Isabella stalked forward with the intensity of a woman who had just found salvation—or carbs. Her footsteps were quick, sharp, little stomps that sent tiny puffs of dust into the air. She narrowed her eyes at the tall grassy stalks swaying in the gentle mountain breeze, her heart thumping as she crouched.
"...No way," she whispered.
She leaned closer, pushing aside the stems with both hands and squinting suspiciously because, well, she didn’t trust happiness. Happiness usually led to pain, disaster, or n.
But this—this was rice.
Actual. Freaking. Rice.
Not hallucination rice. Not dream rice. Not the sad non-existent rice she cried over at night while eating at for the fiftieth ti. This was genuine, shimring-white, grain-filled, beautiful rice stalks. The kernels shimred faintly with an opalescent glow—of course they did. Everything in this mountain shimred like it was auditioning for a magical girl transformation sequence.
Her hand shot up to her mouth. "Oh my god... rice."
Her voice cracked on the last word.
She dropped to her knees.
She almost wept.
Then she saw sothing beside the rice—sothing like barley, except the stalks carried a faint silver hue. And next to that was another cluster of harvestables: so long tubers half buried in the soil, fat and lumpy like prehistoric sweet potatoes; leafy greens with ruby veins that looked too gorgeous to be real; and a vine with plump yellow fruits shaped like mini lons.
"Oh my god..." she breathed again. "Heaven. Food heaven."
She reached out—only to snatch her hand back at the last second.
"Wait. Wait. No. No touching until I confirm these things aren’t—poison murder plants."
She lifted her chin, inhaled, and called out in her mind like she was yelling at the ceiling.
BUBU. I summon thee.
Bubu appeared in her mind imdiately, the glitch-face pulsing into existence with a smug little eyebrow raise.
Scanning the environnt for your survival—again, the system humd. Host, you rely on far too much—
Isabella’s eye twitched. "Don’t even start."
Bubu’s glowing eyes blinked twice, and the smugness vanished instantly.
Understood. Beginning scan.
While the system scanned, Isabella stared intensely at the plants, her fingers twitching with the absolute primal urge to grab everything and shove them into baskets. Because her village? Her poor, cute villagers? They had been eating nothing but at and weird cave fruits for MONTHS.
And now... now she had found a jackpot.
Behind her, Osiris stood with arms crossed, frowning like soone who deeply regretted following this woman but also couldn’t stop himself. His face said, What is she doing now? Why is she on her knees? Why is she whispering to dirt? And yet he watched. Eyes narrowed. Confused. Concerned. Curious.
And also slightly judgntal.
Glimora sat beside Isabella, her little white fur shimring under the mountain light. The tiny beast yawned wide enough to show her needle-like teeth, then looked at Osiris with an expression that clearly said, "You’ll get used to it. Or die. One of the two."
Finally, Bubu pinged:
Scan complete.
Rice — safe.
Silver barley — safe.
Twilight tubers — safe if cooked.
Rubyleaf spinach — safe.
llowlons — safe.
Seeds — safe for planting.
Isabella’s entire soul levitated.
TEARS—actual tears—sprang to her eyes. She slapped both hands over her face as if she had just seen her long-lost child return from war.
"Oh my god," she whispered. "Oh my god, Bubu. I could kiss you. I could kiss you RIGHT NOW."
Her voice trembled with emotion.
Osiris flinched like she’d just declared war on him. He stared, jaw tight, confused, suspicious, and—secretly—annoyed.
She was mad when I wanted to kiss her, he thought, arms folding tighter. But she wants to kiss the air? Who is she talking to? Why is she talking to the air?
He frowned even deeper.
This woman was deranged.
Beautiful—but deranged.
But she wasn’t done.
Because now she saw seeds. SEEDS. Scattered near the roots of the rice and barley, like tiny gifts left behind by the mountain. So were embedded in the soil, so were loose, so were tucked between grass blades.
She gasped so loudly Osiris actually took a step back.
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
"RICE SEEDS. GRAIN SEEDS. VEGETABLE SEEDS. BUBU—WRITE THIS DOWN. MY VILLAGE WILL FINALLY HAVE FOOD. REAL FOOD. NOT JUST AT. OH MY GOD—OH MY GOD—OH MY GOD."
Her voice cracked again.
Osiris blinked at her like she had grown three heads.
He had no idea what rice was. Or barley. Or seeds. Or civilization. Or emotions.
He only knew she was screaming, crying, and speaking to soone who wasn’t visible.
He glanced at Glimora helplessly.
Glimora blinked back smugly: "Welco to the party."
Isabella sniffed hard, then—in pure excitent—opened her system shop.
"Huge baskets," she muttered. "No. Bigger. BIGGER. THE BIGGEST."
Purchased: 10 ga Storage Baskets.
— Deducting points.
Ten massive baskets—woven with glowing fiber, sturdy enough to carry half a tree—appeared in front of her with a dull thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.
Osiris jumped back.
He actually leaped like a startled animal.
In his head: WHAT KIND OF WITCHCRAFT IS THIS?
He stared at the baskets.
Then at Isabella.
Then at the air.
Then back at Isabella.
She didn’t notice him. She was too busy doing a happy little wiggle while wiping her tears.
"I’m actually crying," Isabella said proudly, grabbing a handful of seeds and dumping them carefully into the first basket. "My village is going to EAT. Not survive. EAT."
Her hands moved quickly, expertly, and lovingly as she harvested rice with gentle fingers, scooped barley, picked tubers, and plucked fruits—careful, precise, like she was handling diamonds.
Bubu hovered in her mind like a proud little squared-face ntor.
Be sure to gather the seeds properly, host. These are rare—
human civilization advancent confird.
"I KNOW," she said excitedly. "I KNOW, BUBU. THIS IS THE BIRTH OF AGRICULTURE."
Behind her, Osiris stared blankly.
Agri... culture?
Birth?
What is she birthing? Is this another pregnancy thing?
Isabella was so excited she didn’t even pause. She lifted the second basket and dumped an entire cluster of rubyleaf greens inside.
Osiris’ eye twitched.
How strong is she? That basket looks like it weighs as much as he does.
She kept gathering.
"And to think," she said dramatically, wiping her forehead, "my people were eating only at. AT. DAY IN, DAY OUT. No spices. No flavors. Just at. I am going to change the world."
She threw her arms open dramatically at the sky.
"I WILL BRING CIVILIZATION TO THE WORLD!"
Her voice echoed across the mountain.
...
Hello everyone!
I’m very sorry for not updating yesterday. I had an extrely busy day and couldn’t upload a Chapter in ti.
I’ve also been working hard on building my website and preparing new Chapters for the platform, so things have been a little hectic on my end. Thank you all for your patience and understanding.
Updates will continue normally.
Thank you for reading and supporting my work! 💗
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