Chapter 125: Because She’s Cute
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 125: Because She’s Cute
“Black hair and… a tail? Ah, I have seen someone like that.”
At the 1st Floor Base of the Roanmarie Labyrinth, Mei, who had been sprinting through the first floor in hot pursuit of Yoo Eon, received an answer from the guild staff member guarding the portal.
“It’s been about twenty minutes. Why do you ask?”
“Haah… Twenty minutes? You mean that jerk broke through a whole floor in just ten minutes after entering?!”
“W-well, I wouldn’t know the details, but…”
It had only been thirty minutes since she stepped into the 1st floor. In that short time, Yoo Eon had already cleared the floor—and apparently, he had done so twenty minutes ago.
“He’s got all the luck. He must’ve dropped right next to the exit…!”
“S-so, are you heading to the 2nd floor?”
“Yeah. Send me through, quick.”
“Yes, you can enter right now.”
And so, at the 2nd Floor Base:
“Yep, about ten minutes ago.”
At the 3rd Floor Base:
“That’s personal information, so I cannot disclose it.”
At the 4th Floor Base:
“I reckon it’s been quite a while.”
Even at the 5th Floor Base:
“Ah, he just went in.”
“Just now?!”
“Yes.”
It was only upon reaching the 6th floor that she heard:
“No, I haven’t seen anyone like that.”
“Finally…! That crazy bastard, reaching the 6th floor in less than two hours! Did he seriously get a running skill or something?!”
She didn’t know if Yoo Eon was wandering the 6th floor or already breaking through it to reach the 7th. Regardless, he was currently on the 6th floor, and whether he went up to the 7th or back to the 5th, he would have to stop by a base eventually.
“Ugh, seriously! What an idiot…!”
She pulled up the hood of her perception-inhibition cloak to avoid being noticed and killed about twenty minutes at the 6th Floor Base.
‘He’s here…! He’s here! That guy finally showed up!’
Looking at his appearance, it didn’t seem like he had encountered any Poison Mushrooms yet. If she followed him into the portal to the 7th floor, she would likely spawn in a similar location, allowing her to tail him safely.
“Be careful out there.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Yoo Eon was being annoyingly polite. Regardless, she thought that if her plan succeeded, she could finally knock that smug look off his face.
—Vrrrrm.
“Hey! Send me through too, quick!”
“Yes, the next portal pulse is in forty seconds…”
“No, forget that. I’m going in now.”
“In that case, you’ll be summoned near the explorer who just entered…”
“So what! I’m going?!”
—Vrrrrm.
Mei was summoned near Yoo Eon with a gap of about thirty seconds. Yoo Eon was already sprinting far ahead, and Mei, confident in her own speed, followed him.
‘What is up with that body?!’
His legs were twisted into bizarre, reverse-jointed angles, looking almost like a dragon’s. The pitch-black scales covering his limbs seemed to be made of the same material as his tail. She had no idea what kind of skill this was.
‘And he’s so fast, too…! I hate this!’
Poison Mushrooms were usually scattered all over the forest, but it was currently the start of the peak season for explorers. Because the population of Poison Mushrooms had significantly decreased, she hadn’t seen a single one even as they descended to the 7th floor, though she occasionally spotted Antna Wisps—living tree monsters.
‘How does it make sense that we haven’t seen one all the way down to the 7th floor?!’
Just then.
‘There! It’s a Poison Mushroom…!’
The Poison Mushroom attacked with toxic spores that caused hallucinations, slight paralysis, exhaustion, and made the victim babble nonsense. They were quite large for mushrooms, about 80cm tall, and were characterized by having tiny feet.
They had no eyes; instead, they sensed vibrations through the feet they kept pressed to the ground. Once they felt something, they would rush over, spray spores, and neutralize the target. After the victim stopped moving, the malicious monsters would plant new fungi in them and suck out their nutrients to multiply.
‘Yes! Go on, get poisoned!’
Of course, since they were low-stratum monsters, it rarely worked that well. If you felt like you were about to inhale spores, you could just cover your mouth with a clean cloth. Even if you were poisoned, it was usually a mild case where only the extremities like hands and feet felt slightly numb.
Most Poison Mushrooms simply planted their fungi in corpses left behind by other monsters.
“Wow, even the mushrooms walk around here.”
‘Hehehe, you idiot…!’
The first inhalation of a Poison Mushroom’s toxic spores had the strongest effect. Afterward, the body would develop a resistance, leading to a decrease in symptoms like paralysis or hallucinations.
The guild even recommended collecting spores and inhaling them in a safe environment to build up immunity.
She saw Yoo Eon look surprised as he discovered the Poison Mushrooms in the distance. As expected of someone who hadn’t studied monsters at all, he didn’t even show signs of covering his mouth.
—Pop!
Three Poison Mushrooms were pulverized by an explosive strike from his heavy tail. They burst, scattering faint purple spores, but their job was done.
Curious about something, Yoo Eon approached the remains of the Poison Mushrooms and looked around. Not long after, he plopped down onto the ground.
“Why am I so dizzy?”
‘That’s obviously spore poisoning…! Hehehe!’
She had been waiting for this moment. Mei pulled off her hood and approached the seated Yoo Eon. He looked up at her from his position on the ground.
“Hmph, you idiot. How could you kill Poison Mushrooms so carelessly?”
“Who was this person again?”
“Hey!! Mei! I was your Grade Suitability Test examiner!!”
“Ah, right.”
His eyes were slightly unfocused; he was clearly hallucinating. His limbs were probably so numb he couldn't even move, right? If he stayed like this, things might get dangerous.
“It’s clearly spore poisoning.”
“Spore poisoning?”
“Did you come in here without studying? If you inhale the spores these Poison Mushrooms spray, you’ll show symptoms of poisoning.”
“Aha, I see.”
Mei began her power play in earnest. She lectured him on the dangers of spore poisoning, how the symptoms would worsen, the long-term side effects if not treated quickly, and finally, her own usefulness.
“So, how about it? If you get on your hands and knees and say, ‘I beg of you, please help me,’ I might just help you out.”
“Ah, it’s fixed.”
“Huh?”
What was he talking about? Yoo Eon’s eyes suddenly snapped into focus. He stood up, dusting himself off, and claimed it was fixed.
“W-wait! There’s no way it’s fixed?!”
“What do you mean? It’s fine now.”
The way he moved his body around made it clear he had indeed recovered from the poisoning. How on earth?
“Ursus’s Liver isn’t very effective against airborne infections.”
“What are you talking about?! H-how did you fix it?!”
“I have my ways. Anyway, what a coincidence, seeing you in the labyrinth.”
“H-haah…?”
He had immediately discarded the Orc lungs infected by the spores and pulled out a new pair. While circulating Snowfield Troll blood through his entire body to heal the infected muscles, he also removed several muscle fibers in his extremities where the infection was severe and replaced them with fresh muscle.
Biologically, he had become a completely different body from the one infected by the spores. By using the Snowfield Troll blood solely to recover his brain, he had overcome the spore poisoning in an instant.
Mei, unaware of this, could only feel a sense of injustice.
“Hey! You, you…!”
“Whoa, why are you shouting? It’s so quiet around here.”
As he spoke, a massive mouth sprouted from the tip of his tail and suddenly swallowed a Poison Mushroom whole.
“W-what did you just do…?!”
“Hmm… These things are neither plants nor animals, they’re a bit ambiguous. I wonder if it’ll work.”
After swallowing the Poison Mushroom, some grotesque internal organs seemed to churn and move.
“Ah, there we go.”
As if the three Poison Mushrooms had vanished inside his gut, he suddenly retracted his tail and reached a hand forward.
—Pshhhhhh!
A cloud of smoke laden with deep purple spores slammed into Mei’s face.
“Gah! Hey, cough… W-what are you—”
“Whoops, what’s going on? No, I didn’t mean to do that.”
“Guh…?! T-this isn’t just spores…!”
Even the original Poison Mushrooms were fungi that were hard to classify as flora or fauna, but they were undoubtedly mana-based lifeforms. Just as the magic of the Skeleton Mage Yoo Eon had ‘borrowed’ was strengthened after he consumed the Dragon Heart of Tenebrax—a powerful, high-ranking mana lifeform—the toxic spores of the Poison Mushroom had been buffed not by one level, but by dozens.
“W-wait a second. Your complexion is…”
“Hey! Gasp… W-what is this…!!”
Her flickering vision finally went dark. Her last memory was a panicked Yoo Eon catching her as she fell.
“Hgeeeh…”
“Oh, shit…!”
Mei blacked out.
* * *
“This is driving me crazy.”
“The poisoning symptoms have been treated.”
“Phew, that’s a relief.”
I almost sent someone to the columbarium. I ate that purplish mushroom guy I found in the 1st Stratum of the Roanmarie Labyrinth, and since there was a skill, I tried it out as a test.
“Normally, they aren’t this toxic.”
“Ah, well. About that.”
Wait, should I tell him?
The reason I talk about my skills so casually is because everyone I’ve seen so far does the same. In the inn’s first-floor restaurant, people would give passionate, Adolf-like speeches about the amazing skills they’d acquired whenever they got the chance. Perhaps those memories were so vivid that I didn’t feel a particular need to hide my skills.
That thought hadn’t really changed, but being in Roanmarie made things feel a bit different.
“I suppose so. I’m not really sure myself.”
“I see. Regardless, she’s just sleeping for a while due to the aftereffects of the poisoning… For now, I’ll offer my thanks.”
“Ahaha… No, don’t mention it.”
The senior guide, a man with long, dark green hair, bowed his head. I bowed back and then escaped the guild.
Maybe I was a bit excited because it was my first time in this labyrinth, but more time had passed than I thought.
“Is it 8 o’clock already?”
The abandoned cat of the Sateria Appraisal Office, who had neither money nor honor, was probably huddled in her room starving. I needed to get back to the lodging and feed her. Maybe I should buy about two weeks' worth of food and stock up the room.
This area wasn't a wealthy district, so food was relatively cheap. Still more expensive than Calax, but it had a much more modern feel.
“Three orders to go, please.”
“Yes, coming right up!”
There was a fried chicken place on the way back, so I ordered three. In Calax, ‘fried food’ was usually just pork chops dredged in flour and sizzled in a shallow pan of oil. Of course, there were many more varieties of food in the Northwest.
I walked for about an hour toward the lodging, picked up the chicken, and then ran for another twenty minutes to arrive.
“Room eight hundred and… what was it? Room 802?”
Since I’d left the card with Ravi, I couldn’t open the door myself. I knocked, and after a short while, the door opened.
“Oh, who might you be?”
“Ah, um. Young Master, welcome back.”
“You must be the person who was supposed to come from Lymain.”
I had a hunch, but as expected, she was a beastkin woman. She had short hair with a tan base and brown spots.
“A cheetah?”
“I am a leopard.”
“I see.”
“What were you doing?”
“I was preparing a meal for Miss Sateria.”
Making an elite sent from Lymain cook for her? Ravi is living the high life.
“Ah, man. I’m sorry.”
“Why is that?”
“Our Ravi doesn’t know how to do anything, so she’s making you prepare the meals.”
“No, it’s quite alright. Miss Sateria is cute, after all.”
“Hmm.”
Congratulations. I’ve found someone to adopt the stray cat.
“I’ll leave her in your care.”
“Understood.”