Chapter 6: Heavy Rain

The mushroom tilted its umbrella cap, like a sunflower, too stunned to snap out of it for a long time.

Whatever.

Jiang Ye thought, whether it's a chestnut or a sea urchin, grab a whole bunch first! It's edible and can be sold for money.

The mushroom extended its infinitely stretchable mycelium, picking through the sea urchin tree, carefully plucking them and placing them into the backpack to avoid getting pricked.

Don't let the fact that Jiang Ye is just a five-centimeter mushroom fool you—he had "long arms" of 1.8 meters, and not just one—that's when this advantage really came in handy.

"Item slot is full."

He'd picked 6 apples and 5 sea urchins in total. Earlier, the mushroom had eaten one apple on the spot, and combined with the 1 glowstone and 1 fishing net blueprint already in the item slots, the 12-slot inventory was exactly full—not a single slot to spare.

"It's already full." The mycelium rubbed the edge of the mushroom cap as Jiang Ye stroked his "chin," feeling that expanding the backpack was a top priority.

Apples sold for 100 rupees each, and sea urchins for 150.

There were still plenty of sea urchins on the tree, but unfortunately the backpack couldn't hold them—those were all shiny rupees just sitting there!

Jiang Ye had a stroke of genius. He extended four "long arms," lightning-fast, and plucked 4 more sea urchins.

Just holding them.

There was no room in the item slots, but the system never said he couldn't just carry them by hand.

The mushroom was satisfied, holding 4 sea urchins, each bigger than he was, and continued onward toward Sun Town.

As a person—er, as a mushroom—you can't be too greedy. Those 4 sea urchins had some heft to them. If he held any more, he'd probably be too weighed down to move and would slow down.

Jiang Ye thought to himself, once he struck it rich, he would definitely set up his farm right next to Sun Town. He couldn't pick such a remote spot—it took way too long to "go into town," and the round trip would probably take till dark.

"It's dark?"

Wait, why was it dark already?

Jiang Ye was shocked to see the sky suddenly darken, and it was darkening fast, getting darker and darker. First, the apples on the distant trees went blurry, then the gravel path underfoot got swallowed up by the darkness.

The mushroom looked up—the brilliant sunlight had vanished. The whole world felt like a sealed can—not just dark, but stuffy, with the air heavy with the oppressive weight of an oncoming storm.

"It's not gonna rain, is it?" Jiang Ye looked at the dark clouds overhead. That would definitely be heavy rain—for a little mushroom, that's a flood.

Better head home. Looks like making it to town today is out of the question.

Jiang Ye felt a little disappointed, but then again, at least he'd gotten something out of today—he'd scored a bag of apples and sea urchins. He just hoped the rain wouldn't wash it all away; that would really suck.

Dududu! Dududu!

The little mushroom turned around and hopped back as fast as he could, while the mycelium still held onto the four extra sea urchins.

Plop...

Sure enough, raindrops started falling, hitting the gravel path with a sound louder than the mushroom's "footsteps."

He needed to move faster, but it was too dark—he could barely see a thing.

Jiang Ye tripped over a small stone and stumbled. Luckily, one of his "long arms" grabbed a nearby tree trunk to steady him, or he'd have done a full 720-degree forward roll, and might've even ended up with a Shiitake Blade stuck in his head.

Just as Jiang Ye was relieved he hadn't fallen, it hit him that the mycelium, instinctively grabbing the tree, had dropped what it was holding.

"Oh no, my sea urchins..."

The mushroom searched around, but the tossed sea urchins were long gone. The furry, round sea urchins had rolled off and were nowhere to be found.

There goes 150 rupees!

If only he had a flashlight right now, he might've been able to find them.

Oh, right!

Jiang Ye quickly opened the item slot and pulled out the glowstone.

A little stone that glows in the dark—that's basically a flashlight, right?

The mycelium raised the glowstone, and a circle of light appeared at the mushroom's "feet," lighting up his surroundings a little. Just a little.

The glow was faint, but it was better than nothing.

The lost sea urchins were gone for good, and the rain had started. Jiang Ye had to hurry back to the cabin under the faint light, or he might lose even more sea urchins.

Dududu! Dududu!

The mushroom ran.

The desolate farm came into view at the end of the path, shrouded in a white mist from the rain.

The mushroom took a shortcut, squeezed through the broken fence, and dashed straight into the cabin.

Jiang Ye was panting hard—it'd been a while since he'd run that fast.

"Social"

"You Got Nothing Better to Do?": Why'd it suddenly rain so hard?

"Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": Looks like we're stuck indoors today.

"Man Who Will Be the Smoked Fish King": (crying emoji) (crying emoji) (crying emoji)

The mushroom shook its head left and right like a dog, shaking off the water droplets. Jiang Ye scrolled through the social channel while complaining, and found another perk of being a mushroom—waterproof!

The social channel was buzzing—seemed like all players had gotten caught in this heavy rain, messing up everyone's plans for the day.

"You Got Nothing Better to Do?": Fish King's man, what's wrong with you?

"Man Who Will Be the Smoked Fish King": I'm so unlucky!

The rain came suddenly. When it started, the Man Who Will Be the Smoked Fish King was fishing for the legendary fish and got soaked to the bone.

"Man Who Will Be the Smoked Fish King": Then I tried to run home, I ran and ran, but the road was too dark, I couldn't see anything, and—and I fell!

His experience was a bit like Jiang Ye's. Jiang Ye lost a sea urchin, and the Man Who Will Be the Smoked Fish King threw his fishing rod out of instinct and couldn't find it.

"Man Who Will Be the Smoked Fish King": My fishing rod! Gone!

"You Got Nothing Better to Do?": The fishing rod!

"Cold-Faced Pig-Raising Succubus": The fishing rod...

"Wednesday, No Way": Damn, a fishing rod!

"Mushroom Soup": The only fishing rod on the entire server?

That fishing rod was a great pull from the starter chest—and now it’s gone just like that.

Little Mushroom shook the rainwater off itself, wriggled into the warm tent-cat bed, and sighed inwardly: *I guess I’m not the most unlucky one after all.*

The mushroom pulled an apple out of its backpack—then a sea urchin. Starving, it decided to eat first.

The night-glow stone emitted a soft white light inside the cat bed, rendering Little Mushroom slightly translucent. Jiang Ye looked down at himself and couldn’t help but grumble again.

The sea urchin sashimi was fishy and sweet, with a faint bitterness on the tip of the tongue. Jiang Ye wasn’t from a coastal city—he couldn’t stomach this stuff at all.

“The sea urchin doesn’t look half as tasty as I do,” the mushroom muttered.

Right, right—mushrooms *are* delicious, whether in soup or grilled: savory, springy, soft yet meaty when bitten into.

He nearly started drooling.

Jiang Ye decided to sell off the remaining seven sea urchins.

“Sell 7 sea urchins?”

“+1050 Rupees”

“Total: 3062 Rupees”

After selling off the sea urchins he couldn’t stomach, he had four apples left in his backpack. Jiang Ye decided to hold onto them—for now. After all, in this game, food and fruit never spoil; these apples could serve as emergency rations, sparing him hunger worries.

The mushroom took a big bite of the apple, peered out at the pitch-black sky, and concluded there’d be no going out today—he’d have to stay inside the wooden cabin.

The cabin was nearly bare; aside from chatting on the social channel, there was nothing else to do.

Jiang Ye idly scrolled through the social feed—and soon his eyelids grew heavy, sleepiness hitting him all at once.

It was so dark outside—perfect time for some shut-eye.

Within a minute, Jiang Ye was out cold…

Splash! Splash!

Rain.

Jiang Ye frowned. *Man, what bad luck? Why’s it raining even in my dream?*

Whoosh!

Rainwater splashed across Jiang Ye’s face—and with a jolt, he snapped fully awake.

He opened his eyes. Pitch black all around. Rain pouring nonstop. His hair soaked, clothes drenched. He wiped water from his face with one hand—then raised both hands higher.

They were hands. Human hands.

He’d turned from a mushroom back into a human.

“Guess this really is a dream,” Jiang Ye opened his mouth—and got a mouthful of rain.

It was dark all around; he couldn’t make out the path. Jiang Ye had absolutely no idea where he was. He opened his backpack and pulled out the tiny night-glow stone.

The white light enveloped him, easing his breath and calming his nerves slightly.

The scene felt strangely familiar. Jiang Ye held up the glowing stone, squinted—and just barely made out a desolate farm at the end of the path, not far off.

He broke into a run toward the farm.

All of a sudden—

Wings flapped overhead. Jiang Ye instinctively ducked. Something warm, slick, and strong brushed the back of his hand—and the night-glow stone he was gripping was snatched right out of his grasp!

“My night-glow stone!”

Jiang Ye’s eyes widened as the white light shot upward and looped through the air.

It was a crow—snatching the night-glow stone in its beak, circling overhead—a deliberate provocation.

The crow had a pair of blue eyes—sapphire-blue eyes that gleamed in the dark, even brighter than the night-glow stone itself.

The next moment, both the sapphire blue and the night-glow stone vanished—plunging everything into darkness as the crow flew off.

“Damn crow!”

“Stupid bird!”

“My night-glow stone…”

Jiang Ye couldn’t catch the crow. After a few steps, he realized something worse: he’d completely lost track of where the farm was.

*Man, what rotten luck. How am I supposed to get back now?*

Jiang Ye slapped his own cheeks, thinking: *I’d better wake up—what kind of nightmare is this?*

As he slapped his cheeks, someone tapped his shoulder.

With a jolt, Jiang Ye froze—scalp tingling, too terrified to turn around.

Tap. Tap.

The hand tapped his shoulder twice more—from behind.

Cold. Gaunt.

Jiang Ye gritted his teeth. No way was he turning around—not now.

Tap.

Jiang Ye didn’t respond.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

A strange sound came from behind him—then moved around to his front. Nothing like a mushroom bouncing—this was heavier, clunkier.

Jiang Ye sucked in a sharp breath.

A scarecrow.

Over six feet tall, arms stiff and shabby, wearing a yellow straw hat and a tattered red scarf.

Its mismatched eyes—one large, one small—glowed blue, eerily reminiscent of the crow’s sapphire-blue gaze moments before.

The scarecrow hopped over and poked Jiang Ye's shoulder, then pointed toward the dark direction on the right.

What's it trying to do...?

Jiang Ye didn't dare to move a muscle.

The scarecrow pointed again, then took the lead and hopped off to the right.

Jiang Ye was a little dazed—could this scarecrow actually be showing him the way?

He didn't dare get too close, so he waited until the scarecrow was a few hops ahead before cautiously following. Within two minutes, he really did catch a vague glimpse of that desolate farm again.

Jiang Ye was blown away—the scarecrow really was guiding him.

The scarecrow swayed as it hopped to the farm gate and stopped, planting itself in its usual spot.

Jiang Ye wasn't as scared anymore—he even felt a little grateful. He walked over and said quietly, "Thanks."

"Happy to help," a voice answered.

Whoa! Jiang Ye's skin crawled—the scarecrow spoke! It was still a bit creepy.

The scarecrow had only a pair of blue eyes and no mouth, yet it really did speak: "Darkness... hate."

Jiang Ye was shocked—and honestly, the scarecrow had a voice like a male voice actor's, smooth and deep.

The scarecrow leaned over and wiggled its right hand, and Jiang Ye noticed a piece of white paper had appeared in that crude hand.

The scarecrow offered the paper to Jiang Ye.

The heavy rain hadn't touched the paper—it was clean, white, and dry.

Jiang Ye reached out and took it. At first glance, it was just a blank sheet of paper—not a single word on it.

"Aha!"

Jiang Ye whispered in surprise, and at the same time, the familiar colorful fireworks went off in his head—the telltale sign of a burst of inspiration.

A pen instantly appeared in his hand, and he started scribbling on the white paper.

"Congratulations! You've obtained the blueprint for the Glowing Ring!"

"Blueprint: Glowing Ring"

"Required materials: 1 Glowstone, 2 Small Branches"