Chapter 5: Harvesting Strawberries

After adding her attribute points, Fana immediately felt her whole body become much lighter.

Could it be that these attribute points were genuinely changing her body?

Fana held a glimmer of hope at this thought.

After finishing that, Fana silently said to herself, "I want to leave."

The strawberries still had five hours until they reached their flowering and fruiting stage, so there was no point in her waiting around.

When Fana opened her eyes again, she was back in her room at the temporary reception center.

There was still plenty of time, so she continued reading.

Five hours later, she had basically finished both books.

She finally had a preliminary understanding of the world she now lived in.

The Aethelgard Empire she was in was a world set three thousand years in the future.

Although Earth still existed, it had become a refugee planet unfit for human habitation.

Over the course of these three thousand years of history, humanity had gone through several world wars, trashing their homeland while also allowing alien creatures to slip in through the cracks.

Through repeated migrations and interbreeding with alien species, humanity had finally made it to the present day of three thousand years.

There were now twelve habitable planets of varying sizes.

In addition, there were more than eighty refugee planets that were uninhabitable but still had human activity.

Technology and military power were exceptionally advanced now, but culture and politics seemed to have regressed quite a bit.

Across the twelve planets, there were three major empires, and the Aethelgard Empire was one of them. There was also one federal government, two republics, and many other small, obscure nations.

Fana thought it over and finally decided to settle in the Aethelgard Empire.

A powerful country might be complicated, but being big had its advantages.

Still, there was one thing that left Fana speechless.

That was the fact that humans had undergone genetic mutations due to interbreeding with other races.

Because of these mutations, humans were divided into three categories: Vanguard Alpha, Commoner Beta, and Resonant Omega.

Vanguard Alphas had extraordinary abilities and were born leaders, typically male, and capable of reproduction.

Commoner Betas were mediocre in all aspects, made up the largest portion of the population, and held most of the jobs in this social system. Both men and women generally fell into this category, but their chances of reproduction were extremely low, even to the point where out of ten thousand Beta couples, maybe one could produce offspring.

As for Resonant Omegas, their gender was limited to female, with strong reproductive ability but weak survival skills. They could not even hold any jobs.

People in this era also possessed Arcane Will. The stronger one's Arcane Will, the better their learning ability, combat ability, and even escape ability would become.

In short, those with powerful Arcane Will were the big shots.

Fana pulled out her checkup form from today with trembling hands, almost afraid to look at it.

Her overall rating was F, physical strength was F, intelligence was C, and Arcane Will was also F. In terms of classification, she was grouped under Commoner Beta.

Too miserable.

But Fana did not feel discouraged because of her inherently weak status.

She believed she could survive in this world three thousand years from now.

The five hours finally passed, and Fana entered the farm right on time.

The strawberry seedlings, which had once been just three leaves and a heart, had grown quite large. Each leaf was about the size of her palm.

What was more, the roots of the strawberries had already sent out many runners, and the white flowers with yellow stamens were incredibly adorable.

What surprised Fana even more was that the strawberry flowers had actually attracted butterflies.

Fana quickly scooped some water from the nearby stream and carefully poured it onto the roots of the strawberries.

Immediately, a line of small text appeared above the strawberry seedlings.

"Two hours until maturity, please wait patiently."

As long as the strawberries bloomed, they would soon bear fruit.

Fana did not have much energy left, so she simply lay down on the grass nearby and took a nap.

Although the farm was vast and seemed endless, the only plot she could cultivate right now was that strawberry patch.

Other areas were covered in lush, tender grass and looked even more fertile, but Fana could not cultivate them.

After studying it, Fana figured it was because her level was not high enough.

Next to her character info, the level column only showed a solitary "1," and the progress bar was barely filled.

She still had to work hard. Before closing her eyes, Fana cheered herself on internally.

Fana woke up to a fragrant aroma. Once the two hours were up, what had just been flowers had now turned into cute, red strawberries one by one.

The strawberries smelled wonderful, and they made your mouth water instinctively, making you desperate to eat them.

These were the fruits of her own labor, so Fana did not need to stand on ceremony. She just picked one and popped it into her mouth.

With one bite, the sweet and tangy juice burst across her mouth. The flesh of the Frostwyn strawberries was a bit firm, but springy and bursting with fragrance.

After finishing one, Fana hurriedly picked a few more.

But once she started picking, she could not stop. She thought she might as well pick them all.

As she picked, the system kept popping up notifications.

"Harvest successful, EXP +1, farm coins +1."

"Harvest successful, EXP +1, farm coins +1."

"Harvest successful, EXP +1, farm coins +1."

On top of that, Fana also received attribute points as a reward for her first fruit harvest.

She did not overthink it and, like last time, distributed them evenly among vitality, martial power, agility, and Arcane Will.

Fana felt refreshed again, as if her body had become even lighter.

After finishing the harvest, Fana checked the backend message count: one thousand three hundred and eighty-two entries.

Great, she had harvested one thousand three hundred and eighty-two big strawberries and one thousand three hundred and eighty-two farm coins.

Since strawberries are perennial herbs, she did not need to replant after picking. They would bloom and bear fruit again.

Realizing she now had a bit of money, Fana opened the shop and bought some organic, harmless fertilizer to properly reward those strawberry plants.

After fertilizing, Fana did not continue eating strawberries but instead thought about how to turn them into money.

The strawberries she had grown were delicious, but survival mattered more right now.

She tried leaving the farm with the strawberries, and to her surprise, it actually worked.

Over a thousand strawberries filled three whole baskets, and Fana's room was immediately filled with the unique aroma of strawberries.

The first thing that came to mind was selling these strawberries to others in exchange for imperial coins.

As for how to sell them, that was the simplest part.

This place had incredibly advanced technology and a delivery network. Shipping goods from this planet to a neighboring one took at most three hours.

Same-planet delivery only needed an hour for lightning-fast shipping, and that speed was no joke.

Opening a shop was even easier. Just register one on the virtual network.

But a problem immediately arose: delivery cost money, and opening a shop cost money too. And right now, she did not have a single imperial coin.

Desperate and at her wit's end, Fana could only search on the virtual network: "How to easily borrow a sum of money?"