Chapter 16
Chapter 16
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Mushroom Forest (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
5. Mushroom Forest (3)
7.
One common misconception among rookie adventurers was the true quality of a veteran adventurer.
“Veterans are the ones who can take down monsters efficiently!”
Rookies believed that overwhelming combat prowess was the top priority for an adventurer.
But that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
For veteran monster hunters, survival came first. And the most crucial skill for survival was knowing how not to fight monsters.
That was the case for the party led by the veteran adventurer mage Dolran.
“There’s a pack of Green Mushrooms this way. Let’s go around.”
They were veterans with over a hundred Mystic Gate clears under their belts.
They could avoid combat whenever necessary, which was why they’d pushed through countless adventures without any major clashes.
They hadn’t made a single mistake.
They were cautious and meticulous.
That was for sure.
They hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Uahahahaha!”
“What the hell?”
But then one of their companions suddenly burst into laughter.
“Uahahahaha!”
“Zell, what’s gotten into you?”
“Uahahahaha!”
Like he’d completely lost his mind.
“What’s wrong with…… uahahahaha!”
And that was just the beginning.
Starting with one, the entire six-man party erupted into mad laughter one after another.
“Uahahahaha!”
“Uahaha, kuh, kuh!”
Of course, it wasn’t normal laughter.
The faces of those laughing were more contorted than ever.
Everyone knew why.
‘Poison.’
They knew this laughter was a sign of poisoning.
“Everyone, haha, everyone, run, haha……”
And they knew exactly what fate awaited them.
Veterans wouldn’t miss it.
Boom!
They knew how dangerous it was to make loud noises in a monster-infested area.
8.
“It’s a Clown Poison Mushroom.”
The moment El Pam explained, Dibo’s face twisted in fury.
Not because he knew what a Clown Poison Mushroom was.
He had no reason to.
“You only see it beyond the Mystic Gate, and even then, it’s incredibly rare.”
Even El Pam had encountered a Clown Poison Mushroom fewer than ten times.
That meant it was an extraordinarily rare monster.
Considering the astronomical number of monsters El Pam had faced—billions.
That was why Dibo’s expression soured.
An unknown monster had appeared, and worse, one with poison? The most dangerous scenario.
“Regular antivenom potions won’t work, right?”
Adventurers always carried at least one antivenom potion. Expensive, sure, but cheaper than their lives. And these potions worked against a variety of known poisons.
The problem? “Variety” meant well-documented poisons.
The odds of it working against the ultra-rare Clown Poison Mushroom’s toxin were basically zero.
And that wasn’t all.
“More importantly, that laughing earlier……”
“A symptom of the poisoning.”
The Clown Poison Mushroom’s toxin wasn’t overwhelmingly potent. To be precise, it wasn’t instantly lethal. Victims could last about a day even after being poisoned.
“So getting poisoned makes them laugh like maniacs?”
“Exactly.”
The real issue was that poisoning triggered uncontrollable, hysterical laughter.
In monster territory, you never made loud noises—that was the ironclad rule.
And it didn’t stop there.
Laughing uncontrollably was exhausting in itself. Like how your stomach hurts after laughing too hard.
Trying to fight in that state?
Especially a life-or-death battle demanding total focus?
Impossible.
At this point, Dibo had one hope.
“Boss, what do you think?”
‘If it’s the boss, he’ll know.’
Maybe El Pam could identify the boss monster just from the symptoms.
“Not easy.”
El Pam’s response made Dibo’s face harden further.
‘Yeah, figured as much.’
He’d never seen one, but the description alone painted a horrific picture.
El Pam knew something else, too.
‘Clown Poison Mushrooms don’t have that wide an effective poison range.’
This wasn’t a normal one.
‘Even the smallest Clown Poison Mushroom is over four meters tall. If its poison range reached them, veteran adventurers wouldn’t have missed it. But they still got poisoned……’
El Pam considered the possibility.
‘There’s a high chance it has an item boosting its poison range and power.’
As El Pam pondered, Dibo spoke up.
“Boss, let’s bail?”
Find the exit and get out fast.
A solid call.
Chasing a slaughter when facing an uncatchable, dangerous boss monster? Only fools did that.
No matter how valuable the boss’s loot, risking your life wasn’t smart.
Dibo wasn’t the only one thinking that.
Boom!
An explosion echoed from one part of the forest, and soon Dibo and El Pam saw it.
Red smoke billowing into the sky.
“Emergency signal.”
9.
One of the Adventurers’ Association’s top priorities was boosting adventurer survival rates.
Title-obsessed adventurers competed fiercely, leading to frequent accidents at the extremes.
To counter this, the Association established rules.
“If a Pirate Adventurer fires a smoke shell from a gun or cannon, here’s what the colors mean.”
One such rule involved smoke shells.
“Green smoke means a safe zone. Yellow means run no matter what. Red means all adventurers converge.”
Red smoke was the emergency signal—rally at the launch site.
Of course, these were just guidelines, not enforceable.
The Association couldn’t assign babysitters to every adventurer.
Sometimes smoke shells were even used as traps to lure adventurers.
Still, most followed the rules, especially veterans.
They might save your life someday.
That’s why, when the red smoke went up, the four surviving parties—all but the wiped-out one—gathered at the site.
Every last survivor converged.
The Pirate Adventurer who’d fired it, Ibrue, addressed the group.
“We found a boss monster. A five-meter mushroom monster, red with grinning skull patterns all over.”
He revealed the boss’s existence.
But everyone knew that wasn’t the whole story.
They hadn’t called an emergency for that alone.
Right on cue.
“It’s camped right in front of the exit.”
Ibrue dropped the bombshell, and everyone’s faces darkened.
Dibo’s included.
‘This is insane.’
A monster that spews deadly poison, blocking the exit?
And that wasn’t the worst part.
“You all know mushroom monsters don’t hunt. They don’t need to eat to survive.”
Normal monsters hunted to live. Basic instinct.
Staying put long-term was nearly impossible—they had to roam.
Not mushroom monsters.
That Clown Poison Mushroom squatting there wouldn’t budge unless provoked.
Everyone’s expressions hardened.
“Someone has to play bait.”
To create that provocation.
Not everyone bought it immediately. One adventurer raised a hand.
“What if we all take it down?”
Adventurers adventured.
Plus, the payoff.
“Rare poison like that? Worth a fortune.”
Titles and serious cash.
But the idea didn’t stick.
“Even a fortune’s not worth your life.”
These were veterans.
Their dilemma deepened.
They valued their lives more than anyone.
‘Who’s gonna be the bait?’
Who’d volunteer to risk it all?
Everyone eyed each other warily.
“We’ll be the bait.”
El Pam raised his hand, stunning the assembled adventurers.
“B-Boss?”
Dibo was among the shocked.
Volunteering for suicide bait duty?
“Have you lost it?”
Insane.
And not just any insanity.
The others thought so too.
“Don’t you get our situation? One adventurer, one bait slave! Just two of them!”
Using a tiny worm to hook a shark? Pointless.
Same here.
Sending just El Pam and Dibo against that monstrous Clown Poison Mushroom? How long would they last?
More likely they’d just poke it and make things worse.
The other adventurers shared the concern, but El Pam addressed it.
“Two adventurers.”
“Two?”
Everyone exchanged glances.
He was asking for one more.
Smart, in a way.
In this mess, it made sense for everyone to share the risk rather than one side taking it all.
Tense about who’d draw the short straw, they watched El Pam’s finger move.
Pointing.
The tension peaked—then his finger stopped.
“Huh?”
On Dibo, of all people.
“Me?”
Dibo tilted his head, then wore a dumbfounded look.
“Boss, you joking? What adventurer am I? My left wrist……”
He started to show his left wrist but froze.
“Huh?”
A black ring had appeared on it.
“I awakened?”
Now they had two adventurers.
The others weren’t convinced.
You couldn’t count a fresh awakening as a full adventurer.
“No, wait. Boss. Yeah, I’m an adventurer now, but I’m the greenest of greenhorns! How are two of us supposed to bait that thing?”
Dibo protested vehemently, and everyone happily agreed.
That’s when it hit.
“We’ll be the bait.”
“No, Boss, listen……”
“But the rest of you pay 50,000 Mesos each.”
El Pam made his offer.
“Per person.”
The absurd demand drew tense chuckles from the adventurers.
One, the pirate Ibrue, couldn’t hold back.
“This the time for jokes? Your buddy won’t even……”
“One, two, three…… 50,000 each? Holy crap, Boss. Let’s do it!”
But Dibo’s outburst shut Ibrue up.
Everyone else too.
They all stared at El Pam and Dibo in disbelief.
With Dibo on board, one question remained.
“The plan’s simple. My companion and I will lure the poison shroom. You all slip out the exit.”
Accept the deal?
No need for long deliberation.
“If you make it out alive, pay up then.”
Why turn down free bait—and deferred payment?
Ibrue extended his hand.
“Pleasure doing business.”