**Day 5: Cave**
One day, in the middle of the forest, I met a goblin. In a forest full of mushrooms, I met a goblin.
Pummel to death.
No, seriously. I walked through the forest searching for food.
Mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, goblin, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, goblin, goblin, mushroom, mushroom, goblin, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, goblin, mushroom, mushroom, goblin, goblin, goblin, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, goblin, goblin, mushroom, goblin, mushroom, goblin, mushroom, mushroom, goblin, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, goblin, goblin, goblin, goblin, goblin.
Eeei! I kept appraising everything, but the only edible things were mushrooms. The rest were medicinal herbs, and then goblin, goblin, goblin. No, goblins are not edible.
The occasional rabbit was a feast, but without projectile weapons or magic. I erased my presence, activated Stealth, crept close, and pounced.
Presence Blocking and Stealth were godsends. They were way more useful than the skills from the white room. If all the skills the god gave me during the isekai transfer were less useful than Presence Blocking or Stealth, maybe I did not need to go to the white room at all. What was the point of the god appearing? Next time I see him I am making him sit in seiza for an hour and interrogating him.
"Mushroom, mushroom, ah, goblin." Bonk.
Somehow I had gotten used to goblins. What if I started feeling affection for them? Pummel to death.
Those guys were slow. With Presence Blocking and Stealth they almost never noticed me.
And if I launched a surprise attack they could not react instantly.
Then they would always raise their clubs overhead.
Basically it was surprise attack, then pummel to death with the momentum. Repeat.
If I stopped my feet or got into a slugfest it was dangerous. Their strength and defense were high, but they had no speed and even less intelligence.
It was a repeat of charge battles and mushroom gathering, with occasional medicinal herbs and rare rabbits. The fake delinquents were a hard pass.
The number of goblins around the cave was small, but their levels were around 10 to 15. Even at Lv 15 I had to go all out or I could not kill them in one hit.
Deeper in the forest there were more of them, but around Lv 10. Small fry. Just a side activity while gathering mushrooms. Even though I did not eat them.
Sometimes I heard birds calling overhead. Come on, yakitori.
I had no long-range attacks, so I looked up with longing eyes and found that the tree nuts were edible.
These contacts were a jackpot. My vision had not just improved. I could see in the dark, far away, and even tiny things. Good eyesight really was important.
If these had been sold in the original world I would have debuted with contacts too. I wonder if my glare would not be fixed though.
I immediately climbed the tree, grabbed the nuts, and put one in my mouth. Sweet. Slightly sour, but it was the first sweetness in a long time.
I probably had not particularly liked sweet things before, but because I could not eat them in this world they tasted strangely delicious and nostalgic.
I would gather as many as I could. Each one was small so it would not amount to much. They would not fill my stomach.
After that it was mushroom, goblin, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, goblin, goblin, mushroom, mushroom, goblin… Enough already! There are kids crying, and that kid is me.
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My level did not go up. I had goblin'd quite a bit though.
The item bag contained a massive number of clubs. Could I sell these in a town? I did not want to go to any town that needed this many clubs.
I was done. My concentration was gone. In this state I would eventually slip up. If I took one club hit to the head I would die.
I had somehow gotten to the point where I could use Movement, but when my concentration ran out it was dangerous. I would charge in, trip, and get clubbed. I would die.
"Time to head back."
I circled around in the opposite direction from the way I came. Mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, mushroom, goblin, mushroom. Enough. I would master mushroom cuisine! Even though I only had salt.
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When I got home my tension eased. Was it the Shut-in effect? Would I gradually stop going outside? It depended on the delivery boy. No books would be too boring.
In most light novels it was good to drain all your mana. It was standard. It also doubled as magic practice.
I concentrated my mana and raised the temperature of the mushrooms.
"Dried mushrooms have increased too. Next I will try bedrock baking with Earth Magic."
I continued improving the shelter and used up all my mana before going to sleep.
Maybe because I slept from mana depletion, I had been falling asleep easily since coming to this world.
Lying in bed, I suddenly thought about the meaning of being summoned to this world.
I had been summoned to a forest that only produced mushrooms and goblins.
Had I been called from another world to protect this world from mushrooms and goblins?
Maybe my isekai life would end with nothing but mushrooms and goblins?
Ah, mushrooms and goblins were going to appear in my dreams too. Time to sleep.
NAME Haruka Human
AGE 16
Lv 03
Job --
HP 35
MP 32
ViT 37
PoW 35
SpE 38
DeX 38
MiN 36
InT 40
LuK Max (Limit Break)
SP 16
Martial Arts Staff Technique Lv2, Evasion Lv2, Perception Lv2, Mana Cloak Lv2
Magic Temperature Lv2, Movement Lv2, Weight Lv1, Packing Lv2, Fire Magic Lv2, Earth Magic Lv1
Skills Health Lv2, Sensitivity Lv2, Gymnastics Lv2, Walking Lv2, Servitude Lv1, Appraisal Lv3, Clairvoyance Lv1, Presence Detection Lv2, Enemy Search Lv2, Mana Manipulation Lv2 (Up), Presence Blocking Lv1, Stealth Lv1
Titles Shut-in Lv2, NEET Lv1, Loner Lv2
Unknown Report-Communicate-Consult Lv1, Jack of All Trades Lv1, Wooden Puppet Lv1
Equipment Wooden Stick?, Cloth Clothes?, Leather Gloves?, Leather Boots?, Cape?, Contacts?, Ring of Struggling Soul, Item Bag, Bracelet PoW +1%
A forest should be a treasure trove of ingredients. Why was the treasure trove limited to mushrooms? Was the vegetation weird? Was it that kind of forest?
Where would I find other food? What kind of food was even in a forest anyway?
There had been nuts on the trees. On the ground? Underground? There might be potatoes or something, but I would have to dig every time to find them.
Maybe I should move my base, but I had grown attached to it.
Still, staying here meant nothing but mushrooms forever.
It was troubling. I already had enough mushrooms to last a while even if I did not go gathering.
Even if I went gathering there were only mushrooms.
Full speed ahead toward becoming a shut-in. NEET transformation was probably close too. I had always been a loner.
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