Chapter 174: Plant-Type Monster 4
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Wed-Sun
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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The stark landscape of the 35th floor, filled exclusively with ashen trees, evoked a strange sensation.
It resembled an unfinished game map, devoid of monsters.
Other than the poison puddles, muddy swamps, and ashen trees, there was nothing but emptiness.
Looking at such desolate land, I couldn't help but think:
"Damn, was coming here a mistake?"
I even questioned my own foolishness.
I'm not quick with numbers, but seeing the hundreds of trees entwined with vines, I could roughly guess their overwhelming number.
The idea of smashing each one seemed absurd.
Still, this approach yielded results much quicker than waiting for the Magic Tower's research.
With that in mind, I moved towards Irene, who had taken the lead.
After such extensive destruction, if there were any responsive vines, Grace would surely notice first.
"How about it, Grace? Do you sense anything?"
"Not yet, nothing specific. They feel like ordinary plants when they're still, so I can't detect any presence. It's confusing whether the vines out of sight are just dormant or completely destroyed."
"Is that so? ...Then, shall we head towards where there seem to be more trees?"
"Let's do that. The vines and these creepy trees seem to grow together. It's not like a nest or anything."
Perhaps because I've smashing them all day, or because the divine energy Irene cautiously unleashed was lesser than the divine energy bolstering my body, but the vines didn't seem eager to approach.
So, we headed towards the area where the trees were visibly denser.
Choosing a direction based on the safe zone, we saw one side densely covered in trees, so thick that the ground was barely visible.
Since these grey-white vines always entangle the ashen trees, heading towards the denser forest seemed right.
Looks like I have to lead the way again.
"By the way, Roland, are you really okay? You've been using mana to smash everything for half a day. Shouldn't we rest before going?"
"Thanks for worrying, Grace. But I still have plenty of mana, and I know my condition better than anyone. I've fought large monsters for three days straight before, so don't worry too much. When you reach a higher level of mana control, such feats become possible."
Thump, thump.
Even without the vines, we still had to break through the trees.
As I cleared a path with my mana-infused warhammer, Grace, looking concerned, clung to my side and started small talk.
I've witnessed senior adventurers demonstrate superhuman feats multiple times, but even I'm worried when I stay up all night and when I miss meals.
But ironically, I felt better than ever, thanks to divine energy and the blessing of an unknown deity.
As we made our way forward, breaking through the trees and periodically releasing bursts of divine energy, we sensed an imminent attack.
"...Something's coming from over there, fast."
The stationary vines might have evaded an archer's detection, but once they started slithering like snakes, they were easily noticeable.
These vines, far from moving stealthily, started lunging at us aggressively, darting between the ashen trees like snakes on the hunt.
The sight of the grey-white vines swimming over the poison pools, causing ripples like water snakes crossing a river to catch prey, was disgusting.
"Ugh, it's hard to believe these things are plants."
"Whoa... They're moving like that and they're still plants?"
"You've seen it when we cut them. No guts, no muscles. Just sticky fibrous vines."
Their numbers, however, were notably few.
The fact that these once-swarming vines now resembled snakes swimming in water meant there were probably less than ten of them.
Should we even refer to these vine plant monsters as 'individuals', or is there another term?
While I was thinking that, Katie, seemingly irritated, swiftly slashed through all of them.
The vines were silently and neatly severed.
Instead of the daunting mass that had once overwhelmed the safe zone, the sight of them weakly crossing the poison pools, only to be methodically sliced by Katie's sword, was almost pathetic.
"They don't look like much seeing them like this."
"That's because Roland dealt with most of them. It's amazing that there are any left after fighting for half a day."
"Still, these creatures don't drop mana stones. They'll probably deter other adventurers from venturing into the 35th floor."
Despite the ominous vines that entangle the passageway on the 34th floor, there are always adventurers full of spirit.
A day has passed since we caused a commotion and uprooted the vines, so someone might enter the 35th floor, either knowing about the vines or completely unaware.
What awaits them is a 35th floor devoid of monsters, just filled with trees.
"...Right, no mana stones. If both the 34th and 36th floors end up like this, no mana stones will come out of the tower."
"What on earth is happening in the tower?"
Is the Demon King conducting some sort of economic retaliation against adventurers?
Such an absurd thought briefly crosses my mind.
Of course, if we consider reality, it's more likely a nefarious game developer's gimmick to block players' revenue rather than an economic blockade on the distribution of mana stones.
During the orc crisis, the distribution of mana stones surged, causing merchants to flourish.
These merchants were then ambushed by orcs that had escaped from the tower.
Now, it seems we're facing the opposite situation.
But since we've forcibly broken into the 35th floor and are on our way to clear it, a mana stone scarcity event seems unlikely.
"Should we go back and find a different way?"
"No, I'll create a path. It looks like there are no monsters around, so there's no need to conserve mana."
-Han Se-ah starts using her brain
-On the 35th floor, she is finally showing some progress
-Forbes' #1 slowest streamer
-I just want to see it all burn, let's set it ablaze
-It looks dry enough to burn well
Watching me smash through everything, even the usually talkative and laughing chat is getting prickly and restless.
They must be very bored.
These cyber bullies have made pestering Han Se-ah a sort of game whenever they feel bored or listless.
For me, it's been a non-stop half-day of combat, but from the viewers' perspective, it's different.
They were tired of the monotonous and repetitive destruction so Han Se-ah ended the stream, but it looks like there wasn't much else to watch.
It must feel like there's been no progress at all, since rescuing NPCs on yesterday's stream.
"No way, I've been using my brain all along, not just now! Though I've relied a lot on scripted lines, I still managed to get us this far!
Honestly, I'm also tempted to spam the chat as a viewer, asking if there's been any update in the quest window.
What if it's a glitch in the quest like on the 30th floor, where we skipped ahead in the storyline?
When we fought the golem, we had to backtrack by watching Kim Seok-hyun's stream because we had skipped too far ahead.
I hope nothing similar has happened due to how we broke through this floor.
Han Se-ah, after verbally sparring with the viewers to alleviate her boredom, pulls up the updated quest window, soothing my mind.
Upon entering the 35th floor we surprisingly found no monsters present.
Instead of undead monsters, we were greeted by countless vine monsters.
The fact that not a single mana stone dropped... does this mean all these creatures are part of a collective entity?
Following the hint about plant-type monsters, the viewers, tormented by boredom, began noisily posting their speculations in the chat.
The chat was so chaotic it was difficult to read, but everyone was expressing their thoughts, regardless of being right or wrong.
-Maybe something bigger than a large monster is coming?
-A big one
-Kept asking if a big one was coming, never thought a really big one would actually show up
-So Roland spent half a day just trimming the branches?
-It took half a day just for a trim, the ultimate thickening agent
The most popular theory among the viewers was the emergence of an ultra-large species.
They thought there would be nothing significant in a mid event, but they were wrong.
The excitement of the viewers, reminiscent of kids just before a school break, was a bit overwhelming.
Childishness aside, the theory itself was plausible.
"A really big tree? Or a huge cluster of vines?"
No matter how many vines we cut, no mana stones came out, suggesting that each vine was not an individual monster but part of a super-sized monster.
The quest window also mentioned 'part of a collective', so the event on the 35th floor might involve a giant plant creature that's been growing somewhere in hiding.
Combining all the various chats and donations, this was the prevailing theory.
"...Is that it?"
"If it looks that big from this distance, just how massive is it...?"
It didn't take long to realize that the collective intelligence of the viewers had a surprisingly high chance of being correct.
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