Chapter 23: Favorability (4th Update)

"Unbelievable..."

Jiang Ye rubbed his eyes. It wasn't a hallucination—the crow had actually come back to the cage, calmly spreading its wings to greet him.

Earlier that day, the mushroom had been griping to Dorin about how his pet crow flew off and how he was thinking about getting a kitten as a new pet. But who'd have guessed that once night fell, the crow would fly back?

The mushroom walked up to the crow and looked up at the enormous cage.

This birdcage was large and beautiful, but...

He remembered that story about pixies dying of depression and wondered if the crow might get depressed from being locked up too.

Mycelium extended out, gently touching the cage. The door swung right open, smooth as silk.

The mushroom said, "Don't be depressed."

The cage door swung open, but the blue-eyed crow didn't bolt out frantically. It still looked very calm, not scared of people at all... not scared of mushrooms either.

The crow spread its wings slightly and hopped out of the cage, landing right in front of the little mushroom.

Compared to the crow, the mushroom looked incredibly tiny. Jiang Ye suddenly got a chill—it's not gonna open its beak and eat me, is it?

The crow tilted its head, its sapphire-like eyes impossibly deep. Its right wing gave a gentle pat, then stretched out in front of the mushroom.

Jiang Ye was totally baffled. What's it trying to do?

How's a mushroom supposed to talk to a crow? They don't speak the same language.

The crow was super patient, just holding its wing out, totally still.

Jiang Ye thought about it, then cautiously reached out with his mycelium, giving that pitch-black wing a real light, careful touch.

"Oh my god," the mushroom marveled, "it feels amazing to the touch."

The black feathers were smooth, shimmering with a weird glow in the moonlight, like a sheet of ice—but giving off serious heat.

"Congratulations on unlocking the Favorability feature!"

A line of big text suddenly popped up in front of Jiang Ye, and the system control panel automatically popped out.

Right next to the personal info button, there was a new "Favorability" option.

The mycelium gave it a light tap, and the Favorability feature opened up.

"Favorability"

"Crow: 20

???: 0

Mina: 5

???: 0

???: 0

Dorin: 20

???: -1

Feng Jiawen: -20

...

Chief Deity: 20"

A huge wall of info and numbers spread out in front of Jiang Ye, making his head spin. At first glance, it was mostly question marks and zeros.

Jiang Ye had been to Sun Town a few times and said hi to some of the villagers. Folks he'd talked to showed up by name on the favorability panel, but the ones he hadn't spoken to were just question marks.

"Mina is..." The mycelium scratched the mushroom's head. "Oh, right—the bakery owner." Real friendly girl.

"So... who's Feng Jiawen?" Jiang Ye was stunned. Someone had negative favorability toward him. How was that even possible?

After thinking it over, the mushroom suddenly had a lightbulb moment: "Oh, it's that art shop guy. Yeah, that checks out."

There were no notes by the names. Jiang Ye skimmed the whole list, but couldn't put most of them to faces.

"That's weird," Jiang Ye said while scrolling. "There are people I've never even talked to, and their favorability is already in the negatives."

He didn't even know who they were, but he'd already made a bad impression through word of mouth.

The highest favorability scores were the crow, Dorin, and the Chief Deity—all at 20.

Jiang Ye's eyes went wide. I score this high with the Chief Deity? The mushroom started feeling all smug. Am I, like, the legendary chosen one or something? My luck's insane!

"Crow," the mycelium got bold and patted the crow's head. Jiang Ye said, "I didn't expect you to like me this much. I figured you were always messing with me 'cause you hated me."

The crow didn't caw, just rolled its blue eyes.

"Then we should be good buddies from now on." The mycelium grabbed the tip of the crow's wing and gave it a shake like a handshake.

"Wow." This time the crow actually responded, though nobody had a clue what it meant.

Jiang Ye was in a great mood. He pushed open the cabin door and said, "It's so dark out, and I'm starving. Crow, you hungry too? Come on in—wanna check out my place? Got some tasty stuff to try."

The mycelium made a polite gesture, inviting the crow to go in first.

The crow seemed to get it. It nodded and actually walked into the cabin.

"Wow, so smart!" Jiang Ye marveled. "And so cute too!"

Jiang Ye had been hungry for a while—more importantly, he'd been dying to taste his own cooking. He'd whipped up so many tasty dishes but hadn't gotten a chance to try them yet. Now that he was inside, he couldn't wait to spread out the strawberry milkshake, tomato meat sauce noodles, lettuce potato salad, and tomato scrambled eggs.

The mushroom thought it over: "I can't eat it all—I gotta save some for the mines later. So I'll just try the tomato meat sauce noodles!"

With that, Jiang Ye turned to his special guest: "Crow, what do you wanna eat? My treat—your pick."

Jiang Ye was feeling mighty generous.

The crow didn't caw. Instead, it raised its right wing to cover its face and fanned itself a couple times.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The mushroom was confused. "This guest looks totally disgusted."

Jiang Ye asked, "You don't like the tomato meat sauce noodles?"

The crow nodded its head.

Jiang Ye asked again: "Don't you like tomato scrambled eggs?"

The crow shook its head.

Jiang Ye asked once more: "What about the lettuce and potato salad?"

The crow shook its head again.

Jiang Ye's head throbbed: "Just like Prince Snail, so picky. Don't tell me you're Prince Crow?"

The crow tilted its head.

Jiang Ye pointed at the strawberry milkshake, having shared one with Dorin earlier, leaving only the last cup, which he himself had never tasted.

"Then do you want the strawberry milkshake?"

The crow shook its head.

Jiang Ye teased: "You're even pickier than Dorin. You must be His Majesty the Crow King."

Jiang Ye rummaged through the item slot and pulled out a few grilled prawns, asking: "Grilled prawns, want some? These are great too."

This time, the crow grudgingly nodded.

Jiang Ye had plenty of grilled prawns, so he grabbed two and gave them to the crow.

The crow really seemed quite clever. It pecked at the grilled prawns with its hard beak, easily peeled off the shells, tossed aside the heads and tails, and dug in.

"So you like meat," Jiang Ye said with a smile. "I like meat too."

Jiang Ye also grabbed a grilled prawn and ate it along with the spaghetti with tomato meat sauce.

"Mmm! Mmm! So good... mmm!" It was so delicious he couldn't even speak!

In the cozy little cabin, bathed in warm light, with a "little bird" keeping him company and delicious food to enjoy, Jiang Ye felt like life in Sun Town might be exactly what he'd always been looking for.

"This is the life..."

Jiang Ye sighed, opened the social channel, and scrolled through his phone while eating.

"Social"

"The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King": Have you all unlocked the affinity system? What does it do?

"Mushroom Soup": You got it too?

"The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King": Yeah, I was wandering around town all day, and it just unlocked out of nowhere.

"You've Got Nothing to Do": I've got it too. It unlocks after talking to 80 town residents.

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": ??? 80!

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": Might as well kill all the introverts...

Jiang Ye took a look—80? He probably hadn't talked to that many.

Jiang Ye hadn't spoken to that many residents, yet his affinity system had unlocked anyway. He figured it might have something to do with the crow.

Maybe making friends with an animal counts too.

"Sleep at Two": I'll teach you a trick—just pat everyone on the shoulder when you see them. No need to say anything.

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": ??? Does that even count?

"Sleep at Two": It definitely counts as saying hi.

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": I'll give it a try tomorrow.

"Wednesday No-Go": I wouldn't do that if I were you.

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": ??? Why?

"Wednesday No-Go": I also patted everyone on the shoulder, and now those residents see me from a distance and wave me off, avoiding me.

"Mushroom Soup": (confused)

"You've Got Nothing to Do": Haha, did they think you were a salesman?

"Wednesday No-Go": They thought I was a bum!

Jiang Ye couldn't help but laugh, nearly getting tomato meat sauce on his clothes. The crow next to him shot him a disdainful look.

"You've Got Nothing to Do": Just asking—are you dressed that badly that everyone thinks you're a bum?

"Wednesday No-Go": ...

Everyone's struggling just to eat these days, with no money for clothes, so being mistaken for a bum isn't that far-fetched.

The social channel started another round of griping.

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": Isn't the clothing store way too expensive? Everything's five thousand, eight thousand, and there's even a ten-thousand outfit!

"The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King": I think my clothes are fine. This game's really considerate—wearing one outfit for 10 days without it stinking or going bad.

"Lu Ban the Five-Footer": I can smell the stench through the screen from here... bleh...

"Mushroom Soup": Is there just the one clothing store in town?

Jiang Ye had visited that clothing store before and had gotten a pair of gloves as a gift from the owner. They had all kinds of styles, really nice and fancy—except... no purple briefs.

"You've Got Nothing to Do": As far as I know, yeah.

"The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King": I saw a store getting renovated, opening next month. Looks like a new clothing store.

"A new clothing store?" Jiang Ye zeroed in on that and muttered to himself: "I hope the new store sells purple briefs."

The crow, with a grilled prawn in its beak, tilted its head at him.

Jiang Ye was stumped and kept muttering: "Where the heck did Dorin get his purple briefs? Were they a gift from someone too?"

Plop!

The grilled prawn fell from the crow's beak, its blue eyes going wide with shock.

"What's the matter, Your Majesty?" Jiang Ye looked at the crow that had dropped its prawn and said: "You full already? Can't eat anymore?"

The crow didn't answer, its gaze unreadable.

After enjoying a delicious dinner and chatting with other players for a while, Jiang Ye pulled a small twig from his storage, wanting to play fetch with His Majesty the Crow.

But, it failed.

The mushroom tossed the small branch, saying, "Here, boy, go fetch, fetch it back, here, boy."

The crow: "..."

"Your Majesty, go fetch it, Your Majesty."

The crow remained silent.

After half an hour of calling, with Jiang Ye's cheeks aching from all the puckerin', the crow still didn't react. The mushroom had no choice but to hop-hop-hop over and pick up the branch itself.

Just as the mushroom was about to pick up the branch, the crow spread its powerful black wings, kicking up a gust of wind that knocked the branch flying, smacking into the opposite wall.

The mushroom didn't get it, so it bounced over again and reached out its tendrils once more...

Whoosh!

Just then, the crow flapped its wings again, pulling the same trick and sending the branch flying.

Jiang Ye: "..."

That's not how you play fetch. Why's the crow throwing the branch and I'm the one fetching it?

The mushroom planted its hands on its hips and whirled around to glare at the crow.

The crow averted its gaze, refusing to meet his eyes, its blue eyes fixed calmly on the window.

"Oh no, dang it!"

"01:55"

Before he knew it, time was closing in on 2 a.m. Jiang Ye, not bothering with the branch on the ground, dashed back into his tent-cat-nest—he absolutely had to sleep now!

"02:00"

The mushroom was fast asleep...

At 2 a.m., everything plunged into utter silence. The crow silently beat its wings, hopped over, picked up the branch from the corner, and dropped it back into the storage box.

Then...

Morning came.

"Spring, Day 8, Saturday"

"6:00"

Slept like a baby, no dreams.

Jiang Ye slowly blinked his eyes open. Since entering this game, he'd never had a sleepless night, and he got up early every day, living a life of ridiculous regularity.

The mushroom sat up.

"Open Grandpa's cookie box?"

Yep.

"Congrats! You got a Honey Jar x1"

"Mmm, that smells amazing..."

As the system notification popped up, a huge honey jar materialized in front of the mushroom, way bigger than the mushroom.

The jar had its lid on, but that special scent had already filled the whole cabin, even seeping out through the windows and door cracks, drifting farther and farther away.

"One whole jar of honey"

"A thick, amber liquid, sweet and rich. People love it, and so do animals."

Honey can't be eaten straight, but it could be used for cooking and making desserts, or mixed with water to make honey water.

The mushroom patted the honey jar contentedly and said, "Way more useful than yesterday's main god treasure."

Jiang Ye put the honey in the storage box. Today he had to go to the mine, and a lot of stuff wasn't easy to carry around, so he needed to clear out item bar slots to haul back ores.

After stashing the honey jar, the mushroom turned on the TV.

Watching TV was part of his morning routine.

"Weather report"

"Windy today, zero chance of rain."

"Home shopping"

"Now seeking advertisers: Call XXXXXXXX."

"Tea leaf reading"

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

The shape is... a spider web... maybe?

What's it mean?

—Something unexpected will happen.

Also: The main god's in a good mood today."

He turned off the TV and pushed open the wooden door: "Where'd Crow Majesty go?"

No sign of the crow inside the cabin, and none outside, either. The golden birdcage had nothing in it, and the crow had vanished.

Jiang Ye was about to look elsewhere, but when he turned around...

"Harvestable crops: 20"

"Harvestable flowers: 30"

The mushroom's eyes went wide!

Ripe again! They're actually ripe again!

Same as yesterday, the strawberries, lettuce, potatoes, and tomatoes in the field had all ripened overnight. Not only that, the 30 tulips he'd just planted had all bloomed too.

"So pretty..."

The farm was bursting with life, and the morning was full of happiness.

Mushroom dashed over, mycelium quickly sprouting as he picked strawberries and dug up potatoes. Jiang Ye couldn't help but remark, "Having more 'hands' is so convenient."

In the blink of an eye, all the vegetables were harvested, making a big bundle. Jiang Ye also picked the tulips—flowers couldn't keep maturing and were one-time use.

Today, Jiang Ye planned to head to the mine to see what was going on. These vegetables and fruits couldn't take with him, so he stored them all in the wooden cabin's storage box.

He only brought the "weapon" branch, two pickaxes, and some food supplies.

Jiang Ye carefully counted his inventory slots, made sure the fields were watered, and then left the farm, heading toward the mine.

"Chat"

"Le Yi Li": There are so many little monsters in the mine today.

"You Got Nothing Better to Do": I came to the mine too, first time here, this is so annoying.

Walking along the road, Jiang Ye checked the chat—it seemed he wasn't the only one planning to mine today.

"Le Yi Li": Can't you find the entrance to the next level? I thought the Lord God was supposed to be in a good mood today, but my luck is terrible too.

"You Got Nothing Better to Do": No, I found the entrance to the next level, but...

"You Got Nothing Better to Do": But there are little monsters spitting at me! I'm so mad I could cry!

Jiang Ye was speechless.

"Mushroom Soup": These little monsters have no manners...

"Cat Don't Block the Door": How do you find the way to the next level? I can't find it.

"Cat Don't Block the Door": @Le Yi Li, pro, please help!

"Cat Don't Block the Door": Pro QAQ, answer me...

"Man Who Wants to Be the Smoked Fish King": Le Yi Li, did you get killed by the mobs?

"Mushroom Soup": (shocked face)

Walking toward the mine, Jiang Ye got a hundred scares—was it really that terrifying?

Two minutes later, Le Yi Li reappeared in the chat.

"Le Yi Li": I was busy and didn't see it.

"Le Yi Li": I'm fine, I didn't die, but there really are a lot of little monsters today!

"Le Yi Li": They even ripped out my guts.

Jiang Ye: "..." Is he really okay?

Jiang Ye felt his mushroom stem go weak and bend, slowing his pace. Just going down into a mine, and it sounded scarier and scarier. He was already hesitating whether to take a detour to Sun Town and hire a mercenary from the bar or the Adventurer's Guild to go mining together.

"But that's way too expensive..."

The mine was right ahead. Mushroom stopped, his tangled mycelium curling up like instant noodles.

"Maybe I'll get lucky—I'm the chosen one blessed by the Lord God," Jiang Ye encouraged himself, continuing forward, saying, "Since I'm already here, I can't go back empty-handed. Wait! What's that up ahead?"

There was a dark figure ahead, half-hidden by a big tree, barely visible.

His mycelium instantly pulled out his weapon branch, waving it nervously. Jiang Ye thought, we haven't even entered the mine yet, why are little monsters already here? Please don't rip out my guts...

"Derin?!"

The shadow stepped out from behind the tree and stood in front of Jiang Ye.

Mushroom was shocked, his voice sounding like he'd won the lottery, saying, "It's you!"

"Are you here to mine too?" Derin asked him.

Jiang Ye then noticed that Derin was holding a pickaxe, made of some unknown material—like his clothes, it was pitch black head to toe.

Mushroom nodded, saying, "Yeah, yeah, what a coincidence! You're here to mine too?"

Jiang Ye eagerly said, "Let's go mining together!"