“Treasure rooms… actually have Pujis inside?” Aimee stared into the chamber, her voice thick with disbelief.
“No, no, no!” Horn immediately shot back, shaking his head so hard it was like a rattle drum. “Since when has any dungeon rumor said treasure rooms spawn Pujis? Never!”
“Then this…” Aimee faltered.
Horn fell silent too.
He watched carefully for a moment—nothing dangerous seemed to be happening. He motioned for Aimee to guard the doorway, then led Noah inside to see.
At the room’s center, an unusually plump “shut-in” Puji was perched behind a table of twisted branches that had naturally grown into shape.
Facing the doorway, several knee-high, plump mushrooms stood tall—shaped exactly like round stools for visitors.
The fat Puji wasn’t alone. Several ordinary Pujis sat quietly on the Carpet behind it.
As soon as Horn and Noah entered, two Pujis waddled forward and gently nudged them with soft tentacles, clearly signaling them to sit on the mushroom stools.
Curious, the two sat. The stools were springy and far more comfortable than expected!Then, the fat Puji raised a thick tentacle. Horn tensed instantly, hand sliding toward his dagger.
But instead of attacking, the Puji deftly plucked up another strange Puji—its cap shaped like an open mouth with tiny teeth, already filled with water. A burrowing Puji.
The fat Puji set it carefully on the table, then reached inside its own body and pulled out a pile of vivid red mushrooms, tossing them in.
“Delicious Mushrooms!” Both men recognized the hot commodity at once.
Not done, the Puji picked up another one dripping with sticky golden honey, squeezing a few drops into the “pot.”
Finally, it dipped its tentacle into a hollow Puji carrying faintly glowing flower-spirit paralysis fluid, adding a single drop.
Once the ingredients were ready, the fat Puji lifted the trembling, heat-radiating burrowing Puji and shook it like a cocktail shaker for two minutes.
By the end, an indescribably rich aroma filled the room.
Even outside, Aimee swallowed involuntarily at the scent.
Horn and Noah exchanged a look. They hurriedly pulled out wooden bowls. The Puji poured them each a brimming portion of its special mushroom soup.
Horn was first. He blew on it, then gulped a mouthful. “Hss… hot!”
He had barely spoken when a shudder ran through him.
A perfect fusion of sweetness and umami burst across his tongue. Then a tingling paralysis spread from his mouth through his entire body, making him tremble uncontrollably.
His legs gave out. With a flop, he collapsed onto the Carpet. The surrounding Pujis immediately gathered.
“Horn!” Aimee, watching from the door, whipped up her bow.
“Wait! Wait! I’m fine!” came Horn’s slurred but vigorous voice from within the pile of Pujis.
Peering closer, Aimee saw the Pujis arranged neatly in a circle, stepping in order across Horn’s back. His eyes rolled slightly, his face flushed with bliss, soft groans spilling from his lips.
Noah clutched his bowl, torn between desire and shame. Watching Horn in such an undignified state, he hesitated—yet the soup’s fragrance was unbearable.
The paralysis was mild. Within minutes, Horn sprang back up, stretching and feeling wonderfully refreshed, all fatigue gone. The Pujis stopped their “massage” in unison.
Aimee, unable to wait, shoved Horn aside and demanded her turn. She and Noah soon experienced the full treatment too.
When the three finally stumbled back outside the stone door, they were loose-limbed, warm-bellied, and glowing with vigor. None wanted to leave.
“Was… that it?” Aimee smacked her lips, unsatisfied.
But when they looked back, the ornate door and its Puji restaurant were gone, leaving only rough stone wall.
“So hidden rooms shift this fast…” Noah murmured with regret.
Horn scratched his chin, savoring the memory—then suddenly froze. “Wait a sec! Where’s the treasure?! Weren’t we supposed to get loot?!”
…
Treasure?
The treasure, of course, belonged to the Pujis!
One Puji wrapped a bracer in its tendril and infused it with mana.
Hum—
A glowing shield shimmered into being before it.
Another skill-imbued item, added to the hoard!
Lin Jun couldn’t step into the Dungeon’s treasure rooms himself, but nothing stopped him from stripping them bare in advance.
If adventurers always found empty rooms, they’d grow suspicious. So he set up the “Puji massage restaurant” instead. Once they accepted it as normal, all was well.
And he wasn’t cutting corners either—using fully prepared recipes, with [Delicious LV4] mushrooms as the main ingredient!
Surface mushrooms barely ever surpassed LV3, but his skill elevated them beyond.
Lin Jun also discovered just how powerful [Delicious] truly was. It didn’t just enhance mushrooms or Pujis—it could be applied to creatures themselves.
Like the bull-headed monster who had trespassed, killing several Pujis before being captured. Even with mycelium inside it, the brute refused to submit. So Lin Jun made it “delicious” and tossed it to Louisa.
The instant she smelled that unique scent, Louisa pounced.
Her muscles bulged as she slammed the towering minotaur to the ground. Her mouth buried itself in its thick neck, drinking greedily.
The beast thrashed, fought, weakened, then collapsed lifeless. Louisa lifted her blood-soaked face at last, startled. “Oh no… I finished it all at once…”
A water-storing Puji splashed her clean with its tendril and asked, “How was it?”
Embarrassed by her wild display, Louisa adjusted her bloody clothes, then smacked her lips with relish. “I’ve never tasted blood so… exquisite! If only it didn’t reek so much of cow…”
Well, of course she’d never tasted that before. No humanoid creature carried [Delicious].
Watching Louisa’s intoxicated expression, Lin Jun mused. If this got out to the Empire, it’d probably be a huge hit…