My legs burned from trying to keep up with the woman who''d rescued me. She was in far too good of shape, acting like this mad sprint of ours was a jaunt in the woods while I could barely breathe. I motioned for her to stop, hands on my knees as I gulped down air.


    Well, that answered one thing about my life: I was not an athlete.


    "Thanks for the help," I gasped. "I''m Hazel."


    "Fiona." She frowned, studying me. "You''re pretty low level still. Have you tried upping your endurance?"


    If it meant my side would stop aching and I could breathe again, I''d take it. I opened my stat menu and added one of my two remaining stat points to endurance. A sense of relief washed over me, as if I''d just woken up from a full night''s sleep.


    "Whoa, that''s amazing," I said.


    Fiona nodded as Jellybean hopped down from my shoulder and started munching on some plants nearby, reminding me of what had caused all this nonsense in the first place. I could still picture how offended that baby chick looked, feathers ruffled and out of sorts as it fell out of the slime''s mouth. It might have been funny if it hadn''t ended up with the monster parents chasing us down.


    "You just had to eat that chicken, didn''t you?" I asked the slime, the accusation coloring my tone.


    Fiona''s lips twitched. "Wait, that''s why you were stuck in a tree? Because that slime ate a chicken?"


    "I made him spit it out. That should have been good enough, but noooo they just had to get revenge."


    At that Fiona burst out laughing, practically doubling over. "Revenge of the chickens? Oh that''s so ridiculous. I knew when I saw you throwing bread to them like they were pigeons that I had to introduce myself."


    My cheeks burned. "Well, what else was I supposed to do?"


    "Fight them," she said, as if that was the only logical answer. "They''re not as tough as they look."


    They sure seemed tough to me and if this was only the first floor, I couldn''t imagine what would be waiting for me further down. I shuddered at the thought of a fifty foot chicken.


    "That''s just not my style," I said softly, sitting on the cool ground with my knees pulled to my chest. "What is this place anyway? I was told it wasn''t a game, but it feels like a game. What''s the point though?"


    "To see who''s the best?" Fiona shrugged, glancing at a big scratch on her arm that was probably from one of those crispy cluckers. She pulled a bottle of red liquid out of her inventory that I somehow knew was a healing potion. Maybe I could test something out...


    "Hold on," I said, opening my item box to grab one of the sandwiches I''d made earlier. Only one had ended up with a healing buff, but this felt like a good time to use it. "Try this healing grilled cheese instead."


    "Healing grilled cheese?" The older woman eyed the sandwich skeptically. "You can only heal with potions, not food. You get them as quest rewards or you can buy them from the shops on floor five."


    "Is there a way to check an item''s properties?"


    She nodded. "Just tap on it and think something like what are you?"


    I smiled a little at the explanation, but a lot of things did seem to respond to my thoughts, so why not? I tapped the sandwich. What are you?


    A message box appeared above it.


    [Healing Grilled Cheese Level 1]


    Fiona''s eyes widened. "Well I''ll be damned. I guess it is a healing sandwich."


    This time when I held it out to her, she graciously accepted and took a big bite. The scratch on her arm sealed up, fading away within moments. Okay, that really was pretty cool. She ran her hand over her skin, staring at it.


    "It actually worked," she said, voice filled with wonder. "What''s your secret?"


    "I''m a culinary mage," I said proudly. "My plan is to bake my way through the dungeon without fighting anything."


    Fiona blinked, glancing between me and the last bite of her grilled cheese. My confidence drained away as we sat in awkward silence for a bit. I had kind of expected her to ooh and aah over how good it tasted since it seemed like everyone here was used to tasteless food, but she''d barely reacted.


    "Did it...not taste good?" I asked.


    "Taste good?" She frowned, finishing the last of the sandwich. The cheese wasn''t gooey like it had been originally. "Hmmmm, I guess it does taste a bit different than I''m used to, but not much."


    "But I used flavor boost." I rummaged through my item box, grabbing the last leftover grilled cheese as Fiona stared at me awkwardly. "It''s a skill I got that enhances the flavor. I swear these grilled cheese tasted amazing earlier today."


    I bit into the soft bread, expecting the same great flavor as before but was thoroughly disappointed. Somehow, it was even worse than it was before flavor boost. It not only tasted like cardboard, but now it was cold too. Maybe the skills only lasted so long? But the healing part had still worked, so why didn''t the flavor stick?


    "Okay, so maybe the grilled cheese wasn''t a good example," I said. "But I promise my food usually tastes good and it''s going to get me through this dungeon safely. The satyr who showed me inside was going on and on about how ridiculous my class was, but it is my class, so I''m going to use it."


    "To...bake?"


    That hesitation hurt a little bit. She was the first person I''d met inside the dungeon and had helped me out of a tricky situation. I didn''t want her to think I was useless. Or worse, making things up.


    I''d just have to show her what a culinary mage could do and prove that I was serious. Baking was important. The right food could change a person''s day, making them smile or laugh. There was something magical about recreating food that somebody remembered from their childhood too, that nostalgic feeling was so warm and comforting. The right food could even calm a savage beast, or at least, that''s what I was counting on.


    "Do you have any ingredients with you?" I asked as I set up the portable stove. "I made that grilled cheese a while ago and it must not store well in my item box. Once you try fresh food from me, you''ll understand."


    She studied me for a moment, then nodded. "I''m always up for new things, so let''s give it a try." She opened her inventory, which I unfortunately couldn''t see, and started swiping through menus. "What kind of ingredients do you want? I''ve got vegetables, eggs, meat, fish, milk, flour, chocolate--"


    "You''ve got chocolate?" I asked as a smile tugged at my lips. I could make a lot of things with chocolate.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    "Don''t get too excited," Fiona warned. "It doesn''t taste like anything. Nothing here ever does."


    "Why is that anyway?"


    She shrugged. "Nobody knows. We''ve got all the ingredients for good food, but it never tastes right. The longer you''re here, the less that seems to concern anyone though. A lot of things are like that."


    That was worrisome. I''d had a few fuzzy moments myself too where I thought I cared about something and then suddenly didn''t. Something strange was happening in this dungeon, but I had the overwhelming sense that I shouldn''t ask anything else about it.


    So I didn''t.


    "My cooking will be good. I promise."


    That jam had tasted sweet and fruity, exactly like I thought it should. Cooking was something I did well, the one thing that I could control in this strange place full of uncertainty, and I wasn''t about to let that slip away.


    After going through more of her inventory, I asked for the flour, eggs, butter, sugar, and chocolate. It wasn''t everything I needed, but hopefully I could get the baking soda from my ingredient efficiency skill. Because nothing would win her over like a warm, gooey, chocolate chip cookie.


    "How long have you been here?" I asked as I melted the butter.


    There wasn''t a recipe for this in my cookbook, but I just knew that was the first step for these cookies. After it cooled down, I''d mix in the sugar, eggs, flour, and broken up pieces of chocolate.


    "I''ve been here for a few months I think," Fiona said, taking her hammer off her back to clean it. "I’ve been farming experience for a while, but I’m ready to move past the safe zone now that I’m a level 8.”


    "That''s great," I said, glad to have found somebody who knew a bit more about how things worked here. "Is that the average time it takes people?"


    I started mixing the ingredients together until a nice light-brown dough formed. Then I broke up the chocolate bar, mixing so many chocolate chunks into the dough that it could barely hold them all. Apparently I had a sweet tooth.


    Fiona tilted her head. "Honestly, it''s a little hard to keep track of time in here, so I''m not sure. Mind if I ask you something though?"


    "Umm, sure, but I don''t know how much help I''ll be."


    "What are you doing with that thing?" Fiona nodded at the little slime, who was eying up the cookie dough with stars in his eyes. "You do know that slimes are monsters, right? Or were you not strong enough to kill it?"


    The slime shrank in on himself and moved closer to me, as if the other woman was suddenly an enemy. I pulled him onto my lap just in case she was, but knew there wasn''t much I could do if she tried to hurt him. I''d have to get stronger if I wanted to keep Jellybean safe.


    "This slime is my friend," I said firmly, patting his head. "What''s up with everyone assuming all monsters are evil? Even the system gave me a title for befriending the slime, so it must think it''s fine."


    "You got a title for it?" Fiona asked, her hands halting their cleaning.


    [Slime Friend]


    The box appeared as if she''d called it forth.


    Fiona whistled like she was impressed before going back to her polishing. "That''s pretty cool. Most people have slime killer or slime slayer titles, but you''re the first slime friend I''ve seen."


    The slime trembled in my lap. I wrapped my arms around him, murmuring calming things until Fiona held her hands up.


    "I''m not going to hurt your friend, okay?" She leaned closer. "How''d you do it though? Befriend a slime?"


    "I fed it."


    She laughed, grinning widely. "Maybe I underestimated that baking your way through the dungeon plan."


    "The skills have been really helpful so far," I said. "What''s the best way to level them up?"


    "Leveling skills is like exercising your muscles. The more you use them, the better they''ll be. When you reach certain levels, you''ll get new skill options too that are based on the kinds of things you''ve been doing. So if you keep baking, you''ll probably get some pretty cool baking related skill options. Same with being nice to slimes."


    "That''s good to know, thanks."


    I patted Jellybean, hoping our bond would keep growing stronger. It was nice to know that the system rewarded me for just doing the things I wanted to do anyway instead of forcing me to be something I wasn''t. Maybe that was why it had seemed so helpful, because it was following my lead. So I''d just keep baking and playing with slimes and see where that took me.


    Now that that was settled, I had to do something about this lack of baking powder.


    "Ummm...don''t judge me for this," I mumbled before focusing on the cookie dough. I had to be confident and intense like the system had told me. "Ingredient Efficiency! Use baking powder!"


    The blue mana bar shot down until it was almost empty. Apparently, baking powder used a lot more mana than sugar did. I''d have to be careful with that skill.


    Fiona''s shoulders shook with silent laughter as she covered her mouth. "Umm, what was that?"


    "What do you mean?" The back of my neck warmed. "The system said skills worked better if you shouted them."


    Laughter burst out of her so intense that she had to wipe tears from her eyes. "Sorry, I''m not laughing at you, I promise. The system is just well known for getting bored, I guess? It sometimes tells adventurers weird things."


    The system and I were going to have a long hard talk about that later, but right now I just focused on shaping the cookie dough into balls until my embarrassment faded. It felt like a cool magical spell when I was shouting it, like I was an actual mage. So maybe the system had just wanted me to get in the spirit of the dungeon.


    Or maybe I was giving it too much credit.


    Since I didn''t have an actual oven to bake these cookies in, I took a pan out of my item box to pan fry them. They wouldn''t taste quite as good, but it was the best I could do right now.


    After a few minutes, the air filled with the scent of warm, buttery cookies. I flipped them over in the pan to finish cooking while a tear rolled down my cheek. Dammit, was cooking going to make me cry every time? I wasn''t even using onions, but the scent of cookies just felt so familiar.


    "It''s okay." Fiona leaned forward and patted my knee. "A lot of newcomers get teary-eyed at random things. That''ll go away soon too."


    I''d already forgotten everything before I''d woken up in that meadow, but at least my body seemed to remember the important things. The ones that were so ingrained in my mind that they''d stuck around even after everything else was gone. If I lost that too...


    I clutched my aching chest.


    "I don''t want to lose anything else," I whispered. "I want to hold onto it, as tight as possible. I want to remember."


    She sighed. "Are you sure? What if your life before the dungeon wasn''t good? Maybe that''s why we''re all here, for a do over."


    "Whether it''s good or bad, it''s still my life." I took the cookies out of the frying pan, placing them in the pot to cool. "I deserve to remember it."


    [Chocolate Chip Cookies Level 2 Acquired]


    [+15 XP]


    My cookbook floated out of my menu, flipping to a blank page so it could write down the chocolate chip cookie recipe. The shimmering ink filling up the page felt so satisfying, like it was slowly becoming an actual cookbook full of tasty recipes.


    Fiona set down her hammer. "If you really want to remember, then you should keep baking and doing what you''re doing. The people who remember their old lives the longest seem to be the ones with classes that align with their memories. You got lucky with that culinary mage class, so use it."


    That was reassuring, even if she was probably just trying to make me feel better.


    "Okay, then that''s what I''ll do." I nodded, smiling as the slime tried to lean forward and gobble up the cookies like I wouldn''t notice. I nudged the pot away so they could keep cooling. "Is there somewhere I can get an oven and other baking supplies? Maybe a house or a cafe I could work at or something?"


    "What''s a cafe?" she asked.


    "It''s..."


    What was a cafe? It was at the tip of my tongue, but I couldn''t seem to place it. I rubbed my temples as a headache started to form.


    A happy little moan made me forget about the cafe as Fiona bit into a cookie, her eyes closed as if she was savoring the taste.


    "These are amazing!" She grabbed a second one before she was even done with the first. "You really can bake food that tastes good!"


    I grinned with pride, picking out some cookies for the slime. He trilled with excitement as he ate them, wiggling in what I hoped was enjoyment.


    Finally, I tried some for myself. The cookies were still warm and gooey, falling apart in my hands. I took a bite, sighing as the chocolate melted in my mouth. The buttery taste filled my senses, warming my soul as well as my body.


    Chocolate chip cookies really were the perfect comfort food. Nobody could be sad while eating one of these.


    All too soon the cookies were gone, devoured between the three of us.


    "Wanna make some more?" Fiona asked, already holding out the ingredients with a hopeful look.


    I laughed. "Sure, I''ll make all the cookies you want."


    The slime bounced happily and Fiona slowly reached out to pet him. He cooed and leaned into her hand as she smiled. Cookies apparently had the power to bond people and slimes together too.


    Guess I''d be baking a lot of them then.