Chapter 24: Gods and the World

Returning to that place meant she would have to face the shadow of death cast by that wolf-shaped magic creature once again.

To be honest, the experience of dying didn’t seem to have left her with much psychological trauma.

This was likely thanks to Miss Marlow—after learning that those hardships came from mushrooms, the meaning of death in her heart had returned to the peaceful, eternal sleep of life.

It was a beautiful ending.

‘A beautiful end,’ the Elf whispered a prayer in her heart.

However, none of that was the key issue.

She didn’t think she would be unlucky enough to run into that exaggerated Demon Wolf again, but the Labyrinth itself represented danger.

Previously, when they had been working as a team, their teacher, who was supposed to be a mere observer, had stepped in to help them several times. Now, there was only one person and one mushroom.

Without enough strength, stepping into an unknown area was definitely the worst decision. They would likely encounter an accident before they were even halfway through their journey.

“Was it that bad? I don’t recall encountering any danger when I left the Cavern Area,” Marlow said.

According to the Elf’s exaggerated description of a magic creature every five steps and a crisis every ten, Marlow certainly shouldn’t have had such an easy time leaving the Cavern Area.

In fact, her journey had been practically unimpeded.

Seeing that Marlow didn’t believe her, the little Elf said somewhat defiantly, “A moment of luck doesn’t mean eternal good fortune. You can’t become a qualified adventurer if you hold onto that kind of thinking.”

It was true that a moment of luck didn’t prove much, but what if that luck was constant?

Marlow suddenly remembered that she had safely left the Cavern Area because of the System Panel. She had taken detours in advance to avoid many magic creatures.

‘Sorry about that. I forgot I had the cheat turned on and thought I was just naturally avoiding them.’

But even with a cheat, her luck was in a league of its own.

“It’ll be fine, Lumina. Don’t you trust me? If I say it’s okay, it’s a sure thing.”

This time, the Elf hesitated for a moment and didn’t immediately voice her disbelief.

She had already lost to reality twice.

Once was when Marlow decided to hunt the Bees, and the other was when Marlow believed they could defeat the Bee Knight. Both times, she had thought it was impossible, but the facts proved that Miss Marlow was right.

And this time, Marlow felt they could successfully retrieve the Steward Map.

People grow, and she couldn’t trip over the same problem a third time. So…

“No time like the present. Shall we go now?”

The mushroom agreed, and so began a trip that started on a whim.

After all, they had nothing to prepare. One mushroom couldn’t carry anything, and the Elf only had two pieces of cloth on her entire body.

So, with a stride of two legs, they headed toward the goal following Marlow’s lead.

She was the only one who still remembered the way.

Of course, a good memory was only part of it. The marks she had unintentionally set earlier when she suspected she was lost were the key to identifying the direction.

Otherwise, no matter how good one’s memory was, they would be powerless when faced with identical scenes that felt like a game of “spot the difference.”

“Hey, Marlow, has your Level increased?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Not long ago, you were worried about the Bees, but now you have the confidence to conquer the entire Labyrinth. No matter how I think about it, it looks like you’ve had some kind of breakthrough,” the Elf speculated, tilting her head.

She was quite observant. It wasn’t a Level increase, however, but rather the acquisition of a powerful and useful skill.

But considering the skill the mushroom had obtained after reaching Level 10, it was likely the same thing the Elf was talking about.

‘Does every species have such a mechanism?’ Marlow made a reasonable guess.

“It’s not that amazing of an ability. Here, I can just Create Mushroom Units now.”

She demonstrated the skill for the Elf, scattering a thin cloud of Spores on the empty ground nearby. With the Fungal Network as a bed, several Purple Mushrooms with nozzles quickly grew.

Because Marlow had previously created mushrooms for the Elf to eat, Lumina wasn’t surprised by this move.

Unfortunately, it was this seemingly unchanging ability that was now Marlow’s greatest reliance.

Seeing that the Elf didn’t recognize its value, Marlow felt a bit more at ease. The latter’s attention was entirely on the new mushrooms. Lumina poked and prodded them before eventually picking one up to study it closely.

“I learned about the concept of Level caps in my textbooks. The top-tier species, like humans and Elves, are born with the potential to reach the limit of Level 100. Any race with a Level cap below that is considered inferior.”

“When a species reaches its Level cap, if an Evolution Path exists, they can choose to reset their Level and evolve into a new species. Marlow, have you evolved into a new form? I’ve only heard about it in books. This is the first time I’ve seen a truly evolved mushroom!”

She tried to pull the cap off the mushroom. From the gills on the underside of the cap, a deep purple liquid seeped from the break and dripped onto the ground.

“Hey, be careful! Don’t touch the venom; it causes paralysis!”

Marlow’s warning came a step too late. By the time she remembered to warn the Elf, the quick-handed girl had already touched a bit of the liquid with her fingertip and put it in her mouth.

It was tingly, with a slightly sweet taste.

Marlow’s scalp felt numb as well.

“Are you an idiot?”

‘Where did this childish kid come from? The first thing she thinks of when she finds something is to taste it!’

She must have some kind of problem, like an adventurer’s pioneering spirit, similar to Shennong tasting the hundred herbs.

It couldn’t be that the thick, deep purple Paralysis Toxin looked like grape syrup, so she couldn’t help but take a little taste.

‘Heh, if I could turn pink, would she think I’m strawberry flavored?’

“I think I’m paralyzed, Miss Marlow.”

The Elf remained in a crouching position. Her muscles had temporarily frozen as the toxin took effect, making it feel as if she couldn’t sense her body at all.

She asked pitifully, “Why did you evolve a toxin?”

‘Why couldn’t you have evolved to be more delicious?’

That way, she could probably make a lot of money just by selling mushrooms.

“How else could I deal with the Bee Knight without Paralysis Toxin?”

If a mushroom really had an Evolution Path, toxins would definitely be one of the choices. Otherwise, where would poisonous mushrooms come from?

Marlow rolled her eyes at the Elf in her mind. “You should be glad you only tasted a little. Your heart won’t stop due to the paralysis, though even if it did, you wouldn’t die right away.”

She used her skill again to scatter Spores around. First, she quickly created some Small Puff-shrooms to build a defensive line, then added a few mushrooms with Paralysis Toxin as reinforcements.

Because of the Elf’s “divine taste test,” they had to stay and rest for a while, waiting for the paralysis to wear off.

“Um, Marlow, could you say something? This feels really awkward.”

Lumina was the first to break the silence. Realizing how embarrassing she had been, the Elf wanted nothing more than to bury her head in the dirt.

Of course, her mouth was also severely affected. She could only make meaningless “aba aba” sounds, so she had to communicate through her consciousness.

“Then tell me, where do the System Panel and Skills come from? I don’t mean recently, but from the very beginning. I want to know their origin.”

The Elf had suggested finding a topic to chat about. Marlow was just asking out of curiosity, not specifically seeking an education.

Yes, just curiosity.

“Of course the gods created them. Legend says the gods used their great power to set the standards of the world. From chaos, they divided the sun, the moon, the earth, and the stars… Everything in the world exists within a clear order, like the rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon, and so on.”

“If you’re interested in the creation story, we can go to the church and get the Holy Scriptures to read when we get back. But that thing is a really thick book; it’s honestly not very interesting.”

Lumina tried to gesture with her hands, but she forgot she was still paralyzed. After a moment of grimacing in pain, she gave up on the idea of complaining.

Actually, Marlow could see what she meant without the gestures. After all, conscious communication could bridge even language gaps, let alone a small problem like this.

The Holy Scriptures were truly worthy of the name. If the Elf hadn’t said anything, Marlow would have thought it was a wall standing there, not a book.

And that was without even considering its thickness.

However, she wasn’t interested in the Holy Scriptures. Without thinking, she knew they would be filled with hymns, commandments, and rules compiled by religions.

Anything could be in there, but it certainly wouldn’t be as reliable as historical facts.

“The question is, what is the significance of the gods creating Skills and the System Panel? Think about it—are they something that can’t be replaced?”

Perhaps they truly were irreplaceable. Once she figured that out, she could probably understand what purpose this game-like system actually served.