Ordinary Person × Modern Dungeon × Summer Vacation Life = Rise to Success!? 〜A Private Dungeon Was Made at the Remains of a Secret Base From Childhood〜 - Episode 20: Chilled Watermelon and the Caterpillar

Episode 20: Chilled Watermelon and the Caterpillar

“Alright, here we go…”

The Explorer Exam was the next day. So to boost my spirits, I brought a huge watermelon into my private dungeon.

Even though it was still March outside, I looked it up online and saw that watermelons from Kumamoto Prefecture had already started shipping.

I immediately ordered one, and it arrived yesterday evening.

“It’s so much easier to carry things in a dungeon…”

The watermelon probably weighed 7 to 8 kilograms. It had been a real pain to carry from my house to the dungeon gate.

It’s a sphere and hard to hold. And it’s so big that the balance is unstable.

But once inside the dungeon, it felt light as a balloon.

“This must be what Otama-chan was talking about during the training course…”

It’s still just a hypothesis. But it’s said that at the dungeon gate, the human body is transformed into a “semi-magic body.”

Magic energy, or “mana”, fills the inside of dungeons. Thanks to it, you can use magic and skills. Your physical abilities also greatly increase.

On the flip side, since there’s no mana outside the dungeon, you can’t use magic or exhibit super strength.

However, there are exceptions.

It’s known that if you use crystallized mana—also known as magic stones—you can still utilize the energy even outside the dungeon.

For that reason, countries around the world are fully focused on developing new industries that make use of magic stones.

“…Alright, I’m here.”

While thinking about that, I arrived at my destination—a river.

I took a net out of my pouch and put the watermelon inside.

Then I submerged it in the river water.

“…Okay.”

After a while, it should get nicely chilled.

Now then, to get ready for tomorrow’s exam, I should get some exercise.

The Explorer Exam will apparently check if you can handle Goblin attacks while under skill usage restrictions.

Of course, if I can defeat them without using skills, that’s best.

Even though my level has increased, I want to see how far I can go with just my body.

“Well, I just have to do it…”

I pulled out the explorer’s dagger I bought earlier at Eayon from my belt.

I had hoped I might luckily obtain skills like [Swordsmanship] or [Spearmanship] in this private dungeon. But things didn’t go that well.

So for the exam, I decided to make the dagger—something that can take advantage of my speed—my main weapon.

While imagining Goblin attacks, I practiced dodging and slashing, dodging and slashing… repeating something like shadowboxing.

☆★☆

After a while, I returned to the watermelon.

“Kyui!”

“Whoa!”

Some mysterious bug was sitting on a rock by the riverside.

“You scared me… It makes sounds? Wait, what is this thing?”

It was a caterpillar with a fairy tale-like appearance.

Its head looked like a pastel-red dumpling, with green tsukushi-like antennae.

Its body also looked dumpling-shaped. It had a gradient from pastel orange to pastel blue.

It was about 10 centimeters long.

“Can I catch it…?”

I picked it up lightly, but it didn’t turn into a magic stone.

“Kyui…”

I stared at it for a while. But there was no capture reaction.

I don’t really get it, but maybe it’s a bug you can’t catch.

I’ve never seen a bug like this in the outside world either.

Maybe it’s just for decoration.

Guess I’ll just let it go.

“Kyui, kyui!”

“…Hm?”

Looking closely, it was stretching its body toward the watermelon.

Could it be…

“You want to eat it too?”

“Kyui!”

Its antennae twitched up and down.

It probably meant yes.

Wait, can it understand me?

“Kyui…?”

“Hmm… well, whatever.”

I brought the whole watermelon because I wanted to experience chilling it in a river. But I wasn’t going to eat all of it at once anyway.

I’ll share a little bit.

After all, this dungeon has given me a lot.

“Hang on a sec.”

I pulled the watermelon out of the river and placed it on a vinyl sheet at the riverside.

“Okay, now…”

I drew the dagger from my waist.

“This is your first job. Cut it properly.”

If it can cut Goblins, then cutting a watermelon should be easy.

With that expectation, I hadn’t brought a kitchen knife.

“I should sanitize it just in case.”

I took a disinfectant wipe from my pouch and carefully wiped the blade.

Just when I was about to cut the watermelon in half—

“Kyui!!”

—The caterpillar popped its head out from a hole in the watermelon.

“What the…!”

Looking closer, there were holes all over it.

It had already eaten a lot of it.

“Kyui, kyui!!”

The caterpillar shook its head happily, dove back in, and quickly popped out the other side of the watermelon.

“Kyui!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…”

That watermelon I paid 8,000 yen for…

I looked away for just a moment and this happened…

I was simply in shock.

“Kyui…?”

While I sat on a rock with my head down, the caterpillar stopped eating and came over to me.

…It really might understand human feelings.

Despite being so obsessed with the watermelon before, it now stretched its body toward me.

“Kyui…?”

“You’re trying to cheer me up…? Well, it’s fine now. Go ahead and eat as much as you like.”

I can’t eat it anymore anyway.

“Kyuii!”

Then the caterpillar perked up and started eating the watermelon again. It was making loud crunching sounds.

—And just like that, the entire watermelon was gone.

“You serious…!?”

What the heck, it ate the whole watermelon.

And its body hasn’t grown at all since I first saw it.

Where did that watermelon go?

“Kyuii!”

The caterpillar wiggled its antennae and came closer to me.

“Kyui, kyui!”

“Are you thanking me? Well, don’t worry about it… Wait, no. Don’t tell me… you still want to eat?”

“Kyui!!”

What a crazy bug.

“Too bad. I’ve got nothing left. Why don’t you eat some leaves or something?”

“Kyuii?”

The caterpillar touched my hand with its antenna.

“Come on, give it up. Ugh, maybe I should head home and grab something to eat…”

“Kyui!!”

The caterpillar suddenly jumped onto my arm.

“You move pretty well… But it’s impossible for you to go outside. They say if a magic body like you leaves the dungeon, anything that isn’t a magic stone will melt and vanish.”

Just like a ghost passing on to the afterlife.

“Kyui…”

Then the caterpillar moved to the tip of my hand.

Its wriggling felt ticklish.

“Come on, give it up and go back. You got to eat the watermelon, didn’t you?”

I tried to move it onto a nearby branch.

Then—

“Kyuii!”

*Crunch crunch crunch crunch…*

—The caterpillar bit into empty space and created a hole in the air at eye level.

“What…!?”

“Kyuii!”

Beyond the hole the caterpillar made, I could see my living room—and the box of 12 Mister Donuts I’d just bought.

“This… is a dungeon gate!?”

“Kyuii!”

The caterpillar jumped onto my shoulder, twitching its antennae.

“Is this for real…!?”

I reached in and had no problem pulling out the donut box.

“Kyuii!!”

The caterpillar hopped around on my body and then jumped to the ground.

“W-what…?”

The gate quickly shrank and disappeared without a trace.

“Kyui, kyui!!”

“R-right…”

Still in a daze, I placed the donut box on the ground. And the caterpillar devoured it in seconds.

“Kyui!”

Then it climbed up onto my hand and—

“Kyui!”

*Poof!*

It turned into a green magic stone.

“Wha…!?”

My brain couldn’t keep up at all.

*Boing!*—The Magical Creature Encyclopedia appeared, and the relevant page opened.

Encyclopedia No. 144/251

Name: Hungry Caterpillar

Rarity: ★★★★★

Capture Skill: Wormhole

Capture EXP: 4000

Drop Item: Magic Stone (Maximum Size)

Description: A caterpillar that is always hungry. It can even eat space itself in search of food. May appear if a person with the [Child’s Heart] skill brings more than 5kg of food into a dungeon (extremely low chance after second time). Capture Condition: Feed it until it’s full.

I also checked the skill description:

[Wormhole]: Allows the caterpillar to create holes in space. Can connect to an alternate space for item storage, or create a gate between two points. After being fed a certain amount, it can be used again. Only works inside a dungeon due to the caterpillar’s survival needs (but gates can connect to outside the dungeon).

“This is…”

Even someone like me, who’s almost a total beginner, can tell—

I might have just acquired an unbelievable skill.