2nd Spring, Year 1.

Huh, neat. So this journal dates itself. In my handwriting. That isn't weird at all.

At this point, I think the dream theory can be safely written off. I've never had a dream where I've fallen asleep and woken up within the dream. Then again, I've never had a dream where I've ended up running my dead Uncle's farm in the middle of nowhere either. Okay, might not be best to write it off after all.

Marie came by again this morning. I apologized for what I said last night so at least I don't have that hanging over my head anymore. Yay!

Got a little bit more clarification on the amount we, I, owe to the Lawtons. 50,000 Zeni, due at the end of Spring. Followed by 100,000 at the end of Summer, 250,000 at the end of Fall, and 500,000 at the end of Winter.

I didn’t ask how much I’d owe them for Spring of next year. I think I might have started foaming at the mouth if she’d told me.

Oh, did I mention they don't have months here? Yeah, turns out that each year is only four seasons, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, each exactly twenty-eight days long. So instead of having ninetyish days to get all the money I need, I have twenty-eight.

Because I don't have enough problems.

Alex

"So, what are you?" Alexander asked, holding the long-stemmed mushroom up to his eyes. He turned it left and right, alternating glances at the odd bit of flora with looks to the open book in his right hand. Nothing. Satisfied, he dumped the mushroom into his bag and looked again to find a small picture of it now dominating the upper left-hand corner of the right page of his Status Book.

Just as he suspected. Simply looking at the mushroom in the wild, or even holding it in his hand wasn't enough to update his book. He had to possess the item, to store it in one of his bags or, presumably, the chest he had back on the farm for it to register.

Not that there was a considerable difference. There was a pixel image of the mushroom now, rather than a silhouette, and the bottom half of the page had resolved itself into a bit more English, but most of the page, even the name of the mushroom, was listed in the same Cryptic text as before.

"It is a forest mushroom." He said, watching with some satisfaction as the text in the book altered before his eyes, a small parenthetical description appearing next to the official name at the top of the page.

Cryptictext (Forest Mushroom)

A dubious brown mushroom with some known medicinal value.

Source: Gathering.

Found in: CrypticText, Indigo Forest.

Season: Spring.

Effect When Consumed: CrypticText

Sell Price: CrypticText

Other Uses: Cryptictext

Special:-

Loved: Cryptictext

Liked: Cryptictext

Neutral: Cryptictext

Disliked: Cryptictext

Hated: Cryptictext

Despised: Cryptictext

His experimentation was going better than expected.

After tending to his crops, and his short conversation with Marie, Alexander had spent much of the morning indulging the analytical side of his brain, testing theories and expanding the breadth of what he knew about the rules of Blue Hills.

Much of what he'd learned had merely confirmed things he'd already suspected. A tree did indeed, seem to take exactly fifty strikes to bring down, meaning he must have miscounted the previous evening. His HP and Energy did appear to refill overnight, though he'd have to injure himself more considerably if he wanted to test the former to be sure.

Cryptic written in his Status Book did, in fact, clear up to regular English as soon as he learned something, be it a name, a location or other factors. After he'd spoken to Evelyn the previous night, her picture and name had appeared in his Status Book, and he was sure he'd 'learn' the name of the mushroom as soon as he asked someone who knew.

Slowly but surely, the boundaries of his new world were coming into focus. There were still mountains of questions, but the simple fact that he was chipping away at that gargantuan mass of mysteries was reassuring in its own way.

Of course, all of that paled in comparison to the simple, almost instinctual pleasure he'd gotten that morning when he'd looked at his own status and seen the effects of his first day's trial and error.

Level 1

HP 200/200

Energy 168/200

Birch Branch Farm

Current Funds:175Ƶ

Debts Owed: 50,000Ƶ

Farming 2/100

Mining 0/100

Crafting 0/100

Gathering 3/100

Fishing 0/100

Combat 0/100

The gains were modest, to be sure, and the hit to his available funds hurt him in his very bones but just seeing his stats increase overnight poked at the dopamine centers in his brain. It was progress, the same sort of measurable improvement that had kept him going to the gym when he'd used one of those 'train like a video game' apps on his phone.

The only question in his mind, was how long it would take for the 'gains' to plateau, just like they'd done at the gym.

"So now the question is. Do I eat you." Alexander asked the mushroom after producing it from his bag once more.

If Marie were telling the truth, and he had no reason to doubt her at this point, he'd slept a full day through his arrival, meaning he hadn't eaten anything in at least two days without even a pang of hunger. Clearly, food wasn't something he needed to survive here, but as of yet, nothing was saying he couldn't eat.

Well, other than how Evelyn had reacted the previous day when he'd suggested eating the mushroom.

He'd hoped his little foraging trip into the woods would have turned up something slightly more appetizing than a dark brown mushroom of dubious quality, but as far as foliage was concerned, he had the eyes of a city boy. The only reason he'd found the mushrooms at all was that he'd known what he was looking for.

So it was eat the mushroom, or keep wandering the woods looking for something more edible. Wandering didn't seem like a terrible idea, particularly given the chance that he might run into Evelyn again during his search, but he had other priorities, chief among them clearing out additional space on the farm for the next round of crops he hoped to plant in a few days.

"Stop being such a big baby and eat the strange mushroom." He goaded himself.

It didn't help that he'd been a picky eater at the best of times.

Holding his nose with one hand, Alexander opened his mouth, closed his eyes, and bit into the side of the spongy mass. It tasted revolting, as predicted, his body reacting almost violently to the taste as he bit down two more mouthfuls of the small bit of forage. He chewed, and swallowed, wincing in disgust with each second that passed, until at last, he allowed himself a disgusted "Ughhhh!"

His Status Book buzzed within the bag on his hip, and as he retrieved it, Alexander ran his tongue back and forth across his upper teeth in a futile attempt to rid himself of some of the foul taste.

Cryptictext (Forest Mushroom) consumed! -10 HP. +20 Energy.

"Definitely, definitely not worth it." Alexander spat, shuddering one last time in utter disgust. Judging by the book, the mushroom wasn't exactly healthy for him, perhaps even lightly poisonous. Even so, it had answered some of his questions, and he smiled as he saw that the "Effect When Consumed" line of the item description had been updated with its beneficial and deleterious effects. He didn't have to eat, but when he did, it restored his energy, probably his HP as well when he wasn't eating literal poison.

A soft crack of distant branches momentarily quashed Alexander's thoughts of mechanics. Instantly he thought of Evelyn as he turned his gaze to search through the woods. Instead, disappointingly, he found a man working his way through the brush, a cane in one hand.

"Good morning!" Alexander cried out before he thought better of it. At some point, he was going to have to get an actual watch.

"Afternoon, I believe." The man replied as he drew closer, calling out Alexander's mistake, much to his chagrin.

He was older than Alexander, though not by terribly much. In his thirties perhaps, maybe his very early forties, if the glints of silver Alexander saw at the man's temples were more than just a trick of the light. He was fit and good-looking, a small goatee adding an air of menace to a face that didn't appear as if it could ever be welcoming, no matter how well the man tried. Only the man's slight limp suggested anything other than perfection, his cane doing everything it could to ameliorate that single flaw.

The newcomer was well dressed, too well dressed to be wandering through the woods. He wore a bespoke three-piece suit, the pinstripe material neatly buttoned overtop a crimson tie. His shoes were impeccably polished, despite the small amount of dust that had collected upon them during the man's trip into the woods, and it was that more than the suit that screamed wealth to Alexander. He had spent enough time around high-priced lawyers to know that it was the shoes that differentiated real wealth from those who tried to appear wealthy. An imposter never bothered with the shoes.

"You must be Roy Lawton."

That clearly surprised the man, who paused a step shorter than intended, some ten feet from Alexander. "My reputation precedes me, then?"

"Given your reputation, I would have thought you'd be more concerned about that." Alexander retorted.

"Don't believe everything that you hear," Lawton said with a simple shrug.

"You're the second person who has said something to that effect to me since I've gotten here," Alex replied, brushing what dirty he could off onto his pants before closing the distance to offer his hand. "Alexander Adamson."

"Roy Lawton." The man replied, some of the confidence surging back as he captured Alexander's hand in a firm shake. "Pleasure to finally meet you. I apologize that I didn't stop by earlier, but I hadn't heard that anyone was taking over the farm until the Mayor filed the appropriate paperwork last night."

I can't imagine why she'd keep that from you. Alexander thought coldly. He did his best to keep his expression impassive as he stepped away and spoke. "Should I be feeling special, that you've sought me out so quickly then?"

That seemed to push one of Lawton's buttons. If the man was anything like some of the former clients Alexander had dealt with, Lawton was probably fuming that he had to come at all. "In a way." He admitted. "I'm sure by now Marie has explained that I have a keen interest in the current ownership of Birch Branch Farm."

"Honestly don't think I'm going to keep the name. Makes me feel like my Uncle wanted to have a ranch, but couldn't manage it and kept the name anyways." Lawton's expression tightened, but he said nothing, inscrutable grey eyes examining Alexander until at last the latter spoke again. "She did, I have to say, and it doesn't reflect particularly well on you. No offense."

"None taken." The older man shrugged. "Business is business. You understand that, don't you?"

"To an extent."

"Well then, perhaps you and I can do business."

"Perhaps. I think you'll find me a rather hard sell, however."

Lawton's left eye twitched, almost imperceptibly, as he tapped the bottom of his cane against the dirt pathway beneath his feet. "Well, fortunately, I have time. Obviously sooner would be better, but so long as you relinquish ownership of the farm to Lawmart before the outstanding balance has been paid, we are willing to offer you a sizable settlement."

"How sizable?" Alexander asked with a certain morbid curiosity.

"Well, that is something to discuss, perhaps over din-"

"Come on." Alexander cut in with some bemusement. "You didn't walk out all this way to wine and dine me without even a starting offer."

Lawton considered the words for a moment, then shrugged once again. "Five Billion."

"I don't suppose that is in US Dollars?" When Lawton's expression showed confusion, Alexander chuckled. "I'll have to pass, at least for the time being."

The other man sighed. "It is probably pointless to ask, but what is it with the men in your family?"

"That we're stubborn?" Alexander asked. "Honestly, I thought it was just me. That said, I meant it when I said for the time being. I'm not rejecting your offer without cause, and I'm not entirely opposed to accepting it in the future. I'm just more than a little intrigued by this place, and I don't want to jump into any deal without considering all my options."

His words seemed to mollify Lawton, at least to some extent. The smile returned to the man's face, if slightly less predatory than before. "If you ever do change your mind, you only need to stop by the house. I'm rarely there, but you can leave me a message, and I'll arrive as quickly as I can."

Alexander cocked his head to one side. "As quickly as you can? Wouldn't that be the train?"

"The train?"" Lawton asked, before laughing. "Heavens no. My family has constructed a private airstrip to the east of town for ease of travel. Avoids the dangerous mountain road or the intermittent schedule of other methods. Let me guess, Marie Mayer didn’t mention that to you, did she?"

She hadn’t, of course. The realization that he’d been lied to, if only by omission, struck a pretty sensitive nerve, though the damage was mitigated somewhat by the fact that Roy Lawton couldn’t completely hide his smug smirk.

A quick way home if I want it. Assuming the plane can also get me out of whatever twisted reality I live in. Alexander thought. He wasn't sure what five billion Zeni could buy him quite yet, but it certainly had its appeal over owing an enormous debt.

"That offer for dinner is still open," Lawton added, his gesturing lightly with one hand. "Just because your Uncle and I found ourselves at odds, doesn't mean that you and I need to do the same."

"A raincheck." Alexander smiled half-heartedly. "I've got a good number of things I wanted to handle today. Not sure I've time for a sit-down meal."

A thumb tapped irritably against the brass head of Lawton's cane before the man smiled and dipped his head in a polite nod. "As you will. I hope to hear from you soon." He turned to leave, but only got a handful of steps before something seemed to occur to him all at once. "Since I'm sure Marie didn't tell you this either, I will. The most your uncle ever earned in a single year on that farm was a little over five million zeni. You don't have the time or the experience to earn even a fraction of that." He turned, his eyes meeting Alexander's. "Marie Mayer wants you to believe that you have a chance to pay off the whole of the outstanding debt, but that is a pipe dream."

For once the expression on Roy Lawton's face showed true, a contemptible sneer that made a handsome face look positively ugly. "Do everyone in the village a favor. Take my money, use it to buy them their own little plot of land somewhere else, and stay out of the Lawton family's way."