Have you ever looked into the eyes of a chicken and felt fear?
Because I have.
It happened approximately five minutes after I accepted a quest to feed them.
And that was the exact moment one of them exploded.
---
Let me back up.
After the warrior girl barged into my house with apocalyptic trauma in her eyes and mistook me for the Hidden Craftsman of Greenroot, I did the only logical thing:
I gave her tea.
Because my [Auto-Kitchen Upgrade] kicked in the moment she stepped inside, and suddenly my shelf stocked itself with spirit-leaf blends and mugs warm to the touch.
I handed her one, she looked like she might cry, and I stood there awkwardly sipping my own cup, still wearing villager robes and wondering when exactly my life turned into a magical fever dream.
Outside, the sky was still an unsettling shade of purple-green. Distant roars echoed. Monsters were real. The world was ending. My chickens were aggressively pecking at spirit feed like it owed them money.
> [Quest Complete: Feed the Chickens]
Reward: Hatchling Ticket x1
That part was fine.
What wasn't fine was what came next.
---
> [Hatchling Ticket Consumed Automatically]
Phoenix Coop Activated.
New Companion Hatching: Crimson Emberchick]
The coop behind my house rattled. Light poured from it in a blinding flare of red and gold. One of the normal-looking hens puffed up, made a noise like a kettle about to boil, and—
BOOM.
Feathers. Fire. Clucking chaos.
When the smoke cleared, there was a tiny bird standing in the middle of a scorched nest. It looked like a baby chick... if that baby chick had lava for feathers and eyes like burning rubies.
"...you've gotta be kidding me."
> [New Companion Registered: Emberchick (Lv. 1)]
Status: Moody / Slightly Arson-Inclined
I stared.
It chirped once.
The grass caught fire.
The warrior girl (whose name I still didn't know) nearly dropped her mug. "Is that… a phoenix hatchling?"
I shrugged. "I think it's technically my chicken now."
She looked at me like I'd just declared myself emperor of the moon.
---
Later that day—if time even worked normally in this world—I took stock of my situation.
I had:
One magical cabin fortress
A garden that now sparkled (thanks [Farming EXP Multiplier])
A coop with an aggressive bird made of fire
A traumatized guest still recovering in my guest room
And a system that just would NOT stop.
> [New Crafting Recipe Unlocked: Emberchick Nest Upgrade]
Materials Needed:
Firewood x10
Molten Feather x3
Stubborn Cluck x1 (??? What even is that?)
> [New Title Progress: Beastfather of the Roost (0/5)]
> [Villager Rumor Spread: "Greenroot has a flame beast! The Hidden One rises!"]
Fantastic. I hadn't even done anything and already the local gossip mill was shipping me with destiny.
I decided to ignore all of it and focus on crafting instead.
---
Crafting was supposed to be relaxing.
In normal games, you gather some sticks, smack a few rocks together, boom—campfire.
Here? My [God-Level Crafting] perk decided to flex.
I tried making a basic shovel. Ended up with:
>[Crafted: Earthpiercer Spade – Legendary Tier]
["Can dig through enchanted bedrock. Also useful for pancakes."]
Uh. Thanks?
I tried making a tea table.
> [Crafted: Spiritwood Hospitality Altar]
["Visitors gain passive HP regen when served tea."]
Okay. That one was actually awesome.
But the best part?
Everything I crafted upgraded my home automatically. The territory bar in the corner of my vision started ticking up every time I placed an item.
> [Greenroot Homestead – Tier 1 → Tier 2]
> Upgrades Available: Outer Walls, Crop Barrier, Chicken Defense Array
...Chicken what now
Night fell. Not that I knew how to tell, since the sky just darkened to a deep violet and the stars pulsed like breathing runes. I was sitting on my porch with Emberchick curled beside my boot like a smug flame ball.
The warrior girl (who finally told me her name was Kaela) had bandaged her arm and was now fast asleep in my upgraded recovery pod/bed. She hadn't questioned my identity again. I think the exploding poultry sealed the deal.
I opened my system screen.
There it was: my stats. Still terrible.
> Name: Jude Park (Villager #47)
Level: 1
Class: ???
Titles: None
Reputation: Whispered Myth (Local)
Companion: Emberchick (Lv. 1 – Fiery Mood)
It was the weakest, most confusing build I'd ever seen.
And yet… I had a fortress, a mythical pet, and someone thought I was a secret hero.
Maybe I could work with that.
Or maybe the next quest would kill me.
> [New Quest: Investigate the Crater Beyond the Forest]
[Reward: ???]
...Yup. Definitely that one.
I sighed and tossed another log into the fire. Emberchick toasted a marshmallow on its beak. Somehow.
"Guess we're in this together now, buddy."
It chirped.
My chair caught fire.
Then it happened again....
My body moved on it own.
"I thought it was over!!" I couldn't even say it out loud.
I silently cried inside...
I was moving in the direction of the town's entrance.
---
The first thing I said when got there was, "Welcome to Greenroot Village!" I wanted to cry. Not because of any emotion, but because I was forced to say it.
Literally. My body moved on its own.
Like some budget NPC from a 2006 MMO, I grinned woodenly at the confused man in rusted armor limping toward the village gates.
"Welcome to Greenroot Village!"
He blinked. I blinked. We stared at each other like two dumbasses in the apocalypse.
"…Thanks?" he muttered, and limped off into the barely-standing houses behind me.
As soon as he passed, I collapsed against the guardpost wall and groaned. "What the actual f—"
[System Message] NPC Role Initialization: COMPLETE. Hidden System Detected… Activating Unique Skill: [God-Level Crafting]
I stared at the blue screen hovering in the air.
Then another popped up.
[Skill Unlocked: Farming EXP Multiplier (x1000)] [Territory Upgrade System Initialized] [Player Interaction Module: Auto-Slap Enabled]
I blinked. Then I laughed. Then I panicked.
"Okay okay okay… breathe… I've watched enough isekai to know what this is." I wiped my forehead and tried not to scream. "I'm in a damn game. No, worse. An apocalyptic fantasy world. And I'm the tutorial villager."
Looking around, I confirmed what I suspected. Half the buildings were burnt or falling apart, the sky had that weird green tint like it was mad at the ground, and from the forest came distant howls that sounded suspiciously un-wolf-like.
I checked myself. Brown linen shirt. Patchy trousers. Straw shoes. Yup. Total NPC drip.
I even had a name tag above my head: [Villager - ???]
"Okay… name's missing. Cool cool cool." I gulped. "Does that mean I can change it?"
[Would you like to assign a personal name? Y/N]
My eyes lit up. "Hell yes."
I quickly typed in the name I always used in games: Riven.
[Name Accepted: Riven]
A warmth spread through my chest as the tag above my head updated: [Villager - Riven]
Nice.
But just as I was enjoying the minor victory, another screen blinked into view.
[World State: APOCALYPTIC COLLAPSE] [Player Count: 119,002 → 38,591 → 3,041] [Survivors within 5km radius: 1]
"…Wait. Just me?"
I turned slowly, dread pooling in my gut.
The armored guy I welcomed earlier? Yeah. His head was gone.
His body lay twitching near the well, steam rising from his exposed neck like someone boiled his spine from the inside.
I gagged. Then bolted back inside the guard post and slammed the wooden door shut.
[Congratulations! You've survived your first player encounter.] [Auto-Slap Activated] [EXP Gained]
"WHAT?!" I yelped.
A tiny notification blinked in the corner of my vision: [Auto-Slap Damage: 9999 True DMG to Hostile Entities]
I sat down slowly on the dusty floor. "…I slapped him to death?"
Apparently, yes.
My hand twitched, glowing faintly red.
Somewhere in the sky, I heard a thunderous crack—like a world event was triggered.
[Quest Unlocked: Rebuild Greenroot Village] [Reward: Village Core, Blueprint: Cozy Cabin → Magic Fortress (Locked)]
Suddenly, a map unfolded in my vision, highlighting plots of land, upgrade icons, farming zones, defense lines…
My little run-down hellhole had potential.
I grinned.
"Alright. Guess I'm not just a villager anymore."
I looked out at the ruined fields, the destroyed village, and the vast open world crawling with death.
"Let's turn this apocalypse into a farming sim."
I stepped out of the guard post, checked the old broken signboard labeled 'Greenroot Village', and kicked it over.
Then I grabbed a stick, stabbed it into the ground, and held up a piece of parchment.
With the System's crafting help, I scribbled my first declaration of territory.
[Welcome to Greenroot Sanctuary – Population: 1 and growing.]
Lightning cracked across the green sky. Monsters howled in the distance. Somewhere, the gods were probably laughing.
But I didn't care.
I had spirit carrots to plant. A chicken coop to upgrade. A village to build.
And if anyone—hero, villain, or cosmic horror—wanted to mess with me?
They were gonna get slapped so hard, they'd respawn with PTSD.
Let the apocalypse begin.
Well, it's time i go back to my cabin.
It's almost nighttime.