Chapter 175: Plant-Type Monster 5
TL/Editor: Raei
Schedule: 5/Week Wed-Sun
Illustrations: Posted in discord.
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There was no need for exploration skills.
Simply moving towards where some vines remained brought a huge tree into sight, standing out even with the poisonous ponds and the paralyzing marsh.
It dwarfed the surrounding ash-colored trees, making them seem like mere fuzz.
"Wow, it's huge. Looks even bigger than the buildings in the city."
"It's larger than a small castle in the capital or the North."
Indeed, at a glance, it felt like a building on the horizon.
In Seoul, it would be like the LotX Tower* so large it defied perspective.
This spectacle caused quite a stir among the viewers.
-Is that really a mid-boss?
-That thing doesn't look like it's meant to be physically overcome.
-Could Roland slice through it?
-Huh? Use magic, magic!
-In a fantasy world with a Magic Tower and alchemists, why would you think of using your body first? LOL
[Generous Roland's Mighty Warhammer donated 10,000 won!]
You're not planning to deal with that using your 'Help Me Roland' ability, are you?
[Read the Quest Window donated 5,000 won!]
You're supposed to get help from the Magic Tower, why are you here?
Even through the camera, that tree is staggeringly huge.
It would be different if it were a building or golem, but it being a tree makes it even more bizarre.
Its grotesque appearance hardly qualifies it as a tree.
Back in my elementary school days, there was a tree in the playground, its branches and vine-like limbs providing shade over the stairwell.
Whether it was a wisteria* or something else, I can't recall.
"Given how sinister it looks, it's got to be the culprit of the 35th floor's mid-event, right? ...No please, don't nitpick every word I use, I know calling a tree the 'culprit' is a little weird... It's the main problem here though."
The large tree was grotesquely entwined with whitish vines.
The sight of these vines, thick and abundant enough to replace every leaf on the tree, was unnerving.
The way they slithered like snakes, entwining the nearby ash-colored trees, made me think of erosion and infection.
The closer we got, the clearer the grotesque sight became.
Vines slithering around into every tree, like inserting eyes into a doll or batteries into a toy, was disgusting.
"Hmm, seems like they're all dead."
"Oh, Goddess..."
As we got closer, more details became visible.
There were remnants of adventurers', priests', and temple knights' equipment, along with bleached skeletons.
These creatures, responsive to divine energy, but not averse to consuming humans, left behind only bones in just a day.
The sight of the damaged equipment and barely intact bones, possibly dragged here from the safe zone, prompted Irene to murmur a prayer and make a small sign of the cross.
The bones, stripped of flesh and twisted and broken like overheated iron rods, indirectly hinted at the horrors that had occurred.
The more we approached, the more our heads tilted upwards.
"...It's huge, monstrously so."
"So many vines around. Is it expanding its territory?"
The giant ash-colored tree, endlessly producing whitish vines, felt less like a tree or a monster and more like a concrete factory.
As we gazed at its imposing form, our steps gradually slowed to a stop.
We hadn't discussed it, but the increasing tilt of our heads instinctively told us this wasn't a task our party could handle alone.
'...Alone, it would take a whole month to destroy.'
If it were just a vine-producing factory, I could demolish it myself.
I'd just have to smash the nearby trees and pull out the roots.
Since vines aren't very strong offensively, methodically resting and breaking it down could work, like taking on a giant from the bottom up.
But efficiency is the issue.
Even with my formidable physical strength, spending a whole month logging trees for a quest is not sensible.
It would be better to hire mages from the Magic Tower and use alchemical solutions.
Just because I can exert powerful force like heavy construction equipment, it doesn't mean I'd demolish a skyscraper with just one excavator.
Why take on such a challenge when I could use explosives and more equipment?
"Let's stop here and bring in mages from the Magic Tower?"
"It doesn't seem to react to mana, but it might be better to restore the safe zone with the mages and then continue."
Faced with the colossal tree beyond one person's capability, the party members began voicing their opinions.
Katie glanced at me, or more precisely, at my warhammer, before biting her lip firmly.
As a senior adventurer, I think I could break it alone, but that doesn't mean I should just go and do it by myself.
When the atmosphere naturally shifted towards a retreat, the viewers in the chat started to buzz.
-Yep, let's head back to the Magic Tower quietly.
-Roland might be able to do it, though.
-No way, it took half a day just to deal with the vines. If we leave this to Roland, we're looking at a week-long break, you blockheads.
[Chat deleted by the mod]
-Do these kids even think?
The chat was divided between two opinions: 'Let's throw Roland at it' vs 'Why bother?'
It's funny how they're treating a person like a demolition bomb...
The amusing part isn't that they doubt I can do it, but rather 'If we leave it to Roland, it will take so long itll be boring'.
Seems like public opinion isn't leaning towards me, probably because of how yesterday's stream awkwardly ended while I was dealing with the vines.
Eventually, amidst the noisy chat, our party headed back outside the tower.
We needed to inform the temple and the Magic Tower.
Divine energy-absorbing vines, plant-type monsters that don't yield mana stones, and the arrival of a gargantuan monster that endlessly reproduces vines.
Just hearing about them is terrifying, but the adventurers won't really feel a sense of urgency, all because of one trait: they only react to divine energy.
'I bet if we hit the main body, it will trigger some sort of counterattack pattern...'
Didn't the quest window already suggest getting help from the Magic Tower?
It likely means research on the whitish vines and the super-sized monster constantly producing them is necessary for the quest to progress properly.
If I wanted to brute-force it, I could call in contacts from beyond the 40th floor.
Explaining the predicament faced by the Temple forces and opening my wallet should provide enough justification and interest, leading them to rush down.
Destroying it alone would be an absurd act, taking over a month, but if about 20 top-tier adventurers gathered and smashed it without a care for the aftermath, it could be done in under a week.
Technically, if a dozen high-level mages from the 43rd floor were assembled to spam skills until mana exhaustion, what could this 35th floor creature do?
The worry, however, is that this approach might twist the quest like what happened on the 30th floor.
In an open-world RPG, I wouldn't care about messing up quests and would just push through, but the problem is the highly suspicious Goddess tied into the storyline.
I can't just ignore it.
...Though ever since the blessing of the unnamed deity, there have been no quests or rewards, just a standstill.
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Raei Translations
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"So, whats the Guild going to do?"
"The Guild? Well, were following the Temple. It's in chaos."
As I lay sprawled out on the table, Ellis naturally approached and started speaking.
Her eyes were sparkling with interest, probably because she issued the request that started this whole thing.
Even as a seasoned member of the Adventurers' Guild, this was an unprecedented event for her.
Given it's a main scenario quest that comes from the player, it's not incorrect to call it a historical first.
Irene left for the Temple with a serious look, and the Adventurers' Guild, amidst its chaos, began sending people to the Magic Tower and the Temple.
The safe zone was an absolute space for adventurers.
The adventurers might be indifferent, but the Guild was in an uproar.
Monsters don't appear in safe zones.
They don't attack them either.
Thus, the guards in the safe zones are there to protect the expensive magical tools of the Magic Tower, not as soldiers to defend against monsters.
This has been an unchanging rule since the very first moment adventurers stepped into the Tower.
The rule was broken, and as a result, mages from the Magic Tower and people from the Temple died.
It forced everyone into action, as if a fire had been dropped on their feet.
"So, where does it feel like it's heading towards?"
"I don't know exactly what they'll do... but I saw a lot of new wrinkles on the Guild Master's face. It seems like he's planning to pour in a lot of resources."
"It looks like the Temple will make a significant move, and the Guild will support it to the point of straining its finances. No matter how independent the Adventurers' Guild is, they can't proudly face the damage incurred by the Temple."
Katie, who had been listening to Ellis's explanation in silence, nodded.
Being from a noble background, she's more sensitive to matters of honor and retribution.
It's likely that both the Adventurers' Guild and the Temple will react strongly.
Her words were accurate, as chaos ensued only a few hours after returning from the tower.
"Therefore, in the name of the Goddess, we shall vanquish this evil monstrosity! Those who serve the will of the Goddess, arm yourselves"
I knew the Temple would participate because of the undead, but I hadn't expected the mid-event of the 35th floor to lead them into declaring a holy war.
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