This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms

In a tunnel three meters wide, the dwarf Thorin, the dwarf Gromm, and the lizardman Barok sat shoulder to shoulder on ground that still retained some warmth, each holding rations made from delicious mushrooms.

After being air-dried, the mushrooms were no longer as tasty as when steamed or boiled, but they still retained a pleasantly rich flavor.

As a free work meal, this treatment already left the three of them quite satisfied.

Behind them, the massive body of the chubby burrowing puji was, as always, stuck in the tunnel. Although it had stopped operating, it continued to radiate heat, driving away the surrounding cold.

Several battery puji had their tentacles connected to its huge backside, replenishing its magic power.

As the depth increased, the extreme cold severely slowed the spread of the fungus carpet. They could only rely on these mobile power sources to maintain the chubby puji’s operational capacity.

In front of them was a small cavity that had just been dug out.

Inside stood several pillars buried for who knew how many years. Frost covered the surfaces of these ruins, and faintly visible were intricate carved patterns.

Recently, various excavation teams had been discovering similar structures one after another, but there had been no more substantial findings so far.

Gromm wiped his rough fingers across his beard, popped the mushroom crumbs stuck to it into his mouth, and said, “Thorin, we’ve already saved up enough contribution points. When are we heading back to the mountain ranges?”

The task they were doing now carried uncertain risks and relatively harsh conditions, so it paid far more contribution points than ordinary jobs, letting them reach the amount needed to redeem their freedom ahead of time.

Before Thorin could answer, the lizardman Barok leaned over first.

“You guys are really leaving?” He clearly didn’t want his two friends to just leave and abandon him alone. “Isn’t Puji Fort good? Sure, it’s been colder lately, but there are puji heating things everywhere, you won’t freeze, and there are so many delicious mushrooms…”

Barok himself was very satisfied with his current life—much better than when he was in his tribe.

Not just in terms of food and shelter, but mentally as well.

In the past, whether in the lizardman tribe or in nearly all northern tribes, strength was everything.

In that regard, the tribes were almost no different from the Empire.

An unremarkable silver-rank lizardman like Barok had no status to speak of.

Guys like him were often barked at by higher-ranking warriors. If he was unlucky enough to catch someone’s displeasure, they wouldn’t outright kill him, but they’d deliberately assign him difficult and dangerous work, and he could only endure it.

How was that anything like now!

He chose his own tasks. There was almost no coercion, no discrimination. When his contribution points were sufficient, he could even take a comfortable break for a while, entirely at his own discretion.

A few days ago, when he was lining up for food, the one standing behind him was a high-ranking warrior from his old tribe.

Back when he was still in the tribe, those people had their meals delivered straight to their tents. Why would they ever need to line up like him—and they wouldn’t dare cut in line, either!

Of course, even now, as long as you were willing to spend contribution points, puji delivery service was still available. But Barok would never waste points like that.

There was no denying that those powerful high-ranking warriors still lived better lives than he did in Puji Fort.

But that difference didn’t come from privilege. It came from the fact that they could earn more contribution points through their strength and spend them accordingly.

Barok felt that this was fair.

Gromm understood Barok’s thinking. He also felt that their current life was pretty good.

“But this place isn’t safe in the long run,” Gromm said quietly. “Puji Fort is indeed getting stronger and stronger, and it looks like nearby tribes are all merging into it, but it’s becoming too conspicuous. Do you really think the Empire will just let a force like this appear in the northern lands? If war breaks out again, who knows what life will be like…”

The lizardman wanted to retort, to say that Puji Fort feared no enemy, but the words reached his lips and were swallowed back down.

The Empire’s power had long been carved deep into the hearts of every northern tribesman. He truly couldn’t imagine how they would respond if the Empire turned its attention toward them.

Still, Barok would remain in Puji Fort. As a tribesman who had already been absorbed, unlike the two dwarves, he had no homeland to return to.

Puji Fort was all he had left.

“I’m not going back,” Thorin suddenly said.

“Why?” Gromm turned to look at him, his face full of confusion.

“Look!” Thorin pointed at the pillars in front of them. “What is this? This is a ruin! This is definitely just a small part of it. There must be an ancient and massive ruin buried underground! This is exactly the kind of adventure I’ve always wanted!”

Thorin’s eyes shone with fanatic light. “Until I figure out the full extent of this ruin, I’m not leaving. Gromm, if you head back to the mountain ranges, help me send word home—just tell them I’m still alive.”

Gromm rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Me go back alone? Your family would skin me alive! If you ask me, you’re just daydreaming. What can a few broken stone pillars possibly prove?”

As the chubby burrowing puji finished replenishing its magic power, the three of them resumed work amid Gromm’s muttered curses.

Thorin and Barok grabbed the burrowing puji’s thick, stubby legs on either side and yanked outward with force. The puji immediately began to “buzz” as it restarted.

They waited about a minute for it to finish warming up.

“One, two—push!”

However, the resistance they expected only appeared for an instant.

The next moment, the rock layer beneath their feet suddenly collapsed, and they—along with the burrowing puji—plunged downward.

“A massive cavity?!” Thorin’s cry echoed through the void.

Barok reacted the fastest. His long tail instantly wrapped around a protrusion on the rock wall, and his other hand grabbed Thorin by the collar.

But the fragile rock wall couldn’t bear the weight of two people. The lizardman was dragged down as well.

Amid screams, all three fell.

The burrowing puji hit the ground first with a dull thud, half its mushroom body shattering on the spot.

Thorin and the others crashed down onto the remaining half of the puji’s body. Its elastic backside cushioned the impact like a mat, bouncing them apart.

Thanks to their stocky builds, the two dwarves landed hard enough to bare their teeth in pain, but they soon rubbed their backsides and stood up.

Only Barok lay curled on the ground, clutching his tail, which was bent at an unnatural angle, letting out painful whimpers.

“Barok, are you okay?”

“Just… a broken tailbone…”

Hearing that, the two dwarves let out a sigh of relief. With the regenerative power of fungal filaments, something like that would probably heal after half a day or so.

“Where are we?” Gromm took out a glowstone for illumination.

Under the dim light, an unbelievable complex of structures was revealed.

They seemed to be standing on the street of some vast underground city. Around them were empty buildings eroded by countless years.

In the distance, enormous clusters of stone pillars supported the entire cavern. Some had already collapsed, leaving only half-broken stumps behind.

Most striking of all was the spiral structure far away. From their position, they could only see its immense shadow.

“As expected! As expected, it’s a large-scale ruin!” Thorin trembled with excitement, completely forgetting that he had nearly died just moments ago.

Gromm looked at the buildings on either side, frowning in confusion.

The doorways of these structures were all very low—or rather, not low, but perfectly suited to someone of his height.

“This is… dwarven architecture? Underground in the northern lands?”

Tap—tap—

Before Gromm could think it through, a few stiff, heavy footsteps sounded from the end of the street.

Gromm and Thorin instantly held their breath. Even the lizardman covered his mouth.

Without thinking, they knew it wasn’t going to be anything good.

Tap—tap—

A puppet two and a half meters tall, formed entirely of ice, stepped out from around the corner and locked onto them.

A Frost Wraith! [an elemental ice construct]

“Run!”

The two dwarves each grabbed one of the lizardman’s arms and legs and turned to flee, dragging him along.

Barok howled as his body was scraped and slammed against raised stones and tiles along the way.

Behind them came the thunderous “thud, thud” of the Frost Wraith in pursuit.