Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

This proves they are getting closer to the food depot. The food storage area, where hungry monsters gather, contains a large quartz pillar deep within a vast cavity, oozing a highly nutritious liquid. The labyrinthine environment near the food depot has changed shape to suit the environment of this large, quartz-dominated cavity.

The reason for the surge in monsters.

What awaits them?

Lulu and the others grew even more tense, walking slowly down the passage. Ais also sharpened her senses. Unbeknownst to them, the monster's aura vanished, and a chilling silence pierced their ears.

Then, with Lulu and Ai leading the way through the fork in the road, the team moved forward for a while.

"Varied……"

The adventurers finally witnessed it with their own eyes.

"Wall, wall..."

"……plant?"

What appeared before Ais and the others was a huge wall blocking the passage.

A chilling luster and swollen surface. A disgusting green wall of flesh blocked Ais and the others' path completely. The flesh wall was entirely different from the surrounding stone walls in both structure and nature.

It looks like a living organism, or as someone whispered, a plant. Or perhaps it's like a malignant tumor (cancer) afflicting the underground city.

Needless to say, even Ais, who had attacked the "deep layer" countless times, had never seen such a strange phenomenon.

The sight, so unbelievable that it made one doubt their own eyes, caused the entire squad to become restless and agitated.

"...Lulu, is this the right road?"

"N-No, that's right! I chose the route leading to the grain depot, so there shouldn't be any obstacles like this..."

Hearing Asphie confirm with her, Lulu quickly checked the map again.

Lulune led the team here with the map. Ais was beside her, and she would look at the map whenever they encountered a fork in the road. She was indeed taking the correct shortest route.

We've only gone halfway down the road to the huge, empty grain depot.

Ais opened her eyes wide and looked up at the mysterious wall of flesh blocking their way.

"...Let's investigate the other routes as well. Falgar, Sean, you two take the others and investigate separately. Don't go too deep, and turn back immediately if you encounter anything unusual."

The tall tiger-man and the elven youth both nodded in response to Asphie's instructions. Holding spare maps in one hand, they each led five members of their group back along the route they had originally taken.

After watching them return to the point of divergence, Ais and the others stared at the wall of flesh.

Those who remained at the scene were Ais, Lulu, Asifi, and the supporter. Without telling the others, they began to investigate their surroundings on their own.

The stone wall that stretched out to the side appeared normal. It seemed that the anomaly wasn't in the dungeon itself, but rather that this fleshy wall was an anomaly. Ais and the trembling Lulu walked to the wall together.

Look at this wall, it completely blocks the huge passageway to the 24th floor. It must be ten meters long and wide, and it's emitting a slightly pungent stench... or rather, a putrid stench. "Ugh~" Lulu, a dog-person, groaned and pinched her nose.

Ais gently stretched out an arm toward the nauseating wall of flesh.

Luluni hurriedly tried to stop Ais, but Ais ignored her and touched the surface of the wall.

(It's alive...)

The actual warmth, along with a slight rhythm somewhat like a heartbeat, emanated from the palm of my hand.

Ais remained alert, her eyes fixed on the wall.

"Asphie, we're back."

"How about it?"

After investigating, Ais and the others moved away from the wall, and the two teams that had gone down other paths returned.

According to them, other routes also appear to be blocked by the same wall of flesh. It seems all roads leading to the granary are closed.

After listening to what they said, Asphie seemed to quickly organize her thoughts.

"It seems that the large group of monsters did not suddenly increase (an anomaly)...it did not suddenly appear in the dungeon."

"W-What do you mean?"

In response to Lulu's question, Asif adjusted her glasses.

"When the monsters on the entire floor are hungry, they gather at the food storage. If they find that one of the food storages is inaccessible... what do you think the group of monsters that has traveled a long way will do next?"

"what……"

"...we plan to go to other grain depots."

Ais answered for Luluni, and Asphie nodded.

"The monsters that came to the northern granary had no choice but to move to the remaining granaries in the south. What has been causing the adventurers so much suffering these past few days is not the surge in monsters, but their massive relocation."

Asifi concluded that the monsters that had gathered from the entire floor to the north were traveling along a route that unfortunately overlapped with the route taken by the adventurers.

This wall of flesh prevented the monsters from entering the food storage area, forcing them to head to the food storage areas in the southwest and southeast. The hungry monsters, moving from the north end of the building to the south end, traversed all the roads in their path, resulting in even the usual routes frequented by adventurers being completely blocked by them.

The monsters that roamed around in search of food caused a series of sudden surges.

When the group members realized the truth, Lulu turned around and looked behind her.

"I already know why the monsters are wandering around, but... what's behind this wall?"

The cause of the monster's massive relocation is an unidentified green wall reminiscent of plants.

The wall of flesh before us is the abnormal situation—there is nothing less than something terrible lurking behind this barrier.

"...Asphie, what's next?"

"...There's nothing we can do but move forward."

Seeing Luluni hesitate, Asifi sighed.

Reluctantly, Lulu said dejectedly, "Yeah, that's true," and immediately switched her consciousness.

"There does look like there's a 'door' in there, but..."

At the center of the fleshy wall is a "door" resembling overlapping petals, or rather, an organ similar to a "mouth".

The "door" is so large that even a large-scale monster could easily pass through. If this were an entrance or exit, it might open its mouth at some point... but for now, it hasn't moved an inch.

"It seems the only option is to destroy it."

Including the entrance and exit, Asphie stared at the rather thick wall of flesh.

"It looks like a plant, so burning it might work, but..."

"Should we cut it?"

"You seem like such a well-behaved girl, but your words are so extreme..."

As soon as Ais drew her sword, Lulu looked at her in surprise.

"No." Asphie, who had been observing the wall, quickly declined Ais's offer.

"I need information. Let's try 'magic,' Mary."

At her command, the dwarf mage stepped to the front of the squad.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the petite girl, who only reached Ais's waist, raised the short metal staff used by the Lilliputians and began to chant. The pointed hat on her head swayed back and forth.

The high-ranking mage, having set up the magic circle, quietly chanted the name of the spell before unleashing a massive fireball.

The fireball struck the wall of flesh, causing a deafening roar and a shockwave, which then burst into flames.

Accompanied by chaotic burning sounds resembling screams, the "door" section, which served as the entrance, was completely burned away. The flesh wall was left with charred marks and a large hole.

After Azfi nodded in response to the surrounding gazes, the team lined up and walked towards the inside of the wall.

Ais and the others invaded the interior of the flesh wall.

"wall……"

Lulu turned to look at the flesh wall that was being repaired, which was emitting a heart-stirring sound.

It took a while for the wall to fully heal.

Seeing that the wall of flesh seemed to be trapping them inside, Lulu and her fellow members fell silent.

"We won't be unable to get out because of this. We can just open another hole when we come back."

To prevent morale from plummeting, Asif told everyone that Lulu and the others seemed to have calmed down immediately. Ais walked with them and looked around again.

The interior had all turned into green walls. The walls, the ceiling, even the ground were all green. It created the illusion of entering a living being's body.

As the stench emanating from the barrier grew stronger, Ais approached a corner of the wall.

She gripped the "Sword of Despair" and slashed at the wall.

Through the easily cut crack, one can see the stone wall—the original wall of the 24th floor.

(Something has covered the underground city...?)

Ais felt as if this fleshy wall was stuck in the maze.

Seeing the wound, just like the "door" at the entrance, slowly healing, Lulu whispered fearfully, "What on earth is this...?" Seeing the automatic repair... or at least its similarity to the dungeon, Ais pondered silently.

"Alright, it's time to go."

Following Asphie, Ais and the others, they ventured deeper into the Green Wall Maze.

The orcs in the squad groaned from the stench, and everyone was tense.

The mysterious green wall space that suddenly appeared in the underground city was a truly abnormal situation, and it was a realm called "unknown," which naturally made everyone proceed with caution.

"Hey, can I imagine something terrifying? What if all these swollen, disgusting walls were monsters...? We'd be walking through a monster's stomach, right?"

"Hey." "That's enough." "Stop talking!"

Lulu's horrifying soliloquy drew a barrage of criticism from the group members.

Everyone unanimously told her not to jinx it, but unintentionally, it slightly eased the tense atmosphere within the Hermes Familia. Listening to the noisy conversations of the other factions, Ais's gaze lingered on one point.

The light source in this area.

Withered flowers blooming on the walls and ceiling, glowing with a faint phosphorescent light.

The flowers are colorful.

Ais narrowed her eyes.

"It's a fork in the road... It seems the existing map is no longer of any use."

The group walked for several minutes in the dimly lit, dark passage.

Facing four roads in total—one in front, one on the left, one on the right, and one above—Asphyxi stopped.

The green wall passage appears to be quite complex in its construction. It seems to extend through the original maze wall on the 24th floor, like countless roots and intricate branches of a plant extending underground.

The unexpected turn of events made Ais a little flustered, and Asphie's gaze turned to Lulu.

"Luluni, draw the map."

"learn."

Following the calm instructions of the captain, Lulu took out another piece of parchment besides the map and a red quill pen—exactly the same as Ais's quill pen.

She started drawing the map precisely from the corner of the paper, as if she had been counting her steps and turns ever since she stepped inside the green wall.

This is called mapping.

Ais was shocked, looking at Lulu's half-finished map over Lulu's shoulder.

"Wow, that's amazing...you can draw maps!"

"Hmm—really? While it's an honor to receive praise from the Sword Maiden... I am, after all, a thief."

Lulu gave an embarrassed, wry smile, but didn't stop what she was doing. Seeing that Lulu had drawn the entire route to their current location, Ais frankly admitted that this was a skill she didn't possess.

Today, the guild has accumulated map data for many floors, creating a free and convenient exploration environment for adventurers. However, this is all thanks to the explorers from the distant "ancient times." For a long time, they continuously challenged the "unknown" without any information, working tirelessly to open up regular routes and draw maps of each floor.

The adventurers of today—Ais and her companions—are merely exploring using maps created by their predecessors; in other words, they're reaping the benefits without effort. Ais's complete lack of knowledge about mapmaking is the best evidence of this. Other adventurers—aside from mapmakers who make a living selling maps of unexplored areas—must also be largely unaware of the methods.

Ais is finally able to feel the tension of "exploring unexplored dungeons".

This gave her the opportunity to reflect on how she had only focused on fighting and completely forgotten the essence of the "adventurer" profession, as well as her own immaturity.

At the same time, she also developed a sense of respect for Luluni.

"Seriously, it's so well drawn..."

"Haha, I often accompany the main god (Hermes) who leaves the city to explore strange ruins and the like, I'm used to it."

Lulune worked seamlessly with the team, choosing the right-hand route and smoothly drawing the map, earning Ais's admiration. Lulune then blushed again, telling Ais that this was due to the training she received from the Supreme God.