whirr.... whirr....
Venzel watched as the machine glided across the pixelated fields, gears whirring with mechanical cheer.
Crops vanished row by row into his digital inventory. Neat, efficient and strangely soothing.
With the harvest completed, he moved on to the barn.
A gentle tap on the cow produced a soft moo and a fresh bottle of milk.
Another tap on the chicken, pop, and an egg.
The sheep yielded a bundle of wool, the goat another bottle of milk.
Then came the pigs.
He sighed, already knowing what came next. One tap—poof—meat. Just like that.
Poor pigs, he thought—not for the first time.
But they were the cheapest livestock, and practical decisions always won out in this game.
With his routine finished, he scattered feed for the animals, then made his way to the marketplace.
A few taps later, his inventory was converted to coins, and he stood back to admire the day's haul.
Ding ding ding!
A notification rang out.
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 100!
You have unlocked 'The Ending'
Reward: RESET (automatic)
New feature: Villager Interactions unlocked!]
Venzel blinked.
"…What?"
He stared at his phone, unmoving.
In a blink, his game level dropped from 100 to 1.
The barns faded.
The cows, chickens, and sheep vanished one by one, dissolving into pixels.
His grand barn. His upgraded silos.
The cozy farmhouse he spent months grinding for, all disappeared!
Gone.
He stood up slowly, stunned, heart beating a little faster now.
"…No," he muttered, fingers frozen on the screen.
Then, it hit.
"This is bullshit!" he exploded.
With a furious jab, he shut the phone off, jaw tight with frustration, eyes wide in disbelief.
All that work—gone.
Still simmering from the game's betrayal, Venzel stood up with a growl and stood.
A scowl etched deep on his face, he pushed open the door, and stepped into the humid breath of his greenhouse.
Rows of potato sprouts peeked from the soil. Not much, but they were growing.
Venzel sighed.
Once upon a time, he was an office worker. A stable job, a stable paycheck, a stable girlfriend.. he had the whole "boring but dependable adult" package down.
One more year and he could've married her, moved to the countryside, and taken over the family farm.
A peaceful life with nothing but crops and cuddles.
Then came the scandal.
Falsely accused of sexual harassment by a colleague, and just like that, his name was mud.
No company wanted him.
There were no interview calls.
His talents meant nothing.
A promising future was swept out like trash.
So here he was. On a farm. In a greenhouse. With potatoes.
At least potatoes were reliable. Low maintenance. Grew in bad soil.
And most importantly, it didn't gossip behind his back.
He knelt beside a sprout, patting the soil with awkward affection. "You're my only coworkers now. Congrats."
Another sigh escaped him.
My parents are so thoughtful, he thought dryly, sending their emotionally-scarred, unemployed son to the countryside to dig in dirt. Five stars for parental empathy.
Just in time, his phone buzzed.
He pulled it out of his pocket, wiping dirt off the screen.
A number appeared. His hand froze mid-swipe.
He instantly recognized the number. It was his girlfriend... But how?
I thought I changed my number.. How did she get it?
"...Ah," he muttered. "Oh Well. Why not? Let the final boss arrive. Stack the pain all in one day."
He inhaled. Prepared himself for a calm, possibly tearful, break-up.
Maybe she'd cry.
Maybe he'd cry.
Maybe they'd agree to be "friends" and then never speak again.
He hesitated, thumb hovering over the answer button. What was he expecting? Tears? Goodbyes?
He tapped.
"BAKAAAAAA!!!"
He jolted, nearly dropping the phone into the potatoes.
The shout thundered through the speaker, probably scaring the greenhouse spiders into early retirement.
"Wh-What?!" he stammered.
"BAKAAAAA!!!"
Venzel flinched again, pulling the phone slightly away from his ear like it was a ticking bomb.
"W-What the hell was that for?! You nearly gave me a heart atta—"
But her voice cut through him, sharp, trembling, and unmistakably laced with tears.
"How could you just disappear like that, huh?! Not a word. Not a message. Nothing! Do you have any idea what I went through?"
Venzel froze.
He opened his mouth, then closed it again. This wasn't the breakup speech. This was… something else entirely.
""I… I figured you'd leave me." he said slowly. "I thought you'd heard about the scandal and just… decided to move on."
There was a sniffle on the other end.
"Oh, so you thought I'd believe some cheap office gossip over the man I—" she stopped herself, clearly flustered, then shouted, "You idiot!"
"I— okay, yes, I'm an idiot," Venzel quickly admitted, raising a hand in surrender despite the fact that she couldn't see it.
"A giant one.. But I didn't want to drag you down with me."
Another sniff.
Then silence.
Then—
"Stay where you are."
"…Huh?"
"Don't move. I'm coming over. Right now. To the greenhouse."
Venzel blinked. "Wait, what? Hold on.... how do you even know where the greenhouse is?!"
Before he could get another word in, the call ended with a decisive click.
Venzel stood there, phone in hand, staring at the potatoes like they might offer advice.
"…What just happened?"
He glanced at his reflection on the phone screen. Dusty hair. Dirt-smudged face. A sprout clinging to his sleeve like a medal of rural survival.