Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Mushroom Forest (1)
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014
Chapter 5. Mushroom Forest (1)
1.
There were two things that determined the difficulty of a Mystic Gate.
The color of the gate and the maximum number of entrants.
The more entrants allowed, the vastly higher the difficulty of conquering the Mystic Gate.
And there was no limit to that number of entrants.
Red-grade gates topped out at 100 people, but even orange-grade ones made 100-person Mystic Gates easy to find.
A recently conquered blue-grade Mystic Gate had allowed up to 800 entrants.
Naturally, ordinary adventurers didn't usually form parties of over a thousand.
Once that many gathered, they were classified as a guild. Party sizes maxed out at under 99—already considered large parties—and for 1st Circle or 2nd Circle adventurers, parties rarely exceeded ten.
That was why Mystic Gates allowing large numbers of entrants were typically tackled by multiple parties working together.
Solo parties of ten or fewer conquering a Mystic Gate? That was beginner-level stuff.
In other words, multiple parties teaming up meant they weren't beginners.
"Is that the fifth party?"
Dibo tensed up when the man greeting El Pam and him spoke. It was because of that.
'These guys are the real deal from here on out.'
The people in front of them now were seasoned adventurers who could properly conquer a Mystic Gate.
'Whether they've got one Circle or two.'
You couldn't judge their experience by the number of Circles on their left wrists.
Circles were indeed a measure of strength, but advancing Circles required innate talent.
Among those without talent, some stayed at 1st Circle their entire lives.
And among those, some had conquered Mystic Gates hundreds of times over.
Those were the true veterans.
To Dibo, they were utterly unreachable.
'Real pros who don't even use slaves.'
Using bait slaves was something only total noobs did—ones who couldn't handle anything but solo hunting.
Seasoned adventurers didn't entrust their fates to bait slaves in the first place.
They chose the option with even a 1% higher survival rate, whether it meant sharing profits or taking losses.
That was why they did whatever it took inside a Mystic Gate.
Literally.
'They eliminate any obstacles without hesitation.'
If another party they came with became a hindrance, they removed it without a second thought.
And they had to.
'Crazy adventurers are the most dangerous.'
To veterans, the monsters beyond the Mystic Gate were dangerous, sure—but most were predictable. Their habits, how to kill them, how to escape.
Adventurers were different.
A crazy adventurer or one with malicious intent was impossible to predict.
In fact, cases where an adventurer went rogue, lured the boss monster, and wiped out the others were surprisingly common.
And it was profitable business.
Unlike monsters, adventurers always dropped at least one item upon death, 100% of the time.
For veteran adventurers, eliminating that type early was basic common sense.
"Just the two of you?"
In their eyes, El Pam and Dibo looked like bombs waiting to explode.
A party of only two?
That alone screamed, "What the hell are these guys?"
'And I'm a slave.'
Worse, one of them was an unawakened regular human—essentially a slave.
It was a tense situation for Dibo all around.
"Yes, just two."
El Pam was different, though.
"And one of them hasn't awakened."
He stated the plain truth without sugarcoating.
"Huh, boss?"
His words left everyone, Dibo included, stunned.
What kind of confidence let him say something like that?
El Pam thought differently.
'It's just red-grade at best.'
To him, the people here weren't veterans—they didn't even qualify as rookies.
At least not by his standards.
If they targeted him, he was confident he could wipe them out in ten minutes.
Above all, El Pam knew.
'This is a test, after all.'
He knew what kind of stage this was.
It was then.
"Everyone's here."
A man appeared before them.
Mid-forties, with eyes sharp as daggers.
"I'm Rakan."
The moment he gave his name, everyone froze solid.
'Rakan, executive of the Gapor Merchant Group?'
No one there was ignorant of the weight that name carried.
"No long speeches."
Rakan addressed the tense adventurers.
"This is a test. Hunt the boss monster. Do that, and I'll give you a shot."
Their eyes lit up at "a shot."
"A chance to join the 100-person gate."
And the moment they heard the follow-up, no one paid El Pam's party any mind anymore.
2.
"Adventurers are a selfish bunch."
Every adventurer chased different values.
Some sought wealth and glory, others fame and renown.
They pursued all sorts of things.
"No two are alike, but they do share one thing."
Yet all adventurers had two common desires.
"They crave power."
One was the ability to go adventuring.
"And they stake their lives on titles."
The other was their nickname or title—commonly called a title.
Titles were the ultimate goal and value for adventurers.
Even the Adventurers' Association distinguished them not primarily by Circles, but by achievements and titles.
A 1st Circle adventurer with a more valuable title got better treatment than a 5th Circle one.
Titles were the fruits of adventure, and adventurers proved their worth through those fruits.
"The 100-person gate, right?"
In this era of Mystic Gates, conquering a 100-person Mystic Gate was the ultimate title for adventurers at 2nd Circle or below who could tackle red-grade gates.
But it wasn't just about the title.
"Legend-grade items could drop?"
The biggest value of a 100-person Mystic Gate was the high chance of a legend-grade item dropping.
That value was immense.
Most low-grade items were useless to high-Circle adventurers anyway.
The number of skills you could use at once equaled your Circles.
A 5th Circle adventurer could use five items simultaneously.
Even then, filling them all with 5th Circle items caused such massive mana drain you couldn't sustain it.
Mid-tier items ended up worthless later on.
That was why 1st or 2nd Circle items traded for pennies now.
Unique-grade items were different.
"One of those is a jackpot, right?"
Even 5th Circle adventurers—not to mention higher, up to 8th—sometimes used 1st Circle unique items.
El Pam had witnessed it.
Entering a 100-person gate meant all that.
"Whoa, paying off debt would be a breeze. Debt? What's that? We'll be rich in one go!"
Even Dibo's eyes spun with the sheer opportunity.
That was why the veterans ignored El Pam and Dibo now.
"The competition's gonna be fierce."
At this point, they had no spare attention for El Pam and Dibo.
Of course, there were no exceptions to "of course."
"Time's short. If you're not entering now, declare your withdrawal within ten minutes."
No one from the Gapor Merchant Group withdrew at Rakan's words.
"We enter in ten minutes."
And once entry time was set.
When that time came.
The five gathered parties—38 adventurers in total—stepped beyond the Mystic Gate without hesitation.
The test began.
3.
The moment adventurers stepped beyond the Mystic Gate, they became one team, no matter their affiliations.
More precisely, they agreed beforehand.
On what to do inside and who would lead.
Then they played as a party around that leader.
Not this time.
The instant they entered the Mystic Gate, the parties just stared at each other.
That was it.
No words exchanged.
Just brief glances swapped, then they scattered in all directions like they'd planned it.
Leaving only El Pam and Dibo.
Dibo was the same.
"Boss."
He looked at El Pam with eyes burning more with resolve than ever.
"We should move too. Gotta find the boss monster quick."
Rakan had said it.
The first party to take down the boss monster gets a spot in the 100-person gate.
First to kill wins.
That was why the parties had scattered wordlessly.
"Before the others get it!"
They were competitors, not allies.
Of course, Dibo wasn't just fired up over profit.
He had faith.
"No problem for you, boss!"
Faith that El Pam's terrifying skills would beat the competition.
El Pam's feats had been that impressive.
This wasn't like regular hunting.
Above all, Dibo thought.
'The boss came this far for this!'
El Pam wanted it too.
"We're not joining the boss raid."
"Huh?"
But El Pam said something completely different from what Dibo expected.
"We're doing mass hunting here."
"Mass hunting?"
Dibo was dumbfounded. Not just skipping the boss monster, but hunting regular mobs instead?
'What the hell kind of crazy talk is this?'
Then why come here at all?
"You think this is crazy talk."
"Huh? N-no."
Seeing Dibo's face, El Pam happily explained.
"First off, the boss monster here has crazy competition. High competition means high risk."
El Pam was strong.
But he knew.
"The top rule in Mystic Gates: avoid danger."
One key adventurer tenet was never to overestimate your strength.
"And failing to hunt the boss here doesn't bar you from the 100-person gate."
"But... it's a test?"
"Gapor himself decides the Gapor Merchant Group's reps for the 100-person gate. Not Rakan."
Plus, El Pam knew skipping the boss here didn't end your chances.
'It'll fail anyway.'
Opportunities like this would keep coming.
No record in El Pam's memory of this 100-person gate ever being conquered.
Above all, El Pam knew.
"Smells fishy."
"Smells?"
Sniff sniff!
Dibo immediately sniffed at El Pam's words. All he got was the damp forest scent.
And at that smell, Dibo said.
"Isn't this a mushroom smell?"
The distinctive odor of mushroom monsters.
That was it.
Nothing too dangerous or threatening.
But to El Pam, it was different.
"Mushroom smell."
He said it with conviction.
"Poison mushroom smell."
'The Clown Poison Mushroom's smell.'
The boss monster of this place.