This must be exactly what it would look like if the flashy illustrations on the <Terrarium Adventure> pre-registration page came to life.

His captivating beauty was so mesmerizing that just looking at him was ecstatic. Whether it was auto-correction or not, there seemed to be a faint halo around him. But that was it. He was stunningly handsome and pretty, but the moment he opened his mouth…

“The one who bloomed me is just some shabby nobody like you?”

Personality…? I was about to compliment him on his voice, but I held back. Is it okay to act like that to someone you’re seeing for the first time out of the blue?

“Are all dryads supposed to be this hopeless from the start? Daisy wasn’t like that. Is personality inversely proportional to rank or something?”

I asked the guide, loud enough for the elder flower dryad to hear. In response to my question, one of the dryad’s eyebrows shot up.

“It’s because of the affinity level. A dryad who’s just been summoned into the world finds everything unfamiliar. They also assess on their own whether the druid they’re to serve is trustworthy. Though, there are occasionally dryads who aren’t like that…”

The elder flower, swishing his long robe as he strode over, stopped in front of me. He was so tall that I had to look up endlessly at him. A sweet fragrance clung thickly to the tip of my nose. He pointed here and there at my coat with his staff.

“And what’s this shabby old outfit? I was hoping for a druid with a lot of money. Not some pauper like you. This body is a divine gift admired by countless dryads, born under the most noble blessing of the World Tree. I want a druid who can provide me with lavish treatment. A temple built of gold, a bathroom with clear water flowing year-round, and maybe a golden statue modeled after me would be nice too.”

I pointed my thumb at the elder flower as if to show the guide, ‘Look at this.’ Is this personality really just a matter of affinity? This brazen thing? A divine gift? More like a divine mouthpiece.

“He’s a dryad with a very strong sense of self. There should be a way to handle the affinity accordingly.”

Easy for you to say when it’s not your problem. The issue wasn’t the dryad’s low affinity—it was that my own feelings toward him were already at rock bottom.

Can I cancel this again? I looked back at the elder flower. His face was more handsome than any celebrity I’d ever seen in my world. A sharp nose, thick eyebrows, long eyelashes, emerald eyes that sparkled like jewels, flawlessly fair skin, red lips, and a chiseled jawline.

His face was truly top-notch. Tall like a model with an excellent physique too. It’d be a waste to cancel just because of that face. If only I could fix his personality.

“Give up on me. I’ll go back to the World Tree and wait until a suitable owner comes along.”

“What? You can cancel a summoning once it’s done?”

“If the soul bond is severed, the dryad will revert to a wild state. Over a long time, she’ll lose her power and return to the World Tree. However, it won’t be a pleasant experience for the dryad. A dryad abandoned to the wild will suffer from harsh cold, unending thirst, and the pain of her entire body rotting away. She won’t be free from pests and diseases either.”

This time, the guide spoke to Elderflower instead of me. Their expression and tone clearly warned me not to talk nonsense.

“I’d rather have that than travel with someone like you. I don’t want to go on a pitiful adventure, constantly struggling with a poor master.”

Hearing that, they’ve been calling me poor all along, huh? I’m confident that when it comes to money, I never lose to anyone, even if I go all out.

Of course, I can’t shoot fire or water from my hands. I don’t have any self-defense skills to block your staff swings either. But I can at least throw diamonds endlessly at you.

In a certain game, there’s a money-throwing skill where the power increases based on how much money you have. If I hit you with my diamond stash, it’d deal MAX damage!

I took out a diamond from my pocket to check if that guy’s standard of wealth was indeed diamonds.

Oh, Elderflower’s face, which had been constantly annoyed, changed instantly. Isn’t that too materialistic for a plant?

I placed one diamond on my palm and pulled out a few more from my pocket to add. Their expression shifted with each move. Those emerald eyes were filled with blue diamonds.

Oh my, couldn’t even take their eyes off. I pulled out a handful of diamonds and placed them all on my palm. At first glance, there must have been at least twenty.

Elderflower’s expression softened.

“Hey, you’re so easy to read.”

“Is that all yours?”

“Was your flower’s obsession about diamonds?”

Even though I mocked them, they didn’t retort and just kept staring at the diamonds. I moved the hand holding the diamonds back and forth. Elderflower’s eyes followed swiftly.

When Daisy did this, it was always cute, but when that guy does it, it looks pathetic. Acting so high and mighty yet going crazy over diamonds. There’s no bigger snob than that.

I tilted my palm. The diamonds piled on top fell to the ground with a clatter.

“Hey, pretty trash. Want some?”

I heard a grinding sound of teeth. My actions seemed to have cracked Elderflower’s pride.

Well, who told them to treat people that way from the first meeting? My personality wasn’t so easygoing to just let that slide.

As the first dryad I’d summoned, I planned to raise it very carefully and lovingly. But if that’s how it’s going to be, I have my ways too.

I took out my phone. After waking it from sleep, I shook the phone over the floor where the diamonds had fallen.

More diamonds than I had shaken from my palm spilled out onto the floor. Not only Elderflower but the guide’s eyes also shook as if there was an earthquake.

“Then pick them up. On your knees. Is it not enough? Should I give you more?”

The luxurious gold patterns on the floor were covered and hidden by the diamonds that poured down in a heap. It seemed the amount was too great to preserve his pride. Elder Flower’s knees thudded to the ground. He looked up at me with suddenly docile eyes.

“Are you giving me all of this?”

Crazy… I was trying to be harsh, but his puppy-like eyes looking up at me were maddeningly handsome.

My heart ached. Thanks to his face, Elder Flower had risen from a bastard to a puppy. Even his snobbishness turned into an advantage of being easy to handle.

Yeah, yeah, I’ll give it all to you. I shook my phone over his head once more, and a rain of diamonds fell. He looked so blissful, insanely beautiful, that I reached out. Even when I patted his hooded head, he was obedient.

Compared to our first meeting, his attitude was a complete turnaround, as if flipping your palm a hundred times. I’ll let it slide because he’s handsome, really. Yeah, to cast him out… he’s just too pretty. I was the snobbish one.

“You’ve found the correct approach.”

“Wouldn’t it have been enough if this guy had just been summoned by a wealthy druid?”

“Then he’s found the right master.”

“I’m sorry you had to see such an unsightly scene. The diamonds he can’t pick up… um, you can recover them from the orchard’s side.”

“No way!”

Elder Flower’s speed in picking up diamonds increased. The diamonds slipped neatly into the pouch tied to his robe’s waist. His actions were pathetic, but I let it slide because he’s pretty… I really let it slide because he’s pretty.

“My dryad is doing that, so it’s embarrassing. Stop picking them up and get up. I’ll give you more later. More than what’s fallen on the floor.”

At that, he obediently stood up and stood primly by my side. But his eyes, full of regret, gazed at the diamonds on the floor. It felt like training a puppy with treats.

“Are you going to make the remaining fruits bloom as well?”

“What? Do you need more dryads besides me, who is this perfect?”

“You’re a healer. A recovery type. You should at least have an attack type.”

“I’m good at fighting too.”

“If you swing that frail-looking staff, it’ll break before your enemy. Are you sure you’re not just reluctant to give the diamonds meant for other dryads away?”

He made an indignant expression, then abruptly turned his head away. He’s really easy to read.

“Don’t worry. The diamonds I have are more than enough to fill your pouch and then some. Even if I filled this entire greenhouse—no, orchard—with diamonds, there’d still be plenty left.”

But if I pour out diamonds to that extent, wouldn’t there be diamond inflation in this world…?

Elder Flower’s eyes sparkled as he looked at me upon hearing my words. It was exactly like eyes in love. Precisely, they were eyes in love with diamonds.

Can you also build a golden temple inside this terrarium artifact? Since he likes it that much, I might as well erect a golden statue. Geez, doesn’t this feel just like King Zhou, obsessed with Daji, creating a pool of wine and a forest of meat?

It’s that face. That face is dangerous. It’s a harmful face that stirs up my mind. In my life, I’ve actually had to see a face that handsome in person. I have absolutely no immunity, right?

I headed to the pot to forget those foolish thoughts. One fruit left. I hope a combat-type dryad pops out, just like I wish.

Leaving the grumbling Elder Flower behind, I carefully placed the fruit on the soil above the pot. The fruit, which had been shaking wildly like when Elder Flower was born, gradually turned a golden color. Awesome! Another dryad!

Two tiny golden sprouts peeked out their faces. No matter when I see it, it’s adorable. This time, I hope it’s not a dryad with a ruined personality like Elder Flower, and not too much or too little, just half as good as Daisy would be fine.

The blue light on the stone tablet deepened. Letters as verbose as when I appraised Elder Flower were engraved in a flowing line.

Velvet Mesquite

Title: The Defender of the Desert

Flower Meaning: A Strong Heart

Habitat: Desert Field (★★★★★)

Field Generation Rate: Low (★★★★★)

Value: Food, Ornamentation (★★★★☆)

Trait: Defender, Supporter

Confirmed Grade: Special

It is the only shrub in the desert whose roots can reach the groundwater.

It receives a combat bonus in April.

A massive tree that grows up to over 9 meters. Long and plump yellow flowers hang down, creating a spectacular scene.

What… am I seeing right now? Special?

“It’s been 10 years… since a Special dryad appeared here.”

The guide’s voice trembled a little. It’s a grade higher than Unique, right? Jackpot. I thought my luck was all used up pulling a Unique on my first draw… but then the next one that pops up is a Special?

My heart pounded like crazy. Is this beginner’s luck? But I hesitated to readily reach my left hand toward the sprout.

I glanced at Elder Flower. If grades are inversely proportional to personality, since that guy popped out from a Unique, won’t the one popping out now just slap my cheek right away?

“Shouldn’t you bloom it quickly?”

It seemed that even the guide was eager to see it, perhaps because it was the first Special in 10 years, as he said. It’s all or nothing. Even if a personality-deficit trash pops out, I hope it submits to diamonds.

I placed my left hand on the sprout. A warm and fluffy pleasant feeling traveled through my left hand toward my heart.

A dazzling light filled the greenhouse once again. The hot wind of the desert burst out. It was a heat that felt like it would burn my skin.

Elder Flower suddenly swung his staff in front of me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and pulling me back. A massive, transparent barrier-like thing blocked our path.

“Special appearances sure are dramatic, aren’t they?”

He snorted, “Hmph.” Are you jealous? You’re a Unique, and that’s a Special? How cute.

Yellow, tiny flower petals fluttered in the hot wind. Soon, they swirled toward the light. The light gradually grew in size, taking human form. But it was far larger than Elder Flower had been.

A female dryad appeared, with sand-colored hair scattering in all directions, a helmet adorned with a long flower stalk densely packed with small yellow blossoms, deeply tanned brown skin, black armor covering her entire body, a fluttering black cape, a massive lance and shield as tall as herself—someone who practically shouted “tank” at first glance.

As the dryad landed on the ground, a metallic clank echoed.

Wow, absolutely stunning. When Elder Flower appeared, it was so dazzling and beautiful that I couldn’t look away; when Velvet Mesquite appeared, the overwhelming presence and aura from her massive frame left me in awe.

Even before facing an enemy, I already felt reassured. Thinking back, I recall that among the flashy illustrations on the pre-order page, there was one of Velvet Mesquite. It showed her thrusting a massive shield forward.

The blooming Velvet Mesquite looked around briefly to assess the situation. Then our eyes met. I instinctively tensed up.

Would I die if I got stabbed by that lance? Even a shield swipe might kill me. As I nervously swallowed my saliva, Velvet Mesquite moved her arm holding the lance. Oh, shit, is she gonna hit me? I squeezed my eyes shut.

At that moment, with a clank, the lance fell to the ground. The shield also settled behind her back. Both of Velvet Mesquite’s hands were now free.

A punch? Is it a punch? Suddenly, she came before me and knelt on one knee. Given her towering height, it was only then that our eyes met at the same level. Then, with great politeness and caution, she grasped my left hand, where the terrarium artifact was embedded.

“It has been decades since I last met a druid. This druid looks exceedingly frail and weak to me. I shall protect the one who becomes my master with all my might until I turn to a handful of ashes.”

Then, as if it were a solemn ritual, she placed a kiss on the back of my hand. Heat rushed to my face, making it burn. Despite my earlier worries, the dryad before me was the best. She was so cool I felt like crying. Can I call you Unnie¹? Sob, sob.

At that moment, Elder Flower swung his staff down sharply, separating me and Velvet Mesquite.

“Oh, it’s you, the little Elder brat.”

“What the? Weren’t you destroyed? Why did you pop back out?”

“I wasn’t destroyed; I returned to the World Tree. My former druid thought I still had unfinished work to do.”

“I’m that kid’s first Dryad!”

“That doesn’t matter. I don’t want to be the main one. I’m just satisfied being by my master’s side in every battle.”

Her husky voice was nice too. I didn’t want to let go of my captured left hand, so I gently squeezed it. Velvet Mesquite laughed and squeezed back on her gauntlet. I feel like I’m going to get a nosebleed….

“So, what’s the name of you, whom I must protect?”

“It’s Jaehee… no, Jae!”

‘Jae,’ the nickname I always use when playing games. My voice trembled a little; I hope he didn’t notice.

“I see, Jae. I will protect you with all my might.”

Wah, please protect me forever! Just take all of me! I didn’t even notice Elder Flower sulking with his pretty face.

* Alter ver.