and even domesticating magical beasts. A support role overlooked by the strong.

Until his crops and concoctions prove priceless. Guilds want to sign him. Mage Towers line up to recruit him. Cults will kill to get him.

With grit, powerful connections, and a loyal three-headed dog (plus a few fluffy friends), Johan will prove that not all Hunters need swords to change the world.

 

[Overload69]

Johan hated the freezer fans.

They rattled and wheezed in the back of the Hunter Mart like dying lungs. It grated on his nerves, a sound that got under his skin and stayed there. Sometimes he thought they were whispering his name. Mostly, he just wished they'd stop.

"Thank you for your purchase." The fake, practiced words left his mouth as he pointed to the poster beside the register, sporting a beautiful black-haired woman. "If you buy two more potions, you can get a poster of the youngest S-ranker i—"

"I don't need it." However, his customer picked up his bagged items and turned toward the door.

"Please come back again!" He bowed politely.

Another afternoon, another thought about quitting the job crossed his mind. But the pay was too good for someone like him. Johan opened the drawer below the register and pulled out the hunter manual. Its spine held together by glue and tape. He read the book again, cover to cover. The contents about rifts, classes, and monsters, imprinted in his head. He had learned martial arts religiously, preparing for the day he'd get his class. Even kept a compact spear on his person.

I want to be a hunter, not do this. He glanced at the poster. Even though he was 25, way past the age of awakening, he still clenched his fists, waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Always waiting.

The bell over the door jangled, and he stowed the book away. The practiced smile returned to his face.

"Welcome to Morgan's Hunter Mar—" However, that smile faltered.

Brandon Haskins walked through the door—a former classmate, current thorn in his ass.

Brandon had the kind of grin that said I peaked in high school and I know it, but I'll make sure you remember it too. He sauntered up to the counter with a can of S.M magik-soda he hadn't paid for and set it down hard enough to make the change tray rattle.

"Look at this," Brandon said, like he'd just spotted a bug under glass. "Classless Johan. Still stuck here. Guess the System does know trash when it sees it."

He stared at the register numbers glowing green in the half-light. He wanted to say something smart, something that would shut Brandon up forever. What came out instead was, "That'll be 3.50."

"Don't I get a free poster of your precious childhood friend if I buy three drinks?" Brandon said, rapping the counter with his finger.

"What do you want, Brandon?" Johan asked, looking the man twice his size in the eye, the red hyena emblazoned on his jacket glowed.

"I still don't like that look in your eyes." Brandon drank from the soda can—still hadn't paid for it.

"Why don't you accept it? You will never become a Hunter. No one expects you to. The teachers, the other friends you had, even your precious childhood friend Yuna—everyone's left you in the dust." Brandon smirked.

Johan's nails dug into his palm, and the smile on his face had already faded.

"What? Wanna try and hit me? Don't you remember how that ended last time?" Brandon crumpled the soda can as flat as a dime and tossed it on the counter.

He trembled with anger, but the only words that came out were, "That'll be 3.50."

Brandon laughed. Didn't pay and walked out, leaving a trail of expensive cologne and smugness in his wake. The bell jangled again, a too-cheerful sound for the way his stomach knotted.

He stood there with the hum of the freezer fans filling his head, his eyes lingering on the poster celebrating the youngest S-Rank Hunter in the country. About the promise he'd made. About how far away all of that seemed now.

Evening came when Johan's phone buzzed—a notification about a delivery. He attached the metallic cylinder he had been fiddling with for the past few minutes to his belt and walked out the door. A grey pick-up truck waited near the curb, its engine roaring.

"You look happy today." The middle-aged driver with grey hair whistled.

"Something good happened." The smile didn't reach Johan's eyes.

"Something good? You finally asked your boss out?"

"Why would I ask out that unreliable woman?" He shook his head. "You should stop having any thoughts about it, too."

"It feels like you're trying to reduce competition for yourself, too bad though. I ain't giving up without a shot." The driver chuckled.

"Yes, yes. Can you shut up now?" Johan spat, reaching into the trunk to get his boxes of potions and survival rations.

However, when he heard no reply from the driver, he peeked from behind with a smile.

"Hey, you're actually shutting up toda—?!" Words stuck in his throat when he didn't find the driver nearby.

The world twisted. That was the only way he could describe it. Not moved, shifted, or changed, but twisted. Like someone had grasped reality at its seams and crumpled it into a physically impossible shape. Just staring at it hurt Johan's eyes.

By the time he could understand, crimson had bled into the sky with long purple gashes filled with liquid shadows.

Over a hundred people filled the empty street, each more confused than the next. From office workers checking their phones, to college students from the nearby cafes, and even school kids on their way to the academies.

"What's going on?"

"What is this?"

"Why did the sky turn red? What's wrong?"

"It's a Rift! A Spontaneous Rift."

"There's no network here!"

"Miss Rui! Miss Rui, where are you?"

"The Hunters! Where are the Hunters?!"

"Shit, shit, shit!"

Panic spread through the crowd. Johan, still at the back of the truck, gulped. His mouth went dry. He had seen this in training videos, but this wasn't a normal spontaneous rift. The rift mirrored the city. The same cold asphalt, a sparse number of cars dotted around. Even the neighboring buildings near the store.

But he didn't find a single Hunter—not the driver, or the ones that patrolled the area, not even the ones that were browsing through the shelves at the store.

A rift that only targets Classless? Cold sweat ran down his back. He had never read about something like that.

However, his analysis ended soon.

The high-pitched roar, almost a screech, sliced through the murmuring panic. Everyone turned to the right, their eyes wide with fear. Something scratched at the high western wall. It crashed into the wall with a dull thud. Roaring in frustration.

Racor. F-Class wolf-type beasts, 4 feet tall, and aggressive as hell. Hiding in the building is best for now. Knowledge from the manual came forward. His eyes swam through the complex roads around him.

"Over here! There's a basement in the mart!" He shouted before the people scattered all over.

The small gathering turned toward the store and rushed to the entrance. Johan wanted to help, but the crowd pushed him out of the path.

They stumbled and pulled without care for those around them. Distant roars and cries of pain bounced off the concrete jungle, causing an even bigger frenzy.

With the scraped palm, he patted the dust off himself. Eyes searching for anyone left behind in that rush from the cover of the truck.

He glanced at the wall. Cracks had appeared. But it held up.

If he hid for only a few minutes and waited in the basement, the Hunters would arrive to save them. But his feet stopped because of what he saw in his peripheral vision. The Racor had blown through the wall.

The growl of a beast followed the cries of a little girl left behind. The five-year-old held the red rabbit plush with trembling hands.

The matted grey fur caked in dust and blood. Its long crimson snout twitched. The little girl, fallen to the ground, trembled as the beast bared its sharp, reddish teeth full of meat and cloth scraps. The beast drooled over the taste of fear. Licking its teeth with the rough, fleshy tongue.

"Mama… hik!" The girl's tears broke out.

The stranded survivors kept running for cover, and the ones who reached safety couldn't find the strength to go out again. But Johan opened the truck's door, jumping inside.

What are you doing? You can't fight that! Brandon's insults echoed in his mind as he grabbed the wheel. You're Classless! Don't forget that! You can't do anything!

"That's right… I am not a Hunter." He slammed his foot on the accelerator. The truck lurched forward. The engine roared.

He hadn't driven anything beyond a compact car. The steering wheel was loose in his hands. The tires screeched. However, maybe through luck or his desperation, the swaying truck found its mark.

The truck slammed into the Racor's side. Metal crumpled against flesh. The beast whimpered. The windshield shattered inward. Glass shards nicked his face. But he kept his foot on the gas. Eyes seeing red. The truck blasted the Racor through a wall and came to an abrupt halt against the counter of a hardware store.

The steering wheel dug into Johan's ribs and cracked them. Blood rushed down his face, covering his left eye. His head swam within pain and shock as he stumbled out of the truck, glad to be alive.

Unfortunately, the Racor lived too. Its bulging eyes, like smouldering pits of fire, locked onto him with burning hatred.

He reached for the metal tube on his belt. The taste of iron brought him back to reality. His hands trembled under the ferocious, raw pressure. With the press of a button, the bottle-sized metal tube extended into a 2-meter spear with a blade on top.

The Racor kicked the truck away like a toy. The front caved in from the impact. Glass shattered. Brown potions painted the floor.

The grey-furred wolf staggered, shaking off the debris from the wall and crumbled metal stuck in the fur. It roared again. Purple blood pooled below his left hind leg; the other stayed off the ground, swollen.

"You damned beast, why are you adding more expenses to the list? What if the government doesn't cover that, huh?" Adrenaline coursed through his veins. He swung the spear with exaggerated motions and loud bravado.

The beast lunged at him with its right foreleg. The sharp claws cut through the steel spear like butter. Johan rolled back. Goosebumps covered his body. The claws swiped a chunk of meat out of his left shoulder.

Before he could stand, the Racor lunged again. Claws reaching for his throat.

How'd things end up like this? He asked himself that question every morning when he looked at his reflection.

He couldn't feel his left leg from the knee down; his left arm had twisted in the wrong direction. The beast came closer. The growls mocked his futile attempts. His torn leg crushed in its sharp, jagged jaws.

If only I had a class. His body trembled against the smashed counter, painted in his blood. Even if he wanted to become a Hunter, he was a hunter mart manager living hand to mouth.

I am sorry, Yuna. I am gonna die first, but I'll take this beast with me! With the last of his strength, Johan grabbed a bent crowbar.

The Racor's sharp fangs closed in, ready to swallow him. He thrust the crowbar into the beast's open maw with his final battle cry.

However, before the teeth could close in on his arm, a gust of wind smacked the Racor away.

Johan flinched; the shockwave knocked his head back. His half-closed eyes saw the Racor's diced body painting the tilted floor in streaks of purple.

"Target destroyed. We need a medic."

Untouched by the toxic blood, he turned his head toward the familiar voice. The voice that he had only heard from the interviews over the last few years.

"Yuna—!" He rasped, choking on blood.

"Proceed with rescue as usual." Eternal Peace Guild's Founder and Guild Master, Yuna Lee, spoke into the mic near her lips.

The young woman stood there with a face as cold as ice. Her onyx-like eyes lingered on him for a moment before she turned away, talking with her team.

"Andre, see to the wounded. The rest of you follow me. We'll sweep the area for any remaining beasts."

His eyes followed Yuna and the team of five behind her. All dressed in black battle uniforms, carrying gleaming weapons and streaks of lightning. He could only look at her back as she rushed to kill the magik beasts, and all he could do was lie flat on the ground after losing to a single F-class beast.

The little girl he once knew had become a fearless warrior who charged into rifts and saved people.

"Brother! Big Brother!"

Hearing the cries of the little girl, Johan felt the weight lifting off his chest. The kid survived.

"I am… glad." With those final words, darkness consumed him.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but when he opened his eyes again, he leaned against a tree stump on a bed of grass.

A blue screen blared in his face like an annoying fly.

[Awakening Ritual Possible. Starting the Sequence… retrieving relevant data…]

[Welcome, Johan Askr. Your trial begins now.]

 

[Overload69]

Johan felt at ease for the first time in a while. The current comfort was more than what his second-hand mattress provided. The hospital must've spent a killing on the mattress, but skipped on the pillow.

His pillow wasn't anything to write home about, but it had never felt as hard as wood, rough wood that scraped against his skin. At this point, resting his head on the mattress would've been better.

Groaning from the neck pain, he tried to yank the pillow from under his head, but his fingers brushed something soft. And it wasn't the mattress.

It was like a high-quality rug that one of his previous employer had for their dog.

His eyes snapped open, wondering what funky hospital he had landed in. However, he didn't see an unfamiliar ceiling, but the canopy of leaves from old, rugged trees.

"What the?" He sat up on a green bed of dewy grass. "Where am I?"

His heart raced. The air reeked of damp rot, as if the mist itself had been fermenting for centuries. A faint starlight shimmered somewhere above, just enough to reveal the ground beneath his feet—twisted roots spread outward like veins, pulsing with decay. Only the rustling leaves in that cold wind made a mutter as a scent of dread stuck in the back of his throat.

Before him stood a massive tree stump, so wide it would take a hundred people linking arms to encircle it. Thick cracks ran along the 3-story high stump, with a putrid scent lingering at the base.

Was this a dream? Johan couldn't help but pinch himself, and the sting felt as real as the translucent panel that hung two feet before his eyes.

[Quest 1.0: Awakening]

Task: Save the Tree

Reward: A Unique Class

Did I want to become a Hunter so badly that I started dreaming about the awakening ritual?

He shut that thought down. This wasn't like the dreams he had. There were two types of Awakening rituals: the first type happened in the real world, and the second type took place in Phantasia, a dreamscape.

People who experienced the second type had a higher chance of receiving a unique class. Only one person could have the particular Unique Class.

The quest window here guaranteed a Unique Class, so why hesitate? Even if it was a dream, he'd know when he woke up.

"Save the tree." That looked like a simple task on the surface, but that was how these trials were.

Jenny Hien received her Paladin class by helping an old lady cross the road. Minashiro Suguru received the Titan class after helping his mother carry groceries from the supermarket.

While Andy Koffman, a US war vet, had to go through a simulated war, fighting against a battalion with a platoon, only to get a common class, Commander. It really made no sense.

What can I get from saving the tree? Druid or a Verdant sage? No, it shouldn't be limited to the forest classes; maybe it will have something to do with nature as a whole?

"Stop… don't count the chickens before they hatch." The fear of the chance slipping by gripped Johan; he didn't know what he'd do if this turned out to be a dream. Emptying his head, he channeled his energy into searching for a method to save the tree.

The wide trunk became the center of his attention, but he also kept his eyes peeled in case some beasts jumped him from the nearby shrubs.

If possible, he wanted to complete the quest immediately and get out of this creepy, chilly forest. However, the conditions limited his methods. Even more so when he had nothing on hand. Even in this silent forest, he couldn't hear a water source nearby and had nothing to carry it, even if he found water.

The black, gooey rot had spread throughout the trunk. Without tools, cutting such big parts from a trunk this big wasn't possible.

Rough grafting it is. Walking alongside the trunk, Johan hoped for any branches.

The first few branches he found had shriveled up, the next one had rotten to the core with dead, vomit green leaves. The more he walked, the more the anxiety grew, but the confidence didn't die down.

If an Awakening ritual appears, it is well within the person's means to complete it. A famous saying between Hunters came to mind, and it wasn't without merit.

Twenty minutes later, he found a healthy branch. Thick as his arm, it had two bright green leaves at the end. The brown bark hadn't a single black spot on it or around its connection with the trunk. The perfect branch seemed just as happy to see him. But taking it right away wasn't ideal.

I need to find a good patch of soil and water. But where? This place is ruined! Even without a timer, Johan felt the urge to move quicker when he noticed the rot spreading in real time.

Even if the soil nearby looked alright, it had a sickly, dark color, and he needed water to replant that branch. With no source, he had to find a substitute, and with luck or grace, it didn't take much time. A gust of wind shook the nearby bushes; the familiar rustling caught his ear.

A three-foot bush grew 20 feet away from the healthy branch, tucked away under a dying oak tree. With fuzzy, serrated leaves, the vibrant, crimson berries weighed on the thorny canes. Ruby berries, the main ingredient used in low-level healing potions. Also used in hydrating solutions because of their high-water concentrate.

Its juice does the same for plants and trees. Johan had tried it once in his boss's lab.

He found a passable patch of soil a few meters away from the giant tree and dug a hole with his hands. Clawing away at the cold and dark soil on the surface, he brought up the warm and healthier soil hidden beneath. After a quick prayer, he snapped the branch off the tree trunk and planted it in the small mound he prepared.

Gardening classes to help my boss maintain her magik herb garden. Memorizing the Hunter Academy textbooks, magik beast encyclopaedias, magik herbs encyclopaedias, and Hunter manuals cover-to-cover to get tuition jobs for extra income. Burning the midnight oil, flipping through the thesis from the Mage Tower. If it wasn't for his relentless drive to become a Hunter, he wouldn't have gathered this much knowledge and wouldn't have passed this trial.

The culmination of 15 years of hard work and dedication had shown results.

"With this, my hunter life is going to take off!" He squeezed the ruby berries with his white shirt, uncaring for the bright marks it left.

As the blood-like juice seeped into the soil and the branch, a golden glow burst from its form. Shielding his eyes, Johan took a few steps back.

The ground around the branch glowed a golden hue, numerous small roots burst forth from the stem and latched onto the existing root underground. In one fell swoop, the smaller roots started absorbing the complex nexus of roots below and, in turn, spread their web of roots.

"That tree stump…" The giant tree stump broke down into specks of golden energy and seeped into the planted branch, brushing past Johan's platinum hair.

A bell went off in Johan's head, followed by a robotic voice.

[Quest 1.0: Awakening, completed.]

[Analysing the completion method…]

[Analysis completed, assigning the appropriate Unique Class for Johan Askr.]

[Suitable Class Found, Compatibility 99%...]

A smile appeared on Johan's lips, his excitement at its peak. A Unique Class was a one-way ticket to A-Class Hunter status at least; many reached the highest rank of S-Class thanks to their unique classes.

[Unique Class, Tower Farmer Granted.]

However, the smile turned into a frown.

"F-Farmer? W-Wait, what?!" Johan's voice cracked, his heart dropped into his stomach.

"No, No, No, No!" Feeling his body pulled out of Phantasia, Johan was on the verge of tears. "Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait!"

"A reroll! Do a Rerolllllllllllll!" His cries weren't answered. All he saw was the branch he had planted swaying in the wind, saying goodbye.

***

Johan's eyes opened wide a second time. This time, he saw an unfamiliar white ceiling with a hint of disinfectant lumped up in his throat. Flat on the hospital bed with a cast around his arm and leg, he kicked the uncomfortable blanket off and jumped upright.

"I want a reroll, damn it!" He screamed loud enough for his throat to go sore.

"What reroll?"

Johan turned to the familiar voice to his left and found his boss, Morgan. Sitting in front of the window, the setting sun painted her white hair in an orange hue.

"Don't shout in a hospital." She adjusted her round glasses.

"Oh… my bad." Johan would've said a lot. No, he wanted to say a lot.

He had wished the trial he had seen was but a dream, but reality blinked bright blue in front of his eyes.

[Status]

Name: Johan Askr

Age: 25

Class: Tower Farmer

Skills: General Knowledge Lv. MAX, Translocation Lv. 1, Accelerate Growth Lv. 1, Seed Sense Lv. 1, Water Channeling Lv. 1, Basic Brewing Lv. 3.

Magik: 20

I am cooked… so cooked. Johan slumped on the creaking bed, pulling at his hair.

All he wanted was a combat class. But a Farmer type class? He had never heard of it. Labour-type classes were rare, and people who could use them well, even rarer. He had that labourer class now; his hopes of learning any combat skills became zero because of the different skill trees.

"Why? Just why?" Johan muttered like a man possessed. For years, he had worked towards his goal. Yet when he reached the starting line, he tripped and faceplanted.

"Hmm, hunched over and mumbling like a maniac. Extreme mood swings and asking for a reroll. I got it!" Morgan's amethyst eyes flashed with brilliance. She pointed at Johan with a smile and declared. "You just lost money at a gambling den and went into debt!"

"I am disappointed in you, Johan." She clicked her tongue, chiding him like an old aunt.

"Shut up…" Johan didn't even want to retort as it was partly true.

He glanced at Morgan, the woman with fair skin and a model-like figure. She could be on the cover of fashion mags around the world. But this beautiful woman was a hopeless human being.

"Why are you even here?" He asked.

"You didn't come to cook dinner, so I figured something was wrong. I checked my phone the next morning and saw a dozen missed calls from the police. So, I called back and got your situation quickly, impressive, no?" She raised her nose, pleased with herself.

"What's impressive is that it took you a whole day to realize something was wrong, even with the police trying to contact you." Johan deadpanned.

"Well, I am bad with tech." She shrugged.

"This goes beyond being bad with tech, though. And don't act proud of it."

"Anyways, I see that you got your class." Morgan leaned in with a curious gaze.

"…Yeah." Johan looked down.

"Hmm, that wasn't what I expected." Morgan tilted her head. "I expected you to jump around the place and cackle."

"What am I in your eyes? A Monkey?"

"Close. Looks like you didn't get the Class you wanted." Morgan leaned back in the chair. "Tsk tsk, the younger generation is so ungrateful."

"We are three years apart, wannabe grandma."

"It's not about age, but mental maturity." Morgan smiled, ignoring Johan's disdainful look. "But this isn't like you."

"Let me sulk at least a little bit. I just got a class I didn't want." Johan fell back into the hospital bed, a sigh escaping his lips.

"The Awakening ritual only gives out a class most suited for a person. Even if you don't want it, the class given to you is what you need." Morgan had explained this to Johan before.

But it won't be easy to accept. Becoming a Hunter has been his life's purpose since the magik beasts destroyed his town. Morgan noticed his moistening eyes.

"I know…" He muttered.

Yuna left him behind long ago, but Johan didn't forget his promise. He had worked harder, pushed himself to the limits, all in hopes of getting a class that would let him become a hunter.

It wasn't about becoming a strong hunter. Johan just wanted to stand next to Yuna. But he had no hope of doing that anymore.

"Man… being sad blows." Johan's nose stung, but he held it in. Tears wouldn't change anything, and sulking wouldn't either. What was he supposed to do now? What could he even do now with his Class?

"See? You are already thinking of the future. That's the Johan I know." Morgan read his mind.

Johan turned his head to avoid the smug smile of his boss. He noticed the Lavender in the vase to his right. It looked out of place in the plain room.

When he focused on the blossoms, soft purple and dusted with silver, the faint fragrance drifted through the room. And, a blue window popped up in his view.

[Skill General Knowledge Activated.]

Name: Beta Lavender

Status: Fresh, picked with care, filled with goodwill.

Change the Water to maintain freshness.

Special note: 80% of the buds have higher than average magik value. It could be used to create scented candles that increase the base healing factor by 1%.

Is this the General knowledge skill? Candles that increase base healing factor? Even scammers have better hooks than this. Johan cursed, thinking the skill had malfunctioned.

"Who brought these?" His boss wasn't exactly the type to bring flowers, if anything she couldn't stand them.

"They were there when I arrived," Morgan said, lips pressed in a hard line.

"Also, this is yours, right? They took it off while healing you." She showed him a thin black chain necklace with a green stone the size of a quarter.

"Hmm?" Johan tilted his head. "Why is it dull? It used to be so shiny."

"That green stone is a magik stone. The disruptive magik frequency of rift must've messed with it, or it could've run out of magik?" Morgan saw him wear that necklace all the time. "Is it important to you?"

"Sort of, it's like my lucky charm," Johan said.

"It's not working very well now, is it?"

"Piss off."

"That's no way of talking to your boss." Morgan reprimanded him, but only in name.

"Patient privilege." Johan shrugged, but realization hit him like lightning.

"B-Boss, about the truck…" He sweated like never before, gulping hard. The truck he oh so mightily crashed into the Racor belonged to the delivery company, not to mention the items in the back.

"Ohoho… now you know who the boss is, huh?" Morgan smirked, crossing one leg over the other.

"Ah… well…"

Seeing him stammer over his words was fun, but she decided to cut him some slack. Even though healed with Magik, he had broken seven bones and lost an entire leg.

"Since it was a Spontaneous Rift case, the government is paying for the damages. The truck and the items in the back, too." Morgan continued. "And the kind and beautiful boss that I am, I won't cut your check."

"Woohoo! Long live the government! Long live the President! I will never bash them in YouTube comments anymore!" Johan didn't hear anything beyond the first 'government is paying for the damages'. He howled like a beast, not caring for the time and place.

While Johan got scolded by the furious nurses in front of the snickering Morgan.

Yuna Lee walked out of the hospital. She pressed her baseball cap down to hide her face and entered a black sedan.

But the sweet scent of lavender she left behind still turned many heads.

 

[Overload69]

Three days had passed since the night Johan got an earful from the head nurse. Today, the doctors gave him the green light to discharge. Thanks to the now advanced medical technology and healing skills, he made a full recovery.

"Good as new~!" He tapped his feet on the ground in a nimble dance, waving his hands out of the hospital gown.

As the media paid attention to this incident, the appearance of a special type of rift that only targeted the classless, plus Johan's heroic actions spreading through the victims' testimonies, the government paid more attention to his treatment.

After changing into a loose graphic t-shirt and black jeans, Johan stopped by the nurse station.

The other nurses nearby looked on in confusion, Nurse Kim chewed Johan out after his loud outburst at night that day. Now, the same nurse waved like she was saying goodbye to her son.

Getting along with people is easy. Johan walked out of the hospital and stretched under the afternoon sun.

"Just find out their interests and play into them; they'll forget all about the bad first impression." Granted, he had to pull out a rarity among tea, but Johan got it as a gift himself. So, it wasn't out of his pocket.

I could've gotten some good money if I flipped it. Well, whatever. Johan nodded to himself and got on the subway.

Without a rush of office workers and school kids, the subway commute went by in peace. Even if rifts opened on the other side of the city, life continued as normal.

Salarymen still went to offices, kids still had school, government still functioned like usual. No matter how much Earth had changed in the past 50 years, humanity adapted as always.

Johan, too, had to go back to his routine, even if he got a class. With a sigh, he unlocked the glass door to the convenience store. With the phone's flash, he went behind the counter and turned the lights on. The sign outside, Morgan's Hunter Mart, lit up in bright blue.

On the 11th Parkview Street near sector A's Chinatown, the store was a standalone building with two floors and one basement. The store on the first, manned by Johan alone as the store manager, the previous part-time worker had left to focus on studies. The second floor had storage and his living area. And the basement was the potion workshop.

Morgan owned several of these stores across the city. However, she didn't know how to manage them.

Johan looked at two knocked-over shelves of emergency rations for rifts. His eyes went to the folded white paper on the counter, covered with a thin layer of dust. He opened the paper to face the neat handwriting in green ink.

A stray cat got in and knocked it over. Fix it, Store Manager. —Morgan.

"Why don't you first tell me how the stray cat got inside a closed building?" The paper crumpled in his shaking hands.

After writing some reasonable words on the same paper with a pen, he stored it in the cash register. Donning his brown apron and mask, Johan started his classical music playlist and fixed the mess of the shelves, then moved on to dusting.

Two hours later, he ran a finger over the counter, not of speck of dust on it. Turning the music off, Johan switched the sign at the door to 'Open'.

It's not that I mind doing this job, but with the class I got, do I have a choice? At least my bank account isn't empty. Since Morgan funded the entire operation and didn't beat him up over being in black or red, he got a steady salary no matter the status of the books. She'd even give him bonuses if the store turned a profit.

"Looks like there aren't many rifts opening today." He yawned, closing the new magik herb encyclopaedia he had read for the nth time.

The rush of Hunters depended on the number of active low-level rifts. Since the target customers for Hunter marts were the low-ranked Hunters.

"Well, aren't I a low-level Hunter now?" Johan shook his head. "I doubt they'd consider me a low-level hunter if I went for registration."

Even with a class, he had no combat skills, basically a decoration.

In the last three days, he had checked every nook and cranny of his skill descriptions. Reading them over and over again under the magnifying glass.

General Knowledge: A skill that helps fill in gaps in the user's knowledge. (*Class-specific skill)

Translocation: Moves the user to the marked location. (*Class-specific skill)

Accelerate Growth: Increases the growth rate of the crops planted by the user. (*Class-specific skill)

Seed Sense: Increased understanding of the types of seeds. (*Class-specific skill)

Water Channeling: The user can form water in his hands by using Magik.

Basic Brewing: Makes brewing tasks easier and has a small chance of increasing quality.

"Even with the four class-specific skills, this is hopeless." Johan sprawled on the counter.

As hopeless as the situation seemed, one skill in particular had caught his attention. He couldn't stop thinking about it during his time in the hospital, but he couldn't use it there.

"Translocation… how does this skill work exactly?" He muttered, curious about its use.

Without further thought, he tried activating it.

A warm energy rose from behind his belly button; it traveled upwards towards his mouth and finally the lump sat on his tongue. That was magik power.

"Translocation," Johan said the skill's name, and the magik gave the word power.

[Location has been selected.]

[Would you like to continue?]

"Yes."

What happened next left him wide-eyed. The soft ticking of the clock behind him halted. The store walls, the very air around him stretched till they became long colourful lines. Dizziness hit his head as the stretched surroundings reformed before him.

In place of shelves were tall, green trees. The grey wall had turned into a rockface. And the tiled floor below became a bed of lush grass.

"Wait… this place is…" Fighting the vertigo, Johan gulped.

"Phantasia? Why am I here again?"

The branch he had planted had sprouted more leaves, all swaying in the gentle wind, greeting him. The dark aura and thick fog that had covered this place before had receded into the distance.

The dead bushes he found before had sprouted healthy leaves, and the blackened bark of the trees now had a brown sheen. Above all, he could see the sun beyond the blanket of leaves above his head. The warm rays fell on his face with the calm wind kissing his face.

It almost felt like a new place. Like, what he had seen during his trial was a dream. However, proof that it was the same place stood before him. The branch he had planted before stood tall. Almost taller than him now.

Why did relocation bring me here? No matter how much he thought over it, this didn't make sense.

Phantasia wasn't a real place; it was a stage created by the system to see which class suited the Hunter. But if he wasn't in Phantasia, why and how did he get there for his class trial?

Or did his class create this place to mirror a test because it was a necessary part of his class?

Well, it is a unique class. So, it could be possible? He only had a few clues to go off on, but if his hunch was correct, the class Tower Farmer wasn't as simple as it looked.

First the classless rift and now this. Johan felt like someone had cursed him, or blessed him? To experience two back-to-back first-time phenomena that could flip the Hunter society on its head.

Just then, a blue window flickered before his face. The system had given him a new quest.

[Quest 1.0: Start a Farm.]

Time limit: 1 hour

Reward: Class-exclusive Skill: Farmer's storage

Farmer's storage: The skill holder can store anything the Tower Farmer grows and collects from his farm. Weight Limit: 100 kgs, will increase with skill level.

Johan's eyes almost popped out of his sockets. A storage skill with a 100 kg limit at level 1?

"A storage bag with that weight goes for about 10 million. But a person with such a skill…" He fell to the ground, his head hung low.

Johan could've had long lines of reputable Hunters begging him to go into rifts with them. They'd bring him cases of cash and expensive wines as tributes, not to mention the commission he'd get as they'd fight over just to book him for a day.

However, the reality hit hard.

"Why is there such a condition?!" He could only store things he had grown on his farm. If only he could collect anything in sight.

"I could've used it to drop meteors on magik beasts and laugh all cool. Why did this class have to take that away from me?!" Drying his tears, Johan stood up.

Now wasn't the time to cry when he didn't even have the skill. Since he had to start a farm, he needed tools. And above all, seeds.

"Translocation!" Johan shouted.

His vision blurred again, and he found himself in the convenience store. He looked at his shoes, now wet with dew from the green grass, his hand full of dirt he had picked to test things.

"It's not a dream or illusion." He smiled, rushing up the stairs near the bathroom.

Gardening tools from the building's terrace, compost, some cardboard, and carrot seeds from the storage in the back. This time, he closed the front door of the store and used Translocation.

Back in the forest, Johan felt a sense of lethargy. It wasn't too strong, but he felt sleepy. Placing the items on the ground, he opened his status and found the reason.

Magik Power: 5

Each use of translocation used 5 magik power. One more and he'd run out. Johan closed the status and slapped his face to chase the sleep away.

He slipped the used, brown gloves on and picked up the dirt-stained shovel. His eyes looked for ground without grass. It didn't take long; the bald ground was only a few meters away.

With a deep breath, Johan dug with his shovel. Surprised by the dark and crumbly soil, he touched the soil and looked at it with awe. This same soil had such a horrible look to it before; it had such an awful texture that Johan almost gave up hope on passing the trial. Now, it had transformed.

Even if he just sowed the seeds at that moment, Johan thought that the carrots would sprout; that's how good the soil had become. But he still mixed the compost in; he didn't want to half ass it and fail. After mixing, he brought his hands forward. Hovering them above a bucket.

"Water channeling." He used the skill; it cost him two magik power.

A stream of clear water sprouted from his palm and gathered in the plastic bucket. In only a minute, it filled half the bucket. Grinning at his fast progress, Johan poured water into a watering can and sprinkled it onto the aerated mixture of soil and compost.

With a gardening trowel three shallow trenches formed, each 1 foot apart and 5 feet long, in the now wet soil. He ripped the seed packet and sprinkled them into the trenches with a steady hand, then covered the seeds with some soil. Finally, he covered it with cardboard.

However, when he looked at the quest window, there was no reaction.

"Did I miss something?" Johan looked at the farm; although small, it should qualify as one.

Unless there is another condition?

What was a farm? It was a place where the farmer grew vegetables, fruits, and other crops. But at what point does a land become a farm?

Does it become a farm when a farmer buys the land? When it is tilled? Or when the farmer sows the seeds? Johan thought over the questions and soon a smile spread across his lips.

He removed the cardboard from the soil and gathered all his focus. Magik power gathered in his mouth, his bare hands on the wet soil.

"Growth Acceleration!" Johan's words carried the magik power to the ground; this skill cost him 2 magik power for a single cast.

Even with blurred vision, he kept himself steady. Soon movement arrived, a tiny green stem broke out of the soil. The tiny life reached for the sunlight and spread its green wings, the leaves. These leaves gathered the sunlight, already packed with magik power from Johan's skill and water. Along with the nutrients from the soil, the tiny white stem grew inches in a matter of seconds and turned into a vibrant green.

It usually took 7-10 days for carrot seeds to germinate, and about three months before one could harvest them. However, Johan pulled on the 10-inch cluster of stems and leaves growing out of the ground.

He held a bright orange carrot as long as his forearm, smothered in dirt. But it answered his question.

Magik Carrot: It has absorbed a lot of Magik and transformed into a magik crop. Consuming will increase the sharpness of one's vision by 10% and boost vitality by 5% for 10 minutes.

Grade: D

A piece of land becomes a farm when it grows a crop that can be sold for profit. Johan looked at the new blue screen flickering before him.

[Quest 1.0: Start a Farm. Completed.]

[Status]

Name: Johan Askr

Age: 25

Class: Tower Farmer

Skills: General Knowledge Lv. MAX, Translocation Lv. 2, Accelerate Growth Lv. 2, Seed Sense Lv. 1, Water Channeling Lv. 2, Basic Brewing Lv. 3, Farmer's Storage Lv. 1.

Magik: 1

When the skill appeared on his status, Johan succumbed to the vertigo. He fell on his back, drenched in sweat. But his smile stretched ear-to-ear. Johan could see a way forward.

Just because he didn't get the class he wanted didn't mean he could sit on his ass his entire life and cry about it.

"I can use this… I can use this class." Johan closed his eyes, feeling the warm sunlight blanketing him.

However, he had no idea that this small farm of his would change the Hunter society forever.

 

[Overload69]

Around midnight, Johan re-entered the space through translocation after having carrot soup made with the carrots he harvested that day. The effect worked well; at least he didn't have to squint to read the ingredients on the back of ramen packs anymore.

He also felt refreshed, like he had stepped out of a warm bath. And, a new wave of energy followed through his body, which would be screaming for the bed about this time.

"Does the sun not set here?" Johan muttered, stretching his stiff arms after a lonesome shift.

This forest looked about the same, aside from the small piece of ground he had dug up before, along with the sack of compost and seed packets. However, what really caught his attention was the fog.

It had receded substantially. Before, he only had about 70-80 meters of circular space. But now it had doubled. And, it revealed a different tree.

With a trunk white as bone, it stood out compared to the other trees. Sunlight passed through its conical auburn leaves that swayed in the gentle wind. However, the fruit this tree bore had Johan slack-jawed.

"I am not dreaming, am I?" Johan immediately used his skill after pinching his arm enough to turn it red.

[Name: Golden Pear

Rank: E

Condition: Fresh.

A fruit made by a special tree that feeds on nature's life force. Used in healing potions and special salves, depending on their age and freshness.

Note: To be used shortly after harvest, or the quality would deteriorate.]

"Fuck… It's actually the golden pear!" Johan clenched his fist, excitement filling his heart.

Golden pears were rarely found in the rifts, but when they were, auctions began. Even the wrinkliest golden pears, ones that had lost most of their vitality, cost as much as a decent car.

The one in front of Johan would have alchemists around the world killing each other; it was in even better condition than the one they used in textbooks. The golden lustre alone made one feel healed, not to mention the sweet, enticing scent lingering around it.

If I sell one, I will be swimming in money. Johan circled the tree and found five of them.

After taking note of the location of the small farm, Johan reached for the pear hanging at his eye level. The fruit felt warm against his palm. Like holding a candle on a cold night.

He carefully snipped the fruit's stem off with scissors and walked back to the farm, his lips turning into a wide smile that bordered on creepy.

"Selling this will be good… but I am not here to make chump change."

With translocation, he went back to the Hunter Mart and entered the potion workshop in the basement.

The room smelled like burnt chemicals and spicy herbs that stung the eyes. However, it all disappeared the moment Johan cut into the pear. With the translucent flesh covered in golden skin, he turned on the burner, heating 100 ml of holy water.

It was time to test his potion brewing skills.

***

The moon drifted away, and the sun peeked over the horizon when Johan exited the workshop, crawling up the stairs with panda eyes.

After drinking a bottle of chilled water from the fridge, he sprawled on the counter. His bloodshot eyes remained blurry, but the smile stretched ear to ear. The reason for that was the potion bottle before his eyes.

The round glass bottle, a cheap item, however, the golden liquid swirling inside was worth more than what normal people would make in their lifetimes. Now, it rested in his palm.

However, like all commodities, the money would come after the sale. The question was, who would buy such an expensive potion from a no-name Hunter Mart worker like him?

No hunter in their right mind would even try this. Scams like these have surfaced multiple times. So, Johan decided on a different way, a way every well-established company uses when launching a new product.

A young woman came to the counter, brushing her loose strand of blonde hair sticking to her glistening forehead. Her striking red eyes matched the crimson baseball jacket.

This is what I have been waiting for. Johan took the basket full of low and mid-level magik recovery potions and kept his work smile, his eyes locked on the woman's familiar face. There's been a rise in rift activity, so they must be pooling up potions for the hunting teams. This is perfect for me.

"Are these all the potions you have?" The woman asked after reading a message on her phone. "If there are some in the back, I'd like those too."

"We don't have any more of the low and mid-level magik recovery potions, but I have a special healing potion if you are interested." Before even waiting for an answer, Johan pulled out the golden potion from the drawer, placing it right next to the low-level potions.

The brown potions looked like gutter water next to the liquid gold. But the woman's eyes widened when she saw the paper strung around the neck of the bottle.

"40% HP and Magik recovery in an instant? Is this a joke?" A frown took over her face. "Are you trying to scam me?"

"Why would I do that?" Johan laughed it off, though the pressure from the woman did make his legs tremble; that's what he expected from a B-rank Hunter.

He might've been in trouble if he were a scammer; however, he had made that potion with the best ingredient, and his skill confirmed its effects.

All he needed to do was push it a little, and his plan would work perfectly.

"I plan to give this potion to Miss Hunter as a trial product." Johan sprinkled the sugar. "You don't have to pay for it, just use it, and you'll know its true value."

"You sound like a shady drug dealer right now." The woman shrank back.

"That's true, now that you say it. How about this? You can have it tested by your guild's alchemist before using. I am just trying to make a name for myself in the market." Johan said with a genial smile.

It feels too good to be true. But as he said, there is no loss for me if I have it tested. And if it turns out to be real, the guild would have a connection with an unknown master alchemist. The woman looked at Johan's smile for a moment and looked away. It's impossible to lie with a face like that.

"If something is wrong with it, you will have to face the consequences." She said, swiping the potion with a blush.

"You know where to find me if something is wrong." Johan, still smiling, handed over the bag full of potions and bowed. "I look forward to meeting with you again, Miss Rosewood."

"Sure…" Surprised by the recognition, Rosewood paid for the potions and left the store.

Confirming that she had entered her car through the glass door. Johan pulled out his phone and searched for the keywords 'Cara Rosewood' on the net.

Articles about the Red Bear guild appeared on his screen; most of the articles talked about the guild's participation in joining the effort to clean up the increasing rifts alongside their parent clan, Agni Clan. It took a while, but he found another article on a less popular portal site.

[Cara Rosewood, last year's valedictorian from the S.K. Hunter Academy, is set to join her first big mission with the Red Bear Guild.]

The Agni clan scouted her. How did she end up in the Red Bear Guild? Are they trying to give her some experience in a less dangerous situation? Johan thought she was still with the Agni Clan.

It would be a lie if Johan wasn't scared. At the end of the day, he was but a non-combatant. But fortune followed the bold.

"I hit the jackpot with this one." He could already see the long lines that would wrap around the block three times.

"Please advertise the product well for me, Hunter Rosewood!"

***

Inside a B-Rank rift on the fifth street of the G.S. housing complex, the Red Bear guild advanced through a narrow path unwinding through a mountain.

Only two men could walk abreast without scraping their metal armour on the sheer rocky walls. The rift had landed them in the middle of a green forest, it had long trees with bitter green leaves and gloomy brown trunks.

They had fought a flock of bulls the size of aurouchs in that cramped space. Now, they had to chase after the runaway boss with the help of their tracker.

With two tanks in the front and mages in the back, Cara found herself in the rear to watch out for possible ambush as the tracker led the way.

How did that minotaur even fit through here? She grumbled at the narrow, uneven walking path, pebbles crushed under her steel-toed boots. However, her eyes stayed peeled for any sudden movement.

"The exit is before us, just hang on a bit more," The team's leader, Adrian, following after the tanks, said.

"Yes, boss."

"You got it."

The hunting party of 10 people answered back; they had barely broken a sweat. They had hunted over a dozen minotaurs by now; that's why they could stay so casual in that situation. However, the situation changed when they exited the narrow valley.

Before them was a wide green plain that stretched into the horizon, meeting the azure sky. To the right was a small pond with a giant rock shaped like a tombstone. Squigally words etched on it without rhyme or order. And beside that tombstone was the minotaur, his heart pierced with a knife made of black stone.

"It killed itself?" The tanks inched closer, as confused as the rest of the team.

"But if it's dead, then why isn't the rift clear message here?" Adrian muttered, his serious brown eyes even sterner.

The whole situation seemed strange. Almost like a setup. And the first to notice it was the mage. The magik in the air behaved strangely and started to concentrate at one point, the minotaur's heart.

"It's a ritual, everyone retreat!" He shouted, clenching the wand in his hand.

"What?" The tanks looked back at the mage, but saw a shadow looming over them.

Before they could even turn around, the minotaur's muscular arm struck them at the waist. The metal armour crumpled and bit into their chest, tearing through the boiled leather underneath.

Seeing his tanks flung away like toy soldiers. Adrian jumped back to avoid a sweep from the monster. The wind from the attack made him grimace. His eyes turned grave at the sight of the beast before them.

Unlike before, the minotaur had grown over 15 feet, almost double in size. Its skin burned red, releasing pure magik from the pulsating muscles. The beady black eyes looked between them as the crooked maw drooled with blood.

"Attackers, get ready!" Adrian commanded as the minotaur got on all four like a savage.

It burst forward like an arrow released from a bow. Straight and true. The attackers hesitated. They didn't have the defence to take that charge head-on. Their only defense, boiled leather armour and metal shoulder guards.

So, they attacked. Metal flashed. Swords bite into flesh. Streaks of purple blood flew.

"What! This beast!"

"It's not stopping!"

Even when swords and spears impaled him, the minotaur rushed forward without a flinch. Dragging the hunters along like ants clung to an elephant.

"I can't pull out my sword. He's contracting his muscles around it!" Adrian groaned, his sword snapping.

Panic set in as the Minotaur's horns turned towards the mages. With its excellent physical resistance, the only thing it feared was magic.

The three mages in the back trembled in the face of that charge. Their legs turning into jelly. However, Cara jumped before them.

"Start your spells, I'll stop it somehow!" She growled, summoning every bit of courage within her.

This isn't gonna be easy. If I mess up… I might die. She took a deep breath and allowed her magik to run.

She had fought a minotaur before, but this one was on a roid rage. Cara didn't have strong attack skills. She could barely kill a C-class monster in one strike. However, she had something else that made up for it.

"[Aegis], activate." A seven-layered barrier sprang in front of her, glowing an emerald green. Each layer thicker than the last stared down the crazed charge.

Other hunters jumped off the minotaur before it clashed with the barriers. The horns brimming with magik tore through the first shield. The second barely lasted. The third showed some resistance. Fourth slowed its pace. The fifth made it falter. Sixth made it stumble. And, the seventh halted the rush.

"Attack it now!" Adrain commanded, plunging his broken sword into the beast's left knee.

"So, it came to this." Cara cursed as the seventh barrier cracked.

The minotaur roared. It blasted the magik gathering in its horn into the barrier. Shattering it like a pile bunker. The sharp horn came closer to Cara. Instead of running away, she embraced it.

The horn that felt like cold, hardened steel pierced through her stomach. But she wasn't pushed back.

"That hurts, you son of a bitch." She growled, holding the struggling minotaur in place with a headlock. "Now!"

"Binding vine!" Ropes of green vines jumped from the grass and tangled around the minotaur's limbs and body.

"Ice lance!" Precipitation in the air gathered and formed a ten-foot ice spear above the beast.

With a swing of the mage's hand, it fell like a guillotine. The spear blasted through the source of the Minotaur's magik, the heart, and slammed it into the ground.

Still enraged, the beast thrashed in pain but couldn't break out of the suppression. Finally, it breathed its last and went limp.

"It's dead right?" Cara asked the mage over her shoulder.

"Yes… The magik has scattered." The mage confirmed, and along with it came the system window.

"Thank god." Cara stumbled back, blood gushing out of her gaping stomach.

"H-Healing… you need healing!" The mages panicked, but Cara just waved it off.

"Just magik recovery potions will be fine for me, my skill will heal me. It might leave a scar, though." It was another Tuesday for her.

The mages looked at the wound and saw the minute tendrils of flesh wriggling about. They had already stopped the bleeding and were working on the regeneration of organs and flesh.

Watching them hold back their hurls, Cara just scratched her head and stumbled away. Just because it was healing didn't mean it didn't hurt. It burned so much that she wanted to cry, but she lay down nearby and decided to drink some magik recovery potions to replenish her skill.

However, unlike the brown potions she had prepared in advance, she opened the golden potion in her dizziness.

Were potions always this sweet? It was like a glass of warm milk after a hot spring. A cloudy blanket enveloped her body, tickling her from head to toe. It felt weird, but also good. Too good.

By the time she fixed her sloppy expression, everyone had their eyes on her.

"W-What?" She blushed fiercely.

"What potion did you drink?" Adrian asked, surprise on his monolith-like face.

"What do you mean?"

Cara became even more confused when they pointed at her stomach. But when she looked down, the potion bottle slipped out of her hand. The injury she expected to take half an hour to heal vanished in an instant. And there was no scar to boot. Only fair, unblemished skin.

It was only when she saw the round potion bottle that she realized what she had done.

I drank an untested potion!!! She jumped to her feet, touching her body for any weird reactions.

"Hey, where did you get that potion?" The mages pressed, their eyes shining brighter than the sun.

"W-Well…" Cara shrank back in the face of those expectant eyes. "From a handsome scammer?"

"Huh?"

Thus, the hunter society came to know of a healing potion that didn't just heal fast, but also tasted super good.
...
if you spot any mistakes or have any advice, pls comment below. Thank you for reading.

 

[Marchewmen]

Now that i thought about it. This fic requires quite a bit of metaknowledge, and meta acceptance from reader, huh?

The whole system thing in this story, classes and shit, whole dungeoning culture... well the dungeoning can be explained as story goes.

But i think, that lore chunks could be integrated, as a pov's in beggining or blurbs at the end of every few chapters.

I would suggest pov of the bully to set up raid culture - like before chapter 1 proper, you get the bully pov how he comes from weak, badly paying dungeon, his complaining and some drops of lore when you solidify your world more, ending at him entering the shop.

Or some imterview, with gsme developer, how the rpg genre became our cs:go instead. Or how equivalent of Kojima did weird game because he didn't include system in his game.

 

[Overload69]

Now that i thought about it. This fic requires quite a bit of metaknowledge, and meta acceptance from reader, huh?

The whole system thing in this story, classes and shit, whole dungeoning culture... well the dungeoning can be explained as story goes.

But i think, that lore chunks could be integrated, as a pov's in beggining or blurbs at the end of every few chapters.

I would suggest pov of the bully to set up raid culture - like before chapter 1 proper, you get the bully pov how he comes from weak, badly paying dungeon, his complaining and some drops of lore when you solidify your world more, ending at him entering the shop.

Or some imterview, with gsme developer, how the rpg genre became our cs:go instead. Or how equivalent of Kojima did weird game because he didn't include system in his game.

Click to shrink...

This is true, for now I am relying on the reader's knowledge about the genre because it is so common and everyone has it, but I plan to expand on them through Hunter's POVs, as you suggested. I did not want to dump these at once and give out chunks of exposition. I know there might be ways to do this without making it exposition, but I am not that good yet. So I can only rely on the reader till I can expand on the world and culture more. Thank you for reading.