《Ultimate Farmer's Paradise》


 Chapter 1 - Summoned As A Farmer

    Am I dead?


    Is this heaven?


    Yaro opened his eyes and was overwhelmed by the sudden brightness. After being submerged in darkness for what felt like an eternity, every sensation was unique and strange.


    What is going on?


    Yaro blinked a few times, before gaining his bearings. He was standing in a small, empty room. Well, empty except for one other person.


    There was an ostentatiously dressed youth staring at him. His features were hawkish and striking, and there was a thick book open in his hands.


    From a glance, Yaro instinctively disliked the youth.


    Is there a need to wear such bright red clothing? Are you worried no one will notice you?


    Yaro¡¯s mind was in chaos. He was a painter who should have been famous, but was forced to languish in obscurity and self-medicate with illegal drugs. How did he end up in this room?


    What was that darkness from before?


    Why was he being stared at?


    Yaro added another reason to why he did not like the youth. Mind your own damn business! Do I look like a circus sideshow to you?


    Yaro tried to piece together the chronology of events. What did he last remember?


    All he knew was that a moment ago¡­or was it a long time ago? What had happened to him?


    His memories were distorted. There was something he was missing¡­


    In any case, what he remembered was that he had been driving home to his bachelor¡¯s pad after a night of drinking alone¡­then the last thing he saw was a bright light and loud sound¡­he had been taking a left turn on a green light, and now?This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    I really have died! Damn it!


    And the gap in between? Something occurred after being hit by the car, but what was it? The reincarnation process?


    Am I in a new world, or is this my old familiar blue planet?


    Wait¡­is this a hoe in my hand? Am I a farmer?


    ¡°You are Number 5, a lawslave of this Lord Kilsov,¡± the youth proclaimed in a loud voice. The words were not in Yaro¡¯s language, but he somehow understood them.


    I am a lawslave?


    Yaro was confused but he did not speak.


    Wasn¡¯t slavery already abolished? The sensibilities of this youth were really¡­medieval! And why was he addressing himself in the third person?


    Ah, was it a different world after all?


    Or a different time? The past? The future?


    Lord Kilsov frowned. ¡°Bad physique, the soul of a mortal? What a horrible summoning,¡± he muttered to himself. Shaking his head, he addressed Yaro again.


    ¡°The rules are as follows:


    ¡°Rule One: You must follow the command of every lawslave ranked higher than you.


    ¡°Rule Two: You must forage or feed the Devil Flower every day. When you forage, you must bring me the results. You will earn your meal from the worth of your forage or the improvement of the Devil Flower.


    ¡°Rule Three: You may not harm myself, nor any of the other lawslaves.


    That is all.¡±


    As the youth finished talking, Yaro felt an odd feeling, as though he had been bound to follow the three ground rules. They were now as immutable as gravity and the other natural laws.


    New world! New world! New world!


    There was no chance that such magic existed on the blue planet!


    A moment later, Yaro felt indignant. Wait! You aren¡¯t going to say any more? I was just dragged here from a completely different world, and you are going to leave me in the dark?


    What is a lawslave? What is foraging? A Devil Flower? What is the name of this world? Summoning? What is summoning?


    Can I summon something?


    Yaro was left with many questions to add on to the basic ones he had, like where he was and how he had gotten there.


    Should I ask this Lord Kilsov any of these questions? Or will that put me in danger?


    If he is the ¡®Lord¡¯ and I am his ¡®lawslave¡¯ then isn¡¯t there a bit of a power imbalance?


    I could be whipped for speaking out of turn! Or worse¡­


    What sort of reincarnation is this?


    ??Yaro had come to grips with the fact that he had died. He also understood that he was in a new body and on a new planet, but he was still struggling with the rest of the details.


    Before he could finish digesting all of the new information, Lord Kilsov spoke again.


    ¡°Come with me.¡±

 Chapter 2 - Roommates

    Without paying attention to Yaro, the youth began to walk.


    Yaro followed naturally, his body moving without thinking.


    What the hell? He had lost control of his arms and limbs, and he was forced to move like a marionette. And Lord Kilsov was holding the strings¡­


    He felt cold fear run through his body. It really seemed as though Lord Kilsov had the power to command life and death over him.


    Yaro swallowed, resolving never to cross the youth. All thoughts of overt rebellion had vanished in an instant.


    Just tell me what to do, and I¡¯ll jump on it. Run, sing, bark like a dog, whatever! I just don¡¯t want to die again!


    Yaro decided to be compliant and mute for the time being, attending to all of Lord Kilsov¡¯s orders until he could understand what was going on. The first priority was to live.


    Only if this was achieved could he move on to the second priority, figuring out what the hell was going on!


    Therefore, he should be quiet as a mouse, keeping his complaints to himself.


    Yaro followed the youth out of the small, empty room to a larger room that had a small kitchen, a bed and little else. There was a pot on the stove, and a few other basic tools. To Yaro¡¯s modern sensibility, it looked pathetically bereft of comfort.


    Is this where I am supposed to sleep? Are these the famous slave quarters?


    There was no fifty-inch HD TV, no heated toilet seats, not even books or a couch.


    For comfort, am I supposed to stare at a wall or meditate like a monk?


    There did not appear to be another room in the house, apart from the empty one he had spawned in.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    A farmer¡¯s studio?


    Only¡­where was the bathroom?


    And where was the Lord supposed to sleep? Was there a palace nearby?


    The youth did not stop, taking Yaro outside.


    There, Yaro saw a truly unusual sight. Outside the house, there was a small shack and a plot of red soil that was roughly three square meters in size. A few small sprouts were poking out of the surface of the plot.


    A few meters away from the shack, there was nothing but a dark expanse, a stretch of pitch black shadow. However, the darkness did not extend to the sky, which was clear with only a few clouds - moreover, further away, there was a bright sun that was rising on the horizon, indicating that it was morning.


    So no palace, then¡­


    Wait! If there was no palace¡­then that was not his studio room, ahem, those were not the slave quarters.


    And¡­only one bed. Why was there only one bed in the house?


    Yaro was sure that if there was a question of who was going to sleep on the bed that he would not win out against the Lord. A sense of foreboding began to creep through his heart.


    Is this what it means to be a lawslave?


    ¡°You will live in that shack, along with the other lawslaves,¡± Lord Kilsov said.


    The shack! Yaro felt outrage run through his body. If the house was already so barren, then what would it look like inside of that tiny little hut?


    Forget common amenities, from all appearances, he did not even know if it would provide the slightest help at keeping the rain and cold out!


    Perhaps one could store a shovel or an axe in there, but a human - erm, a lawslave? He was being forced to live like a common farm tool!


    Lord Kilsov continued. ¡°Every day you will explore the unknown territory and forage for anything of value. There are many dangerous plants and animals, so you must be careful not to lose your life.


    ¡°Although you are not very impressive, you are still a servant of this Lord, and so I will treat you fairly, feeding you every day for your service. If you serve me well, you will also be fed well.


    ¡°Numbers 1 through 4, come out!¡±


    At Lord Kilsov¡¯s command, four nondescript, gray-clothed men walked out of the shack and lined up. They were all holding hoes, and their gray uniforms had many pockets of varying sizes. They had the appearance of depressed farmers.


    Roommates?


    Yaro felt some solidarity with the four men. They must all have been summoned, just like he had been. They did not even have real names, just going by ¡®Numbers 1 through 4.¡¯


    And it appeared that they all slept together in the shack¡­poor bastards. Unfortunately, he would soon be joining them. Commiseration in the shack!


    But what was with that bland, gray outfit?

 Chapter 3 - Donating Blood

    Looking down, Yaro realized he was also wearing the same gray clothing. Even his boots were gray!


    Who had dressed him?


    Had he been summoned that way, or had it been Lord Kilsov - or one of the poor bastards, ¡®Numbers 1 through 4¡¯ - who had dressed his body before he was summoned.


    And how had he been summoned in the first place?


    Where had his soul been before, and what was the mechanism for attracting him to his new body?


    Yaro thought that the book in Lord Kilsov¡¯s hands was the likely culprit. He couldn¡¯t put his finger on why, but it just gave him the feeling of a summoning tool.


    ¡°Number 1, today you will feed the Devil Flower. Numbers 2 through 4, you will forage. Number 5-¡± Lord Kilsov looked at Yaro. ¡°You will accompany 4 when he forages. You will learn what to do from him.


    ¡°Today, you will all operate in the ten-meter zone. Clear out all beasts and bring back valuable materials. Return before the sun sets. Go!¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lord,¡± the servants bellowed. Yaro joined in slightly late. Afterward, he breathed a sigh of relief.


    It appeared he didn¡¯t just understand the strange language, but he could speak it as well.


    Yaro assumed that the forging would be done in the dark expanse, the so-called unknown territory.


    The words ¡®ten-meter zone¡¯ indicated that there were different territory demarcations. Perhaps, there were certain dangers that only existed in different ¡®zones.¡¯


    He was not thrilled at the prospect of walking into it and clearing out these beasts, whatever they were, but there was little choice in the matter.


    Right now, as far as he was concerned, the most dangerous ¡®beast¡¯ was Lord Kilsov, who could kill him with a word.


    Foxes, wolves, or even bears were preferable to facing off against the Lord!Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Of course, this did not apply infinitely.


    He was ready to change his mind if he was forced to fight a dragon or some other mythical creature! He could only be pushed so far before he was merely choosing how he wanted to die!


    At that point, he would take his chances against his Lord!


    Yaro was also relieved that on the first day of ¡®foraging¡¯ it also appeared that he would at least have Number 4, whichever one of the lawslaves that was, to show him the ropes.


    Out of the corner of his eye, Yaro saw that one of the farmers had walked over to the red soil. It must be Number 1, who had been instructed to feed the ''Devil Flower¡¯.


    The lawslave sat down, pulled his sleeve up and stuck his arm on the little sprouts.


    What is he doing?


    A moment later, Yaro had his answer. He was nearly forced to do a double-take, as he saw the sprouts stretching up towards the bare flesh and latching on like leeches.


    So, feed meant to literally feed his blood to the Devil Flower!


    Yaro felt revulsion at the thought. The leech-like sprouts seemed utterly filthy and diabolical.


    However, it would be his turn at some point, so he forced himself to think differently about the situation.


    In the end, wasn¡¯t it like he was donating blood?


    Yes! That was it!


    The Devil Flower sprouts were like a hospital nurse poking a needle in his arm!


    Just a little bit of blood drawn. It could easily be replenished. It wasn¡¯t so bad when he thought about it like that. It might even be better than fighting dangerous beasts in the mysterious dark expanse.


    As the rest of the farmers dispersed, Lord Kilsov pointed at one. ¡°You, Number 4, come here.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lord!¡±


    So that is Number 4, my new partner!


    The lawslave who had been singled out walked back, while the rest entered into the dark expanse. Their forms were swallowed by the darkness the moment they stepped forward, as if they had walked through a portal to a different dimension.


    ¡°This is Number 5.¡± Lord Kilsov gestured to Yaro, with the hand that was not holding the thick book. ¡°You will teach him.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lord!¡±


    ¡°You,¡± Lord Kilsov turned to Yaro. ¡°Number 5, do you understand?¡±


    How can you expect anyone to take you seriously in that outfit?


    Yaro forced himself to respond contrary to his heart. ¡°Yes, Lord!¡±


    Lord Kilsov waved his hand. ¡°Disperse.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lord!¡± Yaro and Number 4 replied.


    A moment later, Number 4 led the way, stepping outside of the few meters of safety and disappearing into the dark expanse.


    Yaro followed reluctantly.


    What have I gotten myself into?

 Chapter 4 - Dark Expanse

    As Yaro stepped into the darkness, he realized that it wasn¡¯t as bad as he had expected. Although it appeared to be impermeable from the outside, he could actually see up to three meters around him.


    In front of him, Number 4 was waiting impatiently. ¡°Come on,¡± he said, seeing that Yaro had stopped.


    Yaro nodded and continued walking. After a moment, he turned to Number 4. ¡°Farmer 4 - do you mind if I call you Farmer 4?¡±


    Number 4 did not respond, so he took it as tacit approval. ¡°So what did you do before becoming a lawslave, Farmer 4? Uh, in your past life?¡±


    Farmer 4 turned to look at Yaro. His gaze was blank, and it was clear that he did not understand.


    ¡°I was a painter in my last life,¡± Yaro offered. ¡°I was the best, ahead of my time even. Unfortunately, they all wanted a painter who was of my time, not ahead of it. Those knuckle-draggers, what do they know about mosaics! I could have been a star if I had been born a few centuries later.¡±


    Yaro looked over at Farmer 4, but there was no response.


    ¡°Never got a girl in my past life, nothing serious anyway. That was a big regret!¡±


    No response.


    ¡°Half-near drank myself to death.¡±


    No response.


    ¡°What about your previous life, Farmer 4?¡±


    Farmer 4 looked over at Yaro, and gave him a serious look. ¡°Obey the Lord.¡± He turned back to the darkness. ¡°We must keep quiet.¡±


    ¡°Geez, you¡¯re a thrill to have around,¡± Yaro muttered.


    He did not feel any ill will towards Farmer 4, but he thought it was clear that the man was not playing with a full deck!


    Slowly, they made their way through the dark expanse. The ground was covered in long grass, but apart from that there were no signs of life.


    Still, after Farmer 4¡¯s warning, Yaro made his way cautiously. It was clear that there were dangers lurking in the darkness, although it was unclear what exactly they were.


    He took the opportunity to familiarize himself with his new body. If he got into a fight, he wanted to be as prepared as possible.


    Surprisingly, Yaro found that he was taller than his previous self, or at least it felt that way, but he still had fluidity in his motions. He did not have any of the awkwardness one might expect from being placed in a completely new body.


    Perhaps it was due to the strange rules of the world, and how they applied to lawslaves.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    He could not see his face, but he was not particularly handsome in his previous life, so he was not worried.


    If he could describe his previous life¡¯s physique in terms of stats, he would say that God gave him 100 points in painting talent, and virtually nothing in any other category.


    His parents were not destitute, but by no means rich. They did not leave him any pocket change.


    He wasn¡¯t stupid, but he wasn¡¯t a genius.


    Girls did not despise him, but he did not ¡®get around.¡¯


    He was short and slightly chubby.


    He was unlucky, unsociable, and generally unliked.


    This life was¡­well, different!


    He did not know what stats he had been granted yet, but unfortunately, his freedom bar had been set to the very floor.


    ¡°Stop,¡± Farmer 4 said, squatting down on the ground.


    Yaro halted.


    There was a bluish, flat rock roughly the size of a palm tucked in the grass.


    ¡°Careful, there may be a beast protecting underneath,¡± Farmer 4 warned.


    A beast? Do you mean an insect?


    Yaro thought it was ridiculous. If there was truly a beast, wouldn¡¯t they be able to see it?


    The stone was only a palm¡¯s breadth wide!


    Still, Yaro pointed the hoe at the stone, prepared to strike down whatever emerged, while Farmer 4 carefully maneuvered his own hoe beneath the blue rock.


    ¡°On three. One. Two. Three.¡±


    Farmer 4 quickly pressed the hoe down, popping up the rock. There was nothing beneath, only an indentation.


    ¡°Good find. Blue rock,¡± Farmer 4 said.


    Blue rock? Nice one, Yaro wanted to say. Real descriptive!


    However, because he knew of the limited mental capabilities of his partner, he chose not to comment. It was important to build up comradery in such circumstances!


    Also, he had a feeling his humor would only fall on deaf ears anyways. Farmer 4 struck him as a man who was too stupid to insult.


    In such a situation, was there really any point in speaking?


    Farmer 4 put the rock in one of his many pockets, before nodding to himself. ¡°Blue rock is good. Next one, you try.¡±


    Yaro nodded, and they resumed their walk.


    An hour later, they came across a patch of red-tinged grass.


    Yaro spotted it first. ¡°Is that a treasure?¡± he asked.


    Farmer 4 looked and nodded. ¡°Good find. Red grass.¡±


    Red grass, blue rock?


    Yaro stopped to ponder. Could this farmer¡¯s mind really be so simple, or is there a chance that it''s the world that is bad at naming things?


    He was in a completely foreign place, after all. Perhaps it was his own sensibilities that were out of touch.


    Yaro shook his head.


    What was the use of having such thoughts?


    ¡°Go on,¡± Farmer 4 said. ¡°Dig underneath. I¡¯ll watch out for beasts.¡±


    Good man, Yaro thought to himself. Please, watch out for those bugs! I would hate to have to step on one!


    Despite his sarcastic thoughts, Yaro crept forward and slowly wriggled the hoe underneath the roots of the red grass, prepared to jump away at the first sign of a ¡®beast.¡¯


    Perhaps, this really was a world where tiny creatures could fell an adult man-er lawslave!


    He focused intently. This lawslave wants to live to his second day!


    ¡°Three. Two. One.¡± Yaro counted, before pushing the hoe down and turning the grass up, pulling it through the soil, exposing the little hair-like roots.


    Nothing.

 Chapter 5 - I Really Am A Farmer

    No, not nothing!


    A small white bubble popped out thin air.


    Before Yaro could react, the bubble drifted forward and touched his leg. It disappeared the moment it made contact.


    What the hell was that? Is that one of those famous beasts I keep hearing about?


    Am I infected now?


    <System: +1 Fire Affinity>


    Yaro¡¯s mind was in chaos.


    Am I really seeing this, or is it a hallucination? Did the beast parasitize me, and cause me to go crazy?


    Fire affinity? What does that mean?


    System? A system? My brain is not working.


    It sounds vaguely familiar, like something I¡¯ve read before - ah, I did not do enough reading in my past life!


    The jumble of random thoughts all entered Yaro¡¯s mind at roughly the same time. However, they were silenced a second later when an interface appeared.


    <Yaro> (Bound)


    Constitution - 9 (Willpower: 18 | Memory: 8 | Mental Capacity: 4 | Thought Speed: 5)


    Talent - 18 (Ingenuity: 12 | Evolution Factor: 23)


    Physique - 3 (Endurance: 5 | Durability: 3 | Strength: 3 | Explosiveness: 1 | Reflexes: 4)


    Senses - 4 (Eyesight: 5 | Hearing: 4 | Taste: 4 | Touch: 3 | Smell: 5)


    Cultivation - None (Lifeforce: 2 | Spiritual Energy: 0/100 | Fire Affinity: 1)


    Techniques: None


    Abilities: None


    (Hidden Abilities: Divine Hands (Mystical))


    Yaro did not know what to think.


    The bubble was one matter, the system message another. This, however, this was something else entirely. Yaro was not sure his mind was capable of producing such a complicated overlay with so many specific statistics.


    Am I in a game world? Do other people have stats as well? This is so strange!


    He read them out, one by one.


    His name was obvious, it was what he went by in his previous life.


    Curiously, his last name was omitted. Perhaps it was because he hated his father and never wanted to share a name with the bastard. Could it be that the interface took his own thoughts into account?If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    In any case, such details were unimportant.


    The word ¡®bound¡¯ stood out to him.


    Bound?


    Does that refer to being a lawslave?


    Constitution?


    Don¡¯t know what that is.


    Willpower was way higher than memory, mental capacity and thought speed. Yaro did not know whether to be happy or offended by this.


    Talent?


    Perhaps it is because of my painting talent that it is so high.


    Ingenuity? Evolution Factor? Huh?


    Physique?


    Why is it so low?


    Explosiveness at only one point? Really, that¡¯s just too much¡­


    Senses?


    Cultivation¡­wait, cultivation?


    Is that the ability to grow plants?


    I really am a farmer!


    Wait, why would fire affinity be related to plant cultivation?


    Perhaps, it meant something different¡­


    Lifeforce?


    Spiritual energy?


    Energy? Energy?


    It must be related to power!


    In any case, next to cultivation it said ¡®none¡¯, so he did not worry about it much.


    Yaro also did not worry about the distinction between techniques and abilities for the same reason. He did not have any of either!


    On the other hand, he did have one hidden ability, which confused him.


    No abilities, but one hidden ability. What was the difference between the two?


    Divine Hands, is that related to painting again?


    Overall, his stats seemed low, but there was one important detail.


    The bubble.


    If Yaro was correct in his assumptions, he should have had zero fire affinity before. The system message had implied that he had just gained his single point at the very moment he touched the bubble.


    From this logic, the bubbles appeared to give him stat boosts.


    One point of fire affinity did not seem like much. He didn¡¯t feel any different.


    But what if he could get a boost to another category, like physique or that mysterious cultivation? And what if it was not just a single point, but a whole bunch?


    The only question was how to get more bubbles¡­


    It seemed that the first one had popped into existence when he had turned over the ¡®red grass.¡¯


    The next step seemed obvious.


    There was plenty of grass around. Uproot it all!


    Uproot! Uproot! Uproot until the earth is barren!


    Uproot until nothing remains in its original place!


    Yaro felt a tug on his arm.


    Farmer 4 was nodding.


    ¡°Take,¡± he said, pointing at the red grass that had been pulled out of its purchase in the soil.


    Yaro nodded absently.


    How can I dismiss the interface?


    Poof! The interface was gone.


    It disappears, just like that?


    Yaro was stunned.


    Appear!


    The interface popped up.


    Disappear!


    The interface was gone.


    Appear! Disappear! Appear! Disappear!


    Yaro stooped over and picked up the red grass, slipping it into one of his many pockets. Seeing the interface pop in and out of existence reassured him. It would not distract him in the future. He could also summon it whenever he wanted.


    Presumably, it had been lurking from the moment he was reincarnated, waiting to be called up.


    Farmer 4 was beginning to walk forward.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Yaro cried out.


    Farmer 4 turned around, confusion evident in his eyes.


    ¡°Brother 4, there is something I need to do.¡±


    The lawslave continued to stare blankly.


    ¡°Perhaps, it will help the Lord,¡± Yaro said, lying easily.


    In reality, he could not give two wits about the Lord. All he cared about was getting as many of those bubbles as possible!

 Authors Note

    There were some problems found in the text. No new chapters for a couple of days while I make some edits and improve the writing.


    After the changes are finished, I will remove this author''s note and go back to trying to post around 1 chapter per day. IC will still be the priority, as it has way more readers.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    (Also, I am working on a new novel that will be released sometime in the next month, Double Life Of The Scheming Sect Master. This is taking some time away from the other novels, but I think it will be worth it. There are some really cool ideas!)


    SW