The day had gone by quickly. Tom had planted both fruits and watered them, and for the rest of the day, he was testing his inventory. The more he used it, the more he got used to it; putting something in or taking it from his inventory could be done in a blink of an eye. With the experiments, he confirmed that he could even put items that were not given by the system.
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When he woke up the next morning, a panel was pleasantly hovering before his eyes, which put a smile on his face.
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"Congratulation! The quest has been completed! Unlocking seed exchange! Furthermore, an additional reward has been placed into your inventory!"
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As Tom rubbed his eyes, the text slowly faded. He quickly stood up, put on a comfortable set of clothes, and then left his house; since he had completed a quest, that could only mean that his plants had grown.
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Even from the door, he could see a few mushrooms growing from the ground where he had previously planted the seeds. The mushrooms had quite a strange colour, as their cap was black, almost as if it was either coal or as if it had been burned with white spots across it, and their stamps were of a light grey colour.
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Although they seemed quite strange, they were the products of the reward given by the system, so Tom had no choice but to trust them.
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In total, there were six of them; however, he could clearly see two smaller ones. Of course, the cobweb-like vines on the ground had increased to the point where the dirt was barely visible.
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As Tom kneeled down beside the mushrooms, he could smell a strangely pleasant scent. He couldn't help but enjoy it for a few moments but then grabbed one of them.
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It was relatively soft, almost as if he had just grabbed some sort of a sponge, but almost as if it was some sort of elastic material; it returned its shape instantly. In the end, he grabbed firmly that single one and then harvested it. Despite its softness, it was more difficult than he had anticipated, and once he managed to harvest it, a new window popped up.
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"Congratulation! A new plant has been discovered: Prist-Shroom."
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"Notice! A new quest has been issued! Using Prist-Shroom, make a cleansing soup!"
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By the time the panels vanished, Tom had already harvested all the seemingly grown mushrooms, and then he instantly headed inside his kitchen.
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He still remembered the written recipe as quite mediocre. He only needed to put the mushrooms into boiling hot water. So he put a smaller pot onto the stove, letting it heat up; while he was waiting, he was staring at his mushrooms.
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Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind; he decided to cut all of his mushrooms into smaller bits. The blade, although sharp, could barely cut the mushrooms, so what he thought would be a few short seconds ended up taking a few minutes. By the time he was done, the water was already boiling, so he dumped everything into the pot and put a lid on it.
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Although the recipe was simple, he had already made a mistake. It stated that only two Prist-Shroom should be used; however, instead, he used six.
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As the lid became cloudy, Tom stepped away, but before doing so, he checked the time. It was 9:02; based on the manuals, he needed to leave it for at least ten minutes and then wait till the soup turned into a pure white colour.
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In the meantime, he grabbed another pot and decided to water everything he had in his garden. As he watered the mushrooms and walked over to where he had planted the apple and the pear, he noticed just how much they had grown overnight. Both had grown into thin but sturdy saplings.
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On the apple tree, he could already see a few tiny leaves beginning to grow slowly. A chuckle left his mouth as he observed his tiny land.
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Not too long ago, he worried about meeting deadlines while keeping up quality, but now, he is relaxing, working slightly with plants while being guided by a system.
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While he was chuckling at his strange situation, he made his way back to the kitchen, and much to his surprise, despite barely having spent a few short minutes outside, the soup was already white, almost as if it was snow.
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He quickly put it onto the other side of his stove and took the lid off. The moment he did that, his kitchen was filled with a mesmerising sweet and appetising scent. It was so strong that Tom's mouth started watering, and as he stared at the cooling soup, a drop of drool slid down his mouth and jaw onto his shirt.
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Minutes went by painstakingly slowly as the soup gradually cooled down, and then, once Tom thought it was cold enough, he quickly put it onto his table and started eating it without any hesitation. It was still hot, but its taste was something Tom couldn't ignore.
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Although he was only peckish and not entirely hungry yet, he ate the whole pot in one sitting. He even tapped on his stomach with both his hands with a fulfilled burp.
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"Congratulation! Quest has been..."
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A new panel popped up before his eyes; however, suddenly, he got so sleepy that he couldn't keep his eyes open at all. All he could see was a blurry mess of the panel and one behind it, and then he fell asleep. His head slowly leaned into the now empty but still somewhat sticky pot, and he started snoring. And in only a few short seconds later, he started sweating profoundly. His shirt gradually gained a distinct darker colour, and then his sweat slowly flowed down onto the chair and eventually onto the ground.
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The manual stated nothing about such sleepiness, so it was either purposefully omitted or due to the higher concentration of the Prist-Shroom Tom had used.
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