For the next nine days, nothing happened.
Literally nothing.
I had no visitors, no monsters, no mysterious adventurers stumbling into my yard. Not even a gust of wind interesting enough to comment on.
I was so bored I thought I might actually die again, from sheer existential emptiness. So, naturally, I tried to keep myself busy.
First, I played drum beats using the sound of my windows opening and slamming shut.
I even got a rhythm going. Fast on the left side, slow on the right, then a double-beat combo with the shutters. For a moment, I almost convinced myself I was composing music.
Castle Symphony No.1, in Boredom Minor!
Unfortunately, I got a little too into it. Slammed one window too hard, and crack!—the hinge snapped clean off. The poor thing tumbled down into the weeds like a fallen soldier.
"Uh oh... that doesn't look good."
So I stopped after that.
And switched to playing with my torches.
I turned them on. I turned them off. One by one. All at once. In patterns. In complete chaos.
For absolutely no fucking reason.
Look, I just needed something to keep myself sane, alright?
So just me, trying my best not to lose my mind.
Eventually, I resorted to counting how many blades of grass I had in my overgrown little courtyard.
12,423 blades.
Yes. I counted. Every. Single. One!
Fantasy Grass Order, Unlimited Bladesofgrass Works!
Well, I even started assigning them names at one point. "Sir Lawncelot" was my favorite. He stood just a little taller than the others, swaying like he knew he was special. Next to him were "Sigreen" and "Grasstolfo".
As for the vines, well… those were hopeless. There were too many twists, too many overlapping strands. It was like trying to count a plate of spaghetti without digging through it.
Still, even the most ridiculous tasks helped pass the time.
And that's when I noticed something strange.
There weren't any animals here.
Not even a squirrel, not a bird, not a single buzzing insect.
Was it because nothing lived here to begin with? Or were the animals avoiding me for some reason? Could they sense I was… different?
Or maybe… I was cursed?
Honestly, at that point, I would've welcomed a rat just to have someone to talk to.
Anyway, all that counting and torch-flickering filled a few hours. The rest of the time, I… slept?
Well, sort of.
I wasn't sure what sleeping meant for a castle. I didn't have eyelids to close, or a heartbeat to slow down. But sometimes, I'd slip into this blank, quiet state, still aware of everything, but too lazy to care.
It helped me pass the time without thinking too hard about how much my new life sucked.
But then, on the tenth day, something changed.
Something interesting.
Finally!
It rained!
And not just a little drizzle, it was full-on storm-level rain!
I had been lying there, all by myself, watching the stars twinkle in the sky and counting them, one by one.
Then suddenly—bam!—a sea of black clouds came rolling in.
It happened so fast.
One moment, it was just a calm, breezy night.
The next, it was chaos.
Thick clouds swallowed the stars, thunder rumbled across the hills like distant drums, and lightning slashed the sky in wild, jagged flashes. The wind roared through the trees, and sheets of rain came crashing down on my roof like the gods were testing my structural integrity.
I didn't get cold, of course. I was a castle! But still, there was something oddly fun and therapeutic about it.
Man, I loved the stormy rain.
So I just sat there, watching it all unfold, windows shut tight to keep the water out.
For once, it felt like the world was actually doing something. After nine straight days of nothing but sunlight and starry skies, I was more than ready for a little chaos.
But then—
BOOM!
Lightning struck!
Direct hit!
A blinding flash, a deafening crack, and suddenly a chunk of my roof detonated, sending debris flying across the courtyard!
And it was painful as hell!
I screamed. Like, genuinely screamed. Which made no sense, because I was a building. How the heck could I feel pain?!
But somehow, I did. And it wasn't just a little zap either.
It felt like getting hit by a magical taser the size of a tree. My entire frame buzzed and shuddered.
Still, on the bright side, I was a castle. I was built to last. One lightning strike wasn't going to kill me!
Smoke rose from the impact site, rain sizzling against scorched stone. I could still feel the lingering sting, but at least everything was intact... mostly.
And then, unexpectedly—
<+10 Points Earned!>
Well, would you look at that?
Hell yeah! I just got something!