Chapter Summaries

Linden gathered materials for Louisa’s Blood Clan advancement ritual and checked the magic formation with Eiding. He visited Little Blue on the Tenth Floor, promised the Werewolf he could soon go lower, and arrived with a mysterious dark green potion.

• Linden learned the ritual required six S-Rank Magic Crystals and fresh Werewolf fur, and he considered the Battle Puppets as a possible source of crystals.
• Linden brought the magic formation to Eiding, who judged it to be a refining formation.
• Linden visited Little Blue, the Werewolf he had rescued and treated, and promised he would be able to descend farther within a month.
• Little Blue noticed Puji’s scent had changed, but Puji distracted him by offering something fun from the outside world.
• Puji pulled a bottle of dark green potion from its belly.

Linden and his allies performed a costly ritual to promote Louisa by transferring Count Eunice’s bloodline power to her. Louisa survived with the mycelium’s help, and Yellow Book absorbed Eunice’s soul as a new page formed.

• Puji returned with wolf fur, and Yellow Book took charge of the magic-array carving until Linden brought Spark to help.
• Linden’s six special Pujis converted most of the Dungeon’s magic-crystal stock into six S-Rank Magic Crystals, after Little Black briefly stopped them to protect her treasure.
• Linden prepared Louisa for the ritual with recovery abilities and had Eunice paralyzed as the sacrifice.
• The ritual transferred Eunice’s blood essence into Louisa, whose body began failing until the mycelium expanded and absorbed the excess energy.
• Louisa reached LV53 and fainted after the ritual; Linden allowed Yellow Book to absorb Eunice’s soul, creating a new special page.

Linden examined the Yellow Book’s new attack and made it serve as Jida’s shield, while Piggy woke from the Blood-Stealing Ritual with increased strength and unsettling changes. Meanwhile, Prince Vesalius confronted Dean over Eunice’s death and demanded Gray, who was being held in the dungeon.

• The Yellow Book demonstrated that it could turn blood into a powerful swarm of Blood Blades, and Linden assigned it to protect Jida’s left arm as punishment.
• Piggy woke after three days, tested her altered Blood Manipulation, and discovered that she had gained three levels while her Mycelium had greatly increased.
• Vesalius arrived at the Demon Descendant castle and confronted Dean, blaming him for the intelligence that had led to Eunice’s death.
• Vesalius demanded to take Gray from the dungeon, but Dean refused and blocked his way.
• Vesalius left after their confrontation, and Dean headed to the dungeon, intending to beat Gray in anger.

Norris and the occupants of No. 3 Mushroom Garden evacuated when Prince Vesalius arrived, and Linden hid the Rift and the Demon Descendants from him. Vesalius searched the area, sealed the collapsing Lower Zone, and left, while Linden prepared to reopen the Rift in a week.

• Norris read a bizarre Yellow Book story about Mary’s birthday banquet before the boss alerted everyone that the old one had arrived.
• Linden evacuated the core personnel, Demon Descendants, and captives from No. 3 Mushroom Garden, then shrank the Rift and concealed it beneath the Fungal Carpet.
• Prince Vesalius found Arctic Fortress empty, destroyed it with a Blood Blade, and survived its explosion.
• Vesalius searched the Fungal Carpet and dungeon, discovered the hidden Rift, and sealed the collapsing Lower Zone after finding no Demon Descendants.
• After Vesalius left, Linden restored computing power to the Rift and planned for it to reopen enough for people to pass through in a week.

Old Dylan received a new Demon Race spy at Puji House and sold Vera a Hair Growth Potion after Vera returned from a disastrous expedition to the Eighth Floor. That night, Dylan met with the two spies and learned that humanity had lost another city on the northwest front.

• Old Dylan recognized Rita's tense new companion as a Demon Race spy and gave him the key to Room 109.
• Vera arrived with Feiling and Sirian, injured and half-bald after their failed exploration of the Eighth Floor, and asked Dylan for a Hair Growth Potion.
• Sirian confirmed the potion was authentic, and Dylan sold it to Vera's group while keeping its source secret.
• Dylan worried that selling more potions would require a credible cover for their materials and planned to discuss it with his boss.
• Dylan met Rita and her new partner in the basement, where they exchanged intelligence and reported that humanity had lost another city on the northwest front.

Lambert’s party became separated by a shifting teleportation array on the Eighth Floor, and the injured Lambert was later found and rescued by Vera and her companions. They discovered that Puji had apparently infected him with something mold-like, though his spinal injury healed before they reached the surface.

• Lambert’s party surveyed the Eighth Floor and found what appeared to be a stable teleportation array.
• The array changed at the last moment and sent Lambert alone to an unfamiliar chamber.
• Linden noticed the severely injured Lambert at the Eighth Floor stairs and considered whether to help him.
• Vera and her companions carried Lambert to the Fifth Floor and treated his injuries.
• Lambert recalled a small white creature approaching him, and Feiling concluded that he had gone moldy.
• Lambert’s spinal injury healed on the way to the surface, allowing him to walk the rest of the way.

Fahr investigated a new mycelium parasite linked to Puji and ordered the Guild to monitor it while keeping the discovery quiet to protect Mushroom Town’s vital mushroom supply. The next morning, he learned that the parasitized Adventurer had taken in two Puji pets.

• Fahr inspected Mushroom Town’s expanding wall and heard that mushroom exports remained essential despite attempts to grow mushrooms elsewhere.
• Mirabelle summoned Fahr to the Guild, where Lambert was being tested after mycelium appeared on and beneath his skin.
• Mirabelle reported that Lambert’s mycelium had repaired his injuries and caused a slight craving for mana, with no other harm detected.
• Fahr ordered ongoing monitoring and testing, and told Mirabelle to keep the parasite’s connection to Puji out of public reports to prevent panic.
• Before dawn, Mirabelle told Fahr that Lambert had taken in two Puji pets.

Lambert’s ability to control pujis became public, thwarting Fahr’s effort to keep the Fungal Carpet secret and drawing adventurers’ interest. Linden saw an opportunity to win human support, while Rita’s suspicions about Dylan led her into a fatal ambush.

• Lambert entered the Dungeon with excited adventurers and emerged controlling more than a dozen pujis after they experimented with sacrificing Monsters on the Fungal Carpet.
• Rumors spread that a puji had saved Lambert and given him control over pujis, and adventurers grew eager to pursue the same power despite the possible side effects.
• Linden watched the humans’ growing interest and saw their need for mushrooms and pujis as an opportunity to expand the Fungal Carpet.
• Rita suspected Dylan might be human and decided to report what she had noticed, but she avoided him and took a detour through an alley.
• Invisible pujis attacked Rita, and she died after reverting to her Shapeshifter form.

Dylan reported the inn’s progress to Linden, discussed new ways to raise funds, and sheltered Rita’s panicked rookie partner. Linden revealed that he had killed Rita, leaving Dylan to reconsider how he had treated the rookie.

• Dylan told Linden that the Scarecrow Abyss bounty had risen to eight hundred gold coins and that the Electric Mouse and Earth Bear missions were progressing.
• Dylan suggested that Linden sell potions to replenish their funds, and Linden considered selecting formulas that used common ingredients.
• Rita’s rookie partner arrived at Puji House in a panic and told Dylan that Rita had disappeared after investigating a Parasite rumor.
• Dylan corrected the rookie’s failure to follow spy protocol and told him to lie low at the inn.
• Dylan asked Linden what had happened to Rita, and Linden said that he had killed her.

Linden used his control over native Monster permissions to let the Treant Demons descend below the Rift Valley, where they could grow beyond their level cap. He then opened the stairs to Little Blue, who reached the former Flame Demon’s cave and learned that Linden was a Hero, not the Demon King.

• Linden sent a Treant Demon down the Rift Valley and confirmed that it could cross the boundary without triggering lightning.
• Linden arranged for the capped Treant Demons to migrate below while the others stayed behind to tend the seedlings.
• Linden turned his attention to the Werewolves and decided to use access to the lower floors as leverage for their submission.
• Puji met Little Blue at the stairs and told him that he could go down, then guided him through the now-open passage.
• Little Blue reached the former Flame Demon’s cave, asked whether Linden was the Demon King, and laughed when Linden said he was the Hero.

Little Blue explored the Dungeon with Linden and Puji, then returned to the Werewolf settlement and stirred up a dispute by recounting what he had seen. On the Fifth Floor, Horn prepared to settle a three-hundred-gold gambling debt by stabbing himself as Noah, Old Hammer, and Aimei watched.

• Little Blue mistook a small rabbit for a Ripper Beast, learned that he was still deep inside the Dungeon, and promised to protect Puji.
• Little Blue attacked Norris, mistaking him for a human, but Puji introduced Norris as a half-Lizardman and calmed him down.
• Linden left Norris to show Little Blue around, and Little Blue spent three days exploring, eating Delicious Mushrooms, befriending Norris, and fighting Monsters.
• Little Blue returned to the Werewolf settlement and excitedly described the world below, prompting a fierce argument with older Werewolves who beat him unconscious.
• Horn told Noah that he had to settle a gambling debt of three hundred gold coins, then plunged a magical dagger into his abdomen as Old Hammer and Aimei watched.

Inanna dreamed of her long-deceased mother, then woke and returned to her comfortable life in Mushroom Town. She grew angry at Puji Masters who treated pujis as tools, while two of them discovered that even Common Puji had different attributes.

• Inanna dreamed that she saw a woman who might have been her mother, but the pujis stopped her from crossing Dream Garden’s boundary, and the woman vanished.
• Inanna woke with a puji lying on her chest and wondered why she had dreamed of her mother, whose face and voice she barely remembered.
• Inanna spoke with Linden about her mother before leaving her manor with her pujis and guards.
• Inanna saw two Puji Masters comparing their pujis’ Mushroom Cannons and resented how they exploited pujis, but she left without confronting them because Boss did not approve of intervening.
• The two Puji Masters discovered that Common Puji of the same species could have different attributes.

As Puji Masters and a market for trading Puji grew in Mushroom Town, two Silver Rank adventurers replenished their squads and witnessed a record-setting auction. Fahr and Eiding considered how to respond to the new profession, leaving the question of taxing Puji trades under discussion.

• The rise of Puji Masters changed Mushroom Town, creating road congestion while enabling smaller adventuring teams and new support trades.
• Two Silver Rank Puji Masters who had defeated a bandit gang visited the market to replace their lost Puji and bought several suited to their tactics.
• Horn auctioned a Puji with the skill [Delicious LV7], and Lillian bought it for 120 gold coins.
• Fahr asked Eiding about Puji Masters, and Eiding recommended maintaining the status quo while considering a tax on Puji trades.
• Fahr agreed with Eiding and invited him to try the Delicious LV7 Puji that night.

Linden expanded the Puji Master network by distributing Elite Puji and using human Adventurers to train his skills. Meanwhile, Norris learned that a female Werewolf was interested in him, and Lange and Kallen faced their clan after visiting the outside world.

• A Puji Master bonded with an Elite Fatty Puji that could use a gravity skill, and Linden continued handing out Elite Puji to selected people.
• Linden planned to use Puji Masters to raise the levels of his neglected skills and focused his attention on expanding the Werewolf network.
• Norris said goodbye to two Werewolves, and the Yellow Book told him that the female wolf who hugged him was strongly attracted to him.
• Norris panicked at the thought of the Werewolf's interest and resolved to ask for a transfer back to the Far North.
• Lange and Kallen returned to the Tenth Floor, where the old clan chief and other Werewolves confronted them for going downstairs against the clan's ban.

Kallen challenged the werewolf clan chief’s demand that the young wolves remain on the Tenth Floor, and he exiled those who wanted to leave. Kallen led twelve werewolves to the Flame Demon cave and then to Linden’s Mushroom Garden, while Linden reconsidered his delayed plan to bring the tribe out.

• Kallen denounced the clan chief’s loyalty to the Demon King and insisted she would leave again, despite being struck by an old wolf.
• The clan chief released Kallen, Lange, Little Blue, and the other captive young werewolves, and declared that anyone who wanted to leave could go.
• Three more young werewolves joined the nine who had already left, making twelve permanently exiled from the Tenth Floor.
• Kallen brought the group to the Flame Demon cave, where Little Blue received a message from Big Mushroom inviting them to the Mushroom Garden.
• Linden settled the werewolves in the Mushroom Garden and realized the clan chief’s swift exile policy had delayed his plan to bring out more of the tribe.

Linden turned Kallen and the other Werewolves into Half-Mushroom Wolves, then brought them outside to see the moons and discover their Full Moon enhancement. Kallen’s newfound mating instincts drove her to attack Norris, who summoned Jida to defend himself.

• Louisa drained Kallen’s blood while a Puji parasitized her, connecting her to the Mycelium Network; the other Werewolves underwent the same transformation.
• Linden led the Werewolves through the Stone Fort Rift into the Far North, where Drilling Pujis warmed them against the cold.
• The Werewolves saw the three moons, howled, and gained a Full Moon boost to Strength and Agility.
• Little Black’s dragon roar woke Norris, and Kallen’s Yellow Book status declared that she had reached the mating standard with him.
• Kallen attacked Norris to capture him, so he called for Jida, who charged out of the Stone Fort.

Norris subdued Kallen, then discovered that sunlight forced the Werewolves into a weaker, humanlike form until nightfall. Inanna dreamed of a ball with Pujis and her mother, but the dream ended when a faceless figure seized her and declared it had caught her.

• Norris used Jida to pin Kallen down and knocked her unconscious when she refused to stop pursuing him.
• At dawn, the Werewolves lost their fur and most of their racial power, transforming into humanlike forms with wolf ears and tails.
• Norris carried the unconscious Kallen into his Mushroom House and used a warm Drilling Puji to keep her from getting cold.
• Inanna worried about Puji Masters mistreating Pujis and fell asleep while thinking about her mother.
• Inanna dreamed of a splendid ball, opened the door to her pink-haired mother, and was seized by a faceless figure that said it had finally caught her.

After a nightmare about the Pujis being slaughtered, Inanna feared that her dreams might signal the same fatal illness that had afflicted her mother. The chapter left Pink Puji pleading with Linden for help while he irradiated the unconscious Little Blue with a Sun Stone.

• Inanna attended the completion ceremony for the city walls, where Fahr became temporary city lord and announced the city’s name as Mushroom Capital.
• A traveling merchant entered Mushroom Capital and searched for Puji House without revealing his purpose.
• Pink Puji dreamed that humans attacked the Mushroom Garden and that Knight Puji died defending it.
• Inanna woke in tears, confirmed that Knight Puji was safe, and worried that her nightmares meant she might die like her mother.
• Pink Puji sent Linden a desperate plea for help while he used Sun Stone Irradiation on the unconscious Little Blue.

Linden discovered that Inanna had a real Strange Dream and entered her dream to investigate the nightmare. When a foreign force sent wolves into her peaceful picnic dream, he prepared to fight back with Pujis emerging from the Fungal Carpet.

• Linden found [Strange Dream] on Inanna's status panel and promised to investigate her nightmares by entering her dream.
• Linden entered Inanna's peaceful picnic dream and spread spores through the forest to prepare for the nightmare.
• A foreign mental force brought a twisted forest and a pack of wolves into the dream, forcing Inanna and the Pujis to defend themselves at a cave entrance.
• Linden recognized the attack as a dream invasion and sent Pujis from his Fungal Carpet into the forest to join the fight.

Linden defended Inanna from an attacker invading her dreams, and she woke feeling better after the battle ended in a stalemate. The attacker was revealed as Duke Sigismund, who planned to intensify his assault on Inanna despite the cost as he faced pressure to advance against High Keep Fortress.

• Linden sent his Puji army into Inanna’s dream, where it fought the wolves until the dream ended with both sides’ forces strewn across the forest.
• Inanna told Linden she had suffered another nightmare, and he reassured her that he would protect her from whoever was attacking her dreams.
• Linden suggested the attacker might be connected to Inanna’s identity or her father’s enemies, then asked whether her family had many Dream Flowers.
• Duke Sigismund emerged from a coffin in a magic array after using six captives to extend his contract onto Inanna, but he said he had encountered an obstacle in her dream.
• Malgas told Sigismund that the connection formed by Strange Dream would eventually let him control Inanna, but Sigismund demanded they speed up the process because of the stalled western front and pressure to attack High Keep Fortress.
• Sigismund promised to request the Book of Miracles for Malgas if he completed the task, and Malgas pledged to do everything in his power.