“I already told you, I’m not—”

My eyes were probably as wide as saucers as they darted from left to right, examining the sudden new surroundings. Like seriously, one moment I was telling some guy I wasn’t interested in subscribing to his shady electric currency scheme, the next, I found myself in what appeared to be in the middle of fucking nowhere. A large and pleasant-green grassland with a creepy ass forest ahead. This seemed to be the standard of every horror movie gone wrong.

Luckily for me, when I turned around, you know using more than two percent of my brain, I noticed a town in the distance. Good. Maybe someone could tell me what’s going on because let’s be honest. I’m panicking. Did I…die? Well, at least I was a decent person on earth, else I’m sure I wouldn’t be in the middle of a heavenly grassland staring down a creepy forest, right? Then again, I didn’t feel as if I died or anything. No “go toward the light” moment. Just opening my eyes…

Before I could take the first step, I was blasted with a mental image. A textbox straight out of a roleplaying video game appeared in my vision. It gave me a Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy vibe. Oh shit. This…is real.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “Was I…sent to another world?”

At this point, who hadn’t watched an anime and wished for it. Well, I did watch one, but didn’t wish it, mostly because I didn’t want to end up like Kazuma, stuck with a blue-haired nuisance.

[Welcome, hero! Choose your class. With the correct choice, you could accomplish great things, save the world from an ongoing darkness, be the hero that you’ve always wanted to be. Travel to many places, fight and destroy demons, defeat the demon lords, and become the greatest magician ever known to man. How about it?]

[Classes available: Supreme Hero, Paladin, Champion, Ultimate Warrior, Supreme Arch Magus, Potion Maker, Worker, Spirit Beast Tamer, Farmer, Boat Guy, Side Character, Basic Bitch Warrior, Bard, Party Tricks Stage Magician.]

Supreme Hero flashed, pre-selected and awaited my confirmation. I dove into the depths of my mind for some common sense and decided to challenge this pushy system.

“Yeah, no, and why Supreme hero? Isn’t that a little, overboard for a title?” I said.

[This world, Mondra, has a hero already. But he is no supreme hero. So how about it. Would you like to take the wheel of a true hero, even join the hero’s party and usurp him?]

The options of YES and NO appeared. I was able to will the selection, NO, that is.

“Sorry, not interested,” I said. I’m not about to risk my life for a world I knew jack shit about. However, the way it treated the other options kind of bugged me. The system wanted to…goad me into some grand dangerous BS adventure, turn me into a generic tool like everyone else. The heroic, I fight for my friends, save everyone, type of white knight I honestly couldn’t stand. Listen, I love helping people, don’t get me wrong. Family, friends, these things are important. But there was just no fucking way I’d be busting my ass, traveling across this world and for what? The gratitude of strangers? A giant crystal and hollow fame?

“Before I select, can I go home?” I asked.

[No.]

Well, at least the dickish system kept it simple for me.

“So, why am I here, like seriously,” I asked the system.

[This world needs you. The dormant power within has been awakened and it is up to you to slay the darkness, defy the heavens, and become the greatest magic user of the land, of the world, of the universe.]

“Ah no, you showed the words I was hoping not to see,” I said. “Defy the heavens. Nope, I’m not interested in that. I don’t mind the helping people part. But no big adventures.”

How could I help people while keeping out of sight, out of mind from the hero, other magicians, and whatever jackass is out there. I didn’t want to deal with monsters nor dragons either. Eh, how could I possibly make a decision right now when I was just snatched from my…old life. I took a deep breath. There wasn’t any point of crying. Honestly, I always wanted a quiet life. I forced myself to live in the city because of work. Now I’d leave that behind and see what this new world was about.

I walked to the town, which thankfully had guards that didn’t even spare a glance for me. Not that they were in the best of armor. Worn out, leathery. The town itself was probably what one would expect for any medieval civilized area, I suppose. It gave me that small town vibe, that’s for sure.

A few shops, restaurants, merchants, and houses. Not much in the fun department. At least, as far as I saw. I needed time to get used to things and to explore.

I didn’t find anything resembling a newspaper stand. Also, what surprised me the most, is the language. I understood it exactly as my own. Even the characters appeared as English. Thank fuck the system didn’t make me learn the native language.

Unfortunately, it seemed like this town just wasn’t funded enough for anything that could help me learn. There was only one thing to do. Sit in public, eavesdrop on everyone, and learn. And that’s what I did.

The common thing happened to be what I expected earlier. The town kind of sucking. They needed more merchants, local shops, and an improved local economy. They also needed a local potion shop so that they didn’t have to travel multiple days just to pick up even the simplest of grades.

Why pick an overpowered class and wander around like an idiot when I could choose something useful? First, I needed land and seeds… Ugh, oh no. Money. How would I begin anything without one of the most basic things that contributed to a local economy?

I headed back out the town and to the grassland without anyone so much as spitting in my direction. I willed the system into view and selected a class I never thought I’d consider. Potion Maker.

Why not?

[Are you sure, hero? This class selection is not recommended.]

The cursor returned to the supreme hero selection. With a big ass grin on my face, I selected Potion Maker and there wasn’t a damn thing the system would do to stop me. Long dangerous adventures, cruel bandits, giant dragons—nah. Not for me. Not everyone sent to another world should be obligated to become some kind of murder hobo.

[Class…selected. Potion Maker. Welcome to Mondra and a disappointingly quiet, unexciting life. No defying the heavens, reaching the maximum rank, becoming a kingdom-wide loved hero. A force to challenge the gods.]

“Nope,” I said. “And that’s how I like things.”

[You may now view your character sheet.]

I didn’t bother at that moment. “What I need, System, is a way to earn some money.”

[You currently have a starting amount of 10 gold, 50 silver, 100 coppers. You can will these out of your inventory any time. It is honestly more than you deserve.]

“Harsh,” I said. “I choose a life of peace and the jackass running the system has a problem with it.”

I headed back into the town, found a merchant that actually had a few seeds of plants common for potion making and made some purchases. I also got myself an inn room, though I could barely afford the cheapest. These prices felt outrageous. That or maybe my money situation was a lot worse than I thought. Ah well. In due time, I’d hire someone to build me a house or just do it myself. I helped my dad a lot with building projects back…on Earth. The hard part of course would be to find the materials. I was not looking forward to what hell this world would present to me.

Before I could do any of that however, I needed to see what it took to own land in this place.

“Excuse me,” I said to the inn keeper. “Do you know who I should see about purchasing land. I’m looking to start hopefully a nice herb garden for potion creation. Perhaps some tea brewing too.”

The inn keeper, a bored-looking thin woman who looked to be in her forties, sprung into life, her eyes going from glassy to almost starry.

“You’re a potion maker? Wanda’s shiny bottom, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, stranger, but we’re in a little trouble,” the inn keeper said. “Merchants are leaving, shops are closing, and soon, everyone who lives here will have no choice but to either move or travel days just for the simplest supplies. Are primary problem right now are the lack of potions, medicines, things of that nature. Traveling can be dangerous unless one could afford to hire mercenaries.”

“I see,” I said. “That’s definitely not good. But I am new to the area and profession. It’s going to take some time to setup, find the ingredients.”

“That’s normal with every potion maker,” she said. “Come with me. We can get you some starting land.”

I followed her, though with my guard up just in case things were too good to be true. Not that this was much of a good thing. I’m pretty much setting myself up for a weird situation. Give these people false hope or successfully make any potion.

Deciding that talking to the system out loud was quite weird, I willed the menu into the upper right corner of my mental vision, er, interface. Only the character sheet was available at the moment, so I selected it.

Nate

Class: Potion Maker. Secondary class: ???

Magician rank: 3rd realm of the Beginnings.

Ability: F-grade potions. [estimated based on class. Currently calculating. Check later.]

Power: weak. [estimated based on class. Currently calculating. Check later.]

Defense: weak. [estimated based on class. Currently calculating. Check later.]

Well, that was to be expected for his class, not that I gave a fuck about such things. F-grade potions here I come! Why did it need to estimate a beginner?

Wait. Third realm? Did I not start in the first? Before I could ponder on, a new window option appeared beneath my character sheet.

A guide to potion making. Thank God the system wasn’t completely cruel. I’d get started later, after the land situation.

As expected, the inn keeper took me to the mayor, an older balding man with tired eyes. She explained the situation to him, which changed those tired eyes to hopeful.

Damn, talk about pressure. Ah well, it’s not like I have anything else to do, so I’d give it my all. Hard work was common in my family anyway.

“I’m Nate,” I said, offering a handshake. Thankfully, this appeared to be apart of the culture because he accepted it.

“Take any land you’d like, just let us know when you’re open for business,” the mayor said. “I’d lease you a building if I could right now, but it’s going to take some time.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “I’m hoping to earn enough to either hire someone to build me a shop and a home or purchase the materials.”

“It will be a costly thing, depending on what you’re going for, but I do wish you well,” the mayor said. “Do you have any place in mind, for your land?”

“There’s a grassland about a ten-minute walk from here,” I said. “I’d like to start there.”

“Oh, that’s free land,” the mayor said. “It’s…not really safe. Monster and spirit beast activity have been reported numerous times. Some say the Axem lives there.”

“The Axem?” I asked.

“A powerful monster, that of a serpent with seven eyes,” the mayor said.

“Have you seen it?” I asked, a little concerned. Aside from the creepy forest, everything seemed fine. Just stay out of the forest and boom, gardening was easy.

The mayor flinched. “N…no. It’s probably a tale, but the uneasiness of the forest,” his voice trailed off and he sighed. “Never mind. Forget I said anything. Just be careful, okay. I expect huge things from you, Sir Nate.”

“Just Nate is fine,” I wanted to say, but restrained myself just in case this was a part of this world’s culture.

After leaving the mayor’s office, which was a stuffy room consisting of a desk, a chair, and documents, I headed back to town to purchase some tools, including a watering can, then hurried to the grassland. The quicker I started, the better.

[Would you like to claim this land and the forest?]

Oh now you ask me, you evil system. I selected yes on the prompt and just like that, the land appeared to be mine. I honestly wasn’t sure if that was how it really worked, since this was free land that nobody wanted to go near, but I humored the system anyway.

[Nate’s domain established…]

I shrugged and opened the potion making instruction manual. To my relief, there was a basic planting and growing section. Convenient, I know, but that was par for the course when it came to systems, am I right, or am I right?

I took the plow. “With this tool of destruction, I shall plow this ground and…ugh. Now I’m kind of annoyed about the mother jokes from high school.”

I struck the ground, just softly, more as a joke. It shook and exploded violently, scattering dust into the air. What I saw after the dust cleared was a crater at least ten meters deep. I nearly fell back on my ass, eyes wide. Even if the ground was as soft as beach sand, this shouldn’t happen. I wasn’t fucking superman or anything.

“Holy shit! System, did you inject me with steroids and Goku’s genes?”

I guess I’d have to do things carefully. Seriously, how the hell did a simple potion maker class end up with…what appeared to be god-like strength? Maybe it was this plow?

[Mortal tool. Simple hand plow. Grade: average.]

Maybe mortal in this world meant something entirely different. Or did it have something to do with being in the third realm? I checked the stat sheet again, but it pretty much metaphorically pissed in my face and told me to check it later. Calculations weren’t done. Just how much did it need to calculate, sheesh! Did I receive a Windows 98-based system or something?

I didn’t feel like filling in the hole at that moment, so I started everything about thirty feet away from it. Using a combination of the plow, rake, and hoe, I gently started preparing the land.

“Please just work with me, body,” I said. “I’d like to help these people.”

Seriously, no more ten fucking meter deep holes. Dammit, get out of my head, high school Your Momma jokes!

With a town as meh as this, there was no way any magicians or nobility would come this way. At least I hoped so.

I don’t know how I did it so fast, but in a matter of minutes, I finished preparing the land. At least it felt like a matter of minutes. The position of the sun didn’t change much.

[System advice. You may meditate, draw in the mana from the land. Over time, you can push through to the next realm. It may auto—]

“I already told you, system, I’m a potion maker,” I said. “No fighting, no defying the heavens for me. That’s best left to this world’s hero, right? Let the guy do his job and I’ll do mine.”

After carefully planting the seeds, an idea came to me. What if…I gave them a little of my mana. Could it help improve things during harvest time? Well, just to be sure, I’d better ask. I can’t have all of my work so far going to waste.

“Is it possible to give them a little mana?” I asked the system.

[Place your hand over the ground while focusing. Give just a small amount to the land. Push gently.]

I followed the instructions. It…was surprisingly easy. A faint blue glow briefly covered the entire grassland, though I was aiming for my future garden. Ah well. Sharing is caring. I watered the area afterward and then let out a sigh.

Soon my new life as the town’s potion maker would begin.

“Maybe I should grow some vegetables too,” I said. “I don’t know where I’d find some animals though.” I worked on a farm before, but from the look of things, I wouldn’t be doing any of that here.

I was not ready to face the food prices. Ah well. I smiled at my work and hoped for the best. A little cheating with mana to ensure a healthy harvest was fine, right? I’d add more to this later. Maybe I could find exotic seeds one day.

While I did have what appeared to be new powers, doing everything alone was going to suck. Planting, watering, mana, harvesting. But at least a start was a start.

“I guess I’ll learn about this town and the kingdom I’m in,” I said. The more I learned, the easier it’d be for me later.

**

Little did Nate know, something did watch him from the forest, a curious being. It’d keep an eye on the domain claimer.

To think he found the domain claiming art after it was lost for more than two thousand years was…well, insane. Absurd.

The being examined the mana he released to the world and was surprised. It approved it, spread it…

“This…purity,” said a feminine voice.