Chapter 16

Pairs of green-glowing eyes stared at Lin Jun.

Thirteen werewolves, the lowest at LV26 (juvenile), the highest at LV42.

This pack of mutts looked like they wanted to vent their frustration over the prey they’d just let escape onto him.

These dogs generally possessed the skill [Acceleration]; turning around to run would likely result in failure.

Fortunately, Lin Jun hadn't intended to run in the first place.

Super Puji, transform!

He curled into a ball.

[Rolling Charge LV5]

This was a byproduct obtained when he acquired the [Chitinous Shell] skill; after extracting it from rolling beetles day after day, its level ended up reaching LV5 before the shell itself.

This skill, which had almost no presence in the mushroom garden, finally ushered in its moment of glory.

Lin Jun rolled straight toward the ninth-floor stairwell.

The 40 Pujis behind him weren't idle either, bombarding the front with a frenzy of mushroom cannons.

The dogs were agile, easily dodging such linear attacks; only one unlucky fellow took a hit, blowing one of his paws to shreds.

However, Lin Jun’s goal had been achieved; the mushroom cannons had successfully cleared a path.

One gray werewolf, refusing to believe it, charged in through the cannon fire on all fours and unleashed a claw strike at Lin Jun.

[Evasion LV6]

The Puji ball did a small hop, rolling squarely over the dog's face before passing him and charging into the stairs.

Safe at home!

The werewolf who had been struck took a hard tumble, and before he could crawl back up, he was hit by seven or eight mushroom cannons simultaneously, turning into a pile of mush.

He had passed through successfully, but unfortunately, only this Super Puji could make it through.

None of the combat Pujis remaining at the original spot were equipped with Rolling Charge.

Seeing that Lin Jun had already entered the passage, the werewolves turned their targets toward the remaining Pujis.

Facts proved that a direct confrontation against 12 werewolves was indeed too much for a mere 40 Pujis.

After wounding only three werewolves, the Pujis were completely wiped out.

It wasn't as if Lin Jun felt it was a pity.

These Pujis were brought out to cover his main body, and even to be used as bait if necessary.

He just hadn't expected them to be wiped out after only clearing one floor.

Hopefully, the road ahead won't be this unlucky...

————

Having lost the Pujis that followed him, Lin Jun’s fungal network could no longer provide any vision.

He could only rely on [Airflow Perception] and [Mana Perception] to observe his surroundings.

It was much less convenient.

The ninth floor was the most disgusting place Lin Jun had ever seen.

Everywhere were tumors, and the monsters were nothing but flesh-and-blood abominations that looked like failed genetic engineering experiments.

It was a blessing that he was a mushroom and lacked a sense of smell; just looking at it, he could guess what it probably smelled like here.

However, the journey through the ninth floor was actually smooth sailing.

After resting here for a period, the adventurers successfully ascended to the eighth floor.

But just as Lin Jun intended to go up as well, a small accident occurred.

[Native monster level exceeds limit, passage denied]

The panel that popped up without warning gave Lin Jun a fright, and what was worse—an air wall had appeared!

There was clearly nothing there, but the closer he got to the stairs leading to the eighth floor, the greater the pressure in front of him became, as if it were about to crush him.

Is this the "rule" of the labyrinth!?

Native monster? So I'm counted as a member of the labyrinth family?

What a pity this home isn't warm at all.

No, don't!

I still want to see the sun one more time!

How could there be a reincarnator as miserable as me?

[Hero, restriction lifted]

Hmm?

He had been preparing to try and force his way down using Rolling Charge, but the air wall that had been squeezing him just a moment ago suddenly vanished.

What is this?

A Hero's privilege?

He took two more steps forward, and the resistance had indeed disappeared.

What kind of outdated operating program is this, having such a long interval between two checks?

It gave him a scare.

He thought he would have to spend his whole life in the dungeon playing a family game of "you eat me, I eat you" with the monsters.

Good thing it was just a false alarm.

But why can't I suddenly sense Inanna's location?

————

On the eighth floor, Lin Jun stared blankly at the four magic arrays on the ground.

Unlike the two floors below, the eighth floor actually had artificial building materials like stone bricks, as if he had entered some ancient structure.

But the problem was, besides the four arrays on the ground, there wasn't even a path on the eighth floor!

Could these be teleportation magic arrays?

If they were, that would explain why he couldn't sense Inanna.

So what should he do now?

Which one to choose?

Well, obviously—

Choose none of them!

How could he possibly risk using his main body to step on these magic arrays that looked like they were full of traps!

Although it's disgusting, he would temporarily make his home on the ninth floor, plant some Pujis, and then use [Kin Control] to scout the path.

Thinking this, Lin Jun, who was just about to return, felt a fluctuation of mana behind him.

The second array on the left lit up.

Three humans walked out of the array.

[One-Character Slash]

[Wind Blade Art]

[Precision Shot]

Damn it!

After a brief moment of shock, the three adventurers decisively launched an attack on the monster before them.

At the same time, they were chattering loudly in a language Lin Jun couldn't understand.

Dodge! Dodge! Dodge!

Lin Jun dodged while trying to counterattack with mushroom cannons; he didn't have the habit of not fighting back when actively attacked!

But fighting back is one thing, whether he could win was another matter.

All three adventurers were above level 40, and they clearly knew how to coordinate...

Lin Jun wanted to retreat to the lower floor, but his path was blocked by an ice wall.

He could shatter the ice wall, but the adventurers' continuous attacks kept him running for his life.

[Skill Upgrade: Evasion LV6 → LV7]

Dodging skills until Evasion upgrades is fine, but unfortunately, it didn't help much with the current situation.

The mushroom cannons he fired in retaliation were either dodged or blocked.

The digestive mucus was blown away by a gale.

Just as he released the hallucinogenic spores, all three of them drank an antidote.

Although they weren't as good as the diamond-tier group that took Inanna away, those who could come to the ninth floor were indeed no small fry.

His three trump cards were all cracked in seconds!

Lin Jun had self-awareness; even his so-called strongest Puji would definitely be considered weak at the level 40+ standard.

Not to mention picking on three professional adventurers of the same level.

But he hadn't expected that he wouldn't even be able to escape!

No, he could still escape!

Lin Jun curled into a ball, bypassed the warrior in front of him with a dodge, and charged toward the archer in the back row.

The mage on the side released magic to block him between himself and the archer.

This is the moment; taking advantage of the casting gap, Lin Jun made a sharp turn and dove headfirst into the array on the right.

Amidst the gradually rising light of the array, the surrounding scene shifted, and Lin Jun appeared in another place.

Once again!

Escaped danger!

If only he hadn't been hit by that arrow...

The warrior couldn't catch up, the mage had a casting interval, but the archer's arrow finally caught up to Lin Jun.

An iron arrow shot clean through the buttocks of the strongest Puji.

Just this one hit caused the Puji's HP to drop by half; fortunately, Lin Jun's main body wasn't in the buttocks and wasn't affected.

Those adventurers wouldn't follow him here, would they?

They hadn't appeared yet, so they probably wouldn't come.

That's right, there was no corresponding magic array beneath him after he teleported over; it was clearly a one-way teleportation array.

Presumably, those adventurers wouldn't step in casually, regardless of whether they knew it was a one-way array.

Really, they almost let those people achieve the feat of killing a Hero.

So, what to do now?

Looking at the labyrinthine stone corridors before him, Lin Jun fell into thought.

(End of chapter)