Chapter 35 – Floor 6. Camouflage Spirit (Or Not)

August 7, 2025. Exactly one week since my return to the modern world.

I waited tensely, wearing my stab-proof vest and what decent armor I had, with my backpack slung over my shoulders.

‘When I arrived last time, it was exactly 8 o’clock…’

The seconds on the digital clock sitting on the desk changed with tiny white noise sounds—tick, tick.

The current time was 7:59:56.

And before it could reach 60.

With a surge of heat rising to my face, my body was already standing in a rainforest filled with unfamiliar vines and trees.

Tangled vines and thick vegetation created walls that rose above my head, while branches and leaves from the trees blocked the sky, allowing almost no sunlight to penetrate.

The densely growing plants, impossible to pass through except on established paths, formed a kind of natural green maze.

Unknown sharp grasses and the headache-inducing sounds of insects made everything feel even more surreal.

“Would it kill this bastard to give some kind of signal before sending me? What’s the harm?”

I was flabbergasted by the sudden transition that occurred without any warning, just like when I was first sent to the dungeon.

This was the jungle with a tropical climate that began at Floor 6, beyond the underground waterway area of Floor 5.

The enemies and their characteristics changed dramatically from those in the waterway, making this a section that would lay out newbies on the street and even arrange their funeral if they lacked information, despite having just happily cleared the underground waterway.

‘And the tropical rainforest area is somewhat special, too.’

There was one rule that applied only in the tropical rainforest area—you might call it a unique system.

“That’s not something I need to worry about right now, so I’ll set it aside… They changed my clothes the first time, but not this time.”

Unlike when I was first dragged off by the soldier, my backpack full of supplies I had prepared in reality and my onaholes were intact.

This was truly fortunate for me.

If I had to leave all of these behind, I was planning to turn into a yellow-skinned bald man and strangle the poster, ㅇㅇ.

Lucky me.

With a full backpack, I felt more at ease.

Though the bulging backpack was heavy, I moved forward with light steps, slowly walking through the rainforest, making soft swish sounds as I stepped on the grass.

‘I could see the Suspicious Merchant again on Floor 6… but I don’t have any GOLD, so maybe I’ll pass.’

After catching the Giant Slime, the Wanderer, and defeating the King of the Sewers, I had nearly 2,000 GOLD.

However, the prices of items sold by the Suspicious Merchant gradually increased for the same items, and being in a position where I needed to moderate my purchases, it was insufficient GOLD to buy the spellbook I was inclined to get.

‘If there’s a Tactical Command spellbook, I’m thinking of grinding a bit and selling a teleportation scroll to buy it…’

“Tactical Command.”

Along with the “Battle Command” I already possessed, this was the primary—no, the absolute must-have output skill for players building a summoner-type character.

However, just like “Battle Command,” its spawn rate was very low, so it probably wouldn’t be available.

Rather than that, what I was expecting on Floor 6 was the Sad Ghost.

It was important to check if the Sad Ghost, who had become an auxiliary merchant NPC as a reward for the sub-quest, would properly appear.

Above all, though it had fewer items, it was cheaper than the Suspicious Merchant.

Thud – Thud

With these thoughts, feeling the soil beneath my boots with each step, I arrived at the first three-way fork in the path.

I thought it was rare to have three paths in a corridor rather than a room, and I turned my head around to see if I could glimpse beyond, but the dense vines blocked my view.

“It looked much more sparse when viewing in pixel art…”

The width was quite broad, which occasionally became a joke on the gallery, with people asking why this guy couldn’t see through or pass through such an obviously open area.

But I wasn’t going to trust such low-quality pixel art.

The jungle was so dense that if brought to reality, it would be like a second Amazon, with unknown environmental groups clamoring to protect it.

“Hmm~ Come out, Severa.”

“…”

Severa appeared at my call, looking somewhat uneasy and holding her buttocks.

I hadn’t touched Severa since that day.

Neglect would be the right word for it. And she had seen me playing with the Wanderer in bed every day.

I didn’t force her to watch. When I was doing it, she would somehow appear and secretly watch, or rather, she was peeking while I was committing adultery.

She seemed to want to masturbate as she twitched, but she discovered that the scope of commands was quite broad.

I could confidently say that my command proficiency had increased much more during those three days than during the two weeks of arduous dungeon life.

Though Severa was a spirit, her ego was very strong, so being constantly stimulated sexually while having her release sealed made her fidget as if going insane, but whether her pride prevented it, she couldn’t bring herself to ask me to release her.

“Why, why… why did you call me? I-I can feel that maintaining this state requires magical energy now. Th-this isn’t even combat…?”

A moist, puppy-like gaze full of expectation that didn’t match her fierce eyes.

Of course, I had no intention of indulging her.

“I just thought I could get an explanation about this jungle. It’s also ambiguous to use you here, unlike the underground waterway.”

“Ah…”

Severa’s firepower was extraordinary. In terms of damage, she was more than adequate as a damage dealer even up to the early stages of Floor 10.

But she didn’t have good compatibility with this tropical rainforest area.

Unlike the underground waterway, there were significantly more enemies that used magic, and with Severa’s health at 1, making her immediately incapacitated if hit by magic, her durability was an extremely concerning factor.

‘Of course, fortunately, if an onahole’s health is depleted, it just returns to its onahole state.’

It was another issue that Fuel was needed to replenish health, but still, the situation was better than complete destruction.

Even ignoring that, Severa’s main spell was Fireball.

And most of the tropical rainforest consisted of grass and trees, with occasional plant-type enemies.

This is what it meant to have poor compatibility. In this damned tropical rainforest area, every tile was classified as vegetation, so using fire attacks would set things ablaze.

And with a 33% chance of the fire spreading to surrounding areas, with bad luck, a single spell could sometimes burn an entire floor.

‘Enemies are weak to fire, but for balance, if you use fire, you’ll burn to death too!’

This was why when entering the tropical rainforest as a mage character, you had to say a prayer every time you used a fire spell.

“This is Osiris’s Maze.”

“Osiris?”

“He’s the name of a vegetation god worshipped in a kingdom far from White Chamber. It’s believed that this maze-like jungle grew in the place where he… he died.”

White Chamber, the city that built the underground waterway.

Osiris, the vegetation god who caused the tropical rainforest to grow.

Naturally, these were things that could never be heard in D.D.

The NPCs that players could converse with would only talk about their own circumstances and situations, never explaining the background.

Even now, having directly entered the dungeon, this was information I wouldn’t know unless I asked specifically.

“Why did this vegetation god guy die?”

“…I don’t know that.”

I could only half-open my eyes at Severa, who shook her head glumly.

Usually, when we talk about mythology, it’s historical facts dressed up as stories about gods, but how could she not know why this important god died?

‘No, that’s not it. Mythology here isn’t like that.’

A world where gods truly exist.

From my perspective, it might be an incomprehensible story, but if I think a little differently, I can understand.

The vegetation god was killed by someone, but the killer was simply never caught.

Isn’t that a common story in reality too?

“But I suspect it was the Destined End that killed him. When I passed through here before, there were still a few of his servants, albeit not many.”

“Hmm…”

Certainly, Severa’s words were likely correct.

There must be meaning to how ㅇㅇ(112.311) showed specific regions in the form of D.D.

And those specific places were locations where the entity Severa called the “end” had touched.

No wonder the enemies and traps were all designed to be disgustingly nauseating.

“Which way should we go?”

“If you don’t have anything more to ask, I’d like to go back.”

“Which way should we go?”

“…Don’t tell me you’re asking me to decide?”

“Which way should we go??”

Severa gave up on adding anything more and bit her lip.

“Haa… Just don’t blame me if something strange comes out on the path I tell you to take… Ahk?!”

Smack!

Unfortunately, the impact I felt was mild, but Severa straightened her back from the lingering sensation of her buttocks being spanked crisply.

After confirming the sparkle of the jeweled plug with a glance, I gently patted the spanked buttocks.

“Urgh… j-just go through the middle!?”

After shrieking in a shrill voice, Severa disappeared with a poof back into her onahole state, and on the grass where she had been standing, a water droplet larger than those on other blades of grass had formed.

***

Following Severa’s recommendation, I started walking down the middle path and soon reached its end.

This was because I came upon a clearing surrounded by dense green grass, completely sealed off with no passages leading anywhere except the way I had come in.

However, the mottled grasses, shadows, and narrow gaps blended into the walls, making it difficult to recognize that it was a dead-end room until I checked the map.

Though extreme, I could understand why explorers said jungles were dangerous.

Finding your way was absolutely fucking terrible.

And this at least had something resembling paths—what about places where you truly had to pioneer your way forward?

“And isn’t the camouflage a bit too much?”

Rustle rustle rustle—

What was waiting for me in that dead-end room was a giant plant.

『Predator Vine』Level: 9

Health: 53/53 ■■■■■■■■■■

【One of the mysterious plants inhabiting this maze-like rainforest. It absorbs organic matter that falls into the oval-shaped tubes attached to its stem, but occasionally hunts directly.】

In Korean, it’s called a pitcher plant, in Latin, Nepenthes.

A plant stretched to human size that moves its vines like arms and legs, now approaching me.

It was large, but mixed with the background vegetation, I only realized it was an enemy after it had come somewhat close.

“I think you guys need to develop some exhibitionism.”

Is it really exposure if you’re not wearing clothes to begin with?

I drew my axe.