Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Floor 6: Camouflage Haki (Nope)
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2025년 8월 7일. Exactly one week since returning to the modern world.
I waited tensely, dressed in my raincoat and the least damaged armor I had, with my backpack slung over my shoulders.
'It was exactly 8 o'clock when I got sent there before...'
The seconds on the digital clock atop my desk ticked away with a faint tick-tock white noise.
The current time: 7:59:56.
57.
58.
59.
And before it could hit 60.
A sweltering heat rose to my face, and my body was already immersed in a jungle teeming with unfamiliar vines and trees.
Tangled vines and lush grasses wove together over my head, forming walls, while branches and leaves from the trees blotted out the sky, letting in scarcely any sunlight.
The plants grew so densely that anywhere without a path would be impossible to traverse, creating a natural green labyrinth.
Sharp grasses with unknown names and the head-splitting chorus of jungle insects made the scene feel even more surreal.
"Couldn't this damn thing give some kind of warning signal before sending me? Would it kill you?"
Just like the first time I'd been thrown into the dungeon, the transition happened without any prelude whatsoever, leaving me dumbfounded.
This was the jungle zone starting from Floor 6, after passing the sewer section on Floor 5.
The enemies and their traits had drastically changed from the sewers, so without intel, this stretch could lay out a newbie fresh off clearing the sewers and gut them on the spot while they were still celebrating.
'And the tropical rainforest zone has some special quirks.'
There was a unique system rule—or peculiarity—that applied only in the tropical rainforest zone.
"No need to worry about that right now, so I'll table it... First time, it made me change clothes, but not this time."
Unlike when I'd been dragged off as a soldier, my backpack full of real-world prep items and onaholes was intact.
For me, this was a godsend.
If I'd had to leave it all behind, I was planning to turn into a yellow-skinned bald guy and strangle User ㅇㅇ(112.311).
Lucky me.
With a bulging bag, my mind felt at ease.
The pack was heavy, sure, but my steps felt light as I slowly made my way through the jungle, the swish of crushed grass underfoot guiding me forward.
'I might run into the shady merchant again on Floor 6... but no GOLD, so skip it.'
Having taken down the Giant Slime Blob, Wanderer, and even the Sewer King, I had nearly 2,000 GOLD.
But the shady merchant's prices kept climbing even for the same items, so in my position where I had to budget purchases, it wasn't enough for even a tempting grimoire.
'If there's a Tactical Command Grimoire, I was thinking of grinding a bit and selling teleport scrolls to buy it...'
⚙ SKILL NAME ⚙ Tactical Command For summoner builds pairing with my Battle Command, it was a top priority—hell, priority zero—the quintessential output skill.
But like Battle Command, its drop rate was abysmally low, so probably not.
What I was really hoping for on Floor 6 was the Sad Ghost.
Confirming if the Sad Ghost, turned assistant merchant NPC via sub-quest reward, showed up properly was key.
Especially since her stock was cheaper than the shady merchant's, even if slimmer.
Crunch-crunch.
As those thoughts swirled, I reached a three-way fork, feeling the squish of earth under my boots with each step.
Three paths in a hallway—not even a room—was rare, so I whipped my head around, peering beyond, but the dense vines blocked my view.
"In the dot graphics, it looked sparse..."
The path was wide enough that the gallery had jokes like "Why's this thing wide open but you can't see or pass it?"
But I wasn't trusting those low-res dots.
This jungle was so thick, if you plopped it in reality, unknown eco-groups would riot to protect the "second Amazon."
"Hmm~ Come out, Severa."
"..."
Severa materialized at my call, looking uneasy, clutching her rear.
I hadn't touched her since that day.
Neglect was the word. And she'd watched me fool around with the Wanderer on the bed every night.
I didn't force her to watch. She'd sneak peeks whenever I was at it, or maybe spy from hiding while getting off.
She'd twitch like she wanted to masturbate, but I knew the command's scope was broad.
In just three days, my Command proficiency had shot up more than in two weeks of grueling dungeon life.
Severa had a strong ego despite being a spirit, so constant arousal without release was driving her mad, but her pride kept her from begging me.
"W-Why... why'd you call me? I-I can feel it now... it takes mana to maintain this form. T-This isn't even combat...?"
Her fierce eyes clashed with the moist, expectant puppy-dog gaze.
Of course, I had no intention of obliging.
"Just wanted some explanation on this jungle. Using you here is iffier than in the sewers."
"Ah..."
Severa's firepower was insane. Damage-wise, she'd hold her own as a DPS even into early Floor 10 raids.
But she had awful matchup against the tropical rainforest zone.
Unlike the sewers, magic-using enemies spiked here, and with her HP at 1, any spell hit meant instant combat incapacity—her tankiness was a huge liability.
'Luckily, onaholes just revert when HP hits zero.'
Refueling via Fuel was another hassle, but better than total destruction.
Even ignoring that, her main spell was Fireball.
And the rainforest was mostly grass, trees, and even plant enemies.
Bad matchup meant exactly that. Every tile here counted as brush, so fire attacks ignited it.
And with a 33% chance to spread, one spell could torch the whole floor if RNG hated you.
'Enemies are weak to fire, but for balance, use it and you burn too!'
Mage chars had to pray before every fire spell in here.
"This is Osairis's Labyrinth."
"Osairis?"
"The god of vegetation worshipped in a kingdom far from Whitechamber. They say... this labyrinthine jungle sprouted where he died."
Whitechamber, the city that built the sewers.
Osairis, the vegetation god who birthed the rainforest.
Stuff you'd never hear in D.D.
NPCs with dialogue only shared their own tales, not lore dumps.
Even deep in the dungeon now, you'd miss it without asking.
"Why'd that vegetation god guy die?"
"...No idea."
Severa shook her head curtly, and I couldn't help narrowing my eyes.
Myths usually embellished history with gods; how's a key god's death a mystery?
'No, myths work differently here.'
A world where gods truly existed.
Incomprehensible from my view, but shift perspective and it clicked.
The vegetation god was murdered, but the killer got away.
Happens in reality all the time.
"But I suspect that fated 'end' killed him. When I passed through here before, a few of his 'bells' lingered, though sparsely."
"Hmm..."
Severa's theory held water.
112.311 showing specific zones in D.D format meant something.
And those spots were all touched by this 'end' she mentioned.
Explains why enemies and traps were uniformly vomit-inducingly gross.
"Which way."
"No more questions? I'm going back."
"Which way?"
"...You can't seriously expect me to pick?"
"Which way??"
Severa gave up adding protests and bit her lip.
"Sigh... Don't blame me if something weird comes from the path I pick... Ah?!"
Smack!
The impact felt light to me, but Severa arched her back from the juicy spank's aftershock.
Spotting the jewel plug's glint, I patted the struck cheek soothingly.
"Nngh... M-Middle path, then!?"
She shrieked in a shrill voice, then pop—back to onahole form. Where she'd stood, a larger dew drop clung to the grass than on the surrounding blades.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Following Severa's pick, I took the middle path and soon reached the end.
No other passages branched off the entrance; it was a clearing choked with blue grasses.
But mottled foliage, shadows, and narrow gaps in the wall made it hard to spot as a dead end without the map.
Extreme, but now I got why explorers called jungles deadly.
Pathfinding was pure hell.
And here, there were at least vague trails; real ones forced you to hack through.
"And camouflage is a bit much, don't you think?"
Tssssk.
Awaiting me in the dead-end room: a massive plant.
⚔ ENEMY STATUS ⚔ Predatory Vine Level: 9 Health: 53/53 ■■■■■■■■■■ One of the mysterious plants inhabiting this labyrinthine jungle. It absorbs falling organic matter with the oval pitchers on its stems, but occasionally hunts directly. Pitcher plant in Korean, Nepenthes in Latin.
Scaled to human size, it moved its vines like limbs, approaching me.
Huge as it was, it blended with the background grasses until it got close enough to clock as an enemy.
"You guys need some exhibitionism."
Not wearing clothes counts as exposed, right?
I drew my axe.