Debuffed Farmer

Looks like EXP beans weren’t a great source of food. I mean, I’m sure they’ve got some protein in them, and I could physically eat them. I’m sure there are some broke teen boys on the bulk that would kill for some of this (hypothetical anecdote). But it seemed that Seria wasn’t having any of it.

“Rin! Can’t you plant anything else? Preferably something that’s edible?”

“I mean, I guess I’ll take a look.”

To be fair, there were a few other plants in my {Shop}, but they were a decent investment. I wasn’t exactly rolling in cash (fake currency called tokens).

~

[FARMERS SHOP] – PLANTS – BUY

– EXP Bean {Cost: 1}

– Juicy Berry Seed {Cost: 15}

– Wealthy Watermelon Seed {Cost: 20}

– Power Bean {Cost 50}

– Honey Ant Queen {Cost: 350}

~

It seemed there was even a new item—an ant, but sure. We love ourselves some insect honey, isn’t that right? I think I saw something about it on a television show—deadly 60? No that didn’t seem right. Hold on, I’ve got eidetic memory.

I shouldn’t be forgetting anything.

“I think I’ve just forgotten something about my childhood.”

“Isn’t that normal?”

Maybe for you.

…

Anyways.

My guess was that the Juicy Berries probably tasted better than these EXP Beans, but I wasn’t sure how long they’d take to grow. It’d be a bit of a gamble at the moment.

“Rin~ what else is there you can plant?”

“Some berries, I suppose.”

Her face lit up.

“Please get them!”

“We wouldn’t be able to eat them now even if I did. We might be better off if you just tried to sell the beans we’ve got.”

“No! I want the berries!”

Sigh.

After cooking and failing with 6 EXP Beans, I only had 33 left.

~

[FARMERS SHOP] – PLANTS – SELL

– EXP Bean {Sell: 0.4}

– Juicy Berry {Sell: 0.01}

– Wealthy Watermelon {Sell: 40}

– Power Bean {Sell: 35}

– Honey Ant {Sell: 0.5}

~

Selling all the rest, combined with my remaining two tokens from earlier would just be enough to buy one Juicy Berry seed. Was it really worth it?

I guess I might as well buy it just to see what it was.

I sold all of my EXP Beans and bought one {Juicy Berry Seed}.

It was small and fragile-looking.

[Growth Time: 7 days]

Well, this was not really a surprise.

“Hey Seria, the berries are going to take seven days to grow.”

“What?! That long?”

“What did you expect. Anyways, I’m going to go plant them in my oasis.”

“Your what?”

Ah, I couldn’t really be bothered to explain this all over again. As amazing as it was last time, I had probably had enough for one day. What’s the simplest way I can say this? It’s a different realm? A different dimension? Hm, I don’t think Seria would really understand it if I said that.

“It’s like when you buy a bag, look through it, and realise there was one more pocket than you were expecting.”

“What? What does that eve—”

Take me to the oasis, please.

[Travelling to OASIS…]

[Note: Plants grow faster here]

[…]

[…]

A new tip for me. Yay.

Anyway, I was back in the special little place. The temperature was just right. The brightness was just right. The amount of annoying-ass girls was just right (zero).

I don’t really know how much space this fruity berry needs to grow. I still have a little bit of space on the ground, I suppose I can just plop it here and hope for the best. It might be a little squished but oh well. I’ll deal with that issue when it arises.

My other plants seemed to be growing nicely—that was good.

Now take me back.

[Leaving OASIS…]

[…]

[…]

“Rin, what the hell did you just do?! How did you just disappear like that?”

“It’s my new ability. I thought I explained it pretty well before.”

“You didn’t explain it at all!”

Suddenly, Clara butted in.

“Forget about it, Seria. This idiot has no idea what it is either.”

Seria didn’t even realise that she hadn’t told her name to Clara yet. She was a bit of an airhead so I guess she didn’t find it suspicious. I mean, it doesn’t change much either way still. Also, from this angle—and with a bit of clarity in my mind—I’ve quite obtusely noticed that I’m hanging with two beauties (albeit with personality issues).

It was certainly something to think about.

Seria was grabbing at my sleeve.

“Rin. I’m hungry.”

“Can’t you just eat the beans we cooked? Just pinch your nose or something.”

“I don’t want to~. They taste really bad. Do we have any money left?”

“I’ve got 73 bronze coins. I’m not really sure what that can buy.”

I looked over at Clara.

She sighed.

“Ugh. I don’t really enjoy seeing the two of you mulling over food like this, especially Seria.”

Ouch.

She stood up and wiped some dirt off of her dress. It fluttered a little—swayed by the updraft from our diy fire.

That actually reminded me (well it didn’t really but I couldn’t think of a better transition), I really should do something to sort out this money situation. My system provides some random shit for the cost of tokens, but if I wanted to buy something actually useful (such as food), I’d definitely need some of this local currency.

I suppose I could try to find a job. But I really don’t know if I can be bothered to do that. It sounds like a lot of work. Maybe I could force Seria to find one.

“Seria, I’ll take you to the city again and get you something to eat.”

“Really?! You’re so kind, Clara~!”

I looked over.

“Wait, what about me.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be so lonely without you guys.”

“You want me to bring you back a pet dog? It’d give you a nice friend of the same species.”

“Hey, we’re friends aren’t we?”

Her face contorted.

Oh.