Chapter 2

Lin Jun now feels as if his eyes are about to be blinded—if he had eyes, that is.

Don't let the abundance of Puji in his own mushroom garden fool you; basic Puji are at the bottom of the food chain, with standard stats of 1 in all five categories and only 10 HP. Is 3,000 HP a realm that an ordinary Puji can reach?

Of course, it is easy for Lin Jun to handle her, but those fixed effects in that row are truly enviable for a mushroom.

So enviable that he wants to eat her and seize her abilities...

Just kidding, it’s rare to find someone he can communicate with.

Besides, judging from the panel, the Puji before him is likely a human. As for eating a living person, Lin Jun hasn't reached the point of being that inhuman yet.

"Are you calm now?" Lin Jun controls the Puji that are clamping her to spread out a bit, not putting too much pressure on her.

A voice suddenly appearing in her mind makes Inanna panic. She still doesn't know if the other party is human or demon; she only knows that all the Puji nearby are under his control.

Could this be the aftermath of the conspiracy, the person responsible for executing me here?

"If... if you want to kill me, then do it!"

"Why would I want to kill you? Could you please calm down?"

"Eh?"

Outsider mushrooms are just rude; they mess up his mushroom garden without even knowing how to apologize.

"I am the lord of all the mushrooms on this floor. You can call me Lin Jun. What is your name?"

"Mushroom... lord..."

Inanna doesn't know how the words "mushroom" and "lord" could be linked together.

In her impression, aren't mushrooms bottom-tier existences with a level cap of 10, which, even at max level, are treated as food by other monsters only a few levels higher?

Yet the scene she sees here is not something a level 10 monster could possess, let alone this method of communication similar to a 5th-tier magic telepathy.

And this is clearly more than just telepathy.

Since the connection was established, the range Inanna can perceive has suddenly expanded from a few meters around her to a great distance.

And it is clearer and more nuanced, as if she has received the perceptions of all the mushrooms around her.

Inanna is completely unable to judge what kind of strength this mushroom lord actually has.

In any case, she will try to pretend she is also a Puji to muddle through.

"I, I am also a Puji, I don't have a name..."

"Then how about I give you a name? Let's call you Inanna."

"..."

Eh?

Why does he know?

Could it be that this skill, which is similar to telepathy, also has a mind-reading effect?

The Puji that had scattered around are slowly surrounding her again. Is she going to be finished off for lying?

No, don't!

Fortunately, when there was only a sliver of space left, the Puji stopped, and Lin Jun's voice sounded in her mind again.

"I am very friendly, but on the condition that you don't play any petty tricks. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind having a bit more fertilizer to enrich the soil, understand?"

Inanna nods her mushroom cap vigorously.

"Let's try again. Name."

"In, Inanna St. Clair..."

"Identity?"

"The daughter of... Duke Amara..."

A Duke's daughter?

Is the outside world structured like the Middle Ages?

No wonder there were church blessings, fruits of life, and she could still have 3,000 HP after turning into a Puji.

No matter which world it is, having a good father is a shortcut in life.

"Tell me, how did a Duke's daughter like you end up falling down here?"

Since her bottom line has already been exposed, there is no need for Inanna to hide the rest.

Not only did she explain how she was framed and fell down, but she also answered all of Lin Jun's other questions one by one.

Lin Jun took the opportunity to learn a lot of information.

For example, the place he is in is actually a dungeon located within Inanna's family territory, and it's in the deep levels—no wonder there are monsters everywhere.

For example, there are all kinds of races outside, and humans are on the verge of war with the vampires among the demon race. Those two traitors who wanted to kill Inanna likely colluded with the vampires.

Not only that, he also realized that Inanna, as a local, doesn't seem to be able to see the panel; otherwise, she wouldn't have tried to hide her name.

Perhaps this panel is a hidden perk of being a "Hero"?

In any case, the now-well-informed Lin Jun finds this pink Puji much more pleasing to the eye.

"Inanna, now that you've become a Puji, do you have any plans for the future?"

"Future plans... you really won't turn me into fertilizer, will you?" Having been pressured before, Inanna is now a bit afraid of Lin Jun.

"I promise."

"I want to go back to the surface..."

Inanna not only wants to return to the surface, but she also wants to find her father, undo the transformation spell, and then take revenge on the two traitors!

"Ah, return to the surface,"

Lin Jun finds it amusing upon hearing this.

"I want to go to the surface too!

But as you can see, you are a mushroom and I am a mushroom. How are we supposed to fight our way through an underground world full of terrifying monsters to reach the surface?

Not to mention going far, just on our floor, the passage upward is in the lair of a Flame Demon."

A Flame Demon—that is a high-level monster of at least LV55!

Even if Inanna hadn't been transformed, it would be impossible for her to win; it's even questionable whether she could escape if she encountered one.

"Speaking of which, won't your Duke father come to save you?"

"He should..."

Inanna recalls what the two traitors said about her father being finished, and she feels uncertain.

Her pink mushroom cap visibly wilts.

That's right, after turning into a Puji, she can't even use the magic she is best at, so how could she possibly return to the surface?

"Alright, alright, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. You've been making a fuss for so long, you must be hungry. Come and eat something first."

He can't let this newly found novelty starve to death.

A Puji with a cyan cap jumps out of the mushroom patch, walks up to Inanna to lead the way, and Inanna indeed feels a bit hungry.

"Is this you?"

"Yes and no. All the mushrooms here are me."

In reality, he has a mushroom main body, but he isn't planning to talk about that.

Inanna nods, half-understanding, and the two then arrive at a fungal mat formed by mycelium.

Lin Jun thoughtfully demonstrates to Inanna how a Puji eats.

The Puji he controls lies down on the spot, letting the mycelium on the ground connect to it to transport nutrients, and it is fully replenished in less than 5 minutes.

Inanna's mushroom cap changes color as she watches from the side.

What is this?

Letting a bunch of mycelium insert into the body to inject unknown things?

The scene before her is something Inanna, who has used her mouth to ingest food for 16 years, finds hard to accept for the moment.

Lin Jun doesn't rush her; if a child isn't eating, it must be because they aren't hungry enough. Once they are starving, they will know how to eat on their own.

Her gradually weakening body eventually forces Inanna to lie down on the fungal mat.

This feeling!

Nutrients surge in from the countless connection points beneath her body, and a sense of satisfaction from being fed and filled arises spontaneously.

So happy...

It isn't until she is full and the mycelium stops supplying that Inanna gets up, still wanting more.

Being a mushroom seems unexpectedly not bad?

No, no, what am I thinking!

Inanna, have you even turned your brain into a mushroom?

Oh, the brain has indeed turned into a mushroom cap, and a pink one at that...

Lin Jun doesn't know about these little thoughts in Inanna's mind. Seeing that she has finished her meal, he begins to introduce the various areas of the mushroom garden to her.

"You know the cafeteria, and you've seen the Puji planting area—that's the place where you bumped into my Puji."

"See that rock wall? Below that is the mining area."

"That side is the breeding area. I raise some Rolling Beetles and Slimes; they are all aggressive, so don't go over there casually."

"See that giant mushroom on the right? That's the division of labor area. It's quite troublesome to explain; you can go take a look for yourself later."

"Don't go in that direction. If you walk that way, you'll be out of the mushroom garden's range. It's not safe."

Lin Jun introduces everything on his own, while Inanna on the side has been stunned since the first word.

What planting area? What breeding area?

Inanna feels that Lin Jun isn't introducing areas within a dungeon, but rather a fully functional small town.

She is still in the Amethyst Dungeon, right?

What about the other monsters?

When it comes down to it, how does a bunch of mushrooms have such a large territory in the extremely dangerous deep levels of a dungeon?

Inanna's head is full of question marks, and the more she thinks, the more confused she gets. She only feels that the deep levels of the dungeon are incredibly bizarre, to the point where common sense no longer exists.

(End of chapter)