“Ran, what does ‘this message has been recalled’ mean?” Yukari, with an apple slice in her mouth, was lounging on the sofa clutching her stomach like an old person while studying her phone.
Seeing the chat history between Yakumo Ran and Shiki, she asked curiously.
“Oh, that…
it just means a message was sent by mistake.
You can long-press the message to recall what you said.
I was asking that lord when he could sell some fish and made a typo.” Yakumo Ran’s tail stiffened for a moment, but she continued teasing the cat as if nothing had happened, her voice remaining steady.
“I see, that’s quite convenient.” Yukari didn’t suspect anything.
She usually let Ran handle small matters like this.
Of course, the main reason was that for some reason, whenever she used her own account to contact Shiki, that damned age would automatically increase by a year—it even increased by a year for every sentence she spoke!
“Huh?
Ran, come take a look.
What is this ‘pre-order’?” Yukari suddenly noticed that the previously empty shop window now had several pictures of various crops.
Clicking on them revealed a pre-order option.
Ran walked over to the sofa and sat down.
Yukari took the opportunity to slide her bare feet into her shikigami’s large tail.
Ran’s tail felt very smooth and carried a bit of body heat, making it extremely comfortable to tuck her feet into.
Long accustomed to her lady’s behavior at home, Yakumo Ran took the phone and studied it for a while, roughly understanding what it meant.
On the other side, Shiki, lying in bed at night and feeling bored, began tinkering with his online shop.
He listed all the existing crops from his farm, setting a pre-order price and a limit, just in case.
He had to leave enough supplies for his own survival and couldn’t sell everything to Yukari.
Setting a limit was a way to tell her he could only sell so much, to prevent her from pestering him for more when he ran out.
As for the design of the details page, he was very familiar with that.
Especially since this world had no advertising laws, phrases like ‘World’s Best’ or ‘Unique in the Whole World’ came naturally to him.
He wasn’t lying either; he was the only person in the entire world, so if he wasn’t number one, who was?
“Alright, time to sleep.
Tomorrow, I’ll clear the farm.” Closing his eyes, Shiki fell asleep in a snap…
Throughout the next day, Shiki was busy clearing trees, weeds, and rubble from the farm, opening up the paths to the back mountains in the north and the forest in the south.
This way, he wouldn’t have to take detours when going out, making movement more convenient.
Most importantly, while eating mushrooms yesterday, Shiki remembered the cave.
This place had such a low presence in the game that Shiki had forgotten it even existed.
The cave was a mountain crevice in the northern back mountains of the farm.
The space inside wasn’t very large.
In the game, when a player saved up 25,000 gold, a researcher would come looking for you, wanting to conduct some experiments in the cave.
Players could choose between the Fruit Bat Cave or the Mushroom Cave.
In the Fruit Bat Cave, the fruit bats living there would bring back some fruit every once in a while, which could be used to make artisanal goods, give as gifts, complete community center bundles, and so on.
In the Mushroom Cave, the researcher would place six mushroom boxes.
Mushrooms could be collected daily.
These six boxes would produce five types of mushrooms: the common mushroom found everywhere, the red mushroom that would kill you on the spot if eaten, the rare purple mushroom that could heal the current Shiki to the point of overflowing, and the delicious chanterelles and morels.
Standing at the cave entrance, Shiki peeked inside.
After illuminating the cave with his phone’s flashlight and taking a photo, he opened the backend window and began contacting Yakumo Ran.
Shiki: Are you there?
I need a favor.
Yakumo Ran, who was working hard to explain what a pre-order was to her elderly lady, immediately abandoned Yukari and sat at the table to reply on her phone.
With the sudden loss of the warm tail, Yukari instinctively rubbed her feet together, then grabbed a passing cat and placed it on her feet to continue serving as a foot warmer.
Yakumo Ran: I’m here.
Please go ahead.
Shiki: I have a cave here that’s very suitable for growing mushrooms.
I was wondering if Marisa would be interested in a collaboration.
Normally, the Fruit Bat Cave provides the best profit.
A large amount of fruit can be used for gifts or making artisanal goods.
However, having lived through a certain pandemic, Shiki felt somewhat uncomfortable with these flying rats.
Even though fruit bats were herbivores, he still found it a bit hard to accept.
Besides, there was plenty of fruit in Gensokyo; he didn’t need to collect it himself.
In contrast, the Mushroom Cave was very useful.
Common mushrooms could be used for cooking, and for the current Shiki, a single rare purple mushroom was like a Full Elixir—the kind that restores full health and mana upon consumption.
It would be very helpful for early development.
Yakumo Ran: Mushrooms, I see.
Are you at the farm right now?
I’ll go consult Marisa immediately.
Shiki: Yes, I am.
Thank you.
When the mushrooms are ready, let’s have a Mushroom Feast together.
Putting away her phone, Yakumo Ran glanced at the lazy Lady Yukari, sighed, and stepped into the Gap Yukari had opened to head to Marisa’s location.
The Forest of Magic is one of the two largest forests in Gensokyo.
Together with the Forest of Fairies, it covers 70% of Gensokyo’s area.
It is rich in resources—wild fruits, mushrooms, small animals, honey, everything.
It is the most important food source for the yokai.
Marisa runs a small potion shop here, selling various magic potions.
The quality of the potions varies; sometimes even the creator doesn’t know what the effects are.
She has close business ties with the Eientei clinic run by Eirin Yagokoro.
After Human Village disappeared, Marisa and the doll maker Alice, who also lives in the Forest of Magic, became the biggest winners.
Being close to the source, the two who were most familiar with the Forest of Magic lived a prosperous and carefree life here, making them the most well-off people in Gensokyo currently.
It’s not that no yokai wanted to rob these two through entertainment methods characteristic of Gensokyo, but Marisa is protected by the strongest Shrine Maiden in Gensokyo.
No one dares to mess with her.
If a fight breaks out here, the Shrine will immediately launch Hakurei Reimu, who will arrive before you within three minutes and end the battle with a single punch.
As for Alice, don’t even think about it.
She possesses a grimoire given to her by her mother, the Creator God of Makai.
It contains various world-destroying spells.
Even if one were lucky enough to defeat Alice, they would then have to face her terrifying mother—a being on the same level as the Dragon God, but with a daughter complex.
The Forest of Fairies, which is just as resource-rich as the Forest of Magic, is in a similar situation.
It’s home to a group of cute, brainless, but infinitely respawning happy Little Fairies.
Among them, the strongest is the Ice Fairy Cirno, whose combat power is comparable to a village goose.
Logically, she should be easy to bully.
However…