Chapter 20: Chilled Watermelon and a Caterpillar
“Heave-ho…”
With the Explorer exam tomorrow, I’d brought a giant watermelon into my Private Dungeon for a bit of a morale boost.
Even though it was still March outside, I’d looked it up online and found out that watermelons from Kumamoto Prefecture were already being shipped.
I ordered one right away, and it arrived yesterday evening.
“It’s so much easier to carry inside the dungeon…”
The watermelon, which must have weighed 7 or 8 kilograms, was a real pain to carry from my house to the dungeon gate.
Being spherical, it was hard to hold, and since it was so big, my balance was unsteady.
But the moment I stepped into the dungeon, it felt as light as a balloon.
“So this is what Otama-chan was talking about in the workshop…”
It’s still just a hypothesis, but they say that at the dungeon gate, the human body is converted into a “Demi-Magimatter Body.”
Magimatter is the energy that fills dungeons, and it’s what allows for the use of magic and skills, as well as significantly improving physical abilities.
Conversely, since there’s no magimatter outside the dungeon, you can’t use magic or exhibit superhuman strength.
However, there are exceptions to this.
It’s known that if you use crystallized magimatter—in other words, magic stones—you can utilize their energy even if you take them outside the dungeon.
Therefore, countries around the world are currently hard at work developing new industries that utilize magic stones.
“…And, we’re here.”
While I was thinking about all that, I arrived at the river, my destination.
I took a net out of my pouch and put the watermelon inside it.
Then, I submerged it in the river water.
“…Alright.”
After a while, the watermelon should be nice and cold.
Now then, guess I’ll get my body moving in preparation for tomorrow’s exam.
They say that in the Explorer exam, they’ll see if you can handle a goblin’s attacks with skill usage restricted.
Of course, it would be best if I could defeat a goblin without any skills.
Even though my level has gone up, I wonder how far I can get with just my own body.
“Well, guess I’ve just got to do it…”
I took out the Explorer’s dagger I’d just bought at Eeyon from the belt on my waist.
I was hoping I might luckily acquire skills like 【Swordsmanship】 or 【Spearmanship】 in this Private Dungeon, but things didn’t go that smoothly.
So, for the exam, I decided to make a dagger, which can utilize my speed, my main weapon for now.
Imagining a goblin’s attacks, I dodged and slashed, dodged and slashed… repeating a training routine that resembled shadowboxing.
☆★☆
After a while, when I returned to where the watermelon was.
“Kyuii!”
“Whoa!”
There was an unidentifiable insect on a stone by the riverbank.
“That surprised me… It makes noise…? And what the heck is this thing?”
It was a caterpillar with a fairytale-like appearance.
Its head was shaped like a pastel red dango, with green, horsetail-like antennae.
Its body was also dango-shaped, with a gradient from pastel orange to pastel blue.
It was about 10 centimeters long.
“Can I… catch it?”
I casually picked it up, but it didn’t turn into a magic stone.
“Kyuu…”
I watched it for a while, but there was no capture reaction.
I don’t really get it, but maybe it’s an insect that can’t be caught.
There aren’t any insects like this in the outside world either.
Well, maybe it’s just like a decoration or something.
Guess I’ll just let it go.
“Kyui, kyui!”
“…Hm?”
Looking closely, it was stretching its body towards the watermelon.
Maybe.
“You want to eat some too?”
“Kyui!”
It twitched its antennae.
That probably means yes.
Wait, does it understand words?
“Kyuii…?”
“Hmm… Oh well, whatever.”
I brought a whole watermelon because I wanted the experience of chilling it in the river, but it’s way more than I can eat in one go anyway.
I can share a little.
This dungeon has shared a lot with me, after all.
“Just wait a sec.”
I pulled the watermelon out of the water and placed it on the plastic sheet I’d laid out on the riverbank.
“And then…”
I drew the dagger from my waist.
“This is your first job. Make sure you cut it properly.”
If it can cut goblins, it should be able to cut a watermelon.
With that in mind, I hadn’t brought a kitchen knife.
“Guess I should disinfect it, just in case.”
I took a disinfectant wipe from my pouch and carefully wiped the blade.
And just as I was about to cut the watermelon in half.
“Kyuuii!!”
—The caterpillar from before was poking its head out of a hole in the watermelon.
“Geh…!”
Looking closely, there were holes all over it.
It seems to have already eaten quite a bit of it.
“Kyui, kyui!!”
The caterpillar happily shook its head, then dived back into the watermelon, and in no time at all, poked its head out from the other side.
“Kyuuii!”
“You gotta be kidding me…”
The watermelon I bought for 8,000 yen…
To think this would happen the moment I looked away…
I’m just in shock.
“Kyuuii…?”
As I sat on a stone, hanging my head, the caterpillar stopped eating the watermelon and approached me.
…Maybe it really can understand people’s feelings.
It ignored the watermelon it had been so engrossed in and stretched its body towards me.
“Kyuuii…?”
“Are you trying to comfort me…? Well, it’s fine now. Don’t worry about it, eat as much as you want.”
I can’t eat it anymore anyway.
“Kyuuii!”
At that, the caterpillar suddenly perked up and started eating the watermelon, making munching sounds.
—And just like that, the entire watermelon was gone.
“Seriously…?!”
What is this thing? It ate the whole watermelon.
And its body hasn’t gotten any bigger; it’s the same size as when I first found it.
Where did that watermelon disappear to?
“Kyuuii!”
The caterpillar approached me, its head bobbing.
“Kyui! Kyui!”
“What, is this thanks? Well, don’t worry about it… No, that’s not it. Don’t tell me… you still want to eat?”
“Kyui!!”
What an unbelievable insect.
“Too bad for you. I don’t have anything else. How about eating some leaves around here?”
“Kyuuii?”
The caterpillar touched my hand with its antennae.
“Look, just give it up. Ahh, maybe I should go home and get something to eat…”
“Kyui!!”
The caterpillar jumped with a ‘pyon’ and landed on my arm.
“You can make some amazing moves… But you can’t go outside. If a magimatter being like you goes outside the dungeon, apparently everything but your magic stone will dissolve and disappear.”
Just like a ghost passing on.
“Kyuui…”
Then, the caterpillar moved to the tip of my hand.
The squirming sensation was ticklish.
“Come on, give up and go home. You got to eat the watermelon, so that’s good enough, right?”
Saying that, I tried to move the caterpillar to a nearby branch.
Then.
“Kyuuii!”
Munch, munch, munch, munch…
—The caterpillar bit into the air, opening a hole in the space at my eye level.
“Huh…?!”
“Kyuuii!”
Beyond the hole the caterpillar had eaten, I could see my living room at home—and the box of 12 Misty Donuts I’d bought earlier.
“Is this… a dungeon gate…?!”
“Kyuuii!”
The caterpillar jumped onto my shoulder, its antennae twitching.
“Is this for real…?!”
When I tentatively reached my hand in, I was able to pull out the box of Misty Donuts without any problem.
“Kyuuii!!”
Hopping up and down my body, the caterpillar went down to the ground.
“Eh, eh…?”
The opened gate quickly shrank and vanished without a trace.
“Kyui! Kyui!!”
“Ah, ahh…”
My mind still reeling, I placed the box of Misty Donuts on the ground, and the caterpillar devoured it, box and all, without leaving a trace.
“Kyuuii!”
Then, it hopped its way up to my hand.
“Kyui!”
Bwon!
It turned into a green magic stone.
“Eh…?!”
My mind can’t keep up at all.
Bwon! The Monster Creature Encyclopedia appeared, open to the relevant page.
Encyclopedia No. 144/251
Name: Hungry Caterpillar
Rarity: ★★★★★
Capture Skill: Wormhole
Capture EXP: 4000
Drop Item: Magic Stone (Extra Large)
Description: A caterpillar that is always hungry. It can even eat space itself in search of food. May appear when a 【Childlike Heart】 skill holder brings 5kg or more of food into the dungeon (extremely low probability from the second time onwards). Capture Condition: Feed it until it is full.
Then, I checked the skill description as well.
【Wormhole】: Allows the user to open a hole in space via the caterpillar. Can connect to an alternate dimension for item storage, and also enables travel between two points. Can be reused by feeding the caterpillar a certain amount of food. Due to the caterpillar’s survival conditions, it can only be activated within a dungeon (however, it is possible to connect a gate to a destination outside the dungeon).
“This is…”
Even an almost complete amateur like me can tell.
I might have just learned an absolutely incredible skill.