novelraw Chapter 16: This Is Not Scientific at All
Chapter 16: This Is Not Scientific at All
Stepping out of the wooden cabin, Leon looked up at the dim sky. The air felt damp, though no raindrops had yet fallen.
But judging from the clouds above, Leon knew the rain wasn’t far off. Thick, dark clouds were rolling in, the cold, moist wind whispering of a coming downpour.
Glancing at the crops on the ground, Leon was pleasantly surprised to see a few tender shoots already poking through the soil. It had only been two days since he planted the first batch of seeds, yet they were already sprouting. The soil of Stardew Valley truly was fertile—and special.
Since rain was on the way, Leon didn’t bother taking out his watering can. Waiting for the rain was far easier than watering each plant by hand.
“Caw, caw, caw!”
At that moment, a crow landed right on the tilled soil. Croaking loudly, it actually tried to jab its beak into the dirt, searching for seeds to eat.
There was no way Leon would just stand there and watch it plunder his property. He lunged forward, grabbing his scythe and swinging it at the bird.
Startled, the crow flapped into the air, squawking angrily as if cursing Leon for the sneak attack.
Leon frowned at it. Crows were smart, and they held grudges. If this one decided to come back while he was away and destroy his crops, it would be a huge loss.
He looked up at the bird circling stubbornly overhead. Since it refused to leave, Leon didn’t dare turn his back and leave the farm—he was worried it might swoop down again the moment he was gone.The standoff dragged on for over ten minutes before the first raindrops began to fall. Finally, with its wings growing heavy from the rain, the crow retreated.
Leon let out a breath of relief, no longer needing to keep an eye on the feathered menace.
Still, prevention was better than cure.
Farmers of old had many ways to keep animals out of their fields. The most well-known and widely used was the scarecrow.
In the game, Leon only needed to reach Farming Level 1 to unlock the scarecrow recipe. Placing one in the fields would keep crows away. But in real life, his system apparently didn’t come with such ready-made features.
Not that making a scarecrow was difficult. And since the rain meant there was nothing else to do outside, Leon headed back into the cabin.
He took out three pieces of wood, nailed two of them together to form a longer beam, then fixed the third piece across it to make a cross.
Next, he found an old set of clothes, stuffed them with hay, and tied the cuffs and hems shut. The result was a crude scarecrow.
For a finishing touch, he put a baseball cap on its head. Leon eyed the figure, feeling a little unsure. From a distance, it looked like a person—but whether it would work, he wasn’t certain.
Still, since it was already made, he might as well try it. Donning a raincoat, he carried the scarecrow outside and planted it in the middle of the small field.
The moment he finished, the system’s prompt appeared.
“First item successfully crafted. Unlocking crafting function and recipes. Unlock complete. Crafting and Recipe tabs have been integrated into your personal panel. Please check on your own.”
Leon also noticed that the scarecrow he had just made now came with a system note.
“Shoddy Scarecrow: Barely able to deter crows from attacking your crops, but won’t fool these clever creatures for long.”
“Is it really that bad?”
Leon stared at the description, feeling like the system was mocking his craftsmanship.
In his opinion, this scarecrow was much finer than most he’d seen before.
Still, the fact that making it had unlocked the crafting feature was a pleasant surprise. He opened his personal panel.
Name: Leon
Farm: Red Star Farm (Activated)
Favorite Thing: CN
Farming: 0
Foraging: 0
Mining: 0
Combat: 0
Fishing: 0
Special Abilities: None
Backpack Items: Axe, Pickaxe, Watering Can, Scythe, Hoe, Wood ×187, Hay ×31, Fiber ×84, Stone ×11, Coal ×4 (10/12 slots used, can be upgraded)
Crafting Recipes: Scarecrow, Chest, Campfire, Torch, Wooden Fence, Wooden Gate, Wood Path, Stone Path
Sure enough, a crafting tab and recipe list had appeared. Besides the scarecrow, there were several basic recipes—among them, the chest he’d been wanting.
But when he saw the campfire recipe, Leon was puzzled. If unlocking the crafting tab required making something by hand, then why hadn’t making that outdoor firepit yesterday triggered it?
Maybe his crude stone stove was so bad it didn’t even qualify as “shoddy” in the system’s eyes? The thought made him cringe.
Still, now that the crafting function was unlocked, he had to try it.
He selected the chest recipe, and the system prompted: “Consume 50 wood to craft a chest?”
“Yes.” Leon nodded. His stock of wood dropped by fifty, and a chest about a meter tall and half a meter wide appeared before him.
“Chest: A place to store your belongings (0/36).”
Plain description, simple design.
Leon placed it beside his bed and touched the lid. It opened automatically, and a virtual interface appeared. His backpack was displayed on the left, and the chest’s thirty-six empty slots were on the right.
He tried dragging his remaining 137 pieces of wood into the first slot. Sure enough, they transferred instantly into the chest, taking up only one slot.
Yet the chest itself didn’t change size at all. If he dumped that much wood on the floor, it would cover ten times the chest’s footprint—but inside, it fit neatly without a trace.
This was not scientific at all.