Chapter 1: The Duchess

"Let me go! Who are you? Let me go right now!"

Upon waking, Inanna writhed desperately, finding herself stuffed inside a sack.

"Pero, did you dilute your sleep spell? She's already awake."

"Idiot, don't call me by name—her duke father poured so many resources into her, how could her resistances be low? She's only awake now, that's already impressive."

Inanna suddenly froze—both voices were familiar to her.

"Pero? And you, Oakes! You ambushed me? You've betrayed my father?"

"It's all your fault for talking too much—she recognized us," Pero snapped.

Oakes, however, seemed unconcerned: "What's the worry? She'll never get a chance to tell anyone."

What did that mean? This wasn't just kidnapping?

"What are you going to do?"

Realizing her life might be in danger, Inanna grew even more furious.

The sack was ripped off her head; her first sight was Oakes's grotesque face.

"What? Young Lady, today you're going to be dinner for a beast!"

Inanna looked around—the dim tunnel walls were scattered with purple crystals of varying sizes.

Had they kidnapped her to the Purple Crystal Underground City?

"You two human-skinned moles, did my father ever mistreat you? How could you betray him?"

"Because your father's done for—do you really think he can hold back the Empire's advance? Killing you is the final straw that breaks him, and killing you lets my lord claim a noble title."

Thinking of the title promised by the mastermind, Oakes burst into laughter.

"Stop laughing—you'll attract monsters," Pero interrupted impatiently. "Here's fine. Put her down."

Inanna was dumped onto the ground, still snarling like she wanted to bite.

Oakes gazed at Inanna's beautiful face, sighing regretfully: "Such a lovely girl—why is she just like her father? I even wanted to try what a duke's daughter tastes like."

"This is the sixth level—if you don't mind monsters gnawing your bare ass off, go ahead and eat her now."

"Just joking—once I'm a noble, what woman won't I have?"

Pero raised his staff, aiming it at Inanna, and chanted an arcane incantation.

"Transformation spell?"

Inanna instantly recognized the magic Pero was using; she kicked at him with her bound legs to interrupt the casting, but Oakes seized her ankle.

"Have the guts to kill me! You kill me—"

As the transformation spell completed, Inanna gradually lost her ability to speak, becoming a Pukki—a short-legged fungus, commonly called a Walking Mushroom.

After finishing the incantation, Pero reluctantly pulled out a vial glowing with starlight and poured it over Inanna.

Oakes watched this, clicking his tongue in amazement.

"Solidification potion? You're really wasting it. Why go through all this trouble? Just kill her and toss the corpse down to the monsters."

Pero, hearing Oakes's brainless remark, felt his intolerance for stupidity flaring up.

"Go ahead and kill her—see if you'll get cursed with the Duke's Vengeance Mark. When he abandons his territory just to come kill you, don't you dare drag me into it."

"Location Magic, Vengeance Mark—she must have them. Let the lower-level beasts eat her clean is the safest method."

He then kindly cast an extended Slow Fall spell on the Pukki-form of Inanna, so she wouldn't be crushed on impact.

"Never mind what I said," Oakes said, unfazed by the scorn. He stepped up to Inanna. "Farewell, Young Lady."

With that, he kicked her hard, watching as she vanished into the fissure.

This fissure led straight into the depths of the underground city—no one who fell in had ever climbed back out, let alone a defenseless Pukki.

————

Bastards!

How dare you use the old man's name to trick me!

I'll kill those two beasts with my own hands!

……

It's so dark all around…

The fissure seemed bottomless—even the extended Slow Fall spell hadn't reached the end.

As her falling speed increased, the fury cooled, and the sixteen-year-old girl, who had never faced death directly, finally felt fear.

Was she really going to die like this?

Puk—

Inanna felt herself land on a springy, soft surface that bounced her high into the air; after several rebounds, she finally landed hard on her rear.

She wasn't dead! Clearly, fate favored her.

But where was this?

Pukki had no facial features and couldn't see, but could vaguely sense surrounding objects.

The thing that caught her seemed to be a three-meter-wide… giant mushroom?

What was making all these sounds? The figures flickering before her looked familiar…

Aren't these Pukki just like me after the transformation?

Why are there so many of these bottom-of-the-food-chain Pukki deep inside a dangerous underground city?

And so many of them!

Uh… why are they gathering around me…

————

Lin Jun, owner of the Mushroom Garden, felt he'd been distracted too much lately, causing him to make frequent low-level mistakes.

Sure enough, over here in the mushroom garden there was actually a Puji that wasn't under his control — probably one that, after maturing, had fallen to the ground naturally before it could be connected to the mycelium network.

It even had a pink mushroom cap, standing out conspicuously among the crowd of blue- and grey-capped Puji.

Had it mutated?

Fortunately, fixing it was easy — once he connected it with mycelium, he just had to tune it to the mycelium network's frequency.

But why was it resisting so violently?

This uncontrolled Puji, faced with the Puji Lin Jun sent up to link with it, actually started running all over the place.

One moment it would knock over a few Puji, the next it would stomp around wildly in the mushroom field, throwing the whole mushroom garden into chaos.

Annoyed by the mess, Lin Jun simply directed a large swarm of Puji to surround it in the middle, squeezing it until it couldn't move, and only then did he attach the mycelium to it.

"Aaaah! Get away! Get away from me!"

What the heck was that?

The moment this Puji came online, Lin Jun was bombarded by a screaming voice, so loud his own mycelium stood on end.

"Quiet!"

An irresistible command was transmitted through the mycelium network to every Puji, and for a moment the entire mushroom garden ceased all activity.

"Damn it — no, wait, all sectors resume normal operations."

Only after a long while, once the mushroom garden was running again, did Lin Jun finally focus his attention on this special Puji.

He'd also figured it out by now — this was definitely not a Puji his own place had produced, but an outsider mushroom.

What a strange thing — could this godforsaken backwater of his actually have an outsider mushroom?

"Speak! Where the hell did you barge in from?"

"Who are you? How are you talking to me? Wait — how am I even talking right now?"

Tch.

This one was clearly in a muddle, unable to speak coherently, so Lin Jun simply pulled up her status panel directly.

【Name: Inanna St. Claire】

【Race: Mushroom — Puji】

【Level: LV28】

【HP: 3280】

【Strength: 1】

【Agility: 1】

【Constitution: 1】

【Intelligence: 33】

【Spirit: 24】

【Racial Talent: Spore Spread (can actively spray spores into the surroundings; guaranteed to trigger upon death)】

【Permanent Effects:

Church Blessing (grants Light Element Affinity LV4, Light Magic LV4)

Vengeance Mark (transfers to the killer upon death; the caster can track the killer and deal additional damage to them)

Tracking Marker (location marker)

Fruit of Life (grants 3000 additional HP and Life Recovery LV4)

Dragon Crystal Potion (grants high all-around resistances)

Permanent Transformation (the transformation effect lasts permanently unless the magic is dispelled)

Mycelium Network Connection (a short-range mental network formed through magical resonance between mycelia)】

【Skills: Riding LV4, Elemental Affinity (Water, Light) LV4, Mana Storage LV3, Mana Manipulation LV4, Light Magic LV4, Water Magic LV3, Cloth Armor Mastery LV2, Dagger Mastery LV2, Magic Resistance LV6, Physical Resistance LV6, Spirit Resistance LV6, Corrosion Resistance LV6, Poison Resistance LV6, Paralysis Resistance LV6, High Temperature Resistance LV6, Cold Resistance LV6, Dizziness Resistance LV6, Underwater Adaptation LV6, Astrology & Divination LV1, Ancient Elven Language LV2, Life Recovery LV4】

Holy smokes — a super pink Puji with over 3000 HP and all resistances at LV6!

(End of chapter)