What does death feel like?
For Elysia, it was probably a grand finale that was perhaps a bit too over-the-top.
When she chose to sacrifice her life to bring hope to a distant future, she felt as if she had turned into a beam of light, or perhaps countless fluttering crystal shards.
There was no pain, only a sense of relief—a feeling of, 'Ah, I can finally get a good night's sleep.'
She had assumed that as the Herrscher of Human, she would simply return to nothingness. After all, their world had no souls, let alone reincarnation; that was the conclusion Dr. Mobius had verified countless times.
However, after an unknown amount of time, a sudden, jarring roar—like an old car engine sputtering to life—forced her consciousness back to reality.
"Shhh—!"
"Oh my?"
After a surge of inertia pushed her back into her seat, sunlight flooded her vision once more. The girl's eyes, which seemed to contain the stars themselves, blinked in confusion.
Her iconic long pink hair fell softly over her shoulders, and her pristine white dress was without a single wrinkle.
Elysia looked around and found herself sitting on a bus seat that looked dilapidated, smelling of old, worn leather.
Outside the window was bright sunlight and a countryside road smelling of soil and fresh grass. Birds flew across the sky from time to time, and the scene was so peaceful it felt like a dream.
Elysia tried to reach her hand out of the window, as if wanting to feel the gentle breeze under that brilliant sun to confirm if the scenery before her was real.
But just as her fair, slender fingers were about to cross the edge of the window frame, an invisible barrier blocked her exploration.
A premonition seemed to whisper in her heart: the dead have no right to touch the world of the living.
Well then, it seemed she really was dead.
"Though, Dr. Mobius never told me there would be a shuttle bus after death. Could this be a special privilege for Miss Pink Elf♪~?"
Elysia twirled a lock of hair at her temple with interest. She showed no sign of the anxiety or fear one might expect of the unknown; instead, she possessed a lightheartedness as if she were going on a picnic.
The bus cabin was empty, only her... no, that wasn't right.
Elysia turned her gaze toward the back. From the shadows of the last row came a suppressed sobbing sound, like that of a young animal.
Elysia turned around, her sharp eyes catching a huddled figure curled up in the corner.
It was a little blonde girl who looked to be only twelve or thirteen years old. She wore a black, Puritan-style dress, the hem of which was stained with dirt and dried, dark-red marks.
She was clutching a one-eyed teddy bear tightly, talking to herself, radiating an aura that practically screamed 'stay away.'
"No... please no..." The girl buried her head in her knees, her frail body trembling like a fish struggling on a cutting board.
"It's so dark... so noisy... don't hurt Abi... Abi isn't a bad girl..."
The girl seemed to have suffered a severe trauma. Her pitiful appearance instantly sparked Elysia's sympathy.
Elysia's gaze softened immediately. Whether as the 'Herrscher of Human' or simply as an 'Elf' who loved cute girls, she could not turn a blind eye to this scene.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Her high-heeled boots made a crisp sound against the floor of the bus. Elysia walked to the girl's side, sat down without hesitation, and reached out to gently cover the girl's cold hand with her own.
"Don't be afraid, cute little sister."
Her voice was like a melody with healing magic.
"Even though I don't know where this bus is taking us, since we're both here together, it means—all those scary things are already over, okay?"
The blonde girl's body stiffened for a moment. She slowly raised her head, allowing Elysia to see her face more clearly.
Her eyes were emerald green, initially filled with struggle and fear. But as they reflected Elysia's warm smile, the violent emotions in the girl's eyes seemed to slowly calm down.
"Over... is it?"
Abigail Williams murmured to herself. Those cold gazes from her uncle and the curses of the villagers that had been echoing in her mind seemed to truly fade away.
In their place was the steady hum of the engine from the old bus beneath them.
"I am Elysia," Elysia tilted her head and gave a playful wink. "As you can see, I'm a girl as shy as a flower and a gentle big sister♪~ And you?"
"Abigail... Hello, sister. My name is Abigail."
"What a lovely name."
Elysia wanted to continue chatting with the girl, but the sudden deceleration of the bus made her instinctively look out the window.
"Oh my, look~ Abigail, it seems we've reached our destination."
The monotonous scenery outside the bus window finally came to an end. The vehicle slowed down, and a tall signpost on the side of the road with a painted icon came into view.
A few English letters were written on it: Stardew Valley.
........
Six o'clock in the morning.
That damned biological clock—one seemingly etched into the depths of his soul, requiring no alarm—woke Suke right on time, making it impossible for him to sleep in even if he wanted to.
He opened his eyes on a luxurious Mahogany Bed worth 10,000G, looked at the expensive crystal chandelier on the ceiling, and let out his first sigh of the day.
"...Another dull and tedious day."
Suke. Male. 25 years old. Unmarried.
Current status: The only living human in this town called 'Stardew Valley,' which one can neither leave nor enter.
Survival duration: Year 3, Autumn, Day 15.
About three years ago, in his original world, his memory ended with the impact of a serious traffic accident while commuting to work by bus as a 996 wage slave.
To his surprise, after waking up from his blackout, he had somehow cleanly transmigrated.
He had crossed over into the pixel-art farming simulation game he used to play, Stardew Valley, taking over the dilapidated farm he was currently on.
Relying on his experience as a veteran farming game player in his previous life, he had forced this abandoned wasteland into the top-tier estate it was today.
Suke skillfully waved his hand, calling up a system panel on his retina.
[Account Balance: 5,482,100G]
Five million four hundred and eighty-two thousand—and in gold coins, no less.
If this string of numbers were in the real world, it would be enough for him to live comfortably for three lifetimes.
But here, it was just a meaningless set of data.
Because in this world, he was 'soft-locked.' Severely soft-locked.
Suke put on his shoes and pushed open the door to his mansion. The morning sun spilled across his endless pumpkin field.
Every pumpkin was massive and plump, shimmering with the unique luster of gold-star quality—the kind of look that told you these pumpkins were anything but ordinary.
Those appearances that couldn't be fully appreciated in the game's pixel art were now displayed before Suke in vivid detail.
But Suke simply walked to the edge of the field with an expressionless face, looking at the yellow iron hunk at his feet that was 'hissing' water in a half-meter radius—the [Quality Sprinkler].
"Trash," Suke kicked it with disdain.
"Industrial waste that can only water eight tiles."
This town called Stardew Valley was locked down by invisible, intangible air walls.
Furthermore, although the town's appearance was basically a replica of the game world, the NPCs Suke was familiar with didn't exist.
Mayor Lewis, Robin the carpenter, the Abigail he had married countless times... none of them were there.
All that existed were empty houses that opened and closed at set times, shops that automatically sold seeds and fertilizer despite having no staff, and a town square that stayed tidy without anyone cleaning it.
Even the Junimos never appeared, and the JojaMart membership office was permanently locked.
Every scene or function that was supposed to be unlocked through bundles or gold in the game was inaccessible to him.
Thus, as the only living person in the town, Suke could not go to any map areas outside of the town and his farm that should have been in the game.
If he couldn't get to the desert, he couldn't enter the Skull Cavern. If he couldn't enter the Skull Cavern, he couldn't mine Iridium Ore.
Without Iridium Ore, he couldn't craft that purple divine tool that automatically watered its surroundings every day—the [Iridium Sprinkler].
Not to mention the ultimate dream that required Magic Ink to unlock—the [Junimo Hut] (the automated harvesting hut).
What? You say you can get Iridium Ore from fishing?
Those tiny scraps were barely enough to upgrade tools; trying to cover a whole farm with them was like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water!
So, even though his net worth was five million and the resources in his chests were piled like mountains, he still had to crawl out of bed at six every morning like a primitive man, manually topping off the crops in the corners with a watering can and bending over to pull parsnips one by one.
Was this being a farm owner? He was clearly just a piece of agricultural equipment from the American Civil War era!
"If only another person would show up..."
Suke muttered to himself habitually while mechanically watering the pumpkins.
"Even if it's just a useless person who only knows how to eat, that's fine. At least they could help me pick up those dozens of eggs every day?"
Loneliness.
This was a debuff scarier than poverty. In this world where he was all alone, Suke felt like he was about to wallow in misery because of his inability to speak to anyone.
He had even given names to every chicken in his coop. Yesterday, he had even gotten into an argument with a Void Chicken named 'Blackie,' making it so the chicken wouldn't even let him pet it.
After finishing his series of chores like watering and animal husbandry, Suke went fishing for a while. Time soon reached the afternoon.
"Meow~"
"Lucky, do you think you could turn into a catgirl?"
An orange cat ran to Suke's feet, rubbing its round head against his pant leg.
This made Suke put down his fishing rod to pick it up. This cat had been with him since he transmigrated to this world, one of the few existences he could sincerely pour his heart out to.
"Even if you can't become a catgirl, can't you at least have some kittens? Look at the chickens and ducks, they can reproduce asexually. I've even got names ready; once you have a kitten, I'll call it Little Lucky..."
Suke muttered to himself while stroking the cat. However, Lucky didn't respond, only yawning lazily in his arms.
Rumble—
Accompanying Lucky's yawn, the ground shook violently. The watering can in Suke's hand almost fell to the floor.
"Huh?"
An earthquake? Unlikely. He had lived in this town for so long and had even experienced 'Green Rain' a few times, but he had never triggered an event like this.
The noise came from the east side of the farm, from that bus stop that made his teeth ache with frustration—the one he had tried and failed to repair for a year.
Suke snapped his head up, his gaze instantly becoming sharp.
He heard it. The roar of an engine in the distance—that broken bus... was moving?
"Whatever it is that's coming, as long as it can speak, I'll welcome it!"
Suke threw down his fishing rod, not even bothering to take the inventory-clogging fish back home to store them.
He took off running, his footsteps thudding urgently against the stone path. He ran through the pumpkin fields, past the fruit orchard, looking like a player who had gone stir-crazy during a content drought finally seeing a new version update. He charged toward the farm's exit.
When Suke rushed to the bus stop, panting heavily, the yellow bus had just let out a sigh-like hiss of exhaustion and stopped by the road.
The blue smoke billowing from under the hood hadn't yet dissipated when the door opened with a creak.
Suke stared fixedly at the dark opening of the bus door. He was trembling, adrenaline pumping through his veins.
A white high-heeled boot stepped out first, followed by long pink hair swaying in the breeze, bringing with it a scent of roses that didn't belong to this earth-scented world.
The pink-haired elf lady stepped off the bus and immediately shielded her eyes from the slightly piercing sunlight overhead.
She squinted and saw a man standing at the end of the road, dressed in worker's overalls, his face flushed and his chest heaving violently.
"Oh my?"
Elysia was stunned for a moment. She had expected to see a Grim Reaper coming to collect them, or perhaps some three-headed hound of myth guarding the dead.
But this scene... hills full of fruit trees, a mansion in the distance that looked quite luxurious, and a man who, though handsome, was dressed very rustically like a farmer.
Even though he looked excited—even a bit undignified—the light in his eyes...
"Hello there."
Elysia was the first to break the silence. She waved her hand, her smile still perfect and flawless, as if this wasn't the afterlife but some holiday resort.
"It might be strange to ask this, but... are we still on Earth?"
The moment he heard that voice, Suke felt his brain stall for a second.
It was a human voice.
It was a living being.
It was... Elysia?!
Following that, a small figure peeked out from behind Elysia.
Blonde hair peeking out from under a beret and a black dress with long sleeves covering her hands. Suke, who had played plenty of gacha games in his previous life, was naturally very familiar with this timid appearance.
Abigail Williams!
Suke obviously recognized them. After all, back when he was a wage slave, his only hobbies besides PC farming games were mobile gacha games.
But what he was thinking right now wasn't, 'Holy crap, how can gacha characters appear in Stardew Valley?' or 'Since people are here, does that mean I don't have to be a piece of farm equipment anymore?'
Instead, it was a simpler, more primal, and even slightly humble thought—
Three years! Do you know how he spent these past three years!
From now on, when he ate, he wouldn't have to toast to nothing but his fur baby!
"This is Stardew Valley. It's a town—a town where I'm the only person!"
Suke took a deep breath, forcing himself to put on the kind of gentle, amiable smile he used to use when he was a salesman chasing leads.
"Anyway, welcome home, you two!"
"Home?" Elysia blinked.
"Yes, home. Make yourselves at home!"
Suke, his head full of ideas on how to treat them well so they would stay, gave a grand wave of his hand toward the golden estate behind him and introduced it loudly:
"The area ahead is my farm. Look, this whole massive piece of land is managed by me alone!"
"You two haven't eaten yet, right?"
Grumble.
Abigail's stomach let out a loud roar right on cue. The young girl's face turned red, and she buried her head back into her teddy bear.
Elysia also covered her mouth and giggled. "Oh my, I didn't feel it on the bus, but I feel so hungry the moment I step off."
"Then we shall impose on you, Mr. Farmer?"
____
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