Magic shells burst across the swamp, flinging up black muck and half-rotted bark.

After months of quiet, heavy bombardment once again shook the marsh.

But this time, the intruders were only two beastkin.

The moment they realized they were surrounded, Inigo and Miro’s beastlike eyes both locked toward the forest.

If they could just break through the swamp, then even if more enemies waited outside, they could use the forest’s terrain to escape.

The problem was getting out of the swamp in the first place.

Neither considered fighting. There were simply too many Pujis.

Even if the mushrooms just stood there waiting to be cut, the sheer numbers would exhaust them to death.

Their only hope was to break free before the net closed.

As they sprinted, several mushroom shells arced toward them.

【Acceleration LV6】

【Sidestep LV7】

They triggered their skills, dodging the blasts. But that was only the opening act.

The swamp boiled under a near-saturation barrage. Even at full speed, darting and twisting through the mud, they could only avoid direct hits.

The shockwaves, they had no choice but to endure.

Inigo, relying on his tougher hide, charged forward even more recklessly.

The edge of the circle was in sight—only a few dozen Pujis stood between him and freedom.

With a raised blade and a sudden dash, he vanished past one mushroom, its upper body spinning into the air.

Sharp instincts and feline agility let him weave through the formation, carving open gaps as he forced his way out.

Almost there—

Ahead, several Pujis rolled themselves into balls, launching a ramming charge straight at him.

The sight nearly made Inigo laugh aloud.

Sure, he wouldn’t dare take a mushroom shell head-on. But soft little Pujis in melee? Against him?

One swing and—

Boom, boom, boom—

The chain of explosions hurled him out the other side, body scorched black.

His instincts had warned him just in time to dive away, but too late to save everything.

From the knee down, his left leg was gone.

He collapsed, unable to stand, as distant Pujis raised their cannons toward him.

“The fifth floor… cough… this is gonna be humiliating. Should’ve just died in the mist instead…”

In his final moments, his eyes turned to Miro—blasted into the air, flailing in a ridiculous pose.

The image cracked him. He let out a bark of laughter.

“Pft—”

Bang—

———

At last, the two troublesome adventurers were dealt with. Lin Jun was about to tally his losses when a long-awaited notification chimed in his mind.

【Level Up: LV49 → LV50】

【New Racial Skill Available】

Finally!

Level 50 at last!

It had taken forever. He’d already been LV48 when he reached the fifth floor.

He’d devoured nearly every monster here, then spent months harvesting from his sprawling mycelium network.

Only now had he made the breakthrough. He was moved nearly to tears.

From experience, every ten levels gave him skills tailored to his race.

The mushroom cannon, for instance—clearly designed for mushroom-kind, infinitely more practical than the random stolen skills.

Quickly—what were the options?

【Selectable Skills:】

* Spore Dispersal (Greatly increases spore drift distance; enables long-range spread)

* Mycelium Regeneration (Regardless of individual survival, any mycelium can self-repair as a network)

* Delicious (Unparalleled taste)

…

“Delicious.” Was that serious?

Was he destined to become the ultimate gourmet ingredient?

He remembered seeing “Juicy” as an option before.

So the mushroom race really did have a food-evolution path… utterly absurd.

That aside, Spore Dispersal wasn’t much use.

Unless his mycelium stayed linked, his will couldn’t reach it anyway. Just like the mushroom garden deeper down—once he left, he lost all sense of it.

So really, there wasn’t a choice.

【Skill Acquired: Mycelium Regeneration LV1】

He quickly grew a test Puji in the swamp.

A tendril of mycelium raised a knife and stabbed it.

With only 10 HP, the Puji dropped dead on the spot.

He waited. Nothing.

But his close attention caught it—the skill was working.

Mycelium around the wound slowly gathered mana, sprouting fresh threads to replace the severed ones.

Painfully slow.

After a long while, the Puji staggered upright again.

【HP: 1/10】

The wound wasn’t fully healed, but it could move.

Lin Jun tested again—this time cutting it in half.

That one stayed dead.

After repeated trials, he understood:

For regeneration to trigger, the body had to be at least 80% intact. The greater the damage, the slower the recovery.

Split in half, crushed, burned, frozen—beyond salvation.

And because new mycelium had to grow, it drained ambient mana.

If the Puji had a skill like 【Mana Storage】, the healing sped up dramatically.

Overall, not as powerful as he’d hoped. He had imagined something like a slime—able to regrow from the tiniest lump with enough mana.

Maybe higher levels would improve it.

Still, even at LV1, it had its uses.

———

In the lowest cavern, at the old bat’s lair—

A hallucinogenic Puji waddled out of the tunnel.

As before, the instant it showed its head, a concussive soundwave ripped it apart.

It collapsed among the decayed corpses of its predecessors.

The bat lost interest immediately.

The mushrooms were all poisonous and inedible. Their persistence was merely annoying.

But it didn’t know—this Puji’s mycelium was slowly knitting itself back together.

Much later, it jumped up again.

The bat’s eyes snapped open. It struck once more, killing it.

But when the Puji rose a second time, the bat was stunned.

Losing patience, it stomped, crushing it flat.

This time, it stayed down. But the violent destruction released a cloud of hallucinogenic spores.

Too close to avoid, the bat beat its wings furiously, but still inhaled some.

Fortunately, not enough to do serious harm. After a short rest, it recovered.

Yet a gnawing unease lingered in its chest.

And rightly so.

Lin Jun, now certain of the skill’s usefulness, had already queued production of a hundred special Pujis designed specifically for the old bat.

Once that unit deployed, those three S-class magic crystals would be his.