Hello everyone!

"Ughh..."

... wait a moment.

"Ughhh... Yuck...!!"

Haaaah... Haaa... Haa... Your favorite protagonist is back and ready to narrate...!

".... Ugh."

Huh, asking if I feel well...?

I feel great!!

So stop for a moment to understand the situation!

Are you really sure you're fine...?

I said I'm fine, damn it!!

Now let's continue, OK...? PERFECT!

At this precise moment, your hero and protagonist is cold and lying in the inn bed.

The reason?

The reason for my semi-freezing and my horizontal "sick protagonist" position is simple: I had to tactically retreat from the hot springs. Not for lack of bravery, but because of a problem with... internal balance!

In fact, if you were here with me in the room (and don't laugh!), you'd see me covered with several towels and staring fixedly at the ceiling. The ceiling, by the way, has a beam that, in my judgment, has deficient structural support. Another example of the lack of quality of life in this world!

But back to the real crisis issue: Dizziness.

This is not the kind of dizziness you get after spinning twenty times for fun. No! It's an insidious, persistent, and above all, unjustified dizziness!

Isn't it because you swallowed the "core"?

It might be!!

Allow me to describe it with the precision you deserve:

First, we start with weakness! It's like every muscle has been degraded to the texture of an overcooked potato! The energy needed to lift an arm has tripled. It's as if the Stamina meter on my character sheet has been permanently set to red. It's not laziness, it's a software failure!

Then comes the vertigo, baby, because when I close my eyes, I don't see black, I see the ground slowly spinning! It's a totally unnecessary visual effect. When I stand up, I feel like my center of gravity is poorly calibrated. The game has a camera instability bug, and it's affecting me, the end-user!

Are you obviously unwell?

For the last time, dear reader... I... Am... FINE...

¡So let's continue!!

Now, where was I...?

Oh, right! The nausea, because the worst part is the horrible stomach rejection! And it's not that I want to vomit; it's that I feel like my digestive system is actively trying to expel something.

I feel such profound weakness that it's almost as if my body is dedicating all its resources to something else instead of keeping me functional!

Just admit it was that cursed core!

Snif... snif... Why did you have to be so cruel...? Ugh... Waaahhh!

("We are experiencing serious and strange technical problems; we deeply apologize for the inconvenience.")

I know what you're thinking!!

And I know you know why I'm like this. And I... I actually know too! And it makes me so angry!

You see, the problem is I know exactly what caused this catastrophic system failure.

It was the Cracked Core of the plant woman. Sí, the one I had in my hand, so calmly, inspecting its durability.

And yes, accidentally, I swallowed it.

I finally admit it! Are you happy?!

And the reason for this accidental self-ingestion of an inedible object was... the most ridiculous interruption in history, or at least it's in my top 10!

What were the others?

We are not talking about that!!

We are talking about how two seconds after the core disappeared down my throat as if it were a... an oversized candy, the innkeepers, Yuriel and Helen, kicked the door open showing the fury of a dramatic final boss, only to freeze, looking at all of us... and then, start screaming.

"W-We want to take a bath!"

"Yes! We want to use the spa!"

That's what they both said in total panic.

So yes, dear reader, I swallowed a potentially magical and destructive thing because two very noisy people wanted a dip.

So this is not my fault, but rather theirs!!

But fortunately, I am not vindictive! (Lie!!) So even though it was entirely their fault that a potentially dangerous object ended up lodged in my digestive system... I was able to forgive them! (Lie!!)

Although, of course, justice must prevail, right?

That's why the punishment for interrupting the moment of relaxation and causing the forced ingestion of a contaminant was a simple sermon.

One in which I made them sit on the edge, gently (brutally) slapped them, and admonished them for... let's say... three hours!

Three hours of detailed scolding about the importance of silence, decorum in shared spaces, and, of course, the danger of interrupting a master while he manipulates unknown objects in the water!

Did that last part sound wrong...?

... Certainly... But once again, back to the topic...!

They stayed there, frozen with fear, nodding at every word that came out of my mouth. It was very gratifying. A lesson in etiquette and survival, all in one.

And after that, they stayed in the spa! What patience I have!

... Although maybe I overdid it a bit... I mean, the poor things wouldn't stop crying as if they were "seeing" something terrifying... But fortunately, all the straw dolls, Silver, Goldie, Brownie, and even the ducklings "cheered them up"!

In fact, it must have been very moving when everyone took them outside to "talk" quietly, because when they returned, they looked so repentant that I finally forgave them.

But back to the real crisis, the punishment did not work for my health! (physical)

So after all, admonishing the managers for three hours has not removed this horrible feeling of imbalance in the center of my being.

"Ughhh... Oh, for heaven's sake!"

The sensation is horrible. It's not like vomiting from bad food, but as if the very law of physics inside me was being invalidated. Suddenly, I feel like my stomach is an unstable wormhole.

And I don't like it!!

("Mom!")

(Clank!)

However, just in time, Silver handed me a bucket with the efficiency of a well-trained waiter, into which I vomited.

"Thank you, Silver..."

("It's okay, it's okay.")

And on my other side, Goldie began to gently rub my back.

"Really... Thank you..."

As you can see, I have an excellent support team! But back to whatever is killing me...

The symptoms have not only worsened, but they have amplified out of nowhere. Not only do I have strange food cravings, but even my emotional state is more disorganized than ever.

And that's saying a lot!!

One moment I'm calm and analytical, and the next I want to cry because the towel is slightly wrinkled! Who cries over a wrinkled towel? Me, apparently! This is a violation of my character's coherence!

"These sudden mood swings are worse than a final boss's surprise attack! I am oscillating between irrational anger and dense melancholy! And I don't know what to do!"

Because of this, the only person who seems to be taking this internal catastrophe seriously, or at least knows what is happening, is Echidna.

"Alright, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

And speaking of the star in question...

"First, explain what is happening!!"

"Alright, and it's actually quite fascinating."

"I have a very bad feeling about this..."

"The core's assimilation has caused a biological reaction that mimics gestation. The energy flow is being rewritten and using your code as a template for something new."

"Huh? In short...?"

"It's a very interesting phenomenon. Allow me to run some deeper internal diagnostics."

"So, Echidna..."

Hearing that, my bad feeling continued to grow, so I asked, struggling to sound casual, as if I wasn't one throw-up away from unconsciousness.

"What is happening to me?!"

"Oh, nothing important, partner. In fact, it's quite simple. That core, being cracked and coming into contact with your massive energy reserves... is absorbing them. It's an incubation process."

Echidna's reply arrived with unusual calm, as if she were commenting on the weather.

"You could say that the core is giving birth to a new nature spirit, using your body as a matrix."

"........"

The sound of her words was so soft, so telepathically professional, that the truth crashed into my dense head like a rusted iron hammer.

"No, no, no, no, NOOOOOOOO!!"

I finally opened my mouth, and instead of a throw-up, the sharpest, most heartbreaking scream I had ever uttered came out of my throat.