video;

[physicianhealthyself]

I--

[Sounding a little flustered, Baizhu quickly pans the camera around to one of the apothecary cabinets in his pharmacy, which appears to be sprouting a disproportionately large number of mushrooms. The usually calm and collected doctor looks a bit frazzled as he speaks up.]

I would appreciate some extra pairs of hands with this... predicament that I have found myself in. [Really, he should have known better, but who could have guessed that the mushrooms would be so prolific even when properly stored?]

Preferably before these things ruin my entire stock.

[Please send help.]

Comments

UN: Intergalactic Baseballer 🌠video

[starwill]

. . . what kind of mushrooms are those?

[She's not exactly offering her help yet, but she sure is asking the most important question here.]

[physicianhealthyself]

Medicinal, I believe. The scientific classification seems somewhat irrelevant at this point.

[He sounds a little stressed.]

[starwill]

I see... if you don't mind a couple of pairs of hands, I can help.

[physicianhealthyself]

Of course not! It was the very purpose of this message, after all. [A brief pause.]

I am... a little concerned about disposal. Perhaps burning?

[starwill]

Burning seems like such a waste, though... surely there must be some other use for them.

Like for potions or a soup.

[physicianhealthyself]

Their use is not in question... what is in question is how they may be stored without exponentially multiplying.

[Archons, send help.]

[starwill]

Hmm... do you think they'd keep multiplying inside a bag of holding?

My other idea is probably to have them in one of the portals...

[physicianhealthyself]

I fear they will keep multiplying no matter where they are.

[He really didn't think it through before he brought them back here. Hindsight...]

A portal? It seems unwise to give them so much space.

[starwill]

It was the first things that came to mind. If the mushrooms are in a portal place that's empty, at least they'd multiply in peace.

[physicianhealthyself]

[Well, that-- That might not be a bad idea, actually.]

Do you know of an empty portal realm?

[starwill]

Not a completely empty one.

But there's a portal that I found that only has plants, no living creatures that could work.

[physicianhealthyself]

It is certainly an option.

[He thinks about it for a moment longer.]

Yes, I believe that under the circumstances it will have to do.

un: gleaner

[gleaner]

On my way.

[physicianhealthyself]

My thanks.

-->Action!

[gleaner]

[Erenville grabbed his book of foraging so he could try and identify the mushrooms while on his way to Baizhu's shop. He couldn't recognize them through the video, so clearly they were a type he had not encountered yet.

By the time he arrived, Erenville seemed to locate which ones these were. Unfortunately, the information provided was not going to be helpful.]

Baizhu, I'm here. And, unfortunately, I do have some bad news about the mushrooms.

[He let himself in, carrying extra empty bags.]

[physicianhealthyself]

[Baizhu, in the meantime, appears to have discovered some more bad news of his own. There is a metal bucket in the middle of the shop floor which also appears to be covered in mushrooms. He looks at Erenville with something of a weary expression when the Shetona walks in.]

I believe that I may have some idea of what that 'bad news' may be, my friend.

[That is... that this is going to be more of a trial to fix than he first thought.]

UN: fantausy |Video

[veileddreamer]

How did you...get into this predicament...in the first place?

[physicianhealthyself]

I... severely underestimated how prolific this particular species would be even after harvesting.

Video; un: @)-,--

[ashenrose]

Wow... so many mushrooms.

How did they grow like that?? They must really, really like your cupboard.

["Helping".]

[physicianhealthyself]

[Ergh. She's cute, though. Mary reminds him of Qiqi, sometimes.]

Yes, it would appear that they are making themselves quite at home.

un:happyaround

[roundandaround]

[Rinku tilts her head and scratches one of her fuzzy head nubs.]

Do you think they're edible?

[physicianhealthyself]

I would say that they are, though they are for medicinal use. They may not be quite to everyone's taste for consuming in food.

[Though, now she says that... Maybe it's worth looking into.]

[roundandaround]

Oh, yeah, that's true... I wonder how they grew so fast.

[physicianhealthyself]

I would expect that magic is involved.

[Sigh.]

I should have been more careful.

[roundandaround]

Hm... If they're medicine, then maybe we can all come over and try to make stuff with them! I still have Rika-chan's potion textbooks, it can't be that hard!

[physicianhealthyself]

You would be quite welcome to take as many as you please, though I would advise against attempting to store them in their raw form.

[This is what got him into this trouble to begin with.]

[roundandaround]

Hm... then we should bring normal bags instead of Hammerspace Purses?

[Like that will help.]

[physicianhealthyself]

I–

[Well...

Wait, no.]

Giving them unlimited space in which to multiply seems an ill-advised idea.

[roundandaround]

Oh, that's true, huh... I wonder where they can't grow, anyway? There's gotta be something, right?

[physicianhealthyself]

[He lets out a suffering little sigh.]

I truly should have thought about that before I decided to pocket one. Even the jacket I had on that day is ruined.

[roundandaround]

How do they get nutrients from that anyway? I don't know anything about mushrooms.

[physicianhealthyself]

Mushrooms are--

[He rubs his temple.]

Mushrooms often defy classification and the laws that we assume they ought to abide by. It would seem that these have been pushed further in that respect than any I am familiar with.

[roundandaround]

I guess that's what they meant by a student prank...

[physicianhealthyself]

[A grimace.]

Yes, I would imagine it is what they mean... though it goes rather beyond the kind of prank I would have thought of as a student.

[roundandaround]

Yeah, I thought the worst of those was just putting numbers on chickens. I saw that on TV once.

[physicianhealthyself]

I—...

[Hm.]

I'm not entirely sure what kind of reaction is appropriate for that.

[roundandaround]

Yeah, they numbered the chickens and set them loose in the school! But one number was missing, so the teachers still thought they had one to catch when they got them all.

[Video; UN: gentlebreeze]

[gentledawn]

[...mushrooms? What an ordeal! Xingchen is just as confused as Baizhu.]

What is making them sprout? We must discover that first.

[physicianhealthyself]

Magic, I suspect, given where I initially brought them here from.

[He's a little embarrassed, actually, that he wasn't more careful about this.]

Which means this is not something that will be solved easily.

voice; un: hakkai

[knowsvinewhip]

Oh.

Oh dear. That's a distressing amount of growth. How quickly did this come on?

[physicianhealthyself]

[Well they do seem to be trading personally mortifying situations right now, don't they.]

I... would say in a matter of hours.

[The temptation to start using fire as a control method is growing.]

I've never seen its like.

[knowsvinewhip]

Fascinating. In the worst way, of course.

I don't suppose dehumidifying the room would help?

[physicianhealthyself]

[In the worst way.]

Not without compromising my entire stock. Although— [Stressed!]

I may be at some significant risk of that already. The mushrooms have already invaded the neighbouring drawers.

un: hopespeak

[hopelesslyaverage]

I understand your problem. I had to close one of the welcome center doors because I brought in some of the mushrooms...

[He's afraid if he opens the door the mushrooms will spread like wild fire.]

But I will come help as much as I can.

[physicianhealthyself]

[A sigh.]

Thank you. I believe it is a surmountable issue if we can get ahead of it.

text | un: alchemist

[leucosis]

Oh, that is fairly out of control. ...Did you bring some back, too?

I'll help however I can. I assume that you still want them to be of use once picked again?

[physicianhealthyself]

[Albedo help he is so embarrassed.]

At this point it seems safer to simply remove them as quickly as possible.

[leucosis]

Good move. We'll just get rid of them all. I can come over and help dispose of them.

[ He'll have to do the same to his small collection. ]

[physicianhealthyself]

Thank you. Please do hurry.