The Last Adventurer

Chapter 14

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]

Chapter 14: Mushroom Forest (2)

4.

The first thing adventurers do after entering through the Mystic Gate is to explore using their five senses.

And the first sense they use is their sense of smell.

It was the same now.

Sniff! Sniff!

Without exception, the adventurers who had entered for the 100th Gate participation test sniffed their noses hard.

The Iburu party led by the 2nd Circle adventurer, Pirate, was no exception.

Sniff! Sniff!

Iburu lay flat on the ground and sniffed the ground tirelessly, smelling the earth.

“It’s mushrooms.”

And then he said.

“Green mushrooms.”

At those words, the expressions of the other members hardened.

“I wish it was orange mushrooms. This is going to be annoying.”

No one didn’t know the characteristic moist, pungent, yet fragrant smell that came from places with mushroom monsters.

However, it was never easy to identify the type of mushroom, as Iburu had just done.

“If the leader says so, it must be true.”

That’s why Iburu the Pirate was the leader of this 6-man adventurer party made up of veterans.

He had the deepest knowledge of monsters and the most diverse experience of anyone here.

His colleagues trusted him just as much.

“We only came here because we trusted the leader.”

It was because of that trust that they had stepped foot on this difficult test stage without hesitation.

“For now, the situation is different from when we hunt orange mushrooms, since green mushrooms are here.”

Iburu explained the situation to his colleagues.

“As you know, green mushrooms are smaller than orange mushrooms, but they are much faster and harder at the same time.”

There was no objection to his explanation.

“They are quite difficult monsters to attack.”

Because from the moment they entered the Mystic Gate, Iburu’s words were always the right answer, the truth.

And he made a definitive statement.

“That’s why everyone will have the same thought. Let’s not bother with the green mushrooms and focus on the boss monster.”

5.

“Boss, are those green mushrooms?”

The moment he saw the green mushrooms, Dibo said with a smile.

“There are only five of them. They seem to be stragglers. I’ll take care of them right away.”

And he confidently approached the green mushrooms.

It was for two reasons.

‘This is the time to make an impression.’

To make a good impression on El Paume.

‘And they’re just mushrooms anyway.’

And because he was confident.

It was literally true.

Dibo, with the Polarm in his hand, had more confidence in his fighting ability than ever before, and he had good reason to.

‘The Polarm suits me better than the sword I’ve used my whole life.’

A situation where he could truly taste his own talent.

‘I’ll finish them off too.’

Furthermore, his talent far exceeded what Dibo had thought or imagined.

‘I’m better than those clumsy adventurer warriors.’

Dibo felt like he had finally become an adventurer, albeit a bit of an exaggeration.

In his confidence, he fought the battle and soon realized something.

“Damn it, why are they so hard?”

The green mushrooms were incredibly tough compared to the orange mushrooms he had faced before.

Of course, they weren’t so tough that they couldn’t be broken as they were still mushroom monsters.

However, the fact that it took two, three, or even four hits to break one was a real pain in the neck during a battle.

This was especially true against mushroom monsters.

Against mushroom monsters that swarmed in numbers, the speed at which they were dealt with was crucial.

If they couldn’t be wiped out in one go, the battle became very troublesome.

Fwip!

But the green mushrooms withstood Dibo’s Polarm, even with its weight, three times.

It was an unexpected situation.

Naturally, the battle became difficult.

“Ugh, ugh!”

After the battle, Dibo lost his initial confidence and spoke with a pale face.

“Boss, this isn’t going to work, is it?”

It wasn’t just a groan.

‘The boss’s fire arrows are fearsome, though.’

Dibo knew what El Paume’s fearsome ability was.

‘Against these guys, they’ll disappear without even piercing a few.’

And he also knew the limits of that ability.

‘It’s different from when we fought the Stump.’

Of course, the Stump’s defense was much stronger than the green mushrooms, but the Stump wasn’t a monster with a large number of individuals to begin with.

Even if you pushed it, there were only about ten of them.

On the other hand, if you pushed it, there could be hundreds or even thousands of mushroom monsters.

‘This is a 40-man Mystic Gate. It wouldn’t be strange for thousands to appear.’

The situation was different in many ways.

El Paume knew it too.

With Fire Arrows, even dozens of orange mushrooms with weak defense that could be crushed with bare hands could be pierced without a problem, but with green mushrooms, the limit was about four or five.

Of course, if they were just hunting, it wouldn’t be a problem.

Fire Arrow was the most basic magic among 1st Circle magics, and it was a magic that still made a profit even if it only caught one monster per shot.

El Paume, who hunts dozens of monsters with this magic, is the only one who is out of common sense.

‘I need to change my target.’

That doesn’t mean this was a huge crisis.

Creating 2nd Circle Fire Arrows wasn’t that difficult for El Paume.

It just increased the amount of mana consumed.

And the more mana is consumed, the less mushrooms you can catch.

That’s all.

‘Extermination hunting is impossible. I have to give up.’

I just need to catch a few.

But it was different for El Paume.

In the days he had lived, there was no choice. There was never a time when he could choose to catch only a few because the situation was bad.

There was only a simple quest: if you don’t catch it, you die.

El Paume survived that quest. To the very end.

Of course, there was a way.

“We’re going with the plan.”

“The plan?”

That’s why El Paume didn’t back down.

“We’re going to wipe them out.”

Dibo’s face hardened at those words.

It wasn’t that he was against extermination hunting per se. In fact, Dibo preferred extermination hunting.

“Look, boss. I know it’s profitable, but…”

It made sense. After all, any monster you caught could be sold for money. In fact, they had made a lot of money by exterminating the Stump.

And Dibo had received a share of that profit. In fact, he had made a lot of money thanks to the Stump’s Tears.

Dibo, who was crazy about money, had no intention of passing up an opportunity to make money.

“Isn’t this too risky?”

The problem was the importance of the current situation.

“But wouldn’t it be a good thing if we could catch the boss monster?”

Even though they said there was still a chance even if they didn’t catch the boss monster, there was no need to just wait for the most surefire opportunity.

El Paume knew that too.

He didn’t want to go out of his way to catch the boss monster, but he would if he could.

“That’s right.”

“Right?”

“That’s why we’re going to wipe them out.”

“Huh?”

That’s why El Paume hadn’t changed his plan.

“Green mushrooms are difficult to catch. The other four parties are probably already well aware of that fact. So they’ll all come to the same conclusion.”

As he spoke, El Paume pointed at Dibo with his finger.

“You, you won’t catch them. Because it would be a pain in the ass to catch them and consume your stamina and mana.”

“If everyone doesn’t catch them, this place will be overflowing with green mushrooms. Then it will be a pain in the neck to catch the boss monster.”

Dibo nodded at the explanation.

Eliminating the surrounding monsters before catching the boss monster is the basic of the basics of Mystic Gate clearing strategy.

Dibo had no intention of denying that basic knowledge.

“In particular, mushrooms have a very strong sense of community. If the boss monster goes berserk, all the mushrooms in the vicinity will swarm in.”

“T-that’s true, but… boss, they’re different from orange mushrooms, you know?”

However, that was only when El Paume could easily handle the green mushrooms like orange mushrooms.

“Wouldn’t it take a long time to catch all of them?”

In the end, the story came back to the beginning.

“Oh, well, if you say so, boss, I’ll follow you.”

That’s why Dibo didn’t question it any further.

El Paume felt the same way.

There was no need to repeat the same story.

All he had to do was show him.

Bang!

“Damn it, we took too long. Boss! The mushroom guys are coming. What the hell!”

Just in time.

“One, two… damn it, boss! Let’s go! There are over fifty of them!”

Over fifty green mushrooms came running, and in front of that crowd, El Paume spoke.

“Fire Arrow.”

“B, Boss?”

At the same time, he used his telekinesis to launch the Fire Arrow he had created at the green mushroom.

It flew like a snake.

“That thing is tough…….”

Fwip!

And in an instant, it pierced through the green mushroom’s tough body and burrowed into another green mushroom’s body.

Just like the orange mushroom.

“Huh? Huh?”

Dibo, surprised by that fact, soon realized something.

‘The Fire Arrow is rotating?’

El Paume was using his other telekinesis skill, Revolver.

6.

El Paume was able to become the best telekinesis user because of his environment.

In order to survive in the extreme environment, he had no choice but to hone all of his abilities to the limit.

In the process, El Paume developed several telekinesis techniques.

One of them was the Revolver technique.

The usage is simple.

‘Add rotational force.’

It is the act of rotating a magic that is being moved by telekinesis.

It was by no means an easy task.

‘I can only use one shot.’

It was a technique that required a lot of concentration, and when Revolver was activated, only one object could be moved.

‘But the amount of concentration required is greatly reduced.’

However, it was only concentration that was being consumed. The amount of mana itself consumed was not much different from when dealing with one shot.

‘The power has greatly increased.’

In comparison, the piercing power of the Fire Arrow when the Revolver skill was activated was simply incredible.

The results before his eyes were proof of that.

Fwip!

El Paume’s Fire Arrow began to mercilessly slaughter the tough green mushrooms.

It was an amazing sight.

What’s more, El Paume was no longer alone.

“Here they come!”

Dibo willingly acted as bait for the green mushrooms that were rushing in.

And Dibo, who had become the bait, was more confident than ever before.

That was because he had regained faith.

‘How much is this worth?’

Above all, the profit from the extermination hunt was more than enough to put a smile on Dibo’s face.

Fwip!

‘I can hear the sound of money coming in, I can hear it!’

When the battle was finally over, Dibo burst out laughing.

“Ha…….”

Hahahahahaha!

At that moment, a very loud laugh was heard. It was a laugh so loud that it shook the forest.

“Ho!”

Dibo gasped and covered his mouth at the sound.

And then he looked at El Paume and shook his head in disbelief, saying in a very small voice.

“I-It’s not me. I won’t make the same mistake this time.”

He couldn’t forget the time he made the mistake of calling out monsters with his loud voice.

Of course, El Paume knew it wasn’t Dibo.

His head was already turned in the direction of the incredibly loud laughter.

And his expression was hardened.

‘It’s certain.’

Because the moment he heard that laughter, El Paume knew for sure.

‘The boss monster here is the Jester Deathcap.’

He knew how much of a pain in the neck the boss monster here was.

[Translator – Prøks]

[Proofreader – Prøks]