Chapter 1: A farmer’s life 1

Royal Road a place where people come to live the life they couldn’t in reality. Being the number 1 VR game in the world, its popularity is UN-matched.

Royal Road has been ruling the gaming world for over 20 years now with approximately 3.1Billion players all over the world! These mysterious world have seen a great number of “HEROES” that have risen and fallen through the years…Now with 4 massive continents of which other than VERSAILLES have never been fully explored, players both old and new ones will definitely find an adventure *unique* for themselves!!!

This, in fact is nothing but a bunch of crap with not a single grain of truth in it!

~SOMEWHERE IN THE "VERMILLION" CONTINENT~

“Hiyaaaaaahhhhhh…………..”

Legends are born from great adventures…These adventures are filled with great danger and even greater people who overcomes them.

“Haaaaaaa……”

After triumphing against all odds, they return with incredible treasures that are unique and priceless….

“Doryaaaaaahhhhhh…….

Above all they return with fascinating stories that will ignite the passion of other adventurers and bards everywhere will create fabulous songs about this “Heroes” that will travel with the wind to every corner of the world…

“Haaaa…Haaaaa…Huuuuuu”

But that has nothing to do with a farmer like me…Sure those stories and songs will give hope to many but to people like me who are already near the bottom of despair…they won’t help solve my problems at all…..

“ Whew….” Taking a short break from 5 hours of non-stop work, I take a good look at my surroundings and I feel even greater despair than I did 5 hours ago…

“Five hours of working this barren land…..and I only get a good 8 feet of where I can hope to even plant anything??...Damn it allllllllllll!!!! THOSE FU**** SCAMMERS CAN ALL GO TO HELLLLLL!!!!!”

“Hufff…..hufff…..huffff…..hufffff…..woooooooo” after shouting out to the world and letting some of my anger loose I somehow manage to calm down a little….

Thinking back most of this is really my fault even though I don’t want to admit it…..If I did a bit more research before making any big decisions I might not be in such a mess…If only I didn’t meet those people, no, if only I didn’t look like such an easy mark…*sigh*…I still remember it clearly, my foolishness and rash actions a month ago now in RL and about 4 months here in R.R..If only…

~1 MONTH EARLIER~

“Woooooowwwwww!!!!” Seeing this city for the first time, I was left speechless!

“This place is even more incredible than what was written on tens of thousands of blogs from other people!” Truly the capital of Arpen Kingdom and the place where new players are recommended to start!

The great city of Morata!!

“I have to stay inside this place for four weeks? Ahahah then I definitely won’t be bored here with all these attractions! I have a lot of gold as well since I bought a quite a bit with real money right after starting so there won’t be any problems there”

And thus my life on Morata started…I have a lot of gold so I visited all the tourist spots on Morata such as the Arts Center, The Garden of the Gods, and other great places in the city. I also only ate and drank only the best, from certain foods made by master chefs that increase stats, to the great drinks from master brewers…Truly! Morata can only be described as “heaven” on my four weeks stay inside the city…

Yes, those days where truly great…if only I realized then…that those actions I did where not only reckless it was also the height of stupidity…A player wearing newbie gear and spending gold like there is no tomorrow can only be seen as fresh meat just waiting to be devoured…

And that is exactly what happened………

After four weeks I was finally able to leave my starting city. I immediately left Morata and went to look for a “Farm Owner” NPC which wasn’t hard to find since you just need to walk a bit, cross the great bridge atop a great river and you’ll be able to see golden fields as far as your eyes can see!

You might ask why I need to find an NPC “Farm Owner”, the answer is pretty simple, it’s because I want to be a “farmer” and you can get that job class by working in a farm for a certain amount of time...If you did a satisfactory job then the owner of the farm will recognize you and offer you chance to be a true “Farmer”…

(*sigh* if only I didn’t blindly follow the advice of those people…remembering it all again is very painful)

This was info I got while going around Morata. After about 1 week in Morata some people started a conversation with me and asked me what job class I want to be. I proudly replied “I want to be a FARMER” at first they were shocked and then smiled and said “Is that so? Well we wish you “luck” then”

If only I caught on and realized the meaning of those words and those smiles….

After a while another group of people approached me. They said that they “heard” that I was interested on becoming a “Farmer” and that they wanted to help. They said that they have good info for me, one which will be a great help on becoming a “FARMER”. The catch is that I have to buy the info for 5 gold…

Looking back on it now, if they gave the info for free I might have been at least a little suspicious but…Thinking that it wasn’t a big sum at all, I handed them 5 gold and asked them about their info.

“Thanks for your “patronage”, well then after your able to come outside the city, you should cross the great bridge of Morata and go to the other side”

“Cross the bridge?”

“Yep! You see after you cross the bridge and head a bit south you will see large farmlands. There you should ask around for a “Farm Owner” NPC named “Roland”. Roland is a nice guy and always looking for extra “farmhands” cause his farm is quite large. After you work for a week he’ll ask you if you want to be a farmer so, there you go after a week you’ll be a real farmer” says the “informant” with a friendly “smile” on his face..

“Is that right? I read on several forums that you need to work for at least 3 weeks but this “Roland” will only ask me to work for a week?”

“Yep, though he will grade your work, if you do a sloppy job then it might take more than a week but most people only require a week since Roland isn’t very strict”

“Is that so, then there won’t be problems since I already experienced working in an actual farm in RL, this will be easy!”

“Ahahhaha well then good luck! After you become a farmer come see us again we might have more “info” for you then”

“Okay” they then leave with a satisfied look and I was really happy that I only need to spend 1 week instead of 3…

After walking for a bit and asking “people” I come across, I “easily” located “Roland” the farm owner…I then head towards him with great haste… I immediately asked “Roland” about what I came here for…

“Excuse me! Are you perhaps the farm owner “Roland”?’

“Huh? Yes, but who are you?” replies a man with a bewildered look

“Ahh! Sorry for surprising you…My name is Riyen and I umm heard that you’re looking for additional “farmhands” and was wondering if I could get work here”

After telling him my intention, I quickly examined this person named “Roland”…”Roland” seems to be someone whose at his late 50’s he’s pretty fat and doesn’t seem to work at all…Even so he seems to be a pretty good farmer, at least that’s what my instinct is telling me…One doesn’t need to personally work to be a good farmer; but to be a “Great Farmer” one must be intimately close to his/her land to know all its “needs” and “secrets” is what “grandpa” always says…

Hearing my words Roland’s face instantly brightens up…

“Is that right! You came at a great time! 6 of my “farmhands” suddenly reported that they will be unable to come and work for a week! Seriously! What a bunch of irresponsible men! Anyways lad, you seem to be just a budding adventurer, are you sure you can handle farm work? Do you have any experience working in a farm?

“You don’t need to worry about anything sir; I am quite experienced working in a farm! After all I did live in my grandpa’s farm for 3 years sir.."

“Excellent! If that’s the case then I’ll be counting on you!”

*Ding*

Quest: Roland Farmhand

Because 6 of Roland’s farmhands aren’t able to come and work, you have been tasked to be a farmhand on Roland’s farm for at least 1 week. Because you claimed to be an expert, If you do a good job you’ll earn Roland’s recognition! on the other hand if you don’t do a good job Roland will be terribly disappointed with you.

Rewards: 20 silver

Special Reward: Roland's Recognition

Failure: You will have to work for a longer period of time and afterwards won’t be able to come and work here again

ACCEPT/NO

“Yes! I’ll be glad to help you sir and I assure you, you won’t be disappointed”

“Good! Well then let’s start right away, head to that barn over there and clean it, then feed the horses in there, the hay is on the left side, also make sure you give them enough water, I have other things to see to so I’ll come check up on you later so be sure to do a good job okay?”

“Just leave everything to me sir!”

Seeing my confidence, Roland started walking away with a relaxed face

“Well then time to get started! The faster I do this the better” I then head to the place Roland pointed at and was surprised with what I saw

“Whoa! There’s gotta be at least 50 horses in here, and about half the place is empty…Hmmm this might be a bit more challenging than I expected, but still, this place is well equipped so this will still be doable even by myself”

Pumping myself up I quickly scanned the whole area and make a plan on how to tackle this work….

“Hmmm…there’s far less manure than expected, I’ll prepare several carts that will be used to carry the manure and start from the end where the waste depot is…Then I’ll just have to use the large hose and pump water to wash away any filth then brush off anything that remains…”

With my plan in action, it didn’t take me 3 hours to clean the entire barn, and started feeding the remaining horses…after making sure each one has been properly fed and the buckets near them are filled with water, I double checked my work and I am pleased to say I did a good job if I do say so myself!

With my work done I decided to take a break and eat the lunch I bought from a well known restaurant in Morata. After about another hour and a half pass, Roland finally returned and immediately inspects my work…

“………….hmmmmm………..I don’t know what to say” is what he did say after a long pause

“Uh…is there a problem?” for once I was starting to get worried…he didn’t give the response I was expecting…I really thought he’d be all smiles and praise me, but maybe I did something wrong?

“Yes……there is a problem…….” Roland’s expression seems to be getting more complicated.

“Ummm…What’s the problem exactly?” hearing there’s a problem I’m beginning to get very anxious…

“Well…the problem is…you did such a good job I don’t know what I should say!! Truly I thought you were just boasting to impress me earlier but to think you would do an even better job than most of the helpers I got…..truly it would be a shame you would only be working for a short while….”

“Ahahhahah…..well I’m happy that you’re happy with my work sir! I might only be working for a short while but I promise to always do my best!”

“Indeed! You have a great work attitude as well, though it would really be quite a shame that you’re only working part time...still I will be looking forward to having you on my farm so continue to work hard!”

“Yes!” and that’s how I started working on Roland’s farm and needless to say get his recognition and became a true “Farmer” but unknown to me at that time, after becoming a “Farmer” will my suffering and desperation really begin…All thanks to those “good” people that “helped” me….