Chapter 17: Mystery Box

Chapter 17: The Blind Box

"I didn't sneak a bite..."

Jiang Ye blinked guiltily, his mycelium stiffer than the twig, explaining, "Just... tasting the flavor."

The flavor was amazing!

Delin wore his helmet, making it impossible to see any expression on his face. When they locked eyes, the only thing Jiang Ye could glimpse through the gaps in the silver-gray steel was a pair of blue eyes, like the world's finest sapphires.

Delin said, "Weeds are cleared. Anything else I can help with?"

"Nope, all good." The little mushroom swayed his big cap, warmly inviting, "The grilled shrimp are ready. Come sit and eat together."

As for where to sit...

The cabin's only chair had long been chopped into firewood, so there was nowhere to sit. Plus, the cabin was so small and cramped that it wasn't nearly as nice as sitting by the campfire near the pond on the farm.

Delin nodded and sat down, taking a grilled lemon salt-baked shrimp. He turned slightly away, lifted his mysterious helmet, and started savoring the treat.

Jiang Ye couldn't wait to dig into his second grilled shrimp, the heat making his mycelium curl as he fanned and blew on it.

Delin ate with the elegance of an old-school aristocrat, remarking, "Delicious."

The bamboo basket of shrimp Delin brought was packed—more than enough for both of them to eat till they were stuffed. Before long, Jiang Ye was so stuffed he couldn't move.

The mushroom glanced at the pond and noticed he seemed to have grown bigger.

"There's still plenty here." Jiang Ye pulled a fresh batch of grilled shrimp off the campfire, sprinkled on seasoning, squeezed lemon juice over them, and handed them to Delin.

Delin shook his head. "I'm full."

"There's still so much left." Jiang Ye counted carefully—15 lemon salt-baked shrimp remained.

Delin stood up, and the mushroom craned his neck to look up at him. From this angle, Delin's long legs really stood out. Jiang Ye was so envious it hurt, wondering when he'd ever get to be human again.

Delin said, "I should go."

The mushroom hopped up. "Leaving already? There are so many salt-baked shrimp—want to take some back?"

"Nah." Delin shook his head. "See ya."

With that, he strode off on those enviable long legs and quickly disappeared toward the farm gate.

"Man, he left fast," Jiang Ye sighed.

Delin was a weird one—mysterious and odd starting with that helmet of his. And he barely talked, like he didn't really know how to interact with people.

"But he's still a good guy." The mushroom nodded repeatedly. Delin was a solid NPC, bringing so many shrimp that the next few days' food was covered—no worrying about going hungry.

Food in the game never went bad, so even without a fridge, it was safe to eat.

Jiang Ye stuffed the 15 grilled shrimp into his item bar and was pleasantly surprised to find that cooked food could be stacked. Fifteen shrimp took up just one slot instead of fifteen—super easy to carry around.

"What a great day," Jiang Ye sighed.

Stuffed to the brim, the little mushroom planned to take a walk outside the farm that afternoon to digest.

At the crossroads, Jiang Ye turned right this time, heading toward the mine to check it out.

The weather was nice—no thunderstorms. He followed the path for a while until a giant black mountain loomed ahead like a titan. In the middle of the mountain was a cave entrance barely wide enough for one person—pitch-black inside and looking pretty deep.

The mushroom walked over and spotted a sign next to the cave entrance.

—Caution: mine danger!

The mushroom cautiously poked his head into the cave. Luckily, he had a glowing ring on him, or it would've been pitch black—couldn't even see his hand in front of his face.

"It's way too dark in here." Even with the glowing ring, he could barely see two steps ahead.

In an instant, Jiang Ye's mind conjured up a hundred horror and ghost stories.

The little mushroom shook his head and decided to come back another day to explore.

The afternoon wasn't exactly packed with time—Jiang Ye was just taking a quick lap, not actually going into the mine. He headed back to the farm the same way, picking up an apple along the way.

By the time he got back, the sky was starting to darken. The mushroom looked up at the setting sun. The road from the farm to the mine wasn't that far, but for a mushroom, it was no walk in the park.

After such a long walk, he was beat.

The mushroom went into the cabin, crawled into his tent-cat bed, and with a roll, flopped down all bouncy and Q-elastic. So comfy...

Jiang Ye lay on the comfy bed, casually scrolling through the social feed. Before long, his eyelids got heavy, and an unstoppable drowsiness washed over him.

"9:40 PM"

Sleeping this early? Isn't that too soon?

The drowsiness kept getting stronger, and finally, Jiang Ye stopped fighting it and drifted off into a dream.

He was dreaming...

In a blink, Jiang Ye found himself leaving the farm, the cabin, and the cat bed, walking along a country path.

"I'm dreaming again." Having been through this before, Jiang Ye wasn't surprised at all.

"What am I supposed to do?" The little mushroom hopped forward with a patter, and a thought popped into his head: "Right, I'm heading to town to buy more seeds."

The firewood had earned him over 2,000 coins—perfect for buying new seeds to plant.

Jiang Ye headed toward town, soon passing the familiar crossroads and continuing straight.

He kept walking. And walking. And walking...

Jiang Ye was panting, exhausted, feeling like his mushroom stalk had swollen from all the hopping—thick enough to be a whole size bigger.

The town still wasn't in sight. He had to keep going.

"Why is this road so long?" the little mushroom complained.

Just as the sun was about to set, Jiang Ye finally made it to Sun Town.

A new shop had opened in the town center—pretty big, with a crowd gathered around. Jiang Ye went over to check out the commotion.

It turned out to be a shop selling pony foals, leaving Mushroom dumbfounded.

The shopkeeper was holding forth at the entrance: "Ladies and gentlemen, please come and take a look! Our ponies are well-behaved and handy. For only 10,000 rupees, you can own your very own pony, your very own mode of transportation! From today on, no more long treks—your very own pony will take you anywhere!"

"Buy now, and we'll install a stable at your door for free!"

Little Mushroom squeezed through the crowd. So it was just a ride. If Jiang Ye had a pony, getting from the farm to town would be way easier, and reaching the mine would be faster too.

But 10,000 rupees was way out of his budget.

Besides, riding a horse didn't sound easy at all—Jiang Ye had never even been on one.

"Isn't there any other way to get around?" Jiang Ye wondered.

"Aha!"

A lightbulb went off!

Mushroom let out an excited yelp but couldn't help rolling his eyes. Couldn't getting blueprints be a little less... dramatic?

Jiang Ye whipped out some paper and a pen and started scribbling.

"Congratulations! You got the Bicycle Blueprint!"

"Blueprint: Bicycle"

"Materials needed: Iron (5), Mycelium (5), Slime Gel (10), Copper (5), Twigs (10), Pebbles (10)"

And then...

morning came.

"Spring, Day 6, Thursday"

"6:00"

Mushroom rolled over and sat up in his cat bed.

He instinctively opened his inventory and, sure enough, saw the new bicycle blueprint.

Jiang Ye was pumped: "A bike is way more convenient than a horse, but the recipe..."

It needed a bunch of materials, and he didn't have almost any of them.

Iron? Copper? Mycelium—he scratched his cap, figuring these were probably all stuff you could get from the mine.

"Open Grandpa's Cookie Tin?"

The system prompt appeared in front of Jiang Ye.

Grandpa's Cookie Tin could be opened once a day, like pulling a blind box. Jiang Ye thought it was pretty fun—wonder what he'd get today.

Mushroom nodded.

"Congratulations! You got Golden Birdcage x1"

Mushroom was confused. What the heck was this?

"Golden Birdcage"

"Foldable birdcage, extra roomy, no tail pinching!"

BANG! Right after the system prompt, a loud crash came from outside. Mushroom jumped, scrambled out of his cat bed, shoved open the wooden door, and peeked out.

The sound came from right there on the farm, just outside the cabin door. Out of nowhere, a giant birdcage crashed down from the sky.

The golden birdcage, like a tower trapping a fair princess, was ringed with bars like thorny roses, so shiny it could blind you in the sunlight. Mycelium shielded Mushroom's non-existent eyes—this was pure light pollution, a total flashbang.

The birdcage was seriously huge. Jiang Ye figured it could fit at least a hundred Mushrooms. Heck, maybe even three hundred could fit.

No wonder the golden birdcage hadn't spawned inside the cabin—Jiang Ye figured it couldn't even fit through the door. Way too big.

"How's this supposed to fold? It said foldable." Mushroom hopped over, and Mycelium poked at the cage a few times but couldn't figure it out.

Jiang Ye was confused: "What's this even for?"

The system gave no hints either. Maybe it was for the same thing as the cat bed?

No way it'd fit inside the cabin. Mushroom stretched out eighty strands of mycelium and, gritting his teeth, dragged the golden birdcage to the corner of the farm, right of the cabin. At least it wouldn't block the path.

Man, that was exhausting—that thing was heavy.

Mycelium clapped his hands: "Oh right, I haven't watched TV yet."

"Wait, my parsnips are ripe!" Jiang Ye's eyes went wide. Before he could even head back inside, he spotted the system prompt in the lush green field.

"Ready to harvest: Parsnip x15"