046
Chapter 15. Mushmom (1)
One.
“The relationship between adventurers and monsters is like rock-paper-scissors. There is compatibility. And adventurers usually have the upper hand. No adventurer would throw scissors when they throw a bundle.”
Adventurers say.
“That’s why Mystic Gate is dangerous. You never know what your opponent will do. Of course, a skilled veteran prepares for every aspect. Nine times out of ten, that preparation works.”
You will encounter it while on an adventure through Mystic Gate.
“In other words? One out of ten times you will encounter a nasty situation.”
The worst moment.
“For example, something like a zombie mushroom.”
The most representative one among them was the zombie mushroom.
First of all, the zombie mushroom itself was a very difficult monster to conquer.
Normal monsters would die from excessive bleeding or other reasons if their limbs were cut off, but zombie monsters could only be killed with certainty by destroying their magic stones.
As time passed, the mushroom’s unique vitality was revealed and it was resurrected to fill the population.
“Especially for pirates, zombie mushrooms are like rat poison to rats.”
Among them, the pirates were the most troublesome.
The reason was simple.
“Because no weapon is as helpless against zombie mushrooms as a gun.”
Guns were valuable because they could inflict fatal damage no matter where they hit.
But zombie mushrooms were different.
Even if my whole body was riddled with bullet holes, I could still move as long as my magic stone was intact.
This is the worst situation for pirates who have to waste time shooting their guns due to the cooldown time.
Of course, not all pirates were like that.
Taang!
Golden Eye Miner.
Her gunshot pierced right between the zombie mushrooms’ eyes, right where the magic stone was.
Amazing penetration!
But her abilities didn’t end there.
“Magnum shot.”
Magnum Shot, a skill that continuously spits out bullets in front.
Taang! Taang! Taang!
And every time her gun fired, a hole would burst between the zombie mushrooms’ eyebrows.
Amazing accuracy!
The reason Miner, the Golden Eye who never missed his target, earned that nickname.
And she wasn’t the only one.
The pirates who accompanied her were also different from the rest.
Her party included adventurers of various professions, befitting the era of Mystic Gate.
Thanks to that, the Miner Party was able to fight properly in the sudden battle against the zombie mushrooms.
Kkiei!
“shit!”
But the damage was greater than expected.
It had to be that way.
“There are too many!”
The number of zombie mushrooms rushing towards them was so great that it was impossible to estimate.
It was like a wave.
Also, the environment they were in was not good.
The forest was so dark that it could be said to be a moonless night, and it was overwhelmingly unfavorable for adventurers.
Taang!
When the gunfire finally died down, Miner could see.
“What about the damage?”
“… … Five people died.”
The result was that 5 out of 70 subordinates died.
The results of the first battle were dismal.
What was even more tragic was that this was just the beginning.
It’s something you can’t even dare to imagine what will happen in the future.
At this point, there was only one thing Miner could be sure of.
“El Palm, you must have been wiped out.”
2.
Phew!
Devo’s polearm split the zombie mushroom in half in one stroke.
When he cut it in half, he saw an orange magic stone. Divo trampled on it without hesitation with his foot.
Break!
That was the last one.
A calm came over the fierce battlefield, and in that calm, Divo looked around.
“Oh.”
At that moment, a sigh escaped Devo’s mouth.
‘This is no joke.’
It wasn’t a sigh that came out because the situation was bad.
‘The boss is crazy.’
The reason for the sigh was El Palm.
‘That’s an unbelievable speed. Killing thousands of zombie mushrooms with just Fire Arrow.’
With that sigh, Devo looked at the zombie mushroom nearby.
There was only one wound on the body of that zombie mushroom.
The space between the eyebrows, the hole between the eyes, was all there was.
‘That’s also only targeting magic stones.’
That fact made Devo even more creepy.
Mushroom monsters usually had a magic stone between their eyebrows, but that doesn’t mean it was located exactly between their eyebrows.
Moreover, the size of the magic stone was only slightly larger than a thumbnail.
Hit it with a fire arrow?
Something that requires you to know the exact location.
Of course it was possible.
Because if you use clairvoyance magic, you can immediately see the location of the magic stone.
‘If you listen to Ralph, he says that using clairvoyance magic is no joke. And you can’t use it for long.’
However, clairvoyance magic was not a magic that could be used so incessantly.
In fact, El Palm didn’t use clairvoyance magic for that long.
El Palm’s use of clairvoyance magic lasted only a moment.
About 3 seconds.
During those three seconds, El Palm saw the zombie mushrooms, figured out where their magic stones were, memorized them, and then aimed for them.
That was the secret.
A secret that no one can follow.
It was also a secret that could only be achieved by someone with innate talent who had to go through countless experiences of crossing the threshold of death, something that was impossible with talent alone.
“Divo.”
“Yes, boss.”
Moreover, this was not all that El Palm had prepared.
“How good is the snow troll leather armor?”
“It’s the end.”
The defensive power of the leather armor of the snow trolls that El Palm hunted was astonishing.
It is not lacking compared to average steel armor.
On the other hand, it was incomparably lighter than steel armor.
Of course, it wasn’t an invincible armor.
“These zombie mushroom guys don’t even have teeth.”
However, the attack power of the zombie mushroom was very weak compared to the difficulty of hunting it.
“You have really prepared well.”
Naturally, El Palm knew about the existence of zombie mushrooms and created leather armor for snow trolls.
“But you must have spent quite a bit of money to make this. How much did you spend?”
“One million mesos for one set.”
“yes?”
“It cost quite a bit because I tried to make it in a hurry.”
Even at great cost.
In fact, it wasn’t a bad price for El Palm.
Even if you say it’s your excuse, isn’t it only 4 million mesos?
From El Palm’s perspective, it wasn’t an expensive expense at all, considering it was the price of life.
Of course, by El Palm’s standards, that was the case.
“Are you crazy?”
Ralph said with a surprised look on his face.
“You’re saying you spent that much money just to make armor?”
It’s surprising that the price of the item itself is 1 million mesos, but they spend 1 million mesos just to process it into armor?
Something that is incomprehensible by their standards.
No, it was something that was worrying beyond understanding.
“Boss, is it okay to spend money like that?”
“No problem.”
El Palm wasn’t too worried about that.
“You’ll receive the armor money when the adventure is over.”
“Huh? Wait a minute, you’re taking it? To whom?”
El Palm looked at Devo’s question intently.
Those eyes spoke.
Who will receive it?
“If you don’t like it, just take it off.”
Of course, no one took off their armor at those words.
Because I felt it.
Here, a snow troll’s leather armor is like his life, and taking it off is like throwing his life away.
“Hey, I don’t like it.”
Divo sorts out the situation with an awkward laugh.
“So what do we do now?”
That devotional naturally changed the topic of conversation.
“Hunting zombie mushrooms.”
There was no objection to that statement either.
Currently, everyone, including El Palm, was safe with their snow troll leather armor, and they also had the firepower to take down any number of zombie mushrooms that were coming at them at the same time.
“Let’s have some real fun!”
This means there’s no reason to shy away from hunting zombie mushrooms.
“So how much do you plan on hunting?”
“entire.”
“yes?”
Of course, El Palm had no intention of going on a simple zombie mushroom hunt.
“Hunt all the zombie mushrooms here.”
3.
Adventurers’ reviews of the zombie mushroom were very harsh.
First of all, the battle was not easy. The pressure from the thousands of zombie mushrooms rushing in was beyond anything you could imagine.
“This fucking stink!”
The stench was also a problem. Most zombie mushrooms were resurrected from the dead, so they vibrated with a rotten smell. Surprisingly, this was a fatal part. It wasn’t just a simple frown.
“Wow!”
It’s to the point where my head feels like it’s going to burst and I’m feeling nauseous.
It was more fatal than being poisoned by any poison.
“Wake up! Even a small wound won’t do!”
Even zombie mushrooms were poisonous.
It wasn’t exactly poison, but rather a contaminant from a rotting corpse, but when it came into contact with a wound, the effect it had was not much different from poison.
“They’re coming again!”
Additionally, the battle with the endlessly advancing zombie mushrooms did not give the adventurers any time to rest.
There was that too.
“Damn, those guys don’t even have money!”
That there is no result compared to such a difficult battle.
That’s understandable, since most of the rewards adventurers get from hunting monsters are magic stones.
However, it was impossible to obtain a proper magic stone from the zombie mushroom that had to destroy the magic stone.
It’s said that you have to reassemble the broken magic stone fragments, but it’s impossible to do that in the middle of a battlefield where it’s not easy to even survive.
That’s why.
“Run away!”
Miner, the moment she realized that zombie mushrooms were appearing, she had already given up on the option of hunting.
“Find the exit as quickly as possible!”
Moving on to the next stage, that was the only option I had in mind.
It was a wise choice.
‘Where the hell are you?’
The problem was that I couldn’t find the exit to the next stage.
In fact, finding the exit was a matter of luck.
This is a part that should be seen as a result of luck rather than ability.
“I won’t chase you anymore.”
“How many survivors are left?”
“There are 43 people.”
But the price of that misfortune was more fatal than expected.
‘If we go to the second floor like this… … .’
With this power weakened, we move on to the next stage where there are more terrifying monsters?
Of course, I still had to go to the next stage.
‘As long as it’s not a zombie mushroom, then we have a chance.’
Because zombie mushrooms don’t go well with Miner’s party.
“Let’s take a rest for now.”
Miner’s mind, which had been on break like that, was heavier than ever.
And there wasn’t much time to rest.
“Tell me when the zombie mushrooms come.”
“Here I come!”
“shit.”
The zombie mushrooms didn’t give Miner and his men much time to rest.
What was even more disappointing was that break time would inevitably be reduced in the future.
There is only one way to increase your rest time: to destroy the zombie mushrooms reliably.
But right now, the Miner Party was running away while avoiding any contact with the zombie mushrooms as much as possible.
So Miner was sure.
‘I wish I could just rest properly for about 30 minutes.’
In 30 minutes, the zombie mushrooms will attack them again, and they will run away again.
“Are there any zombie mushrooms around?”
“There is no sign yet.”
But after 30 minutes, the area around Miner’s party was still filled with silence.
“You’re lucky.”
Miner thought it was fate.
“Let me rest a little more.”
“yes.”
There was nothing wrong with taking a long break.
“… … How long has it been?”
“It’s been over an hour.”
But when the break time passed by an hour, Miner started to feel something strange.
“Let’s rest a little more.”
But they didn’t refuse that break, because they thought this sweet break would save their lives.
“Keep going until you can rest.”
Rather, I wanted to make the most of this opportunity.
After six hours had passed, Minerva could no longer rest.
Because that was something incomprehensible.
“… … Organize a search party.”
“How should the members be organized?”
“Three people including me.”
She led three of her subordinates and searched the surrounding area.
And soon she could see.
“ah.”
Countless zombie mushroom corpses lying all over the forest.
Someone has practically annihilated the zombie mushrooms here.
That’s why they weren’t attacked.
But even with that clear evidence before his eyes, Miner couldn’t quite believe it.
There is only one thing that can create this result: El Palm Party.
‘How on earth?’
But how can a party of just four produce such results?
How is that possible?
Miner, who was confused by such questions, could see that.
“You’re late.”
El Palm Party, located in front of the exit we had been looking for.
fantasy,
