Having Enough to Eat and Knowing the Dungeon*4
I think I slept for a while just like that. When I blinked awake, I was already full of energy again. This elementary schooler body recovers stamina so quickly. Amazing.
“I’m thirsty…”
Since I woke up thirsty, I immediately drank some water.
I made a cup from stone, pulled out some water I had previously decomposed and absorbed at a water source, and drank it. Yep, it was just plain water. The kind with no taste at all. In other words, I think all the impurities had been removed! Well, that’s fine—sterilized water is convenient.
I also ate some bread I’d made from plant roots. I had no idea what time it was, but figured it was best to eat when hungry.
Luckily, after extracting plant fibers from plants, the leftover stuff counted as edible matter for me, so it was all very eco-friendly. That made me think maybe I should make some stock in advance. So I made ridiculously long loaves of bread and set them aside. I’d just cut off a piece whenever I was hungry. Perfect.
Now then. Time to continue the work I was doing before sleeping—namely, making a farm.
Realistically, I’d have to cultivate land outside the cave. You need soil, sunlight, and water, at minimum, to make a field.
… But hold on.
Tomatoes are obviously an exotic species in this world. At the very least, after I genetically modified them, they definitely became something that doesn’t naturally exist here.
Which means—I have to be careful not to accidentally mess with the ecosystem.
So.
“… I wonder if the glittering light shining through that crack in the ceiling will be enough.”
I decided to start with indoor cultivation. After all, there was conveniently light shining down from above.
So I quickly brought in some soil and water.
The soil I got from the forest outside the cave. Since I carried it directly, it should still be rich and fertile.
But digging up so much left big holes in the forest… so while I was at it, I diverted a nearby stream so it flowed closer to the cave. That way I’d have a water supply too. Preparations for farming were going well.
Next, I decomposed and absorbed some bedrock at the cave’s deepest point to make a large, deep tub-like container. I layered it with gravel and such, then spread soil on top. That gave me a field with decent drainage.
“Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth—tomatoes.”
With that, I sowed the tomato seeds. Even though they were genetically modified, I still felt nervous. But I wanted them to grow strong and healthy.
I also planted a few edible-looking wild herbs I’d gathered. Just as experiments for now. Later, if I find more seeds, I can try growing them too.
“… Might as well make some pots and try outdoor cultivation too.”
Now then, about that glittering light from the ceiling—I wasn’t sure if it could nourish plants like sunlight. It might, or it might not. But I wouldn’t know without trying. So I’d compare.
Tomatoes in pots placed under the cave’s glittering light versus tomatoes under real sunlight outside.
For the pots, I used porous-looking rock, shaping it into planters by leaving the right parts behind while decomposing. I made several like that, then planted tomatoes in them.
I decomposed and absorbed the seeds and pots, then carried them outside to reconstruct and plant again—much easier than hauling heavy pots manually. This ability was really handy.
Using a stone shovel, I scooped forest soil into one of the pots. Needed plenty, since it would settle after watering. Phew. That was hard with an elementary schooler’s strength.
“This makes one… man, that was tough.”
I was going to all this trouble because this too was an experiment. I wanted to compare pots filled with raw soil versus pots filled with restructured soil.
So, for the other pots, I just used reconstructed soil. That was much easier.
… Or so I thought.
“Hm?”
One of the pots already had *something* in it.
“… What?”
It was transparent, like water. But instead of lying flat like a water surface, it bulged up slightly.
Poking it with the shovel tip, I felt a squishy, bouncy texture.
Poke poke, squish squish. It jiggled like a jelly ball.
… What the heck was this?
“… Oh well.”
Whatever it was, since it was in the pot, there was only one thing to do.
“Here goes.”
I stabbed the shovel in, planted a tomato seed inside the squishy stuff, and watered it.
… It looked like some kind of gel ball anyway. If hydroponics existed, then hey, maybe it’d work. Worth trying, since I had plenty of seeds and could make more pots easily.
Thus, the tomato planting was completed.
And that wasn’t all.
“Let’s give them some fertilizer too.”
With decomposition and reconstruction at my disposal, it’d be wasteful not to use them.
“Uh, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium… right. Let’s extract them from the plants I absorbed…”
Plants obviously contain the nutrients plants need. So I tried reconstructing fertilizer-like material from what I’d taken in.
I had no clue what chemical forms plants actually absorbed nutrients in. None whatsoever. But I figured if I reproduced them as they were in the plants, it might work.
What I ended up with was a liquid. Probably full of impurities, but whatever. Experiment time.
Still, concentrated stuff like potassium phosphate could be caustic, so I carefully avoided getting it on my skin. I diluted it with water in a stone watering can I made.
“Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth—tomatoes.”
I poured it onto the pots. Some with fertilizer, some without—for experimental control.
After a bit of hesitation, I fertilized the squishy transparent one too. It didn’t look like it had much nutrition otherwise.
Once the outdoor pots were ready, I also set up indoor pots. Carrying the raw soil ones back inside was tough, but I managed.
“F-finally done…”
At last, several indoor pots had tomato seeds planted. I watered and fertilized them too.
“… Though honestly, I’d rather get back to my own age and my own world before these ever bear fruit.”
Tomatoes from seed wouldn’t fruit for months anyway. Hopefully all of this would end up being meaningless.
But carrying pots around had exhausted me again. I wanted to eat, drink, and sleep.
Still—my Japanese spirit was stirring.
“I want a bath before bed…”
Going to bed sweaty felt wrong. So I got to work again.
I built another house next to mine, to serve as a bathhouse.
Inside, I made a washing area and a big tub. No drainage system, but I could always just absorb waste water directly. Easy.
Then came the problem of hot water. I’d only absorbed plain water before. But since stone could change form, surely water could too? Ice, steam, hot water…
“Come forth, hot water!”
I reconstructed—and sure enough, hot water came out.
“… Perfect bath temperature!”
Success! Unlimited baths unlocked!
So I soaked. Ahh… the fatigue melted away. Baths truly are a wonderful culture.
“Baban baban banbanban…”
But hearing my own high-pitched child voice echoing off the bath walls felt strange. Pre-voice-change.
“… Will I really be able to return?”
A twinge of anxiety struck me, but I decided to take things easy.
After bathing, I dove into bed. Crude though it was, the bed was surprisingly comfortable. Exhaustion helped me fall asleep right away. Better to sleep well than collapse from insomnia.
I still had no clue what was going on—but surviving came first.
And so, I slept and woke again.
Good morning. Though I had no idea if it was actually morning, given I was in a cave.
Still, I felt refreshed. I stepped outside my house, and—
“… Tomatoes, already!?”
There were sprouts in the field.
That was way too fast.
Tomatoes already had cotyledons, some even true leaves. In less than a day? Unless I’d overslept horribly? But without a clock, I couldn’t tell.
To check further, I went outside the cave. I wanted to compare with the outdoor pots.
But what I found there was… something beyond human comprehension.
Some pots had sprouts, some hadn’t. But one pot was empty.
And in front of the line of pots…
… A transparent, jelly-like mass was slowly, squishily crawling along.
“Uwaaaaaaaah! My tomatoes! My tomatoes!”
From its head, branches and leaves sprouted, heavy with clusters of red tomatoes, swaying as it moved.
What do you think about this chapter?
