It went dark. The surrounding void disappeared and was replaced by pure darkness.

Do you want to watch the opening scene for stardew or start in bed?

"A bed sounds nice right now." I say noticing the stiffness from sitting all day.

As I blink, the scene changes to looking at a wooden ceiling with the feeling of a soft bed under me.

Sitting up, I look around the small house, seeing what I assume to be the bathroom on the left of the TV. I got up and moved over to the window, looking into an overgrown field out in front of my new house.

Item Added

[Basic Axe] – A sturdy axe used for cutting trees. STR + 20 HP

[Basic Pickaxe] – A sturdy pickaxe used for breaking stone. STR + 15 HP

[Basic Hoe] – A sturdy hoe used for tilling the ground. STR +10

[Basic Watering Can] – A sturdy watering can for watering crops.

[Scythe] – A sturdy scythe used for clearing weeds. STR + DEX + 5 HP

[Gold] x500 – Currency

Closing the item notifications, I walk over to the TV and see what's on. Hitting the fortune teller channel a notification goes off.

Gamers Mind Active

"What?!"

No psychic can access your mind unless you allow them!

"That was a real psychic!?"

Yes! That was a real psychic! Don't worry, the only thing you would have learned is your luck for the day! But you're the gamer, so you already know your luck!

"Huh… Ok, if you say so."

'So what about this?' I think as I pull open my inventory and pull out the gacha token, which looks like a small golden stick.

"So just break this?"

Yep!

Grasping both ends of the token in my hands, I twist and the token gives a very satisfying crack.

Perk Added

[Gender Fluid] - Male? Female? Why not both! Adds the ability to change between a male and female form at will. No MP cost (Clothes will not be resized)

"Cardinal?"

Yes?

"Is this a joke?!"

No! I don't control those.

"Fuck this. I'm going to sleep wake me up when I'm dead."

Hey! I took my time to bring you here, don't just lay down and die!

"Fine. What do you have a mirror?"

Item Added

[Hand Mirror] – It's a mirror.

"Thanks."

Selecting the gender fluid option, I see three options [Male] [Female] [Futa]. Selecting female, I feel the uncomfortable feeling of my bones getting shorter and my clothes becoming looser. The feeling of my pants becoming emptier was also strange. Sitting up, I look down at my body, which is covered by loose baggy clothing, and notice something.

"I'm a loli… Why am I a loli?!"

When you got the second form the character menu was randomized.

"Randomized? Why was I not able to choose?"

That's just how the gacha works. It is completely random.

Letting out a sigh, I opened up my inventory and grabbed the mirror.

Looking back at me from the mirror were the bright orange eyes of a young girl, and I won't lie when I say that the face was cute. 'Wait… stop thinking about how cute this is, that is me and I am not a narcissist.'

Continuing my inspection I take notice of some things thing, first I am a washboard, I am a little disappointed by that fact. Second, the set of cat ears on top of my head. I reach up and touch my left ear using my index finger and thumb and blush a little as a soft pur came from me.

Aww! So cute!

"Quiet!" I yelled, going back to studying my body.

My hair was long, like down my legs long, and it was bright orange. Running my fingers through it, I feel how soft it is. My biggest problem is my chest, I know flat is justice and all that, but I want my meat sacks.

"Cardinal, how old is this body?"

Current physical age is 15!

"15!? in this form I'm not even able to drink!"

You can always just change back.

Opening the menu again a select the male option. Looking down, I see the baggy clothes fill back up becoming tight in some places due to me having moved around.

Well, I guess it's time for your first quests!

"Quest? What planting crops?"

Quest Added

[Farmer]

Objective - Plant some parsnips and wait for them to grow.

Reward – 200 XP, 100G

[Introductions]

Objective – Greet the residents of Stardew. (2/14)

Bonus Objective – Greet all the residents of Stardew. (2/28)

Rewards – 300 XP

Bonus Reward – 300 XP, 250G

"No new people in this world?"

Nope! This is stardew almost exactly how you remember it!

"Almost?"

Not going to tell!

'She seems too happy.'

"Then I won't ask. I will probably find out soon, anyway."

Going over to the table, I find a bunch of seed pouches inside of a box. Shoving the whole thing into my inventory, I walk back over to the TV and place the couch from the void in front of it.

Figuring it would be best to head out now, I walked out my door and down the path towards town.

It took around seven minutes to walk from the farm to the town entrance, and I already notice a few things that differ from the game. First off, there is an iron gate on the road to my farm to keep out vehicles and keep animals in. Second are the people, upon entering the town I can see interaction between citizens in the plaza, Linus on the grass off on my right side in a small stand selling forageables, and Robin patching up the side of the saloon.

Looking around, I find Pierre's store and find the calendar on the front. Unlike the game, which had 4 months with 28 days each, this calendar was a standard 2016 Gregorian calendar. Flipping through it shows the towns peoples birthdays marked on it.

'Hey Cardinal, do I have a notepad feature?'

No. But you might be able to buy a notebook or something inside! Put a notebook and ink in your inventory and I'll make a small notepad feature!

'You can do that?'

Of course I can! As long as it's in your inventory, I can interact with it! After that, all I need to do is make a notes tab on your HUD and display the notebook!

'Thanks, Cardinal. Will a normal ballpoint pen work?'

Yes, that will work just fine!

Walking into the store, I see shelves full of goods ranging from produce to household items. Looking through the shelves, I quickly find a decent sized leather-bound notebook and a set of pens. Walking up to the counter, Pierre smiles at me.

"You must be Gabriel! Nice to meet you. I'm Pierre, I run this general store here." He said Cheerfully.

"Yes, I'm Gabriel. Nice to meet you as well, Pierre. This town is nice, very different from the city." I reply with a smile.

"Will this be all for you?" he asks, looking down at the notebook and pens.

"Yes. I believe that saloon serves food in the after noon, so I will get food from there." Pierre looks like he accepts that answer as he looks in a notebook of his own.

"That will be 40G for the set!" he says with a smile.

Sticking my hand in my pocket, I navigate the inventory with mental commands and draw out 40 coins.

"Here you go." I say, handing over the coins.

I grab the book and pens and turn to walk out.

"I hope you enjoy Pelican town! Come again!" He shouts as I walk out the door.

Shoving the notebook and pens into my inventory, I see a new icon in the upper right corner of my vision. Mentaly selecting it, a blank text field appeared on a light blue screen.

Flipping through the calendar I make a note of all the towns people's birthdays I turn to leave and bump into a purple-haired girl who she falls backwards letting out a yell while flailing trying to catch herself. She doesn't succeed in catching herself and lands on her butt.

"Ow." She rubs her butt to sooth the pain of the fall.

Leaning down, I extend my hand to her to help her up. She looks up and sees my hand.

"Umm. Eh? Sorry!" she started apologising.

"It's fine." I tell her with a smile on my face.

She reaches up and grabs my extended hand and I pull her up.

'She's surprisingly light.'

After she gets fully on her feet and brushes herself off she turns to look at me.

"Sorry about that. I was too close to you and I didn't expect you to turn around like that." She says looking down, disappointed.

"Its fine, I shouldn't have turned to walk away so suddenly." I hold my hand back out to her. "Names, Gabriel."

She takes a moment before seemingly remembering something. She took my hand and shook.

"I'm Abigail! You're the guy that just moved into that old farm, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I Just moved in. I came into town to meet the people here!" I replied with a smile.

"Well, It was nice to meet you Abigail. I will see you around!" I say as I go to walk towards the river.

"If you ever need me, I live here at the General Store!" She says.

Turning my head, "I'll be sure to talk next time I'm in there!" I tell her before continuing towards the river.

Sitting down at the edge of the river, I stare into the clear mountain spring water as fish swim around in it.

'This place is nice. Quiet. The people are nice as well. Maybe this isn't going to be as bad as I thought at first. Plus Abigail is pretty cute, maybe I could get closer to her. Not a bad idea.'

That's my man! Go get the girl!

Quest Added

[The First Girl]

Objective – Get Abigail to fall for you

Bonus Objective - ?

Reward – Abigail, 1000 XP

Bonus Reward - ?

Feature Added

[Reputation System] – Track Affection, Reputation, and Obedience.

'Well, that's not subtle, Cardinal.'

What fun is subtle!

'Heh. Well again Abigail, is pretty cute. Yeah, I'll go for this!'

While conversing with Cardinal, I didn't hear the footsteps coming up behind me.

"Hey, you the new guy in town?" asked a voice behind me.

Looking back, I saw an athletic looking guy with brown hair standing behind me.

"Yes. My name is Gabriel." I greeted. 'Wish I had that 'observe' skill many gamers got.'

Oh! I knew I forgot something!

Skill Added

[Observe] – Gain information about target such as HP, MP, Stats, and thoughts about you.

'Really, Cardinal?'

Sorry.

'It's fine, Just try to remember in the future.'

OK!

"Well, I'm Alex!" He said. "Do you play sports or work out?"

"No, I don't though with owning a farm now I think I will have to start working out." I say standing up.

He took a step back as I stood almost a full head over him.

"Well, we should workout together sometime!" He offered.

"You want a good workout? Try grabbing an axe and helping me clear some trees from the farm." I tell him.

"You're right, that would be a good workout! OK, I'll come around tomorrow!" he says excitedly.

"Well, see you then." I say as he runs off, probably in search of an axe he can use.

Sitting back on the river bank I lay back and close my eyes.

Opening my eyes, I check the time in the upper left corner of my vision 12:38pm. Getting up, I see some people heading to the saloon for lunch.

I start walking over towards the saloon feeling hungry.

Entering the saloon after brushing off the grass from my back, I see people seated at the tables and one stool free at the bar. Walking up, I take the stool and wait for Gus to finish with Pam, who is getting what looks like her second pint.

A minute later, Gus makes his way over to me.

"What'll it be?" he asks with a smile.

"What's good, Barkeep?" I answer, while wondering what has changed with the menu from the game.

"The name's Gus I own this saloon! We'll get you our burger, it's fresh made from mostly local ingredients! We don't have a local supply of vegetables so we get them from the next town over. But the meat and cheese are fresh."

"Well I'll take the burger then!" I say with a smile.

"Just a moment! Would you like a drink?" he asks.

"Sure! What you got?"

He grabs a glass and fills it then sets it in front of me.

"Thanks." Grabbing the glass I taste. 'Honey?'

Looking down I use observe for the first time I see what it is.

Item

[Mead] – An alcoholic drink made with mainly honey, water, and yeast. (Alcohol Content – 4%)

"Like it?" Gus asks setting down a burger stacked with beef, lettuce, and tomato.

"Yeah, never had mead before."

Gus let out a chuckle, "well enjoy your meal! That will be 100G!"

Using my pocket I take out more money from my inventory and hand it over.

Picking up the burger I take a bite. 'Thats a juicy burger.'

Finishing my meal I leave the saloon and wince at the bright sun off to my left. Heading right so the sun is behind me, I spent about 3 hours in the saloon talking to people and had gotten progress on my quest.

[Introductions]

Objective – Greet the residents of Stardew. (11/14)

Bonus Objective – Greet all the residents of Stardew. (11/28)

Rewards – 300 XP

Bonus Reward – 300 XP

Seeing as it was nearing 4:00pm, I decided to go check out the library.

Crossing the bridge, I hear metal striking metal over at the blacksmith. Making a mental note to go over to the blacksmith at some point, I enter the library. Unlike the game, there was no scene of Gunther being upset in the museum, instead he was behind a desk reading a book.

"Hello." I say in a quieter voice while walking up to the desk.

He looks up from his book and smiles.

"Most youths don't willingly come visit the library." he said, placing the book down on the desk. "What can I help you with!"

"Well, I just moved into town, and was hoping you had some books on farming." I tell him.

"I'm sure we can find something. The name's Gunther." he says while moving out from behind the desk.

"Nice to meet you Gunther, I'm Gabriel, the new farmer in town." I greet as he leads me over to a bookshelf.

Pulling a book from the shelf, he checks the condition of the book before handing it over.

"Here you go, the basics of gardening should help you on that farm of yours." he says, smiling.

"Well, I'd like to check this book out then."

"Well in a small town we don't do library cards so you need to make a deposit to check out a book" he told me while gesturing back to his desk.

"How much will this deposit be?"

"Only 40G for that book." he stated, sitting back behind the desk.

Using my pocket once again, I pull out another 40G and hand it over.

"Now just sign here and the book will need to be returned or renewed in a month from now." he tells me while pointing at a checkout sheet.

After signing for the book, I started on my walk back to the farm.

Grabbing my axe, I looked up at the tree. It was tall and would probably be good to sell for firewood later this year.

Swinging my axe, I watch as it goes in about half an inch.

'This will take a while.'

Pulling the axe out, I swing again, and again, and again.

Swinging my axe once more, I hear cracking in the wood as the tree falls towards me. Quickly ducking out of the way, the tree hits the ground with a thud.

Tree Down – 20 XP

+1 STR, +1 END

Dropping to the ground, I rest against the tree. It took over 2 hours to cut down a single tree.

'Glad I got some help tomorrow.'

Standing up, I touch the tree and activate my inventory. Watching the tree vanish into blue light, I look to the small forest on the property.

'This will take a while.' I think while planning how best to clear the land.

My plan is to clear the area in front of my house up till the pond for easy access.

Trying to find something less intensive to do, I walked back up to my house and pulled out my hoe. Sticking it into the ground I pull back attempting to till the ground. After a few minutes I have an area about 3x1 meters of soft soil.

Taking the seeds, I place them into the soft soil and cover them up with dirt.

Standing up, I look back into my inventory and grab the watering can. Going to pour, I stop myself.

'Wait, why use a watering can?' I hold up my hand and focus on forming a ball of water.

Before me I see water float out of the watering can and form in front of my hand. 'What? I thought I would create water with this?'

Normally you would, but hydromancy can pull from nearby sources for half the mana cost!

'That will be useful.' I think as I gently toss the water ball to the plants.

Repeating the action a few more times, I water all the crops before going and sitting down on my porch.

[Water Ball] Level up

[Water Ball] – STR + 6 damage when thrown

'It's slow but I think I could grind skills pretty well in my time here.' I think as I lay down in my bed and go to sleep.

A/N -

I have never and will never say I am the best at writing. If you find errors just leave a review or PM me.

The gamer aspect of this story was inspired by The Dark Wolf Shiro's stories.

None of this story is really planned out just some ideas me and a friend throw around that might get written.

Who knows might turnout good, might end after a month.

Either way, if you like this and want something like it with more words check out Electric game, The Gamer's Guide to Freedom, or Optimistic Game on FFNet