In a small hut built just for Inanna, she proudly showed three boxes to the Puffshrooms.
“I got three!” she said.
“You did awesome! Big help!” Lin Jun praised.
A Puffshroom used its stringy tendrils to grab the boxes.
Other Puffshrooms crowded around, and with Inanna’s “hee-hee” giggles, they gave her a full-body “mushroom massage,” patting and rubbing just right to ease her travel tiredness.
When Inanna fell asleep, humming happily, Lin Jun focused on the boxes.
No need to go back to the dungeon. He took the boxes to a spot with Mycelial Network in the hut and tossed the flowers onto it.
[Seven Sins: Greed Triggered]
[Stolen Skill: Mind Guidance LV1]
With [Inspiration LV5], the flower’s faint glow looked like a star sinking into a pool. It broke apart quietly, turning into tiny bits of light, completely eaten by the Mycelial Network with no trace left.
As [Inspiration] got stronger, Lin Jun saw clearly and figured out something: plants don’t have souls.
Not just plants—most monsters don’t either.
Or maybe their “spirit” is totally different from the “souls” of humans or minotaurs. When the Mycelial Network breaks down a human, it spits out a clean soul orb, free of skill marks, which then blends into the world.
Lin Jun thought [Greed] only took the “skills” attached to the soul, not the soul itself. But when breaking down monsters or plants with no high intelligence, no soul-like thing came out.
He guessed either they don’t have souls like smart creatures, or their “spirit” is so tied to their skills or body that it vanishes when broken down.
Either way, smart creatures and non-smart ones are different at the soul level.
Lin Jun didn’t know what this meant, but it felt like something big about how the world works. Too bad he knew so little.
He hadn’t sent Edin to check yet, but he doubted humans knew much either. Why? They didn’t even know dungeon cores could be controlled with souls, so their knowledge was probably thin.
He could look into it later, but Lin Jun wasn’t hopeful. The demons might know more—their Yellow Codex seemed to have that kind of info.
His thoughts went back to the new skill.
Lin Jun remembered the panel saying it worked on targets already hallucinating.
Who to test it on?
Inanna, sleeping soundly?
Norris, back in his mushroom hut?
Little Black?
No way!
The skill said “Mind,” so it might be risky. Lin Jun had better test subjects.
—
At Yafeng Town’s edge, in a messy area fenced with wooden stakes, tents were packed tight, the air full of smells. In one crooked tent, a scruffy, booze-stinking thug was snoring loudly.
A Puffshroom popped up quietly from a patch of Mycelial Network in the tent’s corner, standing in the shadows.
Yafeng Town was rushing to plan and build for all the new people, but it couldn’t keep up with the flood of refugees.
Fal banned refugees from building their own houses—shoddy, unplanned shacks would just cause trouble later. Those without proper homes yet were stuck in tents in a special area.
Of course, these refugee zones had the worst security. Fal wanted to keep order, but with too few people, he could only handle the worst crimes first.
Small stuff like theft or fights got pushed to the back.
This drunk thug was a classic troublemaker in this rough area. He avoided big crimes like murder or robbery that’d get him killed, but bullying, stealing, and scamming were his daily routine. He did it all.
When bored, Lin Jun liked watching human life. Seeing their ups and downs from the outside felt like watching a show from his old life. But he stayed out of it.
Puffshrooms weren’t heroes. Lin Jun didn’t think he was good—his kindness only went as far as his own crew.
That didn’t stop him from picking scum like this for experiments. If they got messed up, no big deal!
With Yafeng Town under his watch, Lin Jun could make this guy disappear without a trace, and nobody would find anything. But this was just a skill test.
Hallucination spores spread quietly in the tent, and the drunk thug, already out of it, breathed them in deep.
[Mind Guidance LV1]
The second the skill started, Lin Jun felt a change!
His soul seemed to stretch out invisible strings, guided by the skill, linking to the thug through the spores like a bridge.
It was a weak link, like it could snap any second—not like the strong pull of a dungeon core or the time he messed with the Yellow Codex. But it was Lin Jun’s first time linking his soul to someone on purpose, and it was pretty cool.
Through the link, Lin Jun saw the thug’s dream!
He got excited. Since becoming a mushroom, he hadn’t dreamed once—who knew!
He dove into the dream.
It was a tacky party with gold cups, greasy food, and women in heavy makeup—a super lame dream.
Weirdly, when Lin Jun’s mind entered, it turned into a shape—a teal mushroom on a party platter…
Wait, that’s not right!
Sure, he was a mushroom now, but he was human before! Even with a new race, his soul should look human, right?
Why was it just a mushroom?
Was his soul a real mushroom now?!
At least… make it a Puffshroom with legs…
Right when he thought that, the mushroom on the platter puffed up like a balloon. In two seconds, it stretched into a plump, pale Puffshroom!
Huh?
This dream was… pretty handy!
Could he turn into a human then?
The Puffshroom kept growing. Its stringy legs stretched into human legs, arms grew from its sides, and even wiggled into ten fingers…
But it got stuck at the head!
What did I look like before?
Weird—he should’ve been good-looking, but he couldn’t recall any details.
So, a creepy thing with a human body but a mushroom head stood in the middle of the fancy party hall, just thinking.
Meanwhile, at the head table, the thug—who’d been partying hard—stared, eyes nearly popping out.
“Mon… Monster!” He pushed the women away, scrambling to the wall. Then, remembering his “role,” he yelled, “Guards! Guards! Protect me! Kill that thing!”
“He gave himself a noble title, huh…” Lin Jun’s mushroom-man spoke, even without a mouth.
As a bunch of blurry-armored, stiff-moving guards rushed in, Lin Jun stopped thinking about his past.
Time to test the mind control!
The link was weak, and Lin Jun’s dream-self wasn’t as strong as the thug’s soul. But with the skill’s help, his conscious control beat the thug’s unconscious dream.
Suddenly, mushrooms sprouted on all the guards’ heads!
They froze, then turned their spears in sync, pointing sharp tips at the thug in the corner.
“What… What are you doing?! I’m your boss! Kill it! Kill it!” the thug screamed, terrified, back against the cold wall with nowhere to go.
With loud screams and the sound of blades hitting flesh, bright red blood soaked the fancy wall hangings and carpet.
Lin Jun was about to try harder to remember his “good-looking” face, but when the thug died in the dream, the whole party scene broke apart!
Lin Jun’s mind got yanked out.
Trying the skill again, his mind hit empty, silent darkness—nothing there.
Guess you can’t just kill the dreamer in their dream…
—
“Mushroom… Mushroom monster…”
The next day, the thug mumbled like a wreck all day, barely acting normal by the third day.
(End of Chapter)
