Wilona cut one of the roots she had gathered earlier. It was purple-ish and oozing with some kind of crimson liquid that reminded her way too much of blood. "By the way, is this safe to eat?"

  "If you eat it while wearing your ring, then yes," Fuzz answered. Honestly, Wilona was kinda curious how much the mushroom knew. Like, she worked for a goddess, didn't she? Fuzz must know a lot of things.

  "It's poison?!" Wilona screeched when Fuzz's reply caught up to her brain. "Seriously?!"

  "Yes," Fuzz said in a smooth tone. "Poison can be eaten as long as you have the right items for it. In fact, some adventurers out there carry rings just like yours so that they have access to a wider variety of food during expeditions. Knights do it as well. And an army consisting of peasants during wars often shares dozens of rings during a meal."

  "Huh, that's kinda neat." Wilona looked at her ring. So it did resist poisons? That was good to confirm, honestly. "Now that I know this, I wonder how far I can take it? Can I eat the worst kind of food and be fine?"

  "Your ring can only allow you to resist so many foreign bodies before it gives up. Think before you do anything foolish," Fuzz's warning came almost immediately after Wilona said her idea out loud.

  "Bummer." Wilona deflated. Well, at least she could still eat weaker poisons without worrying about getting killed. "Oh well, I think I'll add this to the pot." She grinned and started cutting the root. She tried licking some of the juices that spilled on her hand and realized they made her feel drunk. "This is alcohol?"

  "Neurotoxin," Fuzz corrected. "The reason why you have an altered state of mind after consuming it is because it still affects your nerves, but not to the extent that they get damaged. You can put it in your pot if you wish to sleep soundly tonight. I believe you'll need it."

  "Yeah, I guess." Wilona shrugged. She took the chopped-up pieces from the rock and tossed them into the boiling water. It smelled oddly sweet after a while. "Huh."

  After the root, she grabbed something that was spicy—a weird-ass fruit she found growing on some fern-looking thing. She chopped it up and threw it into the pot. She's never been a fan of tasteless fish, and all the ones she ate had some kick to them, so she picked plants with the taste she wanted: spice, sweetness, and sourness.

  As the pot boiled, Wilona prepared her fish next. There was a lot of it, so she knew she wasn't going to finish everything tonight. That was fine. The pot had a lid on it, and she was sure the fish wouldn't spoil after being cooked. Maybe. She asked Fuzz about it and confirmed that, yep, it would take a while for any bacteria to hold onto the fish.

  "Why?" Wilona asked as she stabbed into the fillets. She didn't have any kind of salt to marinate them with, but she did have a jar of sweet and spicy fruit juice. "I mean, it's just fish, isn't it? They spoil pretty quickly, I'm pretty sure."

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  "Because you dipped it in poison. You're dipping your fish in poison as we speak," Fuzz answered nonchalantly.

  "Oh yeah..." Instead of stopping, Wilona dipped the fillet she was holding a second time. "That's kinda cool, I think."

  One by one, the fillets got tossed into the pot to start cooking along with the rest of the ingredients. The holes she made in the flesh should make it so that everything was cooked thoroughly. "Man, I wish I learned more about culinary shit than this," she groaned. "But then again, there's no way young me would have expected to live in some swamp, and like, she would never realistically come up with a scenario where she cooks without the help of the internet, so it's like, fair, I think."

  "Mhmm." Fuzz hummed. "Cooking is a strictly human thing, no?"

  "You're saying Dwarves and Elves don't cook?" Wilona looked away from the pot and to the spot where Fuzz last buried herself. "Fuzz?"

  "Dwarves sustain themselves with beer and metal," said the myceloid, which—wow. Shocker. They were even more of an Englishman than Wilona thought. Talk about a lacking cuisine. "And elves eat fruits. A lot of them."

  "Eugh. Hippies." Wilona shuddered. "Not that I hate vegans or anything, but like, grass is super stale. I can't imagine eating only that for the rest of my life. And like, if people do try to make fruits tasty, like jam or something, then they become too sweet! So eating them gets stale after a while, but in an 'I don't like this anymore' way instead of 'this is tasteless!' kinda, ya know?"

  "I don't have any taste buds, so I am not able to relate to that, but I'm sure it's a weird situation," Fuzz commented noncommittally. "Food isn't really for me. And if it is, then I'd say I want something with a lot of biomass."

  "Ah," Wilona nodded. "That makes sense. Well—no, I don't get it," Wilona admitted. "But I guess this is how you feel when I talk about taste, huh?"

  "Correct."

  Speaking of taste, the food was pretty good. A bowl of fish and some of the fruits she added into the stew turned out to be something she needed, because after dinner, Wilona felt so much calmer. Or maybe that was just the neurotoxin in her system making her drunk?

  Either way, she's now staring up at the stars, mesmerized.

  "Amazing," Wilona muttered. "This world is so damn amazing."

  "That's the sky," Fuzz said from the side.

  "Yeah? That's what it's called? Fucking amazing, really." Wilona yawned. "Well, goodbye, Fuzz. I'm gonna go to sleep."

  "Goodnight."

  Wilona pushed the cover she made for the tree away and scooted over to her new bed. Who would have thought that a bunch of leaves could be this comfortable? She hugged one of her pillows and crushed another between her thighs. The last one was on her head.

  The darkness embraced her quickly after laying down.

  When she opened her eyes again, Wilona groaned in pain. She grabbed her head. Why the hell was it so dark? For a while, she moved around the room searching for a light switch along the walls but found nothing. Thankfully, the door opened on its own, and she was able to see again.

  With all the grace of a monkey with a tranquilizer up its ass, Wilona stumbled forward.

  She stared at the outside with half-lidded eyes and a dry face. She smelled her hair and winced. "Fuck, I need a shower."

  [New Quest! - It is not a home without functionality!]

  [Quest Type: Encouragement]

  [Rewards: Shovel]

  ["Well then, you are now able to cook, can forage or fish for your food, and also have a comfortable bed to sleep in! But you still haven't showered and you lack storage. Make some pottery and clean yourself!"]

  Wilona glared at the blue box. Was this thing making fun of her? She rubbed her temples. "Right, new world," she muttered. "Okay, so last night I ate... Fish. Great."

  Wilona's eyes shot open. Wait—she snapped her head back as the memory of her stumbling out of her home rushed to her mind. "What the fuck?!"

  Around her tree was some kind of growth. It overlapped the bark and coiled around the trunk. To Wilona's recovering mind, it looked like some kind of smooth-looking root. A large part of it grew around the entrance of the tree trunk, and Wilona squinted at it. The growth had a spiral pattern. A snail shell?

  "Good morning, Wilona. And can I ask you to stop that? You staring at me is not something I am comfortable with."

  "Fuzz?!" Wilona looked at the growth in a new light. "The hell?"

  "I have grown overnight and have successfully taken over the local area," said the myceloid. "Now I am able to assist you with everything I have."

  "Uh-huh..." Wilona looked away. The shock of learning what the growth around her tree was pretty much cleared her head. "I'm gonna check on my food. Maybe heat it up so I can get breakfast."

  Wilona's feet struck something, and she stumbled. "Wha—" Her eyes caught a small bag on the ground. She opened it and saw the rewards for the previous quest: a small pouch of salt, a flat wooden board, and—"I guess I have a mortar and pestle now?"

  What was she even supposed to do with this?