"Space Farm program initializing. Connecting to network… connection successful. Program running normally. Host detected. Scanning host status… host status normal. Binding to host complete. Your current level is 1. System reward: 500 gold coins, six bags of pasture grass seeds — each bag covers one acre of farmland. You currently have one cleared plot of land, ten acres in size, Grade 0. You may purchase seeds from the Shop and sell harvested produce back to the Shop in exchange for gold coins. Due to network malfunction, you may freely enter the farm space, but can only communicate with the main system — contact with other users is unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience."
Zhao Hai stood there blankly, feeling as though he were dreaming. None of this seemed real.
But he had definitely heard that voice. Back on Earth, he would never have believed something like this — he'd have assumed it was someone playing a prank. But this wasn't Earth. He'd already transmigrated into another world. At this point, what was there left to disbelieve?
He focused inward and thought: Enter farm.
The moment the thought formed, his vision blurred — and when it cleared, he was no longer in the castle. He stood in an open clearing, roughly ten acres of already-tilled earth stretching out before him. A brand-new iron shovel had been thrust into the soil at the field's edge. Beside the field, a small spring bubbled up from the ground, a wooden bucket sitting next to it. There was a thatched cottage, and to its left, a straw doghouse. Below the cottage window sat two bottles — one labeled Pesticide, the other Herbicide — and beside them, a basket with the word Harvest written on it. To the cottage's right stood a smaller outbuilding with the character for Storehouse hanging above its door. Beyond all of this, thick fog pressed in on every side. He could see nothing past the cottage and the field.
Zhao Hai recognized this instantly. Apart from the missing background scenery, this was the farm game he knew best — a farming simulation, made real.
Unlike most gaming homebodies, Zhao Hai had always preferred reading and writing novels. He earned a meager income from his stories, but he loved it and never stopped. He had rarely touched games — until a friend had once introduced him to a farming game. It required little time and was easy to manage, so he had kept at it. By now, his in-game farm had reached level twenty-seven. Not spectacular, but he had cleared all his land, opened a ranch, and was still playing.
Everyone who had ever started that game remembered the beginning: the system gave you a free scene — a cottage, a patch of tilled earth. The setup in front of him now was identical to that starting scene. The difference was that back then, he had viewed it through a computer screen. Now he was standing inside it.
He stared at everything around him, not knowing what to say. On impulse, he crouched down and grabbed a handful of soil.
The moment his fingers closed around it, a voice chimed in his mind: "Space Soil — Grade 1 — Tilled — Suitable for cultivation — Growth speed multiplier: 10x — Can be removed from the space — Can improve soil outside the space."
Zhao Hai's eyes lit up. He still had so much to learn about this place. He ran to the spring and dipped his hand into the water.
"Space Spring — Grade 1 — Drinkable — Beneficial effects on the human body — Suitable for irrigation — Growth speed multiplier: 10x — Can be removed from the space — Can improve soil outside the space."
He stood there with his hand still submerged, eyes glazed over, a foolish grin spreading across his face. He completely forgot to pull his hand out.
After a long moment, he finally straightened up and burst out laughing. "Old heaven, I never expected you to be this generous with me! Ha! This is — this is incredible!"
He understood what this meant. In this world, without magic or battle qi, his life had seemed destined to be ordinary. Adam's revenge would have been impossible. But with this space, everything changed. Even if he couldn't fight, he could keep House Buda alive. He could make it flourish. That was its own kind of repayment to Adam.
He took a breath and walked to the shovel. He wanted to see if it worked the way the game's tools had.
The moment his hand touched it, the voice returned: "Iron Shovel — Tool — Grade 1 — Automatic tilling — Capacity: 10 acres per day — Can be removed from the space."
He laughed again, then moved to the bucket. "Bucket — Tool — Grade 1 — Automatic irrigation — Capacity: 10 acres per day — Can be removed from the space."
"Pesticide — Agricultural chemical — Toxic — Grade 1 — Automatically eliminates pests — Do not consume — Can be removed from the space — Quantity: unlimited."
"Herbicide — Agricultural chemical — Toxic — Grade 1 — Automatically eliminates weeds — Do not consume — Can be removed from the space — Quantity: unlimited."
"Harvest Basket — Tool — Grade 1 — Automatic harvesting — Capacity: 10 acres per day — Can be removed from the space — Harvested items automatically transferred to Storehouse."
After checking everything outside, Zhao Hai had a clear picture. This place operated much like the game — but it was more powerful. And for his situation, it was perfectly suited.
He stepped into the cottage. Small as it was, it had everything: a wooden bed layered with dry grass, a table, four chairs, a cabinet, a cookstove, a complete set of dishes. And at the head of the bed — a screen that looked remarkably like a computer monitor.
He crossed to it quickly. The screen was already on, showing two icons. One read Shop. The other read Farm Introduction.
He tapped Farm Introduction immediately. He needed to understand how any of this was possible.
The moment he touched it, the icon dissolved into a beam of white light and shot into his head. Information flooded his mind — it took several minutes before he had processed it all.
Slowly, the picture came together.
Before coming to this world, Zhao Hai had been at his computer — playing his farming game. Something had happened, and he had transmigrated. The game had come with him. In the process of crossing worlds, it had undergone a mutation — its original functions were preserved, but amplified. It had become a self-contained system, and that system had bonded to him.
In short: Zhao Hai could not contact the game's original servers back on Earth, but he had full access to every function in this space — including the Shop. He could spend gold coins to buy items, and sell harvested goods back for coins. He could bring items from the space into the outside world, and bring things from outside into the space. Everything responded to his will.
For now, the farm was only level one, and many functions were locked. But at higher levels, he could open a ranch, expand his farmland without limit, and unlock capabilities he couldn't yet imagine. To level up, he could farm — till, water, and harvest — to accumulate experience. He could also bring rare items from the Ark Continent into the space to trigger evolution and upgrades.
In simple terms: Zhao Hai had acquired a game-breaking cheat device.
He wanted to shout.
With a space like this, making a comfortable life for himself was trivially easy. And as for revenge — for Adam, for House Buda — that suddenly didn't seem as impossible as it once had. A bold plan was taking shape in his mind.
Use the space soil and water to improve the Black Wasteland's earth. That would give me an enormous farmland. Once things develop, I can recruit more people, build real power — and one day settle the score…
He shook himself out of it. Too far ahead. Nothing had even started yet. Learn the space first.
Still thinking, he opened the Shop icon. The voice chimed: "Welcome to the Space Shop. What would you like to purchase?"
The screen filled with images of crops from Earth — names, prices, and level requirements listed below each. Just like the game. He scanned it quickly and closed the window. He already understood how it worked.
He turned to the cabinet. He was certain it wasn't just decoration — but when he touched it, no voice came. He frowned and opened it. Inside were three items: a cloth pouch, a short staff topped with a carved insect, and another topped with a carved blade of grass. He recognized them immediately.
He picked up the pouch. "Coin Purse — Holds gold coins — No limit — Current balance: 500 — Due to insufficient level, gold coins cannot be removed from the space."
Zhao Hai's eyebrows shot up. The purse functioned like a spatial storage item — but for gold coins. More importantly: can't be removed due to insufficient level. That meant once his level was high enough, he could take the coins outside. If that was the case—
He set the pouch down carefully and moved to the two staves.