Chapter 5: Milkin' The Cows!

Han returned to the village square to look for that character named Becky and realized that the 'villagers' were quite few in number. Like anybody else would have done in his position, he approached and 'conversed' with everybody to get a general feel of the inner workings of the village.

"Hey, Big Brother Han! Why don't we play Hide and Seek at the Enchanted Forest?" A young boy named Tom asked him. "I don't wanna paint picket fences."

A middle-aged woman pinched his cheeks. "Don't hang out too much with Old Man Joe Light, he's a bit of a loony. Instead, why don't you help me with my cooking?"

"Enchanted Forest? I wouldn't visit that place unless I have to get the village some lumber. There are wild critters out there." A Lumberjack shook his head.

A young man around his age snickered. "So you're the lunatic who lives at the edge of the cliff. Better move out or the wind will blow your hut into the waters."

"Why would I stay at some backwater village rather than the Capital? It's safe here, sonny!" A grandmother laughed while moving back and forth on her rocking chair outside a saloon bar. "Come back here and let's drink!"

And a couple more conversations followed that made him realize a couple of things. The people here acted as if Han had lived here all of his life. Besides Joe Light and the Enchanted Forest, this village was a peaceful one. It was away from all the troubles of the rest of the world.

And most importantly, it was basically styled like the Old West crossed with Medieval era.

He soon found a young woman wearing overalls outside a general trader's shop. She had that cowgirl vibe and was only missing her cowboy hat.

"Han? Could use some of y'er help, I need you to milk me cows."

He looked at the available options and chose the most appropriate one:

] Cows?

] Sure! No problem!

] I don't wanna

Becky led her to a homestead that was actually pretty close to the fields that Old Joe Light led him too. He wondered if the two were related, she was only displayed as 'Becky' though. The homestead was a bit farther than the village and he could actually see the beginning of the Enchanted Forest in the distance, closer up was a nice green pasture filled with several cows.

Han wondered how many of those cows he'd be milking.

"Heavens, Betsy!" Becky exclaimed at the sight of a singular cow chewing up some hay near her farm house. "You left your spot with your friends, now you're embarrassin' me."

Betsy simply looked up at them with an unperturbed look before resuming her chewing of the delicacies in front of her. She was more than content to continue snacking despite the wails of her owner.

Han simply stayed silent with the interaction between Becky and Betsy. The young woman seemed to be getting flustered and tried to get the creature back to her fence with the other cows mooing in obvious jealousy.

"Can I get a lil' bit help, Han?"

] Sure, Becky!

] You can do it, sweetheart!

] What can I do?

"So I need you to drag her over to the field and I'll open the gate and make sure the others don't escape!"

He didn't know if he had a Strength stat or a Luck stat, but if he had them? Well he probably needed to add stat points to them, Becky—Betsy had kicked him into the horse stables.

What happened next was a reversal of roles, with Becky dragging Betsy over with a lasso towards the pastures while he kept the small wooden gate open. Then he was promptly shoved in with the cattle.

"Thanks again for the help Han!"

[ Mission: Milkin' The Cows ]

Unlike the other mission, he received no special equipment or tool. And man did he wish that he still had his Scythe with him, the cows were looking at Han with murderous intent.

They didn't look all too happy with his presence.

"Oops, I forgot the buckets!" Becky tossed something—

Han received two metal buckets right at the head while the others clattered on the grass. It was a surprise that his character seemed so sturdy with all the accidents he was getting into with just one day.

A pop up appeared in front of him.

[ Choose Your Action ]

] Befriend the cows

] START RUNNING!

"Mooo!"

Needless to say, Han chose the second option and started running like a clucking chicken. With a beautiful green pasture, he had more than enough ground to run around in circles until the cows themselves all got tired with his unceasing movement.

Han Jing imagined that if he were actually in the same spot as 'Han' then he would have been long gone and impaled by their horns. Yes, these cows had horns. Bless Becky and her taste in cows.

Betsy and her companions approached their watering troughs and began to quench their thirst.

It was at this moment that Han took the opportunity to milk them while they were busy. If this were one of those VR games that people dreamed would be available in the future, well this would be the only time he'd be holding teats.

He filled more than enough buckets to feed a person for more than a month… and he even tried drinking some of the milk. He was thirsty too!

Once he was done, he approached Becky who seemed to have waited for him underneath the shade of her porch. Instead of overalls, she was now wearing a pretty cute vintage dress and her hair was now styled in a lovely braid.

"I don't know how I'll be able to repay you!"

] Marry me!

] Being able to help you is more than enough

] Pay me!

Pondering over the choices, he wondered if he'd be able to actually marry her. This was a life simulation after all, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to marry someone who'd probably ask him to milk her cows everyday. Now choosing the second option could possibly end with him receiving nothing at all. So it made sense that he should ask for a payment. Han ended up running and doing hard work.

Han Jing saw the screen flash red, his phone vibrating—

A monstrous roar shook the dialogue screen as it shattered into tiny pieces.

"Betsy!" Becky cried out.