“Looooot!” I cheered as I spotted the chest in the corner. It looked identical to the other one I’d found yesterday.

Even then, I approached it carefully and poked it with a sword from afar.

KaiEbikoOfficial: that’s not how you open chests Nana

“I’m checking for mimics!”

KaiEbikoOfficial: oh

KaiEbikoOfficial: there are mimics?

“Yeah… Well, probably.” I realized that none of the chests I’d found were mimics, but I still thought that it was prudent to check anyway… Or maybe it was just the lingering paranoia from playing Mimic Nation last week. “The first dungeon I found, there was this random wreckage that turned into a giant killer robot when I got close.”

KaiEbikoOfficial: hmm

KaiEbikoOfficial: can’t you use appraisal?

I stopped, blinked, then slapped my face.

“Oh yeah…”

I fired off Appraisal at the chest.

D-rank dungeon chest

A loot chest containing random dungeon loot.

“Oh, good… Wait, D-rank? Huh… alright.”

The spaceship had been B or higher and the zombies here were definitely much easier to deal with than the giant killer robot, so it made sense.

“Well, I hope this means it’s definitely not a mimic. Although… Can mimics bluff their way through appraisal…?”

KaiEbikoOfficial: hopefully not

I shrugged and finally got to opening the thing. It was even easier than the one yesterday. Because of that, combined with the fact that the zombies were much easier to beat, I was confident that I was getting stronger.

The chest opened and revealed its loot.

It was… a mop and a metal bucket.

I stared in disbelief.

“What,” I said, deadpan.

I immediately fired Appraisal at both of the objects.

Ether-powered mop

A mop that automatically uses the wielder’s Ether to create its water and destroy dirt.

Dimensional bucket

A bucket connected to its own pocket space that can hold several different types of liquid separately without them mixing.

“Okaaay… The bucket could be useful, I guess…” I groaned. “If I can even find any liquids… Actually, does the ooze count? That should totally count, right?”

KaiEbikoOfficial: oh that’s neat

KaiEbikoOfficial: what is the mop even for though?

I grunted in annoyance.

“I dunno. It’s just random trash loot, I guess. I got a pen that’s similar from the other chest. Doesn’t really help, but… it’s cool, I guess…?”

If I ever needed to mop up some place, then I had the perfect tool for it now.

Awesome.

I sheathed my sword and grabbed the two objects before frowning.

“Ugh, I don’t wanna lug all this junk around… I guess I can just dump it at the dungeon’s entrance and come back.”

KaiEbikoOfficial: make a little loot pile at the entrance!

“Mhmm…”

With the loot in hand, I turned around and left the room via the door I’d entered through and then back into the hallway through the window.

As expected, no zombies appeared to mess with me as I leisurely walked to the dungeon’s entrance, further confirming the fact that the monsters didn’t respawn. Still, I made sure to hold the mop in my right hand, ready to smack someone. Just in case.

The feeling of relief washed over me and I unceremoniously dumped the bucket and the mop on the grass before turning around and entering the dungeon again.

I briefly remembered the side objective of the dungeon quest saying that I needed to clear the dungeon in one try and wow. How arrogant had I been, thinking I could do that? I’d left and re-entered this place so many times, it wasn’t even funny.

Anywho, back to combing through the place one room at a time.

“Which one was I at again?”

KaiEbikoOfficial: sixth window now

I gave a nod and climbed inside when a random thought occurred to me.

“By the way Ebi… How long are you gonna stick around? I don’t wanna make you cancel your own streams…”

KaiEbikoOfficial: until you find food

KaiEbikoOfficial: it’s fine

I cringed. “But… That could take days…”

KaiEbikoOfficial: don’t worry about it

KaiEbikoOfficial: I decided that I’m doing a Nana-helping stream now

I blinked.

“Are you re-streaming my own stream?”

KaiEbikoOfficial: nah, I’m streaming just myself

KaiEbikoOfficial: and have you muted on my stream

KaiEbikoOfficial: people can open both our streams and watch along

I stared for a second before shrugging.

“Right. I mean, sure.” I smiled. “Thanks Ebi… For sticking around, I mean.”

KaiEbikoOfficial: no problem!

KaiEbikoOfficial: magical shrimp fairy girl Kai Ebiko at your service!

With that, I got back to work.

It wasn’t until way past noon that I finally found another chest. Once again, I did my usual poking it with my sword after appraising it just to make triple sure before opening it.

But when I finally got a look inside I froze and my eyes went wide.

KaiEbikoOfficial: !!!!!

I refrained from celebrating just yet and fired off appraisal at the thing.

Miakola fruit

A juicy fruit from the Miakola tree infused with some Ether.

It looked like a pink egg-shaped apple and even though I had no idea what a Miakola was, it looked like the most delicious thing in the world at that moment.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Foooooooood!” I cheered as I picked the thing up and did a little dance. “Finallyyyyy!”

Then I bit into it and it felt like I was in heaven. It was sweet, it was juicy, and it was food! It tasted somewhat like the life ooze, but that was probably because of the Ether.

It didn’t matter. I scarfed it down, nearly choking on it, and was left with the core in a matter of seconds. A small window saying ‘Quest updated’ popped up at some point while I was eating and that ultimately flooded me with so much relief that my eyes began to tear up again.

KaiEbikoOfficial: don’t die to a fruit!!

I couldn’t help but chuckle once I finished and wiped my tears.

“Ebi, I’m gonna live! Beat that, starvation!” I cheered.

KaiEbikoOfficial: yaaaaaay!

KaiEbikoOfficial: but srsly don’t stuff it down your throat like that

“Ahaha… I couldn’t help it.” I grinned. “But this is great! This means that I was right! There is food in these chests!”

KaiEbikoOfficial: but it’s just one fruit

KaiEbikoOfficial: and if the chests don’t respawn then…

I stopped and my cheer decreased a little.

“That’s… true… ” I pursed my lips. “Maybe I’ll find something like the pen and mop later on? But with food? Ether-powered infinite chocolate bar…? Or maybe the boss will drop something bigger…?”

KaiEbikoOfficial: how do you know there will even be a boss?

KaiEbikoOfficial: this dungeon is weird enough already

“Well… I don’t know? I just assumed…” I groaned. “I guess I’ll just have to keep going and see… Are you still gonna stick around?”

KaiEbikoOfficial: yeah I’m not leaving you yet

KaiEbikoOfficial: I just ordered some pizza tho

KaiEbikoOfficial: I’m getting hungry

“Pizza? Man, I’m jealous…” I totally didn’t whine.

KaiEbikoOfficial: sorry :<

KaiEbikoOfficial: wish I could share

“It’s fine, it’s fine…” I said and glanced at the rest of the loot in the chest.

It was just four more of those copper coins. Nothing groundbreaking. I pocketed them anyway, alongside the fruit’s core.

Hey, I wasn’t one to litter. And anyway, maybe the core would be useful for something as well.

I continued to explore the place with Ebi’s help, hoping to find more food in the chests. But rather than a chest, I found something entirely different next.

Standing on my tiptoes – stupid short body – I opened the door squirreled away in the corner of a particularly annoying non-euclidian room and stared at the wide room in front of me.

It was roughly square-shaped and had different flooring to every other room I’d been in so far. Tiles instead of pure concrete.

It was also almost completely empty save for the oversized desk that sat at the back of the room right next to a closed door. Oversized even if I wasn’t undersized.

I blinked as I pushed the door open wider.

“Well, this is… different.” I cautiously glanced around, looking for any hidden threats, without entering just yet. “I have a bad feeling about this…”

KaiEbikoOfficial: it looks like a boss room

I nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, exactly… I don’t know if I’m ready.”

KaiEbikoOfficial: you can always come back later

“That’s probably a good idea…”

Naturally, I noticed the rest of the chat freaking out and telling me to go in anyway. It was a good thing I had my helpful shrimp fairy to be my voice of reason now or I might have listened.

So I simply noted the location and left to explore the rest of the dungeon.

Maybe I would find something to help me fight the boss…? If there even was a boss in the first place.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

I explored the rest of the rooms with Ebi’s help and didn’t find any more chests or suspicious boss-like rooms. The key to the gate had to be somewhere in that room or beyond it. Maybe dropped by the boss, even.

With no other choice, I decided to enter the room.

“You know, I think this is even creepier now that there are no zombies,” I noted as I made my way back to the supposed boss room through the empty dungeon.

KaiEbikoOfficial: it’s still weird that nothing respawns

“I know, right? Well, not like I’m gonna complain. They don’t drop anything anyway.”

Back in front of the door that led to the square room, I sat down and took stock.

I’d completely forgotten about it in the moment, but the ‘Don’t starve’ quest was complete… Or rather, upon checking it, I found out that the main objective had been marked as [ACHIEVED] and I could now complete the quest at any time… or I could postpone it and try to complete the side objective as well.

“Hmm… What do you think, Ebi? Should I complete it right now and then get Craftsman?”

KaiEbikoOfficial: hmmm

KaiEbikoOfficial: what do the side objectives do?

I shrugged.

“I have no idea. I’ve never completed a quest besides the first one. I’m guessing it’s gonna give me more skill points if I do the side objectives too?”

KaiEbikoOfficial: hmmm

KaiEbikoOfficial: so on one hand it would be a waste to complete it now

I nodded. “On the other hand, it would be really nice to get a powerup right before a boss…”

Obviously, I was still assuming a lot of things. That Craftsman would even be useful, that it really was a boss room, that completing side objectives would do anything at all…

KaiEbikoOfficial: I think you should complete it and get the skill now

“You think so…?”

KaiEbikoOfficial: yeah do it!

KaiEbikoOfficial: trust the shrimp fairy!

“Alright…”

I sent out a mental confirmation and was greeted with a window.

‘Don’t starve’ Side quest complete!

Main objective:

   Find something to eat. [ACHIEVED]

Side objectives:

   Find a source of food that will last you at least a week. [FAILED]

Hidden objectives:

   Source all food for this quest from a dungeon [ACHIEVED]

Rewards:

   1SP

   Tiny Ether expansion ticket

“Huh? Wait, hold on…” I blinked in surprise even as a meal ticket shimmered into existence in front of me and I instinctively caught it. I stared at the thing in bafflement. It was literally an orange meal ticket with green text saying ‘1%!’ on it.

“...There was a hidden objective? What is this thing…?”

Without even using Appraisal, a window appeared in front of me.

Tiny Ether expansion ticket

A system consumable that increases your total Ether reserves and regeneration by 1% when consumed.

“That’s… cool. It’s not much, but hey.”

KaiEbikoOfficial: permanent buff!

KaiEbikoOfficial: awesome!

“Alright!” I stopped for a moment. “Hang on. It’s a consumable? Do I… eat it? How do I–”

Consume 1x Tiny Ether expansion ticket?

Y/N

“Oh, there we go! Thank god I don’t have to eat it!”

I mentally accepted and felt… something? It was very subtle, but it was a similar feeling to eating the life ooze.

“Okay… Okay! Great! Awesome! Thanks, Ebi! Completing the quest right away was the right call I think!” I grinned. “Now! Skill points!”

Once again, I had two available.

I could either upgrade Appraisal with Assess for one point, so I could use it on dungeon monsters, I could get Soulbound item, or I could get Craftsman.

Assess was a bit tempting. If it could tell me a monster’s weakness, it would make fighting a lot easier. But I somewhat doubted it would give me that much useful information.

Soulbound item, again, didn’t really do anything immediately useful until I got its upgrades.

Craftsman seemed like the most useful one of the bunch…

There was also the option of not getting anything and waiting till I had more points to spend, but I rejected that idea as well. I needed something now. Even if it wasn’t a boss room, I doubted the zombies were the strongest monster this dungeon had to offer. I wanted to be prepared.

So with that said…

Purchase the skill [Craftsman] for 2 skill points?

Y/N

KaiEbikoOfficial: new skill!

I confirmed and immediately tried to equip it just like I’d done with the other skills but the system stopped me.

Skill slots full. Please, replace one of your skills.

“Right… Well, goodbye heat vision, then! You were a lot less useful than I thought you would be!”

Replace [Heat vision] with [Craftsman]?

Note: [Heat vision] will not be re-equipable for 24 hours.

Y/N

“Ah, so that’s the drawback of swapping out skills.” I hummed. “Well, it’s not the worst. It’s not like it was that useful anyway. I don’t think I’ll be needing it anytime soon. Confirm!”

Just like that, Heat vision disappeared from my status window and Craftsman took its place. I didn’t feel any different, but when I tried to access the mental switch to turn on heat vision, it just… wasn’t there. Like losing a finger. It felt weird. Just as I finally got used to it, it was gone now.

Well, it wasn’t that big of a deal, because I found a different mental switch. One that I didn’t have before.

I looked at my hands, gently prodded the switch, and watched as little wisps of orange smoke ran beneath my skin. It tickled a little.

I smiled before I stopped, looked closer, and my eyes went wide.

“Waaait! It’s the orange smoke! The same thing that's in the trees! That’s Ether?!” I shouted in surprise.

KaiEbikoOfficial: wait trees?

“Yeah! When I pluck some leaves off bushes and stuff, they release this stuff! Ok, now it makes sense! The plants here run on Ether too!”

Which was still very strange. Especially considering that life ooze, which was supposed to be Ether too, looked completely different. Why would mixing it with water make it green and gooey?

KaiEbikoOfficial: so what IS Ether?

KaiEbikoOfficial: is it like your lifeforce?

“I dunno… Maybe?” I tapped a finger to my lips. “When I ran out, I just collapsed. And when I recharged it with the ooze, I felt all full of energy… Yeah, I guess it’s probably something like lifeforce.”

KaiEbikoOfficial: neat

KaiEbikoOfficial: so that ticket just increased your lifeforce

“Yeah, I guess so!” I nodded.

“Anyway!” I clapped my hands in excitement. “This is all great, but there’s a reason why I got the Craftsman skill!”

I pulled my sword out of its sheath again and gave it a huge grin.

“It’s time to figure out how to shoot lightning!”