Florida Man in Magus World: Unleashing Liberty and Freedom

As the message faded, a new window popped up, revealing a large uncultivated land and a plot with 3x3 grid of empty squares. Near the cultivated plot, an 8-bit farmer grinned widely and waved his hand at Felix. Directional arrows—UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT—sat in the bottom left corner, while a confirm and cancel button occupied the right.

Felix tilted his head, lips pursed in confusion. "What\'s this? A game inside my system?"

Jessica coughed, offering her explanation. <It looks like one of those trending avatar farming games. I believe it\'s called a \'Farming Sim.\'>

"I know what farming sims are. But why is it in my system menu?" Felix grumbled.

<Take a closer look at the farmer\'s face, Felix.> Jessica\'s tone was more serious this time.

Felix squinted. And to his surprise, the little pixelated farmer\'s expression had changed.

He was... crying? Tiny tears streamed down his 8-bit face as if he was reacting to Felix\'s words.

Jessica clarified, <In this particular farming game, the characters are real people. They can hear and can see you. You shouldn\'t take it lightly.>

"What the freaking—WHAT?!"

Felix\'s jaw dropped, and he leaned in to examine the tiny farmer more closely. The character\'s appearance was now more unsettling. Felix, still in disbelief, tapped on the farmer out of reflex. A new prompt appeared on the screen.

[Would you like to gift your nameless character an item?]

[Yes/No]

Felix stared at the prompt, even more confused now. Why did this random farmer need a gift?

Sensing his frustration, Jessica cut in with the hard truth.

<Listen carefully. These in-game characters are real people from another dimension. They need food, water, shelter, and medicine. If you neglect them or fail to care for their basic needs, they will die…for real! And this feature will disappear from your system permanently. Your lifespan will also drop according to the damage you\'ve inflicted upon your people.>

Felix\'s face paled. "Wait... are you saying I\'m responsible for these little people? Can I at least uninstall this thing? I didn\'t sign up to be John Kr*mer!"

<Don\'t worry. This game has its perks. If you cultivate the land and keep the farmers happy, you\'ll passively earn lifespan years and even get rare items. And look—there\'s a health meter above the farmer\'s head. He\'s malnourished. Since you haven\'t checked on him for a while, he\'s probably been surviving on wild grass and drinking filthy pond water.>

Felix felt a cold sweat run down his back. He couldn\'t even remember when he\'d unlocked this feature. A month ago? Two months?

"How has this poor guy been surviving without food?" Felix muttered. "Has he been the one taking care of those 9 plots all this time?"

The weight of responsibility for a life—albeit one from another dimension—settled heavily on Felix\'s shoulders. Feeling guilty, he pressed the [Yes] button when the game prompted him to give the farmer a gift. The next prompt asked:

[Which item will you gift the nameless character?]

His inventory screen popped up, overlaying the game. There were checkboxes next to each item, allowing him to select multiple things at once. Felix hesitated for a moment before selecting a few healing potions, some dry food, a dozen bottles of 1-liter mineral water, first-aid kits, household medicine, and a new set of clothes.

*DING*

The items materialized beside the pixelated farmer, who initially shrieked in surprise, letting out a strange, unintelligible scream. But after a brief moment of confusion, the farmer quickly realized what they were. He tore open the food and water, devouring them with ravenous glee.

When he finished, the farmer turned to Felix, bowed deeply, and said something. Though Felix couldn\'t understand the words, the tone was unmistakably filled with gratitude.

*DING*

[Nameless character now worships you as his deity.]

[You have gained one year of lifespan.]

[Tip: You can earn one year of lifespan from each worshiper daily.]

Felix blinked, staring at the notification in disbelief.

"...Wow."

Although part of him felt elated at the newfound power, a sick feeling crept into his stomach. He realized he was toying with a human life, not just some virtual character. The sensation of guilt gnawed at him, making him feel like he might vomit.

Jessica, as usual, broke the silence with her bluntness. *<You\'ve already killed so many people, both evil and innocent, but now you\'re squeamish about raising a human?>*

Felix spat in disgust, "I have my codes. At least, I killed those who deserved it. And the bystanders... those were unintentional. This? This feels...

wrong. I\'m not into keeping humans as pets!"

<You have familiars, aka slaves.>

"That\'s different! We have mutual consent. She looks out for me, and I give her a new life."

<And isn\'t that the same situation with this human on the screen?>

"…"

Jessica\'s logic hit Felix hard. He stared at the pixelated farmer, who was now happily inspecting the items he\'d given him. Despite the simple graphics, there was a strange sense of life in the character\'s actions, making Felix wonder if he was genuinely happy or just conditioned to survive.

Felix\'s mind wandered, and he found himself reflecting on his own life. Was this how his ancestor felt toward him? That he, too, was just a tool or pawn in some larger game? He pursed his lips and looked up at the ceiling, as if trying to look through it to the sky above, wondering if his ancestor could see him now.

Memories started to click into place.

The system taxes on his oil refinery, the cut the system took every time he extracted mana oil—where did that go?

Answer: His ancestor?

The lifespan he spent at the system store—where did *that* go?

Answer: His ancestor again? Probably.

The quests that granted him items and perks—who was supplying those rewards?

Answer: His ancestor... wait a minute.

What about the emergency beacons and the mysterious bombs that came from orbit?

Answer: Who else? His ancestor!

"Shit," Felix muttered as the truth dawned on him. He had been living inside someone else\'s game all along. "We\'re living in a matrix, aren\'t we?"

<Glad you finally realize that. Now your life will be a lot easier.> Jessica\'s tone was cold, but Felix knew she was smirking somewhere in his mind.

Felix wanted to cry, but no tears came. He looked back at the little farmer in the game and let out a bitter laugh. "I guess I have to treat you well now, don\'t I?"

The character on the screen continued working, blissfully unaware of Felix\'s moral struggle, and Felix couldn\'t help but feel a strange connection. He, too, was just a small piece in a much larger game, controlled by forces he barely understood.

…

After coming to terms with his bizarre life predicament, Felix decided to give the nameless farmer a bag of potato seeds.

The farmer accepted the gift eagerly and immediately got to work on the field. Felix, thinking it was a simple task, planned to let the guy handle it while he focused on his own business.

But something unexpected happened.

As soon as the farmer planted the seeds, a series of timers popped up over each patch of soil.

2:59...

2:58...

2:57...

Felix blinked, pointing at the screen in confusion. "Uh, is this what I think it is?"

Jessica confirmed it, <Yes, once the timer hits zero, the crops will be ready for harvest.>

"Wait, just three minutes? Potatoes ripen in three minutes? Man, I wish I could pull that off in real life!"

<You\'d be surprised,> Jessica replied cryptically.

Felix raised an eyebrow at her strange tone but shrugged it off.

When the timers finally hit zero, the potatoes instantly sprouted into fully grown crops. Even the farmer seemed caught off guard. As he was carrying a bucket of water to the field, he stopped in his tracks and stared in disbelief.

"*%@#$!*"

The farmer cursed in his strange language, dropping the bucket and splashing water all over his feet. He ran over to the now-ripe potatoes, inspecting them in complete confusion.

After a few moments of staring at the miracle crops, the farmer looked up at Felix through the screen and bowed deeply once again, clearly thankful but utterly bewildered by the supernatural growth.

Felix scratched his head, trying not to laugh at the farmer\'s dramatic reaction.

"I guess I\'m claiming all the credit for that, huh? Well, what\'s next?"

<You wait.> Jessica\'s voice was calm and assured.

"Alright, fine," Felix muttered, still chuckling at the absurdity. He figured the farmer would now have enough food to survive for at least a day or two, so he closed the game menu. He\'d check back tomorrow to see how things were progressing. Maybe the guy would start a farm empire.

With the game put aside, Felix turned his focus back to smoking in the battery room. He needed to grind out more lifespan to get that Philosopher\'s Stone he had been eyeing for some time now.

.

.

.

**RUMBLE**

"KIIIIIIEEEEEEEEKKK!!"

Felix, Jiji, Eins, and Zwei were jolted awake in the middle of the night by a piercing scream from outside the house. The sound cut through the stillness, making Felix kick off his blanket and bolt toward the ceiling, barely registering the fact that he wasn\'t wearing any clothes.

Jiji, equally alarmed, jumped out from the same bed as Felix\'s. She slithered swiftly after him, clutching one of Felix\'s guns as they both rushed to the rooftop while being naked as well.

Once they reached the top, they peered out. Thanks to the upgraded house barrier, they could now see everything clearly outside, even though no one could look inside. The days of having their vision blurred by the shield were gone.

Just 200 meters away, an eerie sight awaited them: a herd of deer. Normally, Felix would have been thrilled, maybe even tempted to go out and play with the cute animals. But under the cursed purple sky, with the eclipse casting a ghastly glow, these were not ordinary deer. Each of them stood on two legs, their muscular forms resembling bodybuilders from some twisted strongman contest.

Felix\'s heart sank as he noticed what they were doing. These creatures weren\'t grazing on grass or crops. No, they were devouring stones, rubble, and the remains of destroyed houses. One particularly large deer dragged the mangled corpse of a trent—a sentient tree monster—from the Purple Forest and threw it into the middle of the herd.

Without hesitation, the mutated deer began to tear the trent apart, greedily feasting on its bark and trunk as though it were their favorite snack.

"Oh, dear..." Felix muttered with a weak smile.

"Yes… deers," Jiji echoed, equally stunned by the horrifying spectacle.

As they stood there, frozen in their disbelief, the deer that had carried the trent looked up and locked eyes with them. Its muscles tensed, and then, with a sudden kick of its powerful legs, it launched itself toward the house.

**DONK!**

The deer\'s head collided with the invisible barrier surrounding the house, sending it crashing to the ground, dazed. Slowly, it rose to its feet, shaking off the impact, and glared at them with bloodshot eyes. Then, it let out another ear-splitting scream.

"KIIIIIIEEEEEEEEKKK!!"

That scream set everything off.

The rest of the herd turned their heads in unison, their eyes filled with a savage hunger as they fixated on the house. In a split second, they charged like a horde of crazed zombies. Drool dripped from their mouths, long tongues lolling out as they sprinted with terrifying speed. The ground shook under their stampede, and Felix, standing on the rooftop, felt the weight of impending doom.

"Well, that escalated quickly."