Chapter 7: The first step towards a better future

When Victor showed the place to John, John began to ask for confirmation from Info, looking at the land before him.

"Info, the food source you mentioned,

PO--TO--TO, is there a chance it could be found on this land?" John asked, trying to confirm.

At the same time, fear began to creep in. He was anxious about whether this food source would actually be found because he had never seen a potato in his life. The uncertainty made him nervous.

John had placed all his hope on this new food source.

"[Yes, Host. There is a 90% chance you'll find it here, and the name of this food source is PO-TA-TO.]"

"This is great news!" John exclaimed, laughing with joy.

He then turned to Victor and said,

"Uncle Victor, this is the exact place I described. Let's hurry and check it out."

"Yes, let's go. I can't wait any longer," Victor said, laughing as he started walking.

"Wait for me, I'm coming too!" Uncle Tom called out from behind as he hurried to catch up.

"I have a doubt, John. Can I ask you something?" Victor asked quietly as they walked.

John, who was walking ahead, was suddenly taken aback. Why would Victor have a doubt now? He hesitated before responding.

"W...what's your doubt, Uncle Victor? Tell me," John asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"My doubt is this, John. Where did you suddenly get all this confidence from? And why did you specifically ask about this type of land, as if you knew something?" Victor raised an eyebrow, looking at John suspiciously.

John started sweating as he heard Victor's question. He began to panic, unsure of what to say.

"Wha...wha... What do you mean, Uncle Victor? I don't understand," John said, wiping his sweat and looking ahead.

"It seems like you're hiding something from us, John. Tell me, what are you hiding?" Victor asked, his voice a bit more serious as he looked at John.

"What could I possibly hide from you, Uncle Victor? Ha...ha...ha... You must be joking, just like Uncle Tom does," John tried to laugh it off.

Victor realized that John didn't want to talk about this topic. Understanding this, he sighed and said, "Alright, forget it. We Dregs tend to cling to too much hope, as you know."

(Note: DREGS: Lower Cast)

"Don't worry, Uncle Victor. If we find this food source, it will be a blessing not just for us, but for many of our fellow Dregs," John said seriously, with confidence.

"What do you mean, John? Other Dregs?" Victor asked, confused.

"If we discover this new food source today, we'll need people to help cultivate it. I'll take help from our fellow Dregs to expand it," John said, walking ahead.

Victor began to understand what John meant, and continued walking, looking at him. At that moment, Uncle Tom caught up with them.

"Huff...huff... Could you two slow down a bit? Do you know how fast I had to walk to catch up with you?" Uncle Tom said, placing his hand on Victor's shoulder, panting.

"Sorry...sorry, Uncle Tom. I got a bit too excited and started walking fast," John apologized, looking at Uncle Tom.

"Alright, it's fine. Let's move on,"

Uncle Tom said, and he started walking ahead. The other two followed him, continuing their journey

---

After walking for 20 minutes, the three of them arrived at the land.

John started examining the area and thought to himself:

"Hmm... The land looks the same as Info described—open ground, neither too wet nor too dry. It seems the heavy rain from this morning has left little water on the land; it looks like there was very little water left here," John pondered.

"So, John, what now?" Uncle Tom asked as he sat down and began touching the ground.

"It's strange. It rained heavily from last night until this morning, but the land doesn't look very wet. And on the way here, we saw standing water on the road, but there's no standing water here. Why is that?" Uncle Tom said, standing up.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Victor said, picking up some soil.

Since the Dregs know little about the land because they are forbidden from reading and writing, they have lived in servitude for many years.

"We'll find out, Uncle Tom, Uncle Victor," John said, also taking some soil in his hands to check.

"Hmm, alright then," Victor said.

"Now that we're here, what do we do next?" Uncle Tom asked, unsure of what to do.

"Listen carefully. We need to find a small plant with large green leaves and white flowers. We need to look for a plant like that. Got it?" John paused and

Continued, "And don't question how I know this. Just look for what I've described."

Although both Victor and Uncle Tom were curious about how John knew this, they decided to hold off on asking questions and would confirm it later.

"Large green leaves, white flowers," they both repeated as they began searching in opposite directions.

"This land is so vast; where could the plant be hiding? And there's grass in between too," John said with a hint of frustration, raising his voice.

"Have you found it yet?" John asked loudly.

"No, not yet," Victor answered loudly.

"No, John," Uncle Tom also replied loudly.

---

It had been an hour since the three of them had been searching, and both Uncle Tom and Victor looked somewhat disheartened. However, John's face showed no sign of discouragement.

He continued searching diligently, and then, as he was about to move forward, he spotted a plant hidden behind some grass.

He moved closer to get a clearer look, and as he saw it, his face lit up with a smile. It was as if he had found something extremely important.

"INFO, is this the right plant?" John asked, laughing with excitement.

[Yes, Host. This is indeed a potato plant, but it is not yet time for harvesting.]

"What do you mean, it's not time for harvesting?" John asked, confused.

[When the potato plant has white flowers, and if the flowers appeared about a week ago, it will take around 3 to 4 weeks before the potatoes are ready to harvest.]

Feeling a bit disappointed, John said, "So, it's not time to harvest yet?"

[Don't be disheartened, Host. There are many plants here, and the harvest time is indicated when the upper leaves of the plant turn yellow and leaves are starting to lose their bright color, lean over, and become dry to the touch,]

[When you see plants like that, you will know they are ready for harvest.] INFO informed John without him asking.

"Really? Let me check for those types of plants," John said excitedly.

He continued moving forward and began counting the plants.

"1, 2, 3, 4… 20, 21… 49… 79. There are a total of potato plants here, but they are not ready for harvest yet. I'll move a bit further," John said as he kept going.

After moving a bit further:

"I think these might be ready for harvest; leaves are starting to lose their bright color, lean over and some have turned yellow," John thought to himself and then asked INFO, "INFO, are these ready for harvest?"

[Yes, Host.]

"Great!" John said, turning around and calling out loudly, "Uncle Tom, Uncle Victor, come over here quickly!"

"Did you find them too?" Victor asked.

"Yes, I found them. Did you find any?" John asked loudly.

"Yes, we found a few," Victor replied loudly.

"Then come here quickly. It's here!" John said.

Hearing John's call, Uncle Tom and Victor headed towards him. After about 10 minutes, both arrived at John's location and were shocked as they looked around.

"So many!" they said in unison.

"Yes, and what about your side?" John asked.

"Not as many on my side," Uncle Tom said.

"Yes, I found fewer on my side as well. I was about to call you when I heard your voice," Victor said.

"Well, that's great. We all found them!" John said, beaming with happiness

---

"So, John, what kind of plants are these?" Uncle Tom asked.

"Just a minute, Uncle Tom. Instead of explaining, I'll show you both," John said, and began kneeling down.

He carefully removed some soil from around a potato plant. After about 3 minutes, he unearthed a large, brownish-golden, round tuber, which he showed to both Uncle Tom and Victor.

"Uncle Tom, Uncle Victor, this is our new food source!" John said proudly.

Both of them looked at each other, and Uncle Tom spoke up,

"John, it seems to us that these round things might be poisonous."

"Yes, John, I also have a similar feeling," Victor agreed.

"No, Uncle Victor, Uncle Tom. These are potatoes. We can eat them, and they will improve our situation," John explained.

[Host, you're making yourself sound too great in front of them.]

"Shut up, Info," John said sharply, addressing INFO.

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[ "First potato eater." ]