001 The System

Nico sat on the greyed pine dock with an annoyed expression. His scrawny arm twitched and his muscle spazzed from leveraging the heavy stick that he proudly called a fishing pole.

Since sunrise, he had been waiting for a fish to bite, but only a few small piranhas had taken the bait. A growl rumbled and undulated violently from the lower pit of his stomach, most likely the effect of eating nothing but weeds-- the healthy, legal, and free sorts-- the last few days.

He shaded his eyes and peeked up at the partly cloud-covered sun nearing its peak.

Lunch time, finally.

He yanked back the fishing line, threaded lines made from many knotted threads, and wrapped the line around a wooden pole. After he secured the line, he grabbed the strap connected to a large straw woven basket and shouldered it over his back. He scrooched over slightly. The basket was of average weight, but a dozen small fish felt heavy for a little boy.

His last remaining item was a smaller sized picnic basket. He hauled it on top of the bigger basket, towering over his head. His two baskets easily dwarfed his small frame. With all of his belongings in place, he trotted down the dirt path toward the town center.

A group of fishermen walked back on the same path with the similar intentions of filling their stomach. The heavy movement of their steps indicated that their baskets were full of fish.

Nico secretly envied their luck.

One of the fishermen noticed the young skinny 10-years old boy looking at them. The boy was not different from the other boys his age. His chubby baby cheeks contrasted from his sharp black eyes. The fisherman assumed the boy was an orphan judging from his ragged grey shirt meant for an adult twice his size.

Feeling magnanimous for the day, the fisherman with two side whiskers removed one of his pickerels from his basket.

"Hey kid, take this." He handed over the fish to Nico

Nico didn't need the fish, but he felt grateful nevertheless.

"Thanks Rooster!" Nico bowed twice as customary.

"Not a problem! Nico, wasn't it?" Rooster laughed heartily, and without reason.

The man was known as Rooster to the other fisherman. Nico wondered why they didn't call him Catfish because of his whiskers. He didn't put much thought into it and continued toward the town center as though he was on a mission.

Rooster watched curiously as the little boy hiked toward the market district of Rinlin. Rooster had been living in the village for ten years since he had retired and relocated to Rinlin. In the past few days, he had noticed the small boy fishing the Stein Lake. At a glance, it was easy to tell that the boy was a complete novice. His fishing pole was a simple stick probably taken from a broom and fishing line made from unthreaded clothes. It was surprising that he caught anything at all. Most fishermen made a living using fishing nets, not a fishing pole.

The next morning, Rooster noticed the same boy heading to the lake, but this time, he brought along a crude hand-made fishing net. The boy was a lot more successful that morning than the previous days. By mid-morning, Rooster heard a loud exclamation from the little boy, who seems to have gotten a good haul from his cast.

Congratulation, Catch 100 Fish Task Complete.

Nico examined the transparent text box that appeared on his peripheral and let out a sigh of relief. After scrapping for vegetables and catching fish the past five days, Nico had finally completed his first task. The set deadline for the task was 7 days, and he completed the task in 5 days.

Select Reward:

1. Midnight Koi

2. Baitless Rod

3. Miracle Net

60 seconds until random selection.

There were no descriptions of the reward. He didn't have much time to contemplate the options.

The 60 seconds timer counted down.

Nico had no basis to select anything, so it didn't matter if the time runs out. Whether he chose it himself or whether the system chose it, it would more or less be considered random. If anything, he could blame it on fate rather than himself.

50 seconds…

If he had to guess, the Miracle Net may have a biblical connection. He was vaguely familiar with what a koi might represent, as koi were generally regarded as lucky. However, the meaning of the baitless rod eluded him. It sounded like something that could catch anything.

0 seconds…

Receive Manaspirit, the Midnight Koi.

Nico felt a jolt deep within his soul that manifested itself like a person being tasered down by the police. Nico fell to his knees, but he quickly recovered.

A special life-form appeared inside of him, somehow inherently connected to him. He felt a sense of warmth omitted by the Midnight Koi. Other than the vague sensation, he had no idea what it was.

He could dwell on it later as he gather more information.

He lightly tapped on an icon on the lower right of his peripheral. The icon was the only connection to the strange system. When he first saw the icon floating in space, he thought something was wrong with his vision.

After touching the icon, a transparent task box appeared outlined by glowing lines.

Tasks:

Gather 25 Bushels of Vegetables. 20/25. Remaining Time: 18 hours. Reward: Choice Box.

*new* Catch 500 Fish. 11/500. Remaining Time: 15 days. Reward: Roulette Coupon.

*new* Plant and Harvest 5 Bushels of Vegetables. 0/5. Remaining Time: 30 days. Reward: Choice Box.

"The f*** is this?" Nico asked himself.

It was already painful to gather vegetables during the early spring season of Rinlin. He didn't expect the system to be so evil as to make him plant vegetables.

When he awakened in this strange world, he had received two tasks, the catch 100 fish task and the gather 25 bushels of vegetable task. With only seven days given, he allocated the morning to catch fish and the afternoon and evening to gather vegetables.

He had managed to gather a few bushels of vegetables by pillaging the merchants and farmland the first two days. It wasn't simple at all considering many of them have guard dogs. He was almost bitten on the third day, and decided that foraging was the best bet. The guard dogs weren't simple creatures, but an enhanced form that resembled the wild wolves.

Many villagers didn't have guard dogs, but he wasn't going to scoop so low as to steal from the villagers, unless he was really desperate.

The only option left was foraging. While foraging may seem easy, it was difficult to find vegetables within the safe zone.

The safe zone was exactly how it sounded, a safe area within the village. Outside of the safe zone was the unprotected land and wilderness. There were dangerous beasts that roamed around. Nico had never been outside the safe zone, having been warned many times by the beggars on Poor Street.

"You're a crazy kid Mutey if you're planning to head out there," said the beggar, Old Fatty. He wasn't old, but he looked old, so everyone called him Old Fatty.

"It's Nico!" Nico corrected. He attempted to change his former nickname to his real name.

"Blah, Nico. When did you get yourself a name?"

"A week ago, but that is besides the point." Nico steered the focus back to the safe zone. "Why is it dangerous out there? I don't see anything dangerous across the fence. Is a small wooden fence going to keep a village safe if there are really beasts out there?"

"Ah, you're becoming an idiot after learning to talk more! When the empire bestow a piece of land to be developed, they make sure that the land is blessed and protected from the beasts. That is why the beasts do not attack."

Nico pressed for more information, but Old Fatty responded by calling him stupid. It was likely he didn't know the answer himself. However, if there were beasts similar to the guard dogs, Nico wasn't stupid enough to head out without a plan. Having finished the fishing task, Nico packed the big straw basket with fish.

"You did well today Nico!" Rooster shouted out to him.

"Thank you Rooster!" Nico shouted back in glee.

"Just make sure you don't bring back more than 50 fish. That's the daily limit before a fishing license is required."

"There's a fishing license?"

"Yeah, professional fisherman needs to apply for a license at the town hall."

Nico thanked Rooster for the advice and headed back to the village. Before going into the market, Nico changed out from his smelly gray shirt and wore a clean blue shirt that fitted him well.

In the market, the bulky man glanced quickly through the fish basket.

"You have a good haul today," the fishmonger said. "10 coppers."

"Come on Pauley, there are at least 4 dozens fishes in there," said Nico. "Two are good sized walleye that are worth 4 coppers and there are bass and other good eats too. 30 coppers."

"Yeah, but how likely am I to sell all of these in three days?" Pauley asked, rhetorically. "Most will turn into livestock feed or bait. It isn't much of a profit if I buy these for more than 15 coppers."

"But you can also dry the fish and sell them later," said Nico.

"Yeah, but very few people buy dried fish. I'll give you 20 coppers, that's the most I can give."

Nico reluctantly agreed. He sold a basket worth of fish to the fishmonger for 20 copper pieces, which resembled the shape of a coffee beans. If he set a stall himself and sold them directly to customers, he could probably earn 40 copper pieces but he didn't have the time to set up a stall. It was too time consuming.

"Hey, by the way, do you need permission to set up a stall on the street?"

The fishmonger moved on to assist the next customer and left Nico hanging. The hearty woman selling lettuce on the next stall had a good laugh.

"Haha, the streets belong to Kelseran Empire, so you don't have to worry about permission," she responded.

"Ah, I see. Is it different from the shops?" Nico pointed to the shop nearby.

"The shops are different," said the woman. "Most shops are owned by the nobles or royalty. You need a lease from the town hall to open a shop."

"How about farming land?"

"The same."

"So I can't grow on any empty lot?" asked Nico.

The woman laughed again. "No, most open fields have an owner, so you need to request a lease to start farming," she responded.

"Are the fields in the wilderness owned by someone?"

The woman thought for a moment. "Hm… technically it's owned by the empire, so you don't need a lease. It's just that, no one in their right mind would farm in the wilderness."

"Why is that? Why do some beasts stay away from the village? But I still see the guard dogs and horses around?"

The boy sure have stupid questions sometimes, thought the woman, but she didn't mind helping the boy out. He wasn't much older than her grandchildren. Children his age asked such questions during their apprenticeship with their relatives or tradesman.

She knew he was a vagrant from the alley, but he had not been begging for food lately. The boy was turning a new leaf and started to fish. It was a good direction for an orphan boy.

"It has been like that forever," replied the woman. "Tamed beasts have masters and therefore allowed in the village. Wild beasts are repelled from the village zone."

Nico wanted to ask more questions, but the woman had another customer approaching.

"Thanks Shirley, see you tomorrow!"

Nico waved at the woman and walked down the market.

Nico located the seed vendor and asked for advice on the quickest vegetables to grow. The vendor suggested radish, which could be harvested in as little as 25 days. Nico bought one copper worth of seeds, which was enough to grow 10 sacks of radish. After asking the vendor for some basic advice on growing radish, he left the market.

Nico approached a field near the outskirts of town. There were field grasses and wild plants clinging onto a wooden fences that indicated the boundary between the village safe zone and the wilderness.

Nico approached a beech tree on the side of the fence and laid out his net around the tree. He climbed the tree and tied a piece of cloth around a branch. After yanking on the cloth, the young beech leaves rained down on the net below. Nico repeated the process until there appeared to be a bundle of leaves on the ground.

Nico jumped down and gathered the net.

Tasks:

Gather 25 Bushels of Vegetables. 21/25. Remaining Time: 16 hours. Reward: Choice Box

Plant and Harvest 5 Bushel of Vegetables. 0/5. Remaining Time: 30 days. Reward: Choice Box

Catch 500 Fish. 11/500. Remaining Time: 15 days. Reward: Roulette Coupon.

The progress count for gathering 25 bushels of vegetables increased by one.

After a few days of carrying out the tasks for the system, he had noticed some rules imposed by the system. It would be nice if he could talk to the system, have a menu or a system manual of some sort, but the system was simply there.

He had already tried several voice commands like abra cadabra, open sesame, and menu, but no response. The system didn't give him any indication of when a bushel was completed. The only way to confirm was to check whether the progress count increased.

Even worse, there was no defined measurement of a bushel. A cart load of vegetables he had stolen on the first day contained 6 sacks of miscellaneous vegetables, but only 5 bushels were counted by the system. 2 sacks of wild plants counted as 1 bushel, while a different set of 2 sacks of wild plants counted as 2 bushels the next day. He suspected that different plants counted differently.

The most abundant plant available was the field grass. Unfortunately, the 3 sacks of grass amounted to nothing but a waste of time. The dandelion leaves fared better, and although half a sack counted as a bushel, picking dandelions was tedious and labor intensive. He came up with an idea of collecting beech leaves while making his net. It was quicker and easier.

He exhaled with relief when the system accepted the beech tree leaves. After reaching the net capacity of 2 bushels, he emptied out the leaves on the side, and continued collecting the leaves.

The system rule for possession was simple. As long as a free item was on him, it counted in the system. However, a stolen item needed to be taken out of a particular range from its original property to be considered his possession. The open fields in the village had an owner and the system viewed it as theft even though he was just pulling weeds.

Nico climbed back up another beech tree and continued collecting its baby leaves. By the afternoon, another text box appeared.