Chapter 5
If I’m going to explain how I ended up picking up a complete lunatic, I have to go back four days.
It was Saturday.
The sky was dark with heavy clouds.
“Purify.”
Fwoosh!
As usual, I was purifying the contaminated land near my cabin when a system window appeared.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
It even came with loud fireworks.
Purification Skill Level Up!
Lv. 2 → Lv. 3
You can now use this skill up to 2 times per day.
Remaining Purification Uses: 2
(※ As a level-up reward, your daily purification count has been reset.)
“Oh…”
Finally, I could purify twice a day.
If I could use it twice, I could make even more farmland than before!
“Let’s see… How many plots do I have now…?”
One, two, three, four…
And I just purified another one.
“So that’s five plots in total.”
I already had five small fields…
But because I didn’t have enough coins, I’d planted nothing but the cheapest crop—potatoes.
I want to grow strawberries… And cherry tomatoes too…
Unfortunately, they were ridiculously expensive.
Strawberry (Raspberry) Seedling: 500 Coins each
Cherry Tomato Seedling: 350 Coins each
Can’t you at least give me a discount…? Or maybe another quest that gives coins?
I grumbled to myself.
As if the system had read my mind, another window suddenly appeared.
Emergency Quest!!!!!
“Ah! You scared me!”
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest!
♡ Quest: Let’s Explore the Forest! ♡
The forest near your cabin is filled with useful resources.
Explore the forest and gather materials!
Forest Exploration: (0/1)
Reward: 850 Coins
Failure Penalty: None
“Explore the forest…?”
That actually sounded fun.
I looked toward the dark forest behind the cabin.
It doesn’t seem that dangerous…
I’d never heard of wolves or bears living there.
Even if the animals were contaminated, most were herbivores.
They’d probably run away instead of attacking me.
Of course, if I wandered too deep into the woods, I might run into monsters.
There were plenty of stories about that in the original novel.
I still have two Purification uses left today…
Maybe I could gather some bird eggs or mushrooms.
Honestly…
I’m getting tired of eating potatoes every day.
Besides, completing the quest would earn me 850 Coins.
“Hmm.”
Alright.
Let’s do it.
Having made up my mind, I tied my hair tightly, grabbed my only tool—a hoe—and headed into the forest.
The hoe probably wasn’t much of a weapon…
But it was still better than going empty-handed.
I’m too scared to go alone…
Guess I’d better bring Slave No. 1.
“Ninabel! Come here!”
“Yeees~ Master!”
Ninabel, who had been playing near the spring, hurried over.
She was still in her hamster-shaped water-drop rice cake form, floating circles around me.
“You’re making me dizzy.”
“Hing…”
When Ninabel was far away, I heard her voice directly inside my head instead of through my ears.
Apparently it was because we’d formed a spirit contract.
Though I have absolutely no idea when that happened.
I’m convinced this affection-starved masochistic spirit forced the contract on me herself.
I grabbed the little water blob and tucked her under my arm.
“Slave No. 1. Today we’re exploring the forest.”
“The forest? There might be monsters! But of course, Ninny will always stay with Master!”
“If monsters appear, I’ll use you as a shield while I run.”
“T-That’s impossible…! B-But if I can become Master’s shield… I’d gladly die!”
…This spirit is insane.
Shaking my head, I confidently walked into the forest.
Just thinking about exploring somewhere unknown made my heart race with excitement.
About ten minutes later…
“Mushrooms!”
I found a mushroom that looked incredibly delicious.
It was bright red, beautifully shaped like deer antlers.
“This looks so tasty, doesn’t it?”
“Master! That looks like a poisonous mushroom!!”
“No way…”
Just then—
Mushroom Appraisal (D) Skill Awakened!
You can now identify every mushroom in the world.
Any mushroom you identify will be added to your Encyclopedia.
※ This is a Unique-Rank Skill and cannot be upgraded.
Holy crap.
I can identify mushrooms now.
I’m amazing.
Tip
To use this skill, simply stare at a mushroom for at least three seconds while thinking about appraising it.
Following the instructions, I stared at the strange red mushroom.
A few seconds later…
A window appeared.
Red Antler Mushroom
Family: Clavariaceae
A bright-red antler-shaped poisonous mushroom.
Eating it may cause diarrhea, fever, and loss of consciousness.
Even touching it can inflame the skin.
Handle with caution.
“…”
So it was a deadly poisonous mushroom.
It even warned me not to touch it.
The system was surprisingly serious.
It looked so delicious…
I suddenly lost all curiosity about how it might taste.
Slowly, I backed away.
“Edible mushrooms…”
“Let’s find edible mushrooms…”
For the next thirty minutes, I wandered through the forest like a zombie searching for mushrooms.
Unfortunately…
Every mushroom around me was the exact same poisonous red one.
“What the heck?!”
“Please just give up, Master~!”
“I’m sick of eating potatoes!”
Completely exhausted, I collapsed onto the ground.
Immediately, my little water spirit panicked.
“Masteeer! You can’t just lie down anywhere! At least lie on top of me!”
“Lie on you…?”
“Oh…”
She abandoned her hamster shape and spread herself out.
When I lay down on top of her, it felt like lying in a hammock made of cool water.
“This is amazing…
It’s cool and comfortable.”
“I’m so happy I can help Master…!”
Yeah…
You little masochist.
As we rested—
Rustle.
Something moved inside the nearby bushes.
“…!”
I instantly froze before jumping to my feet.
What was that?
A wild animal?
Or…
A monster?
If it’s really a monster, I’m running faster than anyone.
Finally—
Something leaped out.
“…?!”
…A rabbit?
I blinked.
Long ears.
Tiny front paws.
Soft-looking fur.
Except…
Its fur was strangely purple because of the contamination.
It was definitely a rabbit.
“Master! It’s a rabbit! It looks delicious!”
Hey.
How would a spirit know what rabbit tastes like?
I smacked the little water blob to make her be quiet.
Then I crouched and carefully observed the rabbit.
It looked wild.
Yet it wasn’t running away.
It didn’t seem aggressive either.
Is it… kind of dumb?
It had absolutely no survival instincts.
Maybe I’ll purify it.
If things go well…
Maybe I can raise it.
Ding!
Guide
♡ Nutritious Rabbit Stew Recipe ♡
Ingredients:
Fresh rabbit meat
Herbs (Rosemary recommended)
Salt
Pepper
Tomatoes
Onion
Carrots
Celery
Olive oil
Season the rabbit meat with salt and pepper.
Brown the meat in olive oil.
Add chopped vegetables and stir-fry together.
Once the vegetables soften, pour in water…
Are you insane?
I closed the window before reading the rest.
How could it tell me to eat something this adorable?
What kind of psychopath designed this?
The rabbit simply sat there without moving.
Yep.
Definitely not the brightest rabbit.
Carefully…
I reached out my hand.
“Purify.”
Warm, gentle light wrapped around the rabbit.
Moments later…
The purple contamination disappeared.
A fluffy brown rabbit looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
Above its head…
A pink heart floated.
…Huh?
Target’s Affection Toward You: 9♡
“…?”
What is this?
Is this suddenly a dating simulator?
Before I could process it, the rabbit suddenly jumped into my arms.
“Eek!”
I almost dropped it.
It rubbed its face against my clothes and snuggled deeper into my embrace.
Warm.
Soft.
Fluffy.
So cute…!
“Y-You little rabbit! You’re supposed to be food! How dare you flirt with Master?! I won’t forgive you!!”
The possessive spirit screamed in jealousy.
I ignored her and continued petting the rabbit.
Then another system message appeared.
Animal Husbandry (Lv. 1) Skill Awakened!
Gentle herbivorous and omnivorous animals will now follow you.
Sub Skill:
Sacred Breeder’s Touch (Lv. 1)
Tamed Animals
Brown Forest Rabbit (Lv.1)
An ordinary brown rabbit living in the forest.
Its meat is tender and delicious.
“Oh…”
This skill could actually be useful.
Maybe I could raise chickens…
Goats…
Even sheep someday.
Of course, I was still too broke to buy any of them.
Still…
I have an adorable rabbit now!
I happily petted the rabbit over and over.
…
Wait.
What exactly do rabbits eat?
* * *
After bringing the rabbit back to the cabin, another notification appeared.
Quest Complete!
Let’s Explore the Forest!
Reward:
850 Coins
Yes!
I’d been earning tiny rewards of ten, thirty, fifty coins at a time.
Getting 850 Coins felt like winning the lottery.
Balance: 950 Coins
“Hehe.”
Now I can buy strawberries…
Cherry tomatoes…
Oh right.
Rabbit food too.
“Masteeer! You already have the cute and capable Ninny! Why do you need that dumb animal?!”
“If you don’t shut up, I’ll boil you in a pot.”
“Kyaaaah! So cruel~!!”
Ninabel ran away crying.
Three minutes later…
She came back because she got lonely.
After dinner, it started raining.
As a little exercise after eating, I built a rabbit house inside the barn.
Everything—the fence, hay, and other supplies—came from the Coin Shop.
The cutest rabbit in the universe happily hopped around before flopping onto the hay.
Adorable.
I watched it for a while before leaving the barn.
Outside, the sky had gone completely dark.
The rain was falling harder.
It’s about time to sleep…
“…?”
Then—
Something felt wrong.
I froze while turning around.
Something…
was lying on top of my precious vegetable field.
“W-What is that?”
A monster?
A forest animal?
No…
Looking closer…
It was a person.
A very large one.
Why was someone collapsed in my field?
This was contaminated land.
Nobody ever came here.
Is he hurt?
I hurried over.
As I got closer, I finally saw his face clearly.
“…Wow.”
He looked to be in his early twenties.
So handsome that I couldn’t help staring.
No…
“Beautiful” suited him better than “handsome.”
Who is this…?
He looks exactly like the center member of an idol group.
