Living In Another World With A Farm Chapter 1

“Young Master, Young Master, breakfast is ready.”

An elderly, stern voice reached Zhao Hai’s ears. He paid it no mind, his focus consumed by a throbbing headache. He assumed he had left his computer on and that the noise was simply coming from a television program.

However, the voice persisted: “Young Master, it is time to rise. Maintaining a punctual schedule is a necessary habit for a noble.”

Zhao Hai felt a jolt of surprise. This voice didn’t sound like it was coming from a computer speaker; it felt incredibly real, as if someone were speaking directly into his ear. It certainly wasn't the sound of his low-quality speakers.

Despite the pain in his head, Zhao Hai forced his eyelids open. Instead of the familiar white ceiling of his apartment, he found himself staring at a bed canopy.

Stunned, Zhao Hai turned his head to find himself resting on a massive bed. Standing at his bedside was a man in his fifties. The man’s gray hair was meticulously groomed, and he watched Zhao Hai with a calm expression.

Zhao Hai stared blankly at the solemn old man before scanning his surroundings. The room was austere, constructed entirely of stone. Aside from the large bed, the only pieces of furniture were a desk and a chair. The walls and floor appeared to have been recently scrubbed. The window consisted of a wooden frame covered in white paper, and a glowing stone hung overhead to provide light. The space was otherwise completely empty.

The old man spoke once more, “Young Master, you have recovered. A noble must adhere to a strict routine. Breakfast is served, so please get up at once.”

Zhao Hai’s gaze fixed on the man as a sudden realization hit him: he had transmigrated! Immediately after, a violent pang of pain shot through his skull, and he drifted back into unconsciousness.

Grimm Buda froze for a second when he saw Zhao Hai faint again before hurriedy exiting the room. Four people were waiting outside: two men and two women. The two men were young, likely in their teens, but stood two meters tall with skin as dark and hard as iron. They were twins with identical features and short hair, though they both wore rather vacant, dim-witted expressions.

One of the women was older, perhaps in her late forties, possessing a stout frame and blue hair. She had a gentle face that was currently etched with worry.

The younger girl appeared to be sixteen or seventeen. She was quite striking, with fair skin, a small oval face, and long green hair, though her expression remained wooden as she looked toward the floor.

As Grimm emerged, the older woman asked urgently, “Grimm, what is the situation? Did the young master wake up?”

Grimm nodded and then shook his head. “He did, but then he lost consciousness again. Merlyn, is your magic failing? Or is the medicine flawed? Could someone have tampered with it?”

Merlyn’s expression turned icy. “If that is true, I will settle the score with those people. Even if the Young Master is a bit of a brat, he is the final descendant of the Buda family. Have those imperial bastards forgotten the Master's contributions to the empire? Ungrateful wretches.”

Grimm replied gravely, “Go inside and check on him. If something is wrong, use water magic to stabilize him. We must protect the last of the Buda bloodline at all costs.”

Merlyn nodded in agreement, then shot a fierce look at Grimm. “If the Young Master gets better, you must stop pestering him about noble etiquette. We are in this godforsaken wasteland; what use is noble decorum here? To hell with it. Just thinking about the faces of those nobles makes me sick.”

Grimm looked at her helplessly but remained firm. “No. Regardless of our situation, the Young Master is a Viscount. He must behave like a noble. I must train him to be a true aristocrat so as not to betray the legacy of the Buda family.”

Merlyn glared at him. “If you keep pushing him like that, I’ll stop cooking for you. I don't know how we’ll survive here. Do you honestly think those people in the capital will ever let the Young Master return to the empire? Stop dreaming.”

Grimm fell silent, a bitter smile on his face. He knew she was right. They had been exiled to this desolate place by the Emperor and the high-ranking nobles. Had the Buda family’s military record not been so legendary, the family would likely have been executed instead of banished.

The Buda family still existed in name, but their entry into the imperial social circles was permanently barred. The world would eventually choose to forget they ever existed.

What truly broke Grimm’s heart was the Emperor’s fear of a Buda family resurgence. To ensure their downfall, he had forced the heir and only hope of the family, Adam Buda, to consume the Water of Nothingness.

The Water of Nothingness was a priceless magical treasure, worth more than its weight in gold, but it served a singular, cruel purpose: to erase one’s power completely.

A single drop could turn a powerful Mage God, a mighty Martial God, or a legendary Knight into a commoner instantly. Once consumed, the victim could never again utilize magic or battle aura. There was no known antidote.

While the potion stripped away magical and martial abilities, it didn't harm the physical body; it simply rendered the consumer ordinary. For a commoner, it was no different than water. But for a noble or a high-level expert, it was a sentence to a life of mediocrity, casting them from the heights of power into a dark abyss.

Adam had been forced by imperial decree to drink it. He was now incapable of ever learning magic or cultivating battle aura. He was destined to be an ordinary man forever.

In any other noble house, this might have been manageable—the individual would simply live a quiet, comfortable life. But for Adam, it was a catastrophe. As the sole heir, he was responsible for restoring the Buda family to its former glory within the Aksu Empire. Without strength, that dream was dead. The family's future had been extinguished.

Grimm wouldn't have been so worried about the lack of strength alone; he was an eighth-level warrior, his wife Merlyn was an eighth-level water mage, and their granddaughter Meg was a sixth-level wind mage. Together, they provided enough protection. If they were still at their original fief in the south—a prosperous land with a major city and four medium towns—the family could have thrived through trade and agriculture.

But the Emperor had stripped them of that fertile land, relocating their fief to the Black Soil Wilderness in the north.

The Black Soil Wilderness was a notorious "land of death." Despite being a third the size of the Aksu Empire, nothing grew there. Even desert-hardy plants withered in that soil.

Rumor had it that the land was once fertile until a great war occurred. Several Mage Gods had unleashed a massive forbidden spell, cursing the ground and turning it into a barren wasteland.

Even so, Grimm might have managed if there were trade routes. However, the wilderness was blocked by a desolate iron mountain once inhabited by dwarves. Beyond that lay the Carrion Swamp, one of the continent's five forbidden zones. Technically, the swamp was also part of the Buda fief, making their territory the largest in the empire—though it was entirely useless.

The only way out was through the lands of the Versailles family. Though there was a marriage contract between the two houses, the Buda family was now in no position to claim a connection with the most powerful clan in the empire.

Their only saving grace was an old, small castle on the abandoned dwarf mountain. Since the mountain wasn't affected by the forbidden spell, there were small patches of land that could be farmed to prevent starvation.

Once the relocation was finalized, Grimm had liquidated the Buda family's remaining assets to buy slaves, supplies, seeds, and tools. He then brought the unconscious Adam—who had been out since drinking the Water of Nothingness—to this crumbling stone fortress.

Accompanying them were Merlyn, Meg, the twins Wood and Rock (who were adopted by Adam’s father), and a hundred slaves.

Adam had remained in a coma throughout the long journey to the north. Merlyn’s constant use of healing magic had kept him alive. She had predicted he would wake today, which is why Grimm had been at his bedside. However, none of them realized that the person in the bed was no longer the original Adam. Instead, the body was now occupied by an Earth-born otaku named Zhao Hai.