[ It is now, 6:00 am. It is Tuesday and the second day (2/30) of Summer. Good morning!  Your energy has been fully restored. ]

I yawned and rubbed my eyes but the bright letters at the center of my field of vision did not dissipate. I wanted to complain but once my eyes were fully open I realized it was true, I didn’t feel tired at all. I threw off the sheets and got up and out of bed. I stretched my body and walked over to the fire at the center of the cabin. I had laid out my clothes there to dry from last night and I put them on again, marveling at how well it had worked.

At the sound of my footsteps, Max began to stir. I walked over and pet his head. “Good morning buddy, I hope you are ready to get to work!”

He barked happily and pawed at the door and I chuckled.

“Eager to go hunting again, huh? Just be careful out there. Hopefully, I can afford to get you some dog food soon, it can’t be great for your stomach to be eating all that.”

I considered my words. The truth was I wasn’t so sure I was right. Max was a farm dog and didn’t live life like pets did in the city. I bet he was perfectly content to subsist on the vermin from the farm. Still, I felt bad as his owner if I didn’t start providing for him. I made a mental note to make that a priority when funds started rolling in.

And on that note, let’s check on our cash crop!

I exited the front door alongside Max and walked over to the patch of land I had cultivated yesterday. The rain had wet the ground but it had let up this morning, leaving blue skies but wet soil. I took out the watering can but a message popped up on the screen as I was about to use it.

[ The soil is wet from the rain. No watering is required on this crop today ]

I dismissed the can. Well, that was handy! I’d have to remember that for the future. I inspected the crops up close. They had already grown and were beginning to bud, but the tomatoes were nowhere near ready for harvest. I wondered how long they would take. Most things here appeared to operate on an accelerated time frame like the hours of the day, but I had no idea how long tomatoes would take to grow. I tapped my chin and I considered this.

I needed more information about this world, and I had an idea of how I might get it! The elf maiden had been carrying a stack of books, she must have gotten them from somewhere. If there was a library or a bookstore in town I might be able to do some research and figure out some of the gaps in my knowledge that these system messages weren’t providing. Since I had nothing else to do today, I decided this would be my first mission.

I headed back into town, enjoying the morning sunshine. I even found myself whistling as I walked and chuckling to myself as I reminisced about the events of the last night. What a colorful cast of characters this town had! It was nothing like my life back in the real world. I stopped as I recalled Leyanna. There had been something about her, a spark. Was I reading too much into it?

“Good morning sir! I don’t believe we’ve met,” a smooth voice crooned from in front of me.

My vision came into focus as I dropped my line of thinking. In front of me was a tall, very handsome elfen male with shoulder-length hair, a brown leather jacket, tight black pants, and a smirk. He looked like a villainous classical composer with pointy ears.

Ok, let’s not go judging every book by its cover. Be friendly. Remember, you are new here.

I stuck out my hand. “Hey there, my name is George. You are right, I’m new here. I took over Golden Acres. It’s nice to meet you, mister…”

“Elrick. Elrick Elandar. As in the Elandar Corporation. I’m sure you heard of it?” His smirk widened as he spoke.

I lowered my hand, realizing Elrick had no intention of shaking it.  Well he sure is smug. Wait… Elrick… why is that name familiar?

“I’m sorry, can’t say I have. But in any case, it's nice to meet you. Maybe you could help me. I was wondering if you knew where the library or bookstore was in town?” I asked.

Elrick scoffed. “A library? We have one at our family manor but there is no such place open to the public. Ella runs a small bookstore…” His face seemed to brighten at the mention of her name. “But she doesn’t open until 10:00 am. And I doubt you could afford her prices.” He looked me up and down disdainfully.

I silently wished I still had a clean version of my suit. This guy had no idea who he was messing with. But here I had to remember I wasn’t a high-powered lawyer, I was just a farmer. And not a great one at that. Not yet at least.

“Well, George,” Elrick continued, “When you finally give up on that decrepit farm of yours you can come to the Elandar Corporation headquarters and we can see about getting you a job on the assembly line. We can always use a set of hands. Now I’m off, company business of course!” Elrick bowed, ever so slightly, not looking me in the eyes, and then strode past me… as though I were some kind of peasant.

My hands clenched into fists. That prick! And now I remember why his name is familiar, last night Leyanna said she needed to protect Ella from him! I’m going to have to keep my eye on this guy.

I checked the time, it was now 7:30 am. It was too early to go to the bookstore, and if Elrick spoke the truth, it wouldn’t matter even if I did. I was broke. So I wandered the town. I still had no clues about the whereabouts of the wizard and I didn’t know the first place to look. My morning high was wearing off and I felt worried. Just when I was about to give up and head back to the cabin, I saw a signboard at the center of town. I walked up to it.

[ Available Quests (2):

Something’s Fishy (Reward 200 gold)

Comfort Food (Reward 500 gold) ]

I immediately focused on the second quest as it had a higher gold reward, reading the description.

[ Comfort food (expires - 10 days)

Bring Martin 1 Bowl of Tomato Soup! He is sick in bed and desperately needs it.

Tomato soup requires:

1. Butter
2. Garlic
3. 3 Harvested Tomatoes ]

I frowned. My tomatoes were not ready to harvest, and I’d probably need money to acquire the butter and garlic from Barbold’s general store. I scratched at my beard. It was coming in thick and fast, two days without shaving was putting me into unkempt territory.

I checked the other task instead

[ Something’s Fishy (expires - 1 day)

Bring Gorlock 1 White Seashell

Seashells can be foraged at the beach, south of the river. ]

Done! I accepted the quest and the paper disappeared from the board. Now I just had to find the beach. I remembered the direction of the river from yesterday so I headed there for starters. I did not encounter any more villagers on my way there. I walked for some ways to the west of the river, looking for a place to ford it but at the end found a large boulder blocking my way. I silently cursed myself for not bringing my mining pick. I pushed against it and it didn't even budge a little.

I doubled back the way I had come. This time, I found a bridge a short distance past the saloon from yesterday. Yes! Found it! I pumped my fist and then looked around to see if anyone saw me. I felt a little silly, but every accomplishment in this new strange life felt big to me.

I strode across the bridge. The river was moving quite fast below from the previous night's rain. I loved the silence, the sounds of water. It was so different here than the city. My hand reached for my pocket to take a picture and then I laughed. I didn’t have a pocket. Let alone a phone.

A picture wouldn’t do this place justice anyway

Shortly after crossing the bridge, the heavily treed landscape gave way suddenly to a long sandy beach. I marveled at the change of scenery. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone to a beach. Then I remembered why I was here. I needed to find a shell. I quickly got to work beachcombing. I found a lot of things that I stashed in my inventory. Seaweed, driftwood, and a few smooth pebbles but no shells.

Dang, I hadn’t expected this to be a difficult quest!

I took off my boots, put them in the sand, rolled up my pant legs, and decided to take a break. I walked towards the shoreline to cool off by wading a little into the ocean. When the first small waves splashed across my feet and the wet sand squelched between my toes I sighed in satisfaction. This was about perfect. I felt like I had been shipwrecked in paradise. I could use breakfast, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. I bent over and was washing off my hands in the water when something glinted at me from the shallows.

A pure, beautiful white conch shell! Yes! I reached down and grabbed it. I whooped and headed back up the beach. Once my feet had dried off I put my boots back on and scanned the surrounding area for this Gorlock character or anyone to ask for directions.

Man, I need a guidebook to this place. A map. Anything.

At the other end of the beach, I saw something decidedly unnatural, a long wooden pier with a shack at the end of it. I snapped my fingers. Perfect. I trudged over there, working up a bit of a sweat as I did so. I walked a little unsteadily on the dock once I arrived. It was made rather crudely of lashed together logs and there was only a very low guardrail. I supposed safety standards were a little lax in Halfmoon Hills. Finally, I reached the shack. On the door, it read:

[ Gorlock’s Cabin:

Enter on business only. ]

A quest seemed like business to me. I knocked but received no response. I checked the time.

[ It is now, 12:00 pm ]

Was he asleep still? Surely most of the townsfolk were up now. I knocked on the door one more time and heard what I thought was a grunt of approval. I opened it and entered, finding it unlocked

Gorlock’s place was quite different than either Barbold’s store or Madame Pomme’s clothing shop. It was chaos. Trophies of various fish, garlands of colorful seafood, and a huge assortment of fishing rods were all mounted on the wooden walls. Lining the sides were barrels filled with all sorts of bait and various stages of processed fish. It was rank. I tried not to make a face as I approached Gorlock who sat at a long table working on something intently.

When I reached him I realized it was a mural. Gorlock was a goblin, the self-same that I had bumped into yesterday. He looked up at me and squinted, sniffing. “You again, what do you want human? Can't you see I’m busy?”

“I can, sorry for the intrusion Gorlock… I got your quest item.” I produced it from my inventory and handed it over. Gorlock’s face changed, he grinned and grabbed it from my hands, placing it in the very center of the mural he had been working on.

“Oh, this is perfect, just perfect. She will love this!” the goblin said excitedly.

She? Does Gorlock have a love interest?

Gorlock seemed to realize I was still there and coughed, composing himself. “I would have got it myself you know but there are none on the beach you know, goblins and water don’t mix. One has to wade in to get the best shells.”

What? A fisherman that can’t swim? This is a first. Gorlock is an exercise in contradictions.

“Of course,” I replied as if I knew exactly what he meant. “In any case, it’s nice to meet you Gorlock. I’m George.” I held out my hand and he looked at it, then grabbed it with both of his own and shook it vigorously.

“I judged you wrong human, you are a good one. Rare, that is. Okay, here is your reward. Be on your way, and since you came so fast here is a bonus reward for you! Mayhaps it will give you reason to visit my shop again.”

[ Rewards

200 Gold

Bonus Reward

1 Rusty Fishing Rod ]

“Thank you so much!” I said, surveying my item. Then I kicked myself into gear, as cool as that all was, I wanted to take this gold and go straight to the bookstore. And, if I was being honest, I was also interested in seeing a certain green-haired someone again too.

I mean, how often does a man get a good excuse to meet a cute elf girl?