The parchment booklet's edges were already frayed from being flipped through so many times. This was Calvin's third time cross-referencing, yet he still couldn't connect the fifth floor described in the guide with what lay before the stairway.
This was supposed to be the brightest level?
Not a single firefly grass in sight. In the pitch-black fifth floor, the mushrooms' ghostly glow was the only light source.
And along this path leading out from the stairway, there happened to be rows of luminescent mushrooms on both sides, arranged as if deliberately placed there.
Calvin found this scene even more eerie than what he'd witnessed in that small cave on the second floor.
Even Gray was getting cold feet: "Your guide is way off the mark! Should we... keep going forward?"
"We've come this far... let's just check out the situation a bit."
Only after the two emerged did they discover that even the dome overhead was covered in mushrooms, their fluorescence connecting into a continuous sheet like a celestial canopy.
Calvin felt uncomfortable all over, as if someone was watching him, making him somewhat regret his decision from two minutes ago.
However, when he told Gray about this feeling, Gray shook his head, saying he didn't sense anything at all.
Calvin couldn't very well decide to turn back based on just a feeling—that would be too capricious.
"Are we really going to walk along this path?" Gray pointed at the mushroom road ahead.
This path did look suspicious, but it aligned with the forest direction written in the guide.
Though the guide was outdated, the terrain shouldn't have changed completely.
After much deliberation, Calvin pulled out his small magic staff.
First-tier magic—Illumination.
A ball of orange-yellow light floated at the staff's tip.
"Let's walk along the outer edge of the road."
*Squelch—*
With their first step off the small path, both felt the stickiness beneath their feet.
Only when they crouched to investigate did they realize in shock that the area outside the trail was entirely covered in translucent mycelium.
From beneath their feet all the way to the dark edges, everywhere they could see was mycelial ground!
"I knew the ground color felt weird—turns out it's all this stuff!" Gray retreated with some disgust. "How about we just stick to the road?"
Calvin could only nod in agreement.
The small path was clean, as if the mycelium had been blocked by the luminescent mushrooms on both sides.
The surroundings were quite quiet—they hadn't seen a shadow of the monsters mentioned in the guide.
The only thing they encountered was a mountain-like corpse, mostly decomposed by mycelium, so damaged that they couldn't tell what it originally was.
Everything gradually made both of them uneasy. They remained constantly vigilant of their surroundings, not even speaking anymore.
It wasn't until they saw the forest that the two finally stopped.
"That's the 'forest' you mentioned?"
Gray pointed in a direction where countless luminescent giant mushrooms towered, with mycelium hanging down from their caps, creating a mushroom forest of varying heights.
Only a small number of giant trees were squeezed between the gaps of the giant mushrooms.
Clearly, even the terrain information in the guide was outdated!
Before Calvin could speak, a strange sound echoed through the forest.
*Puff—*
*Puff—*
The heavy sound was particularly clear in the quiet environment.
A three-meter-tall, bloated Puffshroom slowly emerged from behind a giant mushroom, its four thick mycelial tentacles swaying in mid-air.
Beside this giant Puffshroom, there were over ten smaller Puffshrooms with tentacles following along, identical to the one from the second floor.
The Puffshrooms seemed to have spotted the two and all stopped.
"Calvin! Let's retreat!"
"Calvin?"
Only then did Gray notice that the illumination spell's light had disappeared at some point.
"Calvin, you—"
The next second, Gray discovered his body had become transparent, and Calvin's voice came from beside him.
"I what?"
"You... well done, your reaction was faster than mine!"
"Tch!"
No time to continue bickering. Calvin crouched low, grabbing Gray's clothing to ensure they wouldn't get separated.
"Let's get out of here. This place is too weird."
"What about your assignment?"
"What else can I do? I'll have to use my savings to buy one from a black market dealer."
His already modest treasury would shrink again—Calvin felt his heart bleeding.
In his grief, Calvin didn't notice the pulling force on his hand and crashed head-first into something.
"Ow!" His forehead seemed to have split open—he could even feel blood flowing.
But he quickly had no time to worry about this minor injury.
A humanoid creature covered in ink-black scales stood right in front of them, tilting its head as it stared at the two invisible figures.
"Drag-drag-drag-drag..." Calvin's words didn't come out before the monster, whose height didn't even reach his own, grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up.
The invisibility spell of both lost its support and instantly failed.
At the same moment, a furious roar came from nearby!
【Fury LV4】
【Brute Strength LV4】
It was Gray!
Seeing Calvin under attack, he immediately activated his buffs, raising his sword with both hands to strike down.
【Heavy Slash LV5】
*Clang—*
Half a broken sword flew into the air. Gray trembled as he maintained his downward striking posture, blood flowing from his split palms.
He couldn't understand why his steel longsword couldn't even crack a single scale on the opponent's shoulder.
He had carefully checked his equipment before entering the dungeon.
Was this really the fifth floor?
The monster grabbed Gray's throat with its other claw. Gray tried to resist, but his numbed hands couldn't even lift.
Feeling the increasing force from the claw, Gray's breathing became increasingly difficult.
Calvin beside him was turning purple, nearly suffocating.
As if in an instant, yet as if for eternity, at a certain moment, the pressure on their necks suddenly vanished.
Gray collapsed on the ground in a sorry state, greedily gasping for air.
After catching his breath, he looked up to find that terrifying monster had disappeared, while Calvin lay motionless on the ground, his chest not even rising and falling.
"Calvin? Calvin! Wake up!"
Two slaps across Calvin's face still couldn't wake him.
Hurriedly opening his small pack, Gray wanted to take out a healing potion but was interrupted by the Puffshrooms surrounding them.
Instinctively trying to grip his sword, he grasped empty air before remembering only the broken blade remained on the ground nearby.
He was quickly tied up.
"Might as well have strangled me earlier..."
As Gray wondered how he would be killed, he saw one of the Puffshrooms extend a hollow mycelial tentacle and insert it directly into Calvin's mouth.
The tentacle, along with the Puffshroom's body, expanded and contracted rhythmically.
Bound Gray struggled but could only watch helplessly, unable to do anything.
Suddenly, Calvin's eyes shot wide open as he desperately yanked the mycelial tentacle from his throat.
"Cough cough—cough cough—cough cough cough—blegh—"
After the coughing fit, Calvin collapsed on the ground as if half-dead—and indeed, his health had dropped by half.
*Puff—*
Heavy footsteps approached as the chunky Puffshroom finally ambled over.
It rummaged around in its belly and pulled out four items, tossing them in front of Gray.
Then the Puffshrooms released Gray, turned and left, soon disappearing into the mushroom forest.
Gray stared at what the Puffshroom had left behind—a longsword, a fruit core, a magic crystal, and a healing potion—momentarily unable to process what had happened.
They had been... rescued by Puffshrooms from that monster?
Quickly gathering the items, Gray hoisted the weak and powerless Calvin and hurriedly fled back to the floor passage.
—
Damn it, forgot to tell Little Black that humans aren't monsters!
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