Morning sunlight filtered through the wisteria curtains, laying golden fragments across the oak floor.

Curled on her velvet cushion, the young girl still slept peacefully.

“Mmm… so warm…”

Three crisp knocks pulled her from her dream.

“Good day, Miss,” came Butler Eric’s voice from outside. “Your new magic tutor should arrive shortly. Please be prepared.”

Since Inanna had been found, Eric had been assigned by the duke to serve her exclusively—arranging her daily life, ensuring her safety.

As for the duke himself, he was trapped on the border, unable to return, due to the Hermit Empire’s constant skirmishes.

“Uncle Eric, I know, I’ll be there soon.”

When his footsteps faded, Inanna stretched and rose from bed to dress herself.

Traditionally, maids would tend to her grooming. But since her return, she refused, doing everything herself.

Everyone assumed it was because, after betrayal, she had grown cautious. The whole estate sympathized with her ordeal.

But that wasn’t the truth.

Her hand slid through her pink hair, to the back of her head—where a very, very tiny mushroom cap, the same color as her hair, grew.

She had told no one. Not of her experiences in the dungeon, nor of this little mushroom.

The first was because of Lin Jun’s warning. The second… she wasn’t sure.

Maybe because if she told, they would surely try to scrape it away. And she didn’t want it gone.

After fixing her hair, she stood by the window, basking in sunlight.

“The weather’s so nice. I wonder what Lin Jun is doing now… Did he manage to hunt a Ground Worm after I left?”

———

Hahahaha!

Yes, yes, blast them! Blow those disgusting things to pieces!

On the 5th floor swamps, a war raged between puffshrooms and Parasitic Trees.

Over a hundred light puffshrooms, built without shells but equipped with 【Evasion Lv.7】, clashed fiercely with the Tree swarms.

Days of fighting had left Lin Jun simmering with frustration.

The problem—profit.

【Fusion Parasite】 sounded good: able to infest any blood-bearing humanoid.

Among the enemy were several hosting Gnolls—the easiest to kill.

But the skill itself? Utterly disappointing.

At Lv.1 or Lv.10, it barely changed. You could only infest dying creatures. Higher levels just meant “not quite so dying.”

Pointless. His prey were always under his control anyway—he could set their HP however he wanted.

So leveling the skill was useless.

【Bind】 was the same. A crude trick of mycelium tendrils. He preferred elegant mushroom cannon bombardments, not caveman grappling.

【Tenacity】 at least toughened mycelium, granting puffshrooms a bit more defense and sturdier tendrils.

Useful, but not much.

And the cost? Huge.

Several times, he’d run into high-level parasitized hosts, each battle bleeding his forces.

By now, the Trees were cockroaches in his eyes—disgusting, but unavoidable. If he wanted the swamp, he had to crush them.

And this swamp… oh, it was perfect for mushrooms.

Moist, warm, and saturated with mana.

Almost as if built for a mushroom garden. Just needed clearing.

Today’s battle would secure half the swamp. Progress was good.

Watching Trees explode under mushroom cannon fire, Lin Jun’s hidden true body quivered in satisfaction.

The Trees began to falter.

Just as he thought it over—

A figure burst out, spinning madly.

Its whipping roots shredded two fellow Trees instantly.

【Blade Storm Lv.8】!?

The host was Level 45!

Seriously? You’re a Gold-rank adventurer and you still died on the 5th floor? How embarrassing!

Usually melee skills lost much of their power when warped through a Tree.

But Blade Storm was different.

Like a tornado, it tore through puffshrooms, reducing them to clouds of mycelium.

Mushroom cannon fire was deflected by the high-speed roots, barely scratching it.

And then—mana rippled.

Two Water Elementals, filthy with swamp muck, rose from the mire.

Summoning magic?!

Only the second time he’d seen it. The first was the Flame Demon’s golems—powerful-looking, but ultimately useless.

The summoner hid in the Tree ranks. No telling which one.

Damn it!

The elementals were only Level 35. But their water jets swept away swathes of puffshrooms.

Worse, they could be resummoned endlessly. Would he have to bleed puffshrooms just to drain the caster’s mana?

Two elite foes at once—the Trees counterattacked with renewed fury.

Tch.

Retreat!

A few puffshrooms harried the Elementals and the Blade Storm Tree, baiting them to chase wide.

The rest fell back at full speed.

The Trees, not clever creatures, eventually stopped pursuit after destroying the bait.

When Lin Jun tallied his losses, his heart sank.

Over a hundred puffshrooms deployed. Barely forty returned.

Half of those losses were in the last ambush.

Worst of all—no Tree corpses to harvest. No replenishment.

The next offensive would have to wait.

Damn these Trees. Still hiding trump cards.

But fine. Exposed tricks were no longer dangerous. He would prepare counters.

Still… a problem.

Evasion let puffshrooms dodge single strikes easily.

But against wide-area attacks like Blade Storm or water surges—they were helpless.

Short legs couldn’t outrun it. They were caught and shredded.

If only he had a speed-boost skill.

Something like the wolves on the 10th floor—the simplest, most effective 【Haste】.

His own 【Rolling Charge】 didn’t count. Too clumsy—needed setup, and couldn’t use skills mid-roll.

Perhaps this floor held a good acceleration skill.

While rebuilding his puffshroom stock, he would search.