'I need more supplies. I need more time. I need more tools. I need….'  

I list out the things that I need to get by and lift some pressure off me.  

"Fuck, there is little choice but to lengthen my time in the dungeon. The first floor drops are small and it takes time to walk around the forest. Ugh, I can't handle too many people coming in."

After the sports girls left, I double checked my supplies and baked some goods for tomorrow. After closing up, I went to the dungeon to farm slimes, and axed a dozen chicken-raptors for fresh eggs. Having some energy left and a couple hours of daylight, I go down to scout the second floor.

"I really should look into the spices locations, too bad I can't pinpoint them by the smell. A dog companion would be beneficial here. Haa… walking all around it is."

I had to slow down, to take care the tomato monsters separately, and avoid them creating a fusion. I didn't appreciate the whipping last time.

For now, I am extremely careful, filling in the map as completely as I can, to avoid any uncertain danger. I believe it paid off, as I hear rumbling very close.

`~Rumble~``Crash``~Splat~`

Without minding anything else, I turn around and run, run for a 100 m in a dead sprint, turn my head around and see nothing sprinting behind me. Slowly, I stop and check WTF caused the noise.

"The fuck! Something is rising from the earth… Is that a golem? An earth golem? SHIT!? IT'S BIG!!"  

'Run forest! RUN!!'

I sprint for a probably over 300 m, before running short of breath, and hearing nothing behind me, I slow down to take a closer look.

The monster is higher and thicker than me. Eyeballing it, I think it's a bit over 2 m and as thick as 3 of me combined, likely as heavy as a small car. 'I don't want to measure my strength again it for sure. Haaa…haa… stupid shield, weighting me down. Haa, I'm a shitty sprinter. Only upside is that it's slow.'

"Is it just walking towards me? Can't it run at all? I should say lumbering towards me, to be more accurate."  

I can feel my heartbeats slow down to normal panic mode, instead of 'I'm gonna be crushed to death the next second!'.

Now I can make out the details of the new monster. It is an amalgamation of 11 gigantic potato monsters, with sharp looking roots instead of arms and legs.

'Fuck, it will be instant kill if it steps on me. Should I run now?'

The answer is yes, running to live another day is a viable answer, if you have zero skills for taking down potato fusion monsters.  

This time I set a leisurely pace, instead of running for my life. I don't wait to check if it follows me to the first floor and just go straight through the portal.

"Hell! A fucking potato giant! The fuck will I do if it hits me?! It must have an impact of a car! I'm a fucking fragile human! Fuck!"

'It's the first large monsters I've seen. So far, I could brutally beat down on my opponents and hide behind my shield. This time, I'm likely to break a bone if I take a hit or get knocked on my ass and turned into ketchup!'

"Fuuu… Ok, ok, calm down. It's a tanky, slow, and hopefully clumsy potato. Hit and run? I doubt it's as fragile as the tomato fusion, I'll have to commit to a heavy strike to do damage. Or have a shotgun! THAT would be fucking easy!"

Fuuu… I cool down, and head to the hot springs, slowly relaxing. The bad side to this news is that, there may be dozens of those potatoes, dug in all around the second floor. Even with a clear line of sight, I can't tell if I'll encounter any in another 100 m or not.  

"Fucking ninja potatoes, hiding in plain sight. Hee, he, he… You better drop some crisps or I'll exterminate you all."  

I can finally get my hands on some crisps! I only need to figure out how to kill that bag of potatoes.  

"I don't really have any heavy weapons, or good ranged ones either. Hmm… this is not good. Fortunately it's very slow."

Today I clean the hot springs room, in addition to the other chores, and go to sleep imagining the destruction of that potato monster.  

---

Unleash the Magic (GhostXb Remix)  

"How about you give me some in the first place? Haa… Ok, plans for today? Get more loot from the easy kills! Maybe I'll try another tomato fusion, and see if it drops anything different from the small tomatoes."

Not having enough hours in a day, I run around the first floor and give the fusion a go.

"Now, my little squashy friends, give me the big guy to play with!"  

I chop the tomatoes and stand close, ready to strike.  

"Hyaar! Huugh!" I do an overhead axe chop as soon as it started forming and push with my shield against the weakened monster. Pulling the axe free, leaves a gash open and another 3 swings finished the job.

"Damn, this was much faster and safer. Better timing will probably let me do the job in 2 hits. Or one, if I use a sledgehammer. Yeah, dragging that thing would be a pain, the axe will do, unless I need it for the potato fusion too."

I take a look at the place I encountered the buried potato fusion. 'Hmmm…I guess the ground is a bit higher there, like a bit of a rising molehill? Not yet, potato, not yet. I have a restaurant to look after. Haaa… I need a holiday.'

Today, being a schoolday, I get to relax until late afternoon, receiving the usual groups of people, who mostly empty out my reserves of sweets. I get asked to make something new if possible, to which I tentatively blabber about using up certain ingredients before they go bad. I try playing it along the lines of not having to waste ingredients, but it will not be enough for the long run.

'Can I ask them for ingredients? No, that's a one way stop to being exposed. Fuck! Haa… I'm literally risking my life for food, like some caveman!'  

After sending all the guests away, I consider how to take on the new challenge.  

'My toughness is not that great, so mobility will be key, plus it will leave the 'run like hell' option open during the whole fight. Using my trusty shovel is an option, but I can't deal substantial damage to anything too solid. Homemade spears would likely break, fast.'  

"So… hit and run tactic. Not much environment I could use to my advantage… Some trees would have been a lovely cover."

My fascination with the dungeon pushes me to go and try defeating the new foe. Or is it my craving for junk food? A bit of both I guess. Perhaps it is my success so far.

"As long as I can run away it should be fine." I try to persuade myself to remain calm and confident. But it remains a fact, that the monster is bigger, tougher, and stronger than me, and that makes me nervous. Even a bit afraid that a slip-up may result in my demise.

I walk out of the clearing and head straight for the place I last encounter the potato fusion. I already know where I want to fight, just 150 m away, a nice, clean, evenly level clearing. Don't want to fucking trip and die because of that.

Before I get within 10 m of the hill, I can sense the slightest of trembling. "IT'S coming."

I walk back, keeping an eye on the hill. This time I see how the monster is rising from the ground. The potato parts are all connected by the roots. 'A weak point? Not the best possible place to reach with an axe.'

"Maybe my shovel could have worked after all. Haa…come now, bag of chips, follow me!"  

I slowly run towards my makeshift arena, keeping 10 m between us.

"Now the hard part. Fuuuu, come on!" I drop my shield for added mobility. I don't plan on blocking any hits.

I move forward within striking reach. The monster rises its arm, striking at me. I step away sooner than the arm starts falling, I feel the impact on the ground and know it's bad.  

'Yeah, fucking no blocking, unless I want broken bones.'  

I act like a rabbit, hopping away at first sight of danger. 'Ugh, there are a lot of holes left after its attacks, better not get stuck in one.'

After working out every day, I have gained more stamina, but this is stressful and I get tired faster.  

`~Slaaam, Smash, Slammmm~`  

Dancing for a few minutes left me familiar with its attack speed. 'Now, to chop it down.'

After it slams down, I swing my axe, digging into the extended arm, scoring a good hit, I hope. It's difficult to go for the connections, it would leave me exposed and within striking reach. I repeat my poorly efficient tactic of hit and get the fuck out of the way.

I start sweating like a pig in an oven. The mental difficulty of keeping an eye open for threats unknown is high.

The 10th or 15th hit finally makes a difference. The roots go limp, and the forearm part detaches, falling to the ground.

"Fuuuck, this shit is hard. Hoooo, hooo, come on!" The monster switched to attacking me with the others arm, as the short one formed the roots into a spear again.

'That is not making things any easier.'  

I sweat and continue to dance around, striking again and again, until the second arm falls off.  

'Haaa, haa, fuuu, shit. Fucking slug fest.'  

The move pattern changes, it is now striking me higher, towards my head, with short thrusts.  

'Well now, little shit! Arms too short?! Ha!'  

I wait for the attack, step sideways and get behind it. Striking the leg and torso connection. I see one cut root, just 4 more remain.

Keeping my feet moving I bait an attack, move behind and cut into the connecting roots.  

"Fuuu, huuu, hooosh, two left."  

I can see the strain put on the inadequate connection. 'It will snap!' I go for the hit, shredding one root, and the second fails to support the weight, snapping as the monster turns, and now falling to the ground.

"Haaa, fuck, haaa, fucking workout, haa.."  

I finally wipe my face, a bucket of sweat soaking into my sleeves.

"Fucking tank, hooo, damn, too much." I catch my breath, keeping watch over the struggling potato fusion.  

"Better finish this before some weird shit happens again and it rearranges, or reconnects."  

To be safe, I keep my distance and take out the head first. 'Is its head a real head, or not?'

It moves after I axe the head, so I continue, striking the arms, torso, legs. 'It appears that the base of the roots is the most vital point, similar to the tomato fusion. A shared weakness between fusion monsters? Maybe.'  

Just 4-6 light strikes finish each connecting potato part. 

"The fucking potato body is too tough. I think I had to chop hard into it over 10 times and some dozen light hits, before it was detached. If I can maneuver around the long reaching swings, and with a longer weapon, I could go for the legs first. Some 5 good hits on the weaker connection and it loses balance, and is open for one-sided poking."

'Fuuu, yeah, not getting hit by the swings is a must. It leaves fucking trenches after hitting the ground a few times!'

"I think I've battled this bag of chips for 15 minutes. I'm feel like a workhorse. Gods, I hope there aren't that many of them around here."

'If it was faster by 50%, I would have been a goner. Well, I would have run away, but it shows how little I can do without proper tools, like a shotgun.'

I gathered the 11 drops and went home, exhausted.

After a soak in hot water, I check the loot. "Ok, 6 bags of potatoes and 2 of sweet potatoes, 500 g each, no surprise there. 2 bag of potato starch, 150 g. Finally, he, he, he this, burning liquid, Vodka. A tiny 100 ml of my first alcohol. Why in hell's name is it sooo little?!? I could have been crushed or stabbed or idk what other shit way! DIE!!! And I get a drop in a bucket!?"

'What if the fallen off pieces attacked me? I could have been distracted, and taken a hit from the main body. I AM LUCKY it went so smoothly.'

"No dungeoneering tomorrow. I need rest, i need time to let my nerves settle down. I need some company that doesn't want me dead, or gone from here, resulting in my soul ripping asunder! Haa…haaa…I need to distract myself from this looming doom. Just fucking play a stupid computer game with no consequences."

This is my second closest coming to death. The first being actually passing in my old world. This is different, this is war, mistakes leading to loss of life. MY life! Alone, eaten by plant/vegetable monsters, in a magical hole!

"Ugh, fuck! Deep fried, stress eating is on the menu tonight! Missing only a shitty movie to watch, for a full package deal."  

I turn on some music, and debate between making crisps or chips. I want both, but chips are more filling and I got a ketchup drop yesterday.  

The dungeon potatoes are strange, my [Artisan Lv 5] is telling me that I can use them as is for both, with little to no problem. Just to be safe I boil the slices for a bit to remove moisture, while heating up the oil. Just to be extra crispy, I double fry them in hotter oil, season and stick them into the oven.

Very soon I feel hungry, smelling the delectable treat. I am a big ketchup fan, so I ready a nice serving for myself, wishing again for some cola.

Music blasting, chips in hand, I head for the rooftop to relax. It's already evening and the stars are beginning to become visible. I lean on a chair, dip a chip into ketchup and just keep looking at the stars.

"Haa... I don't want to think about anything right now. It's just me, the stars and the music. No monsters, human or otherwise, no new universe, only here and now."

I don't know if I'm getting depressed, or if the gravity of my situation is finally sinking in, but I stare upward and quietly pass the time.

'Thanks for the clime controlled rooftop.' I say my thanks where it's due, and make myself comfortable to spend an hour here.