Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Mushmom (3)
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6.
Mushroom monsters.
The most common monsters one could see in Maple World, they were objects of terror for countless adventurers.
At the same time, they were laughable existences.
“Mushrooms are scary. But even scary things get tiresome if you see too many. Eventually, they become ridiculous.”
After hunting them excessively, at some point mushroom monsters began to seem utterly pathetic.
In reality, veteran adventurers remained cautious of mushroom monsters but rarely felt tense around them.
Yet adventures always had their exceptions.
“But when Mushmom appears, that changes everything.”
Mushmom was that exception.
“Keep this in mind. If you spot Mushmom, don’t even think about fighting. Run away—no exceptions.”
And it wasn’t merely an exception.
Mushmom.
True to its name, the mother of all mushroom monsters possessed the ability to spawn an overwhelming horde of them.
“A Mushmom means at least 100,000 mushrooms are swarming that area.”
The sheer volume of mushroom monsters it produced was far beyond any adventurer’s control.
That was why.
“Everyone, run!”
Minel led her subordinates in a desperate sprint, never glancing back.
Uwooo!
Chasing Minel’s party from behind was a colossal mushroom towering fifteen meters tall.
It was Mushmom.
Uwoooo!
Not just any Mushmom, but a Zombie Mushmom.
Kieee!
Naturally, tens of thousands of tiny zombie mushrooms accompanied the Zombie Mushmom.
They pursued Minel’s party as one.
The scene resembled a tidal wave, a massive surge crashing toward Minel’s party.
Of course, Zombie Mushmom’s form stood apart.
Thud, thud!
With every step of its enormous two legs, the ground and forest cried out in agony.
That was yet another reason Zombie Mushmom inspired dread.
“Avoid engaging it at all costs!”
No adventurer could survive being crushed beneath Zombie Mushmom.
Naturally, tanking it was out of the question.
Not entirely impossible.
Adventurers with skills like Physical Training, Iron Body, or Endure—or those at 4th Circle or higher—could endure for a time.
In other words, in this Orange-grade Mystic Gate, accessible only to 3rd Circle adventurers and below, no one could stand against Zombie Mushmom.
That explained Minel’s flight.
Of course, she had no intention of fleeing indefinitely.
‘I need bait.’
Someone had to draw the Zombie Mushmom and its zombie mushroom swarm away.
And in this moment, only one person fit the bill.
‘I have to do it.’
Minel was the only one capable.
This wasn’t about self-sacrifice.
‘Only I can.’
Facing Zombie Mushmom, its tens of thousands of zombie mushrooms, and the zombie ribbon pigs mixed among them, only Minel and a handful of her subordinates could serve as bait.
Her resolve was firm.
All that remained was action.
“Geo!”
In that instant, Minel called out to Geo, her trusted pirate right-hand man.
Heeding her call without hesitation, Geo drew the pistol from his waist and fired skyward.
“Geo?”
Minel recoiled in shock.
Bang!
The moment Geo’s bullet burst, unleashing a crimson glow, Minel cried out.
“Geo!”
“Captain, I’ll accept my punishment later.”
Geo shattered Minel’s determination in that moment, all to save her.
Yet Minel felt no rage.
This wasn’t the time for it.
Across this vast expanse, El Pam’s party was surely locked in fierce combat with the zombie mushrooms.
The odds of them spotting this light were slim.
‘He’s in no position to help.’
Even if he saw the red flare and rushed to assist, what could he do?
Nothing would change.
Minel had to act.
And she did.
She veered away from her fleeing subordinates.
Aiming her pistol at the distant Zombie Mushmom.
The range was extreme.
Even accounting for Zombie Mushmom’s immensity, landing a hit was no simple task.
‘Most spots won’t even register.’
Moreover, right now, the only area where Minel could inflict meaningful damage was its face—specifically, the eyes.
‘Multiple shots.’
Not one or two, but several precise hits to direct its wrath toward her.
Yet Minel didn’t waver.
“Swift Fire!”
She activated the skill and squeezed the trigger.
Bang, bang, bang!
The bullets streaked forth with the gunfire, engulfing Zombie Mushmom’s eyeballs.
Kiiiiieee!
Under the barrage, Zombie Mushmom unleashed a roar brimming with fury.
Its gaze locked onto Minel, the source of the gunfire.
“Come on!”
Minel met its stare head-on, fueling its rage further.
Boom, boom, boom!
Zombie Mushmom charged toward Minel, herding its minions.
The pursuit was underway.
It was grueling.
After merely one minute, Minel’s body felt rigid as stone.
The oppressive weight of tens of thousands of zombies at her back—coupled with that monstrous Zombie Mushmom—was beyond endurance.
That wasn’t all.
Kieee!
Uwoooo!
Zombie mushrooms and zombie ribbon pigs lunged from every direction, relentlessly eroding her focus and willpower.
The worst came separately.
‘Damn!’
A wall of zombie mushrooms materialized before Minel.
Front and back, every side!
No escape!
In that instant, Minel knew.
Any evasion would consume too much time, allowing Zombie Mushmom to close the gap.
The end was near.
But she refused to yield.
Bang!
She blasted through the encircling zombie mushrooms, carving a path.
Thud, thud, thud!
Meanwhile, Zombie Mushmom’s footfalls thundered louder in her ears.
Then she knew.
‘It’s over.’
Even then, she kept her eyes open.
She prepared instead.
‘I won’t go down easy!’
Golden fire blazed in her eyes, fixed on Zombie Mushmom.
And she saw it.
Swoosh!
‘Huh?’
A streak of flame slicing across above her head.
Pfft!
The line embedding itself squarely between Zombie Mushmom’s brows.
‘What?’
Stunned, she whipped her head toward the trajectory’s origin.
And witnessed.
Swoosh!
‘Huh, how from that distance?’
A fire arrow soaring from an impossibly remote vantage.
7.
“Huh, how from this distance?”
Dibo’s words drew no reply from El Pam.
“Fire Arrow.”
Instead, he conjured a Fire Arrow, propelling it forward with telekinesis.
The Fire Arrow hurtled onward without end.
Soon, it vanished from sight.
Dibo marveled anew.
‘No, it’s barely visible?’
To him, the target was hardly discernible.
And that target was no ordinary mark.
Zombie Mushmom—an utterly colossal beast.
‘Just how far away is it?’
If even such a giant was indistinct, the distance defied reason.
Yet El Pam’s Fire Arrow traversed that gulf, striking true.
No matter El Pam’s prowess, hitting an unseen target was impossible.
And so it was.
El Pam couldn’t strike at such unseen extremes.
‘I see it.’
In truth, El Pam beheld it clearly.
‘Thanks to Artemis’s Eye.’
The necklace—Eagle Eye’s heirloom—enabled this.
‘Never imagined its effect was true vision enhancement.’
El Pam had heard the tales of Artemis’s Eye.
A unique item boosting the wearer’s eyesight proportional to their circle count.
But tales they remained.
During El Pam’s era, no adventurer wielded it.
Eagle Eye had been its owner.
Its renown stemmed from its worth.
‘1st Circle yields about 1.0 vision. So mine’s nearing 5.0 now.’
Effect: Vision amplification!
Unimpressive against other uniques at first glance—but far from it.
For adventurers, sharp eyes outshone most talents.
Some joined parties solely for their sight.
Telescopes aided, yet their view was narrower than expected.
Battling through a scope often hindered more than helped.
‘Eagle-like.’
El Pam’s vision now rivaled an eagle’s.
Indeed, despite the vast separation, Zombie Mushmom appeared vivid in his sight.
Hitting it was trivial.
And El Pam possessed more.
‘Add透視 here...’
透視 magic.
‘My brain couldn’t take it.’
Activating透視 now risked overload.
No need regardless.
“Fire Arrow.”
Simply impale the target’s brow with fire.
“Fire Arrow.”
Reliably.
“Fire Arrow.”
Methodically.
“Fire Arrow.”
Like water drops eroding stone, El Pam loosed Fire Arrows relentlessly.
No need to ponder duration.
It would signal when ready.
Kiiiiieee!
Assailed repeatedly, Zombie Mushmom sensed peril and turned toward El Pam.
The cue arrived.
Wounds now deep enough for fatal blows from El Pam.
“Fire Arrow.”
El Pam donned his Magic Acceleration bracer and invoked Fire Arrow.
Whirr!
The empowered Fire Arrow spun revolver-like, perforating the charging Zombie Mushmom’s brow cleft.
Then it resounded.
Rumble!
Zombie Mushmom’s collapse.
8.
Rumble!
Zombie Mushmom’s fall unleashed a thunderous quake through the forest.
A sound to shatter wits.
Minel, fleeing without pause, blanked out briefly.
‘How?’
An inconceivable spectacle.
That instant.
Swoosh!
A Fire Arrow whistled past her nose; startled, she turned.
“Run!”
The simultaneous shout snapped her back.
‘Right!’
Battle raged on.
Rumble rumble!
Far from concluded—tens of thousands of zombie mushrooms and zombie ribbon pigs still hunted her.
Desperation persisted.
But that was her perception alone.
Pfft!
Fire Arrows danced before her eyes; realization dawned.
‘Impossible.’
El Pam—architect of this impossibility.
‘How?’
No leisure for awe.
“There!”
Dibo emerged, directing her.
“What’re you waiting for? Hurry over! Boss can’t last! Mana’s hitting empty!”
Minel bolted toward Dibo.
Amid crisis, her reason held.
Never losing composure—that defined her.
Trailing Dibo, she evaded the zombie mushroom swarm and found.
El Pam sprawled on the ground, resting.
No sign of ease.
“Huu.”
Exhaustion etched El Pam’s prone form.
Mana, focus, spirit—all drained to exhaustion.
‘Artemis’s Eye demands far more than anticipated.’
Activation spiked his mana drain dramatically.
‘Mana use under Artemis’s Eye doubles consumption.’
More still.
‘Focus and spirit toll even greater.’
Pushing beyond his limits ravaged body and mind.
Trifling, against his feats.
El Pam rose then. Forced himself upright.
He passed a nearby bag to Minel.
“What’s this?”
“Eagle Eye’s heirloom.”
Minel’s golden eyes ballooned; she tore into the bag.
Spotting the letter, she devoured its words.
Tears—pristine—cascaded from her golden gaze.
Unceasing.
After long weeping, she faced El Pam.
“Why... why help me like this?”
El Pam pondered her query.
Golden Eye—their bond.
‘I was helped. By her.’
Pre-return favors from her.
‘Substantial aid.’
Saving comrades’ lives, his own.
Gratitude filled El Pam.
“Fire a red flare—I’ll come.”
Yet gratitude alone didn’t spur him.
El Pam understood.
“We traded: aid for payment.”
His path demanded pragmatism over sentiment.
“I’ll collect for this later.”
Now, he required Golden Eye’s items—and those of Captain Kairin, her protector.
“Then rejoin your comrades.”
That motivated her rescue.
El Pam intended no finale here.
He knew.
‘Exit manifests a week post-entry.’
This gate’s clear condition.
‘All perish, sole survivor flees endlessly.’
Minel—pre-return—had confided.
‘Week’s end summons the exit.’
Survival ruled.
Thus, El Pam’s and Minel’s parties must endure a week amid zombie hordes.
“If danger looms again, fire the red flare. I’ll assist.”
Opportunity beckoned.
“Payment deferred.”
El Pam’s leverage over Minel and Captain Kairin.
And it materialized.
The week to exit.
Bang!
Bang!
Twice more, Minel’s party ignited red flares that week.