Disclaimer: I don't own Stardew Valley, but ConcernedApe and Chucklefish do. This game is seriously quite a gem. Past the grinding, it's well made and it's fun. Go get yourself a copy!

Prequel - The Boiling Point

A Stardew Valley fanfiction

You could describe me as a teapot being heated, and Joja was the flame burning me alive. Most would ask why I complained. I had a cushy job as one of the heads for Joja. That's right. Despite me having a cubicle, I was Joja's most valued. I could bring small businesses to ruin and run accounts like nobody's business. But it didn't help my depression…

It all started when I was about thirteen, and my grandfather was dying. It was really bad…he had cancer. He could have lived a bit longer, but he croaked. Not before giving me an envelope saying, "It was my inheritance". I loved him dearly and he passed away in front of my eyes.

I changed. I was determined to get ahead in time and drove my time into work. I worked to master at least three martial arts along with weapon fighting. I worked to graduate school and get a good job. Then Joja happened. I started at a JojaMart cashier in high school and worked my way uphill to corporate. I had opened the package, but never read Grandpa's letter. I did see I was the owner of a farm. At the time, I was putting money into it. I had upgraded the house, got a coop, and silo for it. However, I never went to it to ensure it because I was too full of shit to think about that. The depression began after Manny died and Johnny got hooked on drugs.

I was just made twenty years of age on the 13th of Fall, and I was slowly asking myself what the hell was I going with my life. I had spent six years under Joja's thumb and I had no joy. I had no friends, no girlfriend, and I was disgusted by the fact I was okay with it as long as I had a drink and an arcade to go to. All in all, all I gained was being able to function with only four hours of sleep and get up 6 in the morning. I had a cubicle next to Manny who's nothing more than a skeleton and a cracked out Johnny. I was depressed, but I was also slowly getting more and more angry. Didn't help that my boss, Monroe, treats us all like shit. I don't even know why, but I put more and more money away in the bank. Then the incident happened.

From Joja, I was asked to deliver a package. I had left on a lavish plane provided by Joja, and got to visit a lovely place in Thailand. Well, I got beaten up, robbed, and left for dead. Turns out, Joja wanted to cut my life away. To protect their dirty company and a seat at the boardroom table! They have the balls to declare me dead! However, I returned on the 22nd of Winter. When my landlord saw, me return, she thought I was a ghost. Yeah, I survived. That hellish city I was in for 35 days toughened me up and changed me. However, I still returned to work. I was too used to routine. I even had to work on the Feast of the Winter Star! And then Monroe threw me my bonus like I was a dog. I had a thing for Joja Cola.

"Considering this a bit of a gift. Though, I'm surprised you're even still alive. That hellhole in the East China sea was supposed to leave you dead." Monroe said with a snigger.

I asked the bastard if he knew about that, and he laughed. He recommended me to be the sacrificial lamb because I was "expandable"! He even threatened to do it again to me!

"Now get back to work. I need those reports due!" He yelled still laughing at my shocked face.

I instead open the drawer and take out the envelope Grandpa gave me. I open it and this time I open the letter.

"If you're reading this, you must be in dire need of a change.

The same thing happened to me, long ago. I'd lost sight of what mattered most in life... real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong..."

Monroe snatched the letter out of my hands, and I nearly went homicidal. He tossed the letter back to me and laughed calling my grandfather a loser who "couldn't handle pressure". At that moment, I had a question.

Why?

Why am I working here? Why am I putting up with this? Then I remember what I was told by the woman who helped me escape that hellhole city in the East.

"Morals? Don't make me laugh! When you're livin' on the edge, power's all that's all that matters because that's all you've really got. Not everyone can get off on being normal, kid. And one more thing... All those rich fat bastards living under palm-trees - and bitches who think that life's only about putting on make-up. That's the perspective of hypocrites. Nothing's worse than being treated like some whore by your companions."

I was frozen for a bit as Monroe walked away, and I realized I was going to go nowhere if I kept working here. And I was going to quit, but not before giving Joja the middle finger. It was overtime, and it was only me and high as a kite Johnny. Johnny was still high as I slipped into Manny's old cubicle pushing away the skeleton. I started up his computer and Joja was dumb enough to leave his account active. And I found it…he had a file filled to the brim with enough shit to stain Joja. And there was a message addressed to me and Johnny asking us to hit send because he'd probably be dead before he could do it. So, what did I do? I edited the file to remove my name, and sent the file. Turning off the computer, I smartly removed and replaced the keyboard and mouse. I promptly quit the day after. End result. Joja Corp. ended up losing a shit ton of profit and they were none the wiser. Even better, when Joja wanted to go after Johnny, he died of an overdose! Monroe wound up fired and had his severance taken. Everyone who worked at that sector wound up getting a black mark on their records except for me and Manny. Then meant I could qualify for getting a severance package! And to add insult to injury, I had taken all the Joja Cola out of the break room before I quit and they blamed Johnny. I was free of it, free of Joja. I personally damaged the company. I had decided to make the move to Stardew Valley, but not before making some investments. One thing was investing in a special hefty backpack that somehow held 12 items. Bizarrely, the shopkeep told me I could carry 100 Stones in one slot and it'd be light as a feather. Either way, I paid off the lease to my crap apartment, and packed my belongings. I called Lewis. I have to admit, I was a bit of a douche to him.

I was earnest this time. I basically told him that I was coming to take proper ownership of the farm and apologized for being a total ass earlier. He was elated. However, I was going to coming the Valley practically with little money. After all the purchases, bills, and so forth, I was left with a grand total of 2,500 gold. All I now had was my suitcase with my essentials, the backpack on my back with the base tools Grandpa left for me (Axe, Hoe, Scythe, Pickaxe) inside it along with my some of my weapons, and another suitcase with my game consoles/games, my laptop with it's equipment. Also in that backpack were 10 bags of Parsnip Seeds, 5 bags of Blue Jazz, and 4 dozen Joja Colas. I boarded the bus for Stardew Valley with the driver I swear I was sneaking sips from a flask. Either way, I was off for the Valley and for a new life. I had boiled and escaped the teapot as steam free to be one with nature. As the bus left the city, I wonder if the rumors of the place are true. Rumors of magic, myth, and monsters. If it's true, I'll take that any day over Joja. Before I entered that bus, I did one last thing. I changed my first name. Why? Because I gained this name while in the hellhole city Souamil and it fits my rebirth. To not insult my parents, I shifted my old first name to my middle name. I had left the city behind on the 27th of Winter and I don't regret it.

My name is Taeko Kiba Maelstrom, and this was a new beginning for me.

(A/N: This piece is a prequel to a Stardew Valley story I'll working on. I've been playing the game lately and just love it. I'm already up to Year 2 so far. Either way, I figured that I could write a story on it. Obviously, it's going to be a different. I will provide a breakdown of the changes when I do release the pilot. For one it, it's going to have minor gamer themes. It won't be as strong as per say Sekirei Blackthorned. How Taeko will get his gamer powers is going to be rather meta…though. However, the gamer effect would be good to explain how a person can carry 36 items at one and allow him to see their measurement of friendship with everyone. As you noticed, the PC will be a bit of an Anti-Hero and a bit more prepared. His farm will have the kitchen upgrade, a silo, and a coop. They're just unused. As for the villager, I will go into details on the actual pilot. One thing, it'll all be all in third-person perspective. Taeko's POV was just for the prequel.)

And so Taeko left home in a bid to follow his grandfather's footsteps. Will he succeed? What will he find there? Find out…coming soon in the story soon to be told, The Maelstrom of Stardew.

(A/N: Edit 4/26/17 - My apolgies, I flubbed up on the date when Taeko returns and leaves Joja. It's supposed to be on Winter, because the game starts by Spring.)

(A/N: Edit 6/25/2017 - Fixed the wording.)