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
The hour passed quickly, and Zen received news that the rap battle stage was prepared. All he had to do was teleport to where the crowd was waiting.Gulping nervously, he glanced at Hernie, who gave him a reassuring pat on his back.“Don’t worry about it,” she told him. “There is a handicap for you, so you can refer to the lyrics. The most important thing is the flow and the passion during the competition. It’s ok to make up some parts on the spot accordingly. Lil’ Mushade doesn’t do freestyle, so you have an advantage if you can. There’s no need to pay too much attention to the rhyme.”Taking a deep breath, Zen mentally prepared himself for the first and probably last rap battle of his life. Waiting to be transported to the rap arena, Zen revised the lyrics. Acc
Dishevelled, Zen skidded to a halt outside the kitchen and peered inside. A boy with white hair was already sitting at the counter, but he remained so still that Zen wondered if he was a statue.“If you’re here already, then let’s not waste any more time and get started.”Flinching at the entrance, Zen hesitantly made his way over, taking many sneaky glances to get a better look at this mysterious candidate. Damian Gorski had mismatched eyes, and initially, Zen thought it was heterochromia until his yellow eye moved individually and dilated so much that the iris turned completely black, like a camera zooming in on him.The sudden abnormality made Zen jump and stumble backwards with a squeak. From the time he entered the kitchen until his disgraceful fall, Damian Gorski had not moved from his
The flick from Liu Feng’s finger was starting to bruise badly. Zen winced in pain as his sworn brother rolled a warm hard-boiled egg on the greenish spot.“You deserved it,” Liu Feng scoffed when Zen whined in pain. After eating egg scallion pancakes, he felt more generous but wasn’t ready to forgive his sworn brother for meeting Damian alone. Zen had to learn from his mistakes.The gamer wanted to be angry at how ruthless the blind assassin was. However, he couldn’t possibly stay mad when his sworn brother was showing him tough love. He understood how worried he made the effeminate man by disappearing in the middle of the night to meet Damian. Liu Feng explained that even if murder was forbidden in the academy, that did not stop other candidates from harassing others or disabling them before the next event.“You’re lucky it was only Damian. If you ran into those crazy bastards and died, I can only cut off my hair, renounce my
When Zen finally logged into the dungeon, his eyes bulged at the number of messages from Sasha. Liu Feng was not joking about how they wanted to carry him through the second floor. The Russian sniper complained about gargoyles on floor nineteen and cursed in her mother tongue about the useless grind for better materials in preparation for the boss fight they keep dying to.