I Thought It Was a Healing Farming Game - Chapter 68

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

I thought this was supposed to be a Healing Farming Game
Episode 68

“Miel?”
At the sound of someone calling for me, I lifted my head and poked my face through the crack in the door.
“Oh, Siard! I’m in here!”
Siard, who had been searching for me in the living room, froze with his eyes wide open.
“Why are you in your room?”
“The door was open, so I was going to close it, but then I heard something clattering from inside, and I wondered what it was…….”
“……Is that so?”
“Oh, is that not all right?”
Siard, a raincoat draped over one arm, smiled gently at me.
“It’s fine. Feel free to come into my room anytime.”
Reassured, I hurried over to him.
Despite having gone out in the rain to collect the fallen tomatoes, not a single stain remained on his white clothes.
“Is everything tidied up?”
“Yes. It should be fine even in bad weather now.”
“Thank you for your hard work!”
When I tried to head home, Siard insisted the rainy streets were dangerous and told me to stay the night.
“Outside is dark and it’s pouring rain—it’s not safe. If you really must go, I’ll take you there myself.”
Feeling bad about sending Siard back out in weather like this, I finally gave in.
“Then I’ll impose on you just until morning.”
At my reply, Siard smiled with an unusually serene expression.
“Think of this as your own home and make yourself comfortable.”
“Yes…….”
As I was about to enter the room I used to occupy, Siard handed me a cup of tea.
“Have some tea before you sleep.”
“Oh, thank you. This is the tea you gave me before, isn’t it?”
I sniffed the aroma and took a long sip of the warm liquid.
Warmth spread through my body, and despite only drinking a few mouthfuls, my limbs grew heavy remarkably fast.
“Mmm. Well then, I’ll get to bed……. Sleep well, Siard.”
“Sleep well.”
Siard gently stroked my head.
The moment I turned off the light and entered the room, an irresistible drowsiness crashed over me.
Before I could even climb into bed, I collapsed face-first onto the pillow.
“Wake up!”
Then, suddenly hearing an urgent voice, my eyes flew open.
A white corridor flashed confusingly across my vision.
“You can’t fall asleep now!”
Nurses shook me where I lay on the hospital bed, calling out in alarm.
An oxygen mask was strapped over my mouth. My breathing felt suffocated and tight.
Then a pain like knives stabbing through my entire body surged forward.
I couldn’t make a sound, couldn’t even manage a single breath.
P-please. Help me. Help me.
I think I’m dying…….
My vision crackled like a static-filled screen, flipping between black and white.
“Gasp.”
Just as the choking pain of suffocation pressed down on me, the crushing weight that had felt like a massive truck suddenly snapped away.
Now I was lying on the ground, staring up at the sky.
I could see my arm, limp against the asphalt.
It was short and thin, like a small child’s.
And beside me lay a car crushed beyond recognition.
Blaring horns and frantic footsteps rang out loudly in my ears.
“My ears…… hurt. Stop. Please stop.”
I wanted to cover my ears, but my body wouldn’t move.
As I clenched my teeth, ready to scream, my eyes opened again.
His entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
He still couldn’t tell whether this was a dream or another memory.
But this time, at least, he could move.
Through the haze clouding his vision, his arm flailed about until it caught hold of something.
It was someone’s sleeve. He gripped it with all his remaining strength, but it slipped through his fingers far too easily.
“Don’t… don’t go.”
The words he managed to speak were little more than a whisper.
Beyond the blur, tears fell.
The room was so dark he couldn’t make out who stood before him.
Only a faint halo of light seemed to shimmer around that person.
The light drew slowly closer to him.
‘I don’t want to die.’
Soon, warm fingers gently wiped away his tears.
Hot, uncomfortable, aching.
And yet the tender presence at his side was so kind that the terror that had gripped him moments before began to fade.
“You’re all right.”
Though someone sat beside him, the voice sounded distant, as if echoing from far away.
Once he’d steadied his breathing, he rubbed his tear-stained eyes against the blanket and shifted his arm.
Then a firm hand caught his arm and drew him close.
“Mmm…”
He instinctively burrowed into that warmth.
His ear pressed against the solid chest, he heard a heart beating steadily.
Slowly, composure returned.
The anxiety melted away like snow. He leaned against that embrace and closed his eyes in peace.

* * *

The next morning, he checked the time out of habit the moment his eyes opened and froze in shock.
He’d slept for a full twelve hours.
“Really? Is that… actually true?”
Unable to believe it, he left the bedroom and found Siard in the kitchen, preparing something to eat.
“Miel.”
“S-Siard… did I really sleep that long?”
“As long as you slept well, that’s what matters. Why don’t you wash up and then we can have breakfast?”
He gestured toward the food he’d been preparing.
“Yes… I’ll freshen up right now and come help you!”
Embarrassed by his own disheveled state, Miel hurried to the sink and quickly washed his face.
After brushing his teeth, he dried himself with a towel and stepped back out.
The dining table was already set.
“I’m sorry—oversleeping like that, and not helping you.”
“Sharing a meal together is pleasure enough. Don’t apologize.”
Siard pulled out Miel’s chair as though he were a child.
As Miel sat down, a plate of pasta studded with vibrant green vegetables caught his eye.
“Wow. That looks delicious.”
What herb was that—basil?
Looking closer, he noticed scallops mixed in as well.
“Thank you for the meal.”
Miel waited for Siard to sit before twirling the pasta onto his fork and lifting it to his mouth.
He’d expected to have no appetite after just waking, but the rich oil and fresh brightness of the vegetables worked in perfect harmony—his fork kept moving.
“This is amazing. I’d love to learn how to make it.”
Lost in eating, he reached the last strand of pasta in what felt like no time at all.
“That was wonderful. Thank you so much, Siard.”
Siard simply watched him, silent—like someone with something to say.
“Is something the matter?”
When Miel tilted his head in question, the violet eyes grew calm and still. Then Siard asked softly,
“How are you finding life here in Node?”
His intent was difficult to gauge, but Miel answered without hesitation.
“It’s wonderful, isn’t it? Of course it is.”
“Then you’d be willing to stay here longer?”
“Well, naturally…”
“Not for a while. Forever.”
Siard’s words carried an unusual weight.
“Forever……?”
As I echoed the word softly, he continued in an even tone.
“Or would you prefer to return to your homeland someday?”
“Well…… I don’t even know how I’d get back yet. Even if I were to consider it…….”
I laughed awkwardly, but Siard didn’t yield.
“If you found a way to return, would you go?”
When I first fell into Node, I would have answered yes without hesitation.
But now the words wouldn’t come easily.
I understood the reason well enough.
Here, I could walk as I pleased, eat what I wanted, laugh and chatter freely with others.
Yet the thought of abandoning this ordinary life and returning to nothing but the suffering of patient life…….
That single fact was enough to make me falter.
‘Perhaps the real me has already died, and that’s why I’m here…….’
After a long hesitation, I spoke honestly.
“I’m still not sure.”
Priam, who had asked me not long ago if I’d stay, kept haunting my thoughts.
“I might be able to return…… and this place is good, truly, but I can’t promise right now that I’ll stay forever.”
Siard nodded quietly, his expression unchanged.
“That’s quite all right. I was merely curious about your feelings—there’s no need to decide today.”
After exchanging a few more brief words, he shifted to lighter everyday matters.
“Still, your complexion does seem much improved. It appears you slept well last night.”
“I was rather surprised—I’ve never slept that long before.”
“You must not have been resting properly until now.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————