I… don't remember anyone from before.
They all act so… normal. As if everything's fine. As if there isn't something wrong. Something just plain weird is going down here, and I can't quite figure it out. Anytime I try and point it out to them, to any of them, I get the same glassy-eyed excuses. No one will listen to me. No one can see that anything is out of the ordinary.
Something… is very, very wrong with Stardew Valley.
When I first arrived on that bus, Robin was there to greet me. She seemed very kind and sweet and was eager to get me settled in. I was the new farmer, fresh from… Well, I came from… I don't really remember where I came from. I had a desk job, I remember that much. For JojaMart. Right? But where was that? The only city I've heard people mention here is ZuZu City, but that doesn't sound right. Why can't I remember anyone from back home?
Anyway, the day that I arrived was the last day that bus worked. After that, it just sort of sat there in the road. Now they tell me that it was the bus that ran the route from Stardew Valley to Calico Desert before it broke down. I nod at their empty smiles as they tell me this, terrified of what might happen if I disagree. I did not come from Calico Desert.
Robin got me up to the farm and took me to the house. Mayor Lewis, for some reason, was inside my house by the time we arrived. I think I'm paranoid about him being in there though, because I swear sometimes at night I can hear some sort of low humming from somewhere in the walls. Did he set up a camera? Are they… watching me? Lewis and Robin seem to be working together on whatever they're up to. Any time I want to upgrade my house, Robin insists that she spends all day working on it herself, despite the fact she always wants me to provide the materials anyway. What is she doing? Moving the cameras?
Lewis coming out of my house was my first alarm bell that day but it certainly wasn't the last. He said something that still gives me chills. And he said it so calmly, so casually, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He said that he'd stop by, every night to pick up whatever I leave in the box outside my house. I don't know what he does with the things he takes, or who he sells them to in the dead of night… but there's always enough gold to cover it by 6am. Lewis is outside my house, every single night, by his own admission. I still shudder thinking about that. When does he sleep? Every now and then when I talk to him he asks what I'm growing on the farm and if I'm growing blueberries. Why would he ask that? He should know. After all, he's there every night.
The next few days were normal enough, I introduced myself around town and the people seemed pretty friendly. Nothing seemed too unusual. Except… well they're the only people I know now. I can't remember anyone from home. I can't remember. I can't.
I've had a few letters from 'mom' now, but her handwriting looks… well it looks like everyone else's handwriting. Identical, in fact. I can't remember what my mom looks like or if I even have a dad. It was then that I realised that nobody in town actually delivered these letters. There wasn't a post office or a postman. They just sort of… appear in my box. Is Lewis putting letters in my mailbox in the dead of night? Is he writing them?
There's talk around town of some kind of conflict. A great and terrible war that's happening far, far away between us and the Gotoro Empire. No one seems particularly worried about it, and no one seems to care that countless lives are being lost in needless battle. No one here has been conscripted. Apparently someone, Kent, is out fighting. But otherwise that's it. Was I… involved in that? No, I worked in an office. Right? I don't remember.
I think the strangest part about the folks in town is the fact that there are monsters. There are mutant slime balls deep in the woods, and in the mines. I've been having a look in the mines and the further I go down the more I realize how messed up this place is. They keep changing, I swear. I'm not mad. The thirtieth floor of the mines didn't have these rock formations before, the area looked completely different. Didn't it? The monsters down there don't seem to care that it changes. They're hungry to rip me apart every time they see me. It's crawling with all sorts of creatures. Teeming with life that seems to want nothing more than to rob me of mine. Shadow people skirt the walls, zombies rise from the dark clay, mutant bugs and bats fling themselves at me, biting, stinging and scratching. But no one in town cares. No one in town seems to think we should seal off the mines, or be at all concerned that the entire town is sitting on top of some sort of dark, infested and constantly shifting catacombs. They seem to be… mocking me. They've made a game out of danger, out of death. They have their "Adventurer's Guild" and act as if exploring the mines and fighting for your life is somehow perfectly safe.
I've spent a few weeks wandering around town. I'm trying not to draw attention to myself, but at the same time I want to figure out just what the heck is going on. In my exploring, there are a few things I just can't quite get my head around. Pierre's house, around the side of his shop, has a church of some kind. This church… does not fit. I went inside and found it, but from the outside I cannot work out where it could possibly be, as if some of Pierre's house is somehow underground, or as if it's bigger on the inside. It baffles me. It scares me. No one says a word about it.
They worship Yoba. I'd never heard of Yoba before coming to Stardew Valley, but apparently everyone knows about it. Although, I didn't know about any of these things before coming to the Valley. Magic, witches, goblins, fairies, slimes, zombies, mummies… I thought they were all dreamed-up fantasies. But here? They're real.
I kept exploring town. …Where does Gunther sleep? Where does he live? Does he ever leave the museum? There aren't any other rooms in there, and there certainly aren't any beds. I talked to Lewis about this, and he just watched me with mirrored eyes for a moment, then laughed it off. After that I noticed he's got a pickup truck around the side of his house. But how on Earth did it get there? Maybe you could get it in there, if you were really careful, but it just seems wrong, like there's no way someone could drive it that close to the river around the tight gap in the fence. I was going to go and have a closer look and see if it was even a real vehicle, but I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself.
As I wandered, it struck me that not only does the town not have any mailmen or post offices, but there aren't any phone lines either. No one has a phone in their house. A few people have computers, sure, but I've never been able to use them. There's no contact with the outside world. Nothing runs on the one road that runs through Stardew Valley. I've spent days waiting, watching, for anything, a car or a bus or… something. But nothing comes by. Sometimes a train will pass through, but that's all they'll ever do. Pass through. Not a single train ever, ever stops in Stardew Valley. Why do we even have a train station? But wait… there were tourists here for the Stardew Valley Fair, weren't there? Where did they stay? How did they even get here, and when exactly did they leave? Why can't I remember what they look like?
It took me years. About five years, I think. Maybe six? I've lost count of how long I've been here. The bus is back up and running but they're adamant that it only ever goes to Calico Desert, which doesn't help me leave. Anyway, it took me all these years of wondering and living in fear to realize something… nobody has changed. Nobody has aged. Kent came back from the war, but the war is far from over. People are still talking about it. The kids are still just as young, just as small. We're in… purgatory? I don't know. Where did I come from, again?
I'd been at that conclusion for a while now, but it took me a lot longer to decide to act on it. I think everyone in town knows. I'm not sure everyone in town is real. Am I real? No of course I'm real. I decided to go and get myself killed. It was a simple plan. Whatever was going on in Stardew Valley was too much for me. I opted out, and let myself get ripped to shreds in a dark, dank corner of the mines. But… I'm back. Robin just happened to find me? And I'm fine, no wounds. How far did I make it down? I don't remember, I can't remember the last few floors. Why was she down in the mines? Not once have I seen anyone even approach the entrance to the mines, let alone come that deep into it. Was she following me?
I can't die. No matter what situation I fling myself into, someone "saves" me. I can't escape. So I decided I'd try and catch Lewis in the act of coming to my farm in the middle of the night, and see what he gets up to. It's very strange… I've never been able to stay awake past 2am. And I mean quite literally past 2am. As soon as the clock strikes two, my eyes become so heavy that I just… can't retain consciousness. And when I'm awake again at 6am, Lewis has been and gone, and he's already sold my things and paid me.
To this day, I live in Stardew Valley. I've learned to just act like everyone else. To pretend that everything is okay, and that nothing strange is going on. They seem to want me to mate, and have kids; I upgraded my house to get a bit of extra room, and Robin added a crib and kids' room without me asking her to. Now I can't remove the beds, like they're bolted down. Robin says nothing, instead choosing to ask me if I've met her son Sebastian yet. I've been here six years.
Last night, I was in the kitchen. Before I knew it, it was 2am. I ran as fast as I could to my bed. I tried, I really did, but I wasn't even close to making it. I passed out in my living room.
I woke up in my bed.
I need to get out of here.