You're looking over your skills the next morning and notice an arrow next to the "Skills Tab" label.

Unlocked Skills Progress Talents Reading 90/100 Speaking 72/100 Listening 74/100 Observing 100/100 God's Eye Smelling 9/100 Walking 71/100 Running 41/100 Jumping 12/100 Short Blade 11/100 Blunt Resistance 19/100 Poison Resistance 21/100 Cold Resistance 55/100 Water Resistance 17/100 Cleaning 25/100 Foraging 87/100 Farming 100/100 Green Thumb Fishing 10/100 Taming 42/100 Crafting 16/100

It's subtle, but it's there. You can't reach out to click it since the menu is glued to your vision, so you try something else. With a left wink, you visualize yourself clicking this arrow.

And it works, astonishingly enough.

An entirely new menu opens up, a completely different one.

< Crafting Tab Unlocked Recipes Materials Needed Mastery Level Wooden Stave 3 Sticks, 1 Thread 2/20 Basic Fertilizer 2 Manure 1/10 Advanced Fertilizer 2 Manure, 1 Fruit 1/10 Monster Fertilizer 2 Monster Parts 1/10

You don't have the patience to wait a week for your crop yield, so you opt to craft some monster fertilizer. As you already possess the monster parts, all you need to do is craft it from the menu.

You pull out your petrified slimes and go through with the process. With a blink of your left eye, your wish to craft multiple monster fertilizers is answered, and a pile of fertilizers neatly packed in a plastic bag materializes before you.

Successfully Craft 20x

[Monster Fertilizer]

Quality: Mediocre

Weight: 2.0

You don't even need to move your hands, the God's Eye does it for you.

You don't question the inner machinations behind this power and instead view it as an opportunity to further expand your fields of produce.

Hastily applying it to the carrot crops and watering immediately after, you are content with the quality of your garden. It's not grand by any means, but it will be soon. The Green Thumb talent guarantees exponential growth.

You let out an evil laugh at the thought, as though these crops were an army that would settle your claim for world domination.

Where do you get these thoughts, honestly?

Your plan for today is to gather some fruit with your friend and hopefully come back by noon to move the washed furniture back in.

You set off on a short hike to the nearby forest again. "Go smelling berry. I find with God Eye," your orders fall on deaf ears. Your Mystfox buddy sees a rodent in the distance and chases after it, leaving you to search on your own.

You're pleasantly surprised though when you find multiple berry bushes crop up in the area. This must be the effects of the fertile land around here.

[Apple Berry]

Quality: Good

Weight: 0.1

[Banana Berry]

Quality: Good

Weight: 0.1

[Orange Berry]

Quality: Good

Weight: 0.1

You a find a decent variety of them and you pick the bushes clean. 37 Apple Berries, 32 Banana Berries, and 36 Orange Berries. Tasting them, you learn the flavors of the many fruits they are named after.

And this compels you to collect their seeds. In the crafting menu, you see it is possible to turn 1 Berry into 2 Berry seeds of its variety.

< Crafting Tab Unlocked Recipes Materials Needed Mastery Level Apple Berry Seeds x2 1 Apple Berry 1/5 Banana Berry Seeds x2 1 Banana Berry 1/5 Orange Berry Seeds x2 1 Orange Berry 1/5

And you do so, finding further use for your monster fertilizer, and opening up the possibility of three new additions to your farm.

At that moment, your friend returns with his own haul. And seeing it drains all color from your face. Between his teeth is a rat the size of your forearm. It is big and plump—you can assume it has lived off the bountiful food here.

The animal presents the dead rat to you, hoping to repay you for the fish you gave him. You aren't a fan of the grotesque and you avert your eyes delicately so as to not hurt his feelings.

"I-I... feel no hunger," you try weaseling out. "That thing better for you to eat!"

Your friend doesn't accept this though and continues wagging his tail, staring at you with eyes you just can't say no to. You heave out a sigh and gesture him to follow you, and he happily does.

You arrive at the homestead after a short trip back and you drop off all the food you've gathered in the house. The fireplace may be empty, but it's the ideal place for food you think. So you extract all the berries from your bag onto the raised hearth. The space is big enough to fit them all.

When it overflows though you craft those berries into seeds. Everything is as it should be.

That is until your friend places the dead gray rat alongside the colorful assortment of fruit. Unappetizing was a severe understatement.

From the farming books, you pick up on the concept of cooking, though not enough to gain a skill point. Seeing that hunk of hairy raw meat on the hearth, you figure you might as well cook the damn thing.

The fireplace comes with a stack of firewood beside it. Not a lot, but enough to fill the firebox.

The only problem is, you haven't a clue on how to start a fire.

You silently stare at the unlit firewood, perplexed as to how heat is generated from naught. And you hearken back to the campfire flame that burned so brightly by the riverside. An ephemeral light that shined the way, even if for but a single night.

You recall putting both your hands out over the fire and helping yourself to the warmth. Trying the same with the empty fireplace, you close your eyes and imagine heat radiating off the firewood.

Then, your friend stumbles back, astonished by what you've done.

Your eyelids rise and you see a fire in front of you, burning as brilliantly if not more than the campfire flames you witnessed that night many moons ago.

Your「FIRE MAGIC」skill has increased to Level 1!

Spell [IGNIS] added to your Magic Tab.

You clutch the sensation close to your heart, and quickly try recreating the spell.

"Ignis!" you shout, strutting your hands out.

And a ball of fire shoots from your palms and leaves a scorch mark on the brick wall of the fireplace. You've successfully learned your first magic spell. Ergo, your nights will no longer be as cold as they were.

But your excitement dies down when you remember the purpose of creating these flames. You look over at the dead rat that's now swarming with flies and reluctantly hold it by its tail.

"We don't even have pan..." you mutter to yourself. Nonetheless, you chuck the rat into the fire and wait until it resembles something "cooked". Five minutes later, the foulest odor pervades the air.

You use your staff to carry the blackened rodent out of the fireplace and neatly set it on the hearth.

Your「COOKING」skill has increased to Level 1!

It is utterly repulsive.

You don't even feel worthy of unlocking the skill. But your friend sniffs the rat and jumps for joy. Clearly, you've taken his gift and roasted it to elevate its taste.

He sits by like a strict mother, waiting for you to finish your meal. You have no choice but to devour this disgusting mass of burnt meat and fur.

You take a deep breath, grab the rat, and bring it up to your face.

Your「POISON RESISTENCE」skill has increased to Level 22!

This was the worst form of torture you've had to endure thus far.

Afterward, you head to the riverside to pick up the dried things. Your clothes have thankfully stayed put overnight, and none of the furniture appears to be missing.

The process of moving them back is harder since you have to walk uphill, but you manage. When carrying the counter back though, you discover something upon tripping and dropping it.

Small doors in the front fling open, and many pots, pans, and plates fall out. You had no idea these counters stored anything.

But accidentally letting go of it was a blessing in disguise. Now you don't have to eat off the raised hearth. You can just use one of the many wooden plates and bowls contained within the kitchen cabinets.

That evening, after spending the day reinstalling your furniture, you sit down on the stool by the cozy warmth of the fireplace. You bring out a wooden plate and fill it with the berries you placed on the hearth.

They are slightly hot, having been left in front of an open flame, and you have no trouble mashing them together into a fruity paste.

You take one bite of this mixture and are swiftly overcome with sweetness. It is like a fruit bowl porridge. You can't get enough of it.

You drop some for your friend and you have dinner together for the first time. Funnily enough, both times you've eaten together, the food in question has always been berries.

The two of you, exhausted from working, slump against the mattress of your now-clean bed. There is an indescribable warmth that envelops you two, whether it be the flames or each other's company.

Regardless, it puts you to sleep almost instantly. You grow to realize how much you've always sought this lingering sensation.

And you wish these slow days would go on forever.

End of Day 4

Objective Completed: Make your house a home.

Current Objective: Learn what it means to live.