Mushrooms Spreading Gradually

Second Floor of the Dungeon.

A light breeze swept through the forest, carrying the crisp scent of grass and trees. Clear spring water flowed through rocky streams, reflecting the orange-white glow of Firefly Grass.

At first glance, it looked like a lush natural woodland filled with flowing water.

But in reality, nearly every small Monster in these woods excelled at hiding and ambushing, and many of them were poisonous.

For inexperienced newcomers, dying inside was perfectly normal if they had not prepared Antidote Potions.

Gray thrust his longsword into the waist-high grass. With a light flick, he speared a green Scorpion the size of a foot.

"Didn't they say that after a Magic Tide, the number of Monsters would drop sharply for a while?"

"We haven't even been walking that long, and I've already stabbed three spiders, six Scorpions, and four little snakes to death..."

Calvin, who was checking the Dungeon guide beside him, explained without even looking up.

"The decrease applies to high-level or large Monsters.

"After a Magic Tide, the concentration of magic power inside the Dungeon rises dramatically. Low-level small Monsters benefit the most, so it's normal for them to pop up in huge numbers."

As he spoke, he held the guide in front of Gray and pointed at a section. "Look, this floor was also supposed to have a common Black-and-White Python. Haven't we failed to encounter one this entire way?"

Gray swung his longsword upward, cutting a green snake hanging above their heads in half. He glanced at the guide and complained.

"Five snakes... This is way too annoying. How much farther until the next floor?"

"Still quite a ways," Calvin said after pausing, apparently studying the map. "How about this? We take a detour. There's a natural cave passage we can use, and there won't be so many annoying little things there."

"What's in there?" Gray did not believe it would be a completely safe passage.

"Spiders. Giant Spiders."

Gray raised his torch high, illuminating the messy, torn spiderwebs within the gray-white stone cave. The place seemed not to have recovered from the destruction caused by the Magic Tide.

"Where are the spiders?"

Calvin pointed overhead. Gray looked up and immediately spotted small red dots hidden in the darkness.

"Don't worry. These things are actually pretty timid. As long as you don't get stuck in their webs, they won't dare come down and attack."

"How do you know?"

"The guide says so."

Gray nodded, then asked, "Then why aren't they coming down to eat this?"

As he spoke, he used the torch to drive back the darkness ahead, revealing a Puji struggling endlessly in a spiderweb.

"Puji? Spiders are carnivores, so it's normal that they don't eat it." Calvin frowned in confusion. "But why is there a Puji here?"

"What's wrong with it appearing here? Didn't we run into them on the First Floor too?" Gray did not understand what was so strange.

"That's why people like you who don't read never understand anything."

Calvin moved closer to inspect the strange Puji while explaining to Gray.

"The Magic Tide can indeed cause Monsters to wander into other floors, but they only wander upward from lower floors.

"It is almost impossible for Monsters from upper floors to go down to lower floors.

"And this Puji is really strange. It even has tentacles..."

"Then maybe Walking Mushrooms exist on even lower floors too."

"But the guide says that only the First Floor has Pujis."

"When was this guide written? Could it be outdated?"

"Three years ago. It shouldn't be outdated..." Calvin was no longer certain. If the guide really was outdated, they might encounter unexpected danger.

Gray stepped forward and removed the Puji from the spiderweb.

"Gray, what are you doing? It's a mutant. It could be dangerous!"

Gray shrugged. "How dangerous could a Walking Mushroom be? I just wanted to see what it was doing here."

The moment the Puji touched the ground, its four Mycelium Tentacles suddenly stretched out and shot into the darkness above.

After a sharp hiss from overhead, a Giant Spider two meters wide was dragged down and smashed hard into the ground, dying instantly from the fall.

Then the Puji slowly dragged the spider's corpse toward the exit.

Gray turned around and found Calvin staring straight at him.

"Fine, I admit it was a little dangerous... Want to follow it and take a look?"

Gray pointed at the Puji, which was about to turn around a corner. The direction it was heading was not on their route.

Calvin's curiosity had been piqued as well. After thinking for a moment, he nodded.

"We have plenty of time anyway. Let's follow it and take a look!"

Having reached an agreement, the two followed the Puji all the way.

They watched it slap away an ambushing Scorpion with one tentacle, then enter two hidden side paths in succession before finally reaching a small cave tucked between cracks in the rock, faint light glowing within.

The two came to the cave entrance and peered inside.

Mycelium covered every corner of the small cave. Mushrooms of various sizes glowed dimly, illuminating the entire cavern.

What made the two of them gasp even more was this.

A mountain of bones stretched from the cave entrance inward. Dire Wolves, Black and White Snakes, Giant Spiders, unknown Dragon Beasts—the corpses of these Monsters were mixed together.

Some of the remains were already covered in Mycelium, while others seemed to have been moved there only recently, their blood not yet fully coagulated.

Several mutant Pujis with tentacles were carrying the newly arrived spider corpse to an empty spot, carefully ensuring that it did not scrape the Mycelium on the ground.

Gulp—

After exchanging glances, Gray and Calvin both saw the shock in each other's eyes.

The two slowly backed away on tiptoe, only relaxing once they were completely far from the cave.

The moment they emerged, Calvin complained, "W-why were you so nervous? This is only the Second Floor. You're already LV31, and you were still scared?"

"Weren't you the one who got nervous first?"

"Fine, fine, but something that weird would make anyone nervous. Where else would you see Pujis that brutal?

"I'm going to tell my teacher about this when I get back."

As he spoke, Calvin turned around for a look. There were no Pujis following behind them.

"For now, let's hurry to the Fifth Floor."

Hmm?

Linden, who was planting Large Mushrooms in the forest, suddenly received an image from the Second Floor outpost—two human Adventurers spying on it.

So the Dungeon has finally opened?

Looks like I need to speed up the growth of the Large Mushrooms a little.

I need to replenish the Combat Pujis too. Otherwise, if the guard force is insufficient when troublemakers show up, that'll be a problem.

As for those two Adventurers, Linden did not bother with them.

He had never intended to hide this from humans in the first place, and even if he wanted to, he could not conceal it.

The cave had been chosen in a remote location merely to reduce harassment from Monsters.

Besides, even if he wanted to do something, he could not.

Unlike the direct connection through Mycelium, signals transmitted through Mushroom Nodes had a tiny bit of delay. What he was seeing was probably footage from six minutes ago.

The Pujis outside carried out their assigned tasks autonomously after receiving their orders.

They would only retaliate if human Adventurers attacked first or tried to steal the Monster corpses inside the cave—this had always been Linden's neutral policy.

If someone really destroys these outposts, I can only count myself unlucky and take revenge after they reach the Fifth Floor!