Just then, a soft chime rang out.
[🐣 Egg Ready for Harvest!]
"Ooh—claim it," Venzel muttered under his breath, eyes lighting up.
On the screen floating in front of him, his pixelated character strolled over to the tiny coop where a cartoonish chicken flapped its wings proudly beside a glowing golden egg.
He tapped the "Claim" button.
The character reached down—boop!—and held the egg up with a triumphant sparkle.
"Nice," Venzel grinned. "Wait… can I take it out?"
As if responding to his thoughts, a soft glimmer surrounded his real-world palm.
Pop!
A warm, perfectly shaped egg materialized in his hand. The egg gave off a soft warmth, like it had been freshly laid even though it hadn't existed a second ago.
It pulsed faintly with a gold sheen that faded the moment he held it.
Venzel stared at it, brows raising in awe.
"Good heavens… it really does bring out anything."
He chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief before flicking through the system interface again.
Back to the screen, he swiped through the system menu.
[Auto-Collect & Sell: Chickens → ENABLED ✅]
[Purchase Max Capacity Chickens for Current Coop → CONFIRMED]
The screen chimed again, pixelated feathers flying as a flurry of chickens happily filled the coop.
A meter above the coop filled with little chick icons until it capped at ten.
Each chicken now had a tiny timer counting down to its next egg drop.
The system laid out the plan simply:
[Your Farm Will Now:]
Auto-Plant Potatoes 🥔
Auto-Harvest Potatoes 🧺
Auto-Sell for Gold 💰
Auto-Collect Eggs 🥚
Auto-Sell Eggs 💸
Save for Next Chicken 🐣
Except…
[Next Chicken Cost: 12,000 Gold]
[Current Gold: 764]
Venzel gave a small laugh.
"Yeah… not anytime soon."
But still, it was something. A quiet rhythm. A system that worked while he rested.
With a nod of satisfaction, he whispered the command under his breath:
"Disappear."
The floating interface shimmered before slowly fading out, vanishing like mist.
He looked down at the egg still in his hand, rolled it gently in his fingers, then stood.
The sun was almost gone now, casting a warm orange glow on the path back.
When Venzel stepped back into the farmhouse, everything looked perfectly normal.
Renji sat slouched on the couch, glaring at his phone like it had personally offended him.
His thumbs tapped furiously, no doubt venting his mood into some poor digital battlefield.
A few feet away, Aoki and Ryu were in the middle of what sounded like a passionate business debate.
Venzel caught fragments like "equity ratio," "tax umbrella," and something about "converting goats to assets," which made zero sense to him but seemed to make them nod seriously.
He quietly skirted past the economic warfare and made a beeline for the kitchen.
He had an egg. And if there was anywhere an egg should go, it was here.
The kitchen greeted him with the rich aroma of simmering curry and the soft sound of bubbling pots.
Inside, his mother Tsuki and Aunt Soho stood shoulder to shoulder, each holding a wooden spoon, tasting and tweaking their masterpiece.
"Mmm!" Soho gave an enthusiastic nod. "That ginger kick? Perfect!"
Tsuki smiled proudly. "It's the garlic. I told you, fresh is always better."
"You two gonna open a restaurant or what?" Venzel teased, stepping in with a grin.
Both women turned at once.
"Well, if we do, you're on dish duty," Soho shot back with a wink.
"Hi, sweetheart," Tsuki chimed in, already moving aside to make space at the counter. "Back from your walk?"
"Yep, it was a fun one. Oh and—," he said casually, pulling the egg from his pocket and holding it up. "—found treasure."
They both stared at the egg.
Soho blinked. "Wait... is that a real egg?"
"Yup. Straight from the coop. Kind of." He didn't elaborate.
Tsuki reached out and took it from his hand.
"Well, it's warm. And not cracked. It's still fresh."
"Want me to cook it?" he offered.
Soho raised an eyebrow. "You cook?"
"I try," Venzel said confidently. "Things catch fire, since I take after my dad."
The three shared a laugh as he rolled up his sleeves and moved toward the stove.
Tsuki raised a brow, her spoon pausing mid-stir.
"Wait… did we even have a coop?"
Venzel shook his head coolly, already cracking the egg into a bowl.
"Nope. My business partner dropped it off earlier. Said the first batch of chickens just started laying and he's out distributing the eggs."
Business partner, of course, was code for totally made-up system character, but hey—semantics.
Soho narrowed her eyes.
"Just one egg? What a stingy boss. You should reconsider that partnership."
Venzel chuckled, whisking lazily.
"Yeah, I'll negotiate harder next time."
Tsuki set down her spoon and turned to face him fully. Her voice dropped into that soft motherly concern that always made him squirm a little.
"Sweetheart… I know you want to be truly independent. And that's fine. But your father and I, truthfully, we don't know what to do with the land Grandpa left us. It just sits there. We really wish you could make use of it. Really."
Venzel didn't look up from the bowl, but he gave a casual nod.
"Oh, I will."
A pause.
Tsuki blinked. "You… will?"
"Yep."
Her head tilted. "Really? You won't back out right?"
"…Uh, yes, Mom. I won't back out."
There was a moment of stunned silence. Then—
Her eyes widened like she'd just heard the heavens open.
She gasped, hands flying to her mouth, then without another word, turned and dashed out of the kitchen.
"Aoki, dear!!" she cried down the hall. "Our son just agreed to make use of the land!"
The wooden spoon clattered in the sink as she vanished down the corridor.
Soho looked after her, then back at Venzel, unimpressed.
"Wow. You just gave your mother five years back on her life."
Venzel also blinked, momentarily stunned by how fast his mom bolted.
He let out a breathless laugh, part amusement, part awe.
"If I'd known saying yes meant that much…"
He trailed off, smiling faintly to himself.
A warm little knot twisted in his chest.
"…Guess I'd have said it sooner."
Soho smirked, handing him a pinch of salt.
"Well, now you've started something. Better not back out, your mom's probably already planning a celebratory feast."
"Haha, no way, I'm not doing that," Venzel chuckled at her remarks.