The Fifth Floor Has Been Dangerous Lately

Unlike his frantic departure, Dylan's return journey took more than a month.

Along the way, he wrapped his face in bandages, making himself look like a mummy.

He avoided populated areas as much as possible, only restocking at post stations or villages.

After finally returning to Mute Wind Town, he did not stop to rest. He hurriedly bought supplies and entered the Dungeon alone.

He did not go to the tavern for information. The Dungeon had always been the same; how much could change in two months?

Inside the Dungeon, he took routes with few resources but also few Monsters, relatively safe paths. He had not come this time to make money.

He wanted to take another look at that swamp.

He did not know what he was expecting. Every time he thought of hiding away, the scene he had seen in the Treasure Room surfaced in his mind.

He had considered that it might be some kind of mental suggestion left behind by Parasitism, that returning would mean being completely devoured.

But in the end, he still decided to come and see. If he died because of it... then so be it.

Walking along the Blue Stone Corridor dozens of meters above the ground between the Fourth and Fifth Floors, Dylan passed a group of Adventurers.

"Friend, wait."

Dylan turned around. The person calling him was a young man in leather armor, with a curved blade hanging from his waist.

He looked under twenty, yet he had come up from the Fifth Floor. He was clearly someone blessed with enviable talent.

"What is it?"

As he spoke, Dylan had already gripped the hilt of his sword.

One could never be too careful. The Dungeon was full of every kind of person, and someone traveling alone like him was even more likely to encounter those with ill intentions.

Seeing his movement, the young man merely offered a friendly warning.

"I don't know if you've heard, but something strange has happened on the Fifth Floor recently. No one has figured out what's going on yet, so it's best not to take any risks."

"Something strange? Did the Parasitic Trees go berserk?"

"Not that. It's the Pujis.

A group of Mutant Pujis has occupied more than half the floor. Their habits are unknown, but supposedly people have already died in there.

We wanted to go around the Pujis and head toward the Cave, but we found Pujis blocking every passable route, so we came back."

The young man seemed genuinely well-intentioned. Dylan nodded slightly.

"Thanks."

Then he continued downward. He had come looking for Pujis in the first place.

"Tch, what a suspicious freak, hiding his face like that. Vera was kind enough to warn him, and he didn't even believe her."

Dylan had not gone far before the female archer in the young man's group mocked him unhappily.

"All right, all right, that's normal. Let's go too. We still need to check the other passage."

The young man's voice gradually faded behind him.

Dylan had a fairly favorable impression of someone as enthusiastic as him—though that goodwill was probably useless anyway.

As for the female archer's mockery, he had long passed the age of taking such things to heart.

There were three connecting passages between the Fourth and Fifth Floors. This one was close to Poison Mist Lake.

Dylan had drunk a Poison Resistance Potion beforehand, but when he emerged, he was dumbfounded.

The lake was still there, but where was the poison?

Green mist had once shrouded the entire lake. It was not only poisonous, but also severely obstructed visibility.

Now, he could see far into the distance at a glance.

Dylan spotted several Pujis wandering by the lakeside in the distance. Just as the young man had said, they blocked the path to the Cave.

The reason this lake was covered in poisonous mist was because Green-Eyed Frogs lived here. Over time, they had continuously exhaled green toxic fog until it blanketed the entire lake.

Only then did Dylan realize that, with his vision this clear, he had not seen a single Green-Eyed Frog.

There were only a few scattered Strong Acid Slimes and Water Spirits.

What exactly had happened here?

As he continued forward, Dylan felt somewhat uneasy.

Fortunately, the Pujis were still the same as before. They ignored his passing, which made Dylan sigh in relief.

After crossing Poison Mist Lake, now devoid of poisonous fog, Dylan headed toward the edge of the swamp.

He planned to bypass those Parasitic Trees and sneak into the Treasure Room to check the situation there.

But after arriving at the swamp, he saw a similar sight once again.

The native Monsters had vanished without a trace, replaced by Pujis wandering through the area...

When the young man told him the Pujis had occupied more than half the floor, Dylan had thought they had simply integrated into the Fifth Floor's ecosystem.

Now, it seemed they had killed off all the Monsters that originally lived here?

Considering how those Pujis had easily killed Parasitic Trees before, it did not seem impossible.

When he finally arrived before that stone wall, something unexpected happened again—

The Treasure Room was gone!

It had not merely closed again. The entire thing, including the stone door, had vanished.

Dylan was certain he had not mistaken the location.

Just as he was at a loss, a voice popped up in his mind.

"What? Looking to touch a treasure chest?"

Linden had been rather troubled lately.

It was not the construction of the Mushroom Garden troubling him. Everything on the Fifth Floor was proceeding according to plan.

The Forest Gnolls had now become Mushroom Gnolls. They had turned into Puppets, like Pujis, that completely obeyed Linden's commands.

But Linden was not particularly satisfied with these Puppets.

Their combat strength was not very high, yet they consumed a great deal of energy and needed to eat meat.

In terms of cost-effectiveness, they were utterly outclassed by the Pujis.

He had kept them around only to study the skill Fusion Parasitism.

Now that his research was nearly complete, Linden was considering whether to use them up in battle or bury them directly as fertilizer.

What troubled Linden was that his relationship with humans had become somewhat strained recently.

Whenever Adventurers saw Pujis, they chose either to take a detour or attack first, and Linden had never been in the habit of taking hits without returning them...

And the root cause of all this was a bunch of idiot Adventurers who had brought a girl into the Dungeon.

Three Bronze-rank Adventurers above LV25 had brought a novice female Mage who was only LV16 to explore the Fifth Floor, and they insisted on passing through the Swamp Zone.

It was like someone wanting to come into Linden's bedroom for an adventure. Naturally, he did not agree.

He sent Pujis to block their path and even fired a shot beside them to make them understand the difference in strength.

The three Bronze-rank Adventurers understood, but the novice Mage did not.

Thinking she should strike first, she spent ages chanting before casting Electric Claw at a Self-Destruct Puji beside her.

Linden truly could not understand why a Mage would want to fight in melee.

When faced with someone determined to die, Linden had always been happy to oblige.

Amid a dazzling explosion, the beauty flew more than five meters into the air. By the time she landed, she was already a heap of mangled flesh.

That should have been the end of it. Linden had not intended to pursue the matter of them trespassing into the swamp and killing an innocent Self-Destruct Puji.

Unexpectedly, one of the Adventurers charged over with tears streaming down his face, looking as though he wanted vengeance.

After hesitating, one of the other two charged over as well. The result was obvious—two more heaps of mangled flesh.

When the Pujis turned toward the last person, he decisively tore open a scroll and vanished entirely.

A Teleportation Scroll!?

So such a thing really existed.

Heaven and earth bear witness, Linden had never intended to kill them all to silence them. He had only been acting in self-defense.

But judging by the Adventurers' reactions afterward, it seemed this blame would be impossible to wash away.

He did not know what things would develop into in the end.

A full-scale war?

Or should he give up the areas outside the swamp, reduce his presence, and wait for the storm to pass?

But when he discovered that the half-human, half-Mushroom Dylan had appeared on the Fifth Floor again, he immediately had an idea.