Pov Mari

It is Saturday late afternoon, I went outside to enjoy some fresh air and a quiet moment, while waiting for Meiko to return.  

The morning was spent getting to know my classmates and notable senior students.  

'If only Kate was more agreeable, she would have made an excellent ally. As it stands, I am afraid she would rather use the situation for her own personal motives then work for the sake of the academy.'

"I doubt Meiko would appreciate us working together either, not like we need more enemies, but it may be unavoidable."

'There are few official activities scheduled before the sports day. It is a necessity, that we spread our names before the event, so that we may take positions in the USC. Best we cover as many influential clubs as we can, there is also a classmate that caught my interest.'

I slowly go through the many key points that we must cover.

"Perhaps I should invite her to tea with me and Meiko, that way we may get to know each other better. So little time, so much to do…"

It was not my plan to lead the USC during our first year, a more peaceful time would have been a welcome respite. 

That was the foundation for my choice in coming here, away from the influences of the outside world. A little slice of heaven on earth.  

`THUD` I slam my hand on the bench in anger!

'WHY must we be thrown into turmoil again? To deny everyone of this safe haven. Men are trash!!'

I end up swallowed in dark thoughts for a short while, until Meiko returns carrying a bag of cupcakes. 'I wonder, why cupcakes?'

From the distance it appears she is in a good mood. 'Right, positive thoughts. No need to get Meiko's mood down intentionally.'

I stand and welcome her with a smile. I am genuinely happy to see her walking with confidence and a smile on her face.

"Mari: Welcome back Meiko, how was your excursion to the restaurant? "

'Oh, she started sweating. I guess she expected to gather all the necessary information on her second try. Haa… Silly girl, even I know these things take time.'

"Meiko: L-l-lady Mari! My deepest apologies, I have not grasped any critical information or gathered any dirt to be used! I am very sorry!!"

"Mari: Do not worry about it, Meiko. You know, I will be glad as long as you return safely, and besides, we have plenty of time before we act. Now tell me, how was his behaviour? You are bringing back some cupcakes?"

'I am happy that you worry, but please do not think I will reprimand you without any cause.'

Meiko's sweat continues to form a puddle and her cheeks turn rose, as she looks down at the bag of cupcakes.

"Meiko: Ah! R-right! Kuhum! I, well, the cupcakes were freshly baked and I thought they may be good enough to share with you."

'A shy Meiko is cute, especially while blushing.'

"Mari: Thank you, I'm sure we could enjoy some together after dinner. How about we add them to our evening meeting? Oh! Actually, I was hoping we could invite another girl from our class, to get to know her better."

"Meiko: Yes! I would love to get closer to our classmates. If someone caught your eye, I am sure they will turn out to be a good ally."

I smile, encouraging her to continue. 'I do hope we all can get along nicely.'

"As for my observation of the chef, I have to regretfully conclude that he may be immune to my charms. I tried to emphasize my form to get a reaction from him, but his eyes rarely wander or linger anywhere inappropriate."

I nod for her, resisting a scowl. 'Yes, I had the same impression the last time. It is both, reassuring to know that he's not a complete trash, and troubling that he will be more difficult to manipulate.'

"I tried to get insight on his daily routine. As much as I gathered, he just spends time on hobbies, including: cooking, jogging, relaxing on the roof, listening to music and doing workout exercises. He named some series and films he enjoyed, most are American, British or Russian. I will need to search online for them, to get any meaningful insight from it."

'It just sounds like someone on vacation, though… If you consider that the restaurant receives at most one customer a day. That does make it basically a paid vacation. Tch, he didn't lie about doing it for the money and free time to improve his craft.'

"Mari: What a troublesome person. Perhaps we will need to add some more work to his schedule."  

I raise an eyebrow at the fidgeting girl before me, prompting her to speak up.

"Meiko: To be completely honest, lady Mari. `Gulp` The food was excellent, I honestly don't know why, but it just left a feeling of great satisfaction. It may be just my fast metabolism speaking, it is hard to put into words, it was like a glass of cold water after an intense workout."

"Mari: When there is some free time, how about we go there together? If everything is as you say, I'm sure there won't be any inconveniences.  

Now then, shall we pay a visit to our new classmate and get to know each other a bit better?"

"Meiko: Please let me prepare the room to welcome our guests! I will make us some green tea for our chat."

'How nice to see her so energetic. I'm sure she will make plenty of new friends easily.'

"Mari: Let me help you with that Meiko, it is no fun if you exclude me from everything."

I pretended to pout, and Meiko panics, causing me to laugh. We move to my room to get everything set for a tea party…

'It is nice to have only a tea party to worry about.'

Pov Valentine

The lunch was served without incident. Meiko has enjoyed it greatly, if my [Artisan Lv 5] has anything to say about it. It is a shame she asked for cupcakes takeout, I wanted to have some later myself.

There is still time before sunset and I believe I need to gather more data on the dungeon.  

"If I can't power through the dungeon, I need to overcome them with intellect… I must know if I can change the interior of the dungeon to my advantage."

I gather my tools: saw, large knife, shovel, hammer, etc. 'Best to stay close to the entrance, in case of things going wrong.'  

I plan to stay in the dungeon until dinner.

"Basic of basics. Can I dig holes here?"  

As it turns out, the answer is both yes and no. I have dug out several holes as test subjects:  

1. 0.5 m and 1 m deep, plain holes in the ground.  
2. 0.5 m and 1 m deep holes with rocks and sticks stabbed inside.

As I feared, the dungeon restored the ground within 30 and 60 minutes respectively. I checked, the rocks and sticks were gone completely, probably consumed by the dungeon.  

'Fuuuuuccck, setting traps is gonna be a pain in the ass. It takes to long to dig and it gets undone fast. On the other hand, I can harvest renewable lumber.'

"IF I HAD some good tools, like a chainsaw, not this kids toy, hand saw. How annoying…"

I try setting imitation spears around, and they too get reabsorbed after an hour, even without touching the ground. There are strict limitations on what I can do. If I leave something alone for an hour it gets absorbed by the dungeon.

"FY dungeon, gimme some skills if you take away my tools!!! You think digging a hole is easy? Ha, maybe for you it is! FY from all the mortal men carrying a shovel!"

'This is a bullshit realty. What the fuck do I even do here? How do I make this easier? `rumble`… Right, dinner, I think better on a full belly.'

I saw off a thin tree and take with me the best pieces. 'I lack automatic tools, but I will try to make something later.'

I warm some leftovers from lunch and relax in the bath. Thinking of my options, I seriously consider using my kitchen equipment as weapons/armour.

'I mean, the equipment can be repaired and replaced by paying mana… I need a lot more for the room unlocks… Affixing a knife to the tip of a stick? A pan as a shield? A heavy weight from the gym tied to a thick stick?'

I relax in my bed. Having my thoughts drift and swirl. Happy to be alive and well. Sad to be stuck, in many, many unusual ways.

"I am too old for this…haa… Just need some isekai skills or a gun with ammo. Why does this have to be sooo fucking normal???"

\---

(“Count to Three” by THE CHALKEATERS)

After breakfast, I try working the wood I collected. I am no woodworker, neither do I have any tools. I use my knifes to shave off the tree bark and thin it down a bit, to hold it more comfortably in my hands.

It feels like a solid piece of wood, I try smacking it against a tree. It holds together, but feels horribly unwieldy. 

"This is shit."

'I must improve my defense, it will be a huge pain in the ass, but maybe going full Viking is an option. I can spend a day falling a sturdy tree and sawing it into pieces for a shield.'

"If I clobber it together with extra many nails, they will act like a weapon. Stick a frying pan in the middle and I can smash those chickens and chop off their heads with an axe. He.he.he add a horned helmet, skip some baths, grow out a beard and I can see the Viking me!"

...

I am fortunate, for I have sharp tools. I toiled away in the dungeon for hours, cursing my lack of a chainsaw every five minutes, as my hands give up on me. Up and down, up and down, my hand moves. I sweat like a pig in an oven. My cuts are not even, not the slightest.

I bring back my half finished logs and take a break for shower and eat a late lunch.  

I fail to make straight, even planks, making up for it in the number of nails.

My first shield resembles a piece of a wooden door, ripped out of somewhere. Heavy, roughly 50 by 60 cm square, spiked with 2 or 3 dozen of nails.  

"I made a fucking wooden block and slapped a cast iron pan into the middle. It is hideous."

I make the handles by nailing more wood and sacrificing my toughest clothes, and adding extra padding to absorb shock.  

All in all, the ugly piece of wood weights about 7 kg, not something to swing around much.

"Haaa… This is enough to cover most of my torso, and I can bring down my axe nicely. Haaa… If I were any good at knife throwing, I could have gone the rogue route. Let's hope all the monsters are as dumb as that chicken, and they all just charge headfirst at me."

'I will dump this thing if I have to flee. Too tired for anything anymore today. Dinner and rest. Chicken slaughter tomorrow.'

I clean up my work, prep gear for tomorrow and cook some fine chicken dinner.

\---

(When The Weak Go Marching In · Tatsuya Kitani)  

"I am starting to feel that there is a deep meaning behind these wake-up alarms. Could be just on random shuffle too."

'It matters not, today I slay the chickens! … One at a time, I'm not suicidal. Ok, light breakfast and off we go hunting!'

I head through the portal, equipped with my new gear and wearing thick clothes. It is hot and heavy, but I need to know I can be the apex predator on this floor.

I head deeper into the forest, sometimes passing by carrot-men and lots of slimes. I follow the sound of my prey, and come upon a chicken-raptor in a clearing.

"So, chicken, it's time for the hunter to become the hunted."  

I smile and growl, provoking it the best I can. Once it turns completely in my direction and starts running, I brace my shield and ready to collide, HARD!

`GONG, thud` We crash into each other and I recover first, as I was prepared for the impact. I level my shield to the monster's face and bring down my axe. It strikes true into the neck, but I lack enough strength to behead it in one swing.

I focus on keeping my shield in between me and the monster, as it thrashes and beats against it. The nails deal some damage to its face, but drag me along when it catches on the talons.

'If I were sturdier and heavier, I'd be a fucking spiked wall. Need to work out more.'

I maneuver the axe to make it rise and fall without exposing any openings. 4 hits later, the head goes limp, barely hanging on by the skin and muscle, as blue blood flows freely.

I check myself for injuries, if I ignore the tiredness in my arms and a bit of soreness in my shoulder, I'm at full health.

"Yeah, a spiked shield is too high level for me, I will need a new one. Tch, if I had the body of a bodybuilder... Haa... Maybe I will make a better one this time."

'One more kill for the road. I kinda should start using the mana battery to gather more mana. I'm damn curious as to why a game room is the most expensive one!'

I continue to hunt 2 more chickens. The first one, I've caved in the skull on my first swing, so I went for another one. The carrot-men were easy to handle too, knock the spear aside with my shield and disarm them. Literally.

I chopped some slimes, to see if there are any new rare drops to be found.

Judging by my growling stomach it must be lunchtime. I carry my spoils and lament that I must repeat my crafting endeavour.

"I need a vacation. Maybe I will just bring some logs from the dungeon tomorrow and leave processing them for the day after. Spending more time in the kitchen is much more relaxing and my arms hurt much less."

'I believe I have done enough for today. I should spend time improving myself and map out more of this floor, while gathering mana.'

With my mind set, I decide to make some cookies today and enjoy some of my slowly depleting reserves of tea.

"I need to go shopping without ripping my soul in half. Oh... and money... they use Yen around here, I think."