This time, it was somehow different from the ones before. As soon as the fruit in the pot touched the soil, it shook wildly as if an earthquake were happening.

This time, it really seems like it’s a dryad, right? With my heart pounding as if it might burst, I watched the fruit. The inside of the transparent fruit instantly filled with a golden light, and the top split open with a soft thud. Two adorable round cotyledons popped out, poking their faces out.

It was so utterly cute that I covered my mouth to stop myself from making a strange noise.

Oh my god! It’s so adorable! That’s my first dryad! I’m so moved! I feel like I might even tear up a bit.

I looked at the stone tablet. Unlike before, when only ‘NO DATA’ appeared, it was now filled with numerous characters.

Elder Flower

Title: Gift from God

Flower Meaning: Zeal

Habitat: Normal Field (★★★☆☆)

Field Generation Rate: Middle-Low (★★★★☆)

Value: Medicine, Food, Lucky Charm (★★★★★)

Trait: Healer, Supporter

Confirmed Grade: Unique

In many regions, it is considered a sacred tree and is not treated carelessly.

Receives a battle bonus in June and July.

The cream-colored flowers, densely clustered in an umbrella shape, are incredibly lovely and beautiful, emitting a strong and pleasant fragrance.

No way! Unique? Isn’t that the grade that made cheers burst out from outside the room the moment someone got it? Isn’t that super good?

I jumped up and down on the spot. My first dryad is Unique! Everyone in the world! Look at my first pull in this gacha! As I screamed silently, the guide clapped their hands to congratulate me.

“A dryad with both Recovery and Support traits is rare. No matter what dryad you obtain in the future, you’ll boast excellent synergy. Simply owning it will undoubtedly greatly aid you in battle. Are you going to bloom it right away?”

“Yes!”

I’ve basically got a healer card, right? In any gacha game, if a healer has good performance, that single healer can drag the whole party along. Now, if only I can get a proper dealer, won’t I be building a deck that can crush adventures from the very first round?

While lost in happy thoughts, the guide abruptly extended their hand to me. What’s this? They don’t want more diamonds, do they?

“Please show me your Terrarium artifact, Druid. It’s time to connect your soul with the dryad.”

What’s that? I’ve never heard of it… Is there some exclusive equipment that’s automatically given when you join this game? All I have is my phone, called a wallet, and this worn-out coat…?

“What is that…? If I don’t have an artifact, does that mean I’m not a druid…?”

So it turns out I’m not a druid who can play the game, but just some passing NPC… Are you saying I’ve pulled a Unique-grade Dryad but can’t even use it now?

I can’t play the game? Somehow, I feel like I’m about to cry a lot. My heart sank.

“That can’t be. Now that I look at it, just as I feared, you’re quite lacking in basic knowledge, Druid.”

At this point, I wish our Daisy would show up and spout nonsense like ‘The druid was raised delicately!’ I was too embarrassed to say that kind of thing myself again.

I was torn between two options: the excuse ‘I suddenly got dropped into this game world’ and the already-used lore excuse ‘Actually, I was raised delicately (in “Infinite Diamond”).’ The latter would be better, right?

“First of all, the part you’re worried about has been proven not to be the case. You are indeed a druid.”

“How can you confirm that?”

“Didn’t you talk and bond with a dryad?”

I looked at the guide with a head full of question marks. When did I prove that? Wait, does the condition for being a druid involve having a ton of diamonds? I subtly shook my wallet. The guide shook his head at my action and continued speaking.

“Ordinary people cannot converse with dryads. Even if a dryad can understand human speech, the opposite isn’t possible. Though a dryad looks similar to a human, its essence is little different from a plant. Isn’t it only natural that a person and a plant can’t talk? A druid is one who communes with nature, and so can talk and bond with dryads.”

“Then are you the dryad?”

“No. That child, that girl who was with you until just now—she was the dryad.”

“Huh?”

What is this now? The only girl who was with me is Daisy. So Daisy was a dryad? Come to think of it, her name is Daisy… “Daisy flower?”

But she seemed to get along fine with the innkeeper. Though now that I think about it, did I ever see them actually talking? The innkeeper talked one-sidedly, and Daisy just nodded along, I think.

“Daisy was a dryad…?”

“Yes. That plant species is common, and there are many cultivated varieties, so it’s a frequently seen dryad. I was unsure at first, but that child is indeed a dryad. When you came together, I thought she was a dryad whose soul-link had already been completed. But seeing her run out without her master made me reconsider.”

I’m confused. The child I bonded with right after falling into this place was the very dryad I’d been so curious about all this time. She was right beside me, and I didn’t even recognize her.

I wanted to see Daisy again. But if I met her again, what would I even say? ‘Hey, I heard you’re a dryad!’ Hmm, wouldn’t that be weird? Still, once everything here is over, I absolutely have to meet Daisy one more time.

“The terrarium artifact—you, the druid, already possess it, but you’re just not aware of it. Dryads cannot survive if they are separated from the World Tree for too long. You, as a druid, must provide them with an environment identical to the World Tree. In other words, you must become a small World Tree yourself. Ordinary humans can’t do this, but a druid born with the scattered blessings of the World Tree can.”

“Are you saying I should become a tree?”

At my words, the guide let out a small laugh. This reminded me of myself during lectures, asking clueless questions when I didn’t understand the material. Back then, my professor would look at me with such a disappointed gaze. How did you even end up in this department? I got in by scraping by on my scores, sob sob.

“You just need to offer a fragment of your soul imbued with the World Tree’s blessing as a resting place for the dryads. Focus your mind and find that soul fragment. Usually, senior druids complete this process in advance before visiting this orchard.”

In short, I was lacking in prerequisite learning. Is this the power of private education? But when I actually closed my eyes and tried to find the soul fragment, I had no idea what to do. With the guide subtly urging me with his eyes, I reluctantly shut my eyes.

Blessing of the World Tree, please answer me. Where are you?

When I showed no response after keeping my eyes closed for a long time, the guide added an explanation. He told me to take in the feeling of this greenhouse with my entire body and try to sense it. He said this greenhouse was made to mimic the World Tree.

The air was pleasant, warm light fell on my skin, and though there was no flowing water here, there was a refreshing lake scent, along with the fragrant smell of soil in the stone containers. And somehow, I felt a tickling sensation in one corner of my chest.

As I focused on that spot, the tickling feeling gradually turned into a warm and cozy sensation, and like blood flowing through every part of my body, that energy spread toward my left hand.

“Well done.”

Though I had sensed some strange energy, was that all there was to it? As I looked at the guide with suspicious eyes, he raised his hand and pointed to my left hand. Before I knew it, a bracelet in the shape of a transparent glass dome, just like the orchard building, had appeared there.

“That is your terrarium artifact, druid.”

Wow, that’s really amazing. I got a game item! I gazed at the glass dome bracelet on my wrist in wonder. Inside the glass dome, like a snow globe cut in half, a tiny miniature greenhouse existed. But it felt somewhat barren.

I tapped the glass dome. At that moment, a scene of the miniature greenhouse inside the dome expanding greatly flashed through my mind. It felt like I was inside it.

“Oh, this is amazing!”

“Dryads can live inside that terrarium artifact. Since it’s directly connected to the druid’s soul, entering it makes dryads feel comfortable. If you have a dryad injured in battle, letting them rest there is one option.”

This feels just like a ‘My Room’ feature. Can I collect the dryads I obtain from now on in here? I wanted to quickly get lots of dryads and put them inside. As someone obsessed with the [???] achievement, my urge to collect was immense.

“Now, with the hand wearing that terrarium artifact, try blooming this fruit. The soul of the first to touch it will be imprinted the moment it blooms.”

With my left hand trembling from nervousness, I touched the adorable golden sprout.

At that moment, my vision brightened. A warm energy started from my left hand and spread to my heart. In an instant, the greenhouse was filled with radiant light.

A very sweet and fragrant floral scent burst from the sprout. The sprout, enveloped in light, floated up into the air and gradually grew in size.

Above my head, a rain of small white petals fluttered down. The petals gathered together, spinning and becoming enveloped by the growing light.

The light gradually took on a human form and began to fade.

A hood with a gold rim and white flowers, wrapping around soft, snow-white hair. A robe as white as first snow, with flowers embroidered in gold thread, and a thin, white cloth draped over the shoulders like a veil.

At the end of the huge wooden staff tightly held in both hands were small, pretty flowers gathered like a snowball, and beneath them, two green leaves hung down like eaves. It looked like a vision of a holy priest.

A male-type dryad, slightly taller than the guide, landed softly from the air. I couldn’t take my eyes off that beautiful sight.

As his eyes, which had been slightly closed as if in a shallow sleep, opened… I found myself meeting a pair of very rebellious emerald-colored eyes.

I had an instinctive feeling that dryad might have a nasty personality. Damn it.

* Alter ver.