Chapter 17: Treasure Chest Room

Speaking logically, Lin Jun felt his level shouldn't be considered low; after all, he was level 44!

But why had he been running away ever since he came out?

Thinking about it, in the same environment, his survival difficulty seemed much higher than the adventurers'.

Not only did monsters want to eat him, but humans wanted to kill him too.

Moreover, these adventurers clearly had a guide; otherwise, how could they have successfully passed through the teleportation array maze while he got lost inside?

Who knew how many days it had been, but judging by the previous journey, Inanna must have already succeeded in walking out of the maze by now.

After the long corridor came a teleportation array; after the teleportation array came monsters; behind the monsters were branching long corridors again...

Just like the situation right now.

One blast turned the last rotting-toothed dog before him, which kept barking wildly but dared not advance, into dust, sending it to follow in its companions' footsteps.

Then, he would randomly pick a long corridor to walk down, and halfway or at the end, randomly pick a teleportation array to enter.

Fortunately, the monsters on this floor didn't exceed LV40; more accurately, most were between LV20 and LV30.

If he really got surrounded, he could always rely on high evasion and rolling charges to escape.

But continuing like this wasn't a solution; he had first fought a battle with adventurers, and now he had been lost in the maze for so long, his mana reserves were running low.

Simply put, he was about to starve to death.

And for some reason, the mana in the air on this floor was abnormally thin; even if he wanted to take root on the spot, he couldn't gather much mana to replenish his consumption.

Decomposing monster corpses was another source of mana, but it was too unstable.

Finding monsters was simple; just enter any teleportation array, and there was a high probability of a few monsters behind it, but how could he transport them back?

He couldn't exactly be a nomadic mushroom, eating wherever he went; the consumption of taking root like that probably wouldn't even be recovered.

He could only try to find an exit, or at least find an environment with mana.

He found another teleportation array again.

No gambler loses forever; he had to hit a way out eventually!

The green teleportation light lit up.

Oh?

The color this time was different.

Drip—

A drop of water fell from an inverted stone cone into a small pool.

This, this, this, this mana concentration!

Even without spreading a mycelial mat, simply being in this environment, Pujiji began to slowly recover mana.

It felt like he was swimming in mana!

No, he had to stay alert; after teleporting, there was probably a mon...

Under a closed dome, bluish-gray stone walls embraced a clear pool of water.

In the space visible at a glance, there wasn't a single monster.

However, he saw something that was both very unexpected and perfectly reasonable—a treasure chest.

A treasure chest made of stone material yet with delicate textures!

Although logically Lin Jun couldn't figure out who placed it, a dungeon really should have a treasure chest to be called a dungeon!

Confirming again, this place had only a stone door and no hidden space concealing monsters.

After confirming safety, Lin Jun couldn't wait to press himself against the treasure chest.

【Native Monster, Refuse to Touch Treasure Chest】

Similar information, a familiar air wall.

The discrimination and oppression this dungeon showed toward native monsters was truly everywhere!

Lin Jun didn't give up; instead, he pressed tightly against the air wall.

Sure enough, after a while—

【Hero, Restrictions Lifted】

He originally thought that after the Hero gave him the 【Greed】 title, it was used up.

He didn't expect that after coming up, he would need it everywhere.

So good!

He jumped up and kicked open the stone slab lid above; after landing, he jumped back twice for safety to create distance.

Nothing happened; it wasn't a trap.

Now it was time to see what good things were inside!

He took out a high-collared cloak in cyan-blue.

It was equipment; that was within expectations.

However, the size was obviously designed for humans; draped on Pujiji, who was only half a human's height, half of it dragged on the ground.

The high collar was even flattened into a flat ring by the mushroom cap...

Opening Pujiji's status panel, he found that his original Agility of 42 had increased to 47.

It felt subtle; it seemed somewhat useful, yet also felt not that useful...

Was there any active skill?

If so, how would it be used?

Trying to guide mana into the cloak, the sides became blurry, and two identical Pujijis wearing cloaks appeared on the left and right, controllable.

Clones?

Under command, the Pujiji on the right performed a rolling charge against the wall.

Boop—

It vanished without a trace, like a popped bubble.

Well, a phantom, then.

Not bad, not bad. Anyway, it was free; with five attributes plus a skill, Lin Jun was already satisfied.

Just hope this cloak doesn't get too dirty...

The cloak is merely an extra gain; the real treasure is this place thick with mana!

Under mana perception, the area with the densest mana is this small pool of clear water in the center; the dense mana in the air is merely a tiny fraction leaking out from the pool water.

At the same time, mana-rich water droplets keep dripping from the dome into the pool; no one knows where they seeped through from.

In any case, it's truly a treasure found. If Lin Jun could harvest all the mana here, he'd even be confident enough to assemble another team of four hundred Pujis!

Leading a crowd of bodyguards then, what worry would there be about charging straight out of the dungeon?

Which adventurer dares to trouble him? With hundreds of mushroom cannons fired, who could stand against it!

Of course, the space here is too small; it certainly couldn't accommodate four hundred Pujis.

Lin Jun looked at the only stone door, wondering where outside was and whether there was space to store Pujis.

He pushed the stone door lightly; it didn't budge an inch.

He applied more force; still, it didn't budge an inch.

Rolling Charge!

Lin Jun, who had been knocked dizzy and confused, stared blankly at the stone door, not even a single stone chip broken off.

What does this mean? This door won't open?

Or perhaps this door cannot be opened from this side?

Then what should he do, having fallen here? Wait for someone to open the door from the other side?

After thinking it over, Lin Jun decided to search the surroundings again.

This is one of the traps in the teleportation array maze; others must have entered here before.

Perhaps he could find some mechanism or clues left by predecessors.

Soon he made a discovery. Although he found no clues left by predecessors, he found predecessors...

He dug up a skeleton half-buried in the soil from the grass; no one knew how long it had been dead, and the leather clothes it wore were tattered and torn.

Looking at this skeleton, Lin Jun seemed to see his own future...

But he is a mushroom; as long as the mana droplets from the dome keep falling, he won't starve to death.

Since he is here, he should make himself at home; be more optimistic.

Just along this journey, various dangers had left him physically and mentally exhausted.

With food and drink here, he might as well treat it as a vacation.

Perhaps the foot traffic nearby is considerable; someone might discover this room someday.

Or perhaps after gathering a few dozen Pujis, they could blast open this stone door.

The Super Pujii extended tentacles from under its mushroom cap, took out Lin Jun's true form from within its body—a mushroom that looked utterly ordinary—and placed it beside the pool.

Spores slowly dispersed; amidst the dense mana, the mycelia began to multiply rapidly.

(End of this chapter)