I jolted awake, my heart racing as I realized I'd fallen asleep on watch. Plop's cool, gelatinous body was pressed against my face, his googly eyes inches from mine.

"Stanley wake now!" Plop chirped, far too cheerful for the early hour. "Sun up, time go!"

I groaned, pushing myself up from the forest floor. My muscles ached, a painful reminder of last night's battle. The Moonblade lay beside me, its silvery surface dulled in the morning light.

"I can't believe you fell asleep on watch!" Effie's shrill voice cut through the morning fog. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? After what happened last night, we could have-"

"Hey, ease up," I grumbled, rubbing my eyes. "In case you forgot, I'm the one who saved our asses from that Nightwolf. And correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't everyone else sleep through their shifts? I don't remember anyone coming to relieve me last night."

Effie opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again. Her wings drooped slightly.

"He's got a point," Gilly chimed in, stretching his amphibious limbs. "I don't remember anyone waking me up for my turn."

"Plop sleep good!" he added, unhelpfully.

"Well... I... that's not the point! We all should have been more responsible," Effie said.

I sighed, pushing myself to my feet. "Look, you're right. We all screwed up. But we're alive, and nothing ate us in our sleep. Let's just chalk it up as a lesson learned and move on, okay?"

The fairy huffed. "Fine. But we need to be more careful from now on. We won't always be this lucky."

"Agreed," I said, reaching for my pack. The Shadow Core sat atop it, its dark surface seeming to absorb the morning light. I carefully tucked it away, along with the Moonblade. "So, what's the plan for today?"

Effie's demeanor shifted instantly, her wings perking up. "Right! We need to continue our journey towards the Moonbloom Crown. According to the map, there should be a river about half a day's travel from here. We'll need to find a way to cross it."

"River?" Gilly perked up. "Now that's more my speed!"

"Stanley okay?" Plop oozed up beside me. "Stanley fight good last night. Plop proud!"

I couldn't help but smile at the slime creature's earnest praise. "Thanks, buddy. I couldn't have done it without you guys, though."

"Plop always help!" he declared, puffing up his gelatinous chest.

My stomach let out an embarrassingly loud growl. "Anyone else starving?"

Gilly's eyes lit up. "Hungry, you say? Well, you're in luck! I happen to be an excellent cook, if I do say so myself."

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, absolutely!" Gilly puffed out his chest. "I'll whip us up a breakfast fit for kings! Picture this: fluffy golden omelets stuffed with wild mushrooms and herbs, crispy bacon from the finest cave-dwelling boars, pancakes as light as clouds drizzled with fresh berry syrup..."

My mouth started to water despite myself. "That actually sounds amazing."

Gilly beamed. "Doesn't it? Of course, we'd need eggs for the omelets, and I don't see any chickens around here. And the bacon... well, I suppose we'd have to catch a boar first. As for the pancakes, I'm fresh out of flour. And berries... hmm, wrong season, I'm afraid."

I stared at him. "So what can you actually make?"

"Well, uh... how do you feel about slightly damp leaves?"

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "It doesn't matter. I just need something in my stomach."

"Oh!" Plop bounced excitedly. "Plop find food!" He oozed off into the underbrush before I could stop him.

"Wait, Plop-" I called after him, but he was already gone.

Effie fluttered closer. "Stanley, when was the last time you ate?"

I frowned, trying to remember. "I... don't know. Before the Nightwolf attack, I guess?"

"Open your status menu," she instructed.

I complied, focusing on the now-familiar mental command. The translucent blue screen materialized before my eyes.

[Stanley's Status]

[Level: 4]

[HP: 80/130]

[MP: 30/55]

[Hunger: Critical]

"Critical?" I muttered. "What does that mean?"

"It means you're dangerously low on energy. If you don't eat soon, your health will start to drop."

"What?" I exclaimed. "Why didn't anyone tell me this was a thing?"

"I assumed you knew!" Effie shot back. "It's basic survival knowledge for any adventurer. Didn't you stock up on food items before we left?"

"No, I didn't! Because no one told me I needed to! Aren't you supposed to be my guide? How am I supposed to know these things if you don't tell me?"

"I didn't think I had to explain to you that you need to eat to live!"

I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "It's fine. We're all learning here, I guess. But from now on, can we maybe try to share important information like 'you might starve to death' before it becomes an issue?"

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Gilly cleared his throat. "If I may interject, I might have a solution. While I may have exaggerated my culinary skills a tad, I do know which plants around here are edible. It won't be a feast, but it should keep you going until we can find something more substantial."

"That would be great, Gilly," I said, feeling a wave of relief. "Thanks."

As Gilly began foraging nearby, Plop came bouncing back into the clearing. His gelatinous body was bulging oddly.

"Plop find food!" he announced proudly.

"That's great, Plop," I said cautiously. "What kind of food?"

Plop's body convulsed, and suddenly a pile of... something... appeared on the forest floor. It was a mix of berries, leaves, and what looked like small insects.

"Plop make special breakfast!" he declared.

I stared at the pile, my hunger warring with my sense of self-preservation. "Uh, thanks, Plop. That's... really thoughtful of you."

Effie flew closer to inspect Plop's offering. "Well, most of this appears to be edible. The berries are safe, and those leaves are actually quite nutritious. The insects... well, they're a good source of protein."

I eyed the pile of 'food' with a mix of disgust and desperate hunger. My stomach growled again, reminding me of the 'Critical' hunger status I'd just discovered.

"Well, bottoms up, I guess," Gilly said cheerfully, scooping up a handful of the bug-berry-leaf mix. He popped it into his mouth, chewing with gusto. "Mmm, crunchy!"

Plop wiggled with excitement. "Plop make good food! Stanley eat now?"

I swallowed hard, trying to psych myself up. "Yeah, buddy. Stanley eat now."

With a grimace, I reached out and grabbed a small handful of the mix. I tried to focus on the berries, pretending the squirming insects were just... extra crunchy berries. Yeah, that's it.

I closed my eyes and shoved the handful into my mouth.

The taste was... well, indescribable. The sweetness of the berries clashed with the earthy flavor of the leaves and the unmistakable crunch of exoskeletons. I chewed quickly, trying not to think too hard about what I was eating.

"That's it, Stanley!" Effie cheered. "Just think of all the protein and nutrients you're getting!"

I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to gag. "Hey, how come you're not eating this stuff?"

Effie shrugged. "One of the perks of being a fairy guide, I suppose. I don't actually need to eat or drink in this world. Can't be hurt or killed either."

I paused mid-chew, a half-crushed beetle leg sticking out of my mouth. "Wait, what? You're invincible?"

"Well, yes," Effie said matter-of-factly. "I'm part of the game's support system. It wouldn't do for player guides to be vulnerable to damage or death."

"More food?" Plop interrupted, offering another handful of the bug mix.

I sighed, looking at my status screen.

[Hunger: Critical]

"Yeah, more food," I said, resigned to my fate. "Thanks, Plop."

As I forced down another mouthful, Gilly spoke up, his mouth full of bugs. "You know, these really aren't half bad once you get used to them. Reminds me of the time I was trapped in a giant anthill for three weeks and had to survive on nothing but-"

"Gilly," I said, swallowing hard. "Maybe save the story for when we're not actively eating insects?"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

I checked my status again.

[Hunger: Low]

"Great job, Stanley!" Effie exclaimed. "Just a dozen or so more handfuls of Plop's snack mix and you'll be right as rain!"

"A dozen? No. I'm not going to be able to do that."

"You'd rather just starve to death? Are you really that stubborn, Stanley?"

"I'm not being stubborn! I'm just telling you, if I have to eat one more handful of that stuff, it's all coming back up."

"Stanley make friend for Plop?" He asked.

"What? No. You can't be friends with a pile of puke, Plop. No matter how much it resembles you. Look, I'm going to need to find some real food. I'm not going to be able to keep this stuff down long enough to recover my HP otherwise." I sighed. "Let's just get moving. Maybe we'll find something edible along the way that doesn't make me want to hurl."

"That's the spirit, Stanley. We're not likely to find much here anyway. The sooner we get going, the sooner we might stumble upon something more suitable to your refined tastes," Effie said.

"Plop help find more food!" The slime creature oozed forward, leading the way with enthusiasm.

Gilly fell into step beside me, his webbed feet making soft, squelching sounds on the forest floor. "You know, this reminds me of the time I got lost in the Desert of Sorrow. I had to survive on nothing but-"

"Gilly," I cut him off, my stomach still churning. "I'm not in the mood."

"Oh, right. Sorry, mate."

We trudged on through the forest. My stomach growled incessantly, reminding me of my less-than-ideal hunger situation. Just as I was about to suggest we take a break, Plop's excited voice rang out.

"Look! Look! Plop find funny hats!"

I squinted ahead, following Plop's gelatinous pointing... appendage? There, in a small clearing, was a field of mushrooms. They came in all shapes and sizes, from tiny button-like growths to large, umbrella-shaped caps.

"Well, well," Gilly said, his eyes lighting up. "Looks like we've hit the jackpot!"

I approached cautiously, eyeing the fungal feast before us. "Are you sure these are safe to eat? I don't really like the idea of dying from mushroom poisoning."

Effie flew closer to inspect the mushrooms. "Well, some of these are definitely edible. Others... not so much. We'll need to be careful about which ones we choose."

"So it's a fun game of 'will this kill me or not?' Fantastic."

Gilly crouched down, examining a cluster of small, brown mushrooms. "These look like they might be good. I remember eating something similar back in the caves."

"No offense, Gilly," I said, "but your track record with food isn't exactly stellar. Remember the 'slightly damp leaves' from earlier?"

He shrugged, looking a bit sheepish. "Fair point."

Effie hovered over a group of large, white mushrooms with spots. "These are definitely poisonous. See the red spots? Classic sign of danger."

"Noted," I said, making a mental note to avoid anything that looked like it came straight out of a Mario game.

Plop oozed up to a patch of vibrant blue mushrooms. "Pretty! Plop like blue!"

"Wait, Plop!" I called out, but it was too late. The slime had already absorbed one of the blue mushrooms into his gelatinous body.

We all held our breath, watching Plop carefully. After a moment, his body started to glow with a faint blue light.

"Plop feel funny," he said, his voice slightly higher pitched than usual. "But good funny!"

"Well, I guess those aren't immediately lethal," I said, still eyeing Plop warily. "But maybe we should stick to less glowy options for now."

As we continued to examine the mushroom field, I found myself becoming more interested in the different types we were encountering. There were so many varieties, each with its own unique characteristics.

"Hey, Effie," I called out. "Is there some kind of skill for identifying mushrooms or something?"

The fairy nodded, her tiny face lighting up. "Indeed there is! It's called Mycology. The more you learn about different types of mushrooms, the better you'll become at identifying them. It can be incredibly useful for foraging and potion-making."

"Huh," I mused. "That actually sounds pretty handy."

After some debate and careful examination, we finally settled on a group of plain-looking brown mushrooms with thick stems. They weren't the most appetizing things I'd ever seen, but they didn't scream "I will kill you" either.

"Alright," I said, picking up one of the mushrooms. "Here goes nothing."

I took a small bite, chewing slowly. The texture was a bit rubbery, and the taste was earthy but not unpleasant. I swallowed, then waited.

"How do you feel?" Effie asked, hovering anxiously.

"So far, so good," I replied. "No immediate nausea or dizziness. That's a good sign, right?"

Gilly nodded enthusiastically. "Absolutely! If it was going to kill you, you'd probably know by now."

"That's not as reassuring as you think it is, Gilly."

As the minutes ticked by and I remained decidedly not dead, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief. I checked my status screen:

[Hunger: Moderate]

[New Skill Unlocked: Mycology (Level 1)]

"Hey, look at that," I said, feeling a small sense of accomplishment. "Mycology skill unlocked. I guess we made the right choice."

"Excellent work, Stanley!" Effie beamed. "You're starting to think like a true adventurer now."

As we gathered more of the safe mushrooms, I couldn't help but feel a bit proud. It wasn't much, but it was progress. Maybe, just maybe, I was starting to get the hang of this whole fantasy world thing.

That feeling wouldn't last for long.