Chapter 8: Hamburger

Although Hot Spring Town was a virtual town, and its residents were all virtual NPCs, Amy had crossed into this world and become one of them—so to her, they were real, vivid people.

At first, her desire to max out everyone’s favorability had been driven by her collecting obsession. But now, she truly wanted to understand each person living here.

She wanted to be their friend.

When she returned to the farm, the sun was already high, its warm golden light flooding the land. Even though the weeds and trees left the farm looking messy, the sunlight lent it a kind of wild charm.

Amy wanted to clean up the farm quickly, but this was slow work, restricted by stamina and tools. It couldn’t be rushed; it had to be done step by step.

The sunlight was perfect. She spread out the weeds she had cut over the last two days, letting them dry into hay for the livestock she would raise in the future.

She hadn’t yet decided what animals to keep.

She was very envious of Nancy’s seaside life with her animals. Perhaps Amy could raise a few of every kind, just like Nancy?

That would be a massive undertaking.

After laying out the weeds, Amy’s hands itched, as if there was something else she had forgotten to do. Looking around, she spotted the soil not far away, already drying out.

—Oh my God, she had forgotten to water the seeds!

Nancy had reminded her several times: watering was more important than fertilizing or weeding. If she skipped a day, the crops wouldn’t grow; skip several days, and they would wither.

Amy quickly fetched her watering can and drenched the soil.

The dry earth became moist and vibrant again, full of life.

Amy let out a soft breath of relief.

“Don’t forget to water!” She wrote the words on a sticky note and stuck it by her bed like a motto, so it would be the first thing she saw each morning.

She nodded, satisfied.

By late morning, her stamina had dropped below 30. Her stomach grumbled with hunger, but she still had some energy left.

She decided to make a hamburger for lunch.

To make a hamburger, first she needed a fried egg.

She lit the stove, poured in some of the olive oil she had bought, and cracked an egg into the hot pan.

The oil sizzled, the egg white gradually turning opaque, filling the air with the delicious aroma of frying egg.

With practiced ease, Amy flipped it, sprinkled black pepper, then lifted it out onto a plate.

A perfectly cooked sunny-side-up egg with crispy edges and tender whites.

Perhaps because it was too simple, the sunny-side-up egg didn’t unlock a new recipe in her codex.

Amy wasn’t surprised.

If the codex were that easy, she could toss anything into a bowl, mix in some seasoning, and call it a recipe. The game system clearly wouldn’t allow that.

Setting aside the egg, she used the remaining oil in the pan to cook the chicken thigh meat she had bought. The thin cuts—the cheapest from Charlie’s store—cooked quickly. She seasoned them with black pepper, then placed them on a plate as well.

Next came the lettuce. Amy prepared two fresh leaves, tearing them by hand. She preferred this method over cutting with a knife—it made the lettuce taste fresher and crisper.

With everything ready, she pulled out some store-bought burger buns (definitely something you’d never see at the Seagull Restaurant). Layer by layer, she stacked the sunny-side-up egg, lettuce, and chicken thigh meat, drizzling salad dressing between each layer before capping it with the top bun.

Chicken burger, complete.

Her game panel suddenly flickered.

Amy already knew what to expect. She opened it, and sure enough, the notification appeared—

[You have unlocked Recipe Codex: “Hamburger”]

This was her third unlocked recipe, after the Seagull Restaurant’s vegetable salad and caramel macchiato egg tart.

The mini versions of salad, tart, and hamburger now sat side by side in her panel, bringing her a quiet sense of joy.

Amy took her first bite.

Though made with cheap ingredients, she hadn’t skimped on portions. The juicy chicken, the smoky fried egg, the crisp lettuce, and the rich salad dressing all exploded together in layers of flavor.

Her eyes narrowed in satisfaction.

It might have been simple, but it was also the first bite of meat she had eaten since arriving here.

The only pity was the buns—not fresh, a little soggy and soft. That was the unavoidable downside of grocery-store bread.

Amy thought wistfully: If only she had a bread maker. Toasted buns would taste so much better.

Bread maker… she wanted one so badly.

An oven, a bread maker, a juicer… her wishlist of appliances was growing.

Oh right, she also wanted a refrigerator to store food. Spring was cool, and for now she was buying only what she could eat quickly, so spoilage wasn’t an issue. But come summer, she wouldn’t get away with it so easily.

Buying things was easy—the problem was earning money.

Amy stared at her little stash of 1,000 gold, worried.

She worried herself into an hour-long nap, and then worried again after waking up.

With nothing urgent to do in the afternoon, Amy decided to chop the remaining cedar trees on her farm. At least she could earn something.

So she tied up her hair and got to work.

Time passed. With the final crash of the last cedar falling, Amy dropped to the ground with her axe.

The farm’s cedars were all gone.

Sitting there, she thought: I’m exhausted. I never want to chop another tree again.

And for now, she didn’t have to. The only trees left were sugar maples, and she had already decided to keep them for maple syrup, not chop them into firewood.

After resting, she cut the cedars into neat logs and tied them into bundles with rope.

Looking at the tidy stacks, her feelings were mixed.

The good news: she could sell them to Ryan for a nice profit.

The bad news: there were no more cedars left to sell.

It felt like eating the “last supper.”

Still, it was almost time for dinner, and that alone cheered her up. Even if tonight’s meal was only leftover lettuce from lunch.

Because it had only been a few hours and the lettuce had stayed indoors, it was still crisp. After washing it again, it was fresh enough.

She tore the leaves into bite-sized pieces, tossed them with salad dressing, and called it dinner.

The lettuce salad was crisp and refreshing. Aside from being a little too plain (lettuce only), it wasn’t worse than Gabriel’s vegetable salad.

…Well, maybe it was.

Her salad had no avocado, no cherry tomatoes, and no crispy bacon.

Amy missed the Seagull Restaurant’s food. Expensive as it was, it had generous portions and tasted divine. One day, when she had money, she would go back and feast there. …She had far too many things she wanted to do once she had money.

She quickly finished the plate of salad.

It was decent enough, but lacked nutrition. Amy couldn’t help muttering: after working all day, she was stuck eating a diet meal.

With nothing else urgent to do that evening, she didn’t want to risk what little stamina she had left. Instead, she stayed at the farm, enjoyed the cool breeze for a while, and then went to bed.

Perhaps from the day’s exhaustion, she drifted quickly into a deep, heavy sleep.