TVLM 05

Chapter 5 ….

[Yes/No]

The first beginner quest had two choices.

Angelica didn’t even hesitate and moved her finger to ‘Yes.’

“Master, the ‘Beginner’s Gathering Basket’ is included in the beginner set, right?”

Having accepted the quest, Angelica asked her master, who was yawning widely.

Her master nodded.

[Yes. However, the effects of the full beginner set depend on what you hold in your hands.]

The master explained further. The beginner full set consisted of a hat, top, bottoms, shoes, and the tool held in hand.

But the set effect varied depending on which of the two beginner tools was equipped.

Equipping the hoe increased farming speed, while equipping the basket increased gathering speed.

In other words, depending on the situation, you could switch tools to use the desired effect.

[Remember, seeds are for beginners, but they do not contribute to the set effect.]

“Yes, Master.”

After hearing this from her master, Angelica nodded and then checked the exact quest details.

[Beginner Quest 1. The Basics of Self-Sufficiency: Gathering!
Objective: Gather fruit from the forest. Appleberries (0/3)]

She knew the fruit well.

Appleberries didn’t exist in her previous life; they were unique to this world.

They were small, red fruits, like a cherry, but with the combined taste of apple and cherry.

As a national favorite within the empire, Angelica knew their flavor too—even though, unlike most people, she had to forage them herself.

Back in the first and second playthroughs, when she had planned to pursue the male leads,

young Angelica had to live entirely on her own, without her parents’ help.

The small hut in the forest of a rural village was all she had.

The tiny hut, which could fit one or two people, luckily contained the starting funds available in the game: three potatoes and 100 gold.

100 gold was barely enough for two days of food.

Angelica had carefully rationed the potatoes and money to last about a week.

Before her supplies ran out, she went to the nearby village of Eden to look for work.

Adults wouldn’t hire a child only seven years old.

If she were just a normal child, they might have given her small chores, but no one would employ a frail, undernourished child who couldn’t even eat a bowl of porridge.

Every adult she approached turned her away.

But Angelica persisted, clinging to them.

If they didn’t take her in, she would starve.

“Please, help me. Let me work.”

Crying, kneeling, begging over and over.

“Please, you don’t have to pay me. Just share a little food with me.”

Only one person accepted her plea: Timmy, a middle-aged man from the wealthier part of the village.

As the head of a household, he was reputed for being diligent and kind-hearted.

Feeling relieved, Angelica followed him.

But what awaited her was nothing short of hell.

Timmy and his family gave Angelica many chores: cleaning the stable, tidying the house, washing laundry, and more.

And when she returned to her hut in the forest, they handed her leftover bread or spoiled meat.

Young Angelica did these tasks diligently to survive.

Even if the food was rotten, she had few alternatives, so she accepted it.

Sometimes Timmy’s children would hit or harass her if they didn’t like her, but she endured.

After about three years, a minor noblewoman visiting the village noticed Angelica and took her on as a maid, ending her hellish life.

Even in her second life, Angelica made the same choice—because there were no other options.

However, thanks to her previous experience, she suffered less than before.

Work was still hard, and the food quality was poor, but Timmy’s children no longer harassed her.

‘Technically, I fought them once so they wouldn’t bother me again.’

Either way, after three years, Angelica left the village with the noblewoman, as she had in the first playthrough.

Appleberries had been her favorite fruit before leaving the village in both playthroughs.

When the food from Timmy was too spoiled to eat,

after finishing her hard day’s work and returning to her hut, Angelica would head into the forest with tears streaming down her face.

With tiny, fern-like hands, she searched the bushes for appleberries.

If she couldn’t eat any fruit, she would truly die.

[Angelica.]

Lost in those distant memories, she heard her master’s voice in her mind.

Rubbing the now-moist corners of her eyes, Angelica looked at her master as if nothing had happened.

“Yes, Master.”

[Not going to gather appleberries? Why are you just standing there dazing off?]

Her master was already standing in front of the loft ladder.

Angelica immediately got up and scampered over.

“I just… remembered something from the past.”

[The past? What could a seven-year-old remember from the past?]

Her master’s comment followed, but Angelica just smiled without replying.

She gathered the necessary items and descended the ladder. The master jumped down after her.

It was quite a height, but her master seemed unfazed.

‘Spirits really are different,’ Angelica thought, smiling at the hut.

The small bed by the window, the makeshift kitchen, the worn-out toilet.

She had returned to the starting point again, but this time, her feelings were different.

After the first life, the second life had started, and without choices, she had to go to Timmy again.

Though it was only three years, it had been a period of suffering.

Even with her newfound know-how, hell was still hell.

But this life was different.

She still had just three potatoes and 100 gold, but she didn’t have to go to Timmy’s house.

If she farmed, she could be self-sufficient.

Angelica grinned and left the hut with her master.

Outside the hut, Angelica stood among overgrown weeds and looked around.

The hut was in the middle of the forest.

She wondered if there was land suitable for farming.

The ‘Beginner Quest 2’ required her to cultivate land and plant seeds.

She had just cleared ‘Beginner Quest 1,’ gathering appleberries.

Using her previous experience, Angelica quickly found and collected three appleberries, placing them into an enormous bag.

[Quest Cleared. Check your rewards in the enormous bag.]

Her master had said she could reach into the bag to retrieve them herself, but she was too scared and only put her hand in.

‘Think of what you want, and it will immediately be in your hand,’ her master had explained.

Thanks to this, she easily obtained the ‘Beginner’s Gathering Basket.’

It was fascinating to see a larger basket come out from the small bag opening.

Angelica inspected the basket. Like other beginner items, it was normal grade.

That was fine—this basket was enough to gather plenty of appleberries.

Grinning, she filled the basket with appleberries.

There seemed to be more than last time.

‘Maybe it’s because I chose the farming route?’

While gathering, she realized she had been smiling all day.

‘Choosing the farming route was the right call.’

Just gathering alone made her happy—it felt like the perfect choice.

After collecting enough appleberries for a few days, she returned to the hut and a new quest appeared.

[Beginner Quest 2.
Do you accept?
Reward: Worn Gloves]

She accepted it immediately and checked the details.

[Beginner Quest 2. The Basics of Self-Sufficiency: Cultivation!
Objective: Cultivate land and plant beginner seeds (potatoes).]

‘Planting potatoes!’

The real farming route had begun.

She placed the basket of appleberries inside the hut and went outside again.

She looked around for land suitable for farming.

But she had almost no knowledge of farming.

No matter how hard she looked, she couldn’t tell which land was good.

“What should I do…?”

Angelica slumped onto the weeds.

If this continued, she wouldn’t even be able to plant the seeds.

For the first time, worry shadowed her previously smiling face.

[Rika.]

Sighing, she heard her master’s voice from the shade of a tree, watching her.

The little dog trotted over and stood in front of her.

[Why the long sigh?]

“Well… I don’t know where to farm…”

Angelica looked at the dog with drooping eyes. Her master chuckled.

[Relax your expression. You look ugly.]

She was about to retort that now was no time for jokes, when light suddenly radiated from her master. Startled, she screamed and closed her eyes.

[Open your eyes.]

A few seconds later, her master’s voice came.

“What… was that just now? …Huh.”

Opening her eyes in shock, Angelica’s jaw dropped.

Before her, the area previously filled with dense weeds was now spotless.

Within a 5-meter radius, no weeds, trees, or stones remained.

Sunlight, previously blocked by the forest shade, now fully illuminated the area.

[This should be enough. The soil isn’t hard, it’s fertile, and the sunlight is good.]

“Wow, Master!”

Angelica hugged the little dog in front of her.

“Thank you! I didn’t know what to do! You’re really an amazing spirit!”

[H-Hey, let go!]

As Angelica rubbed its cheeks, the dog struggled but stopped when it saw her jumping for joy.

As long as the young master was happy, that was enough.

He would help her however he could whenever she struggled.

He roughly knew the quests that awaited her.

But the next day, a quest appeared before Angelica that even her master didn’t know about.

[Hidden Quest.
Do you accept?
Reward: ??? of ???]