How to Cultivate a Game

One Well Village.

Nee Chen recently turned 18 years old, and now— he wanted nothing more than to live an easy life. As an orphan, life had always been difficult for him. But now that he was a grown-up, he planned on making his life easier.

Though 'easier' made him sound decadent and lazy, he actually meant better. Because there wasn't anything better than a better life. For a mortal, this was only natural.

*Tuk

*Tuk

*Tuk

Inheriting his dead grandfather's farm, Nee Chen only wanted to till the soil, sow the seeds, and work. He would repeat this cycle until old age claimed him. Just like his grandfather and the many fellow villagers who shared his fate. It was Nee Chen's dream to die of old age, see his children wed, and for a wife to care for him on his deathbed.

While in this world, people had pursued longevity and wished for immortality, Nee Chen's mind was far from such lofty things. And this was the same for everyone in the One Well Village.

They wanted none of the cultivator bullshit and the troubles that came with it.

That was why the One Well Village enforced the spirit of inconspicuousness. They didn't want to be seen! Simple as that was, the village lacked excitement as a result. But boring was best, so they were happy to go on with their current lives.

They wanted to live a life of obscurity far from the troubles of cultivators, martial artists, or warriors. As a member of the common populace, the perception of the members of One Well Village was understandable.

However, compared to other villages, the One Well Village had taken this perception to the extreme. 

There was no particular reason. Nee Chen wasn't sure either as to how even this stigma towards cultivators came to be. What he knew was that a lot of people in his village disliked and feared cultivators to the extreme.

"Big bro, look~ I am a cultivator! Shu~ shu~ shu~"

But this was not true for everyone else. Little Gao, the most troublesome brat in the village played with a wooden sword that Nee Chen carved. The brat kept on making sound effects with his mouth which was getting irritating to Nee Chen's ears.

"Little Gao... shut up. I was busy here making ends meet. Would you not disturb me working on my farm!"

"But big brother Chen, don't you think that cultivators were awesome?"

Last month, a cultivator from a righteous sect visited One Well Village. The cultivator came, inquiring about any witness of demonic cultivators. As expected, the village was accommodating, but only at the bare minimum so as to not anger the cultivator and had him leave immediately.

But there was a little accident.

The village tried its best to look invisible in the cultivator's presence, but this little brat just could not help himself but make a commotion.

Nee Chen recalled the commotion at the time when Lu Gao started kowtowing and begging the cultivator to take him as a fellow disciple. It was a shameful sight!

If not for the village elder threatening little Gao with some smacking, the cultivator's visit might escalate into something unwanted.

"Come on big bro! Didn't you see it? The cultivator could fly on swords!"

"Shut up. Will flying on swords feed you?"

"Huh? I... I don't know."

One Well Village as its name suggested was a village centered on one well.

The well existed in this village even before people settled here. The well was inexhaustible and became the primary source of the villagers for their livelihood, which was farming.

Little Gao had finally become tired of showing his moves to Nee Chen. Finally, the brat left to find his friends to play with.

Nee Chen focused on the task at hand. The repetitive process of farming allowed Nee Chen's mind to wander about a certain girl.

"Hmmm... Xiang Ya, was she doing well? I should gift some of my produce to them..." With a smug smile, Nee Chen fantasized about the girl of his dreams.

Nee Chen, after accomplishing his daily task of tending to his farm, returned to his humble hut to rest. He saw the many woodworks that were messily scattered around his hut.

Peeled wooden scraps, wooden dust, and all sorts of tools were scattered on the floor. Nee Chen had no time to clean his place this morning since he had to pay more attention to his crops this season.

"Hmmm... I almost died during the last harvest. I have to be careful about dividing my time between farming and wood carving. While selling my woodcraft also earned me money, so did farming." Nee Chen would like to indulge in his woodcarving more, but while his woodwork could earn him good money, farming still was a more stable source of income.

Last year, in winter, Nee Chen almost died of starvation because he made too much wood carving, and had too little store of food. He had mistakenly sold the produce reserved as his ration at that time. If not for his kind neighbors, he would definitely have died of starvation. He swore not to make the same mistake again.

His mind went to a certain girl again. It was Xiang Ya who was his playmate when he was young. He wondered about the possibility of asking her hand in marriage.

Maybe if Nee Chen had enough money, he would have a chance to ask the hand of the most beautiful maiden in the village. This thought stuck to his mind like a disease.

"He... hehe... hehehe..." A dumb face was plastered on Nee Chen's face at the thought of marrying the most beautiful girl in the village.

But not for so long, he erased his dumb face, Nee Chen composed himself.

It was free to fantasize, but Nee Chen preferred it to be 'real' instead.

"I will make it happen! I will work hard! I am the man!" He psyched himself.

With that single-mindedness, he forgot what tiredness was entirely. Like a fool, he gave his all knowing that the results would remain uncertain. Nee Chen was satisfied enough that every time he worked hard, his chances would have a 'chance' of increasing.

"Hahaha... That's a funny way to put it. I could only work harder, I guess...:

So, he worked hard. Because that's the only thing he knew. To work hard.

Using his carving knife, Nee Chen skillfully made excellent work of the oak in front of him. He realized resting could come later. For now, Nee Chen worked till he dropped.

"Like I said, I will work fucking hard!" With a smile plastered on his face, he continued to ship them stored wood in the workshop with unbridled focus.

Nee Chen was quite good at making wooden figurines, and toys. It was a talent that he nurtured in his leisure. Before he knew it, he had already become an excellent wood carver.

Once a month, a traveling merchant would visit this village. Nee Chen was planning to make a lot of extra money on top of his harvest.

Just like that, the night silently passed away.

At the cusp of midnight, Nee Chen found himself exhausted and finally succumbed to sleep.

...

Nee Chen woke up mid sleep. Today was a beautiful night, he thought. But he could not appreciate it, because of the loud crying from his door. It was none other than Lu Gao.

"Big bro! Waaaa~ waaaaa~"

This? Nee Chen watched little Gao cry as the annoying boy ran in his direction.

"Buojing and Guiren kept on calling me an idiot! They... they say I could not become a cultivator!" The brat, Lu Gao cried to Nee Chen scattering his snot and tears. The brat grabbed Nee Chen's arms while smearing his tears on Nee Chen's clothes.

Nee Chen suppressed the mixture of irritation and unwillingness rising in his mind, fuck it, he desperately wanted to stuff little Gao in the well.

'Breath in, breathe out…' Nee Chen calmed himself.

"Why come here, then? It's not like I could turn you into a cultivator..." Nee Chen calmly said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"..." Lu Gao was speechless.

"..." Not that Nee Chen really cared.

"WAAAAAAAAA~ WAAAaaaaaAAAAAAaaaaaaa~!"

Nee Chen cringed at the outburst of the crying Lu Gao. It was embarrassing, Nee Chen was very tempted to smack the little brat! The village chief did it a lot of times to discipline the preposterous boy, but Nee Chen was actually soft-hearted despite his stoic appearance.

Nee Chen could only talk to Lu Gao. "Stop. Stop. Stop!"

Sadly, Lu Gao could not hear Nee Chen's pleading.

"WAAAAAAAAA~ WAAAaaaaaAAAAAAaaaaaaa~!"