Nami stared unblinkingly at the transparent light screen before her, her gaze sweeping past the familiar character attributes to the bottom, where there should have been a button labeled [Exit Game], but now there was only blank space.
An hour ago, Nami had just landed the final blow in the raid against the world boss Black Dragon Nidhogg, obtaining the legendary item [Dragon Blood Heritage]. She had casually transformed her race from human to black dragon, and then received a system notification about a game update.
[The black dragon that tried to devour the World Tree has been slain. After this temporary peace, various factions are stirring in the shadows. The next phase of the Moro Continent awaits your exploration~ A new trading system is about to go online, giving adventurers the opportunity to engage in free trade throughout the Moro Continent.]
Thanks to this trading system, Nami, who had transmigrated into the game, still had a place to stay. Nami let out a soft breath and followed the new player guidance for the trading system, opening her inventory. [Please open this glowing scroll!] Opening her inventory, Nami's movements froze. She stared at the bare zero after her gold coin count and said quietly, "Where are my gold coins?" Her long string of nine-digit gold coins?!
[Please open this glowing scroll!] the system repeated cheerfully. "Where are my gold coins?" Nami also repeated softly.
The scene fell into silence for a moment. The scroll in her inventory flickered with light, trying to attract Nami's attention, but she just stood there quietly, like a volcano about to awaken.
The system's tone carried a hint of embarrassment: [Due to a data parsing error, the gold coins in your account are temporarily unavailable. To compensate for your loss, all taxes and rent for the shops under your name will be waived~ Please understand~]
Only then did Nami raise her hand and unfold the parchment scroll. A sudden surge of rage had just swept through her emotions, and it took Nami quite a while to calm down. That anger seemed to come from her bloodline—wait, bloodline?
The parchment scroll read: [As the friend of the aunt of the grandfather of the uncle of your cousin, Mr. Richard has bequeathed the Dragon Flame Tavern to you.] The system seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as it instantly popped up a quest box: [Newbie Quest 1: Explore your newly inherited tavern.]
Only then did Nami survey her surroundings. This was a misty small town street, and she was standing at the entrance of a building with a [Dragon Flame Tavern] sign. The sign was moldy and hung crookedly, as if no one had been there for a long time. She reached out to pull the broken wooden door in front of her. The wood made a creaking sound as if it couldn't bear the weight, and the door hinge seemed rusted. Nami had to use some force.
"This kind of starting situation better have nothing to do with you," Nami said, holding the entire fallen wooden door in one hand and leaning it against the wall beside her.
[It's random! Absolutely fair randomization!] the system argued.
Surprisingly, there wasn't much dust inside the tavern, just some mold growing in the corners—probably due to the humid climate, Nami thought. She walked to the window and pulled open the thick curtains, wanting to bring some light into the dark tavern. It didn't have much effect; the tavern's glass was as blurry as frosted glass, and the gloomy weather didn't provide enough sunlight to penetrate the glass.
A soft white light bloomed from Nami's hand. The game had various types of dungeons, including scenes that were dim or even pitch black, so keeping lighting items in one's inventory was common sense among players.
Radiant Stone: [A legendary pearl said to be embedded in the Light Pope's crown, comparable to true sunlight.]
Fortunately, the items in her inventory were still there. Never underestimate any pay-to-win player's inventory—the treasures inside would amaze anyone. Nami casually pressed the radiant stone into the wall, and the entire tavern immediately brightened.
The quest was to explore the tavern, which was simple enough. Nami used cleaning magic to remove dust and mold spots, tapped her fingers on the wooden tables and chairs, caressed the gold-plated picture frames, and finally opened the empty cupboard.
[Congratulations! You've discovered the [Cupboard Refrigerator]! A cupboard inscribed with eternal runes, perhaps it can be used to preserve ingredients.] Nami curiously reached inside—there was no trace of coolness in the cupboard. Dark golden light flickered across the wood, illuminating the intricate patterns carved beside it.
She carefully read the description of the cupboard refrigerator and realized this refrigerator wasn't like ordinary refrigerators. Eternal runes were inscriptions under the branch of time law, with extremely demanding conditions for inscription, yet here they were used to preserve ingredients.
Nami: Brilliant! How did I not think of that?
There didn't seem to be anything else novel worth exploring here, so Nami headed to the kitchen. As soon as she entered, she tripped over something. What came into view was a huge white bathtub. The bottom of the bathtub had some dried soil residue, sharp scratches were carved on the edges, and a box was connected to the side, showing traces of dried water stains.
[Congratulations! You've discovered the [Bathtub Farm]! A bathtub inscribed with time-flow arrays, currently your only farmland.]
Thanks to the system's explanation, otherwise seeing such a bizarre scene, Nami might have thought the tavern's previous owner was an ogre who liked to eat beggar's chicken or bathtub-stewed humans.
Following the newbie guide, Nami quickly understood how the bathtub farm worked. Soil, time acceleration arrays, and plant nutrient solution—the secret to quickly harvesting crops.
[You have discovered all magical items in the tavern, completing the quest to explore the tavern. Reward: Lettuce Seeds x50 (You have obtained lettuce seeds, unlocking the corresponding encyclopedia entry. You can now purchase these seeds in the seed shop.)]
[Newbie Quest 2: Plant your first crop and bring fresh ingredients to the tavern!] There was only a thin layer of soil left in the bathtub, definitely not enough for planting vegetables. Nami carried the bathtub out of the kitchen and wandered around the house, but couldn't find suitable digging tools. Finally, she used the fallen wooden door to roughly scrape up some soil.
Hopefully, this wouldn't scare the neighbors. Nami had observed that her tavern's location seemed to be at an intersection—one side was jungle shrouded in thick fog that was hard to see clearly, while the other side required walking several dozen meters before you could see the next building in town. What a terrible location.
Seeing that her inventory now had [Ordinary Soil x10], Nami returned to the tavern and enthusiastically poured the soil into the bathtub, then tossed in a lettuce seed.
A tender sprout broke through the soil, visibly unfurling and growing into a withered yellow lettuce.
Nami picked the mature lettuce: [Due to lack of water and nutrients, your crop quality is poor.] This was because she lacked plant nutrient solution.
Even so, it didn't affect completing the quest. [Quest completed! Reward: Self-selected Seasoning x10]
[Newbie Quest 3: Make the tavern's first dish!] Nami looked awkwardly at the lettuce in her hand. Cooking was doable, as long as newbie quest 4 didn't require her to eat it.
The ingredients were poor, but that didn't stop her from knowing there was a dish called lettuce salad. A confident smile appeared on her lips as Nami roughly chopped the lettuce into uneven pieces, skillfully exchanged for salad dressing from the previous quest's reward of self-selected seasonings, and hastily mixed everything together.
[The malnourished ingredients complement your terrible cooking skills perfectly. Congratulations on successfully creating [Lettuce Salad☆] x1!] [Strange-tasting Lettuce Salad☆]: Review has been collapsed, please view with caution.
System, you're really not being sarcastic at all. She just had to see the lettuce salad's review.
[On a scale of ten, it's zero points. On a scale of one hundred, it's also zero points. What kind of vegetable is this lettuce you grew, and what kind of monstrosity is this salad you mixed? Empty stars are insufficient to rate your level. We suggest creating a separate category just for you. PS: For the sake of customers' stomachs, we recommend throwing it directly into the trash.]
Nami raised an eyebrow, feeling the system had a point. She was about to throw away the plate of lettuce salad when she saw a series of notifications.
[Successfully created a dish, unlocking the Chef sub-profession!]
[Newbie quest completed! Reward: Plant Nutrient Solution x100!]
[Congratulations on triggering a hidden quest: Create an inedible dish. Reward obtained: Slime Recycling House]
[Slime Recycling House: Recycles kitchen waste, produces plant nutrient solution. Please choose a location for your Slime Recycling House!]
Nami skipped over the rewards above and focused on the words "choose a location." The tavern had plenty of empty rooms—besides the master bedroom, there were four guest rooms. She randomly chose an empty room and converted it into the Slime Recycling House.
A huge transparent glass tank occupied more than half the space. The light green slime looked like apple-flavored jelly. As soon as Nami poured the lettuce salad in, the slime moved over and enveloped the lettuce leaves. A barely audible rustling sound began. Soon, there was a shallow layer of liquid in the nutrient solution tank beside it—really shallow, Nami guaranteed with her current vision that could spot a fly fifty meters away.
Author's Note: Starting the story~ The setting is a big mix of everything, so don't be surprised if any race appears~