The burrower Puji had already tumbled into the underground chamber. From the freshly dug hole, two more Pujis hopped out.
One was a scout Puji, responsible for detecting any magic arrays or lurking underground monsters. The other was a self-detonation Puji, just in case.
This was the perfect excavation team.
The three Pujis gathered around the wooden chest, pawing at it with their stubby legs for quite a while. The chest didn’t budge—it was locked.
What was even the point of locking it? An unattended chest in a hidden room—why not just break it open?
A quick sweep with [Mana Sense] confirmed no magic arrays inside.
The burrower Puji lay flat, its drill-like head aligned with the chest. The other two Pujis pushed it forward with their feet.
Its vibrating blade easily carved through the wood around the lock. They carefully controlled the force, so as not to damage anything inside.
Crack!
A faint snapping sound came from the keyhole. In the next instant, three fine needles shot out.The burrower Puji’s legs buckled—it collapsed dead on the spot.
A trap?!
The needles were laced with poison. But aside from corrosive damage, Pujis were almost immune to toxins.
The problem was the impact. With only ten HP, any direct hit was fatal.
Minutes later, mycelium wriggled, reviving the burrower Puji in place. Except now three embedded needles dug deeper with every movement, causing secondary damage each time…
The trap was single-use, though. After reviving, the Puji quickly drilled a hole through the chest.
One kick, and the box sprang open.
Inside: some wrapped dry rations, two water skins, a pendant bearing the image of a balance scale, and a thin booklet.
The booklet’s cover depicted a strange tree, half lush and green, half withered and decayed.
Flipping inside revealed page after page of neat elvish script.
Lin Jun couldn’t read it, but the organized typesetting marked it clearly as a book, not a personal journal or letter.
That meant it probably didn’t contain any illicit secrets.
The pendant was an ordinary ornament, without a hint of mana. It wasn’t even silver, just copper.
For a hidden chamber, the contents were rather underwhelming.
The Pujis scoured the room again, leaving little round footprints everywhere, but found nothing else.
There was, however, a crude staircase. Roughly hewn, uneven steps.
The Pujis hopped upward one by one, eventually emerging from the tangled roots of a massive tree. The area was deserted, clearly remote.
They returned to the chamber. More Pujis came through, collecting the booklet and pendant.
Afterward, they stacked a mushroom-ladder and slipped back underground, leaving only a few self-detonation Pujis behind.
Once the group was far enough away—boom!—a muffled blast collapsed the chamber and half the tunnel, erasing all trace of their presence.
Taking a detour added another day, but eventually they reached the cemetery.
By memory, they located the old elf’s grave.
As expected—nothing but scraps remained.
The corpse was incomplete, which would directly affect [Greed]’s plunder effect.
Back before he gained [Inspiration], Lin Jun had taken this as obvious: the more intact the corpse, the more proficiency stolen from it.
But now that he understood he was actually peeling skills from the soul, it no longer made sense.
The soul was whole—it didn’t rot piece by piece with the body. So why did corpse condition matter?
He couldn’t figure it out, but it didn’t matter.
Mycelium spread from the network, slowly covering the corpse…
【Seven Sins of Greed: Activated】
【Skill Plundered: Elvish Language LV1】
【Skill Plundered: Nature Magic LV1】
【Skill Plundered: False Voice LV1】
Elvish Language was obvious. Nature Magic, also expected.
Elves, blessed with natural affinity, often acquired the skill even if they weren’t mages.
Take Elawen(Ailawen), for instance—though a ranger-hunter, she still had [Nature Magic LV4].
But… [False Voice]?
When he first saw the old elf, he’d already been a corpse, so Lin Jun never saw his status window.
Now, it was like opening a mystery box and pulling an unexpected prize.
With a name like “False Voice,” surely it was for mimicking speech?
Could he create Pujis that talked directly?
He eagerly made a False Voice Puji.
But no matter how he looked, it was just a normal Puji.
No mouth. No sound holes. Talking? Not a chance.
It seemed mismatched to Pujis.
Thinking it over, Lin Jun created a Voice Puji instead.
…
“Boss! I think drills are the strongest!”
After half an hour of tinkering, the Voice Puji finally spoke—sounding vaguely, about 40%, like Norris.
Lin Jun figured it out: the skill didn’t produce speech itself. It only altered sound that already existed—modulating it to mimic someone else’s voice.
The problem? It didn’t make the Puji’s voice better. It just turned Norris’ voice into a hoarse, slimy, echoing abomination.
So… what was the point of this skill?
—
Meanwhile, above the secret chamber in the forest—
Two elf rangers combed the ground for traces.
Suddenly, one crouched at the gnarled roots of a giant tree, whistling softly to his companion. “Here!”
The other strode over, palm glowing with gentle Nature Magic.
Under his control, the tree roots shifted, revealing a passage below.
“Another one of these hidden chambers?!” The first ranger frowned deeply. “Who in the world made these?”
“Who knows,” the other muttered warily, scanning the quiet woods. “The last few we found were empty too. Not a single clue.”
The two exchanged a look. One slipped inside nimbly, while the other readied his bow, guarding the perimeter.
Minutes later, the first ranger scrambled back out, dusting himself off.
“It’s been blown shut. The passage is totally buried. That mana pulse we sensed earlier must have been the explosion.”
“Blown shut?” His partner frowned.
Two months ago, the first hidden chamber had been discovered by accident, immediately alarming the captain of the guard.
Subsequent searches revealed several more with similar layouts.
But all of them had been abandoned quietly, their owners gone without trace.
This one was different. It had been violently destroyed.
The first sign of deliberate erasure.
“Let’s report it. Maybe they’ll send an earth mage to dig it out. But I bet—even if they do—there’ll be nothing left.”
“Yeah…” His companion sheathed the bow, looking toward the royal city. “How much longer until the captain recovers from his wounds? That human Sword Saint… he struck so viciously! Bastard…”