Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World-Chapter 87: Traps and Seeds

He never had many opportunities to try it himself, except for a few times at rural vacation spots where, unfortunately, he hadn’t caught anything.

Wasn’t it normal not to see any animals around here? After all, he was a person walking through the forest, and he wasn’t exactly being quiet. Animals had keen hearing and sight—they probably ran off long before he even got close.

Kim Haru wasn’t skilled in identifying animals’ activity areas by looking for tracks or droppings, nor could he tell their size or condition based on the plants’ appearance. In fact, he wasn’t even expecting to catch anything. He simply found a spot that looked decent and started digging with his hoe.

This wasn’t like tilling soil for planting. The hoe didn’t turn up a chunk of earth with each swing, but Kim Haru still felt that he wasn’t putting in much effort to dig.

Before long, he had a pit about half a meter deep.

He wasn’t planning to catch anything too large, and honestly, he didn’t care whether he caught something or not. He tested the pit by stepping in it himself, decided the depth was sufficient, and then began thinking about how to disguise it.

He wasn’t going to put any sharp stakes in the pit either. Kim Haru didn’t lack food, and he wasn’t interested in eating anything caught in the wild. He was just intrigued by the process of setting traps.

Still, if he did happen to catch something, he wasn’t going to let it go.

How he’d deal with it would depend on whether he actually caught anything.

Kim Haru glanced at the empty pit, a little worried that if he didn’t put anything down there, any animal that fell in might escape too easily. After some thought, he found some branches and arranged them in a crisscross pattern at the bottom of the pit.

The gaps were small, so if an animal fell in and its foot got stuck between the branches, it wouldn’t be able to pull it out easily.

After laying down the branches, Kim Haru carefully covered the pit. He placed more branches over the top, this time choosing dry, brittle ones that would easily snap. Then, he scattered a layer of fallen leaves over everything, camouflaging the pit to blend perfectly with the surroundings.

Satisfied, Kim Haru dusted off his hands and admired his work. He then found a distinctive branch and stuck it nearby as a marker so he could find the trap later.

With everything done, Kim Haru decided not to venture any deeper into the forest. The system had already generated his lunch for the day, so he could head back and clean up before eating.

Retracing his steps, Kim Haru returned to his wooden cabin.

Just as he was about to enter his house, something caught his eye. He glanced over at the vegetable patch and froze.

The patch had once again been disturbed!

Kim Haru’s expression immediately turned cold.

This time, he couldn’t brush it off like he had the day before.

He stood by the edge of the vegetable patch, his gaze sweeping over the freshly turned soil.

Just like the day before, some areas of the soil had bulged up slightly from underneath, while others were pressed down from above. There were no claw marks or other traces of animals. Kim Haru furrowed his brows and studied it for a long time, unable to figure out what had disturbed his vegetable patch.

What’s more, whatever it was hadn’t caused any damage to the growing vegetables. The crops still stood tall and healthy. Nothing had been eaten, pulled up, or even had a single leaf broken.

If it wasn’t after the vegetables, then what was it after?

Kim Haru couldn’t find an answer.

Aside from the vegetable patch, no other areas seemed to have been disturbed. Even the space around his wooden cabin was untouched. Still, he didn’t feel at ease. What if something had invaded his cabin when he wasn’t paying attention…?

With that thought in mind, Kim Haru opened the system’s trading interface and spent all the remaining one thousand gold coins to buy a large-range defense crystal, which could also be upgraded later.

Just as he was about to exit the system, Kim Haru noticed something flashing faintly in the "Seeds" section of the trading interface.

Curious, he clicked on it and saw "Wheat Seeds" was being displayed.

[ Wild wheat seeds have been discovered, if you collect it you will unlock the seed. ]

Following the system’s prompt, Kim Haru found a few seeds under the fence around his vegetable patch.

Wild wheat seeds? How did they end up here?

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

Kim Haru clearly remembered that when he tilled the soil and installed the wooden fence, he had cleared the entire area thoroughly. There hadn’t been a single plant in sight.

Staring at the dozen or so seeds on the ground, and seeing no apparent danger, Kim Haru cautiously picked them up.

[ Wheat seeds have been obtained (Unlocked) ]

In the system’s [ Seeds ] interface, the wheat seed icon lit up, joining the cabbage, soybeans, and potatoes, all now available for purchase.

He counted the wheat seeds in his hand—thirteen in total. They looked plump and full, with no signs of shriveling or damage, indicating they were of excellent quality.

After carefully searching the area again, Kim Haru found nothing else aside from these thirteen wheat seeds. Puzzled, he returned to his cabin.

What he didn’t notice was that after he stepped inside the cabin, the nearby plants and branches shifted slightly. Where they had been stiff and motionless before, they suddenly softened, as if letting out a breath of relief.

After finishing his lunch, Kim Haru, who had initially planned to take a nap, decided instead to plant the wheat seeds he’d just obtained.

Wheat is a crop that produces flour, and flour is essential in many aspects of daily life. Whether for steaming buns, making noodles, or frying pancakes, it’s always needed.