Chapter Summaries

Linden sought a way to strengthen his defense against the escalating invasion of Inanna’s dreams, so Inanna began stealing Dream Flowers from her family’s treasury. Meanwhile, Puji Masters’ growing success in nearby cities fueled resentment among adventurers and mercenaries, which erupted into violence in Norwid.

• Norris told Louisa that he had been sleeping better, then asked Linden whether Jida’s drill could be fitted with an electric discharge function.
• Linden remained frustrated after the dream invasion grew stronger and Eiding’s investigation found nothing useful, so he planned to raise [Mental Guidance] by consuming Dream Flowers.
• Inanna accepted Linden’s plan and set out to steal Dream Flowers from her family’s treasury.
• As the Fungal Carpet spread toward Norwid and Fisher Sail Port, Puji Masters took work from local adventurers and mercenaries, prompting some to seek Dungeon baptism while others grew resentful.
• Drunken mercenaries shoved a Puji Master out of a Norwid tavern and crushed one of his Pujis, prompting another Puji to electrocute the attacker and a shell-bearing Puji to strike him.
• The mercenary’s companions drew their weapons and charged at the Puji Master.

Viscount Paren’s mishandling of clashes between Puji Masters and adventurers worsened unrest in Norwid and Fisher Sail Port, while Fahr and Vera helped Mushroom Capital prevent bloodshed. Linden then watched Riel grieve her grandfather and decide to keep their potion shop open, until an official told her the area would be redeveloped.

• Viscount Paren’s biased rulings enraged Puji Masters and adventurers, and clashes spread from Norwid to Fisher Sail Port.
• Vera intervened in a conflict in Mushroom Capital, and Fahr established the Puji Master Professional Association to register Puji Masters, mediate disputes, and regulate their tasks.
• An old elf died peacefully, and Riel cried at his funeral while the other elves calmly said farewell.
• After the funeral, Riel told Scout Puji she would keep the potion shop open and asked it to watch her brew potions.
• Three days later, an elven official informed Riel that the area was going to be redeveloped.

Linden used Puji to influence the Forest Warden into preserving Riel’s potion shop, which had been marked for relocation as part of the city’s defenses. Riel received the good news and returned to find Puji waiting to watch her brew.

• After learning the potion shop would be relocated, Riel clutched the notice and sat in distress while Puji examined the old elf’s potion manuscripts.
• Linden followed the elven courier and overheard a speaker urging elves to respond to the mist before Elf Rangers took him away.
• The courier reported his deliveries to the Forest Warden, who complained about the Surveillance Array and radicals while an invisible Puji listened.
• Linden planted suggestions in the Forest Warden’s and the neighbors’ dreams, and the neighbors submitted an application asking that Riel’s shop be preserved.
• The Forest Warden adjusted the Surveillance Array’s location, and Riel received official notice that her shop could stay.
• Riel joyfully returned to the shop and tried to hug Puji, but its Mycelium Tentacles stopped her.

Linden discovered that the [Frenzy] status could spread between Monsters and worried it would reach deeper floors of the Sacred Tree Dungeon. Meanwhile, Sigismund’s attempt to break through Linden’s mental defenses failed, and he ordered Malgas to obtain more captives from Eleanor.

• Linden fought digging rats on the Sixth Floor and found a badly wounded Treant Demon in the [Frenzy] state.
• Linden tested whether [Frenzy] was contagious by placing a leopard near the Treant Demon, and the leopard became Frenzied after being injured.
• Linden ordered the Puji to kill both Monsters and later encountered another Frenzied Monster entering the Sixth Floor.
• Sigismund told Malgas that he had failed to break through the other party’s mental defenses, which had grown stronger.
• Malgas suggested that the opposing side had used a temporary desperate measure, and Sigismund ordered him to ask Eleanor for as many captives as possible.

Louisa led twenty selected prisoners of war and their Puji into the Sacred Tree Dungeon to train them in coordinated combat. Their first encounter was an elf ranger Linden recognized as the one who had killed Scout No. 3.

• Louisa led the twenty prisoners and their controlled Puji through a Spatial Rift toward their training mission.
• Baroque asked Ergen where they were going, while Ergen translated Stick's muffled remarks about earning Contribution Points.
• The group reached the Sacred Tree Dungeon through the Hidden Room and were awed by its vast forest.
• Louisa deployed the new soldiers along the defensive line for combat training.
• An elf ranger emerged from the Lower Zone, and Linden recognized him as the elf who had killed Scout No. 3.

Pelagell investigated the spread of the Frenzy phenomenon in the Sacred Tree Dungeon but was ambushed and captured by Linden’s group. Linden picked up Pelagell’s bow, and the group prepared to question their prisoner.

• Pelagell returned to the Sixth Floor and detoured around the Mycelium he spotted.
• Pelagell noticed an ambush near a small slope and wounded a Half-Demon with an arcing arrow.
• Pelagell killed a Lizardman mage, causing the Pujis under the mage’s control to go sluggish.
• Jida felled Pelagell’s tree and charged him, sending him crashing into another trunk and leaving him badly injured.
• The Pujis captured Pelagell, while Louisa recorded the soldiers’ mistakes and Linden collected his bow.

Cerdan learned that Pelagell had been captured while carrying out a mission for the Oath of the Ark, but the Grand Mentor ordered the elves to prioritize their plan. In the Dungeon, Linden exposed Pelagell’s resistance to the dream interrogation and stopped him from dying by suicide, leaving him unconscious and parasitized.

• Cerdan discovered that Pelagell had sent a signal from the Dungeon and tried to go rescue him, but the Grand Mentor stopped him and stressed that the plan came first.
• Linden’s dream impersonation failed when Pelagell recognized that the supposed Grand Mentor was an impostor and tore away its veil, revealing a mushroom cap.
• Pelagell woke in the Dungeon covered in mycelium and accused Linden’s group of being a Demon Race force spreading Frenzy.
• When Voice Puji demanded an explanation, Pelagell refused to speak and tried to bite down on hidden poison.
• Linden ordered Piggy to pin Pelagell to the Fungal Carpet, which granted him Toxin Resistance as the group administered an antidote and a Healing Potion.
• Linden filled Pelagell’s cell with Hallucinogenic Spores, knocking him unconscious before he could try to die again.

Linden considered the threat of the mist and the limits of his own lifespan, then weighed how to investigate the spread of Frenzy in the Sacred Tree Dungeon. He settled on sending a team into the dangerous lower levels, and Bastardos suspected he would be recruited.

• Linden had Puji translate an old booklet, which condemned the mist and criticized the Elven Royal Court for ignoring the danger.
• Linden reflected that the mist might eventually consume the world, but worried more about how long a mushroom like himself could live.
• Linden decided Pelagell should remain under interrogation while an exploration team investigated Frenzy in the Dungeon’s lower levels.
• Linden weighed relying on the Elves against sending his own people, and concluded that prisoners of war—especially a strong fighter such as Bastardos—might be needed.
• Bastardos saw Marshal Puji approaching and suspected his leisurely days were over.

Bastardos accepted Marshal Puji’s mission to explore the Sacred Tree Dungeon with a special bow, while Salian and Iros prepared city surveillance to counter the radical Ark organization. The chapter ended with Elawen showing Salian a mysterious, dark-red-glowing piece of wood that Puji had found.

• Bastardos reflected on his captive life in the Far North and felt that its monotonous routine had brought him peace.
• Marshal Puji gave Bastardos Linden’s bow and sent him to explore the Fifteenth Floor, warning him not to fight at close range because the enemy carried a disease.
• Bastardos crossed into the Sacred Tree Dungeon and began exploring while Voice Puji shouted encouragement.
• A Scout Puji carried an object from the dungeon toward Tree City, where a Forest Ranger Guard recognized it as Lord Salian’s sister’s pet.
• Salian and Iros finalized a Surveillance Array to watch for radicals, and Salian said they needed to stop the Ark organization from dragging the Elves into war.
• Salian visited Elawen, who showed him a broken piece of wood glowing dark red that Puji had picked up.

Salian discovered that a red wood chip Elawen's Puji had found in the dungeon provoked a dangerous, Bloodlust-like reaction, and Linden continued overseeing his schemes across the dungeon and Mushroom Capital. Dylan returned to his inn and met an unexpected old acquaintance in the basement: Clolo.

• Elawen showed Salian a red wood chip found by her Puji, and Salian recognized its dangerous effect and suspected it came from Treant Demon bark.
• Elawen used her talent to learn that the Puji had found the chip in the dungeon, and Salian left with it after warning her not to touch strange finds.
• Linden monitored the Elves' dungeon expedition, the Werewolves being drawn out of their blockade, and Pink Puji's theft of Dream Flowers.
• A merchant checked into the inn's innermost first-floor room while Bianka handled the reception and prepared dinner.
• Dylan returned to the inn, entered the basement, and recognized the merchant as Brother Clolo.

Dylan reunited with Clolo in the Mushroom Capital, but Clolo recognized the truth about the Pujis and tried to seize him. After the attack left Clolo parasitized and unconscious, he woke at Puji House and began questioning who controlled the fungal network.

• Dylan and Clolo reminisced about their past before Clolo suddenly attacked him with claws and a poisoned dagger.
• Dylan blocked Clolo’s attack, and Pujis emerged from the walls to surround and bind him.
• Dylan asked Clolo to join them, but the voice from Clolo’s white cloth ordered him killed and tentacles pierced his body.
• Clolo woke in an inn room with mycelium inside him and considered the Pujis, Fungal Carpets, and his investigation missions.
• Dylan brought Clolo breakfast and welcomed him to the Mushroom Garden, offering to answer his questions.

Linden discovered that his upgraded Mycelium Network skill could transmit real-time visions, then sent Little Black images of gemstones. Meanwhile, Church warriors arrived in Fisher Sail Port to calm tensions, and Solalin was overwhelmed by the strange visions of the city.

• Linden spared Clolo for Dylan’s sake and left Dylan to teach him how to use the mycelium network and control Puji.
• Linden’s Mycelium Network reached level eight and gained a Vision Sharing function that transmitted real-time scenes.
• Norris received a vivid vision of Kallen bathing, and Linden admitted that he had sent it through the new ability to tease him.
• Linden tested simultaneous image transmissions and sent Little Black pictures of dazzling gemstones after she failed to find the treasure from her Dragon God Revelation.
• The lord of Fisher Sail Port requested Church reinforcements as tensions between Puji Masters and adventurers threatened to escalate, and a Wings of Judgment squad arrived.
• Solalin tried to use Vision of Truth in Fisher Sail Port, was overwhelmed by the chaotic sights, and vomited in the street.

Solalin used Vision of Truth during a dockside brawl and saw a city consumed by chaotic colors, which she associated with the Pujis. Her report reached Archbishop of Light Ditas, who set it aside as he prepared to discuss recruiting Puji Masters into the kingdom's military.

• A fight between a Puji Master and Adventurers escalated until Solalin and the Wings of Judgment arrived and detained the humans involved.
• Solalin used Vision of Truth on the Pujis, saw the city covered in chaotic colors, and fled to the command post while Main handled the Pujis.
• The squadron captain explained Puji Masters and Symbiosis, then told Solalin to write an objective report and avoid using Vision of Truth again.
• Main said Solalin's idea that all Pujis were one being seemed implausible, and Solalin agreed she lacked evidence.
• The regional bishop forwarded Solalin's report to Archbishop of Light Ditas, who filed it without comment before a meeting about adding Puji Masters to the military.

Duke Alama doubted the Empire army’s silence and launched a surprise attack on Eleanor’s position, winning easily but growing more suspicious of Sigismund’s absence from the battlefield. Eleanor confronted Sigismund inside the Scarlet Spire, furious over what had happened.

• Alama dismissed the proposal to incorporate the Puji Master system into the army because Pujis depended on the distant Fungal Carpet and could not be deployed effectively in the north.
• Alama learned that the Empire army had made no major movements and ordered the fortress to its highest alert while preparing a probe against Eleanor’s forces.
• Alama and the Hemlock Knights surprised Eleanor’s camp at midnight, routed its outer defenses, and withdrew after clashing with the Blood Knights.
• Alama concluded that Eleanor was an inexperienced commander but wondered why Sigismund had reacted slowly and seemed absent from the fighting.
• Alama decided to intensify the clashes to force the Empire to reveal a weakness, while Eleanor went to confront Sigismund in the Scarlet Spire.

Sigismund learned that the Strange Dream ritual could not be severed without destroying the other party’s body, so he began planning an assassination and searching for ways to delay or win. In the dream, Linden led the Pujis into an attack against an enemy that stayed on the defensive, then taunted them as the connection ended.

• Eleanor accused Sigismund of using her and her troops as bait, refused to provide more slaves, and left.
• Malgas told Sigismund that the ritual could only be ended by destroying the other party’s body and suggested a Dream Illusion Potion as a temporary delay.
• Sigismund arranged an assassination, tasked Malgas with finding alternatives, and sought potion ingredients and more captives.
• Linden entered Inanna’s desert dream, found the enemy Monsters entrenched rather than attacking, and led the Pujis into a costly assault.
• Before the Strange Dream ended, Linden asked whether the enemy could no longer endure the fight.

Norris struggled with his identity while teaching Werewolves to control Puji, and Linden entered Inanna’s dream for his nightly clash with a mysterious opponent. He reached the opponent’s dream core unopposed and found a sprawling Gothic Vampire city.

• Norris taught the Werewolves to control Puji while Kallen watched him closely.
• Linden asked Norris if he wanted to become complete, but Norris rejected the idea of growing a tail and said he wanted to be human.
• Linden entered Inanna’s dream and saw young Inanna with her mother, whose blurred face and tail caught his attention.
• Linden led his Puji army through Inanna’s dream and crossed the quiet buffer zone without meeting resistance.
• Linden entered the opponent’s dream core and found an immense Gothic Vampire city beneath a blood-colored sky.

Sigismund sought more Dream Flowers after confirming the Dream Illusion Potion could trap his mysterious enemy, while Alama prepared to attack the Scarlet Spire. In Mushroom Capital, Horn encountered new restrictions on Puji Masters and found a recruitment notice for a new army.

• Sigismund ordered Malgas to find a solution to the Dream Flower shortage within half a month and promised that his earlier offer still stood.
• Alama routed Eleanor's army, suspected she had been used as bait, and decided he had to attack the Scarlet Spire to force Sigismund into the open.
• Horn urged Old Hammer to become a Puji Master as their group entered Mushroom Capital with Horn's pujis.
• A city official stopped Horn and made him store all but two pujis at a paid Puji Storage Facility under the new street regulations.
• Horn joined a crowd around an official noticeboard and saw a Puji Master New Army Recruitment notice.

The authorities launched a Puji Master army recruitment drive, boosting the status of Puji Masters and drawing many commoners to enlist. In Fisher Sail Port, Solalin saw a mysterious multicolored puji lure her toward an alley before it vanished.

• Puji Masters spread spores to direct the Fungal Carpet toward strategic fortress cities.
• The Puji Master New Army Recruitment notice won broad approval, and the first round offered five hundred positions across three cities.
• Commoner Puji Masters flocked to enlist, though aptitude requirements and limited slots excluded many applicants.
• At the crowded Fisher Sail Port recruitment point, Solalin questioned the army's official support for Puji Masters and feared the consequences.
• Solalin spotted a dazzling multicolored puji in an alley and began approaching it, but Main called her back and it disappeared.

Linden’s group continued investigating the Sacred Tree Dungeon as an elite elven squad found signs that the dark-red infection affected more than Treant Demons. Deep on the thirteenth floor, Bastardos witnessed the infection’s catastrophic spread, then agreed to retreat after Linden spotted a strange fruit-bearing tree worth taking.

• Linden reflected on how combining Colorful Splendor with Charm could help him influence Solalin, while the Puji Master group expanded and his nightly dream incursions remained blocked by a defensive shell.
• Seven elves explored the Sacred Tree Dungeon and found dark-red patterns on a Giant Forest Frog, confirming that the corruption affected creatures beyond Treant Demons.
• The elven captain collected a sample while the Druid sensed that the forest was afraid, and the squad continued deeper to assess the infection.
• On the thirteenth floor, Bastardos saw infected Monsters slaughtering one another and the dungeon’s ecological order collapsing, so he asked Linden whether they should retreat.
• Linden agreed to withdraw but directed Bastardos toward a strange glowing tree with poisonous effects and several plump fruits.

Puji and Bastardos escaped the frenzied battlefield after stealing poisonous fruit from a Pale Pilgrimage, but an elf squad spotted them and identified the fleeing target as a Demon Race member. After learning that a squad member had been infected by Frenzy during an expedition, Salian suspected the Empire was causing Dungeon disasters to distract the Elves and Dwarves, and hurried to report the danger to his teacher and the Elf King.

• Puji stole two fruits from the Pale Pilgrimage, and Bastardos pulled him to safety with spider silk before carrying him away.
• Linden warned Bastardos that an elf squad was trying to intercept them, so Bastardos used Bloodline Enhancement and escaped the approaching elves.
• An Elf Ranger shot at Bastardos but missed, and the squad concluded that their target was a Demon Race member.
• Several days later, the Elf captain told Salian that his squad had encountered unusual Dungeon ecosystems, a Demon Race scout, and a massive frenzied beast tide that infected their Gold Rank Elf Druid.
• Salian concluded that the Empire might be provoking Dungeon disasters to occupy the Elves and Dwarves, and left to alert his teacher and the Elf King.