Mushroom Jungle

The black hood was lifted, revealing a cascade of smooth silver-white hair down her back. Her delicate black skin was as beautiful as the finest obsidian, while her crimson eyes gave off a sense of beauty and danger. A huge spider tattoo covered her exquisite, stunning face.

Beautiful and dangerous—those were the first impressions she gave Mark and the others.

"Vinnie, what did you want to say?"

Mark looked at the pointed-eared girl before him, took a deep breath, and asked.

That was right. The final teammate Mark had chosen was a member of the Drow Elf race from the underground world, the Underdark.

A twisted race that regarded betrayal, power, and cruelty as its core values.

But since Mark had dared to choose Vinnie as a teammate, he was confident that she would not betray him—at least not during this Dungeon exploration.

"Shadow Sense. Captain, don't forget, I'm a Shadow Assassin."

A dangerous smile curled at Vinnie's lips. As an adult Drow Elf, sensing darkness and shadows was an innate ability of hers. Moreover, her profession was the Shadow Assassin, a special class among the Drow Elf race.

Even in an unusual environment like the Fourth Layer, her perception would not be affected in the slightest. After all, shadows were everywhere.

"I understand. Vinnie, you'll guide our direction from here on."

"Then thank you for trusting me, Captain."

Vinnie gave Mark a slightly playful wink, then sat beside Oliver. When she noticed how uncomfortable he looked, she deliberately pressed herself against him and let out a string of giggles.

Fortunately, Vinnie still knew what mattered. Following the sensations coming from the shadows, she directed Oliver onward.

Although Vinnie did not know where they were going, heading toward the area with the most shadows and life could not be wrong. They were exploring the Dungeon for treasure and power, after all, and places where monsters gathered usually had good things.

"Wind Blade Barrage!"

As they continued onward, Swamp Pythons and giant crocodiles occasionally appeared ahead of Mark and the others. Whenever they could avoid them, they did. When they could not, Oliver acted, sending a series of wind blades to slice apart the monsters blocking their path.

No one knew how much time had passed. When Oliver began to feel that he had expended too much mana and mental energy, and fatigue appeared on his face, Vinnie beside him suddenly turned serious and raised a hand to point toward the front left.

"Oliver, go that way!"

The next second, the Clearwind Boat sped in the direction Vinnie had indicated. After passing through a patch of dense fog, the mist before them suddenly thinned, and an almost dreamlike scene appeared before their eyes.

The poisonous swamp had transformed into a vast Mushroom Jungle. Giant mushrooms of all colors formed a forest that stretched beyond sight, while small Puchis that scattered spores fluttered constantly among the towering mushrooms of varying heights.

"Am I hallucinating?"

Oliver stared at the dreamlike sight before him and instinctively looked to his companions for confirmation. Who could have imagined that such a vast mushroom world was hidden within this Venomous Swamp?

"Do you think there's an illusionist here capable of making a Drow Elf hallucinate?"

Vinnie rolled her eyes at Oliver. As an adult Drow Elf, she herself possessed many spell-like abilities that could create illusions, which was why she could be certain that they had not fallen under one.

"Mark, what should we do now? Keep exploring, or leave and try another direction?"

At this moment, Ireland, the party's priest, looked at Mark and asked.

"Keep exploring."

After a brief silence, Mark had no intention of leaving. Compared with the unchanging swamp and thick fog outside, this suddenly appearing Mushroom Jungle was surely unusual. Perhaps it was even where the entrance to the Fifth Layer was located.

"Alright, then we'll keep moving."

After a brief discussion, everyone agreed to press onward. As they passed one giant mushroom after another, Mark and the others discovered that the poisonous fog around them gradually vanished completely as they ventured deeper, replaced by spores that filled the entire space.

"Guga~"

"Gugugaga!"

Sharp cries suddenly came from above Mark and the others. Immediately afterward, battered wooden spears and clumps of mud rained down from overhead, but before they could get close, they were blown away by the hurricane swirling around the Clearwind Boat.

"Are those Goblins?"

Ireland raised his head and looked at the monsters shouting atop a mushroom to their upper side. They had ugly, ferocious appearances, with green skin covered in fungal threads. Several brightly colored mushrooms grew from their heads, making them look from afar as though they were wearing mushroom caps.

"Probably?" Oliver was not entirely sure either. "Maybe living here caused them to mutate into something new. There are quite a few mutated monsters in Dungeons like this."

Above them, seeing that their attacks had no effect on the humans below, the Goblin Shaman holding a wand waved its arms and let out several strange cries. Before long, several Goblins that had left returned carrying purple-black Slimes.

"Guguga!"

At the Goblin Priest's command, the largest Orc Goblin grabbed a Slime in each hand and hurled them fiercely. When they reached the space above Mark and the others, the Slimes exploded instantly.

Clumps of sticky Slime gel, full of deadly poison and reeking of rot, fell like a torrential downpour. Mark and the others, who had not expected this at all, were drenched from head to toe.

Even with Ireland's Purification divine spell, so they did not need to worry about the poison, the sticky, foul-smelling Slime gel clung to their bodies and could not be shaken off. It was simply disgusting beyond belief.

"Damn Goblins! I'll skin them alive!"

Vinnie touched the sticky, stinking fluid covering her body. Her lovely face twisted with fury as she drew two crescent-shaped scimitars from her waist. Her figure flashed forward, racing up the mushroom stalk at high speed.

In the blink of an eye, Vinnie had reached the top. Her body instantly sank into the shadow beneath her feet, and when she reappeared, she was already among the Goblins, her twin blades drawing beautiful yet deadly arcs.

In mere dozens of seconds, dozens of Goblins were chopped into pieces of varying sizes.

But even that did not quell Vinnie's anger. She began searching for the Goblins' camp, intending to wipe out the entire nest.

"Treasure chest!"

Just as Vinnie spotted the Goblin camp in the distance, she suddenly noticed a gleaming treasure chest sitting atop an altar in the center of the camp.

"I didn't expect there to be a treasure chest in a Goblin camp. What an unexpected reward."

At that moment, Mark and the others, who had hurried over behind Vinnie, also discovered the treasure chest. The gloomy expressions on their faces instantly brightened.

Compared with whatever they might gain from the treasure chest, being drenched in Slime fluid more disgusting than shit suddenly seemed acceptable.