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Even in complete darkness, bats can accurately detect obstacles.

Therefore, in ancient times, it was believed that consuming dried bat guano had medicinal effects for treating night blindness—named “Night Bright Sand.”

Clearly, this new martial arts DLC has incorporated a great deal of localized content…

Juli: “…”

Juli: *sweating soybeans.jpg*

Author, please don’t adopt every bit of nonsense you come across!

However… when the mouse hovers over the soft soil in the cave, it shows a green pickup icon…

Who could resist that?

The pixelated little Juli on screen decisively crouches down and begins collecting sh—ah no, gathering raw materials for Night Bright Sand.

After collecting, pixel Juli expressionlessly raises the raw Night Bright Sand material and dashes home with a “pat-pat” sound.

Back at the abandoned cabin, her stamina is completely drained, but luckily crafting doesn’t consume stamina.

As a farm owner, not being able to handcraft bombs—is that reasonable? Absolutely not!

In the game Stardew Valley, there is naturally a crafting system. Players can acquire recipes and gather raw materials through various means, gradually upgrading their industries from a handmade farm workshop to fully automated mechanized agricultural production.

Farming games are all about that feeling of life getting better and better!

Currently, besides the initial recipes, the only craftable item in Juli’s crafting interface is Night Bright Sand. So, after a whole day of labor, pixel Juli continues working diligently until 1:50 a.m., rushing home just in time to go to bed.

Player Juli yawns widely, shuts down the game, and chooses to sleep as well—lest she suffer sudden death.

Fun to play, love the game, will continue after waking~

***

By the fifth day of game time, Juli’s small island farm is beginning to take shape.

First comes planting.

Since it’s a farming game, no matter how many new elements are added, tilling the land is always essential.

Unlike the main game, this new DLC emphasizes exploration and story. The player’s character is someone stranded on a deserted island.

Naturally, there is no town, no townsfolk, and certainly no mayor handing out 30 crop seeds.

So the player once thought there was nowhere to plant.

But then, the player found a forageable item in the forest: Wild Taro.

Wild Taro: rich in starch, but poisonous if eaten raw.

At the crafting interface, one Wild Taro can be processed into five Wild Taro Tubers.

Taro is a crop propagated asexually, so Wild Taro Tubers can be planted.

A new quest popped up: Plant and harvest 30 Wild Taro (0/30).

Juli scoured everywhere for Wild Taro, crafted 30 tubers, loosened the soil, and planted them carefully near the pond for easy watering.

At six in the morning, the farmer sprang out of bed.

Juli had moved her bamboo bed to the doorway so she could dash straight outside in the morning and collapse into it at night—the true workaholic wins through attention to detail!

Pixel Juli charged out the door!

Pixel Juli’s Wild Taro is ripe!

Bountiful Wild Taro harvest~ Bountiful Wild Taro harvest~ Bountiful Wild Taro harvest~

Plant and harvest 30 Wild Taro (Completed!)

Reward: 500 copper coins

New quest: Sell 30 Wild Taro at the Echo Shop (0/30)

Juli immediately opened the Echo Shop interface.

With no inhabitants on the deserted island, there’s naturally no channel for selling crops. So the DLC added a brand new selling mechanic: the Echo Shop.

The Echo Shop is intangible, invisible, and has no physical presence, yet it allows remote transactions on the island. As soon as Juli sold 30 Wild Taro, she instantly received 1,050 copper coins in her wallet.

Together with the fish sales from previous days, the player now holds a total of 4,500 copper coins.

That’s really pathetic…

Juli: orz

But the fishing system in Stardew Valley is indeed difficult, and Juli only has a beginner wooden rod, making it even harder. She’s the type who’s bad but addicted.

***

In the Echo Shop, there are also more advanced fishing rods.

“Jiang Taigong Fishing Rod: This rod has a straight hook, but magically, any ‘fish’ will automatically bite.”

Sounds like some mysterious powerful item!

Price: 1,000,000 copper / 500 ██ Baoshu

Juli: “…………”

How can it be this expensive!

And what is this 500 ██ Baoshu?

“██ Baoshu: A mysterious trade currency, the inscriptions on it are blurred.”

The author of Stardew Valley is certainly a person of integrity and wouldn’t stuff pay-to-win purchases into the game like some domestic mobile games. This mysterious currency is probably tied to the storyline.

So Juli, of course, has no rush—she will advance the plot when it comes naturally.

With a calm mind, the player bets all 4,500 copper to buy new crop seeds: Cassava Tubers.

It’s a rainy day, so no need to water crops; she can go straight to the beach to fish.

Pixel Juli grabbed her fishing rod and dashed out.

The sea is deep blue, more somber and dark than on sunny days.

Do pixel raindrops falling into the digital ocean also create a misty ripple?

Sea snakes wouldn’t choose such weather to float. On rainy, choppier seas, they’d quickly get dizzy. By their nature, they’d stay on calmer seabeds.

No sea snakes means no jack mackerel hiding beneath them.

Pixel Juli stood expressionlessly on the reef despite the rain, gathered strength, cast her line, and waited.

!!

A bite!

Obtained: Driftwood

Driftwood: This is junk.

Keep fishing.

Gather strength, cast, wait.

Obtained: Wet Hemp Rope

Wet Hemp Rope: This is junk.

Obtained: Coffin Board

Coffin Board: This is junk.

Juli: “…………”

Not a good day for luck.

One more time!

Obtained: Sea Cockroach

Sea Cockroach: This is jun… actually, a highly resilient arthropod.

Wait, bugs too?!

Author, get a grip. This is Stardew Valley, not Animal Crossing; insects don’t sell for money!

Juli’s bad luck was making her a little red in the face…

Thankfully, stamina isn’t fully depleted yet; she can keep casting.

A true angler never comes home empty-handed!

Gather strength, cast, wait.

!!

A bite!

The fishing minigame interface popped up—thank heavens, finally a real fish! Juli focused intensely, clicking furiously as she struggled with the fish.

But this fish seemed lethargic; the fishing bar quickly reached a “perfect” catch.

…Is this a dead fish?

Clumsy Juli grumbled ungratefully while battling the fish.

***

The fishing line splashed out of the water!

…but no catch notification.

Because what Juli reeled in wasn’t a live fish, nor a dead fish, but a merman?

A shirtless pixelated figure leapt from the sea, landing gracefully on the rocks. Without a shirt, the player could see his tanned skin.

But it’s pointless. The pixel figure is just a few pixels; no matter what, it can’t stir any lust. Even with a nude mod, it would only look comical.

At the same time, a new quest appeared in the top right corner of the screen:

Greet the people also stranded on the island (0/3).

Ah, the familiar “greet” quest finally arrived.

With only three people, it can be completed today.

Pixel Juli didn’t hesitate and rushed forward.

Juli: “Hello, I’m Juli!”

An NPC portrait popped up on the right side of the dialogue box.

???: “I am Chu Liuxiang.”

“Hm?”

The player blinked, leaning closer to the screen.

This—is—

A stunning illustration!

The tanned male’s facial features were deep and striking, his hair wet and curly, falling untidily over his forehead, with a bit of stubble on his chin… a weathered mature man, indeed a weathered mature man!

Moved, the author’s skill at drawing handsome faces has improved.

As for the NPC’s name… Juli felt she’d heard it somewhere before, perhaps from a domestic mobile game?

The martial arts DLC’s promotional trailer did mention collaboration with classic martial arts IPs.

But whatever.

In any case, the NPC is very attractive; the player is very fond of him and dubs him “Beloved Concubine Number One” for now!

Since she’s here, she has to give a gift to her beloved.

In Stardew Valley, gifting is vital for raising NPC affection. Each NPC has likes and dislikes, which can be checked on the wiki.

However, since this is a brand new expansion, when Juli downloaded the game, there wasn’t a single review on the Steam store, and the NPC preferences probably haven’t been summarized yet—it’s up to her to figure it out.

So, what to give?

The player rested her chin on her hand and opened the inventory, pondering.

Tools like fishing rods and hoes cannot be gifted; even if she wanted to, the game mechanics don’t allow it.

Then there’s today’s fishing haul.

Seaweed restores 20 stamina points; food is scarce early on, so it’s not an option.

Driftwood, wet hemp rope, and coffin board are all junk… joking, who gives junk to their beloved? That would be undignified!

That leaves only one thing…

Juli gave the Sea Cockroach to Chu Liuxiang!

- Want to say something?

A. “I brought you a specialty from Bat Island.”

B. “It’s for the kids, no need to be polite!”

C. “Take it for the road, don’t go hungry.”

D. (Type your own)

Juli: “…………”

The player burst into a wicked laugh.