After the death of Hopkins the Inquisitor, Suke had expected that Raum, the Demon God Pillar, would no longer be able to sit still.
But the situation exceeded his expectations. Whether it was regarding Hopkins' death or the series of actions Suke took after opening the Sweet House in Salem, that Demon God Pillar seemed to be truly just watching everything silently, without making a single move.
Leveraging his outstanding performance in the Town Guard, Sanson replaced Hopkins and became the town's acting judge. As a former French civil servant, he easily appeased the townspeople, giving the village elders no opportunity to make a fuss about the explosion.
As for Suke's Sweet House, it continued to sit at the edge of the forest, operating just as everyone expected.
At Elysia's suggestion, he even reclaimed a few plots of farmland at the forest's edge. They were used to plant Miss Pink Elf's favorite Fairy Roses, and incidentally, to place some Bee Houses to collect honey. As time passed bit by bit, the atmosphere in Salem seemed to truly be improving slowly through everyone's efforts.
"Does this Demon God Pillar have a screw loose somewhere?"
"Where is his grand plan? Where is the Outer God he wanted to summon? He isn't holding back some massive move in secret, is he?"
Sitting by the small river on the farm and casting his fishing rod, Suke took a bite of the Field Snack he had hand-crafted. Its crunchy texture, like a Snickers bar, was still unforgettable.
Nowadays, Suke was no longer personally responsible for the operation of the Salem Sweet House; instead, he had handed it over to Elysia and Lavinia. He was only responsible for periodically transporting the cakes made in Stardew Valley through the cross-world gate located in his main house.
As for Abigail, he had brought her to the cross-world gate to try it out, but she still couldn't return to Stardew Valley. But so be it; it wasn't as if they couldn't see each other. With all this going back and forth, he had actually become the most leisurely person.
"Forget it. It's best if that Demon God Pillar doesn't resist."
Retracting the rod the instant the bobber moved, Suke looked at the water weeds hanging on the tackle. With a face full of black lines, he threw them into the trash can in his backpack.
"Anyway, I've already thrown the Return Scepter to Elysia. If she encounters anything wrong, she can return immediately."
"Speaking of which, the things Elysia opened earlier..."
Seeming to think of something, Suke opened his backpack and looked at the results Elysia had obtained from opening the boxes for him earlier.
The ten Golden Mystery Boxes went without saying. The most valuable items among them were the [Special Rain Totem Recipe], [Pardofelis's Cat Collar], and a stack of 10 [Qi Seasoning].
The [Special Rain Totem Recipe] provided Suke with the chance to summon special weather like Green Rain. He tested the synthesis formula, and it seemed to be 1 Rain Totem + 10 Moss = 1 Rain Totem: Green Rain.
However, it seemed it could be synthesized with more than just moss. Suke tried it with the severely surplus wheat he had acquired from Salem, and it actually synthesized a Rain Totem: Wheat. He wondered if wheat grains would fall from the sky after using it.
The effect of [Pardofelis's Cat Collar] was simple: it boosted luck, and its special function was to eliminate the sound and presence of walking and running. Paired with the [Eden's Ruby Ring] he held, it practically became a god-tier assassin set. It was a pity this wasn't an action RPG game. Compared to cautiously infiltrating to take out enemies, he found it much more satisfying to just throw bombs directly.
On the other hand, [Qi Seasoning], an item that could only be obtained in the very late game of the original Stardew Valley, really had something to say for itself. Suke had tried adding a little bit when eating Sashimi earlier, and that taste—it nearly made his clothes burst off! He didn't know how that legendary Mr. Qi made this seasoning, but this stuff was too pure. Suke dared to say that even the goods from the Medicine King next door weren't as pure as this!
Of course, having said all that, Suke's biggest harvest actually came from the item opened from the "Iridium Mystery Box"—
[Special Item: Bus Ticket * 1]
[After inserting this into the ticket slot below the fare box at the Bus Stop, the bus driving out from the Underworld will bring new Farmhand candidates to the farm.]
[Death is not fearful; death is a cool summer night, allowing one to sleep without worry.]
"Great. If I see one more meme from the New Three Kingdoms, I'm going to stab my eyes out!"
Pinching this ticket, which looked seventy percent similar to the gacha items from the Honkai: Star Rail next door and was suspected of copyright infringement, Suke put away his fishing rod, ready to see what this was all about.
The abandoned Bus Stop was the same as always; the dilapidated, rusty, excrement-yellow bus was parked on the dust-free highway.
Actually, before Suke transmigrated, there were many analysis videos about Stardew Valley. If one didn't consider its game mechanics, there was a conspiracy theory in the older versions that was quite popular—that Stardew Valley itself is a town that accepts the dead.
Why does the age of the people in town remain unchanged no matter how much time passes? Why is it that even though the outside world is suspected to be in a perennial state of war (Kent's dialogue), Stardew Valley isn't affected in the slightest?
Then there's Mr. Qi, who monitors the game protagonist at all times from the Walnut Room on Ginger Island, making the protagonist feel as if they are living in The Truman Show. Along with some hints, both subtle and overt, it was often hard for people not to overthink it.
Of course, a conspiracy theory is just a conspiracy theory. Even if his place really became a town for the dead, Suke didn't feel there was anything bad about it—at least it meant death wasn't the end, right?
"Come on, let me see who the visitor will be this time?"
He stuffed the ticket into the ticket box. The bus that had been parked before Suke's eyes just a moment ago vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Not long after, the roar of an engine came from the gloomy, pitch-black tunnel at the end of the highway. A dilapidated bus drove out from it, slowing down, and finally stopped steadily in front of Suke.
The bus doors opened with the hiss of a pneumatic valve, but this time, after waiting for a long while, no figure appeared from inside.
Suke: "?"
"Don't tell me this special ticket was a dud? That shouldn't be. Even if there's no SSR, it should at least give me something as a pity prize!"
Suke leaned into the bus, looking towards the interior of the carriage—
"Go die... it would be better if everyone just died..."
The figure of a girl with short pink hair and a small round hat was slumped in the seat of the very last row. Bone wings, which looked like ribs that had been dismantled and spliced onto her spine, spread out from behind her, giving off a bizarre sense of beauty.
Her eyes were hollow. Even though the bus had already stopped, she made no movements, simply sitting there blankly.
"Go die..."
"Go die!"
And in the split second Suke stepped into the bus carriage, the girl seemed like a spider sensing an insect falling into its web. Her gaze snapped fiercely toward him.
Her figure moved in tandem.
"?!"
____
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