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Chapter 2 …
“Healing Farm Life?”
That’s the farming game I used to play in my hospital room, isn’t it?
There really wasn’t much a patient staying in a hospital could do.
Among the limited options available to me, I mostly passed the time reading novels and playing games.
Healing Farm Life had been the most enjoyable of them all.
But the system floating in front of my eyes now was a little different from that game.
Name: Muriel Terni Vinterberg
Age: 21
Race: Human
Titles: Sacrifice of the Terni Family, Scapegoat, Incompetent Farmer
Traits: ■■■ ■■■ ■■’s Blessing (□□ Adjustment)
Stats: [▶ Click!]
Owned Skills:
Purification (Lv. 1), Cultivation (Lv. 1), ??? (Unawakened), ??? (Unawakened)……
! Status Condition
You are currently married to ‘Raul Vinterberg.’
Please collect coins as soon as possible and purchase the ‘Fate Distortion’ item to apply it!
So… a profile like this.
That game never had anything like this.
What bothered me the most was the mysterious blessing hidden behind black boxes.
And why was there a line drawn through the name Vinterberg?
It looked like I had to click separately to see my stats.
As for my skills…
Purification. Cultivation?
“Purification… does that mean I can purify contaminated land?”
I hurriedly checked the skill description.
Purification (Lv. 1):
Purifies contamination in an area of 1 pyeong.
Can be used up to once per day.
“Whoa. It’s real.”
It was a shame that it only worked on one pyeong and only once a day, but still—
And Cultivation was exactly what it sounded like: a farming-related skill.
Cultivation (Lv. 1):
You may cultivate two types of crops.
Regardless of season or temperature, crop growth speed is increased by 120%.
Sub-skill: Holy Touch (Lv. 1)
“…Holy Touch?”
What was that?
When I lightly tapped the screen as if touching it, the description immediately popped up.
[Holy Touch (Lv. 1)]
Promotes crop growth and grants special effects.
“Oh….”
This felt like a pretty overpowered skill. I didn’t know what the “special effects” were, but still.
Healing Farm Life was much more realistic and difficult.
This system felt more like… it was openly handing out cheat codes.
〈Tip〉 To begin farming, you must purify contaminated land.
Approach a contaminated area and try using the Purification skill.
“Hm….”
After staring at the floating message for a moment, I nodded and stood up.
If I wanted to survive here, I had to do whatever I could—even if it meant following the suggestions of some mysterious system.
As I slowly approached the contaminated land, a popup appeared as if it had been waiting.
Contaminated Land (Danger Level: B)
Resentful energy leaking from dead spirits is seeping into nature.
To use the Purification skill, designate an area and whisper “Purify” in your mind.
In this world, the root cause of “contamination” was something that had happened long ago: Spirit Hunting.
What was spirit hunting?
Exactly what it sounded like—killing spirits.
Chrrrk!
That was when the status window flipped like a book page and transformed into something resembling yellowed parchment.
As if someone were writing with a quill, the original story’s text appeared with a soft scratching sound.
“Spirits were beings that naturally faded away, but someone discovered a way to kill them and steal their power. Thus began ‘Spirit Hunting.’”
My eyes widened as I stared at the parchment.
It was explaining the original story this kindly?
Was this another reincarnator perk?
“After the madness of spirit hunting ended, many regions of the continent became contaminated by the spirits’ curse.”
“In contaminated lands, plants and animals could continue to exist—albeit in grotesquely altered forms—but it was impossible for humans to settle there.”
Everything in contaminated land was poison to humans.
You couldn’t hunt animals, gather plants, or drink the water.
Farming? Completely impossible.
Unless the contamination was purified.
I bent my knees and crouched down.
Placing both hands on the ground, I focused on purifying this very spot and whispered in my mind.
Purify.
Instantly, a brilliant, iridescent light burst forth from my hands.
“…!”
Startled, I stared wide-eyed.
The light seeped into the ground, then slowly faded away.
And the land that absorbed the light—
It changed from a dull blackish-purple to a rich brown!
I quickly scooped up some soil—
…I didn’t eat it, but I smelled it.
Instead of the acrid stench of contamination, it carried the familiar, earthy scent of natural soil.
Exactly one pyeong of land had been transformed into healthy soil suitable for farming.
The area was small, sure—but this was incredible.
If I purify one pyeong a day for ten days, that’s ten pyeong…!
And if I grew vegetables or fruit there, I could solve the food shortage!
“…But where do I get seeds or seedlings?”
At that exact moment, the status window appeared again with a message.
First Purification Successful!
You have obtained 10 Coins.
Coins can be used in the shop.
▶ Enter Shop
Oh. Jackpot.
All I did was purify the land, and I got coins as a bonus?
And there’s even a shop?!
This felt extremely promising!
Filled with anticipation, I clicked [▶ Enter Shop].
The window expanded, revealing a screen that looked just like an online shopping mall.
[☆ The Everything Shop ☆]
“Wow…!”
My heart raced as I browsed the items on sale.
Seeds, seedlings, saplings… they even sold mature trees?
Fully grown fruit trees, flowering trees—
But they were ridiculously expensive.
Paradise Apple Tree That Bears Crimson Apples Daily: 2,000 Coins
Lilac Tree Blessed by the Goddess of Summer: 2,500 Coins
I only have 10 coins… sniff.
How was I supposed to gather 2,000 coins?
“Potatoes. Let’s buy potatoes….”
With so many items, searching seemed faster.
When I tapped the search bar, a keyboard-like input field appeared, and I typed ‘seed potato.’
Cha-rak!
The screen refreshed, placing seed potatoes at the top.
The price was—
2 Coins each
So cheap!
Compared to those suspiciously fancy trees costing thousands of coins, ordinary seed potatoes were incredibly affordable!
“Alright, I’ll buy ten seed potatoes right now—!”
Wait!
“H—Huh?”
A system message abruptly interrupted.
To plant and harvest crops, farming tools are required.
Recommended tool: Hoe
Ah. Right.
Digging with bare hands would be tough.
I added five seed potatoes to the cart, then searched for a hoe.
Various hoes appeared—big and small.
The most basic one cost 5 coins.
That’s 10 coins total. Perfect.
It was disappointing that I could only buy five seed potatoes, but…
After placing the hoe and potatoes in the cart and pressing [Purchase], the status window warped like a black hole and spat out the items.
Five paper-wrapped seed potatoes and a hoe—no plastic or vinyl like in modern society.
…Should I try planting them now?
Clutching the seed potatoes and hoe protectively, I ran toward the temporary field (1 pyeong).
Meanwhile, at Vinterberg Ducal Estate.
After returning to his office, Raul soon received a report from a servant.
“We’ve delivered one month’s worth of daily necessities and food to the cabin.”
“I see. Good work. You may go.”
“Yes, my lord!”
In reality, the servant had pocketed everything—but he lied without shame.
He didn’t think it mattered.
After all, the lord likely wanted that woman dead anyway.
If the vile woman starved to death out there, it would spare the lord the trouble.
The lord had ordered him to check on her once a week…
But there’s no need for that.
The death of the Terni witch is everyone’s wish.
Only when the wicked Muriel Terni died would the Duke find happiness.
The servant sincerely believed that.
After the servant left and closed the door, Raul lifted his gaze from the documents and looked out the window.
What was that woman, abandoned in a dilapidated cabin, doing right now?
For the daughter of Terni, who had lived a life of luxury, this hardship would be unbearable.
She brought it upon herself.
If that wicked woman had simply behaved quietly at Vinterberg Estate, none of this would have happened.
But Muriel committed one atrocity after another, and Raul could no longer tolerate her.
So even if she died out there—
“……”
Raul froze mid-motion as he lifted his teacup.
A memory of their first meeting suddenly surfaced.
“I—I’m Muriel Terni….”
Her head had been bowed low, her voice timid and uncertain.
The tips of her ears, barely visible through her emerald-silver hair, had been red.
Her clear green eyes, which cautiously glanced at him, had held nothing but innocence.
“……”
Raul took a sip of tea and scoffed.
It had all been an act.
A disgusting woman.
And yet… he couldn’t be entirely certain.
Do I truly want her to die?
…If she were to die out there, everything would be neatly resolved.
The peace treaty with Terni could be broken.
The bothersome woman would be gone.
Yes. So—
Whether she lived or died, he shouldn’t care.
Muriel Terni—the wicked woman—was a stain that needed to be erased from his life.
