Chapter 20 – A strangely powerful joke item

🙞❤︎🙜

I took the item out from my inventory and placed it on the small side table between us.

[Rubber Chicken:

This rubber chicken toy is no ordinary chicken! It’s a super fun, interactive toy that will keep you entertained for hours on end. This chicken has a movable head and wings and makes realistic chicken sounds when you squeeze it. It’s also durable and easy to clean, making it the perfect toy for both indoor and outdoor play.

Magic -1 (every three seconds)]

It was a joke magic wand weapon that players could equip for play fighting. Instead of giving a bonus to magic, it drained magic instead. Although magic wasn’t exactly the same as qi, I thought it was worth a try.

Prince Baiyu didn’t know what to make of it. “Is this a joke? How would this thing help me?”

“This item might seem strange, but it is a powerful artifact. Simply touching it will drain your qi. Probably…”

“Probably?”

He gave me a dubious look. And who could blame him? The rubber chicken looked quite cheap and nothing like you would expect from an artifact.

Come to think of it, did they even use rubber in this world? I hadn’t seen anything made of rubber since I had transmigrated here.

“It’s fine, just put your hand on it,” I urged him.

He sighed a few times and looked really reluctant, but he touched it with one hand in the end.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“I feel silly,” he said. Prince Baiyu gave the dopey-looking toy a disgusted look.

“Lift it and shake it a bit,” I said.

I howled with laughter when Prince Baiyu started at the rubber chicken’s Bwak Bwak Bwaaak sound effect. He shook it again, fascinated by the way the rubber chicken’s googly eyes moved.

“Just give it a little time, and you might start feeling better. This item drains qi.” Probably. I didn’t say the last thought out loud.

“If it takes time to work, then it’s not as useful as your potions,” he said.

“Not at all. This item can be compressed.” I took the rubber chicken from him and squeezed it down until it was the size of my palm. “Look, you could place this in a pocket, and touch it if you start feeling that you’re going to suffer a qi overload.”

I gave him the item back, and it fit neatly into his fist. We waited a few more minutes until Prince Baiyu frowned and said, “I think it’s working. I feel refreshed, as though my body is lighter.”

“Great! I think it probably works, but you should really consult one of your own doctors,” I said.

He made a noncommittal sound. If he was hiding his condition from other people, then that was probably why he went to me instead of a doctor.

“Um, don’t hold it for a long time. It might drain your qi completely.” Since qi was said to be a person’s life force, draining it would normally be a terrible thing. “Let it go the moment that you feel weakened.”

“I will.”

“You can use gloves like I do if you need to touch it but don’t want to trigger its effect,” I said.

“This is incredible. The item looks strange, but it’s powerful,” he said. “I can’t possibly accept it without giving you something in return. Is there anything you need?”

I thought about it for a bit. Truthfully, I already had everything, but I might need his help in the future since the world was large, and there were probably many dangers in it. Just because I was far from the conflict right at this moment didn’t mean that my life would be forever peaceful.

“Can I ask you for a favor some other time if there’s something I need?” I asked him.

“Certainly.”

Great! Now I had another royal favor in the bank.

Prince Baiyu seemed a lot more lively after the rubber chicken did its work. Once he declared he felt that it had done all it could, we went for a quick tour around the farm. There wasn’t much to see, but, like everyone else, he seemed fascinated by the milling machine.

Before he left, he said that we would meet again soon, but I figured those were just words. His condition wasn’t so urgent now that the spring hunting season was over, and I’d given him both potions and an item that helped with his qi overload. Hence, he obviously wouldn’t need to see me again.

… But I was wrong yet again.

The next day, I was drawing water from the well to water my plants, when I saw a tall, handsome, wealthy prince approaching. He wasn’t walking towards me like a normal person would. Instead, he was flying over the trees and slowly descended until he was right in front of me.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Good morning,” I said.

I was feeling quite grumpy because I was wearing my old work clothes that were somewhat tattered at the ends, while he was a sight for sore eyes with his long, fluffy white hair and classically beautiful facial features. Once again, he was wearing yet another gorgeous ensemble made of intricately embroidered silk.

“Can I help you with that?” he said as I filled my watering can from the bucket filled with well water.

“No, thank you. Sorry, can you wait a bit? This will only take a few minutes,” I said.

Prince Baiyu watched as I held my watering can over the plants at the end of a row. Whereas normal farmers would water the plants one by one, the System allowed me to water half of a row. I tilted the watering can, and a glittering liquid flew out from the spout to cover a large area. I repeated this action until the entire field was watered.

“Okay, I’m all done,” I said.

The Prince crouched down to look more closely at the potato plants.

“Interesting.” That was all he said.

“Welcome to my humble farm. How can I help you today? Has your condition stabilized?”

“I feel fine. I just came to check if you need help with anything.”

Though it wasn’t his fault that he looked absolutely amazing while I was sweating and disheveled from working on the farm, I still felt a little piqued. Therefore, when a mischievous thought crossed my mind, I acted on it immediately.

“Well, if you’re really willing to help, why don’t you use this?” I took the broom that I had borrowed from the maids out of my inventory and handed it to him. “You can sweep the leaves from the path around the house.”

I pointed to the walkway I had paved with stone tiles.

“It would be my pleasure.” To my surprise, he seemed willing to do it. He took the broom from my hand and started walking towards the path, then without further ado, he started sweeping.

Um, what? I might be a newcomer to this world, but even I knew that princes didn’t go around working as a sweeper for farmers.

“You can put the leaves inside this,” I said as I handed him two empty rice sacks from my inventory.

“Thank you,” he said.

He put the sacks down near his feet, then started untying his belt.

What on earth was he doing?

LinMeili

• The "joke items" are all "useless" items in Adventure Incarnate. They are unbound, so anyone can use them.
• I think this particular one can be quite deadly since, as Violet indicated in this chapter, it could drain someone of their life force completely.💀💀💀
• There are not tons of "joke items" in the game, because developers typically wouldn't want to spend a lot of time on stuff that probably won't sell well and likely won't be used much at all. A few are made during the videogame's milestone anniversaries, that's all.
• Thank you very much for reading.
• Did you spot an error? Please leave a comment so I can fix it!