Shen Xin, unaware that she had just silently acted like a badass, lifted her head in confusion when she sensed someone approaching.

“Hello?”

Xiao Feng chuckled awkwardly as he crouched beside Shen Xin. “You’re so good! Any tips for fishing?”

The other players nearby also noticed Shen Xin’s exceptional performance and craned their necks to listen to the pro’s tips.

“Uh…just pay attention to when the fish bite the hook, then follow the rhythm: left, up, right, down, left, down, up, right, up, right, left, right—and it’s caught.” In the blink of an eye, Shen Xin had caught another flatfish.

The surrounding players were left speechless.

Sorry, we’ll leave you alone now.

Xiao Feng wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Pro, these aren’t ‘tips,’ this is just pure talent.”

“Is it?” Shen Xin stuffed the fish into her inventory. Xiao Feng didn’t dare stand next to her and fish, instead striking up a conversation with her.

“Pro, were you selected from the amateur pool of players?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“No wonder you’re so good! What rank did you get?”

“Rank ten.”

Xiao Feng was shocked. “Rank ten! If someone in the top ten is this good, how godly are the top nine?!”

The few fishermen nearby shivered, then awkwardly turned their gazes away.

“Ha ha… um, I’m the seventh.”

“I’m the ninth.”

“I’m… the sixth.”

Although their skills weren’t as poor as Xiao Feng’s, they were still far behind Shen Xin’s.

Xiao Feng stared, puzzled.

“You can’t compare us,” the young man who was eighth said, stepping forward. “I remember who she is. The test was only ten minutes long, and by the time we ran out of time, she’d only been playing for a minute! How can you compare us?”

“Wait, really?” Xiao Feng’s gaze on Shen Xin grew even more astonished. “One minute? Then, uh, if you played for the full ten minutes, how high would you rank?”

Shen Xin shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe top five?”

“Oh, come on, you’re being humble! Top three would be no problem for you!”

The few gamers nearby joined in, encouraging Xiao Feng even more to recruit Shen Xin.

“Hey, big shot, any plans to become a streamer after the game? If you’re interested, we have a company here!”

Shen Xin smiled, but an image popped into her head: her parents cutting off her internet connection as she streamed herself playing games.

Xiao Feng continued talking incessantly, “You’re gonna be a big hit when you join, and I’ll take you under my wing… Don’t look down on me just because I’m no good at the game; I actually have over a million followers.”

“Mm-hmm, I’ll consider it.”

However, her parents definitely wouldn’t agree.

Shen Xin’s response was clearly perfunctory, but Xiao Feng didn’t notice. She thought she’d made a friend, at least, and could play games with him in the future.

“Hey, big shot, I’m Xiao Feng. What’s your name?”

“Shen Xin.”

“Mr. Shen, what profession did you choose?”

“Farming.”

“Farming?” Xiao Feng looked perplexed for a few seconds, then broke out into laughter.

“Ha ha ha ha, Mr. Shen, before you realized this was a survival game, were you planning on reenacting a rural romance story?”

Shen Xin didn’t respond.

“Many professions were already taken,” he finally said.

“Right, right, right.” Xiao Feng wiped away the tears from laughing too hard. “I also didn’t manage to get one of the rarer professions, so I chose to be a carpenter and live with the old carpenter in town.”

Most players were housed in the town. Xiao Feng asked Shen Xin, “Hey, big shot, where do you live? I’ve never seen you around town.”

“I live on a farm east of the town.”

“A farm? Like, a big one with lots of land?”

After receiving an affirmative response, Xiao Feng let out an envious sound. “That’s so nice. I don’t even have my own house… Oh right, if you need anything built or fixed, you can find me first. My rates are cheaper than the old carpenter’s!”

The old carpenter was an NPC, so Xiao Feng wouldn’t feel guilty about stealing his potential work.

Shen Xin asked, “What can you build?”

“At the moment, I can build warehouses and gardens. Would you be interested?” Xiao Feng pulled out his handbook to explain further. “The warehouse is 3×5 units in size, but its interior is 5×7 units, making it two stories with a capacity of 300 units of feed on each floor.”

Feed… That was probably for raising livestock. The farm could certainly raise chickens, ducks, fish, and other meats in the future.

“How much to build a warehouse?”

Xiao Feng courteously replied, “The old carpenter wants 20 silver and 300 wood. If you’re willing to give me 17 silver and the wood, I can make it up to him.”

Shen Xin nodded. “Sure, how long will it take?”

“Two days.” Xiao Feng seemed pleasantly surprised that Shen Xin took him seriously. “I can start anytime.”

He still needed to gather wood today, so Shen Xin pondered briefly. “Let’s start tomorrow morning. Come to my farm at 8 a.m.?”

“Sounds good!”

Though he hadn’t caught many fish, Xiao Feng felt fortunate to have received work. Seventeen silver was enough for quite a few loaves of bread.

Because Xiao Feng lived in an NPC’s house in town, he had access to a lot of information. He promptly put away his fishing rod and shared some gossip with Shen Xin, which could be considered extra services included with the storage shed.

“Based on my observations, twenty players have settled down in the village.”

“Remember to talk to the NPCs every day; it increases favor.”

“The shop has started selling upgraded backpacks with twenty spaces! They’re limited, so you should buy one as soon as you can…”

He meant well, though Shen Xin already knew most of this information. She still listened carefully before thanking him politely.

Xiao Feng blushed. “No worries, no worries.”

Snapper was a medium-level fish, and some players simply weren’t good at rhythm games, so they tried a few times before leaving.

Soon, only Xiao Feng, Shen Xin, and another male player were left on the pier.

With nothing else to do, Xiao Feng greeted Shen Xin. “I’m heading back first, big shot. Are you still fishing?”

“Mm-hm.”

It was only 2 P.M.; Shen Xin usually fished until around 4 P.M.

“Good luck! I’ll see you tomorrow at 8.”

After Xiao Feng left, the beach fell silent once more. Shen Xin glanced discreetly at the male player standing beside her, who caught her eye and turned to smile at her.

Shen Xin looked away. By the time she left at 4 P.M., the person had reeled in a flounder, easily catching the fish with no effort.

They seemed quite skilled. Shen Xin took a closer look at them.

They were tall, their hair slightly wavy, and their face…turned away from her, so she couldn’t see it in full.

She’d never seen this person in the gaming community before—could they be an influencer or celebrity? Either way, they were a formidable opponent.

“If he’s a celebrity, I guess I can begrudgingly accept taking second place to him; at least they’re skilled…” Shen Xin muttered as she left, casually dispatching a few slimes along the way and completing the daily side quest.

After setting aside the money needed to repair the storehouse tomorrow, Shen Xin purchased [50 coriander seeds], [50 potato seeds], and [26 loaves of bread].

Aside from the oilseed rape, she bought all the other seeds in reverse order, buying more as the price decreased.

“With this, the areas that need watering will increase… Please rain, rain.”

Her palms pressed together, Shen Xin bowed to the heavens, then returned to her farm to chop down a large swath of trees, work diligently in her fields, and finally sleep at midnight again.

Awakening on the sixth day, Shen Xin found her profession and fishing levels hadn’t increased, but she heard a different notification instead.

【 Congratulations, player! Gathering level +1. The wood drop rate from chopping trees increased by 10 percent. 】

“Chopping trees counts as gathering too?”

So she’d get an extra piece of wood for every tree chopped?

The effect wasn’t obvious, but it was better than nothing.

There were no crops ready for harvest today, so Shen Xin waited for Xiao Feng’s arrival by watering her fields early.

With almost 300 units of crops planted, Xiao Feng nearly fell to his knees when he arrived at the farm.

“Big shot! You’re the real big shot! I can’t believe you’ve planted so much; you’re going all out!”

Ah, this ignorant child doesn’t know what’s coming.

Shen Xin handed 17 silver coins and the lumber to Xiao Feng, then quietly reminded him, “You should use this money to buy some more bread.”

Xiao Feng hadn’t expected Shen Xin to suddenly say this. “What? Why do you want to buy more bread?”

Though the hidden quest was still ongoing, Shen Xin couldn’t explain the situation to him before it actually happened.

“Have you played UOL’s games before?” she asked.

“Of course! You mean, ‘I play games’?” Xiao Feng was clearly a victim of UOL’s games, but just as he was about to roast them, he realized the severity of the situation. “Could it be—”

Shen Xin shook her head. “I’m not sure, just a guess. It’s better to be safe…”

“Better safe than sorry, better safe than sorry…” Xiao Feng suddenly grew serious and returned two silver coins to Shen Xin. “Thanks for the reminder, buddy! I won’t tell anyone!”

Shen Xin declined his offer. “It’s just an exchange of information. Anyway, I’ve cleared out some space here, do you think it’s enough?”

She had chopped down some trees a few meters away from the left side of the house, leaving a 3×5-meter area.

“It’s more than enough.” Xiao Feng pulled out four wooden poles, each half a person’s height and as thick as a fist, from his bag and nailed them into the ground at each corner of the area. Then, using a rope, he tied the poles together to form a rectangle.

“Hey, big shot, can you grant me some permissions?”

Shen Xin walked over and saw a prompt displayed in the designated area.

【 Allow player Xiao Feng to build a warehouse on this land? 】

Xiao Feng explained, “This is like a barrier. Any items on privately owned land are inaccessible and unchangeable to other players; only the carpenter can build houses this way.”

“So that’s how it is.” Shen Xin clicked to approve.

Xiao Feng began building her warehouse, and Shen Xin decided to organize her inventory while she could. She headed toward the beach once again.

When she returned in the afternoon, Xiao Feng had left, but the carpenter’s barrier remained, and the outline of the warehouse was complete.

Xiao Feng had left a note on the table:

Hey there, big shot, today’s work is done! It’ll be fully repaired by 4 P.M. tomorrow.

Pretty fast.

Shen Xin purchased the garlic, rice, spring wheat, and spinach seeds, bringing them back to her farm. Looking at her nearly 300 units of farmland, she decided to wait a few days before planting.

After putting the seeds away, Shen Xin watered her crops while planning out her next steps.

Each packet of rapeseed cost 150 copper coins, so she could buy two more days’ worth of fish and afford them. After purchasing the seeds, she wasn’t in a rush to earn money. She could stock up on fish and wild vegetables for now. A game this expansive likely had cooking functionality… But it seemed like the only thing she could make in the fireplace was hot water; she’d have to ask an NPC tomorrow…

Speaking of which, there were still a few people left to interact with as part of the main quest. She’d have time to finish that now that she’d purchased the seeds.

Shen Xin sighed. “I was supposed to just casually play around, so how did I end up taking it so seriously…”