Chapter 14: Dorin

"Wake up, wake up."

The mycelium shook the unconscious man back and forth, but there was no response at all.

The surroundings grew darker, lightning flashed constantly, and a raindrop landed on the little mushroom's cap.

Ow, that stung.

The cap got tapped—it was starting to rain.

Jiang Ye looked up at the sky. He had to get back to the farm ASAP, but what about this guy? He wouldn't wake up, and he couldn't just leave him here—something bad would happen. Might as well take him back to the farm.

The mushroom gave a solemn nod. With that sapphire-studded helmet, he obviously had money—might as well save him! It was no big deal.

The mycelium reached out, fumbled a bit, then wrapped around the unconscious man's legs, tightened its grip, and dragged him toward the farm.

Clank. Clank-clank.

Clank.

Clank!

That was the sound of the helmet smacking the ground.

Jiang Ye glanced back. Good thing this guy had a sturdy helmet on, or he'd probably have a concussion.

Oddly enough, this guy's outfit was pretty weird. He was wearing a fancy, mysterious knight's helmet, but no armor, and he was banged up pretty bad.

He probably wasn't a player, Jiang Ye figured. During the newbie protection window, players couldn't visit each other's farms. Before the heavy rain hit, the little mushroom had already dragged the unconscious stranger into the farmyard.

Must be some kind of NPC.

"We're here!"

With a burst of freakish strength, the mycelium hauled the stranger into the wooden cabin.

Jiang Ye thought, this was way easier than hoeing the fields.

Before going inside, the mushroom glanced back at the Fangfeng Grass he'd planted—the little green shoots hadn't changed much.

Bang!

Before the mushroom could close the door, the wind slammed it shut.

Jiang Ye looked around while the mycelium lifted the unconscious man onto the rickety wooden bed.

The mushroom had never slept on this bed, but now it finally had a purpose.

The mushroom hopped onto the bed and studied the unconscious stranger curiously. Still hadn't woken up—nothing bad was going on, right?

The mycelium hesitated, then reached out and tapped the silver-gray helmet, saying softly, "Hey, wake up."

The stranger didn't respond.

The mycelium tried to pry open his helmet to check on him, but couldn't figure out how.

How the heck do you open this thing...

The mushroom studied it carefully.

"Don't touch."

A voice cut in abruptly, and almost at the same time, Jiang Ye's "wrist" was grabbed.

The stranger had woken up and put a stop to Jiang Ye's poking around.

He slowly sat up, raised a hand to touch the silver-gray steel helmet, his voice muffled and weird-sounding from inside.

He said, "It'd scare you."

"You okay?" Jiang Ye asked. "Did a monster get you? You look pretty banged up."

There was no first-aid kit in the cabin, so they couldn't patch him up.

The stranger shook his head. "I'm fine, just a few scratches."

The stranger clearly wasn't much of a talker, unlike the friendly, welcoming folks of Sun Town. After a beat of silence, he went on, "Thanks for saving me. I'm Dorin."

Dorin lived near Sun Town, just a stone's throw from the temple.

"I got attacked when I passed through that grove." Dorin instinctively touched his helmet. Gotta say—even though you couldn't see his face, his build was perfect, his fingers long with sharp knuckles, enough to make any hand fetishist swoon.

Dorin said, "I don't even know what happened, and I ended up like this... My head... I don't want to scare people, so I wear the helmet."

Jiang Ye immediately thought of the "horror story" that "You Got Nothing Better to Do?" had shared in the social chat. Could Dorin have run into that arrogant, stubborn, prank-loving deity?

"Here, this is for you." Dorin extended his hand.

"Blue Gem x1"

In Dorin's palm lay a blue gem, about thumbnail-sized, with a pure, deep color, bathed in the soft glow of the glowing ring, giving off a melancholic, mysterious beauty.

Jiang Ye stared, eyes wide. He'd never seen such a gorgeous sapphire.

It had to be worth a fortune!

"Friendly Reminder: Gems must be taken to the town's Gem Appraiser to be appraised before they can be sold."

In other words, the gem's value right now was a big question mark.

But man, it was gorgeous!

The mycelium twitched eagerly, but Jiang Ye shook his head. "No, no, I can't take this. It's too valuable."

"It's a thank-you gift. You saved me." Dorin set the sapphire on the wooden bed.

This time, the mycelium moved with lightning speed, snatching the gem in a flash and stuffing it straight into the item slot.

Jiang Ye gave an awkward, polite smile. "Then I'll take it. Thanks. Oh, right—you hungry? I got bread and apples. Want some?"

There was no first-aid kit in the cabin, but at least there was food. Eating something should help him recover a bit.

Jiang Ye was incredibly generous—having just received a sapphire, he was uncharacteristically lavish.

In his item slot were the lye buns he'd bought at the town bakery and a green apple he'd picked up on the road. Jiang Ye handed Dorin a bun and an apple.

Dorin didn't refuse and reached out to take them.

Now Jiang Ye was a bit curious—how exactly was Dorin supposed to eat while wearing that helmet?

Dorin took the food, held it in his hands, and studied it for a few minutes before eating.

"I don't go to town often. It's been a long time since I've had a lye pretzel," Dorin said.

Jiang Ye thought that sounded kind of sad.

Dorin turned his back to Jiang Ye. He raised a hand, pushed up his helmet's visor, and started eating the bread.

Jiang Ye held back his curiosity and didn't peek, digging into his own dinner.

Dorin ate slowly and politely.

Jiang Ye wolfed down his dinner in a few bites, glanced at the rain outside, and said generously, "The rain is heavy. Why don't you crash here tonight and head out once the rain stops tomorrow?"

A blue gem was more than enough to cover dinner and a night's lodging.

Dorin paused mid-bite, then nodded. "Thanks."

Luckily, the cabin had two beds—Dorin got the wooden one, and Jiang Ye had his cat bed.

"1:50"

Jiang Ye checked the time after dinner and was surprised it was already so late.

Every night at 2:00 AM, all players were forced to sleep.

Jiang Ye crawled into his tent cat bed and said, "It's late. Let's get some sleep. Goodnight."

The silver-gray helmet nodded.

"2:00"

Just as Jiang Ye lay down, an overwhelming drowsiness hit him, and he was out.

And then...

Morning came.

"Spring, Day 5, Wednesday"

"6:00"

Jiang Ye woke up on his own, opened his eyes—exactly 6:00, right on the dot.

He hadn't had a single dream.

The mushroom rubbed its cap, stretched, and sat up to crawl out of the tent cat bed.

"Open grandpa's cookie tin?"

A system prompt popped up in front of him, interrupting his movements.

Jiang Ye thought, still groggy—almost forgot about the cookie tin!

"Yes."

"Congratulations! You obtained Antique TV x1"

In the blink of an eye, a boxy antique TV materialized out of thin air in front of him. Luckily, it wasn't too big, or it might've burst the tent cat bed.

"Oh my god." Jiang Ye was stunned—he pulled a TV out of the cookie tin?

Grandpa's cookie tin was seriously magical; it could hold anything...

The mushroom squeezed out of the tent cat bed, lugging the antique TV that was bigger than him.

Thud! He plopped the TV down next to the wooden bed.

"Huh? Where'd he go?"

The mushroom swiveled its cap, looking left and right. The cabin was small—you could see everything at a glance.

Apart from Jiang Ye, there was no one else in the room. Dorin, who'd slept on the wooden bed last night, was gone.

The rain outside had stopped long ago, and the sun was shining bright. The mushroom scratched its cap. Jiang Ye figured he'd probably already left.

He showed up out of nowhere and left just as fast—just like an NPC, for real.

The mushroom turned its focus back to the antique TV.

The TV had no remote. On the front were a black square power button and three small round buttons.

The mushroom pressed the power button. The TV didn't need to be plugged in—it just started flickering with static and crackling.

The mushroom pressed the first round button.

"Weather Forecast"

"Today: sunny and mild, 0% chance of rain."

Then the second round button.

"TV Shopping"

"Today's recommendation—Fertilizer Booster!

Tired of waiting forever for your crops to grow? You need Fertilizer Booster! It promotes plant growth and speeds things up by 10%!

Limited-time offer: Buy 10, get 1 free, only at 'Sun Town's Biggest General Store'!"

"TV shopping, huh..." Jiang Ye blinked, suddenly noticing a weird 'detail.' So the general store he'd stopped by yesterday was literally called 'Sun Town's Biggest General Store'!"

The mushroom pressed the final round button.

"Tea Leaf Divination"

"You glance down at the tea leaves at the bottom of your cup...

The shape is... a wine glass... isn't it...

What could it mean?

Also: The Chief Deity is feeling good today."

Whoa! Even more surprising than TV shopping was the tea leaf divination segment.

Jiang Ye knew nothing about the deep, abstract art of tea leaf divination, and he was totally lost. But... the real takeaway was probably the last part—today would be a lucky day.

Jiang Ye was full of energy, having already planned out the day's work.

First, he would plant the peach tree in the spot in front of the wooden house, right by the window. That way, once the peach tree matured and bore fruit, he could see it at a glance from inside the house.

Thinking of the plump, juicy peaches, Jiang Ye felt like his mouth was watering.

Next, he would water the Windproof Seeds.

Then, using the newly purchased copper hoe, he would plant strawberries, potatoes, lettuce, and tomatoes all at once. Finally, he would water them again.

"I don't know if I can get all this done."

Jiang Ye pushed open the wooden door and stepped out: "I'll go water first—wait, I forgot the watering can."

He was about to head back inside to grab the watering can from the crate when he suddenly froze and rubbed his eyes.

There was a shadow moving in the farmyard...

Was the scarecrow alive again?

Or maybe a crow?

Jiang Ye took a closer look—obviously, it was neither. It was a human figure.

That person seemed to have heard the sound and walked toward Jiang Ye. He was holding a plain, beat-up watering can.

"Dorin?" Jiang Ye jumped in surprise, saying, "I thought you were already gone."

It was Dorin. He hadn't left after all.

The brilliant sunlight shone on Dorin's helmet, its golden patterns and sapphires gleaming so bright they almost blinded Jiang Ye.

Dorin said, "I saw the Windproof Grass planted by the door and went ahead and watered it."