Fruits, Roadmap, and Eyeball Terrorism
Isekai fruits.
It was just as High-Performance Eraser had guessed. The juice we were drinking right now was made from fruits from another world.
"As expected... fruits from another world..."
"You're not surprised, huh?"
"No... I'm plenty surprised."
True to his words, High-Performance Eraser—or Goseongji—didn't show it on his face, but his mind was racing with thoughts.
...Sugar and salt, and now fruits... Salt from the salt fields makes sense, but... fruits popping up out of nowhere is weird...
And not just any fruits from this world, but from the world he used to live in.
Is the Dungeon Master's transmigrator ability not just about making dungeons? Sugar from monsters I can begrudgingly accept... but fruits...?
He knew transmigrator abilities evolved with growth, but something felt off.
A transmigrator's ability direction was ultimately shaped by their inner imagery.
A dungeon is like a severed, separate world in a way... Is that why? The elements composing it... are overly influenced by the owner.
Of course, that wasn't strange.
But normal transmigrators recognized this world as their reality, building new inner imagery influenced by life here rather than their old world.
That's why transmigrator abilities often merged with this world's magic as they grew.
But excluding monsters, his ability growth doesn't feel influenced by our world much. Hmm... this feels more like...
It was just a guess, but Goseongji had a feeling the dungeon world was increasingly resembling the Dungeon Master's original world.
Does the Dungeon Master... not see this world... the shelter world... as his reality...?
Isolation from the self and the outside world.
If his inner imagery wasn't influenced by this world, it would explain this abnormal ability growth to some extent.
But... someone with such isolated inner imagery shouldn't have a sound mind...?
Take himself—he was a severe commu addict glued to his room, spending 21 hours a day on communities.
Most of that was close to work hours, but he could keep it up because he had some aptitude.
He only met people in real life once or twice a year, if that.
He even got food delivered.
Luckily, no mental illness yet.
But as a side effect? Numb to external stimuli.
No expectations from life. No sense of accomplishment, no goals. Just surviving because he was born.
Mentally worn down to the point senses were almost gone.
Ah... come to think of it, that's a mental illness too.
He hadn't realized.
Without direct interaction, this was inevitable.
Without external stimuli, people don't change.
But stagnation isn't stasis.
The world keeps changing, so failing to adapt is regression.
Drifting further from society,no interaction with others, judging everything by personal standards, trapped in one's own world.
The Dungeon Master's mental state was probably similar or worse.
In other words, the Dungeon Master was likely... a social misfit on par with him, or beyond.
Is that okay...?
Goseongji wondered if it was wise for such an unstable person to gain such immense power.
But thanks to that unstable inner imagery, his ability grew this way—which was a huge boon for the shelter, wasn't it?
"Hey—!!"
A cold sensation on his cheek snapped him back.
"Huh!"
"I've been calling you! What're you thinking so hard about?"
The dwarf who introduced himself as Worker No. 1 was pressing a fruit onto Goseongji's face.
"Everyone's curious, so eat it quick!"
"Ah... sorry, what was that? I didn't hear..."
"Jeez... your soul flew out. Look around. Everyone's waiting for you to taste first. Snap to it and keep broadcasting."
Around him, people gulped, staring at the fruit the dwarf held up.
"...Right. Then I'll taste this fruit."
Crunch—
Goseongji took the red fruit from the dwarf and bit in.
And silently kept eating, bite after bite.
Crunch crunch—
"Hey! Describe the taste while eating!!"
"Ah, sorry. ...Reminds me of fruits I ate with Mom back home. Sweet and tangy..."
"...That's it?"
"Ah... yes... I'm no good with words..."
"Sigh... fine... everyone grab a fruit."
"“Wooo!!”"
Granite Fist pulled extra fruits from the stall and handed them out.
The experience team grabbed different fruits and started eating.
"Gaaah!! Fuck, fruit juice in my eyes, hurts like hell!!! And it's super sour what is this!!!!!"
"Ah... that's called a lemon. The yellow juice earlier was from that. Dungeon Master said it's good for cooking..."
"Nooo—!!! Surface too hard, teeth won't go in!!!"
"...That's a pineapple... you don't eat the skin, think a bit."
"Urk...!! Crazy...!! Why does this smell like shit!!"
"That's durian. Taste is excellent unlike the intense smell."
Goseongji looked around.
People eating fresh fruits, drinking juice, laughing and chattering excitedly.
The chat window was a festival too.
...Well, giving this out for free, who cares about the Dungeon Master's inner imagery.
Once everyone finished tasting and calmed down, Granite Fist boomed to grab attention.
"Ahem... attention! Everyone enjoyed the fruits? That's one from the Dungeon Master's roadmap!"
"Speaking of, you mentioned revealing the roadmap? Can you explain?"
"Of course! Roadmap is advance notice of new dungeons or dungeon-related content from the Dungeon Master! Think of it as the dungeon development plan."
Dungeon development plan...
"Mind if I ask why bother?"
"First, dungeon making takes longer than expected... second, hype."
"Got it."
Dungeon Master probably wants to boost shelter morale.
Creating buzz in the repetitive shelter life.
Just having something to look forward to together makes it enjoyable content.
By tomorrow, the shelter would buzz with today's info.
Did Dungeon Master plan this far?
Granite Fist raised an apple high and bellowed.
"Now, first roadmap reveal!! Soon, Dungeon Master opens new dungeon 'Orchard'!!!!"
"Orchard...!!"
"Ooh... as expected...!"
*
Back in my studio, watching the broadcast chat, I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Haha... not that kind of orchard."
Yeah, no way they'd guess those fruits come from slimes. Or that the slimes grow on trees.
Reactions would be priceless knowing the orchard is really Slime Hill Mk. 2.
"Gonna be fun, right Kkomangi?"
"Hek hek..."
The broadcast now showed free time, Granite Fist telling them to explore the park, experience team sprinting to the lake like maniacs.
Soon burly dudes stripped and dove in.
— 'Cannonball—!!!!'
Splash—
"Agh fuck my eyes—!!!!"