Chapter 25: Upgrading the Cabin

There was a strong wind today, and it grew stronger as the night went on.

The wind howled into the cabin, blowing the tent-style cat bed all over the place.

A little mushroom hid inside the tent cat bed, heaving a deep sigh.

"Social"

"Mushroom Soup": I'm so cursed!

Two brown bears stole the honey jar from Jiang Ye's storage box, then got into a brawl over it, and in the process, smashed the cabin door to pieces.

Now the cabin door couldn't close, the wind was howling, the dust was blowing, and the mushroom shivered in the cat bed, couldn't help but vent on the social channel.

"The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King": Damn, mushroom, you've got it even worse than me.

"Don't You Have Work to Do?": Does this count as part of that 1% natural disaster?

During the newbie period, you could dodge 99% of the game's natural disasters, but as for the remaining 1%...

"Mushroom Soup": (sighing emoji)

"The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King": Mushroom, so what are you going to do tonight?

Jiang Ye glanced at the wide-open door, resigned to toughing it out one night in the howling wind.

"Mushroom Soup": It's too dark outside. I'm planning to wait until dawn to head into town and find someone to fix the door. I'll just rough it tonight.

"The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King": Makes sense. Going out at night is way too risky—you might even black out at 2 AM.

"Le Yi Li": Didn't you dig up a diamond? You can go straight to the carpenter and upgrade the cabin, which'll fix the door as part of the deal.

Jiang Ye's eyes lit up. Upgrade the cabin?

"Le Yi Li": I left the mine today and already hit up the gem appraiser. I sold my diamond for a cool 60,000 rupees.

"The Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": (surprised emoji)

"Don't You Have Work to Do?": (surprised emoji)

"Sleep at Two": Rich guy!

S-six... sixty grand! The mushroom suddenly got hyped, completely forgetting the cold. Diamonds really were worth a small fortune.

"Le Yi Li": I asked the carpenter. Upgrading the cabin costs 30,000 rupees. After the upgrade, you get a kitchen, so you can cook at home, and the cabin will be sturdier—warm in winter, cool in summer—and the door gets swapped for a metal one. Selling the diamond is more than enough to cover the upgrade.

After the one-month newbie period, all those protections would expire, and players' cabins wouldn't just be at the mercy of natural disasters, but also from other players wrecking and looting them. To make the cabin safer, upgrading was essential.

Jiang Ye poked his head out of the tent cat bed, looking around his cramped cabin. He did the math in his head: the diamond could sell for 60,000, and splitting it fifty-fifty with Dorin left exactly 30,000 rupees to renovate the cabin.

The mushroom gave a solemn nod. Alright, tomorrow it is—time to upgrade the cabin!

"Social"

"Le Yi Li": There's just one catch.

"Mushroom Soup": What's wrong?

"Le Yi Li": The carpenter said the upgrade takes a week. During that construction period, players can't live in their own cabin.

"Mushroom Soup": (surprised emoji) Then where are we supposed to stay?

"Le Yi Li": You can crash at the inn in Sun Town.

Jiang Ye suddenly got it. So that's how it worked.

There was a small inn in town, bustling with adventurers and merchants coming and going, and the occasional bard, too.

Once a player paid for a room, they could sleep in the inn's bed at 2 AM without triggering the blackout state.

"Mushroom Soup": How much is the lodging fee?

"Le Yi Li": The cheapest is 1,000 rupees a night. They've also got deluxe rooms, executive suites, presidential suites—the works. The priciest is 10,000 rupees a night.

Jiang Ye mulled it over. 1,000 rupees a night for 7 nights—that's 7,000 rupees total. That's way too pricey!

"Don't You Have Work to Do?": That pricey?

"The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King": Who'd pay for an inn? I'd rather just black out every day—probably won't lose close to 10,000 rupees anyway.

"Mushroom Soup": Honestly, you've got a point...

Jiang Ye planned to hit up the carpenter's shop in town tomorrow to ask about upgrading the cabin. As for tonight...

The tent cat bed wobbled, leaning to one side as the wind shoved it.

Outside, there was a whooshing sound—branches and leaves whipping around—then a rustling noise that sounded kinda weird.

The mushroom jolted, its mycelium standing on end. What the heck was that? It couldn't be that scarecrow coming to life again, could it?

Jiang Ye hesitated, wondering whether to peek out, thinking: I've had one lucky break and one bad break today—please don't let anything else go wrong!

Whoosh—

The mushroom gritted his teeth, threw open the tent flap, and looked up.

A dark figure appeared at the cabin door, staggering in with a weird gait.

"Whoa!!!"

The mushroom gasped sharply.

The shadow moved fast—before the mushroom could grab his Bobble Stick, it was already inside.

Jiang Ye's eyes widened, and he said in surprise: "Your Majesty? It's you! You scared me to death!"

It was the crow!

The crow stood in front of the tent cat bed, turning its blue eyes to gaze at the gaping doorway.

The mushroom complained to it: "Your Majesty, look, my door's broken—all because of two brown bears!"

Jiang Ye didn't care if the crow could understand him; he vented for a solid half hour until his mouth was dry.

The crow seemed very patient, nodding along every couple of sentences.

As he talked, the mushroom gradually realized—had the night wind died down? It wasn't blowing as hard as before, and it wasn't as cold either.

Jiang Ye poked his head outside. The branches were thrashing wildly, and the row of maple trees in the distance looked like countless giants waving hello.

The night wind showed no signs of letting up. As the gale blew into the wooden cabin, the raven's outstretched wings blocked most of it. The raven was enormous, its wings fully spread, and the tent cat bed returned to its usual calm beneath the raven's shelter.

Jiang Ye blinked in surprise. So that's why the raven had been standing there with its wings spread in that weird pose ever since it came in—it was blocking the wind for him.

The mushroom smiled and reached out a strand of hyphae to touch the tip of the raven's black wing, saying, "His Majesty's quite the gentleman."

"01:50"

Much warmer.

The mushroom settled into the tent cat bed and said, "Good night, Your Majesty."

He closed his eyes, ready to sleep, making a mental plan to head to town tomorrow to upgrade the cabin, then hit the mine the day after to dig up copper and iron ore, hoping to get a bicycle crafted ASAP.

"02:00"

The mushroom dozed off.

While sleeping, the mushroom rolled over, its stipe curling into an S.

"So cold..."

The wind suddenly picked up. Did His Majesty the raven leave?

Jiang Ye opened his eyes. The room was completely dark. To his surprise, the tent cat bed was gone, he was lying on the wooden bed, and His Majesty the raven was gone.

The only thing that hadn't changed was the doorframe, still empty.

Jiang Ye sat up and looked at his hands. Yep, definitely human hands.

"Guess I'm dreaming," Jiang Ye said knowingly.

This must be another creation dream. Wonder what inspiration it'll bring this time.

Jiang Ye paced the room a couple of times, rubbing his arms, and complained, "Why's it so cold even in a dream? Ugh... still no inspiration. I'm freezing my ass off."

The night wind howled. Then, out of the gale, came that strange sound again.

Jiang Ye said excitedly, "It's gotta be His Majesty the raven."

The sound got closer, and a shadow loomed in the doorway—massive beyond belief. Jiang Ye stared, shocked. How was it taller than the door?

Is that really His Majesty the raven?

"Hah!!!"

Jiang Ye stumbled back two steps, terrified. What was at the door wasn't a raven at all—it was a brown bear!

No, two brown bears!

"Bears!"

Jiang Ye's eyes went wide in shock. The brown bears were at least nine feet tall, built like mountains, radiating pure intimidation.

"Wake up, wake up. It's a dream. Just a dream."

Jiang Ye pinched his own arm, wincing. Why the hell won't he wake up?

"I... I don't have any honey!" Jiang Ye immediately waved his hands at the two brown bears.

The nine-foot bears had to squeeze in sideways, and the cabin nearly burst at the seams once they were inside.

The two brown bears pressed together, standing before Jiang Ye all cautious and awkward, hunched over, paws clasped in a bow.

Jiang Ye was dumbfounded. What the heck is going on?

The two brown bears, like guilty puppies, actually spoke in human words after bowing.

"We're sorry, farmer! We're really, truly sorry."

"We shouldn't have swiped your honey."

"Yeah, yeah, we messed up."

"We shouldn't have brawled in your house."

"Yeah, yeah, we busted your wooden door. We're real sorry."

"We didn't mean it, we swear..."

"Wuwu, please forgive us, please?"

The two brown bears kept bowing, sniffling and blubbering, "The Lord Chief Deity is super mad. We won't get honey for 20 years. Wuwu, that's way too scary."

"We came to say sorry and brought gifts to make it up to you!"

The brown bears pointed outside the door.

It was too dark outside for Jiang Ye to see clearly, but... he caught a faint fishy smell.

Jiang Ye almost covered his nose.

There was a small mound piled up at the doorstep.

The brown bears said, "We brought berries, nuts, and salmon—a whole bunch of stuff."

"We'll also help you fix the door. We'll do it right now!"

The two brown bears got right to work, dragging a big tree in from outside. They raised their paws and slammed down—bang!—flattening the tree...

Jiang Ye watched, jaw nearly on the floor, screaming inside, wait, the floor...

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Several large trees were flattened. The brown bears tried to piece the flattened wood together to form a door panel.

The brown bears turned to Jiang Ye and asked, "Hey neighbor, do you have any nails? This is our first time making a wooden door."

Jiang Ye: "..." No. Not at all.

The nine-foot brown bears banged and clattered away. The door didn't get fixed, but the roof nearly got poked through by the trees.

Jiang Ye's head throbbed. He rubbed his temples. This dream was way too weird. Why won't he wake up?

Just then, with a crackle, it started raining.

Great. Now the door wasn't fixed, and it wasn't just wind blowing in—rain too. Rainwater splashed in torrents, and Jiang Ye's clothes were soaked in no time.

"Ah-ha!"

Jiang Ye let out an involuntary yelp.

It's here, it's finally here—the inspiration.

He grabbed some paper and a pen and started scribbling.

"Nice! You got the Raincoat Blueprint!"

"Blueprint: Raincoat"

"Materials needed: Mycelium (1), Slime Gel (2)"

And then... morning came.

"Spring, Day 9, Sunday"

"6:00"

The mushroom opened his eyes, sighed in relief, then slowly sat up and let out a big yawn.

"I've never been this exhausted after sleeping..." Jiang Ye thought. You don't know how good you have it until you compare—so crows are definitely smart, way smarter than brown bears!

"So tired..."

"Open Grandpa's cookie tin?"

It was time for the daily mystery box.

The mushroom nodded, still yawning.

"Nice! You got a Honey Jar x1"

Jiang Ye: "!!!"

All the mycelium on the mushroom puffed out, making him look like a round little hedgehog. What the heck? Did I reload my save? Why is it a honey jar again?!

Clutching the honey jar, he crawled out of the tent-cat-bed and the first thing he saw was the broken door.

So no reload...

Then the mushroom caught a weird smell.

Kind of sour, kind of sweet, and kind of fishy. The smell was strong and layered, almost drowning out the fresh scent of honey.

Curious, the mushroom walked over to the door.

Outside, in the farm's empty yard, a little dirt mound had appeared out of nowhere!

It was a mountain of berries, nuts, and salmon!

Exactly like the apology gifts the brown bears brought in his dream.

The mushroom's mind went blank, and he muttered to himself, "Am I still dreaming or what..."

Ugh... the fishy smell is really strong.

The mycelium covered the mushroom's non-existent nose. The fruits and salmon were all mixed together, and their flavors were completely muddled. The only saving grace was that nothing in Sun Town ever rotted, or this pile would already be stinking!

"Caw!"

It was the crow cawing.

"Your Majesty, you're still around." Jiang Ye turned around in surprise, and the crow flew over from the fields in the distance.

The mushroom said, "Your Majesty, didn't you go out to play? Did you have breakfast? Want a salmon?"

Jiang Ye generously pointed at the pile.

The crow's sapphire-like eyes were full of disdain, and it even raised a wing to cover its beak.

"Caw!"

The crow suddenly took off and flew back to the fields.

It moved fast, dove down, and snatched something up with its claws, super agile.

Jiang Ye followed curiously and said, "A rabbit? Your Majesty, don't hurt it."

The crow caught a little rabbit in the field—fluffy white, tiny, and absolutely adorable.

The cute little rabbit clearly wasn't just passing by; it had come to sneak a bite of the fruits and veggies.

"Harvestable crops x20"

Only then did Jiang Ye notice that the crops in the field were ripe yet again!

Whether they took six days or ten to mature, everything on his farm ripened once every single day—a total miracle.

The mushroom was stunned, eyes wide.

The crow tossed the thieving rabbit aside, and once let go, it darted off alertly.

When the mushroom snapped back to reality, he said regretfully, "The little rabbit was so cute; why did it run off? I wanted to raise it as a pet."

"Caw!"

The crow cawed beside him, sounding a bit annoyed, then spread its wings and flew off.

"Huh?" The mushroom looked up. Your Majesty sure left in a hurry.

A great day starts with picking strawberries!

The mycelium got busy picking strawberries, then tomatoes, and digging up potatoes and lettuce.

Fresh fruits and veggies filled another big bag, and Jiang Ye thought contentedly, I can't eat it all, no way.

He carefully watered the crops, and the mycelium clapped its hands: "Hope you ripen again tomorrow. I need to hurry to Sun Town now."

Today, Jiang Ye was heading to the carpenter's shop to upgrade his cabin. Of course, before that, he had to stop by the Gem Appraiser's to sell the diamond and get enough money for the upgrade.

The mushroom left the farm and headed toward town. Before leaving, he made sure to put that honey jar in his item slot and carry it with him!

Just in case any greedy bears came barging in to cause trouble again.

Jiang Ye ran all the way to Sun Town without stopping. The road was long, but he'd been on it many times, so he knew it well.

Upon entering the town, Mushroom unfolded the map, located the jewelry store, and followed the route over.

The jewelry store wasn't far from the art shop, looking wealthy and luxurious.

Junsī touched his umbrella cap, and Mushroom (Jiang Ye) straightened his clothes before walking over solemnly. The price this diamond would fetch all came down to this moment!

Mushroom pushed the door.

It wouldn't budge.

"Locked."

A system notification popped up in front of him.

Jiang Ye checked the time: 8 a.m.

"Guess it's too early—the jewelry store's not open yet. I'll have to wait."

Mushroom had sprinted all the way here, breaking a light sweat, his cap turning pink. He looked around, then just plopped down on the steps outside the jewelry store to rest.

"08:30"

"Locked."

"09:00"

"Locked."

Mushroom sighed, and Junsī rested his chin on his hand. Why isn't it open yet? Maybe it doesn't open till ten? He'd have to wait a while longer.

"Mushroom!"

While waiting, someone ran up to Jiang Ye excitedly.

Mushroom looked up—it was the Angler, aka The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King. Jiang Ye was no stranger to him.

The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King said cheerfully, "Ran into you again! We're totally fated to meet."

Jiang Ye gave him a wave.

Little Yellow Hair had someone else with him, dressed in total contrast—a pristine white suit. Next to him, Little Yellow Hair looked... so sloppy you couldn't even look at him.

The Man Who Would Be Smoked Fish King said, "Oh yeah, Mushroom, let me introduce you. This is a friend I just made today! I ran into him while fishing on the road, and he gave me a ton of fishing tips! He's a total pro!"

Little Yellow Hair gazed at him with admiration and said, "He's a total Big Shot, an absolute legend. Mushroom, if you ever can't catch anything, you should ask him for tips too."

Mushroom smiled, thinking, I've got so many fish I don't know what to do with them! Tons of salmon—my storage box can't even hold them all, so they're just stacked up on the farm.

Mushroom nodded politely and said, "Hey, hey. I'm Mushroom Soup."

After all that introducing, Little Yellow Hair still hadn't said the guy's name.

The man in the white suit gave a graceful smile and said, "Hello, I'm Smoked Fish King."

"What?!"

Someone yelled, loud enough to shake the sky.

The shouter definitely wasn't Jiang Ye—he just stood there, jaw dropped, staring at Smoked Fish King in disbelief.

Little Yellow Hair's jaw nearly hit the floor. He pointed at the guy and said, "What did you say your name was?! You're Smoked Fish King? You're THE Smoked Fish King?!"

So Little Yellow Hair hadn't even known the guy's ID, and now he looked like he'd been hit by lightning.

Smoked Fish King kept smiling and said, "I've got somewhere else to be. I'll take off now. See ya."

Junsī slowly waved a hand, but Little Yellow Hair was still frozen in shock.

Five minutes after Smoked Fish King left, Mushroom sat back down on the steps. Little Yellow Hair plopped down next to him, head hanging, totally deflated.

"What are you guys up to?"

Another person walked past the shop and gave them a curious look.

It was a stranger—based on the outfit, definitely not an NPC, probably a player.

He was decked out in full knight's armor, a hero's sword in his right hand and a sun shield in his left—looked totally badass.

Little Yellow Hair's eyes went wide. "Whoa, that's so cool."

Mushroom said hesitantly, "Are you Le Yi Li?"

The other nodded.

Out of all their players, Le Yi Li was the one obsessed with monster hunting and had zero interest in farming. Only he would drop serious cash on gear this good.

Mushroom said, "I'm waiting for the jewelry store to open up."

Le Yi Li said, "Don't bother. None of the shops in town are opening today."

"What?" Jiang Ye and Little Yellow Hair said at the same time.

Le Yi Li pointed and said, "There's a notice at the town entrance. The town's having a celebration today. Everyone's at the square for the festivities, and all the shops are closed for the day."

Mushroom was stunned. That meant no jewelry store, no carpenter's shop, and no upgrading the wooden house.

Little Yellow Hair tried to console him. "Just come back tomorrow. It's not like this game ever runs out of tomorrows."

"Good point." Mushroom nodded. There'd always be a tomorrow here, so no need to stress.

Jiang Ye stood up, looked toward the square, and said, "Then let's go check out the celebration and join the fun!"

"Yeah!" Little Yellow Hair was the first to respond. "Lao Li, you coming?"

"I'll tag along." Le Yi Li nodded.

The three of them headed to the square. They were a little late—the celebration had already started.

In the middle of the square was a raised platform covered in a red carpet, looking pretty grand. A mayor who looked just like Santa Claus was giving a speech up on the stage.

Mushroom asked, curious. "What's the celebration for?"

Little Yellow Hair shook his head.

Le Yi Li said, "The notice said it's a cooking contest."

Spring 9th was the day of Sun Town's annual cooking competition.

The mayor said from the stage, "Everyone surely remembers that Summer 2nd is Lord Chief Deity's birthday. We need to start getting ready for Lord Chief Deity's birthday feast now!"

Today's cooking competition is a rehearsal for the Chief Deity's birthday celebration.

The whole town showed up to take part. Each person makes one dish, and then everyone votes to pick the top few most delicious ones. That way, when the Lord Chief Deity's birthday arrives, these residents will be qualified to present their delicacies to the deity.

The residents clap enthusiastically, buzzing with excitement.

Mr. Mayor continues, "The theme of this year's cooking competition is..."

The mayor draws out his words, milking the suspense, then booms out the announcement.

"It's tomato!"

Jiang Ye thinks, "So it's tomatoes, huh?"

Every resident has to cook with tomatoes.

Little Yellow Hair smacks his lips, looking bored, and says, "Tomatoes? I don't like tomatoes. I don't like 'em."

Mushroom's a bit surprised and says, "You don't like tomatoes either?" Dorin doesn't like them either.

Jiang Ye's surprised to find a bunch of people around him don't like tomatoes. Oh, and the crow doesn't like them either.

Little Yellow Hair says, "They're too sour. I can't do sour. And I hate all veggies and fruit—I'm all about meat."

Little Yellow Hair cups his hands around his mouth and gripes in a low voice, "Didn't they chop off the Chief Deity's head? How's he gonna eat tomatoes now?"

Mushroom just goes silent.

Mr. Mayor waves from the stage, and a few people haul up something draped in red cloth. Nobody knows what it is.

"Check it out, everyone! These are the prizes you've all been waiting for!"

Turns out these are the prizes for the cooking competition.

Jiang Ye cranes his neck to see: "What's the good stuff?"

Players can also participate in the cooking competition and have a chance to win prizes. Mushroom, going by the "might as well grab it for free" rule, is pretty interested in the prizes.

The mayor walks up to the largest red cloth and says, "Let's check out the first-place prize for this cooking competition. It's an oil painting portrait, sponsored by Mr. Feng Jiawen, who runs Sun Town's only art shop!"

With a swish, the mayor yanks down the red cloth.

The oil painting is revealed to the crowd.

"Whoa! That's a good-looking guy. Who is that?" Little Yellow Hair exclaims.

Jiang Ye lets out a little sigh too—damn, that's handsome.

The painting's huge and super well done. It shows a prince-like guy with blue eyes, night-black hair, and a pitch-black formal suit. He's holding a sword, and the whole thing's shaped like a rose.

Le Yi Li pipes up, "That's the Chief Deity."

Little Yellow Hair's stunned. Jiang Ye glances at Le Yi Li.

Le Yi Li says, "I saw this portrait in some beat-up book a monster dropped. This is the Chief Deity."

Little Yellow Hair suddenly gets it and adds, all serious, "The Chief Deity—with a head."

Mushroom shakes his head, all regretful: "Such a handsome head... what a waste."

Mr. Mayor starts announcing the second-place prize: "It's a full kitchen utensil set, sponsored by Boss Bi, who owns Sun Town's biggest general store!"

"Next up is third place! Also from Boss Bi, it's a 36-slot mega backpack!"

On top of the top three prizes, there are also 10 consolation prizes.

Mr. Mayor yanks off the last red cloth, revealing a big box on the ground.

When everyone sees what's in the box, they clap their hands over their mouths and crack up.

Mr. Mayor clears his throat and says, "Alright, don't laugh. You've all heard that next month Sun Town's getting a new clothing store, all about loungewear and underwear. These are ten sets of underwear, courtesy of the new store's owner!"

"What the hell," Little Yellow Hair gripes. "Who'd want that junk? Doesn't even look worth anything. I think the 36-slot backpack is nice. The kitchen utensils are useless to me, and that painting's just pretty with no real use. Don't you think so, Mushroom?"

He turns around and catches Jiang Ye's eyes gleaming.

Little Yellow Hair's a bit confused. If he's seeing right, Jiang Ye is staring intently at that box of underwear, his eyes filled with greed and longing.

Mushroom bounces excitedly on the spot, muttering to himself, "Purple! Purple!"

It's a big box of purple briefs!

Some are dark, some are light, each a different shade of purple, but they're all purple briefs!

"Reminder: Detected purple briefs X10"

The system message appears in large text before Mushroom.

Mycelium clenches his fist, Jiang Ye's face is full of determination, and he says loudly, "I want to participate in the cooking competition!"