Spring 22nd of the first year

Stardew Valley farmers are enjoying another bumper harvest.

Cauliflower acquired, large egg acquired, and with some gems obtained from yesterday's mining, I can transport them to the community center to advance the sacrifice progress bar.

Next, go to the clinic to buy energy tonic water, which costs 1,000 gold per bottle and can restore 200 health points. In terms of health alone, it is more cost-effective than drinking garlic oil like crazy—although you don't need to consider this since you have unlimited gold coins now.

Since you're already here, I'll offer you Dr. Dog Roll coffee.

As you walk towards the blacksmith's shop, you run over to give gifts to every villager you see. Upon entering the blacksmith's shop, you reflexively run over to give gifts again, which triggers the HDB tanning quiz option—

Without those preceding questions, he would directly ask you, "What was your great-grandfather's profession before?"

The standard answer is blacksmith, because the Clint family has been blacksmiths for generations, but you know that this option doesn't increase favorability the most, so you choose "a foolish clown" based on the answer you remember.

As expected, the HDB flat owner also liked the answer. The bald man grinned and said, "Haha, you guessed right."

You: "...Brother, please don't laugh so cheerfully about something like this, it'll scare the audience."

No.

Ah yes, yes, yes, it's us who are afraid.

[Hold on, don't forget we still need to get him to open the box.]

Next comes the time to smash the crystal balls. You've collected 20+ crystal balls, which makes it relatively easy to unlock new collectibles in the early stages. When you donate them, you can fill a table in the museum in no time.

Moth looked at you with satisfaction, and when giving you a reward, he reminded you to take care of your health and not to overwork yourself.

Although it does consume a lot of life force in a certain sense, it's not that hard. I feel a little embarrassed to be cared for so much by Teacher Moth.

Next, deliver the cauliflower to Jody. She's been waiting for this cauliflower for several days. I don't know if she still wants to cook it, but compared to those Jodys in the second, third, or even fourth year when they only remembered to do this task, she should still be interested, right?

Jody accepted the cauliflower you gave her and revealed the answer—she was going to use it to make yellow curry.

“Yes, ma’am,” you say politely, “could you please send a copy of the recipe to my email address when you’re done, ma’am?”

Jody's joyful expression instantly turned into helplessness, and she murmured, "Maintaining a family is not easy, but someone has to do it."

You chimed in, “Indeed, your two sons don’t seem like the type to do housework.”

How did they end up chatting like this?

[You can even accept this?]

[Leaving aside DK Satoru, Yuuta should be a good boy who helps his mother with chores, right?]

[It's clear that the person spreading these rumors is malicious and deserves condemnation!]

[Exiled to Jiang Island, you may not return to the valley until you find 100 golden walnuts!]

[Players searching for golden walnuts on Jiang Island have been offended.]

[Jiang Island, no mate, no pets, no Robin to build a house, not even Zhu Nimo goes there! What is this if not exile?]

[Seaside resort]

While everyone else is on vacation, only the player is struggling to break through the defenses of a dragon's tooth that fell into lava due to insufficient inventory space.

[Please delete; the corpse is disturbing]

You ignored the discussion about Jiangdao's role in the live stream, since that was something that happened after the sacrifice. On the bright side, maybe by then you would have successfully left the game, and naturally wouldn't need to worry about those golden walnuts and dragon teeth anymore.

Next, we'll go to the ranch to trigger the 4-heart event for the Seven Seas Builder.

You don't know if these plots are continuous, but you don't really want to see Nanami Kento, the guy you drank with, again. After all, if possible, you'd rather leave a reliable and good impression than be a nonsensical ghost who barges into the morgue to deliver beer.

Your landing point in the world of sorcery this time is an open-plan office full of the atmosphere of a corporate slave. The lights are off, and the only light in the darkness is on the computer screen in front of Nanami Kento, which displays a jumble of content that would make you dizzy just by looking at it.

So that was the time when Nanami left the world of sorcery to work at the company.

"It's you again." Nanami Kento turned his head and saw you, his expression a numb calm, and he clearly remembered what you said last time you appeared: "Liar."

With a nervous feeling, like a physical education teacher mistaking a mental health education class for a physical education one, you cautiously ask, "Nanami, how's work going lately?"

“That kind of thing doesn’t matter.” Nanami Kento loosened his tie, leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh. He said slowly, “As long as we can make money, the process doesn’t matter.”

"What are you here for this time? If you want to drink, you'll have to wait until after you finish working overtime." Nanami Kento is a mature corporate slave now, and he won't act as casually as he did when he was young.

You hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Nanami, if you had enough money right now, would you quit your job and live a leisurely life in a place with lower prices?"

After a long silence, Nanami replied, "That is indeed my plan, maybe. There's nothing about this job that I'd miss."

You rummaged through your backpack and found a piece of jade bigger than your face. You handed it to him and said, "This is for you. I don't know how much this kind of jade is worth. I'll bring you diamonds next time. I wish you a speedy retirement."

Don't get involved in the Shibuya Incident and lose your life.

...

You left in a hurry again, standing at the entrance of the ranch, feeling somewhat melancholy.

If Nanami Kento had actually realized his plans for the future and hadn't returned to the world of sorcery... some people are destined to be unable to escape their inner sense of responsibility, and Nanami Kento was one of them.

But sometimes I hope that those who sacrifice their lives to save others and stay true to themselves can spend the rest of their lives on a real beach; that seems like a good ending.

You open the live stream and look at the audience's feedback on the Seven Seas Builders 4 Hearts storyline in the game.

[Nana looks so dejected and frustrated. Joja supermarket doesn't even let its employees work overtime, is it because the wages are too low?]

[Extremely insensitive at the front]

Cutting ties with curses isn't something you can achieve by simply leaving the world of sorcery; you still have to think about the innocent people harmed by curses.

[Yes, and I don't think Nanami would really abandon her companions who are still fighting the curse... although it seems they've moved here now, haha.]

[I'm giving up, I'm quitting, I'm handing over all the commissions to Rotten Orange!]

[Caiyun Zhuzhu: I'm fighting a real person? Really?]

We will win.

[The bag was turned into a shrew's doing.]

Following the audience's words, you imagined a world with only supporting characters and some villains. The sorcerer's combat power was worrying, and the special curse that only knew how to kill was also a problem. It felt like it would be difficult for either side to win, but the ordinary people living there must have been extremely unlucky.

After completing the storyline, you return to Pelican Town, give out several more gifts, and then head into the mountains to continue mining.

As you approach the mine, you suddenly remember that you had a quest notification that you had completed. So you open the quest log and find that it is the Adventurers' Guild initiation quest, which requires you to kill 10 slimes.

Yesterday's monster level let you kill a lot of green slimes in one go, and now it just so happens to be the opening time for that guild, so it won't hurt to walk a few more steps and go check it out.

Kamo Kenki had been waiting for you at the Adventurers' Guild for a long time, and when you suddenly pushed the door open, he almost opened his eyes wide.

"Are you here to buy magical artifacts?" Kamo Noriyuki smiled and said, "When I checked the elevator, I found that it had already reached the 70th floor. That's impressive. But I didn't expect to find the Galaxy Sword so early. Would you like to try the Galaxy Hammer?"

You said, "No need, the Galaxy Sword is fine... We don't need the coffee and stuff we lost before. If we find it, we can keep it for ourselves."

"Is this alright? After all, it's a considerable amount." Kamo Noriyuki looked down to check the list of lost items and said regretfully, "Actually, the Machine Maru has already found them all and put them in the warehouse. If you want them, they can be sent to you first thing tomorrow morning."

You are adamant: "Really, I don't want it. I don't need it anymore, and I probably won't be able to find lost items again, unless they are the kind that are very difficult to retrieve."

After explaining all that, you planned to continue your battle on the 120th floor of the mine. Before leaving, your gaze swept over Yukichi, who was lying in a rocking chair by the fireplace. Since you were already there, you took the initiative to go over and talk to him.

Kokichi didn't comment on your reluctance to accept the lost item he had retrieved; he simply calmly reminded you to look at the monster-killing quest sheet by the fireplace.

The boy was cured by the real person, but several rings magnified several times over handcuffed him to the rocking chair, making it impossible for him to even raise his hand, let alone get out of bed and move around.

It's hard to imagine the kind of perseverance it takes for someone to endure the torment of pain and loneliness every day since they can remember, yet still create a masterpiece like the Machine Maru.

After being taken to Stardew Valley, he still did not gain his freedom, but he no longer needed treatment.

You are the only one who can save him, but Kokichi didn't plead with her, as if he had lost interest in everything outside.

You stood in front of the quest sheet, pondering how many monsters you would need to kill to remove all the rings from Yukichi's body, and then fell silent.

It's not that you don't want to help, it's just that this is not a goal that can be achieved in the short term. For example, this Slime Ring requires killing 1000 slimes. When you were farming for it, you almost lived in the desert mines and killed giant purple slimes. Or take the [unclear] Ring, you would rather buy bombs and blow yourself up than kill 250 flying snakes to get it.

And don't be fooled by how you can roam freely in this mountain mine with the Galaxy Sword. Once you switch to the desert mine map, you'll inevitably end up being killed and sent back to the Pelican Town clinic.

While you were blasting the ore, you were thinking about whether you should practice with the Dust Sprite in the iron ore layer before going into the desert mine. Getting bitten by a flying snake is something that you can feel the pain even through the screen!

Finally, the energy-boosting water was indeed much easier to drink than the garlic oil. It tasted somewhat like zinc gluconate oral solution, and the effects were remarkable. My back and legs didn't ache, and I easily made it down to the 95th floor.