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Chapter 08
Nana didn’t dash outside without looking back because she was reckless, nor because Ishanka was a black mage.
She was confident that zombies couldn’t enter her land, and she had a pretty good guess about the source of the loud noise.
The commotion was at the barn. Luckily, no animals had been hurt since she hadn’t raised cows or other livestock yet—but the barn itself was damaged.
“Why did this blasted meteor have to land here?”
A thick cloud of dust still hung over the crater where the meteor had struck. Rolling up her sleeves, Nana approached the meteor, and a message window popped up before her eyes.
<Suspicious Hidden Meteor
A mysterious meteor that falls anywhere without warning. Mining it with a pickaxe may yield items. If luck is on your side, you might obtain an SSS-grade item.>
Among MasFarm players, this was called the “Meteor Gacha.” It really did fall anywhere. Once, it landed right in the wheat field just before harvest, leaving a headache-inducing mess.
Still, it wasn’t completely troublesome. Compared to normal gachas, it had a slightly higher chance of dropping SSS-grade items. With ordinary gachas gone due to a bug, this was the only source of rare items.
Hoping for something worth the damage it had done to the barn, Nana swung her pickaxe at the meteor with all her strength.
The rock crumbled with a crunch.
<Your pickaxe’s durability has reached 0. This pickaxe can no longer be used.>
The pickaxe disintegrated along with the meteor. Nana’s heart shattered along with it.
“My precious, one-of-a-kind pickaxe!”
In this zombie-infested game world, Nana’s farm was the only safe zone. She couldn’t leave the farm due to zombies, so no new tools could be supplied. Everything had to be used sparingly.
Mourning her pickaxe, Nana inspected the site where the meteor dust settled.
<Chamomile Herb Tea Set and Beginner Flower Seed Set acquired. Congratulations.>
“Congratulations, my foot! This trash game is mocking me!”
Not only was her pickaxe gone, but the gacha rewards were trash too. Nana felt a sudden urge to shake the game operator by the collar if they appeared in front of her.
“Employer… are you all right?”
Ishanka arrived at the barn, stunned at the sight: the roof gaping open, seed and tea bags scattered on the floor, and Nana rolling in despair.
No magical aura was present, so whatever had happened wasn’t magic-based. Ishanka had no clue what to make of it.
“My pickaxe… it’s broken…”
“…Well, whatever happened, it’s fortunate that the undead haven’t swarmed here.”
“Zombies can’t come here anyway. I didn’t give them permission.”
Undead? Did black mages call zombies “undead”? Ishanka had many questions but decided to set them aside—if there weren’t any nearby, it didn’t matter.
“The roof… I can fix it. With some wood, it’s simple enough.”
“But there’s no tool to fix the roof. Even the ones we had broke when we repaired the chicken coop.”
“And no wood either…”
A complete mess. Ishanka stayed silent.
“Looks like I’ll have to do all the delayed chores. Ugh… worse than going to work on Monday.”
“I don’t know what you mean exactly, but I get that you’re in a very bad mood.”
“That’s why, Worker, would you come to the village with me? Earlier, I saw you trying to leave the farm alone—you seem capable of fighting.”
“Weren’t you the one telling me not to go outside because it’s dangerous?”
She’d gone from forbidding him to leave to inviting him in a blink. Ishanka was taken aback by her sudden change.
“Sometimes there are things you just have to do, even if you hate them. For example, cleaning up after your boss’s mess, or doing the dishes after a meal.”
Strange analogy, but it worked. Ishanka needed to go outside anyway to contact Edion, covering for him.
“You asked if I can fight? I can. Otherwise, how could I have come here alone in this world of wandering undead?”
Wandering undead—zombies, presumably. Nana didn’t care what he called them; she only cared that this man could fight.
But hadn’t there been a massive noise outside?
“Wait, you came all this way alone? How is that even possible? Are you hurt anywhere else besides your arm?”
Watching Nana inspect his body, Ishanka froze. Praise and awe were familiar, but worry and concern? Not so much. No one had ever worried about him since childhood.
Now, she genuinely worried about him. For the first time, he felt… human.
Had she used black magic to feign concern? Some black magic could manipulate hearts. But those usually pulled out negative emotions, not tender ones like this.
Ishanka felt confused. Was she really a black mage? But when he first arrived, he had seen a strange interface pop up, and the fertile soil here couldn’t be a coincidence—though he felt no magical presence from her.
“Worker?”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Ishanka met Nana’s gaze. Her light sky-blue eyes were clear and calm, like the farm’s sky.
He felt as if she had read his suspicious thoughts. Masking it, he continued the conversation naturally.
“You didn’t see any injuries on me this morning. I’m fine.”
“I couldn’t see clearly from afar.”
Though they were only a few steps apart, Nana chose to act boldly.
“But you did evaluate my body, right? One thousand out of a hundred!”
“Um… well…”
Her shamelessness didn’t last long.
“It was… a very refreshing experience. No one has ever rated me like that before.”
While Nana blushed, hiding her face in her hands, Ishanka calmly spoke from experience. He often trained shirtless or removed armor—being seen wasn’t embarrassing. But no one had ever rated his body before.
A perfect physique, a manifestation of Aivanu—who could dare to rate that?
Still, Nana had unwittingly embarrassed herself with her boldness.
“Anyway, I now know how strong you are, Worker.”
Ishanka found it slightly annoying that she kept calling him “Worker.” He’d kept his identity secret while infiltrating the kingdom, so not revealing his name was his choice.
It didn’t matter what she called him, yet it still bothered him.
Then, a furry little ball scurried between them.
“Mweeeeng.”
“Tanbbang? When did you get here? Did you come because you were worried about me?”
Tanbbang rolled on the floor in greeting. Nana quickly scooped him up.
“Careful, Tanbbang! The floor is dusty. Later, we’ll play, but for now…”
Without realizing it, Ishanka found himself speaking impulsively.
“Ishanka.”
“Yes?”
“My name. It’s Ishanka. Not Worker.”
Nana blinked, speechless, as a fanfare sounded and a message window popped up.
<Congratulations! Hidden Character: You discovered Ishanka’s name. Receiving a hidden character’s self-revealed name is a rare achievement. EXP awarded.>
<New skill unlocked: Land Claiming. You can declare owned land as farmland and unlock special or hidden quests. Failed quests may incur penalties.>
<Inventory upgraded: More slots available. Further EXP upgrades automatically expand inventory.>
<Farm land radius increased by 50m.>
Up until now, Tanbbang had brought small amounts of EXP at a time without fanfare, but now the system was spamming notifications frantically.
‘Just learning a name for a hidden character gives this much? What about other info?’
Seeing the message, a suspicious glint appeared in Nana’s eyes. Ishanka, sensing something, shivered slightly without knowing why.
