Why Were They Passing by My Home?

Pu pu—

Pu pu—

Above the Spiral Corridor, seven Pujis hopped upward one step at a time.

These stairs had been built for humans, and they were simply too tall for the short-legged Pujis, who were only half a person's height. They could only advance by hopping up each step.

These were the Pujis Linden had sent to the First Floor.

Thanks to the Moonshadow Stone left behind by a kind Adventurer—a strange mineral that changed color every half day—

Linden could keep track of the days even inside the Dungeon.

After Dylan had failed to return for seven straight days, and even Adventurers had gradually disappeared, Linden clearly realized: something big had happened!

Could the Dungeon have reached the end of its service life and be slated for demolition?

Whatever the case, Linden naturally could not just sit around and wait.

To find out what was going on, besides the group of Pujis he had already decided to send downward to investigate the source of the mana fluctuations, Linden had added another group to head upward.

Since the Monsters on the first four floors were low-level, this group was not particularly large.

Just seven Pujis.

And, as expected, although the Monsters all seemed restless and looked eager to take a bite out of any Puji they saw—

One Mushroom Cannon was enough to make their corpses behave.

Using the guide Linden had mooched off Dylan ages ago, the group took just one day to nearly reach the First Floor.

Half that time had been spent climbing stairs.

Come to think of it, although every floor had vastly different terrain and ecosystems, the stairways connecting them all looked like they had been cast from the same mold.

Linden seriously suspected the builder had been lazy and simply copied and pasted them.

When the Pujis finally reached the First Floor, Linden felt a little excited.

This was the closest he had ever been to the outside world. In the past, to avoid drawing attention, Linden had tried not to send Pujis to other floors.

Just as Dylan had said, the First Floor was a corridor maze.

Its architectural style used ancient bluish-gray stone bricks, making it look rather similar to the Eighth Floor at first glance.

However, unlike the hellishly difficult maze on the Eighth Floor, the First Floor maze had no teleportation arrays, no traps, and did not even gather Monsters into packs.

The Monsters were sparsely distributed and weak, so even rookies fresh out of the gate could handle them with ease.

Although the corridor layout itself was confusing, that little bit of challenge had long been completely eliminated by the detailed guide.

The Pujis headed straight for the Dungeon gate along the shortest route. Today, Linden was determined to see what exactly was going on.

Pu pu—

Hm?

A familiar sound came from around the corner ahead. Before long, a familiar figure emerged—

A wild Puji!

Opening the Panel, Linden saw it was Level 1, with all five attributes at 1. It had no skills apart from the innate talent to spread spores.

Its sole purpose in existence was to scatter spores when it was eaten by other Monsters.

It was a genuine, all-natural Puji.

Compared to Linden's Pujis, which carried four or five Level 7 or 8 skills, it was basically a Mushroom Overlord.

The wild Puji seemed completely unaware of the others of its kind and wandered blindly along the corridor by itself.

Linden's Pujis gently shook their Mushroom Caps, and a tiny bit of Spore stuck to the wild Puji.

The Mycelium Network immediately gained a new member.

Stop!

The Puji pulled back the little leg it had been about to step forward with and obediently accepted Linden's command, just like the seven beside it.

Linden's guess had been confirmed. Low-level Monsters like Pujis, which had no sense of self and only instincts, were simply too easy to control.

Even if he had not produced them himself, as long as they connected to the Mycelium Network, he could easily control them.

Though it was not especially useful.

Taking the Puji with them, the group arrived near the gate.

As they neared the end, it was as though they had entered an entirely different area. The difference was so great that it might as well have been another floor.

Eight enormous jet-black stone pillars stood in the hall, each covered in dark golden geometric patterns.

Above the pillars, vague metal components connected all eight into a ring. Sixteen chains extended from the ring toward the center, all ultimately linking to an intangible circular Magic Array floating in the middle.

Under Mana Perception, the array flickered on and off, like a broken bathroom light bulb from Linden's previous life.

Beyond this hall lay the Dungeon gate.

Linden did not send all the Pujis forward. Instead, he singled out the wild Puji to scout ahead.

When the Puji reached the gate, it found the ground covered with traps and barricades.

The twelve-meter-wide gate had been blocked until only a narrow horizontal gap remained.

Through that gap, Linden saw several pairs of terrified eyes, as well as a crossbow aimed at the Puji.

Whoosh—

The poor wild Puji was shot through and sent flying three meters away. It died instantly, bursting into a spray of spores.

However, Linden discovered that the spores rapidly lost their vitality, apparently affected by something special in this hall.

Now it was certain: humans had blocked the gate.

He still did not know why, but when he had approached just now, he had detected a Mycelium Network signal outside the gate.

The seven Pujis stuck close to the wall and moved through a blind spot to the section of wall nearest the gate.

Only then did Linden finally connect to the other party.

"Dylan?"

"Boss! You actually came to the First Floor! Are you here to break through the Dungeon too?"

For a moment, Dylan fell into deep conflict. Should he stand with humanity, or with the Mushrooms...?

"What the hell are you talking about? Stop babbling and tell me why the humans sealed the Dungeon gate!"

"Huh? Oh, right!"

Realizing he had misunderstood, Dylan breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly told Linden everything he knew about the Magic Tide.

Then Linden was left dumbfounded.

The Monsters would charge out together?

And there were even Monsters from the Deep Zone among them?

That meant those Monsters would have to pass through his Fifth Floor before reaching the First Floor, right?

What kind of mess was this?!

Dylan also said that the Adventurer Guild had hired nearly every idle Adventurer to take turns guarding the gate.

The fact that they needed to be so heavily prepared fully demonstrated the scale and strength of the Monsters in the Magic Tide.

Could his Pujis stop them?

And judging from the situation outside the gate, he could not possibly hide outside the Dungeon now.

But then again, he counted as a Monster too, didn't he? If the Monsters during the Magic Tide would prioritize charging at the gate instead of killing each other, then he probably did not need to worry too much.

No matter what, at least he knew what was going on.

Linden told Dylan not to get involved in the Magic Tide. That Camouflage on him might fail during a fight.

Linden himself also needed to head back and make preparations.

The group of Pujis exploring downward was currently tangled up with the Monsters on the Seventh Floor, so Linden told them to retreat as well.

Before the Magic Tide arrived, he needed to make as many preparations as possible. He also needed to mass-produce a batch of Pujis beyond their limits.

The only thing that comforted Linden was that, in the secret space within the Swamp Zone, he had successfully embedded two S-Rank Magic Crystals into his vehicle.

Although the bonuses were weakened because they had not been created with his own skill, but inherited from Old Bat—

The two S-Rank Magic Crystals still increased skill power by 200%, which was more than satisfying.

It was time to officially give it a name. It would be called... Knight!