My Domain Runs on KPIs

Chapter 007

“A freak?”

Luke repeated.

Garrick nodded firmly.

“Yeah.”

Luke glanced at Beanpole, curious to see what he thought of their mysterious third employee.

After all, weirdos tended to understand other weirdos.

And Beanpole was a guy who had dug up an entire vegetable garden and turned it into a minefield.

But to Luke’s surprise-

Beanpole nodded just as seriously.

Luke raised an eyebrow.

“He’s that bad?”

“That weirdo has been living beside the swamp for more than half a year,” Garrick explained.

“He barely interacts with us.”

“Sometimes we bring him food.”

“But he never says anything.”

“He just sits there staring at the swamp.”

Luke frowned.

“Staring at the swamp?”

“Exactly.”

“All day.”

Luke looked confused.

“That’s it?”

“He just... stares?”

Garrick nodded.

Luke sucked in a breath.

“Is there something in that swamp?”

“There used to be a lot of wild animals around there.”

Garrick counted them off.

“Wolves. Wild boars. Plenty of other beasts too.”

“But that was before he arrived.”

“After he came...”

“They disappeared.”

Luke stopped walking.

“Disappeared?”

“You mean all of them?”

“Yes.”

Beanpole spoke quietly.

“All gone.”

Luke looked at him.

He had only just met Beanpole, but judging from the kid’s personality, he definitely wasn’t the type to make things up for attention.

Which meant their mysterious third resident was either absurdly strong-

or possessed some ability Luke knew nothing about.

Luke’s eyes lit up.

Jackpot.

Did I seriously pull an SSR?

After all, Ashenvale currently consisted of-

himself,

Garrick,

and Beanpole.

If someone like that joined the team, the Domain’s future prospects would skyrocket.

Who knew?

Maybe one day they could even go public.

Luke’s thoughts immediately derailed.

He pinched himself.

Focus.

“Let’s go.”

“Take me to him.”

Garrick hesitated.

“My Lord, it’s getting dark.”

“Maybe we should wait until tomorrow.”

“Let’s go.”

Luke’s answer was firm.

Garrick sighed.

“Fine.”

“Come on.”

He exchanged a look with Beanpole before taking the lead.

Luke used the walk to continue talking with Beanpole.

“What did you all eat before I got here?”

“This place doesn’t exactly look like it has much food.”

Beanpole answered quietly.

“Mostly the vegetables I grew.”

“And small animals.”

“Rabbits. Birds. Sometimes wild boars.”

Luke nodded.

“Sounds surprisingly decent.”

“Did Garrick catch those animals?”

“Or...?”

He deliberately left the question hanging.

Beanpole looked down.

“They fell into the holes I dug for planting.”

“Garrick’s leg isn’t very good.”

Luke nodded approvingly.

“Not bad.”

Internally, however-

Holy crap.

Another technical specialist.

Beanpole had managed to create dozens of functional traps in this godforsaken place.

Using nothing but natural materials.

And they actually worked.

The guy was practically a trap master in the making.

Someone like that?

Luke absolutely had to recruit him properly.

“Beanpole.”

Luke suddenly stopped.

“Ashenvale is currently missing someone to oversee construction.”

“I think you’d be a good fit.”

“Want to give it a try?”

Beanpole blinked.

Luke continued.

“Six portions of food per day during probation.”

“Ten once you become permanent staff.”

“So?”

“You in?”

Faced with Luke’s eager stare, Beanpole immediately shrank back.

“Construction... supervisor?”

His voice was barely audible.

“Can I really do that?”

“I don’t know anything about building things.”

Garrick, who was using a stick to push branches out of the way, looked over his shoulder.

“You idiot.”

“Say yes already!”

“You’ll be getting the same amount of food as me every day!”

“It’s fine.”

Luke reached out and patted Beanpole on the shoulder.

“I think you can do it.”

The only problem was that Luke nearly drove the skinny kid halfway into the ground with that one pat.

Beanpole looked up at him nervously.

“I... really can?”

“Of course.”

Luke smiled.

“That’s what the probation period is for.”

“If you turn out to be terrible at it, then you simply won’t pass.”

The point was to lower the psychological barrier.

If Luke had told him, You’re now responsible for all construction in the Domain and failure is unacceptable, Beanpole would probably have run straight back into his trap field.

Sure enough, after hearing Luke’s explanation, Beanpole seemed much less nervous.

“My Lord...”

“I’ll do my best.”

Luke nodded.

“Good.”

Beanpole hesitated.

“But...”

Luke immediately looked at him.

“But what?”

He wasn’t surprised.

Talented people having a few extra requirements was completely normal.

Beanpole finally raised his face.

It was the first time he had looked Luke directly in the eye.

“Can I still grow vegetables?”

“No problem.”

Luke answered without hesitation.

“Yes, My Lord.”

Beanpole’s voice was noticeably louder this time.

Not actually loud.

But louder.

Apparently, he had finally made up his mind.

Luke nodded in satisfaction.

Trap master acquired.

【Current Cohesion: 5/100】

The system notification snapped Luke back to reality.

Only then did he notice that they were already approaching the edge of the swamp.

Garrick walked ahead cautiously, testing each step.

The air was growing damp.

The ground beneath Luke’s feet became softer with every step.

Luke couldn’t help feeling impressed.

Someone who had managed to live in a place like this for more than half a year was definitely not ordinary.

They continued forward.

Before long, a vast gray swamp emerged through the mist.

Moisture hung thick in the air, obscuring anything too far away.

They followed a relatively solid path for several minutes.

Then Garrick suddenly stopped and pointed ahead.

“My Lord.”

“There.”

Luke followed his finger.

A lone figure was crouched beside a small mound of earth.

Behind him stood a perfectly neat row of...

Luke narrowed his eyes.

Bones?

Animal bones.

An entire row of skeletons had been arranged neatly behind the man.

All of them facing toward the swamp.

As if they, too, were waiting for something.

Luke’s heartbeat sped up slightly.

“He does this every day?”

“Every day.”

Garrick’s voice had dropped almost to a whisper, as though he were afraid the figure might hear him.

“He comes here at sunrise.”

“Leaves after dark.”

“At first, we used to come check on him and bring him food.”

“But he never talked to us.”

“He wouldn’t even eat what we brought.”

“So eventually we stopped wasting food on him.”

“Maybe he has his own way of finding something to eat.”

Garrick visibly shivered.

“And honestly...”

“This place is creepy as hell.”

“So we stopped coming.”

Luke stared ahead.

Garrick hesitated.

“But that’s not even the worst part.”

His eyes remained fixed on the strange figure.

“One time...”

“I heard him talking to the swamp.”

Garrick suddenly fell silent, apparently remembering the moment.

Luke immediately asked,

“What did he say?”

Garrick swallowed.

“He said...”

“There’s something inside the swamp.”

“And it’s waiting for him.”

A cold gust of wind brushed the back of Luke’s neck.

He instinctively hunched his shoulders.

“You’re serious?”

Luke forced himself to remain calm.

“Because this is starting to sound like a horror story.”

And then-

A system notification suddenly appeared.

【WARNING: Unknown energy fluctuation detected.】

【Source: Deep within the swamp.】

Luke’s expression twitched.

“What the hell?”

He immediately turned toward Garrick and Beanpole.

“We’re leaving.”

“We’ll come back tomorrow.”

“In daylight.”