Chapter 2 A Foreign Mushroom Arrives at the Mushroom Farm
Lin Jun now felt like his eyes were about to be blinded by the glare—if he had eyes, that is.
Don't underestimate the abundance of mushrooms in his own garden, but the basic version of the mushrooms are all standard five-point creatures with 10 HP, at the bottom of the food chain. 3,000 HP is the limit that ordinary mushrooms can reach?
Of course, Lin Jun could handle her with ease, but that row of fixed effects was truly enviable.
Envious enough to want to eat her and steal her abilities…
Just kidding, it's rare to have someone who can communicate.
Besides, judging from the stats, this Puji is likely human. Lin Jun hasn't degenerated to the point of harming living beings yet.
"Calm down, okay?" Lin Jun loosened her grip on the Puji she was holding, not wanting to put too much pressure on her.
A sudden voice in her head made Inanna panic. She still didn't know if the other party was human or demon, only that all the pujis in the area were under their control.
Could this be the continuation of the conspiracy, the one responsible for killing me here?
"If you're going to kill me, just do it!"
"Why would I kill you? Could you please calm down?"
"Huh?"
"This outsider mushroom is so impolite, disrupting my mushroom garden without even apologizing."
"I am the lord of all the mushrooms on this level. You can call me Lin Jun. What's your name?"
"Mushroom… lord…"
Inanna didn't understand how the words "mushroom" and "lord" were connected.
In her impression, mushrooms were just low-level creatures with a level cap of 10, and even at max level, they'd still be treated as food by other monsters with only a few levels.
Yet the scene she witnessed here didn't resemble anything a level 10 monster could possess, let alone this communication method resembling a 5th-tier magical telepathy.
And this was clearly more than just telepathy.
Since the connection, Inanna's perceptual range had suddenly expanded far beyond the immediate vicinity.
And it was clearer and more detailed, as if she were receiving the perceptions of all the mushrooms around her.
Inanna couldn't judge the true strength of this mushroom lord at all.
In any case, she decided to pretend she was also a Puji and bluff her way through.
"I, I'm also a Puji. I don't have a name…"
"Then let me give you a name. I'll call you Inanna."
"…"
Huh?
Why does he know?
Could it be that this skill, similar to telepathy, also has mind-reading effects?
The puffballs that had scattered around began to gather again. Was she going to be killed for lying?
No!
Fortunately, just as there was barely any space left, the puffballs stopped, and Lin Jun's voice echoed in her mind once more.
"I'm quite friendly, but only if you don't play any tricks. Otherwise, I don't mind adding some fertilizer to the soil, understand?"
Inanna nodded vigorously.
"Let's try again. Name."
"I, Inanna Saint-Clair…"
"Status?"
"Duchess… Amara's… daughter…"
Duchess's daughter?
Is the outside world structured like the Middle Ages?
No wonder there's the Church's blessing and the Fruit of Life—even as a puppet, she still has 3,000 HP.
No matter which world, having a good father is a shortcut in life.
"Tell me, how did a duke's daughter end up here?"
Since she had already revealed her true identity, there was no need for Inanna to hide anything else.
Not only did she explain how she had been wronged and ended up here, but she also answered all of Lin Jun's other questions honestly.
Lin Jun took the opportunity to gather a lot of information.
For example, the place she was in was actually an underground city located within the Inanna family's territory, and it was in the deeper regions. No wonder there were monsters everywhere.
For example, there were various races outside, and humans were on the brink of war with the vampire race among the demonic races. The two traitors who tried to kill Inanna were likely colluding with the vampires.
Not only that, but he also realized that Inanna, a local, seemed unable to see the interface, otherwise she wouldn't have tried to hide her name.
Perhaps the interface was a hidden perk for "heroes"?
In any case, Lin Jun, who had gained a lot of information, now found the pink puji much more pleasing to the eye.
"Inanna, now that you've become a puppet, what are your plans for the future?"
"My plans for the future... You won't turn me into fertilizer, will you?" After being pressured earlier, Inanna was now a little afraid of Lin Jun.
"I promise."
"I want to go back to the surface…"
Inanna not only wanted to return to the surface but also wanted to find her father, break the transformation spell, and then seek revenge on the two traitors!
"Ah, returning to the surface,"
Lin Jun couldn't help but laugh upon hearing this.
"I want to go to the surface too!
But as you can see, you're a mushroom and I'm a mushroom. How are we supposed to break through the underground world filled with terrifying monsters to reach the surface?
Let's not talk about the distant future. Just on this level, the passageway leading upward is in the lair of a fire demon."
A fire demon? That's at least a high-level monster of LV55 or above!
Even if Inanna hadn't been transformed, she wouldn't stand a chance against it, and even if she encountered it, she might not even be able to escape.
"Speaking of which, won't your duke father come to save you?"
"I suppose so…"
Inanna recalled what the two traitors had said—that her father was about to meet his end—and felt uncertain.
The pink mushroom cap visibly wilted.
After all, even her most proficient magic was rendered useless in her current form, so how could she possibly return to the surface?
"Alright, alright, since you're here, you might as well make the best of it. You've been fussing about for so long, you must be hungry. Let's eat something first."
The new toy she had just found couldn't be allowed to starve to death.
A puffball with a green cap jumped out of the mushroom patch, walked up to Inanna, and led the way. Inanna did indeed feel a bit hungry.
"Is that you?"
"Yes and no. All the mushrooms here are me."
In reality, he had a mushroom body, but he didn't plan to mention that.
Inanna nodded, seeming to understand yet not fully grasping it. The two then arrived at a mushroom carpet formed by the convergence of mycelium.
Lin Jun kindly demonstrated to Inanna how Puji ate.
He controlled Puji to lie down in place, allowing the mycelium on the ground to connect and deliver nutrients. It was fully replenished in less than five minutes.
Watching this, Inanna's mushroom cap changed color.
What was this?
Allowing a bunch of fungal threads to penetrate the body and inject an unknown substance?
This scene was difficult for Inanna, who had been eating food with her mouth for 16 years, to accept at first.
Lin Jun didn't rush her. If the child wasn't eating, it was because she wasn't hungry enough yet. Once she was hungry enough, she would know to eat on her own.
Her increasingly weakened body eventually caused Inanna to lie down on the fungal carpet.
This feeling!
Nutrients surged into her body through countless connection points beneath her, giving her a sense of being fed and then filled to satisfaction.
How happy...
Only after the nutrients were fully absorbed and the mycelium ceased supplying them did Inanna reluctantly rise to her feet.
Being a mushroom seems unexpectedly pleasant?
No, no, what am I thinking?
Inanna, has your brain turned into a mushroom too?
Oh, my brain has indeed turned into a mushroom cap—a pink one at that…
Lin Jun was unaware of Inanna's inner thoughts. Seeing that she had finished eating, he began to introduce her to the various areas of the mushroom garden.
"You know the dining hall, and you've seen the Puji cultivation area—that's where you knocked over my Puji."
"Did you see that rock wall over there? Below it is the mining area."
"That side is the breeding area, where we raise some rolling beetles and slimes. They're aggressive, so don't go over there carelessly."
"Did you see that giant mushroom on the right? That's the division area. It's a bit complicated to explain, so you should go check it out yourself later."
"Don't go in that direction. If you go that way, you'll leave the mushroom garden area, and it's not safe."
Lin Jun continued his explanation, but Inanna had tuned out from the very first word.
"What's a plantation? What's a breeding area?"
Inanna felt that Lin Jun wasn't describing areas within the dungeon, but rather a fully functional small town.
Was she still in the Purple Crystal Dungeon?
What about the other monsters?
After all, they were just a bunch of mushrooms. Why did they have such a large territory in the extremely dangerous depths of the dungeon?
Inanna's mind was filled with questions, and the more she thought about it, the more confused she became. She could only feel that the depths of the dungeon were incredibly bizarre, with no trace of common sense left.
(End of this chapter)