“Dylan, do you know how the Dungeon came to be?”

With the old bat temporarily untouchable and everything else running smoothly, Lin Jun’s mind wandered back to that long-standing question.

Under the torchlight, Dylan paused in the middle of fixing a corner of the coffin boards. He scratched his head.

“How it came to be? Sorry, Boss, I’ve never really thought about that.

When I was a kid, I heard a story. They said when the Hero fought the Demon King, they tore open a passage to the Abyss—that’s how the Dungeon was formed.

But that doesn’t make much sense. It’s obviously just a fairy tale.

As for other theories, I don’t know.”

That story… it really did sound like those legends of two supreme beings battling until the stars shattered.

“So nobody studies this stuff?”

“Sure they do. That’s the Relic Association’s whole thing. They’ve even been offering bounties for clues.

Problem is, all the valuable clues were picked clean centuries ago.

I’ve never heard of anyone getting rich off that line of work.”

“Could you get me some of their information?”

Dylan quickly shook his head.

“No way, Boss. The Relic Association belongs to the United Kingdom’s government.

A bottom-feeder adventurer like me can’t even get past their front doors.

And I’m not a thief, so I can’t exactly steal the files you want.”

As expected, not an option. Lin Jun hadn’t really hoped for much—just asking.

Unlike Dylan, who had long accepted the Dungeon as just part of the world, Lin Jun couldn’t ignore the patterns. Too many things in the Dungeon were suspiciously structured, as if deliberately arranged.

There had to be secrets behind it all.

But for now, it was out of his reach.

Still, if ordinary adventurers couldn’t get in, surely a duke’s daughter could.

Should he have Dylan try reaching out to Inanna?

After some thought, he decided there was no need to rush. Better to let Dylan quietly gather news about her first.

“Boss, I’ve got something to ask.”

Dylan’s hesitant tone pulled Lin Jun’s attention back.

“What is it?”

“Well… why’s the fifth floor getting darker lately?”

Darker? Really?

Lin Jun hadn’t noticed—his perception didn’t rely on light the same way.

But when he paid closer attention, he realized Dylan was being polite.

“Darker” was an understatement. The entire floor was on the verge of going pitch black.

The Dungeon never had a sun, but almost no stratum was completely dark.

Glowing firefly grass, or the occasional luminous stone embedded in cavern walls, always provided some light.

The fifth floor’s ceiling had once been thick with firefly grass, making it one of the brighter levels.

So where was it now?

The ceiling was nothing but mushrooms.

Lin Jun hadn’t even noticed when his Mycelium Carpet crept up and consumed it all.

The firefly grass was nearly extinct here.

So this was his fault…

Complete darkness didn’t matter to him, but it would definitely hinder adventurer trade. Even Dylan seemed inconvenienced.

But restoring the firefly grass would take who knew how long.

Maybe he should use fluorescent mushrooms instead?

They weren’t nearly as bright, due to poor skill compatibility.

Still, with mushrooms everywhere, once they glowed, the darkness would be solved.

For now, that would have to do.

———

“Collect slime cores… ten stalks of firefly grass… twin-snake venom sacs…”

In the Adventurers’ Guild hall, Vella scanned the request board.

Nearby, the twin sisters sat on a bench, Feen visibly downcast.

After the raider attack last time, they had lost most of their gear—and nearly their lives.

If not for the Pujis turning on the raiders, they wouldn’t have made it back.

Since returning, Feen had shown strong resistance toward reentering the Dungeon.

Vella understood, but living expenses had to be paid. Especially after such heavy losses.

He and Felin had decided to take some simple upper-floor jobs until Feen recovered.

Worst case, they’d switch to caravan guard work.

The guild hall was noisy as always, but today seemed louder than usual.

Vella noticed a crowd around the board reserved for official missions.

A new government-issued task?

He started to push through, when a massive fur-covered paw shoved the crowd aside with brute force.

Caught off guard, Vella stumbled back, a coarse yellow-brown hair sticking to his lip.

“Pft, pft—”

Shedding fur…

A burly tigerkin strode up to the board, muscles rippling under his glossy coat.

The curses around him didn’t stop anyone from retreating half a step.

The tigerkin glanced over the board, then ripped down the newest A-class mission.

He marched to the counter, slapping his adventurer tag and the task slip onto it.

“Register me for this.”

Behind the desk was the guild’s famed receptionist, Helena, a red-haired beauty.

She seemed familiar with him.

Checking his tag, she glanced at him and his leopardkin teammate.

“Inigo, why are you back in Yafeng? Where’s Pasi? I don’t see him.”

“Quit nagging. This isn’t an inspection. Just register me.” His tone was curt.

“So the Islands really are dangerous…” she muttered, ignoring his scowl. Then, by regulation, she added:

“Inigo, this A-class task recommends three to four gold-ranked adventurers. You should find—”

Bang—

He slammed a palm on the counter, cutting her off.

“Don’t talk to me like I’m a rookie. The two of us are enough. Register it!”

Helena only arched an eyebrow. Unfazed by his shouting, she completed the registration—then withheld his tag.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She tapped the cracked counter with her finger.

“%@#&%&…”

Inigo tossed down seven silver coins. Snatching back his tag, he stormed out with the leopardkin.

After they left, Vella tugged a nearby adventurer aside.

“What mission’s everyone so worked up about?”

“What else? The mushrooms, of course!

The guild finally posted an investigation—to find out the cause of the anomalies.”

“And those two beastkin…”

“Don’t know them. But if they can take an A-class, they’ve gotta be gold-ranked experts.”

Vella thought back to everything he’d seen of the Pujis on the fifth floor.

To investigate thoroughly, they’d have to go deep into the Puji-guarded swamp.

Could just two gold-rank adventurers really handle that?