Walking out of the Community Center, Shiki didn’t go back the way he came.
Instead, he circled around the Community Center and continued north, arriving at the edge of a large lake.
There was a house here as well—the Carpenter’s Shop in the game.
Here, one could spend resources to build various functional farm buildings; it was one of the most important places in the entire game.
“It’s a bit of a pity.
If only I knew which character corresponds to each functional building, I could unlock them more purposefully.” It was already afternoon.
Having exhausted his energy, Shiki had nothing to do, so he sat by the lake scrolling through his phone.
After checking the unlocking conditions, he found a few question marks that wouldn’t take much effort to unlock.
Once unlocked, there was a chance they would attract the person to visit the farm.
Of course, unlocking is one thing, but there’s one point that must be noted: this is the real world, and there are no NPCs.
Everyone is a living person, not a Villager whose affection slowly grows just because you give them some trash every day.
After Sanae Kochiya was unlocked, there was nothing but a few lines of basic information—no row of red hearts like in the game, and no setting where affection increases just by giving gifts.
So, utilitarian unlocking is not advisable.
For example, one question mark’s unlocking condition is having twenty fish in the house.
Twenty tiny Sardines are fish, and twenty plump squids are also fish, but it would be a bit much if someone came to visit and you displayed twenty Sardines that didn’t even add up to the size of a palm.
Everyone is a living person with their own thoughts; if you act like that, no one will want to hang out with you.
After looking at his phone for a while, Shiki watched the fish swimming in the water and suddenly wanted to try fishing without a rod.
This lake was the one in front of The Miness, and the water was so clear that various types of fish could be seen swimming with the naked eye.
Picking up a stone from the ground, Shiki waited for a fish to approach the shore and then threw the stone hard at its position.
Water splashed everywhere.
When the ripples subsided, that unlucky fish was already floating belly-up on the surface.
Finding a branch, Shiki lay by the lake and hooked the fish over.
It was a snakehead weighing over two pounds, feeling slippery and covered in mucus.
“I think I understand.
This is the real world, and everything is real.
Naturally, there’s more than just one way to fish besides using a rod—blasting fish or electrocuting them would work too.
Those tools in Stardew Valley are just a bit more convenient to use; they can be thought of as items with special effects.
My energy bar is like mana used to drive the tools.
Once it’s used up, I can’t use the tools anymore.” Re-evaluating the world in a way he could understand, Shiki looked at the snakehead on the ground.
He placed it down and rubbed it back and forth with dry soil to remove the mucus, but as he rubbed, he remembered a very serious problem.
There was no place to cook in the Farmhouse, no kitchen, and he didn’t even have a kitchen knife to process the fish…
He wondered if the stone axe would work, but it was too blunt; one hit would probably turn it into fish paste, making it inedible.
Giving the fish a regretful look, Shiki put it in his backpack, washed his hands in the lake, and began to head back.
He took the mountain path north of the farm.
Standing by the road, he could see the farm below.
Aside from the Farmhouse and the small patch of cleared land, the rest was all trees and weeds, with a few scattered ponds.
Further south, he could vaguely see the sea.
When he reached the intersection at the bottom of the hill, Shiki remembered an even more serious problem: he only had a hoe and a few leeks and wild horseradish he’d picked up along the way—he hadn’t brought any tools for chopping trees or clearing grass!
Although reality wasn’t like the game where a few small stones or logs could block your path, it was still quite troublesome to push through such dense trees and weeds.
A classic experience for Stardew Valley players: leaving home without tools.
“Fine, let’s go.
Once I have money, I definitely need to get a bigger backpack first.” Shiki sighed and plunged into the dense thicket.
It was his habit at the start of a game to not carry tools to save backpack space, only keeping them on him once the backpack was upgraded later.
Now, he was facing the consequences.
To avoid getting lost, Shiki kept close to the fence as he moved.
After trudging through the woods for a long time, he finally reached the Farmhouse, his body covered in weeds and fallen leaves.
Returning to the Farmhouse, there was no one in town, and after planting the windbreak grass seeds, there was really nothing left to do.
Shiki began clearing the trees and weeds around the cabin.
He didn’t use energy, simply clearing away small branches and stones.
He put the branches in the woodshed to the left of the cabin and kept all the stones in a chest.
At 6 PM, the sky outside was starting to turn dark.
Shiki tossed the snakehead into the Shipping Bin on the right side of the cabin, then went inside and shut the door tight.
Unlike the city with its various lights, the entirety of Stardew Valley had no light sources at all.
Once it got dark, only the moonlight remained.
It was truly the kind of darkness where you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
Pitifully, his current Farmhouse was at the basic level; aside from the glowing TV, only the fireplace that needed wood provided any light.
But lighting a fire in this weather was a bit crazy.
Shiki glanced at the darkening sky outside, checked if the doors and windows were locked, turned on the TV, and crawled under the covers.
Well…
he was a bit afraid of the dark.
Mainly, he had a big imagination, and after reading too many horror novels, he was prone to making associations.
He used to be terrified listening to Qing Xue’s narrations of Ghost Blows Out the Light and The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles.
When he worked night shifts alone, he’d want to turn on every light in the building.
Now, in a place where there wasn’t a single sound besides his own, he was even more scared.
Shhhhh…
The TV, which had no signal, could only display a snowy screen.
Combined with the static sound, it became the second thing in this world that made noise.
Even scarier now, right?!
Shiki stared at the TV, his eyes glazing over as new images appeared in his mind.
The TV screen flickered and suddenly turned into a withered well.
Then, Sadako, with her disheveled hair and eerie clicking sounds, crawled out of the TV with her limbs contorted, coming to the bedside and staring fixedly at him…
Snap.
Shiki got out of bed, turned off the TV, and moved it so it faced the wall before returning to bed.
Compared to the slight comfort of the light from the TV, he’d rather be in the dark than have Sadako crawl out of it!
The night was terrifyingly still, so quiet that Shiki could hear the ringing in his ears and the sound of his body rubbing against the bedding as he turned.
But…
this bed was so comfortable.
Not long after closing his eyes—whether it was because he was exhausted from walking so much today or because the bed itself had some magic—Shiki soon fell asleep.
2 AM.
The Gap that had swallowed the little black cat earlier opened in front of the Shipping Bin.
A dark figure stepped out of the Gap.
The pitch-black darkness didn’t affect her at all, her golden eyes glowing in the night.
Gently opening the lid of the Shipping Bin, the dark figure took out the snakehead, which was covered in dirt and mucus, with a hint of disdain.
Shiki’s backpack and the Shipping Bin both had an effect similar to time suspension; items came out exactly as they went in.
This fish was so fresh it almost slapped the dark figure in the face.
Seeing that the fish was still fresh, the dark figure weighed it, nodded with satisfaction, then placed 100 gold into the Shipping Bin, turned, and walked back into the Gap.