Chapter 03: Memories recalled

“Haa, haa, haa…… found it….…”

There was no doubt that what is in front of me is the hut that was given to every player at the very beginning of the game. It is an old looking shabby house with paint already peeling. The hut is built on the edge of the woods, with the shore extending out below.

I cautiously opened the door and went inside. The room was filled with the smell of aged wood. There are only two small windows inside, so the room is dimly lit. Still, the view of the beautiful blue sea from one of window is quite relaxing. As for the small room inside the house, there is only a small table, one chair, and a shabby bed placed in it. There was no mattress on the bed, just straw laid directly on the bed. I had never slept like this in my life. But I shouldn’t be greedy. This is much better than sleeping outside.

Next, I lifted the magic lantern on the table. The red lantern has peeling paint and rust in some places. It’s the same as in the game. I wasn’t sure if it would turn on, but when I switched it on, the lantern brightly lit up the room.

“Thank goodness it works….… Thank you so much.”

Now I don’t have to worry about being frightened by the darkness. I prayed a prayer of gratitude to God.

This lantern is a type of magic tool that brightens an area and is powered by magic stones. A magic stone is a crystal of magical power obtained when a defeating monsters. And as long as you put one in, the lantern can last almost forever.

However, I don’t have any spare magic stone, so I have to buy more in the town. Of course, there is another way, which is for me to defeat monsters by myself and get their magic stone. But at this stage, I want to avoid that if possible. I am not sure if there are any monsters living on the island after all.

I can’t remember it well but hopefully, there are none here. I can’t sleep peacefully on an island where monsters roam freely after all. But thanks to Paul-oniisan, I have a lot of money to spare so it would be wiser to buy magic stones in the town.

I’ll offer a prayer of gratitude to my brother as well.

“May my second brother live a healthy life.”

Well, there was no mistake. This is the setting of Island Maker itself. At first, there was no one in the island, but as a player lives here, all kinds of people would come, and the island will develop through interactions with them.

In fact, I don’t really remember what kind of people would come. Even though my memory has returned, it is not so vivid. There are still many vague details in it.

Hmm, how do I develop the island again?

I think I remember that there is a point allocation system in the game to develop and nurture the island. With those points, I should be able to upgrade and build facilities as well as allocate points in the flora and fauna of the island, but…….

“Whoa!”

When the memories were connected, a status screen appeared in front of me.

Oh yes, it was like this. In the game, there was also a display of belongings and money, but in this world, it is omitted. What I’m concerned about is the happiness category. As the name suggests, this is an indicator of whether I am happy or not. Sleep deprivation, illness, injury, hunger and thirst can lower this number. The scary part is that if my happiness level is below 75%, my points will not improve. If I don’t get any points, I won’t be able to develop my island. Then if I can’t develop the island, I won’t be able to eat satisfactory food. This will further reduce my level of happiness. And in this way, I will fall into a negative spiral. In addition, whether I am extremely sad or happy, my happiness value could go up or down.

I currently have 10 points huh….

I should be able to find out where to allocate my points to if I go to that location, but.…. I looked around inside the hut, but there was nothing that elicited any reaction. I should be able to build a kitchen and living room here as well but, what are the conditions to unlock them again?

It was still early for dusk, so I decided to go outside. When I went outside, the soil in front of the hut was shining.

Oh right. I remember. I can grow a field here. By the way, aren’t turnips often the first crop grown in this kind of games? I wonder why though.

“Ahh!”

Remembering something even more important, I exclaimed.

Oh, yes…… that’s right!

If the fields on this island are as designed in the game, it would only take three days from sowing to harvesting. Of course, that’s assuming that I pulled out all the weeds and water the fields properly. But even so, this is pretty much cheating. This is way more than just a question of forced cultivation!

But if I can really grow crops in three days, just like in the game, then the inheritance I received is quite incredible, isn’t it? I wanted to plant a farm right away, but as the saying goes, “Haste makes waste.”

Let’s see what else I can make first.

It’s not important, but maybe because my memory is coming back, Japanese proverbs are popping out of my head every now and then.

When I looked next to the planned site of the field, I saw an old well. The edges of the well are covered with moss, and the inside is filled with soil. This doesn’t seem to be very usable. However, it seemed that this old well could also be allocated with points.

This is an absolute must.

“Island Maker” has a strict slow-life habit, and once you have zero life, the game will be over. The first time I played this game, I put the points on something else and put off making the well. Thanks to that, I got dehydrated and the game was over immediately. And even though this is very similar to the game world, it’s a real world for me right now. I don’t even know if I can start over from a save point. Thus, cherishing life is a top priority.

Speaking of which, I wonder what happened to save points. In Island Maker, once the player goes to the bed, the save screen will appear, but there was nothing like that here. Well anyways, that could only mean that if I make a mistake, I’m going to die, I guess. That’s the only realistic logic there is…….

Anyway, rebuilding the well is the most basic principle of Island Maker. I waved my hand at the glowing part with a bit of nervousness.

“-Guh!”

I felt something slip out of my body. Then I saw three marble-sized balls of light flew from me towards the well.

The points might have been created by my magical power huh.

When the ball of light hit the old well, it emitted so much light that I could not keep my eyes open.

Kyuuiiiiiiiiiiin!

The sound is so intense that it shook my eardrums. It became impossible for me to maintain a sense of balance. But the sound and light did not last long, the world soon regained its silence. When I opened my still numb eyes, there was a well, which had been beautifully repaired. The moss that used to grow densely on it are gone, and the piled stones sparkles. The well itself has been cleaned.

I instinctively ran over and looked inside the well. I saw the clear water glittering and reflecting the sunlight through the trees. I immediately used the bucket and pulley to draw water.

“Sniff, sniff. Hmmm…… it doesn’t have a weird smell….”

I drank it timidly, but it turned out to be a really tasty water.

“Gulp, gulp, gulp. Puhaaa!”

I was so nervous that I forgot about it, but I was actually very thirsty.

“…………”

Now that I had calmed down, I tried tasting the water again. The water tastes really good. If there were such a thing as the 10 best waters in the Findas region, I think this one would definitely be a taste that would jump to the top. That’s how much the water in this well stood out.

As expected, this island has tremendous potential.

Thanks to drinking a delicious water, I now feel energized. Oh, and my happiness level has recovered a little.

As long as there is water, humans can live for about two weeks on that alone. I don’t have any food yet, but I’ll get by for the time being. When I thought about it, I felt so much better. It doesn’t look like it’s gonna be game over soon.

If I remember correctly, I could also find food in the woods, and I could go fishing on the beach or on the rocky shore. If I work hard, I won’t have any trouble eating.

I really want to explore the island right away, but I’d better do that tomorrow. The sun is now setting in the western sky, and the color of the sea is also getting darker. I also recalled that dangerous creatures roam the island at night. What’s particularly frightening are the poisonous spiders and poisonous snakes. I don’t want to run into them in the dark.

The upside is that dangerous creatures can also drop valuable items and materials. In some cases, I may need to capture them, but not until I get used to the life here.

A sigh of relief escaped from me as I entered the house and sat down on a bundle of straw. I was at a loss until I regained my memory, but with this, maybe I can make it.

It’s an empty island right now, but it could be made like Gandalcia in the fairy tale.

I’ll do my best to create a wonderful utopia!

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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