Organ rental company in another world

The fifth level of the Decaying River Underground City, the Forest of Ghost Fungi.

Under a giant mushroom tree, colorful mushroom caps huddled together, like a pot of boiling jelly beans.

These are specialties of the Wild Fungus Forest, the ground-dwelling Puji.

These creatures have no eyes, no mouth, and no brain; their only purpose in life is to walk through the forest all day and become food for predators.

After the abyss uprising began, they also responded to the call and moved their short legs to try to rush out of the underground city.

Most of the Puji successfully escaped the Mushroom Forest only to be trampled by the monster horde, while others seemed to have gotten stuck in various nooks and crannies, as if they had encountered a bug.

Karentin carefully squeezed into the group of mushrooms, holding his long knife high, afraid of slashing the mushroom caps.

These ground-dwelling puffballs may not attack people, but their mushroom caps may contain highly poisonous spores. If a creature inhales these spores, it will be transformed into another kind of monster in the Wild Fungus Forest: the Fungus Beast.

Whether a mushroom cap contains highly poisonous spores can be determined by its color; the brighter the color, the more dangerous it is.

Karentin searched around surrounded by Puji before finally finding a simple, unadorned brown Puji.

He plunged the long knife into the mushroom cap, his body stiffened with a thud, and he died instantly.

Karentin carried the corpse of Puji out and ran to a fallen mushroom tree.

A fire burned under the huge mushroom caps, and Austin sat beside it, idly burning things for amusement.

After escaping from the King Serpent's lair, Karentin took Austin to the Forest of Shadows to lay low.

The monsters here are generally weak, and almost all adventurers who couldn't escape in time have come here. But you can't judge a book by its cover, and no adventurer wants to stay with strangers.

"Is this edible?"

Austin looked curiously at the puff in Karentin's hand.

As Karentin sliced ​​the Puji with his long knife, he said, "It's not exactly delicious. The meat is tough and has a strange taste. It's only good for filling your stomach temporarily."

Several tree branches were strung together and sliced ​​into pieces, then placed on the fire and roasted until charred.

Austin took a bite and felt like he was chewing on a slightly softer piece of bark; the bitter taste of the burnt bark and the slightly pungent smell spread through his mouth.

"Ugh! This tastes awful!"

Austin spat out the mushrooms and watched Karentin swallow the whole bunch of mushrooms without batting an eye, and couldn't help but feel a deep respect for him.

Just then, a burly figure appeared by the riverbank not far away.

It squatted down and used its right hand to scoop up river water to wash its face.

When it got up and turned around, Karentin recognized the man: the tiger-headed man who had previously tried to steal the mission from him.

Onsk recognized them and stepped closer to them.

Karentin immediately became alert. He saw the bloodstains on Onsk's face and immediately stood up and drew his sword.

"Stop right there, man!"

Onsk quickly stopped and raised his hands, saying:

"Don't be nervous, I didn't bring any weapons."

"This has nothing to do with whether you brought a weapon or not. You know what it means to approach someone in the dungeon. Now get out of here!"

"Please, let's team up. I'm injured, I can't survive alone."

Onsk was panting heavily and looked very weak, and Karentin also saw a horrific wound on its chest.

Just as Karentin hesitated, Onsk saw the roasted mushrooms beside them.

"I...I still have food! Sausages and bread."

Onsk took off his backpack and opened it to show them that it was stuffed full of bread and sausages.

Thinking of the mushrooms Austin spat out, Karentin sheathed his sword:

"Come here, I happen to know some low-level healing spells."

Two people and a tiger sat around the fire, the sausages skewered on branches roasting until they were charred and fragrant, and the group ate them with bread.

After enjoying Karentin's healing magic, a thin scab formed on the wound on Onsk's chest.

"How did you get this injury? Did you get slashed while trying to steal something?" Karentin asked.

Onsk shook his head and replied, "There is a monster in the mushroom forest that I have never seen before. I dare say that there is no record of that monster in any strategy guide."

Karentin nodded. "It's normal for the Deep Zone to have things we haven't seen before."

"It had three heads and a huge mouth on its belly. When I saw it, it was eating the corpses of a group of adventurers. I got whipped by the monster's tail while trying to steal their backpacks."

"Looks like we can't let our guard down here either." Karentin changed the subject, "Where's the person who was with you?"

"He died. When we were hunting the man-faced monkeys, two lumps of calamity suddenly appeared. I tried my best to save him, but I couldn't."

Onsk sighed heavily, looking heartbroken.

"I think that guy is a Bronze-level adventurer. For him to accept an A-level quest like that from you, he can't be that simple, right?"

Having no other option, Onsk had to reveal Norn's abilities:

"He possesses an extremely bizarre magic that allows him to transfer parts of his own body onto monsters!"

"If I give his limbs to a monster, it will become as weak as him; if I give it his brain, he can control the monster!"

Upon hearing this, Karentin and Austin both widened their eyes and looked at each other in disbelief.

"Controlling monsters? Then what about the one we encountered in the cave..."

Austin found it hard to believe, but when she thought about Barnabas burying people back then, everything made sense.

"Hey buddy, I have some good news for you: your partner might not be dead!"

Karentin said with a smile, and Onsk's expression immediately froze.

The two then told Onsk about their amazing experience in the cave.

Upon hearing this, Onsker turned pale and remained speechless for a long time.

"Norn is still alive!?"

"And they even control a Barnabas!?"

Thinking back to the time he abandoned Norn and ran away, Onsk could almost picture the terrifying scene of Norn controlling Barnabas, searching for him all over the dungeon.

"I hope he can't find this place..."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Are you sure the young lady is here?" Lisfield asked Baron.

Baron nodded confidently: "Judging from Brother Norn's description, the young lady is accompanied by a mithril-level adventurer."

If he's not out of his mind, he would definitely bring the young lady to the Forest of Fungi for refuge. If they've run off somewhere else, frankly, there's no point in looking for them.

"Aren't there any monsters in here?" Lisfield asked.

"There are only ground-dwelling puffins and some fungal beasts inside, all of which are very low-level monsters. The real danger is the adventurers who are also taking refuge here."

"Hopefully that silly girl will stay hidden." Louisa said, then added another layer of "Swiftness" to everyone.

"Hey! Why did that kid run away?" Joso saw Norn disappear into the dense forest the moment he gained teleportation.

"What a weirdo. Let's ignore him and go inside," Louisa said to the others after only glancing at him.