In no time, Zen sought out all the mushroom monster variants in the forest. They could be found far from the main path and usually travelled alone. He realised that caps were not the only things these zombie puffballs could spawn with. Two rarer variant forms wore sunglasses and wigs. The wig-wearing mushroom variant dropped hair weaves, and the sunglasses-wearing variant dropped shade fragments.
Zen had no idea what they did, but he kept them. Although he wasn’t a hoarder by nature, throwing them away would be a waste, especially when Zen had infinite game inventory to abuse. Who knew if these were crafting ingredients for Hernie’s requests in her chain quest? She was an accessory crafting NPC as well as a potion shop NPC. It was usually rare to find an NPC with two specialisations, but this dungeon made little sense so far. There was no way Hernie would not have a chain quest.
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Circling the mountain, Zen found several smaller cave entrances that could be easily missed. In fact, not all those cave entrances led to the same Veiled Vampire Lady colony. These smaller caves were not as deep, and Zen easily found the variant purple mushroom monsters.He had no idea how these variant monsters were the same type of purple mushroom. Even if they had veiled wings, these mushrooms weren’t the ferocious kinds who would bite Zen. It reminded him about mosquitos. Female mosquitoes would suck blood but not the males. Similarly, these shyer variants of Veiled Mushrooms did not attack Zen. They tried to flee when Zen invaded their territory.Shing!The dagger sailed through the darkness and ripped through the silky veil, making the samurai hat variant mushroom fall onto the ground. Without their frag
“Welcome back,” Father Clarence greeted. “There are a lot of dangers lurking in the wilderness. Please be more careful during your adventure. If you require healing items or assistance, visit me at the chapel. May the goddess bless you.”Ah, one of the questions Zen was curious about was answered. Although the death wasn’t intentional, he was glad it happened.The Shady Merchant was just up ahead, but Father Clarence went the opposite direction. Zen watched him disappear through the stage entrance portal and blinked. Was that how he could travel freely between unlocked floors in the dungeon?Curious but unwilling to test the theory yet, Zen silently thanked the healer NPC and sighed. Now that he was back at the stage entrance, perhaps he could follow the main route that everyone else to
“You’re finally back,” the Shady Merchant sniffled and sneezed. “What took you so long?”Zen deadpanned at the NPC’s speech. Was this a default dialogue or one that was customised for him? His guild members were definitely faster. Did they receive the same speech?Wordlessly, Zen turned in the mushroom spores and received five low-grade antidotes in his inventory. They did not help to recover any health but could dispel any low-grade negative effects or minor curses.“I didn’t know curses were a thing,” Zen mused as he inspected the antidotes. This was something he wanted to learn how to create. Maybe Gilda would know a thing or two as it was similar to a potion.The Shady Merchant clicked his tongue and shook his hea
According to Hernie’s map, the closest variant was the forest bully. Zen was looking for a Hip Samurai Vampire Mushroom monster, also known as the sunglasses-wearing purple mushroom variant.“It can be found in the forest bullying weak puffball zombie mushrooms practising its fang and wing attacks. The Hip Samurai Vampire variant often does this for entertainment and eats the spores of defeated puffballs.”Reading Hernie’s research notes proved to be both helpful and disturbing. Zen knew how scientists worked. They recorded detailed observations that can be helpful in deductions and hypotheses. However, he had no desire to learn about the sadistic tendencies of different monsters. It was interesting, but Zen could feel his dinner disagreeing with him after reading Hernie’s notes about how these forest bullies tore up their pr
Zen took a long detour to the Mushroom Maiden’s Shrine and eventually completed both Hernie and the Shady Merchant’s requirements for purple and white mushroom items. If anything, the greedy gamer collected more than the required ingredients because he wanted to test something out with the caps later.“Finally here,” he told Lime, who yawned. Taking pity on his pet, who worked hard, Zen unsummoned it and entered the private mushroom meadow sanctuary.Almost immediately, he could feel the blessings of Mandy’s Melody. The heaviness of the poison fog and fatigue was washed away. This time, Zen paid closer attention to the ambient sound effects in the game. According to Hernie’s notes, there was one blue mushroom variant she knew existed underneath the lake, but they were shyer than the evasive Pixie Paradox Parasol.
“H-Hi?”The monster named Lil’ Mushade had his chin up into the air as he studied the stranger knocking on his door earlier. Everything about this mushroom variant screamed over-inflated arrogance in a way that made Felix and Johan look humble. What gave him the confidence and ego to look down on others like an inferior species when he was draped in an awful sense of fashion?Zen did not often judge others by their manner of speech, gait or dressing. However, Lil’ Mushade was a classic example of second-hand embarrassment for trying too hard. Everything from those braids in his hair to the golden ring piercings at the tip of his tail screamed fake. Not a single scale on this underwater mushroom was authentic.Sneering at the one who came knocking on his door, the sense of self-importance skyr
There were still a few hours until midnight. Zen wasted no time and hastened his speed. He had to turn in both quests and write a rap before it. If things went his way, he should have Lil’ Mushade’s shades before he logged out to meet with Damian Gorski.“It scares me a little when things progress this smoothly,” Zen admitted.Whenever things were looking good for him, Zen found himself in the deepest shithole right after rejoicing. As a civilian, he experienced this too many times in his career. Whenever someone took notice of his new recipe, it would be stolen the next day by someone else with more powerful backing. All Zen could do was back down and watch bitterly as they enjoyed the success that should have been his. If he fought back, he would die. If he did not resist, he would be bullied. There was simply no way out.
The story of Hernie’s strange research started when she discovered the potential of mushrooms after learning about the mute maiden’s influence. Unlike Gilda, who was only interested in quirky inventions and potions, Hernie was intrigued by mysteries.“I’m not sure if you know, but there is a shrine in this very forest for a mute maiden named Mandy. I found her shrine after trying to locate the source of power for this dungeon. All the mushroom monsters were born from her influence. I don’t know who she was, but the amount of power from her resentment and longing made her a deity.”That’s new. Zen never heard about any characters becoming immortals, but according to Mandy’s memories, the mysterious friend who lived in a cave was a vampire. She was turned into an undead, and it wasn’t very far-fetched for Hern