Chapter 94: Dead or Living Forest?

As soon as the red light rescinded, Josh found his boots resting in dark soil. There were wafts of old stale air invading his senses with the smell of decrepit nature. It was mixed with the heavy smell of putrid grime. 

Around him were many dead trees. Some were crooked, some were downright fallen, and some were still standing but dead inside. Yes, even deader inside than the usual overworked modern man. 

The whole scene painted a picture of death. Not one that had been violent, but a long and slow process. It seemed like the world itself had given up on this forest. But there was one thing that could be noticed. 

Out of death came life. There were plenty of mushrooms that could be seen growing out of the deadwood. But they, too, were twisted and grotesque-looking. It all lacked color. It was as if a lazy painter had just smeared a lifeless brown on it all before quitting. 

At first glance, this place looked safe. That's when the system showed itself. 

[Mission: Escort the old Campestris back to safety.]

An escort mission? This one objective could prove troublesome. Well, it would mostly depend on the enemies and the protection target. More often than not, the latter would cause issues. As long as it was somewhat smart, Josh would be able to order it to hide. 

"What about the difficulties. What are the options?"

[Please select: Possible, Normal, Hard.] 

Josh confidently and heroically declared: "Normal." He wasn't going to pick Possible right off the bat. What if it ended up an impossible mission to clear?

[Normal selected: Have fun!] 

On that note, it went away. Josh happily began his adventure. A few meters later, he suddenly stopped. He could feel that there was something there somewhere, spying on him. But no matter how he looked, everything was peaceful. 

Nothing but blackish dying trees, blackish dying grass, brownish mushrooms. Right now, he had the Spider Set equipped. Spear in hand, he slowly advanced. It somewhat reminded him of the vine Floor. 

That's when he started stabbing. He stabbed the vegetation, stabbed the wood, stabbed the shrooms, and even stabbed the ground. He might have looked like a madman, but such an easy check could go a long way. 

But even then, there was no reaction whatsoever. There were not even bugs that should have been scurrying away in fright. It was so quiet. All he could hear was the faint sound of his own footsteps and breathing. 

Yet, he felt it. Somehow creatures were awaiting him nearby. It was a weird feeling, actually. It was as if they were there but not at the same time. His senses were telling him that he was delusional, but he knew better. 

He kept walking. Slowly but surely. How long would he be stuck in a dead forest? At this rate, a long while. But it was fine. Josh could be a patient man. Just his revenge alone had taken a while. That's when his thoughts were interrupted. 

[Mission Failed: Punishment, half a day in the mirror realm.] 

"Wait, what?! How?! What's this mirror thingy?…. Hello? System?"

But as usual, it was gone. Instead of an answer, he was confronted with the entire Floor suddenly changing. The air, the ground, everything really began rippling. 

It reminded him of a reflection in a lake, one that just had pebble thrown in it. The kind of pebble that would sink straight to the bottom, never to be seen again. For a split instant, Josh had the feeling that the Tower had cast him in that role. 

That is when the whole scenery seemed to transform. Everything began to revitalize itself. The trees were now vibrant, the grass was impeccably green, and the mushrooms turned a nice white color. But then the same shrooms rose up, from every direction. 

Yes, they stood up, with visibly nothing else but strong will, for these creatures had no limbs. They were nothing but normal-looking 1-meter mushrooms that wriggled upward somehow. Ah, they actually had a small tiny mouth. 

Was it possible that his target to save was one of them? How was he supposed to know which one was the oldest? Perhaps the height or the coloration or even the presence of an accessory? The creatures seemed to be looking at him, without eyes. 

That's when they opened their mouths. Oh god! The tiny mouths somehow opened incredibly wide. That is when appeared a nightmarish vision. In the gaping maws, Josh could discern teeth, so many of them! But it wasn't the sheer number that made it a sight to behold. No, it was the shape. 

The teeth looked like the ones of deep-sea anglerfishes. Everything it lacked in height, it balanced out with sheer intimidation potential just with that smile. That is when they began charging at him, all body and teeth nothing else. They began producing strident screams as they tried to devour him whole. 

<Purple Mist Shroom Lv 13> X30. 

Without hesitating, Josh dashed while swinging his spear. Extending his arm in a fluid motion, he soon pierced the creature right below the cap at the top of its head. It became lifeless, but it wasn't over. 

As soon as it perished, somehow, two smaller ones rose in turn from the surroundings. But there was also a purple mist that filled the air. Josh retreated as fast as possible while holding his breath. 

These creatures were more dangerous dead than alive, it seemed. Then began a somewhat lengthy fight, for he had to kill every mushroom thrice in total and run away as soon as the deed was done. He could have done it faster, but he opted for safety. 

Soon the last one fell, leaving behind a single purple cloud as sole proof it had ever existed. That is when Josh resolved himself. As much as he had been careful before, he was planning to try something really stupid now. 

This would have definitely warranted the caption "Do not try at home". He rushed straight into the poison while holding an antidote in his hand and also one in his mouth directly. Should he suddenly become paralyzed, it would slowly trickle down his throat and save him. 

Of course, that was on the basis of trusting the sales pitch at the Golden Cauldron. Apparently, their antidote could easily deal with such toxins. Josh waited, then waited some more. He knew that some poisons only showed effects after hours. 

But nothing happened at all. He even got sent back to the real Floor 13 once more as the world rippled before his very eyes. He had a hypothesis. Perhaps his Climber body had protected him without his knowledge? 

He kept walking randomly in search of his target, but once more, he failed…

[Mission Failed: Punishment, half a day in the mirror realm.] 

As soon as he was back in that other world, he rushed to the fungi and completely wrecked them. This time he wasn't careful one bit. Since passing through one cloud didn't show any effect, he'd try many! He wanted to know exactly how bad it could get.

He looked like a small child that was stopping by the roadside to smell flowers, but instead, it was all poison.

Once the creatures were all dead, and the poison was in his system for sure, Josh sat cross-legged on the ground. He then very carefully inspected his own body. But even after waiting a long time, all that happened was him being sent back to the original dead forest realm.

He even accounted for the possibility that the poison was a very, very slow-acting one and began running around with antidote in his mouth. His cheeks were even comically bulging out. 

What was more impressive, Josh destroying countless evil living fungi or him running around without swallowing or spitting? 

When even then nothing happened, Josh felt pretty confident that it had been his Gluttony Bloodline protecting him, somehow. He had already eaten some very spicy food while gaming, and that could be considered a poison in itself. It was either that or the whole "need antidotes for Floor 13" was a scam entirely. Josh doubted that last one. 

How insane would it be for a corporation to convince the entire world of the necessity to buy their products based on an imaginary threat? Would they do all this just to make a bit of money? 

Then again, there was the whole beauty industry that did just that. It was all centered on convincing women (mostly) that their natural state wasn't good enough. It was mostly bullshit. 

There was something else that was truly bullshit. That was the escort mission! Josh was seriously getting tired of it. The whole thing wasn't as it appeared. It was more of a detective one so far.

He even asked Navi: the usual clear strategy was to use scouting abilities to find the protection target before the rippling happened. It was easy since it was the only being in that world. Ah, except it could only be revealed with magic. Thus Josh had to find an alternative. 

For two days, Josh kept switching over and over from the normal dead world to the way too lively, vibrant forest. In both, he looked for clues, and in one, he vented his anger on the nightmarish mushrooms. 

To vent even better, he took out his morphing weapon to spice it up. He then could be seen swinging a golf club at living fungi and further bashing them until remained nothing but bits of food and some poison mist that did jack shit. 

It's in the "dangerous" environment that he finally found a lead. There he noticed something very peculiar with the shrooms. Sometimes there would be groups that were already up.

At first, he simply ignored it all, believing it to be normal monster behavior. But then he realized something. Before spotting him, they would be standing in a perfect circle. Josh went up to the monsters, killed them, and began waiting right in the middle. 

Later, as the world rippled once more, Josh couldn't help but cheer. The painful search was finally over. He would finally be able to truly begin the challenge. 

In front of him, there was a mushroom. It looked the same as the enemy ones but without the scary teeth. As it saw Josh, it somehow wriggled in what could only be surprise. It then showed worry as it tried to hide behind a dead tree that was thinner than itself. 

"Alright, I'm supposed to escort you somewhere, lead the way."

But no matter how long he waited, there was no answer. Oh god, this was going to be a major pain in the ass no matter what. 

Josh tried speech but failed. Josh tried using signs but failed. Josh even complained aloud to the system that it had forgotten to add an interpreter! That one obviously failed. 

How was Josh supposed to handle this? Well, in doubt, he had a solution. He would simply roam the entire place, annihilating everything on his path. He was bound to find the old man's destination at some point, right? Right?!...