Charlie stared at the treasure chest floating in the air.
“Wait, so that wasn’t a tattoo.
It was a icon?”
The chest was bright red, with gold-trimmed edges along both sides.
He reached out and touched it.
The next second, it opened, lost its ability to float, and dropped into his hands.
A treasure chest this fancy had to have something amazing inside.
Or so he thought.
Instead, he found it full of black and silvery-white stones.
“Gems?” Charlie asked, a little confused.
If they were gems, he could give them to Penny or Maru.
After he reached in and took everything out, the chest disappeared.
“Huh?
It vanished?”
“What’s going on?”
At the same time, the interface popped up.
[Coal: A combustible rock that is useful for crafting and smelting.]
[Iron Ore: A fairly common ore that can be smelted into bars.]
His attention had been on the vanished chest, but the information pulled his focus back to the items in his hands.
“Coal?
Where’s my black gemstone?”
Charlie was speechless.
Still, Iron Ore was useful, so he decided not to complain too much.
Then he checked the time.
It was 2:30 p.m.
He decided to call it a day.
8 Sardines: 480 gold
3 Herring: 225 gold
1 Silver Sardine: 75 gold
After adding that to the 285 gold he already had, he sold the fish to Willy.
He now had 1,065 gold.
A huge profit!
Charlie was delighted.
After saying goodbye, he happily left Willy’s little cabin.
When he reached the beach, he noticed something sparkling in the sand and walked over for a closer look.
“Damn it, more of these worms!”
There was no need to waste words.
This could be an Artifact, so he immediately summoned his Hoe.
He dug hard.
Just like last time, something appeared in the hole.
Charlie picked it up.
[Clay: Used in crafting and construction.]
“Clay?”
“This doesn’t seem to be an ancient Artifact.
The description didn’t tell me to give it to Gunther.”
Still, it was something, so he kept it.
Then he looked over at Elliott’s house.
“Hmm.
He’s probably out.”
“Or maybe not?”
“I’ll knock and see.”
He walked up to the door.
[Locked…
Only Elliott’s friends can enter uninvited.]
Charlie: “…”
“Alright, he’s probably out,” he told himself.
After standing dazedly in front of Elliott’s door for a while, he left.
He retraced his steps back to the bridge and saw a familiar figure.
“Elliott!”
The moment Charlie spotted him, his eyes lit up, and he ran over.
“Hey, Elliott!” he called, waving.
But Elliott seemed to be talking to himself.
“Sometimes things grow where you least expect them…
Elliott, if you think too hard, you’ll miss inspiration when it passes by.”
“Inspiration doesn’t only come from shutting yourself away and thinking.
It comes from the little changes around you, too.”
Was he reflecting on himself?
Charlie didn’t quite understand.
In the end, he decided not to bother him.
He might as well check whether the Clay was an Artifact, since the Museum wasn’t far.
But just as he turned around, he spotted a new face.
Right now, his main goal was to meet all the villagers and get familiar with them.
“Hey, hello.
I’m the new farmer here,” Charlie said, greeting him.
The other person was a cool-looking, handsome blond guy standing by the river and playing guitar.
The sound was definitely on the rock side.
Charlie could play guitar, too.
When he was younger, he had practiced a few songs he liked.
He wondered whether he would get the chance to play here.
While he was thinking about that, the blond guy heard him and answered right away.
“Hey, buddy. The source of this chapter is g.com.
I’m Sam.
My mom told me about you.”
“Your mom?” Charlie snapped back to the present, puzzled.
“Yeah, my mom’s Jodi!”
“Oh, Jodi.
You must be her eldest son!”
He remembered Jodi calling Vincent her younger son, which meant there had to be an older one.
Sam nodded.
“That’s right.
I’m the eldest son.”
“So you’ve met my little brother Vincent, then?”
“Yeah, of course.
He’s a really cute kid.”
“I like him a lot.”
Sam clearly agreed.
“Right?
I think my little brother’s adorable, too.”
“Look how lively he is!” Sam said cheerfully, pointing across the river.
“Look?”
Charlie was confused, but he turned to look.
His eyes widened at once.
Across the bridge, Penny was sitting with her hair tied back.
Vincent was there, too, along with a little girl Charlie didn’t recognize.
He chatted with Sam for a bit longer about guitars, but his mind was already elsewhere.
Soon, he got ready to say goodbye.
“Uh, Sam.”
“I’ve got something to do.
Let’s talk next time,” he said, scratching the back of his head, a little embarrassed.
Sam didn’t seem to mind.
He smiled and nodded right away.
Then he went back to strumming his guitar.
Seeing that, Charlie felt a small twinge of guilt.
But when a girl was involved, bro code could wait.
He crossed the river and walked over to Penny.
“…What a coincidence, Penny.
We meet again,” he said.
Penny looked a little surprised to see him, but she still nodded.
“What a coincidence…
We meet again.”
“Are these two kids…?” Charlie asked.
“They’re Vincent and Jas, children from town.”
“Oh, I see.
I know Vincent.”
“Has he been behaving?”
“If he hasn’t, I’ll tell his mom.”
Penny sat down on a tree stump as she listened.
“That’s a little serious.”
“I tutored Vincent and Jas today…
They can be mischievous, but teaching them and helping them grow makes me really happy.”
Penny raised her hand, looking as if she had just renewed some private determination.
Seeing her like that, Charlie sighed inwardly.
If only he’d had a teacher like this when he was in school.
“Penny, are you a teacher?”
“I suppose so.
Vincent and Jas are still so young, after all.
They need to learn,” she explained.
That made perfect sense to him.
“You’re right, Penny.
Early education can shape a person’s whole future.”
His words seemed to surprise her.
“It seems we get along very well, Mr.
Charlie,” Penny said happily.
But while the two of them were talking, Vincent came over, pulling Jas along with him.
“Ah, it’s Mr.
Charlie!”
Charlie was instantly speechless.
If you know I’m Mr.
Charlie, then don’t interrupt Mr.
Charlie.
Vincent was holding the hand of a little girl with twin ponytails.
She had a large green bow on her head and wore a little purple dress.
Her rosy cheeks were incredibly cute.
Since they were already here, Charlie had no choice.
“Hey, Vincent.”
After greeting him, he glanced at Jas, who was hiding behind the boy.
“Little one, I’m the new farmer here.
Ms.
Penny told me your name is Jas, right?”
Charlie bent down and gently spoke to the little face peeking out from behind Vincent.
Jas hid farther behind him, looking a little afraid.
I’m Jas,” she said timidly in a small voice.
Just then, Penny came over and stood beside Charlie.
“What do you think?
Aren’t the children cute?” she asked.
Hearing that, Charlie was sure of one thing.
Penny really did love children.
…
Because of the two children, Charlie never got a chance to talk with Penny alone.
He could only play with the kids while she sat nearby, watching them and covering her mouth as she laughed.
She seemed to enjoy the moment.
This continued until 4:20, when Penny had to take the children home.
After that, Charlie went to the Museum, but as it turned out, the Clay wasn’t what Gunther wanted.
When he stepped outside, he didn’t know what to do next.
“Go home and till the land, or explore a new map.”
Charlie hesitated between the two choices.
In the end, he chose to explore.
He followed the path up past The Stardrop Saloon and came to a rundown building.
[Locked.]
Charlie tried to open it, but the door was locked.
Then he noticed quite a few flowers nearby.
There were four normal Daffodils in total, and nothing else.
After gathering them, he looked at the paths around him.
Only one led upward.
All the others went downhill.
So he headed up.
By the time he reached the house, it was already 8:00 p.m.
As expected, it was closed.
Still, he was curious about the telescope outside.
“Uh…
alright, I can’t use it.”
Charlie was speechless, but there were some things nearby, so the trip wasn’t a total loss.
[Leek (Normal): A tasty relative of the onion.]
He gathered quite a few of them.
While foraging, he found a large lake.
There was a path leading upward along it, but it was blocked.
A worker was there, hammering away.
The steady sound of hammering was the only thing breaking the quiet night.
No matter how many times Charlie called out, the worker ignored him.
Seeing that, he decided not to embarrass himself.
After leaving, he came to a yellow tent with a campfire burning outside.
“Someone actually lives in a tent here?”
Charlie was a little puzzled.
The tent wasn’t locked, so he walked inside.
There was only an old man with white hair inside, wearing yellow clothes in some style Charlie couldn’t identify.
As for furniture, there was a green sleeping bag and a few scattered belongings.
“Hello, young man.
I’m going to sleep.”
“Could you not bother me at this hour?”
Charlie immediately felt awkward.
“Uh, sorry.
I’m the new farmer.
My name is Charlie!”
“I saw a tent here, so I came to take a look.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.”
After hearing his apology, Linus seemed to understand.
“I see.
My name is Linus.”
“If you’re tired, find a place to sit.”
Charlie really couldn’t find anywhere to sit, so in the end, he settled on a pile of wood.
Seeing how poor the place looked, he felt a little sorry for him.
“Uh, you…
this place…”
But Linus didn’t mind.
“Don’t worry about me.
I’m used to it.”
Charlie nodded.
After leaving the tent, he checked the time.
It was already almost midnight.
He wasn’t sure whether he should keep exploring.
“Forget it.
I’ll go for it.
If I get too sleepy, I’ll find a leaf to use as a blanket and make do,” Charlie thought.
Then he set off.
He didn’t see a single house along the way after that.
He kept walking until he found himself in the forest.
After passing through it, Charlie made a surprising discovery.
“Huh…
I’m home…”