Hira Picks Up an Old Cell Phone and Hears a Cryptic Message in Village Life Game ほの暮しの庭

INDEPENDENT — Hira, an Independents streamer, answered a ringing phone in the farming and village life game ほの暮しの庭 on Wednesday and heard a stranger’s message about a duty he could not escape. It came during the seventh stream of a series set in the village of 彼ヶ津村, on day 15 of summer in the game’s first year.

Hira had found a feature phone, an item that lets the player pick up calls, while fishing and exploring, and was chased by creatures as he went looking for a public phone. On the line, a man’s voice said he had to fulfill the role of his family and could not run away, and asked that a message be passed to the woman he was leaving behind. Hira said he could not tell whose voice it was, speculated that his own character might have taken someone’s place as a sacrifice, and said it was not yet time to say more. He later handed the broken phone to a shopkeeper in the village, who gave him a plush toy in return.

Earlier, the village held its summer festival. Hira played the shooting gallery at 500 yen a try and left with prizes he did not want, including a remote-control car, bought a 700-yen plate of yakisoba and complained that prices were steep for what his character earns. He also bought a chick dyed in his own image color and named it Pimo; it turned out to lay no eggs, and he sold it later in the stream with an apology.

On the farm, Hira worked toward silver-grade cucumbers for a contest he said was due the following week. He bought rain magic orbs, which opened up sprinklers, and said he would keep digging for copper to pay for them. Near the end he climbed the mountain at night, where what looked like a giant moon turned out to be a rabbit.

He closed after about three hours and 12 minutes and said he did not know what he would play the next day.