Noobkitty was in the stable with a pile of wood, cutting tools, and a very opinionated chicken. Her hangover had thankfully been removed.

  "Buck cluck!"

  "Why do you even need bedposts?" Noobkitty asked, wiping sawdust from her forehead. "Don't you basically just need a box?"

  "Ba-cawk!"

  "Fine, fine... bedposts." She took four sticks and carved them with a slight taper and a balled top. Then, she cut grooves into the posts so she could slide the sideboards into them. She added horizontal cuts for the baseboards and attached sturdy feet to the bottom. Her next one would be more efficiently designed, she told herself, but she placed the first completed frame on the ground for the chicken’s inspection.

  The chicken scrutinized the work. "Cluck-buck?"

  "I still don't know what you're saying," Noobkitty admitted.

  The chicken shook her head and decided to test the frame as it was. She stepped into the box, checking for size and coziness. She clucked softly and stepped out, giving her feathered approval.

  Bird Bed > Lv. 10

  A bed frame for a chicken or other medium-sized bird. Just add something comfy and you'll have well-rested feathered friends.

  +20% ease of egg laying, +30% restfulness for any avian race, +20% mood improvement for the first two hours after waking.

  Noobkitty smiled; those were impressive enchantments for a Level 10 item. "Let’s make the rest of the chicken beds. I might level up and get a slightly better enchantment for the sheep and pig beds."

  "Cluck!"

  "You're the one who demanded chicken beds first! It’s not my fault that means you get the lower-level enchantments," Noobkitty argued back.

  The chicken stormed out, clearly annoyed.

  "Wait! I need you to tell me the size for the medium and large beds! How many chicken-steps is a cow-bed?"

  Noobkitty sighed and pulled up her messaging interface.

  Noobkitty: GYOAT, can you come over? I need help with bed measurements for a large mammal. Also, can you bring a boar or a faun with you?

  GYOAT: ?????????

  Noobkitty: Fine, I'll make you a bed, too.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  She wondered if she was going to end up making beds for all the forest animals. She probably would, especially once her employees saw the buffs the frames provided. She shrugged and looked up at the ceiling. "Cue the lo-fi music. I’m skill-grinding today."

  The music began, and she took up her carving tools, ready to produce a dozen or so animal bed frames. The animals would have to figure out the bedding on their own.

  ----

  HnyThsl smiled as she watched the calf play ball with the lambs.

  She hadn't known what to expect when she first started playing. The message boards said the game had "gone weird" after it avoided being deleted. "Weird" was exactly what she wanted. She had harassed the world into letting her create a custom race, then pestered it until she was allowed to try for the Druid class. It had taken almost a month to finally unlock it a month stuck at Level 0, but the progress gauge had kept her going.

  Now, she was a farmer. She had assumed being a Druid would involve more "forestry" things, but here she was.

  "An egg for your thoughts?" asked Sara the chicken.

  "Just reflecting," HnyThsl started. "I may be in this game for a while."

  The hen looked slightly panicked. "You’d better be. Who knows what would happen to this farm without its farmer?"

  "I’m sure Coro?en wouldn't let anything bad happen to you if..." As she spoke, a massive lizard skittered between the forest line and the fencing. It looked about for a second, then continued on its way. This farm was far too close to monster spawn zones for comfort. "Maybe I need to hire some guards," she mused.

  "Ellen and Freddy are strong," the chicken said, referring to the cow and the steer. "They can keep an eye on things if you aren't gone too long."

  "So you're saying I have permission to go home sometime?" HnyThsl teased.

  "Only after you shear the sheep. That bedding won't make itself," the chicken insisted.

  HnyThsl laughed, pulled the shears from her inventory, and yelled, "Whoever wants to be sheared today, line up!"

  The sheep lined up, as did the calf and two ducks—though the latter just wanted to be petted. By late evening, GYOAT arrived pulling a cart full of Noobkitty’s new bed frames. He had brought two raccoons to help unload, which was fortunate, as HnyThsl needed to log off.

  ----

  She removed her gear. It was an unfortunate, basic set: no nutrient inserts, no muscle simulators, and no REM inducers. It was just a helmet that sent signals into her brain to facilitate the shared reality of the Net.

  Her body was stiff, so she stretched, reminding herself she needed to get her heart rate up. She looked around her cramped studio apartment. "Hello, Bernard," she said to the houseplant near her computer. She checked his aqua-globe; he had enough water for another day.

  "Hello, Beatrice," she said to the ivy. She was good for two days. "Bruce... that’s surprising." Her cactus rarely needed water, but today his globe was empty. She refilled it carefully.

  She grabbed her rationed nutritional paste pouch and started to suck through the straw. Being on "Social Income" meant she couldn't find traditional employment; the basic income covered her apartment, utilities, and nutrition pouches, but not much else. She felt lucky to own immersion gear and was incredibly thankful she had eaten a pastry from Noobkitty’s while logged in. It tasted a thousand times better than the paste.

  After dinner, she went for a jog. She shared a smile with passersby, but rarely got one back. Dogs were nice, though. she got to pet a Frenchie named Fanny and a massive bulldog called Professor Brutus. She’d met the Professor before, but it was always nice to have a little interaction. She only kept plants because her budget couldn't support a pet.

  Back home, she did a cool-down and finally checked her phone. There were no texts or calls—just app notifications and junk emails. She checked the Coro?en message boards. There were threads about Grizzlebeard’s new "Wild Game" menu and others discussing the new consignment shelf at the snack shop. Some people were complaining that they couldn't get beef or hamburgers anymore.

  Finally, she checked the live streams. Noobkitty was still woodworking. The relaxing music from the feed filled her apartment, accompanied by the occasional sound of a saw or hammer. HnyThsl, even though that wasn't her "real" name, lay down to fall asleep to the cozy grind, thankful that tomorrow she’d return to Coro?en, the place where she felt she was actually living.