Translator: Mii

Editor: sleepchaser

[Cooking Rank C: 40 * 1 = 40 PT per serving of juice]

If I could only get this many PT from an orange, it"d be more economical to make something that could last longer.

I immediately purchased a storage pitcher and tried to squeeze up to five servings of orange juice. Although I didn"t use a lot of tools, my energy decreased by one point at the fifth cup. It would be safe to say that cooking tasks that required more time or the use of fire would consume even more energy…

Let"s cook step-by-step.

What surprised me was finding chickens available in the same category as the eggs. Upon closer inspection, I found cows in the dairy product category as well.

How nice, livestock.

However, if I wanted to keep living creatures, I could not take care of them alone. Moreover, each type of livestock cost different amounts of PT. Currently, cows were too expensive for me.

It seemed for a while, I would need to depend on delivery for dairy products.

After my meal, I headed outside for a bit of rest. The weather was clear, the sun above neither too strong nor weak.

A few birds flew off from the tattered roof. I planned on repairing it today.

For now, let"s organize my morning schedule.

First, I needed to plant potatoes in the field. It should be fine if I plant them in the same place as the parsleys. After that, I needed to chop some wood and repair the house. All while watching the growth of the potatoes.

Orange juice had the same effect as miso soup, recovering a bit of energy after I drank some.

Opening the PT Exchange shop, I wasted no time in purchasing some potato seeds, choosing the Kita Akari variety. Yellow, soft and flaky, these potatoes would become mushy when cooked in stew. Still, I preferred them over Danshaku potatoes. Maybe tonight I would make some stew.

Within the delivery box sat potato seeds and a folded instruction manual. There were no more than a dozen, so I didn"t need to expand the field at this moment. Underneath the manual were various related accessories, such as a pair of gloves and a small shovel. I had ordered these items along with the seeds.

The problem was the speed of the seeds" growth. I wanted to avoid yesterday"s "notification h.e.l.l" scenario. In the manual, the phrase "same-day harvest" stuck out to me. As I thought…

If the time it took for the harvesting period to begin was too short, I would have issues with storage.

"With this many fields, there should at least be a warehouse somewhere."

"I"ll try to find it later," I said, muttering to myself as I worked the earth with a hoe. Oh right, I also purchased this hoe prior.

"Look at the miniature garden home screen. Since the environment level has risen, the warehouse should have been unlocked.”

G.o.d"s message came so suddenly that I jumped in surprise.

“G.o.d! More importantly, the care category is—”

“Sorry. I can"t say anything about that yet. I think you"ll need to avoid contact with him until the matter is clear. Of course, I won"t stop you from taking care of him out of the goodness of your heart.”

As soon as I read the message G.o.d had sent me, I was struck speechless. Of course, I didn"t just want to ask about why I was earning PT from touching him. But I would be lying to say I did not feel guilty using the PT gained from those instances.

Other than that, I didn"t particularly disapprove of receiving free PT. In the end, I decided to check on the hero.

***

As I chopped firewood and proceeded with the roof repairs, I checked on the potatoes. Of course, I wasn"t skilled with the axe, my hands growing numb with each swing.

Just as I had expected, the potatoes matured quickly. Still, their growth was considered cute compared to that of yesterday"s h.e.l.l-raising parsley.

“Hm? Is it this time already?”

I realized I didn"t eat anything since breakfast. Then again, I didn"t have much of an appet.i.te.

Well, I did have some water with me, and I had enough physical strength still. According to the manual, it would soon be time to cover the sprouts halfway with soil, so let"s do my best for a bit longer.

But in the end, I didn"t get to harvest the potatoes.

Once small flower buds had started to sprout from the potato plants, I threw up right outside the field. It shouldn"t have been the orange juice though. It hadn"t seemed spoiled when I drank it. I had been enduring a light headache for quite some time when nausea struck. Before I had known it, the situation became like this.

I grimaced as the sound of notifications rang with no end.

Even though I had expended so much effort in planting them, now I couldn"t take care of these potato plants. If I failed to respond to the notifications, it would surely affect the harvest. At worst, it might even ruin all of the seedlings…

From then on, everything happened in a blur. I remembered washing my face with the tap outside.

I felt the urge to lie down, too sick to do anything. Maybe I was just hopeless. In the next moment, I was curled up in bed, with no recollection of how I got there.

Glancing to my right brought the hero"s profile into view. And then, that was it. That was all I remembered before I fell asleep.

But as I slept, my thoughts did not leave my dreams alone.

Was there medicine available in the PT Exchange shop?

I wanted to do something to alleviate this pain.

It"s hot. So uncomfortable. I wanted a pillow made of ice―

Once I opened my eyes, I found that I was still laying in bed. The sun had already set, the room pitch-black.

Ah, my ch.o.r.es were all unfinished.

Blowing out my nose, I felt something slip off my forehead.

A wet towel. It wasn"t cold anymore, though. I didn"t remember placing it there either…

Huh? What was this? My eyes seemed to be playing tricks on me.

As I looked to my side, the young man that should have been lying next to me was nowhere in sight. That"s not to say there weren"t traces of his existence. For example, when I reach out to touch the place he should have been, it"s still a bit warm. Which meant, he should have been there until a little while ago.

Or, could this all have been a dream?

My eyes felt heavy as lead. I couldn"t keep them open anymore. As I sank into a deep slumber once more, I saw a glimmer of light beyond my eyelids.