Fantasy Gate Portal Dungeon 2: Fairy Woods

[The Black Knight]

The party passed through the portal gate, and on the other side was a lush, green forest too breath-taking to be real--a fictional scape birthed straight from a fairy tale. The air carried a gentle and sweet perfume, and a crisp and fresh, mountain purity. The trees reached into the sky like towers, dwarfing the group. Their roots splayed and gripped the dark soil like giant's fingers. At the base of the trees were bushes, long and bowing blades of grass, and yellow, purple, and red flowers that glowed vibrantly like lamps as they bobbed in a passing, whispering breeze.

Hyun-woo Bang, the party leader and C-rank member of Dynasty scanned the forest with his seasoned eyes. The E and D ranks around him were marveling the fantasy scape. Everything was real. It was no simulation. It was a different world, perhaps a different universe entirely. His eyes were mostly on the boughs above that criss-crosses overhead like a floral ceiling. They couldn't see the sky, but he knew it was day for the world beneath the canopy was dimly lit. The flowers and their floating pollen that drifted about like fireflies kept their surroundings illuminated.

Hyun frowned a little. He didn't like speeches, but he had to give one for some of his members were new to hunting. He scratched his redhead and groaned, "All right; listen up. I know this forest seems pretty cool, but this is a dungeon. Most of the things we find in here will try to kill us, so don't touch anything. We need to stay together. If anyone sees something unusual, then speak up. It could save us all. If you wander off, then I'm not going to find you. It will be better for me to clear the dungeon than to risk the lives of those who aren't stupid. So if you get lost, you're screwed, got it?"

It was cold, but it was Dynasty. They weren't Spear or any of the other guilds. Dynasty members could always be replaced, and so he didn't have time to spare on idiots who didn't want to listen. He looked at Rui-Ling, Jeung-eun, and the foreign girl who was almost as weird as Pinky Boy. "That goes for you three as well."

"I want all tanks in the front. Rangers and fighters behind the tanks. Then mages and healers, and our sneaky classes in the back to watch our backs. I will be in the front. Oh yeah, and the miners…"

Hyun's eyes became half-lidded as he mused to himself for a few seconds. "I don't know just stay close and don't die."

The two miners, Baek Hyeon Yi and Jimin Man, sighed. They felt so useless. They hadn't wanted to be the first to come in just so the party could get inside. Baek clung to his pickaxe and whispered to the large and stout Jimin, "We're gonna die."

Jimin clapped a hand on the tall and slender man's shoulder: "We'll be fine if we stay close to the back."

Team 2: ERode Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Dynasty

Spoiler

Hyun-woo Bang
Rank: C
Class: Barbarian
Guild: Dynasty
Party Buff: All party members receive +15 P. Attack.
HP: 430/430

NPC 1
Rank: D
Class: Samurai
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

NPC 2
Rank: E
Class: Black Knight
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 110/110

NPC 3
Rank: D
Class: Bard
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 170/170

NPC 4
Rank: D
Class: Priest
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

Other

Spoiler

Baek Hyeon Yi
Guild: ???
Faction: Miners
Rank: ???
Class: ???
HP: ???

Jimin Man
Guild: Dynasty
Faction: Miners
Rank: E
Class: Gladiator
HP: 70/70

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: C-Rank Gate: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Mqueserasera

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 1/10
HP: 70
MP: 120
Defense: 70
P. Attack: 75 + 15 (Party Bonus)
M. Attack: 95
Accuracy: 1d100+(30)

---

"Ugh..." Upon entering through the portal, a wave of nausea washed over Jeoung-eun. She winced as the environment changed instantaneously in front of her eyes. The park, the portal, and the Spear were all gone. What was in front of her instead was a vibrant forest. Trees covered the sky and stones with glowing sigils marked onto them. The smell also took Jeoung-eun aback since it smelled sweet yet fresh. Jeoung-eun lived in a city environment, where gas was mixed into the air, and the different fragrances of people lingered around. Even at the park, it didn't smell as good as this. It was smelled so fresh that Jeoung-eun almost gagged.

"So, this is a dungeon?" She muttered to herself, warily looking around her surroundings. She had seen rough descriptions on the internet, but nothing could beat the real deal. It was surreal and jarring, but this was the first step into getting a new side-job. Jeoung-eun took a deep breath to recompose herself and listened closely. She wasn't here for a field trip; she was here to hunt for her next paycheck.

Jeoung-eun looked over to Hyun-woo, the Dynasty Team Leader, and awaited further instructions. She nodded after receiving them and looked over to Rui-Ling. "I guess we're gonna sit in the back, Rui...Ling." There was a hint of discomfort in Jeoung-eun's voice as she addressed the shorter male by his first name. She walked all the way to the back of the party with the rest of the mages and healers. Nearly tripping on the roots as she made to her back, she took another look at her surroundings again.

The Fairy Woods

Did that mean that they were going to fight fairies? Jeoung-eun couldn't quite imagine how they would fight such small opponents. Her mind drew a mental picture of Ha-eun trying to bisect a tiny fairy with a polearm. Needless to say, the imagery didn't fit her quite well. Though, that brought up a question for Jeoung-eun. How would she hit a target all the way in the back of the team? She wasn't exactly a sharpshooter, and her position in the group was far in the back. She could only hope that she wouldn't accidentally hit one of her teammates in the back of the head with one of her attacks.

 

[Mqueserasera]

Ju Ha-eun

RANK​	E​
CLASS​	KNIGHT​

HP: 75/75

MP: 100/100

Fatigue: 0/100

Status effect

Huyn's party buff: +15 P.Attack

Location: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Misuteeku Firelie

Ha-eun instinctively flinched as the scenery shifted. And the dread settled in as soon as the inside of the portal became the new reality. She dashed her gaze about, looking for a threat that loomed, and immediately was assaulted by the evergreen environment. It was obviously the characteristic jarringness that occurred whenever she entered a gate. Everything seemed different to the real world, and looked beautiful in a disturbing way. The trees and the grass, the followers and the air—their beauty failed to calm her wildly thumping heart. It matters little if her murderers are pleasant to look at or not. She tensed her nerves beyond what is warranted; her knuckles whitened on the halberd; her plate armor seemed paper-thin in the face of death.

She shook lightly as the leader pronounced her strategic position. It offered her no comfort, if not the opposite. No more trailing behind the group it seemed. Though she cringed at the thought, it made perfect sense: the party this time was a sorry patchwork—miners and guildless people, probably perfect newbies. So for a change, Ha-eun was not the weakest link in the chain, and as such, she was pushed to the front.

Ah hell, the vanguard is always the first to drop when things go awry. She had considered herself lucky before for having a class that hinges on an impeccable defense. But it should make little difference for an E-rank to be in one class or another when the foe could be C-rank or even higher.

She almost protested against Hyun’s order, but she knew it would do her no good. Not when they were already inside the portal. What's more, she was desperate for money, even if it meant risking her life.

Dejectedly, Ha-eun watched Rui-Ling and Jeoung-eun retreat to the back of the party. Then she looked over to the people who would share the vanguard with her: a samurai, a black knight, and another knight. It was a decent amount at least, almost half the party. And there was also their leader right behind them.

She trudged carefully forward. Eyes watchful for any movement. And many a time she flinched at even the slightest rustle of leaves. It seemed pretty apparent to anyone watching that the girl could snap any second now.

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: 22 [Seocho] - Green Wood Park > C- Rank Dungeon [The Fairy Woods]
Mentions: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 70/70
MP: 100/100
Fatigue: 0/100
Defense: 75
P. Attack: 95
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+25

---

This…wasn’t a good place.

Rui-Ling’s nose wrinkled as he stepped into the portal. There was an instant where nausea rose out from his stomach at the sensation of travelling between planes, but that nausea was soon replaced by a world that was too perfect, too inviting, to be anything other than a death trap. Maybe he was just a rotten person, but there was nothing honest about the picturesque forest, and as he turned his gaze up, the pink-haired youth almost swore.

A dense canopy, filled with interlacing branches thick enough to blot out the sun. All the floral elements would’ve made a great picture, but right now? The amount of places where ambushes could occur were countless now, and with a quick sweep of the party, this was all worsened by the fact that Dynasty’s troops were composed largely of healers and melee combatants. Which was good in a battle of attrition, but considering the terrain, the amount of hit-and-run and ranged skirmishes that could happen was unreal.

Hopefully a forest like this meant they were just facing monstrous beasts then.

Yeah, no. That wasn’t going to happen.

“Yeah,” Rui-Ling chimed in cheerily, slapping the two nervous miners on the backs and pushing them closer to the healers, “You two’ll probably be the safest outta all of us here, so long as you stick to our lovely collective of healing fellows like glue. Chin up and keep your eyes on the jackpot, bros!”

He glanced over towards Jeoung-eun, the brunette already sounding a touch anxious as she stumbled over some roots. “Same to you too,” Rui-Ling said, flashing a thumbs up. “It’s smart to be a bit nervous, but don’t stress yourself out either, yeah? The backline’s the foundation, so make sure to breathe n all. Not every day that we get such delicious air!”

The words came easily, naturally, even as his eyes continued to sweep to their surroundings, even as his ears filtered out human noise in an effort to detect the inhuman.

“And Hyun-woo, just a small suggestion, but could I get just one tank with me in the back? I can probably sense monsters coming up from behind, but ya see…” He raised his arms to the side, showcasing the sheer ‘lack’ of armor he had over his civilian clothing. “…I’m not really equipped to holding any sort of line.”

Which meant the healers would have to get involved in fighting instead of healing. Which meant that the frontline would no longer have sufficient magical support. Which meant that the whole formation risked collapse. Which meant everyone including their Barbarian leader would suddenly find their chances of death jump by a hefty percentage.

“There’s a ton of trees here, after all. Wouldn’t be a surprise if we faced multi-pronged attacks constantly. Heckers, maybe we’ll even get evil squirrels jumping at us from above!”

 

[Firelie]

Name: Evdokia Vladyslavivna Pashchenko
Rank: E
Class: Knight
Location: Fairy Woods, (C rank dungeon)
Tag: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera ERode

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 90
MP: 100
Defense: 80
P. Attack: 110
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+45

---

Eva barely had any time for introductions or even preparation before the group of ten hopped into the otherworldly portal. Blue irises peered in wonder at the fantastical forest. She was still in her performers uniform as she hopped in, and she still held her colorful performers bag in front of her held in both hands. After a moment of admiring her surroundings, she kneeled down and clicked open her bag, pulling out a small colorful bad and untying it. She took a small cloth ball out of the bag and stood to her feet. She closed her eyes and focused. A glittering aura swirled around her, a whirlwind of shifting shapes and sparkling light moved around her before she slammed the ball into the ground at her feet, and with a quiet POOF the girl was surrounded by a puff of smoke. The smoke dissipated as quickly as it had appeared, and the young magician's colorful blue cloak had been replaced by a set of subdued Iron armor. She took a moment to pose, mostly out of habit. She had taken the opportunity to summon her weapons as well, a simple sheathed sword and a long bronze shield with a glowing lime green core. There was a dull ticking coming from the bronze contraption as the image of clock hands simmered to the top of the glowing surface of the core.

Eva hummed cheerily to herself as she popped her helmet off and held it under her arm as she continued to dig through her bag. She pulled out a few things, a strange contraption of folded wood and cloth, and a sturdy looking but short piece of colorful rope. With that, she took the bag and tossed it back through the portal. She clipped all of her gear to her belt and looked down at herself, satisfied. "There we are, is great work." She said in broken Korean, made even worse by her thick Ukrainian accent. She took a moment to look over the group ahead of her. It was a miserable sight, most of the party looked far too unenthused for her liking. Luckily it seemed the pink boy was already working on raising the spirits the party leaders terrible speech had dropped. The cheery girl stepped jauntily up to from the portal entrance to the nervous miners. "Yes yes! Is not everyday you get visit fun place and make such difference in world. Trust group, will keep safe." She reached up and patted the head of the taller miner as a strange gesture of good faith. With a pure, jubilant expression she moved past them, discreetly slipping small cards advertising her circus into each of her pockets while they were distracted by her jarring gesture. Reverse pickpocketing folks came like second nature to the girl, it was a very good skill to have for tricks, and slipping cards into the pockets and purses of passerby's was both entertaining and effective ways of advertising.

The armor clad girl approached a group of three that even in this group of misfits seemed to standout. "Oh oh! Maybe we get fight bear!" She butted in loudly as she approached the group from behind. She slipped a card into the pocket of the only person not already in combat gear, the bot with pink hair. (FYI: I say discreetly but with Rui-Lings 40 sense he would 100% notice her doing this.) She slid into the small group and stood at the front of the gathering. "Oh, it has been long time since seen bear." She stopped and stared at the group with a cheery gaze before chuckling to herself and speaking up once more. "Oh but is rude of me. Name is Evdokia Vladyslavivna Pashchenko, Grand darling of the twilight forest, and Ringleader of Budynok Mahiyi Circus!" She threw her arms up in a dramatic pose and she threw a small cascade of confetti over herself, from where she got it was a mystery. Her helmet fell as she posed, but she caught it with a foot and bounced it back up into her hands with a grin. "You can call Eva. Here, take card!" She said, quickly handing out some of her advertisement cards before anyone in the group could object. "We are very good. So, what is name? Class? How fight?" The smile never disappeared from her face as she spoke boisterously, seemingly entire oblivious to the common courtesy that was not verbally vomiting all over people she doesn't even know.

 

[The Black Knight]

Baek gave Rui-Ling a pathetic look as he pushed him and Jimin toward the healers. He was trying to reassure him, but even with being surrounded by healers he didn’t feel any safer. All he and Jimin had were tools, which wouldn’t do anything.

Hyun-woo closed his eyes and grit his teeth as he heard Pink Boy’s voice. It was always Pink Boy who tried to change the strategy. He should have taken a third miner and left him outside the portal. A third miner would be more useful than an insubordinate, pain in the ass. “No; the strategy is going to remain the way I set it. Your job is to just let us know if someone is attacking from behind. I intend to only move forward and not head back. Somewhere in this forest is the dungeon boss and if we must kill every monster in it to get to him, then that is more resources for the collectors.”

The thief mentioned the boughs above. Death from above was a possibility, but this was a C-rank dungeon. They had enough D-ranks in the team to weed out any small fry. The highest rank in the dungeon was C, which meant it had to be the boss or even the mini boss too. Hyun wasn’t too worried. Dynasty was wild, but they were strong like a pack of feral dogs.

“There’s nothing to worry about. Everyone keep your eyes open. If you see something, then speak up.”

Poof! Foreign girl decided to drop some sort of smoke bomb. One moment she looked like a weirdo, and then the next she looked like a true Hunter. The other members of Dynasty were staring in awe at her little show. It had been pretty fancy to suddenly be wearing armor and equipped with weapons. She started rummaging through her bag of tricks and Hyun started to wonder what her class was. She brought so much extra stuff that he immediately thought it would all be useless. Whatever. He wasn’t babysitting the non-Dynasty crowd. If they didn’t want to listen, then he wasn’t going to waste his time.

“Are we done complaining now? Good. Let’s move.”

Before Hyun could take another step, a creature danced out from behind one of the trees. Its eyes were large and clear like marbles. It appeared to be a hybrid between a frog and a fish. Its gills extended from its neck like fans that trembled as air shot through them. Its lower jaw had an overbite where triangular teeth protruded. It wore a loincloth of twigs and leaves, and a crocodile skull as a hat. Strange blue bulbs glowed at the top of its walking stick, which could have been magic or bioluminescence.

Hyun threw out his arm to halt the party. “Stop!”

He stared tensely at the creature that didn’t seem interested in attacking. With its unblinking eyes, it stared at them as though sizing up their group. Its throat then expanded and shrank as it released a loud, chirp-chirp-chirp that had sounded like laughter. It pointed a warty, clawed finger at them and spoke: ᚤᛟᚢ ᚹᛁᛚᛚ ᚨᛚᛚ ᛞᛁᛖ. ᚤᛟᚢ ᚹᛁᛚᛚ ᛏᚨᚴᛖ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚹᚱᛟᚾᚷ ᛈᚨᛏᚺ ᚨᚾᛞ ᛒᛖ ᛋᛚᚨᚢᚷᚺᛏᛖᚱᛖᛞ. ᛋᛏᚢᛈᛁᛞ ᚺᚢᛗᚨᚾᛋ. ᚤᛟᚢ ᚾᛖᚡᛖᚱ ᚠᛟᛚᛚᛟᚹ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛈᚢᚱᛈᛚᛖ ᛗᚢᛋᚺᚱᛟᛟᛗ ᚲᚨᛈᛋ!

Hyun frowned at the creature. He had no idea what it was saying, and he didn’t get much of a chance to do anything else before the creature fled away. “Damn thing was probably a scout,” he growled. “I guess we’re going to be meeting the welcome party soon. All right; let’s go.”


Team 2: ERode Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Dynasty

Spoiler

Hyun-woo Bang
Rank: C
Class: Barbarian
Guild: Dynasty
Party Buff: All party members receive +15 P. Attack.
HP: 430/430

NPC 1
Rank: D
Class: Samurai
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

NPC 2
Rank: E
Class: Black Knight
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 110/110

NPC 3
Rank: D
Class: Bard
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 170/170

NPC 4
Rank: D
Class: Priest
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

Other

Spoiler

Baek Hyeon Yi
Guild: ???
Faction: Miners
Rank: ???
Class: ???
HP: ???

Jimin Man
Guild: Dynasty
Faction: Miners
Rank: E
Class: Gladiator
HP: 70/70

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: C-Rank Gate: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 1/10
HP: 70
MP: 120
Defense: 70
P. Attack: 75 + 15 (Party Bonus)
M. Attack: 95
Accuracy: 1d100+(30)

---

Jeoung-eun didn't bother looking back at Rui-Ling as she waved her hand to signify that she was fine. While Rui-Ling had given her sound advice, he said it in a way that was annoying to hear. Huffing, Jeoung-eun said, "You don't need to tell me twice. I'm a little unadapted, that's all." Standing straight up, she turned to look where the party was facing. She had to get used to these new circumstances quickly, or else this little trip would be a waste of time.

Looking over to Ha-eun, she noticed the girl was a little tense just like her. The way her shoulders were stiff and the odd movement she made whenever she looked around told her everything that Jeoung-eun needed to know. "It'll be okay, Ju Ha-eun," Jeoung-eun reassured from all the way back of the party. It was terrible for her to feel joy in that someone other than her was stressed out in this new situation. "Remember, how you dealt with the Spear guy? Just do that again, I believe in you." With her final reassuring words, she turned around and immediately regretted it.

Suddenly there was a magician weirdo that appeared out of nowhere and did some sort of magic trick. Jeoung-eun could already tell that the girl and Rui-Ling would be two peas in a pod and two conjoined migraines while they were at it. While Rui-Ling might have been eccentric, she could deal with him. At the very least, he was sensible and had earned her begrudging respect. This girl? The moment Evo-Evdo-whatever started to speak in broken Korean, she had already started to close the doors to her heart. Jeoung-eun had dealt with her fair share of foreigners in the past due to her experience being an employee at a 7/11 for several years. Some were okay, and some were worse than a group of grade-schoolers. Why did her country have to attract foreigners like a magnet?

Though Jeoung-eun would still be willing to cooperate with her, she'd let Rui-Ling do the talking instead; those two seemed like to be a match made in heaven considering their eccentricities. "Thank you," Jeoung-eun said as she; politely took Eva's card and shoved it into her pocket where she would forget it for the rest of the time. That would be one of the few times they would talk in this entire dungeon. Eva would be stationed in the front along with Ha-eun since she looked like a tank. Hopefully, her flashiness would attract all the monsters to target her, as she already did a great job at attracting everyone's attention with her bizarre display.

Before their hunting team could move, a strange frog-like creature- Was it standing on its legs?- appeared. It wore clothing, or rather rags, and was holding a stick, signifying some level of intelligence. Jeoung-eun took more time to observe it. Was it a dungeon monster? Jeoung-eun had expected them to be a little bit more intimidating, though it was a strange frog that stood on his hind legs, so she couldn't complain. As she stared into its eyes, she flinched back as something had happened unexpectedly.

"Purple mushroom caps?" She muttered to herself.

She watched as the frog bounced away and disappeared into the forest. Looking around, she hesitantly said, "Uh, did anyone hear anything?" She needed to make sure she wasn't the only one that was hearing things. Of course, deep inside, she knew that she heard that thing speak to her, no to them. While she couldn't understand any of it, it was said with such clarity that she knew she couldn't put it off to the side. The party leader was mistaken; the monster they had run across wasn't a scout; it was a mere observer. That being said, she had to be on the lookout.

"Hey, uh, Rui-Ling?" Jeoung-eun said as she looked down to the shorter male. "If you see any purple mushroom caps, can you tell me? Even better, if you can tell the party leader to avoid them," Jeoung-eun requested. If what the creature had told her was correct and she had understood what it was trying to say, it could mean that there was a lot of danger ahead of them if they proceeded the wrong path. Rui-Ling would also probably be the only one would be able to see these purple mushrooms since he was the designated lookout.

 

[Mqueserasera]

Ju Ha-eun

RANK​	E​
CLASS​	KNIGHT​

HP: 75/75

MP: 100/100

Fatigue: 0/100

Status effect

Huyn's party buff: +15 P.Attack

Location: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Misuteeku Firelie

Ha-eun jerked her head around after a moment of processing Rui-Ling’s suggestion. Of course, the tactical side of his reasoning didn’t matter one bit to her. Ha-eun was never a fighter, much less a strategist. She could hardly keep up with following orders she was given. He could say the most outrageous thing, or lay out a most genius plan, and she would have no more a blank stare to give him return. Unless it was to pull Ha-eun herself from the frontline. For some brief seconds, she looked over to him with eternal gratitude. And it occurred to her – though it sounded silly under any other circumstance, she was compelled to believe when her nerves were at their limits – that his suggestion was merely an attempt in disguise to save her from foreseeable dangers. He might be an Ok guy after all.

But those brief seconds passed, and Huyn-woo shot the proposal down in a heartbeat. Or should she say heartlessly? At any rate, she seemed to have lost her last bit of hope that she hadn’t even known she had.

She sighed quietly. At least she was not as tense anymore. Apparently, the girl had resigned herself to fate, or to whatever deities out there who had sentenced her to all these troubles in the first place. She nodded, smiled weakly at Jeoung-eun’s reassuring words. It was true that she had just claimed her first victory, even if putting a spar on the same level as a real portal hunting was silly. She clung to whatever optimism she still had.

Then all of a sudden, as if to poke fun at her worries, the foreign girl started bringing out all the rackets.

“B-bear? Don’t say it like that.” A bear absolutely didn’t sound like a good time. In fact, even a stray cat out of nowhere could probably cause her to faint as it was. “A-anyway, Edo, isn’t it? You can go first if you’d like. I’m Ha-eun, a knight, yes, but I’m, uhm, fine with staying behind you. Haha…”

Something did appear from behind one of the trees. Something far worse than a stray cat, arguably more intimidating than a bear. A beast; ugly as hell beast. It looked like a frog, but it stood upright, and was dressed even. And it was armed.

At once, Ha-eun raised her weapon, more prepared to defend herself than to initiate an attack. Her feet planted firmly on the ground, or rather, were frozen in place.

The sound the thing made did not do much to clarify its purpose. All the while, Ha-eun fixed her wary gaze on it, and waited for an order from the leader. But the encounter was brief, and it scurried away.

Then Jeoung-eun’s voice startled her.

“Mushroom?” Ha-eun’s voice was almost shrill now. “What are you talking about?” Was it too much to assume that the girl had lost her mind? Ha-eun could not be sure, but the idea that Jeoung-eun could understand monster language was even more unbelievable.

Nevertheless, she didn’t really have the time to worry about someone else being ridiculous right now.

Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.

She started trying to blank her mind out, focusing only on the situation at hand: the halberd in her hands, and any foe that might be lurking in the shadow

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: 22 [Seocho] - Green Wood Park > C- Rank Dungeon [The Fairy Woods]
Mentions: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 70/70
MP: 100/100
Fatigue: 0/100
Defense: 75
P. Attack: 95
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+25

---

Ah, shot down again! Rui-Ling caught Ha-eun’s gaze in that instant, the fiendish knight’s desperate hope being shattered into oblivion in that one moment, and with that, he shook his head too. Oh well, he tried. Not that he knew it was for her benefit to begin with. Ha-eun certainly looked confident and energetic, prior to all that. Now, all that positive energy was beaming out of the third guildless Hunter that popped out of the woodwork, apparently being impressive enough to replace a Dynasty E-ranker for some reason.

Strange, how the world worked out. Considering how touchy Hyun-Woo was, it was a small miracle that the circus ringleader (huh, why would a business owner risk her neck doing grunt work?) that Evdokia Vladyslavivna Pashchenko made it in…and it looked like their gloriously impatient leader was dripping sanity out of his earholes too. Still, it was rude to leave a girl hanging, so Rui-Ling waved at her from the backline, one hand pressed tellingly against the pocket she slipped a card into. “Rui-Ling over here,” he said. “I’m just a Thief, so make sure to do the best you can to not make me stand out, and we'll be all peachy, Evdokia!”

But any two-man comedy bit to bring up the mood of the party would have to wait. A garbling creature, grotesque and gilled, emerged, and Rui-Ling’s hand instantly reached behind his back, manifesting the Mantis Claws. A caster! Stupid enough to emerge without a guard! Stupid enough to show up with such a pretty little staff!

…

And yet, even as it pointed towards them and warbled out some incomprehensible words that could very easily have been an incantation, their leader did not give the order to attack, nor did anyone else charge to rip the little shit to bits. Instead, after a protracted few seconds, it ran away, and no one did a thing. Rui-Ling blinked, allowing some of the tension to fade from his body. Maybe the barbarian thought that it was easier to just invite conflict rather than avoid it, even at the cost of initiative. It wasn’t the worst idea for such a frontline-focused group, at least.

Which was why the pink-haired thief was surprised to hear Jeoung-eun speak to him instead, her words catching the attention of a steadily unnerved Ha-eun. “Purple mushroom caps, hm?” Sounded toxic, for sure. He did a quick sweep of the area around them, looking off behind the party, to the sides, and then finally between the gaps of the vanguard to the front, in search for those mushrooms she had mentioned.

“Don’t think anyone’s gonna be dumb enough to eat something so obviously poisonous, but why avoid them totally?” What even got the brown-haired babe to start thinking of mushrooms? “And why are you worried about them?”

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: C-Rank Gate: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 1/10
HP: 70
MP: 120
Defense: 70
P. Attack: 75 + 15 (Party Bonus)
M. Attack: 95
Accuracy: 1d100+(30)

---

Jeoung-eun wanted to scream right now. She didn't think that Ha-eun, who would be at the front of the party, would be able to hear her when she was at the back of the party. She must have underestimated how sensitive the knight was. It didn't help that she felt guilty that she caused the knight to enter a zen-like state of calmness in order to subdue the fear of 'purple mushroom caps.' "Ju Ha-eun, I didn't mean-" Jeoung-eun sighed as she gave up halfway. Clarifying anything to the now zombie-like knight who seemed to be only focused on whatever was in front of her at the moment. However, that would be the least of Jeoung-eun worries at the moment.

What was the problem was that since Ha-eun screamed out, everybody would start to draw random conclusions. Rui-Ling was now looking at her, and she could already tell that he would be able to rip apart a lie that she could tell. Suddenly, Jeoung-eun could see formulas floating around her. Her mind was calculating the best possible response, the best outcome, and the best way to enact it. An idea popped up, and she started to weave her lie.

"Uh, well, you see..." Jeoung-eun looked down at the ground bashfully out of embarrassment. She wasn't like Rui-Ling, who could put up a front, but she could do something close to it. Serenity was the best liar in any scenario. Part of her was genuinely embarrassed by the ruckus she caused, and that helped cover up most of the holes in her body language and expression. "I heard a voice in my head as soon as the frog thing vanished." Jeoung-eun started to explain. "It was very vague with its wording, but it said keywords such as, 'wrong path, 'never follow,' and 'purple mushroom caps.' so I interpreted as 'avoid the path with purple mushroom caps." There were some details that she had left out, but they weren't exactly necessary for this situation.

To seal the lie, she said, "I think it's a skill I have, but due to my low rank, it had never activated up until now; that's why I was surprised," Jeoung-eun informed. "I think it was some form of revelation?" She would like to have said it was instinct, but she figured it was something a warrior would have in contrast to a healer. "I'm sorry for causing a ruckus." She said with a bow. Standing straight up, she could only look to see if the response she said was received well.

An excuse where a low ranked skill that a low activation rate had activated at this moment should suffice. Jeoung-eun wasn't entirely knowledgeable on how skills worked and her brief time browsing through the internet didn't help much.

"I just think that purple mushroom caps are a bad omen, that's all." She turned to finally address Rui-Ling.

Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it.

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: C- Rank Dungeon [The Fairy Woods]
Mentions: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 70/70
MP: 100/100
Fatigue: 0/100
Defense: 75
P. Attack: 95
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+25

---

Rui-Ling listened to Jeoung-eun as the girl went through all her explanations of complicated things such as spooky head-voices and low-rank skills. He nodded a couple of times, flicked his eyes to their surroundings another couple of times, and then finally said, "Ok, I believe you." No hesitation, not even a slight pause to think about it. Ah, but there was a point. As she raised her head from her bow, the brunette would suddenly find Rui-Ling's left hand close to her face, middle finger brimming with a latent force that was only held back by his thumb. An instant later, and the finger flicked out, lightly tapping her on the forehead. "Seriously though, relax. It's totes awkward to see you bowing over the smallest thing, ya know? And if you've got some sorta fortune-telling power? All the more reason to speak up when you've got bad feels."

Well, he could probably understand why someone would develop in such a fashion. It wasn't as if the societies he had grown up in weren't bereft of overdone apologies either. The fact of the matter was, though, that Rui-Ling would once again be playing as the psychological tank, even with his 0-2 score on convincing Hyun-Woo of anything. Maybe he should ease into the topic by stating some universally good advice for the barbarian leader to follow, such as 'keep breathing air'? He rolled his eyes at the thought, a lopsided grin forming, before Rui-Ling called out again, "Hey boss man, some of us are picking up bad vibes regarding purple mushrooms n all. Would be pretty based if we could avoid places that had lotsa 'em! You know, in case they explode or something."

The Thief glanced back towards Jeoung-eun, flashing a pair of crossed fingers and a wink at her. With all luck, third time's the charm. With no luck, their leader would order everyone to start eating the mushrooms to build up their poison resistance

 

[The Black Knight]

The rest of the party had started following behind Hyun as he led the group when there was talk of purple mushrooms at the rear. The conversation hadn’t made its way to the front until Ha-eun said something about a mushroom. Hyun arched a crimson brow at the knight before his face scrunched with suspicion. He started to have the feeling that someone might have seen something but was refusing to say something after he had given such an order.

The barbarian held up a hand, causing the party to halt. He turned around in time to hear Rui-Ling shout a warning about purple mushrooms and bad vibes. Several members of Dynasty and the miners started blankly sweeping their surroundings. There hadn’t been a single purple mushroom in sight, so it could have been a warning for later.

“What is your justification for spreading such a rumor?” Hyun challenged. “Purple mushrooms; where did you get such information? If you’re lying and joking around, then I will kick you from this party for wasting our time!”


Team 2: ERode Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Dynasty

Spoiler

Hyun-woo Bang
Rank: C
Class: Barbarian
Guild: Dynasty
Party Buff: All party members receive +15 P. Attack.
HP: 430/430

NPC 1
Rank: D
Class: Samurai
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

NPC 2
Rank: E
Class: Black Knight
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 110/110

NPC 3
Rank: D
Class: Bard
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 170/170

NPC 4
Rank: D
Class: Priest
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

Other

Spoiler

Baek Hyeon Yi
Guild: ???
Faction: Miners
Rank: ???
Class: ???
HP: ???

Jimin Man
Guild: Dynasty
Faction: Miners
Rank: E
Class: Gladiator
HP: 70/70

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: C-Rank Gate: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 1/10
HP: 70
MP: 120
Defense: 70
P. Attack: 75 + 15 (Party Bonus)
M. Attack: 95
Accuracy: 1d100+(30)

---

Now she was wondering if Rui-Ling was purposely trying to piss her off. Who gave him to right to flick her forehead? A soft frown of disapproval formed on Jeoung-eun's face. Though, knowing how Rui-Ling acted, it was probably to convey that she didn't have to bow in front of him when apologizing. It was a habit, or rather a behavior, that was installed into her when she was young. Being the least favored child in the household Sejin, her brother would always get a slap on the wrist while she would have to apologize profusely to her parents for making a mistake. The same went for high school and the workplace. Always the one being beaten down while the others trotted down the flowery path...

Jeoung-eun shook those thoughts away. At the very least, she needed to thank Rui-Ling for believing her, even if what she said was a lie. "Thank you," Jeoung-eun said as she prevented the habit to bow. Watching Rui-Ling calling out to Hyunwoo, she nodded and turned around again. Her eyes flitted around to Ha-eun and then Eva to check on how they were before looking back at Rui-Ling, who flashed her a wink. She sighed at his display of nonchalance before nodding again.

She jumped up in surprise when Hyunwoo spoke up. It looks like it was her turn to take a shot. Rui-Ling wasn't the one who had been persuaded to announce the bad omen. That sole responsibility fell onto her. "That would be me," Jeoung-eun spoke up. It's not like she had much to lose if she did speak up to Hyun-woo. She wasn't affiliated to Dynasty, nor did she have that much to the status as a hunter. Fortunately, it seemed like Hyun-woo was willing to hear her out. Jeoung-eun could already imagine a situation if that over-dramatic spear leader from earlier was her leader.

"I believe it's an ability that I have since a voice suddenly spoke in my head," Jeoung-eun said. "It has never happened before, but I'm willing to trust that it wouldn't lie to me." Even if she did have that ability, it would have been a god-awful skill if it told lies to its user. What kind of skill would be a detriment to its own user? "Sorry if I caused an unnecessary ruckus," Jeoung-eun said as she looked down at the ground with a pitiful look. Though, granted, she didn't feel pitiable inside at all.

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: C- Rank Dungeon [The Fairy Woods]
Mentions: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 70/70
MP: 100/100
Fatigue: 0/100
Defense: 75
P. Attack: 95
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+25

---

Third time was the charm!

Rather than brush off or stonewall such concerns, Hyun-Woo responded with what was the bare minimum needed to continue the conversation, slapping down a reasonable amount of questions. Rui-Ling’s eyes flickered to the right of the party briefly and then, despite the meager threat of mere expulsion, maintained his smile. Just as violence was the specialty of a barbarian, dialogue was the specialty of Rui-Ling. He arranged all his points in his head, opened his mouth, a-

Jeoung-eun spoke up.

It wasn’t that great of an explanation, nor did she remember to stand up straight throughout the entirety of it, so her lack of confidence served as a detriment to her actual points, but considering what he’d seen of her so far, she was already making marked progress. He’ll give her a standing ovation after this. For now though? The seeds have been sown, and now he just needed to water them.

“Of course, I wouldn’t speak up just on the behest of a cutie’s worries,” Rui-Ling said, lying through his fucking teeth. “Because while Jeoung-eun mentioned this to me, I also learned why her skill activated. You see over there? In front and to the right? Spotted those mushrooms while doing my head-swivelling. Looks all cute and highly visible, right? Goes off to the side as well, away from this well-travelled clearing. Seems worthwhile enough that we’d usually investigate, yeah? Like a trail marker n everything.”

The pink-haired youth tilted his head to the side slightly and snapped his fingers, blue eyes sparkling in the light of a sunshaft from the canopy.

“And if the monsters here are intelligent, then they can take advantage of such behavior…especially if they continued to plant a trail of these mushrooms for us to follow all the way to the middle of bumfuck nowhere, boss man.”

That was the best-case scenario too. Considering Jeoung-eun’s prognostications, it was more likely that it’d deliver the party straight to the maw of the beast…but also considering Jeoung-eun’s prognostications, Rui-Ling wouldn’t have been opposed to investigating those mushrooms under more normal circumstances.

“So that considered? I’d suggest going ‘Begone shrooms!’ and maintaining course. If you wanna hedge bets though, then being cautious about it would be cash.”

 

[The Black Knight]

Hyun hadn’t been expecting the tall girl to speak up. Purple mushrooms had sounded like a joke Pink Boy would create for the sole purpose of pissing him off. She heard a voice…in her head. Hyun’s eyes shifted into straight lines as he stared silently at Jeoung-eun. Was she mental? Was she smoking purple mushrooms? The guildless were really something. Hyun was starting to feel convinced that Dynasty could clear the entire dungeon without these wackos.

Pink Boy spoke up next in her defense. Hyun-woo followed Rui-Ling’s gesture. What was he talking about? The other Dynasty members were staring blankly at where he was pointing. There was nothing there. He was done with the purple mushroom rumor. Hyun-woo said nothing more, and if there was one person he was going to drag out of the dungeon, it was definitely going to be Rui-Ling before the others (he couldn’t stand him). He rested a hand on Rui-Ling’s shoulder and started dragging him back toward the portal.


Team 2: ERode Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Dynasty

Spoiler

Hyun-woo Bang
Rank: C
Class: Barbarian
Guild: Dynasty
Party Buff: All party members receive +15 P. Attack.
HP: 430/430

NPC 1
Rank: D
Class: Samurai
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

NPC 2
Rank: E
Class: Black Knight
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 110/110

NPC 3
Rank: D
Class: Bard
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 170/170

NPC 4
Rank: D
Class: Priest
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

Other

Spoiler

Baek Hyeon Yi
Guild: ???
Faction: Miners
Rank: ???
Class: ???
HP: ???

Jimin Man
Guild: Dynasty
Faction: Miners
Rank: E
Class: Gladiator
HP: 70/70

 

[Firelie]

Name: Evdokia Vladyslavivna Pashchenko
Rank: E
Class: Knight
Location: Fairy Woods, (C rank dungeon)
Tag: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera ERode

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 90
MP: 100
Defense: 80
P. Attack: 110
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+45

---

Evdokia hummed thoughtfully to herself as she watched the group quickly dismantle itself over the admittedly trivial issue. She watched from the front as the so called leader Hyun-woo marched to the back of the group to lug the pink boy back through the portal. A smile stayed fixed upon her face as she practically skipped up behimd Hyun-woo. She knew what type of person he was. Rash, skeptical, and terribly bland in his ideaologies. Luckily, it was plain to her the type of things a man like him would value. She slid in beside Hyun-woo as he dragged the pink boy off, matching their pace with a backwards saunter.

“Hey hey, Hyun-woo! Ruu-lee did not mean any offense! This all just so scary....” She said, her voice softer and risen ever so slightly to a higher octave. She smiled coyly at the party leader, brushing a lock of hair from the side of her face. “I mean, I’m sure you just fine, being experienced and so brave, being able to pull such ragtag party together. Is no small thing, you know? With skill like that, Hyun-woo would have no issue getting us through scary dungeon, yes? People in high place notice action like that, you know.” She inched closer to the de-facto leader, staring up at him intently with sparkling blue irises. “You wouldn’t want those people to think you type of guy to throw poor E-ranks out of portal do you? I know you aren’t like that, but people no know Ruu-Lee super annoying and would think Hyun-woo is monster! Would be terrible! I wouldn’t want such good leader drag through mud because of somerhing like this, would you? Should just ignore pink hair boy. It would be huge bother for you to get new party member, anyway.” She chimed sweetly to Hyun-woo. Hopefully her multi pronged assault would prove effective. Men like Hyun-woo often enjoyed having pretty girls brown nose for them, and that ditzy personality when paired with her air of a clueless foreigner proved especially effective against those type of people. Of course, if he wasn’t to fall for her feminine wiles then perhaps her filling his head with ideas of garnering power from this would reach the man. She felt bad for bad mouthing Rui-ling, but she knew being agreeable with Hyun-woo would go a long way.

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: C- Rank Dungeon [The Fairy Woods]
Mentions: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 70/70
MP: 90/100
Fatigue: 10/100
Defense: 75
P. Attack: 95
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+25

---

Rather than a response, there was simply blankness in the eyes of the rest.

Curious. Undoubtedly so. Was this another case, similar to those phantoms he encountered in his daily life, shadowed silhouettes that had no substance or ties to reality, and yet still interacted with him as if they were real? In that case, how did his own delusion synchronize so well with Jeoung-eun's prognostications? Perhaps he could excuse the inability for fellow E ranks to see nothing, but for that same stupidity to be reflected by Hyun-Woo? C-rank Barbarian and the leader of this party? Tasked with plunging into verdant depths and guiding relative newcomers through a portal dungeon that they could never clear without him?

He needed to confirm this. In the long run, he had no expectations of meeting any of these people again, so in the short run, Rui-Ling was going to milk every bit of value he could out of this.

As the hefty hand of the Dynasty squad leader rested firmly on his shoulders, applying a superhuman force that made resistance impossible under normal circumstances, the Thief...simply turned into shadow. It was almost a shame that he couldn't get a close up of Evdokia's theatrics (he doubted that it'd sway Hyun-Woo's decision though, unless the dude had a soft spot for clowns), but as Rui-Ling emerged ahead of the rest of the party, standing at the point where the northwards clearing had a divergence made of purple mushrooms, he clapped his hands together twice, ensuring that everyone knew exactly where he was. Then, with the next movement, he raised his Mantis Claw and threw the smaller scythe decisively behind the first of the purple mushrooms.

Now, for confirmation.

"Let's not get too hasty here, big bro," Rui-Ling said, flashing his teeth. "Look at where my scythe is. Can any of you see the purple mushroom right in front of it? Because I sure can, as clearly as I can see anything else in this dungeon. Just as how you happen to have superior strength or magical powers, perhaps my sense have been sharpened to pick up things that are practically invisible to you, and honestly, if you still can't see this even if I'm doing all that I can to show you exactly where one of these mushrooms are..."

He shrugged. It wasn't his business, nor his guild, but he didn't really wish death upon any of them.

"...then I hope y'all make it back safe!"

 

[The Black Knight]

Hyun-woo’s eyes slid over to Evdokia as she tried to do the one thing he’d expect any of the guild-less annoyances to do: convince him to change his mind. He was completely against it, and a metaphorical wall rose between them as she tried to flatter and use whatever other tactic. It was pathetic, and a little irritating that she’d think he’d fall for such nonsense. She hadn’t realized that he also wanted her out of his party.

The barbarian immediately stopped when he noticed Pink Boy was replaced by a black shadow. His red brows heavily fell on his forehead, and he turned toward Rui-Ling as he was suddenly behind him and still insisting on the purple mushroom fantasy.

“You’re on purple mushrooms!” Hyun-woo jeered. “No one can see what the hell you’re talking about. If I had known that I was putting a guildless nut job on my team, then I would have never brought you along!”

He passed his finger in front of Jeoung-eun, Evdokia, and Rui-Ling: “I’m not wasting my time anymore. You guys can do whatever the fuck you want. You’re not in my party and no longer my problem!”

Hyun-woo strode ahead of his group. The Dynasty members looked at Rui-Ling before they turned to follow their leader. The miners were sad that the argument and divide happened, but they had to go with the one who was more than likely to guarantee their survival.

“Sorry kid,” Jimin apologized.

Baek gave the guildless a sympathetic look. “Maybe you should have kept that to yourselves.”

Hyun led those who decided to follow him on the path they were originally going.



Team 2: ERode Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Dynasty

Spoiler

Hyun-woo Bang
Rank: C
Class: Barbarian
Guild: Dynasty
Party Buff: All party members receive +15 P. Attack.
HP: 430/430

NPC 1
Rank: D
Class: Samurai
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

NPC 2
Rank: E
Class: Black Knight
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 110/110

NPC 3
Rank: D
Class: Bard
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 170/170

NPC 4
Rank: D
Class: Priest
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

Other

Spoiler

Baek Hyeon Yi
Guild: ???
Faction: Miners
Rank: ???
Class: ???
HP: ???

Jimin Man
Guild: Dynasty
Faction: Miners
Rank: E
Class: Gladiator
HP: 70/70

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: C-Rank Gate: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 1/10
HP: 70
MP: 120
Defense: 70
P. Attack: 75 + 15 (Party Bonus)
M. Attack: 95
Accuracy: 1d100+(30)

---

It all went down when Jeoung-eun tried to assert her statement about having heard a warning from a voice in her head that purple mushrooms were dangerous. In hindsight, she should have withheld that information until they saw these purple mushrooms. What made it worse was that Rui-Ling was adding more oil into the fiery personality of Hyunwoo. She turned to see what he was talking about.

From her perspective, all she saw was more grass, trees, and the distant horizon of the forest. There was no hint of purple amidst the vibrant pinkish color scheme of the forest, nor any mushroom-shaped objects. At first, Jeoung-eun had thought that Rui-Ling was lying his ass off about seeing the mushrooms, but she realized the type of character Rui-Ling was. Knowing for around 30 minutes, she gathered that he was the type to make useless gestures and try to flatter her with smooth words. However, she knew that he wasn't stupid. In a situation like this, there was no way he could joke in a situation where death was possible.

That and he trusted her words despite it sounding delusional nonsense. The least she could do was to return the trust that he placed in her. However, at the moment, she knew that she could do nothing to resolve the situation. Hyunwoo seemed already past the boiling point and was ready to throw out Rui-Ling. That was until Eva, who would never understand how Russian could have such long names, came out and tried to persuade the Dynasty Team Leader. Jeoung-eun scrunched her eyes as she heard the way Eva spoke. It reminded her of the terribly ditzy transfer students from another country. Speaking of transfer students, wasn't her convenience store getting a new hire that was a foreigner? That stray thought was set off for a moment.

At least Eva was trying to resolve her situation. Jeoung-eun would accept and respect that as such. It didn't help that this was primarily caused by her informing Rui-Ling about the purple mushrooms. Perhaps, she should have withheld that information after all.

Suddenly, Rui-Ling disappeared from Hyunwoo's grasp and suddenly appeared somewhere else. Jeoung-eun turned to look as he threw his mantis scythe at nothing? In her eyes, she couldn't see anything around Rui-Ling's weapon.

It seemed the others would agree, especially since Hyunwoo vehemently expressed his perspective and officially kicked Rui-Ling, Eva, and herself out of the team. She could only watch as the other members of the party marched onwards without them. Jeoung-eun sighed as she shook her head. This is what she got for being superstitious; perhaps the words in her head originated from delusion.

She turned to Eva. "Sorry for getting you into the mess," She apologized and bowed before heading to Rui-Ling. The magician was owed that much considering that she seemed to be in the same boat as them foreigner or not.

"Hey," Jeoung-eun said as she walked up to the pink-haired man. "I'm sorry, I should have kept my mouth shut. Because of that, I don't think we can do much in this situation." There was a moment of silence before Jeoung-eun spoke, "Is it true that you saw the purple mushrooms? I don't doubt you since you believed in me when I said there were purple mushrooms, but..." Turning around, she pointed towards where Rui-Ling's weapon lay. "Truthfully, I don't see anything around there."

This brought up the point about Rui-Ling's possible ability. She knew her 'revelation' was actually understanding the monster's language. There wasn't a skill she had acquired other than 'sacrifice' from her car accident. Does that mean Rui-Ling was in a similar situation to hers? Where blue text box holograms suddenly popped up in front of her and told her she gained a skill? Perhaps, he had an actual skill that allowed him to see hidden objects?

 

[Firelie]

Name: Evdokia Vladyslavivna Pashchenko
Rank: E
Class: Knight
Location: Fairy Woods, (C rank dungeon)
Tag: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera ERode

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 90
MP: 100
Defense: 80
P. Attack: 110
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+45

---

Alas, Evdokia’s little show seemed ineffective against the irrationally pessimistic leader. She stared with a persisting smile as the pink haired boy vanished and Hyun-woo decided he was done with it all. She supposed if one was to do this often, the constant threat on ones life in combination with the fact one had to jostle through a sea of mediocre hunters just to have a foothold in this whole business would make one so eternally bitter. She made sure to take note of that as the conflict reached both its peak and its resolve in a matter of seconds.

Eva watched, strangely still with a cheery smile. After they departed deeper into the forest, Eva moved over with her fellow exiles. “Oh, is okay! Hyun-woo just need to work on temper. Strange guy. More importantly...” she tilted her head and squinted at the space at Rui-Ling’s weapon. “Purple mushrooms?” Eva scanned the area, only to find there was no evidence of any sort of purple mushroom. Of course, there was absolutely none, but that didn’t disqualify the pink haired boys claims whatsoever. She knew that there were times that not even ones own senses could be trusted. She was well versed in trickery, and she knew that when one introduced the possibility of actual magic, nothing was impossible. “I see no mushroom either. You say is mushroom here, and is explode mushroom?” Eva hummed to herself and tapped na armored finger thoughtfully against her cheek. “Sooo.” She pointed at Jeoung-Eun, “you speak part frog. Learn purple mushroom exist.” She shifted her finger to Rui-Ling. “But only he can see mushroom. If all is true, is definately something going on. Hmmmm.” Eva held out an armored mushroom. “Am curious. Give invisible purple explode mushroom. No pain, no gain, yes?”

 

[Mqueserasera]

Ju Ha-eun

RANK​	E​
CLASS​	KNIGHT​

HP: 75/75

MP: 100/100

Fatigue: 0/100

Status effect

Huyn's party buff: +15 P.Attack

Location: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Misuteeku Firelie

Things went out of control too fast, and at the worst time possible. As the argument heated up, Ha-eun felt guilt creeping to her. She probably shouldn’t have made a big deal out of the tall girl’s mushroom business. Then again, she defended herself, it would be unfair to expect her to simply ignore the ominousness the guildless people were trying to spread.

She merely watched as Huynwoo dragged the pink-haired boy away to the portal. She didn’t know what to think, really, there hadn’t been the slightest evidence of the things those two mentioned. And her opinion of the boy had only worsened when he escaped from her leader’s grasp only to materialize some way ahead of the party then…proceed to talk about some invisible mushrooms. The guy was clearly off his rockers. Jeoung-eun’s confession about her hidden ability had been close to convincing her, only to have this Rui-ling guy make a mess of the situation. What was the chance for both of them to each have some special super ability specifically to hear and see purple mushrooms which no one else couldn’t? It was all too obvious that the two were either in it together for a stupid prank, or delusional both.

It was a shame, Ha-eun eyed them warily, she had taken a liking to them too. But you really can’t judge a person by mere appearance. And there was the foreigner, but Ha-eun couldn’t be bothered to think about the motive behind that one’s actions either. She sighed, losing nearly half of their combat force would be the worst thing imaginable. But when Hyunwoo had decided something, there would be no use trying to change his mind.

“I don’t know your reason for pulling this,” she said as she passed Rui-ling and Jeoung-eun, who were standing over their invisible mushrooms. She met their eyes briefly, only to shy away, dropping her gaze. “If you’re willing to quit the funny business, I hope you do, go apologize to him and promise you won’t joke around again. Otherwise, well, I wish you luck on your way back.”

Leaving them behind, the girl trudged towards the front of the party formation, again with a heavy heart.

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: C- Rank Dungeon [The Fairy Woods]
Mentions: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 70/70
MP: 90/100
Fatigue: 0/100
Defense: 75
P. Attack: 95
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+25

---

Hypothesis confirmed then. It wasn’t a matter of just not knowing what to look for, nor a matter of any sort of camouflage, nor even some sort of gaslighting shenanigans. What was going on was something totally different, a complete inability for others to see what he saw…which meant that either Rui-Ling himself was under the effects of some sort of spell, or that there was a separate reality that he operated in and interacted with, overlapping the one within the portal dungeon. He didn’t have precedent for the former, but he did have precedent for the latter: the shadow man, and the changing of the world around him, irrespective of what others saw.

He had to admit that it was a bit of a shame that Jeoung-eun and Evdokia got caught up in this as well, but this was good to know moving forward. “Nope,” was Rui-Ling’s only response to Ha-eun, “But good luck with the main road! It’d definitely be safer~”

…

Shit.

Was it actually safer?

How did it even make sense for a trapped pathway to exist, if only he could perceive it, and if only Jeoung-eun could warn of it? His thoughts were still as clear as crystal, regardless of what the Dynasty members and the miners believed, and he looked down at the mushroom at his feet. Really would be a pain if it was poisonous on contact, hm? Good thing Jeoung-eun was a healer and the portal dungeon’s exit was still easily within range. He waited a while longer for Hyun-Woo and the other party to travel off and away, before turning to the two that remained.

“Well, that really was super awkward, but at least we’re not dead!” Rui-Ling laughed. “Anyhow, Jeoung-eun, let’s be serious now. That couldn’t have been a skill of yours. Could you, like, explain to me the specifics of all this? What you heard, saw, imagined, whatever. Cause, honestly, the main thing I’m confused about right now is why the path that’s most likely to cause death to intruders is like, literally invisible for everyone else. Like, that’s crazy right? We literally didn’t need to warn them of anything to keep them on the right path. What sorta dumbass monster do something like that?”

He pulled his weapon out of the ground, then leaned down. If it was an illusion, his fingers would pass through. If it was magic, he could expect something bad to happen. If it was physical but invisible…hopefully Evdokia could feel it too.

“Hope it doesn’t just explode, right?”

Two quick breaths, a mental countdown, and Rui-Ling’s fingers closed over the mushroom’s stem with the intent of pulling it out and depositing it into the ringmaster’s waiting hand.

 

[The Black Knight]

Hyun-woo glanced over his shoulder to see that Ha-eun hadn’t left them for those lunatics. He looked forward and smiled. He knew she was smarter than that. He learned his lesson about allowing guildless to join his party. But even if things had gone differently, he still wouldn’t have given Spear the satisfaction. He could only imagine that pompous Spear officer flapping her snobby gums. He didn’t know what he would rather hear more of: Pink Boy or her.

Meanwhile…

ERode
You have acquired

Violaceous Mushroom
Bioluminescent at night, these mushrooms are poisonous and release toxic spores when lobbed at victims or stepped on.
Effects: Projectile, Instantly inflicts Poison -5 HP for five turns. Does not stack.
Quantity: 1
​

As soon as Rui-Ling picked up the mushroom, it became visible in his hand.

In the boughs above, four creatures barely a foot in length were watching the three, lone beings below. They were pink, purple, blue, and green, nude and had translucent, fly-like wings. The back of their skulls was pointed and their two-toed talons allowed them to perch like birds upon the branches. They had been planning to ambush those left behind, but then one of them had found the mushrooms.

The creatures glanced at each other in confusion and quietly gurgled, low and irritating noises to each other. Instead of ambush, they chose to depart, flying overhead in the direction of the purple mushrooms.


Team 2: ERode Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Dynasty

Spoiler

Hyun-woo Bang
Rank: C
Class: Barbarian
Guild: Dynasty
Party Buff: All party members receive +15 P. Attack.
HP: 430/430

NPC 1
Rank: D
Class: Samurai
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

NPC 2
Rank: E
Class: Black Knight
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 110/110

NPC 3
Rank: D
Class: Bard
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 170/170

NPC 4
Rank: D
Class: Priest
Guild: Dynasty
HP: 190/190

Other

Spoiler

Baek Hyeon Yi
Guild: ???
Faction: Miners
Rank: ???
Class: ???
HP: ???

Jimin Man
Guild: Dynasty
Faction: Miners
Rank: E
Class: Gladiator
HP: 70/70

 

[Misuteeku]

Name: Jeoung-eun Nam
Rank: E
Class: Healer
Location: C-Rank Gate: The Fairy Woods
Tag: The Black Knight ERode Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

Rank: E
Title:
Level: 1/10
HP: 70
MP: 120
Defense: 70
P. Attack: 75 + 15 (Party Bonus)
M. Attack: 95
Accuracy: 1d100+(30)

---

"No, I don't speak; at least I hope I don't."

Having been reminded by the Russian Magician made Jeoung-eun feel tense. That was her time ever listening, understanding, a monster's language before. She knew it had something to do with the system before, and she, too, wanted to get to the bottom of it. That also meant coming clean to the others since they were owed an explanation. Looking over towards she was going to tell them everything she knew until a purple mushroom appeared into Rui-Ling hand. Jeoung-eun didn't know, but Rui-Ling was most likely a better magician than Eva if he could make mushrooms appear in his hands.

"Huh." She said for a moment as she stared at the fungi that she had described before. A blue textbook popped up and informed her of the item that Rui-Ling had in his hands. A Violaceous Mushroom. It was clear why the frog-like creature from before had mocked them. Stepping on these mushrooms could wipe down the party and maybe even Hyunwoo if they were unlucky enough. Aside from that, it also proved that Rui-Ling could see things that others couldn't, or rather they lacked something that he had.

"To answer your questions, yes, I can understand the language of these strange creatures," Jeoung-eun finally said as she got over her surprise. "How am I able to understand? Well, your guess is good as mine. I'm assuming it all started when these strange blue text boxes popped up." She stopped for a moment when she realized how ridiculous she sounded. Though she soon continued as she realized that the events that occurred prior were much more stranger. "Ever since then, strange things started to happen to me. A car almost ran me down when I was crossing the street, but I destroyed it before it could collide with me." That event was something that was still fresh in the back of Jeoung-eun's mind considering it just happened a few hours ago. When time suddenly stopped flowing, and the crushing reality that she might die was still a terrifying experience that lingered even when it was over.

"The car disappeared, and everybody acted as if they didn't see it coming right at me." There the cat was finally out of the bag. Much to her chagrin, she felt relieved that she could finally tell this to someone. While she didn't know about Eva, she at least knew that Rui-Ling would most likely understand where she was coming from. "Then this happened, and you already know the rest. You can probably understand why I lied considering what happened" Sighing, she looked off to the side. "Also, to answer your question, Rui-Ling, that monster from before wasn't warning us. Rather it was mocking us for being stupid."

Jeoung-eun caught something in the corner of her vision and turned to catch what it was. "What's that?" Jeoung-eun said to the Magician and former idol. Pointing towards the tree line, a couple of strange bug-winged creatures flew by. Were those fairies? What kind of god would create them to be so ugly? Most of all, were they watching the three of them the entire time? They were flying towards the direction where Rui-Ling had picked up the purple mushroom. "Were they watching us?" Jeoung-eun muttered before looking towards Rui-Ling and Eva. "We should be careful, Rui-Ling did Hyunwoo travel down the path with the purple shrooms?" The last thing she wanted was to be caught out and become free food for the monsters in this forest. Rui-Ling would be there key to their survival since he had a keener sense than any of them.

 

[ERode]

---

Sector: C- Rank Dungeon [The Fairy Woods]
Mentions: The Black Knight Misuteeku Mqueserasera Firelie

Spoiler: Stats

HP: 70/70
MP: 90/100
Fatigue: 0/100
Defense: 75
P. Attack: 95
M. Attack: 50
Accuracy: 1d100+25
Sense: 40
CS

---

Jeoung-eun had an instance where she was hit by a fucking car?

For a moment, Rui-Ling was visibly surprised, both at the sheer death-defying audacity of the ‘event’ she had survived, followed by the realization that she too must have experienced a ‘separated, yet overlapping’ reality. Beyond the whole matter of being able to understand the speech of monsters, it was honestly sort of insane that the two of them both possessed the ability to visualize text boxes popping up. He had assumed it was another unique ability of his, some lucky break of a skill that the Master Portal had granted upon him, but if there were others who possessed the same thing…

Before the pink-haired youth could dig deeper into his thoughts, however, before he could even really examine his surroundings again, noise from above caught his attention and he glanced up. Four small, humanoid creatures with translucent wings. Ugly monstrosities, really, the sorts of creatures he’d feel nothing about if he squashed them underfoot. That was two predictions now, two predictions that had been proven correct: flying enemies and exploding mushrooms.

“Really on a roll now,” Rui-Ling mused, tracking their movements as they flew further into the depths of the forest. “And no, that other party should be fine…as far as I can see. As for those text boxes though, Jeoung-eun…can you do this?”

While he let the ringmaster play with her own mushroom, Rui-Ling plucked two more mushrooms that were nearby, handing one off to Jeoung-eun while keeping the other to himself. Making sure she was looking, he took the shroom he had and slid it into the fold between space, depositing the Violaceous Mushroom into the depths of his Inventory.