Oh, this is the best sleep Noel's ever had in both of his lives!

  He feels amazing! Sleeping in Niwaki feels amazing! As the first time Noel's ever willingly slept, Noel feels as snug as a bug!

  Imagine the feeling of sleeping on one thousand clouds—no! Not just normal clouds, space clouds! One thousand nebulae—carrying your body around the planet. You're just drifting along in the magnificent cosmos, with not a care in the world. Your planet just stole Saturn's ring and you're the very first person who gets to sleep while it carries you in circles.

  Your robot space butler holds a cup of hot chocolate to your lips. It's creamy and sweet and you can see the marshmallows sinking into the chocolate-syrup-laced whipped cream. You take a sip of it and it's just the right temperature. Hot enough to warm your entire being, while cool enough not to scald and burn your tongue. You sip it up, and you feel the sweetness course through your body.

  You don't have to lift a finger or stretch, you can just float there. You can just go round and round, orbit a planet that dreams of reaching you, and... and...

  ... Noel feels himself waking up abruptly, as his face is being smacked by tiny little wiggly noodles.

  These smacks are light and gentle, yet quick and plentiful. It feels like his head is being drummed by someone swinging worms against his face. Noel winces in minor pain as he opens his eyes and squints at whatever it is that's smacking him. "Wuh...?"

  The Guide Jelly has entered the tent and is smacking Noel's face with its squishy little jellyfish appendages. It is actively trying to wake the man up with a few of its jellyfish appendages. "[Noel]! Wake up!"

  Noel groans as his eyes close shut. "Ughhhh... whaaaaaaat...?" he calls out to the Guide Jelly, annoyed. "What is it...?"

  "It's time to wake up, [Noel]!" the Guide Jelly exclaims, continuing to barrage Noel's face with a flurry of wiggly and jiggly smacks. "It's time for [Dinner]! You must eat now, you must eat!"

  Oh, it's begun. The Guide Jelly is trying to get him out of bed to eat. Noel faintly dreads this moment. Also, he is still very tired, and he's a very grouchy person when people force him to wake up.

  So Noel wants to stall, and he uses the oldest trick in the book to do so:

  "Five more minutes..." Noel mumbles, trying to wave the Guide Jelly off and shoo it away. "Give me five more minutes, Guide Jelly..."

  Noel wants it to give him five more minutes to just sleep and rest, five minutes he's just going to use to sleep some more. He needs to brace himself mentally for whatever he's about to eat, whatever the Guide Jelly is about to feed him.

  No matter how hard Noel tries, however, the Guide Jelly is relentless. Noel waves his hand at it to no avail, and the creature continues to pat Noel's face, hovering over it to increase its patting. It's like the Guide Jelly is tap dancing on his face.

  "Wake up!" the Guide Jelly exclaims, its persistence outmatching Noel as it continues to smack and slap. Its eyes express anger and annoyance by having the top of its eyes slanted into angry eyebrows. "Hey! Listen! Hey! Listen! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"

  Eventually, the vigorous noodle patting is so annoying that Noel gives up. "Mmmmh... fiiiiiine..." Noel groans out, forced to come out of the sleeping bag. His body shivers and shakes as he comes out of his burrito cocoon as the very annoyed butterfly he is, putting an end to the Guide Jelly's attack.

  The Guide Jelly cheerfully beams at Noel, before it flies over to the corner of the tent and puts a plate of food on Noel's lap. "Here you go. Now you must eat!"

  "Ugh..." Noel sighs, rubbing his eyes before looking down at the... the...

  ... what the (bleep), this actually looks pretty good.

  Noel is staring at some gourmet dish, some kind of glazed roasted ham. As expected, the Guide Jelly used the ham from the slain boar and stuff. Honestly, this dish looks like something he'd see served on Earth in, like, a modestly 4-star fine-dining restaurant. Compared to everything he thought about the Guide Jelly making, this is... amazing.

  "Woah. Did you make all this yourself...?" Noel asks.

  The Guide Jelly happily beams, stars coming out of its eyes and head. "Yes, I did! I am designed with some experience with the [Cooking] and [Crafting] skills. I hope you like it, [Noel]!"

  Wow. Noel's just... wow. The Guide Jelly apparently found a way to stash some ham and used it for this dish. He... he really appreciates it. Noel takes some time to process this dish. Everything about it looks great.

  In fact, he even admires the small little details about the plate and utensils. It made a makeshift fork and knife out of sticks and rock. It really is making the most out of its surroundings, and...

  ...

  Wait.

  Noel looks closer at the ham, squinting his eyes. Everything about this ham is locally sourced, apparently. The Guide Jelly used some blades of grass for garnish, surrounding the ham with it. Everything on this plate is stuff that he's seen in this beginning area.

  So, as he's staring at the ham, he notices it's dripping... orange.

  "... Guide Jelly, I... I have a question, what did you use to make this?" Noel asks, pointing at the ham in mild concern.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  The Guide Jelly continues to beam happily and cheerfully, enthusiastically explaining its cooking methods. "Well, I used some [Meat] from the [Wild Boar] to cook the [Ham]. I stashed a small piece and saved it to make this dish!"

  "That makes sense, but... I was more asking about the... the sauce. The ham's coated in some sort of... uhm..." Noel hesitantly clarifies, visibly tense as he brings the substance to attention. "... jelly."

  The Guide Jelly blinks a couple of times, then nods. "Ah, yes, it's a substance I made myself. While the ham was roasting over the [Campfire], I used a utensil to brush the [Jelly] over it as—"

  Noel coughs. Jelly. That confirms it. The orange substance is made from the Guide Jelly's own body. "I'm sorry, did you use part of your own body to make this?!" Noel shouts, completely distraught.

  The Guide Jelly picks up on Noel's stress behind his coughing, its face no longer beaming and cheerful. "Y... Yes, I thought it would enhance the flavor of the [Ham] if I—"

  Noel grimaces in disgust, covering his mouth and gagging. "I... I feel like I'm going to be sick..."

  The Guide Jelly widens its eyes, staring at Noel. "You... you are? I... thought it wouldn't be that big of a concern, [Noel]. To my knowledge, you are a [Human], are you not? Don't [Humans] cook using [Milk] and [Eggs]? I think this isn't any different to that..."

  "It... it's just that you're a talking, sentient creature," Noel explains, grimacing at the ham. "Because you talk, because you're a floating talking thing, it feels... wrong?"

  "Wrong...?" the Guide Jelly asks, its concern turning to worry. "I... I do not understand. How does my ability to speak factor into a meal's edibility and [Quality]?"

  "I... I don't... it... it's hard to... I just... ugh!" Noel exclaims. "I don't know! How would you feel if I, like, cut off my hand and told you to eat it?!"

  "I would... feel concerned," the Guide Jelly answers. "Human hands do not align with any [Recipes] whatsoever... and, also, human hands do not regenerate on their own, so..."

  "You're... I... I just..." Noel begins to explain, before sighing. Noel buries his face into his hands and takes a deep breath into his palms. The ham looks perfect otherwise. If it wasn't coated in a substance with an origin he finds disgusting, he'd... he'd...

  "... are you... absolutely sure I can eat this?" Noel asks.

  The Guide Jelly nods vigorously. "It's safe to eat, I promise!" Its worry still remains on its face as its appendages rest against itself. "In fact, the [Jelly] is... well, it's a more flavorful version of the same substance used to [Heal] your nose, earlier. It's safe in every way possible, [Noel], I promise."

  Noel stares at the Guide Jelly, just... sighing. For as long as he's known the Guide Jelly, it doesn't seem designed to lie, so he just... he swallows down his concern and reluctance. "Fine... what do I have to lose...?" Noel tells himself as he holds the fork and knife, and begins cutting the ham.

  The stone knife goes pretty cleanly through the meat, and Noel jabs into the slice with the prongs of the makeshift fork. He braces himself for what the Guide Jelly constitutes as flavor, for what the Guide Jelly tastes like when parts of itself are slathered on a ham.

  Noel prepares himself for the mental damage this will do to him.

  He takes the first bite of the ham.

  ... and he hates how delicious this meal is.

  Of course, the ham looks and tastes well cooked, no complaints on that side. But the slime from the Guide Jelly tastes pretty sweet. It's strangely fruity, like how a hypothetical mix between an apple and an orange would taste. This is basically just an apple-glazed roasted ham.

  "... (bleep), it's good..." Noel mutters reluctantly, glaring at the Guide Jelly. Noel hates how delicious the Guide Jelly apparently tastes, and the thoughts he could possibly have of this kinda creep him out. Noel pretty much creeps himself out.

  Meanwhile, the Guide Jelly beams with mildly concerned delight. It shows its good-intentioned delight alongside worry as Noel eats the ham. "Glad to hear! I... I don't cook for new arrivals, so you're... kind of the first [Player] I've done this for, [Noel]... I'm sorry if my choice of ingredients is weird..."

  Noel stares at its happy little expression, just... not sure how to feel about this as he keeps cutting and eating. It's clear to Noel that the Guide Jelly doesn't follow the same rules and laws of nature that he's used to. Every bite gives him mixed feelings as he cuts and eats the ham.

  This moment makes him wonder... what exactly is the Guide Jelly supposed to be? Is it a wild animalistic creature? Is it a civilized entity that chooses to spend its time giving a tutorial? Is it some sort of video game robot thing that just has a really good AI?

  Noel doesn't have a single clue in the slightest, and he just looks at the Guide Jelly the whole time. The two are just silent the whole time as Noel awkwardly eats the Guide Jelly's cooking.

  "So. What is your progress with conjuring the [Axe of Light], [Noel]?" the Guide Jelly eventually asks, tilting its body. "Have you made any progress?"

  Oh, back on this topic. The Guide Jelly's back to insisting Noel conjure the axe...

  Noel swallows the chewed slice of ham in his mouth before answering. "N...No luck. I haven't really... gotten that far yet with it," he answers, knowing full well he didn't even start the effort. "Still got no clue on how to make the handle, y'know...?"

  "Right, I see..." the Guide Jelly responds, looking down at the tent floor with mild sorrow. "... well, I was thinking that we could try some... exercises. Maybe your struggles with conjuring the axe involve a stat requirement your body lacks."

  Oh, so it's possible that conjuring the axe has a stat requirement! It's not Noel's fault he can't make the axe, it's his genetics! He just has stats that are worse than everyone else who arrives here!

  Wow! That sure makes Noel feel better!

  ... Noel gives a curious nod and keeps eating, keeping this passive-aggressive sarcastic thought to himself. "If you say so. What kind of exercises are we talking about?"

  The Guide Jelly hmms. "Some unorthodox strategies that involve physical activity. I've had some time to think about the [Axe of Light] and the limitations you are facing. Because you cannot conjure a [Weapon] without first conjuring the [Axe of Light] and [Pick of Light], alternate forms of [Experience] must be considered."

  Ah, same thoughts he had, with the whole "increasing his intelligence by sleeping" idea he had. Noel gives a light nod. "I see, I see. Sounds good."

  "Do you... have any questions about the activities?" the Guide Jelly asks.

  Noel shakes his head. "You said it involves physical activities... it's self-explanatory what the exercises are. No questions yet."

  "... I see!" the Guide Jelly exclaims. "Well. I suppose I'll set it all up while you're finishing up, then."

  "Sounds good," Noel tells the Guide Jelly.

  The Guide Jelly floats up from the tent floor and exits, flying out and preparing Noel's training.

  Meanwhile, Noel sits with the food on his lap, and...

  ... groans in annoyance.

  Noel initially kept a good face up when the Guide Jelly was saying all of that. He smiled and he seemed ready for whatever it had in store.

  Now that the Guide Jelly is gone, Noel looks visibly upset. He just feels like he doesn't want to do any of that, that he doesn't want to perform those physical activities. It's the same reason he doesn't like to work out or jog or all of those exercises back on his world. It feels like such a bother to do, so very tiring and all.

  Eh... but who knows, maybe it will work, maybe it'll be good for him. After he does the Guide Jelly's physical activities, he'll probably never have to do them again. Noel tells himself that as he keeps eating the ham.

  It takes him a few minutes to finish his food, leaving behind the bone and some traces of jelly and grass.

  It's going to be a long training montage...