The edges of the parchment guidebook were already curled from overuse. Calvin checked it for the third time, but no matter how he compared the descriptions of the fifth floor with the scene before them, the two simply didn’t match.

Wasn’t this supposed to be the brightest floor?

Not a single stalk of firefly grass in sight. In the pitch-dark fifth floor, only the faint glow of mushrooms lit the way.

And conveniently, the path leading from the staircase was lined on both sides with glowing mushrooms, like someone had deliberately planted them.

To Calvin, this was even eerier than what they’d seen in that small cavern on the second floor.

Even Gray, usually the bold one, was starting to hesitate. “Your guidebook is way off. Do we… really keep going?”

“We’re already here. Let’s at least look around a bit.”

Stepping out, they soon noticed that the ceiling itself was carpeted with glowing fungi, their light stretching across like a false sky.

Calvin couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. The unease made him regret his decision just two minutes earlier.

But when he told Gray, his companion only shook his head—he felt nothing at all.

Calvin couldn’t justify turning back just based on a feeling. That would be too irrational.

“You’re saying we walk this path?” Gray asked, pointing at the glowing road ahead.

It looked suspicious, but according to the guide, it did lead toward the forest. Outdated or not, the terrain shouldn’t have changed that much.

After some thought, Calvin raised his wand.

First-rank spell—Illumination.

A ball of orange-yellow light floated at the tip.

“Let’s walk along the edge.”

Squelch—

The first step outside the path felt sticky.

Looking down, they realized the ground beyond was covered in a layer of translucent mycelium.

From beneath their feet all the way into the dark horizon—the entire ground was a fungal carpet.

“I knew the ground color looked weird—it’s all fungus!” Gray grimaced, retreating to the glowing road. “Maybe we should just stay on the path.”

Calvin reluctantly agreed.

The road itself was strangely clean, as if the glowing mushrooms on either side kept the creeping mycelium at bay.

It was quiet. Too quiet. Not a single monster from the guidebook appeared.

The only thing they came across was a mountain-sized corpse, half-dissolved by fungi, mangled beyond recognition.

The oppressive silence grew heavier with every step. The two adventurers didn’t speak again until the forest came into sight.

“That’s the ‘forest’ you mentioned?”

Gray pointed ahead. Towering bioluminescent mushrooms rose like trees, their hanging gills forming a sprawling mushroom forest.

Only a few giant trees remained, wedged sparsely among the fungi.

Clearly, the guidebook’s information was so outdated it was worthless!

Calvin was about to speak when a strange sound echoed from the forest.

Puuuf—

Puuuf—

The heavy, muffled noise carried clearly in the silence.

A bloated Puji, three meters tall, lumbered out from behind a mushroom. Four thick tentacles waved in the air.

Around it, a dozen smaller tentacled Pujis followed, identical to the mutant they had seen on the second floor.

The Pujis froze when they spotted the two humans.

“Calvin! We should retreat!”

“Calvin?”

Gray turned—only to realize the light of Illumination had vanished.

“Calvin, you—”

The next instant, his own body turned transparent. Calvin’s voice came from beside him.

“What?”

“You—you reacted faster than me, good job!”

“Tch.”

No time to argue. Calvin crouched, grabbing Gray’s sleeve to keep them from being separated.

“Let’s get out of here. This place is too strange.”

“And your assignment?”

“What else can I do? I’ll have to spend my savings to buy the parasitic seed from a black market dealer.”

His already meager funds shrinking further, Calvin felt his heart bleeding.

Distracted by his despair, he failed to notice the pull on his arm—and smacked straight into something.

“Ouch!” His forehead split, blood trickling down.

But the pain was quickly forgotten.

A humanoid figure stood before them, scales black as ink, its head cocked as it stared at their “invisible” selves.

“D-dr-dragon—” Calvin stammered.

Before he could finish, the creature—shorter than him—grabbed his throat and lifted him effortlessly.

Their invisibility shattered at once.

At the same time, a roar erupted nearby:

【Fury LV4】

【Brute Strength LV4】

It was Gray!

Seeing his friend attacked, he activated his boosts, both hands gripping his sword as he swung down with all his might.

【Heavy Slash LV5】

Clang—!

Half his sword snapped and flew into the air. Gray trembled, blood pouring from his split palms, unable to comprehend why his steel blade hadn’t even scratched the creature’s shoulder scales.

Hadn’t he checked his gear before entering the dungeon?

Was this really the fifth floor?

The monster caught Gray’s throat with its other claw. His arms, numb from the backlash, couldn’t even lift in resistance.

The pressure around his neck tightened, strangling the breath from his lungs.

Calvin’s face was already purple, body convulsing from lack of air.

Then suddenly—like time snapping in half—the crushing grip vanished.

Gray collapsed, gasping desperately.

When he looked up, the terrifying figure was gone. Calvin lay on the ground, limp and unmoving, chest still.

“Calvin? Calvin! Wake up!”

Slapping his friend’s face did nothing.

Frantic, Gray opened his pack to fetch a healing potion—

But a ring of Pujis surrounded him.

He reached instinctively for his sword, only to remember it was broken on the ground.

Before panic could overtake him, one Puji extended a hollow tentacle, plunging it into Calvin’s mouth.

The mushroom’s body pulsed with each contraction.

Bound tightly, Gray could only thrash helplessly, forced to watch.

Then—Calvin’s eyes flew open.

He tore the tentacle out, hacking and retching violently.

“Cough—cough—cough—urk—”

When it was over, he collapsed weakly, pale and drained. His health had dropped by nearly half.

Puuuf—

The heavy-footed, bloated Puji lumbered forward.

It rummaged in its belly and dumped four items before Gray: a longsword, a fruit core, a magic crystal, and a bottle of healing potion.

Then the Pujis released him, turned, and slowly vanished into the mushroom forest.

Gray stared at the items, stunned.

Had… had the Pujis just saved them from that monster?

Gathering the items in haste, he hefted the frail Calvin onto his back and fled toward the staircase.

——

Damn it—I forgot to tell Gray(Little Black) that humans aren’t monsters!