Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Mushroom Forest (2)
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015
Chapter 5. Mushroom Forest (2)
4.
The first thing adventurers did after entering beyond the Mystic Gate was to search using all five senses.
And among those sensory searches, the one that worked first was always smell.
That was the case now, too.
Sniff sniff!
The adventurers who had entered for the 100-man Gate participation test without exception vigorously worked their noses.
The same went for the Iburu Party, led by the 2nd Circle adventurer pirate.
Sniff sniff!
Iburu lay flat on the ground, sniffing the soil incessantly.
“Mushrooms.”
And then he spoke.
“Green Mushrooms.”
At those words, the expressions of his other companions hardened.
“It would’ve been nice if they were Orange Mushrooms. This is going to be a hassle.”
No one there was unaware of the distinctive damp, fishy yet fragrant smell that emanated from places where mushroom monsters lurked.
However, pinpointing the exact type of mushroom like Iburu had just done was no easy feat.
“If the leader says it, then it’s certain.”
That was why the pirate Iburu was the leader of this six-person adventurer party composed of veterans.
He possessed deeper knowledge of monsters and a wider range of experiences than anyone else in the group.
That was why his companions trusted him so much.
“We came here trusting only the leader.”
It was that trust that had allowed them to step into this by no means easy test stage without hesitation.
“Anyway, since Green Mushrooms are appearing, the situation is completely different from just hunting Orange Mushrooms.”
Iburu explained the situation to his companions.
“As you all know, Green Mushrooms are smaller than Orange Mushrooms, but in exchange, they’re faster and much tougher.”
There were no rebuttals to his explanation.
“They’re monsters that are pretty tough to take down.”
From the moment they entered the Mystic Gate, Iburu’s words were absolute truth to them.
And now he was declaring it outright.
“So everyone will be thinking the same thing. Let’s skip the Green Mushrooms and focus on the boss monster.”
5.
“Boss, those green mushroom bastards over there, right?”
The moment he spotted the Green Mushrooms, Dibo grinned and said.
“There’s only five of them. Looks like small fry. I’ll take care of them right away.”
And with that, he confidently strode toward the Green Mushrooms.
There were two reasons for this.
‘I need to make a good impression at times like this.’
To look good in El Pam’s eyes.
‘They’re just mushrooms anyway.’
And because of his confidence.
It was exactly as he said.
With the polearm gripped in his hand, Dibo felt more confident in battle than ever, and he had every reason to.
‘The polearm fits my hand better than any sword I’ve ever swung in my life.’
He had finally tasted his true talent.
‘And it’s amazing.’
Moreover, that talent far surpassed anything Dibo had imagined or even dreamed of.
‘I’m better than those half-assed adventurer warriors.’
If he exaggerated a bit, it felt like he had become a real adventurer.
In many ways, his overflowing confidence was justified, and amid that confidence, Dibo fought the battle—and soon realized something.
“Fuck, why are they so damn tough?”
The toughness of the Green Mushrooms was on a level incomparable to the Orange Mushrooms he had faced before.
Of course, being mushroom monsters, they weren’t unbreakable.
However, needing two, three, or even four strikes to shatter them was a massive headache in combat.
Especially against mushroom monsters.
Mushroom monsters swarmed in numbers from the start, so how quickly you could dispatch them was what mattered.
If you couldn’t wipe them out in one go, the fight became a real pain.
Thwack!
Yet the Green Mushroom withstood Dibo’s polearm—not once, but three times, even with its full weight behind it.
An unexpected situation.
Naturally, it turned into a grueling battle.
“Huff, huff!”
After the fight ended, Dibo—his initial bravado gone, face pale and stiff—said.
“Boss, this isn’t working.”
It wasn’t just whining.
‘Boss’s Fire Arrow is terrifying.’
Dibo knew exactly how fearsome El Pam’s abilities were.
‘Against these guys, it won’t even pierce a few before fizzling out.’
And he knew their limits, too.
‘It’s different from the Stumps.’
Sure, Stumps had far superior defense compared to Green Mushrooms, but they weren’t monsters that came in hordes to begin with.
Even in groups, maybe ten or so.
Mushroom monsters, on the other hand, swarmed in hundreds, sometimes even thousands.
‘It’s a 40-man Mystic Gate. Thousands showing up wouldn’t be strange.’
The situation was different in every way.
El Pam knew it too.
Fire Arrow could handle dozens of flimsy Orange Mushrooms with weak defense even barehanded, no problem. But against Green Mushrooms, four or five was the limit.
Of course, for regular hunting, it wouldn’t be an issue.
Fire Arrow was one of the most basic 1st Circle spells to begin with—one shot, one monster, and it paid for itself.
El Pam hunting dozens with it was the abnormal one.
‘We need to change targets.’
Still, this wasn’t some massive crisis.
Creating a 2nd Circle Fire Arrow was no big deal for El Pam.
It would just consume more mana.
And more mana consumption meant fewer mushrooms he could take down.
That was all.
‘Wipeout hunting is impossible. Have to give it up.’
Just hunt a few.
But it was different for El Pam.
In the days he had lived, there were never any choices. When the situation turned sour, “let’s just get a few” wasn’t an option he’d ever had.
Fail to hunt, and you die—that was the only kind of quest.
El Pam had survived those quests. Until the very last moment.
Of course there was a way.
“We stick to the plan.”
“The plan?”
So El Pam didn’t back down.
“We do the wipeout hunt.”
Dibo’s expression hardened at those words.
Truth be told, he didn’t hate wipeout hunting itself. Quite the opposite—he loved it.
“Hey, Boss. I get that it’s profitable, but…”
And why wouldn’t he? Monsters turned into money once killed. They’d made a killing with the Stump wipeout, after all.
Dibo had gotten a cut of that profit. Especially big thanks to the Stump Tears that time.
Money-obsessed Dibo had zero intention of passing up a chance to earn.
“Isn’t this pushing it too far?”
The problem was the importance of the current situation.
“Wouldn’t catching the boss monster if we can be the real jackpot?”
Sure, there’d be other chances even without the boss, but no need to let the surest shot slip by.
El Pam knew that too.
He didn’t want to overextend for the boss monster either, but if it was possible, he’d take it.
“Yeah.”
“Right?”
“That’s why we’re doing the wipeout hunt.”
“Huh?”
That was exactly why El Pam wasn’t changing the plan.
“Green Mushrooms are tough to kill. The other four parties already know that full well. So they’ll all reach the same conclusion.”
With those words, El Pam pointed at Dibo with his finger.
“Yeah, they won’t hunt them. Taking those down would chew through stamina and mana like crazy.”
“If everyone skips them, Green Mushrooms will overflow this place. That’ll make fighting the boss a nightmare.”
Dibo nodded at the explanation.
Clear out surrounding monsters before tackling the boss—that was Mystic Gate攻略 101.
Dibo had no intention of denying that basic.
“Especially mushrooms—they have incredibly strong tribal instincts. If the boss goes wild once, every mushroom around will swarm in.”
“Th-that’s true, but… Boss, these aren’t Orange Mushrooms.”
But that only held if El Pam could handle Green Mushrooms as easily as Orange ones.
“It’ll take ages to clear all of them, you know?”
In the end, they circled back to the start.
“Ah, whatever. If the Boss says so, I’ll follow.”
So Dibo raised no more objections.
El Pam felt the same.
No need to repeat the same talk.
He’d just show it.
Thud!
“Damn it, we took too long. Boss! More mushroom bastards incoming. Huh? Shit!”
Right on cue.
“One, two… Shit, Boss! Run! Over fifty coming!”
Over fifty Green Mushrooms charged in, and at the front of the horde, El Pam said.
“Fire Arrow.”
“B-Boss?”
At the same time, he conjured a Fire Arrow and launched it straight at the Green Mushrooms using telekinesis.
It flew like a snake.
“They’re tough, those…”
Fwoosh!
It pierced the Green Mushroom’s sturdy body in one shot, then burrowed straight into the next one.
Just like with Orange Mushrooms.
“Huh? Huh?”
Dibo, stunned by the sight, soon noticed.
‘The Fire Arrow is spinning?’
El Pam’s other telekinesis technique: Revolver.
6.
The reason El Pam could become the greatest telekinesis mage was his environment.
To survive in extreme conditions, he had no choice but to hone every bit of his ability to the limit.
In that process, El Pam developed several techniques using telekinesis.
One of them was the Revolver technique.
The method was simple.
‘Add rotational force.’
Make a spell moved by telekinesis spin.
No easy task.
‘Only usable on one shot.’
It was a technique that demanded intense focus, so activating Revolver meant controlling only a single object.
‘But mana consumption drops sharply.’
However, it only drained focus—mana cost was barely different from handling one shot normally.
‘And the power surges.’
In comparison, a Fire Arrow with Revolver had insane piercing power.
The scene before his eyes was proof.
Fwoosh!
El Pam’s Fire Arrow began shredding the tough Green Mushrooms mercilessly.
An astonishing sight.
And now, it wasn’t just El Pam.
“Come on!”
Dibo gladly played bait against the incoming Green Mushrooms.
And as bait, Dibo was more fired up than ever.
Because his faith was restored.
‘What’s this worth?’
Above all, the profits from wipeout hunting were more than enough to bring a smile to Dibo’s face.
Fwoosh!
‘I can hear the money rolling in!’
By the time the battle ended, Dibo let out a laugh.
“Uh-ha…”
Uh-ha-ha-ha-ha!
At that moment, a massive laugh echoed. A laugh so huge it shook the entire forest.
“Gasp!”
Startled by the sound, Dibo clamped his mouth shut.
Then, looking at El Pam, he shook his head vigorously and whispered in the tiniest voice.
“I-It wasn’t me. I won’t make the same mistake this time.”
He hadn’t forgotten the time he’d drawn monsters by yelling too loudly.
Of course, El Pam knew it wasn’t Dibo.
His gaze was already fixed in the direction of the enormous laughter.
And his expression was grim.
‘It’s certain.’
The moment he heard that laugh, El Pam knew without a doubt.
‘The boss monster here is the Clown Poison Mushroom.’
Just how much of a headache this boss monster would be.