Chapter 8: Disguise Ring

The mushroom was really getting into hoeing the ground, almost missing the system notification.

Thud. He set the hoe aside, and the mycelium wiped the sweat off the mushroom's head before opening the system control panel to take a closer look.

"Personal Information:"

Satiety: 65/100

Stamina: 10/100

Health: 100/100

Sanity: 95/100

Jiang Ye didn't feel all that hungry, but his stamina was severely depleted—no wonder the system had popped up a notification.

"Friendly Reminder: Low stamina will trigger a fainting episode."

He'd only hoed 9 plots, and 90 stamina points were already gone. So that means each plot costs 10 stamina.

Jiang Ye wondered: Am I just one of those people who's too weak and out of shape?

"Looks like I need to top up my stamina first."

The mushroom scurried back to the wooden cabin, opened the crate, and pulled out an apple.

There were four apples left in the crate, and each apple restores 18 stamina points.

Jiang Ye did the math: he still had 6 plots left to hoe, and eating 3 apples would be enough to finish hoeing the rest, but he wasn't sure if his stamina would get too low again.

"Might as well eat them all."

The apples were big and red, giving off a fresh, crisp scent—super tempting.

Jiang Ye figured: once these are gone, I'll go pick more from the path outside the farm. As long as it doesn't rain, it's not too far.

Crunch, crunch, crunch—the mycelium wrapped around the big apple and chomped down with loud crunching sounds.

"Personal Information:"

Satiety: 100/100

Stamina: 82/100

Health: 100/100

Sanity: 100/100

The mushroom wiped his mouth and opened the system control panel for another look—time to get back to work!

With the hoeing experience from before, the remaining six plots went a lot smoother, but the stamina drain didn't go down, leaving him with only 22 points.

Jiang Ye wiped the light sweat off his forehead—next up was planting the seeds.

The mushroom carefully placed each seed into the hoed ground, and the moment a seed went in, the plot gave off a faint glow.

"Almost forgot I still have to water." The mushroom stretched out its "long arms," and the mycelium picked up the wooden watering can, testing the waters by watering one plot first.

"Stamina: 21/100"

Watering costs stamina too—so it looks like one point per plot.

Jiang Ye took a look—the last of the apples were already gone, no way to restore stamina. Looks like he'd have to tough it out with the remaining 22 points and finish watering, hoping he wouldn't keel over halfway through.

Splash—plot one.

Splash—plot two.

Splash...

"Friendly Reminder: You're starting to feel tired."

By the time he got to the 5th plot, Jiang Ye got a system notification, but it was a bit different from the last one.

There were still 10 plots left—he couldn't just quit halfway.

The mushroom hauled the watering can and kept going.

Splash—plot six.

Splash—plot seven.

...

"Friendly Reminder: You're feeling really exhausted."

"Ugh..." Jiang Ye sucked in a sharp breath. He was holding the watering can, and his mycelium—normally thin, long, and straight—had somehow gone all twisty and crooked, like it'd gone from spaghetti to instant ramen, bending all over the place like it had a mind of its own.

After finishing the thirteenth plot, he started feeling dizzy, weak all over, with his heart racing and his breath short.

This must be what the system meant by "very fatigued"—way more intense than the first time.

Two more plots to go.

"Stamina: 8/100"

"Wait, something's off."

Jiang Ye rubbed his eyes, then rubbed them some more. The fatigue was making his vision swim—was he seeing things? The stamina numbers didn't add up.

He'd originally had 22 stamina points left. At 1 point per plot, watering all 15 plots would still leave 7 points.

Now, having just watered 13 plots, he should have 9 stamina left, logically.

One point short.

Jiang Ye gritted his teeth and watered the next plot.

"Stamina: 6/100"

It dropped by 2 points at once.

"Friendly Reminder: You're feeling really exhausted."

One last plot—he watered it.

"Stamina: 4/100"

"Friendly reminder: You're feeling really exhausted."

Thud!

The mushroom wobbled and plopped down on the ground, too wiped out to stand.

In the game, normally, watering a field costs one stamina point per plot. But when you're totally exhausted, stamina drains faster and doubles, so it costs two points per plot.

The curly, noodle-like mycelium dragged the little mushroom, who was sitting on the ground, slowly pulling him toward the cabin.

It wasn't pretty, but at least he made it to the cabin without passing out halfway.

Too exhausted...

The mushroom rolled over and tumbled into the tent cat bed, and fell asleep the next second.

The sky was still bright, but Jiang Ye had already fallen asleep.

Caw—

Caw!

He hadn't been asleep long when a hoarse, loud cry startled him awake.

He rubbed his eyes, sat up, yawned, and held up his hand to check.

It was his palm and the back of his hand—Jiang Ye confirmed it wasn't mycelium. So he hadn't really woken up; he was still dreaming.

Jiang Ye was already used to this kind of dream, having had it once before. He wasn't surprised.

"I'm dreaming again." Jiang Ye walked out of the cabin and muttered, "It must be from working so hard in the fields today—it sparked some inspiration. I know—I'm supposed to invent a tractor!"

If he had a tractor, he wouldn't have to hoe the ground bit by bit—it'd be fully automated, easy, and fast.

"Caw!"

Stepping outside, Jiang Ye looked up and saw that huge crow was back, circling over the farm.

Jiang Ye thought, why does this crow keep flying around? It doesn't seem scared of the scarecrow in the yard at all.

"Could the scarecrow be in cahoots with it?" Jiang Ye blinked. Otherwise, why would both the scarecrow and the crow have rings around their necks?

The crow circling overhead had a shiny spot on it—the glowing ring Jiang Ye had made.

The crow looked at him with its blue eyes, then flapped its wings.

Jiang Ye tilted his head back, hands on his hips, thinking, this crow looks weirdly human. Is it telling me to follow it?

The crow flapped its wings again, like it was waving.

Jiang Ye thought again, but the way it flapped its wings was oddly like someone calling a little dog.

Jiang Ye didn't move, just kept watching.

"Caw!"

The crow spread its wings and circled overhead once more.

Its sharp, nimble claws grabbed a small branch and dropped it from the air.

Jiang Ye quickly stepped back, barely dodging the branch as it almost hit his head!

"You stupid bird!"

Jiang Ye cursed in anger—this bad bird was pulling another air strike.

The crow gave him a scornful look and flew off.

Jiang Ye, still fuming, jumped over the farm fence and chased after it.

The huge crow kept flying, passing the apple tree by the path, then the sea urchin tree ahead, pausing every now and then to look back.

Jiang Ye chased it, feeling like the crow's blue eyes always had a weird disdain for people, plus a sense of world-weariness.

A human's stride was way bigger than a little mushroom's. The path the mushroom had taken, Jiang Ye covered in less than ten minutes, and the road ahead started to feel unfamiliar.

"Is this bad bird heading to Sun Town?" Jiang Ye looked around, sensing something was off. This wasn't the road to Sun Town—it had veered off course.

A few more steps, and a new sign appeared ahead.

— Temple, straight ahead.

Jiang Ye was surprised, realizing he'd turned left at that crossroads.

"What kind of place is the Temple?" It sounded mysterious.

Jiang Ye kept going, figuring it was just a dream, so there shouldn't be any danger.

The narrow path stretched on alongside the trees, the road getting narrower and the trees denser. Eventually, the path disappeared, and Jiang Ye found himself in a forest.

Sunlight filtered through sparsely, the thick branches overhead like giant arms blocking the light, making the grove dim and mysterious.

Far off, deeper in the woods, there was a massive dark silhouette. At first glance, it looked like a mountain peak, but on closer look, it was probably the Temple mentioned on the sign.

It was too far for Jiang Ye to see clearly, only able to make out the building's outline—classical but run-down.

"Could it be an abandoned temple?" Jiang Ye wondered.

"Hey, you up ahead! Please don't go any further!"

A voice came from behind him.

Jiang Ye turned in surprise—he wasn't alone.

Footsteps approached as someone caught up to him from behind.

The person curiously sized up Jiang Ye, and Jiang Ye looked back at him.

He was a young man with brown hair and black eyes, wearing a green outfit and a green pointed hat. He had a shield and a sword at his waist.

Jiang Ye was taken aback—could this be the legendary hero's outfit? In games, heroes were always dressed in green.

"Are you a villager from Sun Town?" the other spoke up first. "I'm an adventurer passing through."

Jiang Ye nodded.

The hero said, "Don't go any further—the Temple up ahead is dangerous."

Jiang Ye glanced at the Temple's silhouette and asked, "Dangerous?"

The adventurer kindly warned, "Yes, many monsters inhabit the area around the temple, such as slimes, lizardmen, and Bokoblins. They're very dangerous for ordinary people like you."

Jiang Ye was curious—monsters actually lived around the temple? That sounded off.

The adventurer continued, "Besides, the weather around the temple is quite bizarre and unpredictable. Thunderstorms can come out of nowhere."

As if to confirm the adventurer's words, a deafening crack boomed overhead out of nowhere, and a blinding flash streaked through the leaves.

Thunder. Jiang Ye was almost blinded by the lightning.

"Hah!"

The adventurer let out a sharp gasp.

Jiang Ye looked at him, thinking to himself, this adventurer's even more chicken than I am—one little thunderclap and he's acting like he's scared to death.

The adventurer flinched, quickly whipping out his hero's sword and pointing it at Jiang Ye.

This time, Jiang Ye was startled too, quickly backing off to avoid getting skewered by that long blade.

Jiang Ye said, "Hey, calm down. What are you doing?"

The adventurer glared: "You're no villager from Sun Town—you're a mushroom monster!"

Jiang Ye: "???"

What the heck is going on?

Jiang Ye's heart skipped a beat—how did he figure it out?

Another bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.

Jiang Ye had a bad feeling. His body flickered like a faulty light bulb, syncing with the lightning—shrinking and growing, one second human, the next a mushroom.

Oh crap!

Jiang Ye suddenly shrank, turning into a tiny, tiny white mushroom. And then...

He turned tail and bolted!

A shout came from behind: "Mushroom monster! Stop right there!"

The mushroom dove into the grass on the right, trying to cover his tracks. He was way too small and couldn't run fast at all, feeling like the adventurer would catch him any second and chop him in half with that sword.

The mushroom spun around in a panic, then had a brainwave. His mycelium climbed up a tree trunk, and he snuck up a big tree, crouching at the very top.

From this high up, Jiang Ye thought, the adventurer definitely can't see me now—this has to be a blind spot.

The mushroom didn't dare make a sound. The adventurer ran right past, right under the tree.

Phew—

Jiang Ye let out a sigh of relief. He really didn't see me.

"But," Jiang Ye thought, his head aching, "this isn't gonna work."

The adventurer called him a mushroom monster the second he saw him. If he walked into Sun Town like this, would the villagers scream in terror too? How was he supposed to buy seeds or trade for a backpack?

"Aha!"

Just as he was thinking that, before he could even worry for a minute, Jiang Ye's eyes lit up, and he let out an exaggerated, gleeful shout.

Jiang Ye seriously wanted to wrap his mycelium around his own mouth—shouting that loud would bring the adventurer right back.

Inspiration hit!

The mycelium pulled out a pen and paper, crouched on the tree, and started scribbling.

"Congratulations! You've obtained the Disguise Ring blueprint!"

"Blueprint: Disguise Ring"

"Required materials: Pitch-black feather (1), branch (2)"