Idle Village Hero: A Slice-of-Life LitRPG Adventure by Leon West

Author:Leon West [West, Leon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2025-02-24T00:00:00+00:00

twenty-eight

Down To Earth

I started to have trouble sleeping.

Part of it was I was too exhausted to sleep. Working from dawn to dusk and even a little more was a good way to wear a person down, but it was worse when the days blended together. Lying in bed, watching the artificial dawn brighten my room, I realized I had no concept of how many days we had left.

Sure, I could check my quest log. That was logical. But what if the quest log was lying to me? What if it knew something I didn’t?

Exhaustion was turning my brain to goo.

I didn’t want to get up. Didn’t want to face the mess outside. There were hundreds of yards of unfinished irrigation channels, acres of arable land waiting to be converted to farm plots, and a ticking clock that seemed to grow louder with each passing day.

But I had to. You couldn’t call yourself a hero if you just rolled over and pulled the blankets over your head when things got tough.

With a groan, I hauled myself out of bed, muscles protesting from days of non-stop labor. I stumbled to the window, pushing aside the curtain to peer out at Haven’s Rest. The artificial sun hadn’t fully risen yet, so everything was cast in a soft, reddish predawn light. In the distance, I could make out the shadowed forms of our newly constructed houses. They were a sign of how far we’d come.

And a reminder of how far we still had to go.

I dressed quickly, pulling on sturdy work boots and a shirt that had seen better days. As I made my way downstairs, the smell of tea wafted up to greet me.

Mel was already awake, then.

No surprise there.

I found her in the kitchen, perched on the edge of the counter as she supervised a steeping pot of tea. She turned as I entered and regarded me with the same kind of hopeless, exhausted expression I felt.

There was only so much blood you could squeeze from rocks.

Believe me, I’ve tried.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” she said, her voice still rough with sleep. “I was beginning to think I’d have to dump a bucket of water on you to get you up.”

I chuckled, reaching for a mug. “And risk ruining your meticulously planned schedule? I wouldn’t dare.”

Mel rolled her eyes. Usually she’d flash me a warm smile after, but there just wasn’t any energy left. We were swirling the drain. She grabbed the pot, carefully pouring tea into my outstretched mug.

“Drink up,” she said. “You’ll need the energy. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

I took a sip, savoring the warmth. “So, what’s on the agenda for today? More ditch-digging? Or are we mixing it up with some wall-building?”

Mel landed on the table, unrolling a small scroll covered in her neat handwriting. “Actually, I’ve been thinking. I need to start planning the rest of the agricultural setup while you work on the irrigation. Animal pens, storage, processing areas... We can’t wait until the channels are done to figure it all out.

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