Lin Jun felt like his eyes were about to be blinded—if he even had eyes.
Despite the abundance of Puji in his mushroom garden, the basic ones were all at the bottom of the food chain, with standard stats of 1 in every attribute and only 10 HP. 3000 HP? That was a level a normal Puji could never reach.
Of course, Lin Jun could easily control her, but that impressive row of fixed effects was something even the mushrooms would envy.
Envious enough to want to eat her and steal her abilities…
But since this boring underground world had finally gained a bit of novelty, he decided against it.
Besides, judging from the stats, this Puji was most likely a transformed human. As for killing a living person, Lin Jun wasn't that inhuman yet.
"Calm down." Lin Jun loosened his grip slightly by controlling the Puji that was holding her, reducing the pressure.
A voice suddenly appeared in Inanna's mind, making her panic. She still didn't know whether the other party was human or demon—only that all the Puji around here were under its control.
Was this the mastermind behind some conspiracy, the one responsible for having her killed here?
"Kill me if you want… just kill me!"
"Why would I kill you? Can you please calm down?"
"Huh?"
This outsider mushroom was so rude—messing up her mushroom garden without even apologizing.
"I am the lord of all the mushrooms on this floor. You can call me Lin Jun. What's your name?"
"Mushroom… lord…"
Inanna couldn't wrap her head around how "mushroom" and "lord" could possibly go together. In her mind, mushrooms were just low-level creatures with a level cap of 10; even at max level, they were considered food by monsters only a few levels higher.
What she was seeing here didn't look like anything a level-10 monster could possess—let alone this kind of communication, which felt far more advanced than level-7 telepathy magic.
And it clearly wasn't just telepathy; ever since the connection, the range Inanna could perceive had expanded far beyond a few meters. Everything became much clearer and more detailed, as though she had borrowed the perception of every surrounding mushroom.
Inanna had no idea how strong this "mushroom lord" really was. In short,
she tried to pretend she was just as lowly as the other mushrooms.
"I… I'm also a Puji. I don't have a name…"
"Then how about I give you one? Inanna?"
"…"
Huh?
How did he know?
Did this speech-like skill come with mind-reading too?
The scattered Puji slowly began gathering around her again. Was she about to be killed for lying?
No way!
Fortunately, when only a sliver of space remained, the Puji stopped moving. Lin Jun's voice rang in her mind once more.
"I'm very friendly—but only if you don't play any tricks. Otherwise, I don't mind turning you into fertilizer. Understand?"
Inanna nodded vigorously.
"Let's try this again. Your name?"
"In… Inanna St. Clair…"
"And your status?"
"The Duke… Duke Amara's… daughter…"
The Duke's daughter?
So the outside world was structured like the Middle Ages?
No wonder she had the Church's blessing, the Fruit of Life, and could still possess 3000 HP even after becoming a Puji.
Having a powerful father really was a shortcut in life—no matter which world you were in.
"Tell me, how did a duke's daughter end up here?"
Having already revealed her identity, Inanna saw no point in hiding anything else. She explained not only how she had been tricked and thrown into the rift, but also answered all of Lin Jun's other questions in detail.
Lin Jun took the opportunity to learn a great deal: he was actually inside a dungeon located within Inanna's family territory—and a very deep one at that. No wonder there were monsters everywhere.
He also learned that various races existed on the surface, that humans were at war with vampires among the demons, and that the two traitors who tried to kill Inanna were likely colluding with vampires.
Furthermore, he realized that Inanna, being a native of this world, couldn't see a character panel—otherwise she wouldn't have tried to hide her name.
Perhaps the panel was a hidden perk granted only to "transmigrators" or "heroes"?
In any case, having gained so much valuable information, Lin Jun now found the pink Puji far more agreeable.
"Inanna, you've been turned into a mushroom. What are your plans for the future?"
"My plans… You really won't turn me into fertilizer, will you?" After being squeezed earlier, Inanna was now a little afraid of Lin Jun.
"I promise."
"I want to go back to the surface…"
Inanna didn't just want to return to the surface—she wanted to find her father, break the transformation spell, and take revenge on those two traitors!
"Ah, the surface," Lin Jun laughed when he heard this. "I want to go to the surface too, but as you can see, you're a mushroom and I'm… well, mushrooms. How are we supposed to break through an underground world full of terrifying monsters to reach the surface? Not to mention the distance—even the nearest passage upward is inside the lair of a Balrog."
A Balrog was a high-level monster of at least LV55 or higher. Even if Inanna hadn't been transformed, she wouldn't have been able to defeat one, and it was questionable whether she could even escape if she encountered it.
"Speaking of which, won't your Duke father come to rescue you?"
"He probably will…"
Inanna remembered what the two traitors had said—that her father was finished—and uncertainty crept in.
Her pink mushroom cap visibly drooped.
Yes… after being turned into a Puji, she couldn't even use her most proficient magic anymore. How could she possibly make it back to the surface?
"Alright, alright. Since we're here, let's make the best of it. You must be hungry after all that commotion. Let's eat something first."
This new and interesting find couldn't be allowed to starve to death.
A blue-furred Puji hopped out from the mushroom patch and led Inanna forward. She did indeed feel a bit hungry.
"Is this… you?"
"Yes and no. All the mushrooms here are me."
Actually, he had his own mushroom body, but he didn't intend to mention that yet.
Inanna nodded, seemingly understanding, and the two soon arrived at a thick carpet of mycelium.
Lin Jun considerately demonstrated how Puji ate: he had one lie down on the spot, let the mycelium connect, and delivered nutrients. In less than five minutes, it was fully replenished.
Inanna watched from the side, her mushroom cap visibly changing color.
What was this?
Having countless mycelium threads insert into her body and inject unknown substances?
The scene was hard for Inanna—who had eaten with her mouth for sixteen years—to accept.
Lin Jun didn't urge her. If the child wasn't eating, it must mean she wasn't hungry enough yet. She'd eat on her own once she was truly starving.
Her gradually weakening body finally forced Inanna to lie down on the mycelium carpet.
This feeling!
Nutrients poured in from countless connection points beneath her. A satisfying sensation of being fed and filled welled up inside.
So… blissful…
Only after she was fully nourished and the mycelium stopped supplying nutrients did Inanna reluctantly rise.
Being a mushroom… actually seemed surprisingly good?
No, no—what was she thinking!
Inanna, has even your brain turned into a mushroom?
Oh wait… her brain really had turned into a mushroom cap. And a bright pink one at that…
Unaware of Inanna's inner turmoil, Lin Jun began introducing her to the various areas of the mushroom garden after she finished eating.
"You already know the 'cafeteria,' and you've seen the Puji planting area—the place where you bumped into my Puji earlier."
"See that rock wall? That's the mining area below."
"That's the breeding area over there, with some beetles and slimes. Anyone feeling aggressive can go play over there."
"See that giant mushroom on the right? That's the division-of-labor area. It's a bit complicated to explain—you'll understand when you go take a look yourself."
"Don't go that way. If you head in that direction, you'll leave the mushroom garden area. It's not safe."
While Lin Jun introduced everything, Inanna had been frozen in shock since the very first sentence.
What plantation? What breeding area?
Inanna felt as though Lin Jun wasn't describing sections of a dungeon, but rather a fully equipped underground town.
Was she still inside the Amethyst Dungeon?
Where were all the other monsters?
In the end, how could a bunch of mushrooms have carved out such a vast, organized territory in the extremely dangerous depths of the dungeon?
Inanna's mind was flooded with questions. The more she thought, the more confused she became. The depths of this dungeon were utterly bizarre—even common sense seemed to have no place here.