Chapter 20:

Happiness (1st update)

Jiang Ye left the blacksmith's shop and checked the remaining rupees in his backpack. He probably had enough left to buy more seeds to plant, but choosing what to buy needed some thought.

The mushroom planned to hit up the old lady's seed shop, but on the way, he passed a tiny flower shop.

A brand-new poster was plastered on the flower shop's door—tulip seeds on sale, 15 rupees each!

Jiang Ye had grown vegetables and trees, but never flowers, and he felt curious and eager to try it out.

The flower shop owner greeted him warmly and gave him a detailed rundown of the tulip seeds in the store.

Growing flowers was the same as growing trees—no stamina needed, just pop them in the dirt, though they still needed daily watering afterward. Once they matured, you could move them into pots to display, sell them directly to the flower shop, give them as gifts, or even brew wine with them.

Jiang Ye had no idea you could brew wine in this game, so he went all in and bought 20 tulip seeds for 300 rupees.

The flower shop owner was just as generous and easygoing, and as a welcome gift, he gave Jiang Ye another 10 tulip seeds.

The mushroom headed home, pickaxe in hand and a little pouch of flower seeds in tow, feeling pretty pleased with himself.

The only snag was the purple briefs—not a single shop in town sold them!

"Oh, right."

Just as he left town, his mycelium wiggled with excitement, and Jiang Ye muttered to himself, "Le Yi Li said cutting grass drops money!"

It was still early, so even if he mowed grass the whole way back, he'd have plenty of time.

"First, I need a weapon... oh, there it is!"

The mushroom swiveled his umbrella cap, scanned the area, then hopped over with a thump-thump-thump and grabbed a branch by the road that was a bit longer than a twig.

His mycelium gripped the branch and gave it a few quick swings—whoosh, whoosh. Felt pretty good.

"But it doesn't look very sturdy," Jiang Ye thought. "Can this actually work as a weapon?"

Weeds lined both sides of the road from town to the farm, growing wild and taller than the mushroom.

Swish, swish—

The mycelium swung the branch, tentatively starting to cut the grass.

The branch knocked the weeds sideways, but when Jiang Ye looked, they weren't cut.

Swish, swish—

He swung again—three more hits—and the weeds in front let out a soft "puff" and vanished like a video skipping frames.

"Did that... cut it?" The mushroom was totally confused.

A patch of weeds had gone bare, but no rupees dropped. Nothing at all.

Jiang Ye didn't get discouraged and kept cutting as he walked.

It took five swings to clear a patch of weeds, but the branch was light, so it wasn't much effort.

"I wonder what the drop rate for rupees is."

Just as he was thinking, the weeds vanished and something dropped from them with a crisp, gem-like clink.

It was a little grass-green diamond-shaped gem.

"Whoa, it actually dropped!" Jiang Ye's eyes went wide.

His mycelium snatched up the little green gem, and the second it was picked up, it vanished in his hand.

"+1 rupee"

In the game, rupees were these little diamond-shaped gems—tiny and pretty. Green was 1 rupee, blue was 5, and there were also red, purple, gold, and other colors.

It was only one rupee, but it was enough to get the mushroom hyped. Cutting grass drops money—this was basically free cash falling from the sky.

A lightbulb went off in Jiang Ye's head, and he bent down to scrounge up five more branches by the road. Then the little round mushroom sprouted five more mycelia at once, each one grabbing a branch.

"I'm a genius," Jiang Ye thought. Now he had six weapons and could cut grass all at once—way more efficient.

Swish, swish, swish—swish, swish, swish—swish, swish, swish...

The mushroom spun forward, six mycelia swinging branches like crazy, looking like a bamboo dragonfly about to lift off.

"+1 rupee"

"+1 rupee"

"+5 rupees"

"+1 rupee"

"+5 rupees"

He spun and cut the whole way, even stretching out two more mycelia to scoop up the rupees. Eight hands working together—what a sight.

"Ugh—my arms are getting sore."

After swinging branches the whole way, he finally spotted the farm gate. It hit Jiang Ye then—today had been one heck of a workout.

He stood at the farm gate and opened his item slot to check—1,511 rupees total. He'd made 45 rupees just from cutting grass!

"Not too shabby."

The mushroom nodded, satisfied, closed the item slot, and stepped into the farm. And then...

Jiang Ye froze on the spot!

Right there in the dirt at the farm gate, a sturdy pickaxe was stuck upright. He hadn't noticed it earlier and had almost run straight into it.

"What the heck is going on?"

Jiang Ye's brain was spinning. Had his place been ransacked? But the system said there was a beginner protection window.

"Caw! Caw! Caw!"

While he was still stunned, Jiang Ye heard a crow caw—loud and weirdly furious.

The mushroom instantly tilted his umbrella cap up at the sky—the crow was back! That stupid bird!

But the sky was empty. Clear and cloudless—no sign of the crow, dark as a storm cloud, anywhere.

"Caw! Caw!"

The raspy cries grew even angrier.

Jiang Ye looked around in confusion, stepping around the pickaxe stuck in the ground, and headed toward his little wooden cabin. Finally, in the corner beside the cabin, he found the Bad Bird's whereabouts.

"Ah..." This was—

The Little Mushroom stood there dumbfounded.

What the heck is going on?

The golden birdcage he'd pulled that morning sat beside the cabin, empty when he left. Now, when he got back, there was a crow inside.

He had no clue what happened, but one thing was certain: the crow was trapped in the cage, unable to escape, flapping its wings in fury and squawking at the top of its lungs.

The mushroom couldn't believe it. He hopped all the way around the cage: "How'd you get in there?"

"Caw! Caw!" the crow squawked.

The mushroom was shocked: "Did you crawl in by yourself?"

"Caw caw!" The crow squawked something unintelligible.

The mushroom shook his head: "You're so dumb!"

"Caw—" The crow flailed around inside the cage, pecking at the bars with its beak.

Actually, Jiang Ye thought, this crow probably wanted to peck him more than anything else.

The mushroom looked closely and found the golden birdcage to be exceptionally sturdy. And the crow, being pretty dumb, couldn't work the lock at all, unable to escape from within.

A few minutes later, Jiang Ye got bolder.

A mushroom, far smaller than the crow, puffed out its chest, stood tall and straight on its stem, tilted its oversized cap upward, put its hyphae on its hips, extended a third "hand" to point at the crow, and said with a grin: "Bad bird! Look who's laughing now!"

"Caw!"

The crow was furious, but it was no use.

Jiang Ye's eyes twinkled with mischief. His hyphae immediately grabbed the cage bars, all eight strands pulling hard, and shook it!

The mushroom mischievously rattled the cage, sending the crow stumbling around inside, hopping back and forth as it flapped its wings.

"Caw!"

The mushroom smirked and said: "Are you swearing at me? Swearing won't do you any good!"

"Caw!"

The mushroom threatened: "Keep cussing and I'll pluck you bald!"

"Caw!"

The mushroom pressed on: "You, yes you, bad bird—you dare steal my stuff again?"

"Caw!"

The mushroom continued: "Bad bird, say sorry! Say sorry now!"

"Caw!"

The mushroom sneered: "Heh, talking tough, huh? Tonight we're having honey-glazed chicken wings. Oh wait, no—grilled crow wings!"

"Caw caw caw!"

It was clear the crow was going crazy over a mushroom.

Before long, both the mushroom and the crow were exhausted—one worn out from shaking, the other from squawking.

The mushroom rubbed its sore hyphae, feeling this was even more tiring than mowing the lawn.

He looked up at the sky. The sun had long since set. There was no moonlight tonight, but the golden birdcage shone brightly, illuminating the entire farm.

"It's already this late?" Jiang Ye was surprised. He hadn't even eaten dinner yet, and it was already time for bed.

The mushroom clapped its little hands and said: "I'm heading inside to sleep. I'm really beat."

"Caw!" The crow hopped around frantically in the cage, like it didn't want him to leave. It even pointed at the cage door with its wing, motioning for him to open it.

The mushroom turned away, acting like he didn't see, and hopped straight into the cabin, slamming the door shut with a thud.

Through the door, Jiang Ye could still hear the frantic cawing outside. He didn't need to look to know the crow was already puffed up in anger.

"Just like a cat," Jiang Ye snickered to himself.

"Caw! Caw! Caw!"

The crow kept flapping and squawking, but the cabin remained quiet, as if its owner had already fallen asleep.

"1:40 a.m."

The cabin door suddenly creaked open just a crack, as if blown by the wind.

Through the gap, no one could be seen, but a thin white hypha extended outward.

The hypha was long, soft, and flexible, with something curled around its tip, which it tossed toward the golden birdcage. Then the hypha quickly retracted inside, and the door closed again.

Thump, thump, thump—

The object rolled into the golden birdcage.

A red apple.

One Jiang Ye had grabbed on his way back.

"2:00 a.m."

The mushroom lying in the tent cat bed turned over, completely falling asleep.

As Jiang Ye drifted off, it suddenly hit him: he'd been so busy teasing the crow that he'd forgotten to check on his strawberry potatoes. He wondered how they were coming along.

Thinking of that, Jiang Ye rubbed his eyes and sat up.

No daily reminder from the system appeared. Jiang Ye blinked, figuring this was still a dream—the Creation Dream had started. He wondered what inspiration today might bring.

He crawled out of the cat bed, pushed open the cabin door, and immediately saw a patch of tiny green sprouts in the crop field.

The crops looked healthy, they were just growing way too slowly.

Jiang Ye thought, "Should I go to the general store and buy some fertilizer?" But fertilizer is really expensive!

"Aha!"

A yelp escaped Jiang Ye's mouth before he could stop it.

Here it comes, here it comes—the inspiration's hitting.

Jiang Ye was starting to get used to these over-the-top moments. He calmly whipped out some paper and a pen and started scribbling.

"Congrats! You got the Natural Fertilizer Blueprint!"

"Blueprint: Natural Fertilizer"

"Materials Needed: Spores (1), Branch (1)"

"It's fertilizer!"

Jiang Ye stared at the blueprint, thrilled at first, then puzzled. He said, sounding unsure, "Spores?"

Mushroom spores?

Jiang Ye thought, I'm a little mushroom, but I don't think I've got spores.

"How do I get spores?" His mycelium curled up above his head, twisting into a row of question marks.

Jiang Ye looked back down at the blueprint and happened to catch his reflection in the pond. The Jiang Ye who'd just been human suddenly turned into a plump, soft little mushroom.

His mycelium stretched out, the tip curling into a tiny fist, then knocked twice on his big, squishy mushroom cap.

Bonk! Bonk!

"Ow." Jiang Ye suddenly bonked himself on the head, like he'd just been smacked twice by a cat. He couldn't help but grumble—yep, the mycelium was just like a cat's tail. It had a mind of its own and wasn't even part of his body!

Meanwhile, the knocking shook loose a shower of sparkling white powder from the mushroom cap.

"Spores x999"

A bottle of white powder popped up in his item bar—spores!

Jiang Ye pulled out the bottle, and it glittered in the dark, as pretty as a jar full of shining starlight.

"So these are spores?" Jiang Ye was still confused. Knocking on his mushroom head to get spores—that felt kinda weird...

"Craft Natural Fertilizer?"

"Natural Fertilizer crafted!"

Natural fertilizer only needed spores and a branch. Jiang Ye grabbed a random twig and combined it with the spores to make the fertilizer.

"Natural Fertilizer"

"A growth hormone made from pure natural stuff—eco-friendly, non-toxic, totally safe to use!

+15% growth speed"

This was even better than the fertilizer from the biggest general store in Sun Town, and it didn't cost a thing—he could make as much as he wanted.

Jiang Ye thought, I could make a bunch and sell it to other players—maybe rake in another nice profit.

He almost opened the social channel right then, but he muttered to himself, "Almost forgot—this is still a dream."

He put the fertilizer back in his item bar and looked around. Why wasn't the Dream of Creation over yet? Was he supposed to keep making other stuff?

The mushroom waited, unsure what to do, but nothing happened. The farm was dead quiet.

"What's going on?"

The mushroom hopped along with a little patter, starting to patrol the farm.

He hopped a full loop and looked at his little cabin from a distance, with the golden birdcage sitting in the corner.

The crow was lying in the cage, looking like it was asleep. When it wasn't cawing or pulling pranks, it was actually gorgeous—especially those shiny black feathers, which shimmered with rainbow colors in the light.

Jiang Ye thought, I'm the only one living on this farm. It'd be nice to keep a little bird as a pet.

Just as he was daydreaming, the sleeping crow suddenly stirred and opened its eyes.

In an instant, the mushroom locked eyes with the crow's sapphire-blue ones, but the crow acted like it didn't even see him, casually looking away.

The crow's sapphire eyes gleamed with sharp smarts—clearly a clever one.

It scanned the area warily, not a hint of sleepiness in its eyes—like it had just been pretending to sleep the whole time.

The crow didn't caw, not a single sound. It hopped to the cage door and started patiently working at it with its wings and beak, trying to open it.

But no luck.

The crow looked annoyed, shaking its head in frustration.

Just as the mushroom was feeling a little smug, something weird happened.

The crow got wrapped in a puff of black mist, like the thick black smoke that billowed up whenever Jiang Ye botched his cooking. As the smoke swirled, the crow turned into a man.

"Whoa!!!"

The mushroom let out a sharp gasp.

The crow had turned into a guy—and not just that, he was basically butt naked.

The mycelium rubbed the mushroom cap, and Jiang Ye rubbed his eyes. A crow not wearing clothes was totally normal, but a crow wearing nothing but purple underwear? That was seriously weird.

The guy in the cage was wearing purple underwear. Since he wasn't that close, Jiang Ye couldn't make out his face. Actually, Jiang Ye couldn't see his face at all—the guy was wearing a sealed helmet like a tin can, hiding everything. Nothing was visible.

Dorin?!

A ridiculous thought popped into Jiang Ye's head.

The crow-turned-guy tried again to open the cage door. But his hand seemed to hit some invisible barrier, still unable to reach outside.

No luck again.

The guy didn't give up. He waved toward the distance.

Jiang Ye almost thought he'd been spotted, but the guy wasn't waving his way—quite the opposite.

Tap, tap, tap...

Jiang Ye heard a faint, weird sound—like knuckles tapping on a wooden table, one tap at a time, slow but steady.

He broke out in goosebumps all over.

Then, out of the darkness, a figure came hopping slowly from the farm gate.

Jiang Ye's eyes went wide. A zombie? No way.

"Phew—" Once he got a clear look, Jiang Ye let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't a zombie, but a scarecrow.

The mycelium reached out, hugged the mushroom cap, and shook it vigorously. Wait, a scarecrow hopping toward him is still not right—this is terrifying too!

The scarecrow hopped over, summoned by the man trapped in the birdcage.

With its dry, scraggly hand, the scarecrow gave a flick, and the cage door swung open easily.

The man in the canned helmet bent down, stepped out of the cage, spread his arms, and the next second transformed into a giant crow, flying off...

And then...

morning came.

"Whoa!!!"

Jiang Ye gasped and opened his eyes. The dream was over.

Because he sat up too fast, the mushroom tumbled forward, rolling straight out of his tent-cat-bed and all the way to the TV before stopping.

Thankfully... thankfully it was just a dream, Jiang Ye thought.

"Spring, Day 7, Friday"

"6:00"

"Open Grandpa's cookie tin?"

"Congratulations! You obtained Treasure Map x1"

Jiang Ye was still lost in the terrifying dream, his heart pounding. He reached out and grabbed the new item pulled from the cookie tin.

"This game has treasure maps too?"

He said in surprise, "Is this place on the road to town?"

Seemed like it, but he wasn't sure.

Just as the mushroom was about to study it closely, the treasure map in his hand burst into flames with a whoosh, turning to ash in 0.1 seconds. The only good news was that the mycelium didn't get burned.

Jiang Ye was stunned. What the heck? Burn after reading?

No time to gripe—he immediately opened the system and pulled up the map. He quickly slapped an X on a small path with a marker.

"Phew..." Jiang Ye studied the red X. This should be the place, probably...

Closing the map, the mushroom switched on the TV.

"Weather Forecast"

"Today's weather: cloudy, with a 0% chance of rain."

"TV Shopping"

"Today's featured item: the Summoning Whistle!

Tired of hunting high and low for your pet cat or dog because your farm is too big and cluttered with furniture? What you need is the Summoning Whistle! Just blow it, and your adorable, loyal pet—no matter where they are—will come running to your side in no time!

The Summoning Whistle is now 10% off, on sale at Shasha's Curiosities Shop!"

Jiang Ye thought, first I'd need to have a pet. Jiang Ye preferred clingy, cute little cats—if only he could get one. But what showed up before a kitten was a haughty crow.

Would a whistle even work on a crow?

"Tea Leaf Divination"

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

The pattern is... the moon and branches... maybe...

What does it mean?

—You'll be very happy after marriage."

Once he got the "Tea Leaf Divination Guide," the TV's tea leaf divination segment would automatically give the answers—no need to flip through books. Pretty convenient.

But...

The mushroom was totally confused. Isn't this divination stuff a bit too far ahead?

"Tea Leaf Divination"

"Also: The Chief Deity is in a foul mood today. You might be in for some bad luck..."