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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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Even ordinary plants would turn into medicinal herbs in her hands. Herb and mushroom gathering missions. It had been three hours since they started in the morning, and the only mission left was—
“Just one ‘mushroom’ left.”
“…Ugh…”
Just one. It was a good example of how efficiency increased when you were broken. I put the gathered herbs into my subspace bag.
“I know how to gather Lewd Clown Mushrooms from the guidebook.”
“The problem is, their locations are random.”
If they were lucky, they could find it right under their feet, but they could also search all day and not find a single one. The good thing was, he could tell which mushroom was which before picking it. In the game, you’d only find out after you’d picked it.
“I’ll search east, you go west. Contact me with your bracelet when you find one, okay?”
“Understood.”
“Don’t mess up the order, or you’re dead.”
“I wouldn’t make such a mistake.”
“Hmm…”
That sounded like a flag. But Minerva’s eyes were filled with madness, so he decided to trust her.
“Avoid fighting, okay?”
“I’ll start searching now.”
Minerva walked away, seemingly ignoring me. ‘I’m a bit worried…’ Should he have played [Power Chord]? Her stress seemed to be reaching a critical point.
“…I should hurry.”
He was reaching his limit, too. It would all be over today.
“I have to do my best until the end.”
Or rather, he had to be fast. He didn’t think about anything else and just focused on finding the mushroom.
“I can’t find it…”
This damn random encounter. He’d searched all the usual spots—rotten logs, damp areas, riverbanks—but he could only find ordinary mushrooms. ‘Well, these are valuable too…’ He picked the edible and expensive ones, like truffles, along the way. It was a game, after all. There was no point in questioning the logic.
“…I didn’t expect to find truffles—huh?”
A window appeared.
[Emergency Mission]
[A Delicacy for Hera]
-An Emergency Mission from Hera.
-Wants a dish made with ‘that.’
-Child… It’s good manners to offer your mother a bite first.
1. Offer a dish made with truffles. (0/1)
2. Rewards will be enhanced depending on the quality of the dish.
Reward: Contribution +10, Hera’s Smile
“…Wow.”
Even Hera couldn’t resist truffles. But there wasn’t a penalty for failing. He tilted his head, and another message appeared.
[‘Oracle’ has arrived]
[Goddess Hera: It’s rude to penalize someone for a mission based on my whim.]
“As expected of a goddess!”
He put the truffle in his bag and thought. How should he cook this to satisfy Hera? He could just sprinkle some truffle powder on instant noodles, but he wanted to make something more luxurious for a goddess. ‘A fancy restaurant…’ There was one at one of the date spots. He’d visit it with Minerva or Mai after he was done with the missions. The chefs there could definitely do something.
‘There isn’t a deadline either.’
He wasn’t in a hurry. As long as he didn’t forget.
“She’s so different.”
As he expressed his gratitude to Hera—
[Emergency Mission]
[A Delicacy for Chronos]
-An Emergency Mission from Chronos.
-Wants a dish made with ‘that.’
-Do not forget your true god.
1. Offer a dish made with truffles. (0/1)
2. Rewards will be enhanced depending on the quality of the dish.
Reward: Contribution +10, Chronos’s Joy
“…Hmm.”
He looked at the sky.
“You’re being pathetic, you know that, right?”
[‘Oracle’ has arrived]
[God Chronos: My child, do not test me any further.]
[God Chronos: If you just listen to me, I shall bestow upon you graces tenfold.]
No. He wasn’t falling for that again. This was so typical of her.
“Do whatever you want. I have my own things to do.”
[God Chronos: You… insolent…!]
*Rumble…!*
A strange noise came from the sky. Even without thunder or lightning, it was ominous enough to make his hair stand on end. ‘Is she going to do something?’ No, she wouldn’t.
[Goddess Hera: Oh my, are you angry? You’re holding quite a powerful curse there.]
“Hee…!”
Hera was on his side! He gave a thumbs-up to the sky. He could hear Hera chuckling. The two gods began arguing.
[God Chronos: …This is between me and my child, so stay out of it.]
[Goddess Hera: You’re acting like a parent after abandoning your child? You’ve already lost your balls, now you’ve lost your right to even say that word.]
[God Chronos: You bitch…!!]
‘This is nice’.
A competitive market was much better than a monopoly. One was on the verge of bankruptcy, but it was still better than having a single dominant force.
“I should get back to work.”
He continued searching for the mushrooms. He had gathered a lot of expensive mushrooms, like shiitake and matsutake, along the way. It was a good haul, even without the Lewd Clown Mushroom. Some would be offered to Hera, but it was still a lot.
“This is all thanks to Lady Hera’s grace…!”
He clasped his hands together and prayed. Thumbs up, Hera! Thank you!
[God Chronos: Do not attribute your achievements to a god. It’s pathetic how you worship someone so weak.]
[Goddess Hera: You still don’t understand, do you? This is called ‘faith’. Ah, I suppose you wouldn’t know, since even your followers have abandoned you.]
[God Chronos: …Chrono, my child. I’m always waiting for you.]
[Goddess Hera: You ignored him when he was doing well, but now that he’s in trouble, you’re offering him a hand? That’s pathetic, even for a god.]
[God Chronos: Fine, let’s settle this today!]
[Goddess Hera: Sure, come over if you can. I dare you. I bet you don’t even know where I am.]
“…???”
The conversation was getting weird. He closed the window. It was a bad influence.
“I really need to find it…”
It had been four more hours. If he didn’t find it soon, he’d have to spend another day here. He was fine, but Minerva might break down. She might have a mental breakdown without even entering a dungeon.
“I need to find it… where are you…”
He searched for another hour. A new window appeared.
[Emergency Mission]
[Rescue Athena’s Apostle]
-An Emergency Mission from Athena.
-A mistake occurred during the Lewd Clown Mushroom gathering. It could lead to an unfortunate incident.
-Losing her virginity to a beast, even if it is better than a demon from the abyss, is cruel.
1. Rescue Athena’s Apostle. (0/1)
Reward: Contribution +10, Maintain Minerva’s Virginity.
Failure: NTR Rank +1
“Oh…”
He really needed to watch his mouth.
Meanwhile,
“Is this… a Lewd Clown Mushroom…?”
Minerva had finally found it. She was about to pick it when she remembered what happened when you touched the spores.
“Then I need to take precautions…”
…What should she do? It was too much work. She was sleepy. She wouldn’t normally think this, but she was mentally exhausted.
“…If I cover my nose and mouth, it should be fine…”
It wasn’t the right procedure, but the spores had to enter her respiratory system.
She pulled out some spare clothes from her bag and wrapped them around her nose and mouth. Then she picked the mushroom.
—Poof!
“…Seems fine.”
The gathering itself was successful. The cloth blocked most of the spores, but—
“Hmm… huff…”
—some still got in. The beginning of all problems was a moment of carelessness.
