It’s just my thoughts, but…
The fresher morning vibe seems to fade the longer I stay active in dreams.
Maybe it reflects how deep sleep requires no dreaming?
Not sure though. Purely my gut feeling.
Today was particularly heavy on tinkering with the dream system.
Realizing the necessity of enchanting naturally led me to smelting and crafting.
While using a forge for smelting is standard, how does one even build and operate one as an individual?
In that sense, the convenience games provide is truly remarkable.
A crafting table needs wood and stone.
A smelting furnace devours tons of iron ore.
An enchanting table lets you apply buffs with various materials.
That’s all the info I gathered by painstakingly digging through the UI and systems.
What feels like “Whoo! Forge yeah!” in reality breaks down into these three steps: refining, crafting, and enchanting.
For some reason…
Even having partial crafting skills, why were there so few recipes? Turns out I needed a crafting table first.
No way to know that beforehand, so I assumed it was just lacking options.
Knowledge truly is power in moments like this.
My eyebrows feel unusually heavy greeting the morning.
The sluggishness of my body isn’t pleasant at all.
Guess staying too long in dreams isn’t good.
A faint sensation akin to getting hit on the brain arrived—thanks to my mining level reaching 5.
Alongside it, combat hit level 1.
Slightly more efficient movement patterns.
Better ways to use my body.
Improved sword handling techniques.
Clumsy yet satisfying knowledge trickled into my mind like scattered raindrops.
Nothing dramatic changed, but gaining related experience was encouraging.
At least I won’t jam my sword into walls or floors and hurt myself anymore.
A refreshing glass of water to wake up the morning.
Yesterday’s mining left my clothes and armor caked with dirt and grime, now stashed away in a corner radiating unpleasant vibes.
To revive my weary body and test the laundry soap I bought, I decided to multitask showering and washing.
A few slime chunks.
Drops of bat blood.
These sticky nuisances made cleaning absolutely necessary.
Though they didn’t smell bad, visually they were quite off-putting.
Not sure if cleaning armor and shoes this way is okay, but since the UI didn’t alert me about decreased durability or performance, maybe my method works?
This morning, I planned to craft a crafting table.
Need 250 wood, 100 stones.
Glancing at my bag, I had 222 wood pieces and 141 stones.
All thanks to my recent mining trip where I collected plenty of metal and stone.
Just need a bit more wood, so I tidied up the yard while cutting trees.
The inheritance from Grandpa (not my actual grandpa).
A vast piece of land and a house.
This land is absurdly huge.
Big enough that dreams of becoming a mega-farmer don’t seem far-fetched.
Restoring decades of neglected land single-handedly is exhausting work.
Finishing it in a day is simply impossible.
Gradually expanding usable space over time is the practical approach.
Before logging, I watered over 1500 crops.
Despite the impressive number, the area isn’t overly large.
Thanks to convenient watering methods, it doesn’t take much time.
Half of them, over 800 garlic and kale plants, are nearing the end of their 6-day growth cycle.
The sharp scent of garlic already wafts faintly through the air.
Watching crops grow properly fills me with pride.
For no particular reason, I clapped my hands and grabbed an axe.
The feel in my hand was surprisingly satisfying. Even at logging level 4, I’m quite skilled.
Back when fishing was level 5, I thought, “Am I not pretty good?” showcasing decent abilities.
Logging at level 4 gives me enough confidence to say I’m better than average.
Chopping wood with an axe.
Swinging downwards diagonally once.
Then upwards diagonally once.
Wood shavings fall evenly onto the ground.
Roughly 10 pieces per tree.
Cutting down 3 trees would be enough.
Gone is the past me who got tired after 20 swings.
With proper control and technique, chopping down 3 trees wasn’t strenuous at all.
Acquired 30 wood pieces.
It was really nothing special.
Stretching my slightly stiff arms, I initiated crafting the crafting table.
Like when I built the warehouse, a holographic image appeared.
Simply adding materials made the process easy.
Slowly feeding in wood and stones, I crafted the crafting table.
The necessary parts glowed softly, making it easy to insert materials correctly.
The completed crafting table resembled a wooden and stone workbench.
The height matched my eye level perfectly, and the vertical wooden plank had hooks for tools and miscellaneous items.
There were also thick wooden drawers.
Compared to the amount of material used, it was surprisingly small.
With 250 wood and 100 stones, shouldn’t this be enough for a small structure?
Still, not having to manually hammer everything together is a blessing.
That’s sufficient.
Standing before the crafting table, architecture and crafting options prominently appeared.
Scanning the architecture tab revealed expansions for the house, barns, greenhouses, stables, and more, overwhelming my vision.
Since priorities lay elsewhere, I skimmed through briefly before shifting focus to the crafting tab.
The crafting tab was excessively vast.
Rolling my eyes around, I barely managed to find methods for crafting smelting furnaces and enchanting tables.
Each item’s requirements were somewhat tricky.
The sheer quantity made it challenging.
Smelting furnace: 200 iron ores, 200 stones.
Enchanting table: 150 wood, 150 stones, 20 iron ingots, 15 gold ingots, 5 logs required.
Both were realistically impossible to complete in a day.
While I understood the necessity of smelting and enchanting, they weren’t tasks easily finished in the short term.
“Logs can be crafted once logging reaches intermediate level, and ingots require a smelting furnace.”
First, 200 iron ores.
A daunting number.
So far, I’ve gathered about 50.
Arithmetic calculations suggest visiting the mine 3 more times to collect 200, which guarantees exhaustion.
Although I need to visit the mine, completely skipping fishing would result in significant financial loss.
Missing out on 3 days means losing approximately 1000G. Considering potential treasure box rewards, it’s an even bigger loss.
To cover half the loss, I decided to fish and spin treasure boxes worth 100~150 gold before heading to the mine.
Fishing consumes relatively low stamina, so switching the order should yield decent results.
After mining, I wouldn’t get anything done anyway.
This plan feels right.
Equipping full gear might feel suffocating, so I headed towards the lake in casual wear as usual.
Gear remained stored in my bag.
Shielding myself from the harsh sunlight, I steadily walked toward the shaded forest.
An unexpected figure greeted me with a cheerful smile upon arriving at the lush green spot.
“Anne?”
Her flowing golden hair exuded elegance.
Anne stood there like a fairy born from the forest.
“Hi.”
Her smile upon seeing me was incredibly captivating.
Despite frequently admiring women as attractive or beautiful, such feelings rarely translated into romantic affection or fondness.
Come to think of it, this is a bit strange.
If we were on Earth, merely facing someone could spark those emotions.
Yet, I remain remarkably calm.
Gratitude outweighs any trace of romantic interest.
“Hi. What brings you here?”
“The forest air is nice. I came for a stroll.”
Her light steps across the grass seemed effortless.
“Strolling is nice.”
Responding casually, I cast my fishing rod at a promising spot for fish.
A gentle ripple spread across the lake.
“You’re here for fishing?”
“Yeah. Oh, by the way, here.”
Recalling Anne’s kindness from the first day, I retrieved a pretty flower I’d picked during my travels—a vibrant yellow spring flower called narcissus—and handed it to her as a gift.
It suited her well.
“Huh? Erm…”
“Thanks for the other day. It’s nothing big, but I thought of you and picked one.”
“Thank you.”
Anne smiled warmly, delicately placing the narcissus behind her ear before tilting her head and asking me,
“How do I look?”
“Pretty.”
“Is that all?”
“I’m stating facts.”
“Hmm…”
Anne seemed highly satisfied, hopping lightly on her feet while maintaining her smile.
She looked lovely.
Beautiful smiles from beautiful women are always mesmerizing.
Whether this lack of emotional response is good or bad, I’m unsure, but at least now, I can continue our conversation with a smile.
“Dorcha!”
“Ahaha! That sounds old!”
Emitting familiar sounds while fishing made Anne burst into laughter.
Chuckling, I nonchalantly cast my fishing rod back into the lake.
“It’s a habit, I guess.”
“Maxim did something similar when he fished. Is that common among anglers?”
“Not sure. I don’t know much.”
“Will I do the same if I try fishing?”
“Probably. Want to give it a shot?”
“Hmm… Why not?”
Anne awkwardly held the fishing rod at the spot I vacated.
Watching her, I somewhat understood Maxim’s eagerness to teach me.
There was so much to share—from holding the rod to posture and force distribution.
Teaching someone uninterested in fishing felt inappropriate, so I silently observed from the side.
Soon, Anne made a slightly frustrated face, flailing her hands up and down to beckon me.
“You should guide me. Hold it with me.”
“Won’t you try alone?”
“What if I drop the rod? It’s heavy.”
“Alright.”
Moving slowly beside Anne, I decided to help only slightly from the side instead of standing behind her for propriety.
Their hands touching felt almost inevitable.
Her delicate, porcelain-like hands spoke volumes—”I’ve never done hard labor.”
In contrast, my hands bore signs of wear, progressing towards ruggedness despite current smoothness.
Upon contact, Anne reacted like a startled cat.
Calmly gripping her hand, I steadied the fishing rod.
She tensed slightly, emitting a peculiar sound resembling steam escaping from a pot.
Anne’s hands warmed up noticeably.
The temperature rise was palpable in real-time.
Glancing at her face, a slight blush appeared.
Though unintentional, this setup could easily lead to misunderstandings.
Breaking the silence was a fish.
“Oh. Now.”
My low voice prompted Anne to tighten her grip.
Determinedly, she struggled to reel in the fish with tiny movements.
Adding a little strength helped us succeed without uttering the classic “dorcha” but still teetering on the edge of that uncle-like spirit.
“Wow! Look at this!”
Anne had caught a carp.
A radiant yellow creature.
“I caught it!”
“Great job.”
Anne’s voice carried excitement.
Her flushed cheeks hinted at elation.
Indeed, fishing has its charm; the initial taste can be addictive.
“What kind of fish is this?”
“Carp.”
“Carp….”
Anne gazed at the fish in her hands then gently released it back into the lake.
The carp splashed before disappearing into the depths.
“Did you intend to release it?”
“Yeah. Carrying it home feels too far. Understanding the fun of fishing is enough.”
“Hmm.”
That makes sense.
Without a bag, carrying it manually for a long time would be burdensome.
“Ugh. Fishing’s fun, but fish feel weird. My hands probably smell fishy.”
Anne cautiously brought her hands near her nose, recoiling slightly with a wrinkled expression.
Fishy odors are plausible. I usually ignore them, but…
“Wash your hands in the lake. That’ll help.”
“Guess I should. I’ll wash them immediately when I get home.”
Repeating the process of dipping her hands in the lake and checking the smell, Anne continued for a couple of rounds.
Meanwhile, I caught another fish, recasting my line.
“How’s my hand now?”
“Huh?”
“Does it still smell?”
Anne extended her dripping right hand toward my nose.
Gently inhaling, I detected no fishy odor.
Instead, the distinct scent of spring flowers lingered.
Perhaps lingering traces from the narcissus.
“Smells like spring flowers.”
“Hmm. Yeah. Lucky!”
Anne responded, bringing her hand closer to the flower again.
Clearly, she adored it.
Such reactions make giving gifts deeply satisfying.
Thus, we continued exchanging light-hearted, seemingly trivial conversations.
It was a delightful fishing session.
The grueling, predestined exhaustion of mining awaited me later, but…
For now, it was a happy moment.
![[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come](https://i3.wp.com/darkmtl.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/1737407792-8993-TS-The-end-of-magical-girls-has-come.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] The End of Magical Girls Has Come")
