How to Succeed In Business in a New World

Found by a Farmgirl

    Wide sweeping views of grass filled my view. Off in the distance there were a few mountains to one side and somewhere about a stone's throw from my prone location the field was scarred by a rough dirt path. Judging by the sun it was about mid morning. The ground was cool and the grass was soft on my skin. Which only made me think about why I could feel so much of it. I stood up with a start and sure enough, all I had was simple loincloth covering my shame. I guess it was more than I got the last time I came into a world but I would've preferred something a bit more societally appropriate, especially for my first impression with a whole new world. If the clothes make the man then I sure wasn't much of one right now. As I walked closer to the path I saw a wooden signpost sitting watch over an intersection. Each way had a different name and number on it so I just walked towards the one with the smallest number and within a few minutes of walking a large stone wall with a fittingly large gate began to loom over me. At this point it seemed like I was on my way to a walled city which was frankly a bit exciting. I had sunk my fair share of all-nighters into sword and sorcery MMOs so it seemed like the "world I was familiar with" wouldn't be something similar to the world I had already lived in but more similar to the world I had just looked in on, though it could be debated that I spent more time in those worlds then I did in the real one. I immediately started to fantasize about what build I'd go for or what monsters I'd slay to climb my way up the ladder. Of course first I'd need to actually get in the city which would probably be easier said than done given the borderline nudity. I doubt there were many public decency laws but if there was a gatekeeper he probably wouldn't just let in a near nude stranger. As I got closer I got more concerned about this, I had to find some way just to get into the city. 

    Maybe I could kill something and get a pelt, maybe there was an aqueduct I could swim through, begging outside the gate until I could buy something off of someone was the real bottom of the barrel but should it come to it I was prepared for anything. It was either summer or spring so sleeping outside shouldn't kill me or anything but living in the dirt wouldn't help my preventability so it would really be in my best interests to figure something out soon. As I got closer I saw my first fellow traveler, from a distance I could only tell they were leaving town and had a horse pulled cart. If I could either convince them to sneak me in with that cart or maybe just swipe something from it to clothe myself until I can make it to a guild or something. I walked on eggshells off to the side of the road until the passing figure came more into view. I had to tug at my covering just to keep my manhood concealed, sure I hadn’t seen a real woman in at least a few months but the woman that was diving put some my favorite JAV actresses to shame. Her bust was pronounced but it was really her hips that got my imagination into overdrive, I couldn’t get a full picture of what she had going on around back since she was perched on the raised board of a driver’s seat but I knew for certain that I wouldn’t mind switching places with it. I still wasn’t sure how I should approach the situation and spending my time gawking wasn’t helping, she had definitely noticed me noticing her so it was inevitable that she would say something.

“Hi there!” That was it? Who sees a near naked guy ogling them and just greets them like nothing was out of the ordinary.

“Hello…” Well at the very least I know they speak the same language I do. 

“Coming back in from a hunt?” Was it that they never taught stranger danger in this world?? Why was she just making small talk?

“Not exactly, I’m a traveler...” That probably wasn’t the time to break the first rule of improv especially when she had given me an out right there but something about how earnest she was put under her spell.

“Really?! Wow! Where are you coming from?” She tugged the reigns and brought the wagon to a stop alongside me. Her eyes were twinkling as if she had just seen her first snowfall. It seemed she was impressed with my half truth.

“Oh I’m from a big city on an island far away from here.” I doubt she was a fount of geographical knowledge so I doubt she’d call me out if I start fibbing a bit.

“Really? What brings you here? Did you come because you heard this was a Beginner's town?” She looked me up and down as if my current status had something to do with her inquiry.

“O-of course!” This time I took my supplied out. I could probably try to impress her and come up with some reason why I don’t have my opulent clothes and great riches but I wasn’t that pathological of a liar.

“That’s great! I’m just coming back from selling our beets.” It seemed she was proud of herself with how readily she offered up that information. “Papa is sick right now so he let me do it all by myself this week!” Was she really just some ridiculously overgrown kid? Either way it was nice to be making a friend of sorts.

“Do you need any help on the farm?” My motives weren’t entirely selfless, doing some farm chores may be a good way to get a little starting cash and hopefully a set of clothes. Not to mention getting to spend more time with my new friend, who just so happened to have the most erotic body I had ever seen in my many years as a p*****t.

“Oh, sure!” I seemed to have surprised her with that, I had never really gotten that reaction when talking to someone before. Well I had definitely surprised people before but more in the “off-putting” way than anything else. She scooted over on the seat and motioned for me to climb up. Her face was extremely youthful framed by shoulder length burgundy red hair and adorned with the slight dimples at all times. She seemed about high school age and she couldn’t have been any older than me. “I almost forgot! What’s your name? Mine’s Marie.” I didn’t know her name until just now but had already considered us friends, maybe I was a little starved for social interaction. But now I had a decision to make. She wanted to know my name, she would be the first person to know my name is this new world. I could effectively rename myself. No one would know that I had another name in another world, this was a critical juncture of deciding my own destiny. Would I keep my old name for convenience or make up a new one. Before the analysis paralysis could set in anymore I just blurted out,

“My name is Katsuo.” I thumped my chest with my fist to punctuate the mighty declaration. It felt absolutely ridiculous no less than a half second after I did it but it couldn’t be taken back. She seemed to focus on the road for the rest of the trip leaving me to stew in my own embarrassment until we arrived at the farm.

It was about a half hour ride from where I had encountered her to the small farmhouse. There were some cows and sheep milling around out back by the barn and there were massive fields stretching behind. I had gone on a field trip in middle school to a farm and it was a lot different than this, obviously it had tractors and those big irrigation systems and stuff. There shouldn’t be any shortage of work that they’d need help with tending all this land by hand. Marie showed me inside the house and introduced me to her dad, or rather she more just showed him to me. He was asleep at the time, apparently he hasn’t been able to get out of bed for a few days and he had severe abdominal pain. I wished I could help but I knew next to nothing about medical stuff, my dad had gall stones at one point and it sounded sorta like that but it could just as likely be a tapeworm or even some magic cursed tapeworm. I had no idea what he could’ve eaten or anything so I’d just be shooting in the dark, after all it’s not like I was brought here because they knew I was from some futuristic society where medicine had sequenced the human genome, or even just knew what a genome was. All I could really offer was my best wishes that he would get well soon. If ever I do become the world conquering adventurer I’d be sure to send back a legendary healing relic. After the brief tour of the mostly bare home Marie took me back out into the yard and gave me some instruction for chores I should be doing while she went back inside to prepare lunch. She had me filling troughs and pulling weeds, labor intensive tasks that didn’t have any technique to learn. I wasn’t sure if she was doubtful of my farming experience or she just wanted a strong man to do the hard work. Either way I was glad I didn’t have to work any of the primitive equipment, there’s no way I could figure out how to yoke something on my own and I don’t think the animal would appreciate my inexperience. 

After a few hours of various lifting and yanking Marie came out and informed me that lunch was ready. On the way back in I was sure to steal a glance at her rear and it was more magnificent than anything a sculptor could come up with. It was enormous for one and seemed to have the absolute perfect fat makeup. The curves strain against her clothes in a way that could surely e*****e mankind. For now though I could only admire her magnificent body, she had accepted me into her home even though I had just met her in my undies, it seemed indecent to try to put the moves on her. Of course I had no moves of my own but I had played hundreds of hours of dating sims, surely something they had taught me had to have a basis in reality. I would have to wait until I was on my feet until I tried to do any sort of romancing, not to mention it seemed a bit insensitive to try to get it on with her while her dad was laying feet away and possibly dying. I didn’t exactly want that to be part of my “first time”. Lunch was served and Marie went to help her father eat. It wasn’t much, just a fairly thin beet soup and a hunk of bread that felt a few days old. I couldn’t help but think about how I’d never get to eat pretty much anything from my usual diet again. The days of eating instant noodles and microwave meals were over. The concept that I had eaten my last prepackaged, processed treat was almost impossible to wrap my head around. I’d also never hear songs I liked or see how my favorite serieses end. All of that’s been replaced by an aching back and a watery beet soup. I didn’t even get some end goal where if I can become an ultimate champion of justice I can come back to my world, there was no light at the end of the tunnel, just the promise of more of the same. There was a boiling rage that was impossible to direct anywhere, I couldn’t even focus it into training for a boss battle or something. There wasn’t anything I could do to get me back to my old comfortable life of convenience, I’d have to carve out my own warm hovel by hook or by crook. But for now the first was getting into that gate and starting my career as an adventurer. 

I had been done with my lunch for sometime before Marie came back in to check on me, I had lost myself in thought but I don’t think I could really be blamed. She accompanied me back outside and we did some more work together. Watching her work did change my opinion of her, in my mind she went from a ditzy kid that was amazed by everything to someone that could actually be depended on when the chips were down. Though I suppose everyone around here had to be dependable to some degree, existing was a much harder job in these conditions. Being a NEET wasn’t an option for the common man. Hmm, though it could be argued that the nobility were the first NEETs. Granted even if you could achieve a NEET lifestyle here it wouldn’t be a fraction as good as the one I was used to. Instead of playing MMOs and watching anime you’d have chess and plays. A definite downgrade in my eyes but a far cry better than working fields or monging fish. Since I still didn’t really have a goal yet I might as well just focus on making as much cash as possible, after all whenever I do find something I want to do it’ll help be able to grease a few palms. Every endeavor needs a good deal of capital, or at least it couldn’t hurt. If I decide to hunt a demon king or whatever I’d rather be able to buy some high tier equipment than have to grind for it. It all made me hope that this was the beginning of a rags to riches story. Which did remind me.

“Marie.” I was never very good at asking things like this, and it didn’t help that she had been so nice to me but… “Do you think I could get paid for this?” I fully realized they weren’t very well off so I was just gonna be blunt about it. Her cheeks flushed to the point they almost matched her silky hair. Her eyes began to water, it nearly broke my heart of stone when her lip began to quiver. “Hey, hey, don’t cry…” I wrap an arm around her shoulder to gently pat her back. Between her sharp intakes of breath she tried to speak but didn’t seem to be able to. I was barely capable of talking to girls in normal circumstances, I had no chance when they were showing emotion like this. If ever there was a time I wish I could revert to a previous save this was it. The worst part was how her chest was heaving with each sob, it made it extremely difficult for me to concentrate on the task at hand. “Listen, listen, listen.. It’s okay. It’s okay.” I was parroting what I had overheard as comforting words. “Just tomorrow morning if you could take me into town that’d be more than enough.” I was hoping to also score a set of clothes but I’d save that for the morning. Her sniffling died down and I switched from the gentle patting to a more tender rubbing between her shoulder blades. After taking a minute to compose herself she seemed ready to talk. 

“T-thank you.” I wasn’t exactly sure what she was thanking me for, maybe my help or maybe for reducing what I wanted but it did make my heart melt a bit.

“Maybe while we’re there we can find something to make your dad feel better.” I knew I might be overpromising on this but with her body pressed up against mine I would tell her whatever she wanted to hear. This is why I never got involved with women, they’re master manipulators even when they don’t know it. I bit my tongue to keep from promising anymore.

“Thank you so much… We’ve just had it so rough for us lately. Y-you’re the best thing that’s happened to us.” Any other time I would’ve heard that it would’ve been sarcastic but I actually believed her, but at the same time that was pretty sad. All I had done was a few chores and promise to help to attempt to help her. They really must have had it rough, I knew they weren’t rich and the mom wasn’t in the picture one way or another but that must just be the tip of the iceberg. How deep a hole do you have to be in that you’re looking up at a guy like me. 

I held her there for a few more minutes until she told me she had to go work on dinner and ran back into the house. After that I was left alone with my thoughts and the rest of the chores. As the sun began to set I ushered all of the animals back into the barn and headed inside myself. I had just completed my real day of work in my life, or lives rather. I suppose if I had ever said “I’d die before I work“ it’d have been proved true today.

“Hello!” When I came back in, Marie greeted me in the cheerful way that suited her much better, I took it she wanted to act like nothing had happened out there and I couldn’t blame her for that. She wasted no term serving dinner, though it seemed strikingly similar to lunch. In my old life my diet didn’t have much variation so I didn’t mind so much. If it was easy and quick to make I’d eat three times a day, or at least whenever I remembered to eat. In fact, having someone else make it was even easier than sticking something in the microwave. I slurped it down without much hesitation, who knew that work works up an appetite. It wasn’t until Marie had watched me finish that she went to bring the meal to her father. Once she left I could only think about how I hadn’t seen her eat anything all day, it’s possible that she did while I was out working but she definitely didn’t eat dinner. She had given her share of the food over to me just for my willingness to help her in whatever small way I could. I still had no idea what the town would be like, all I had heard was that it was town for beginners so I could probably find whatever I needed, if I could only figure out what that was. Or come up with a way to pay for it. In the spend money to make money cycle, I was stuck at step zero. Whatever hand me downs I could get from Marie would be insufficient for questing so I’d need equipment if I wanted to do that, and it was rather unlikely that someone would be giving it away for free. As much as I hated to say it, it seemed I was in for at least another day of actual work. I would have to try to not make a habit of it. At least in town I could get something less labor intensive, my years of being a shut-in did me no favors in dealing with the elements. At least as a stock boy at a shop I’d be indoors, and clothed. 

That night I just went to bed early really, there wasn’t much to do when it got too dark to work. I used to stay up all night and never work a day. Just goes to show how quickly things can change after you die. I was given a quilt on the mustier side and was told I could sleep on the table. Seeing as it was either that, the floor, or sleeping with her sick dad I accepted without a second thought. As thankful as I was to be given food and a place to stay I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to getting out of here in the morning. But I would really like to keep in touch with Marie, I at least felt ambitious so that I could help her. I never knew I was such a softie. A little sob story and I feel guilted into helping. Though I suppose it wouldn’t take much to help them. But I didn’t have any so there was much I could do about it now.

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