Chapter 9: Small Town

Chapter 9 The Town

"Forge disguise ring?"

"Disguise ring forged successfully!"

In the item slot, the crow feather suddenly transformed into a black thorn ring, giving off some gothic vibes.

"Disguise Ring"

"A magical ring that can alter appearance. How exactly to use it? You'll only know by trying it."

Jiang Ye took a close look at the system prompt, the whole mushroom was so shocked he almost fell off the branch.

Sell price: 200,000!

The little mushroom held up its mycelium to count the zeros—200,000, really 200,000! So crow feathers could be turned into treasure—selling it would make him rich!

But right now, Jiang Ye really needed this disguise ring, so he couldn't sell it.

Jiang Ye equipped the disguise ring, which basically just meant putting it in the item slot.

The mushroom shook its head, looking left and right, mycelium popping out, going up then down.

No reaction...

"Why isn't it working?" Jiang Ye was puzzled. The ring was on, but the mycelium was still mycelium, the mushroom was still a mushroom—no sign of turning back into a human.

Thud, thud, thud! Rustle, rustle, rustle!

Just then, footsteps returned. Jiang Ye didn't need to look down to know that adventurer was back.

The mushroom used its mycelium to cover its cap, trying to make itself invisible, not making a sound.

Oh crap!

This time, the adventurer came back and happened to glance up at the treetop.

They made eye contact!

The mushroom shuddered, thinking, I'm screwed!

The adventurer really did spot him and froze.

Jiang Ye wasn't about to just sit there; he got ready to jump down and keep running.

"Beautiful maiden, are you a princess?"

The adventurer ran over, yelling up at him.

The mycelium held onto the branch, and Jiang Ye was about to jump, but the shout made him forget what he was doing.

The adventurer's face turned bright red as he stammered, "Oh, how rude of me, please forgive me. May I ask, beautiful princess, why are you in a tree? Can't get down? Need some help?"

"What?" What the heck?

Jiang Ye froze, the mushroom turned to stone.

There was definitely only one mushroom in the tree—no one else, let alone a beautiful princess.

The adventurer was obviously talking to Jiang Ye.

The little mushroom hesitantly raised its mycelium and scratched its squishy cap.

The adventurer's face got even redder; in his eyes, the beautiful princess was tucking her golden hair behind her ear with pale fingers, the breeze blowing through her silky hair, making his heart pound.

The adventurer almost forgot the important thing and quickly asked, "Princess, have you seen a tricky, dangerous mushroom monster?"

And then... morning came.

"Spring, Day 4, Tuesday"

"6:00"

The little mushroom lying in the tent cat bed shot up, sitting upright instantly. Jiang Ye shook off the dream, immediately shaking his head and muttering, "A nightmare, for sure."

He opened his item slot.

"Disguise Ring"

Sure enough, a new item had appeared in the item slot.

The disguise ring obviously couldn't change the fact that Jiang Ye was a little mushroom, but it could change how others saw him.

Just like in the dream, the adventurer saw a noble, beautiful, elegant princess.

As for what others actually saw Jiang Ye as, it was totally random in theory.

Jiang Ye stared at the disguise ring in his backpack, frustrated. He wasn't into cross-dressing; the ring wasn't as useful as he'd hoped, but he had no choice but to wear it.

Today, Jiang Ye decided to visit Sun Town, look around, upgrade his backpack at the general store, and buy some food to bring back.

To keep the townsfolk from seeing a mushroom shopping, the disguise ring was a must.

"I'm so hungry..."

Jiang Ye steadied himself against the cat bed and took a few steps outside, feeling dizzy and lightheaded. Hunger, plus the "nightmare" keeping him up all night, left Jiang Ye feeling listless and totally drained.

He slowly walked out of the wooden cabin and immediately spotted the Fangfeng Grass planted by the door.

In just one night, little green sprouts had popped up.

Jiang Ye perked up a little, grabbed his small watering can, and got ready to water the Fangfeng Grass.

Before watering, he opened his personal info.

"Personal Information:"

Name: Jiang Ye

ID: Mushroom Soup

Occupation: Mushroom

Fullness: 08/100

Stamina: 100/100

Health: 100/100

SAN: 65/100

Sleeping in the cat bed at night doesn't just let you dream up blueprints—it also restores your stamina and health. Yesterday's stamina was hanging by a thread, but now it's back to full. The hunger meter, though, is pitifully low, and it's dragged the SAN value right to the edge of failing.

Jiang Ye figured he'd water the plants first, then head to Sun Town to grab some food!

"Friendly reminder: Your watering can's empty."

The mycelium picked up the watering can and gave it a shake—yep, empty. The mushroom turned and hopped over to the little pond in the yard to fill it up.

The sun was nice and warm, and the pond was a crisp, clear blue.

When Jiang Ye bent down to scoop up some water, he froze.

"Wait, aren't I a white mushroom?" Jiang Ye asked, totally confused.

Staring back from the water was a little mushroom holding a watering can, with a purple stem and a bluish-green cap that faded into a gradient. It looked absolutely toxic—one bite and you'd be dead.

The mushroom's color matched Jiang Ye's face right now—he was so hungry he'd turned green.

"Coo! Coo!"

The flapping of wings and the bird calls snapped the mushroom out of his little mirror session.

Jiang Ye looked up. This time it was a little white pigeon, not a crow.

The pigeon hovered in the air, and something was tied to its leg—a carrier pigeon.

"Friendly reminder: You've got mail."

A white letter fluttered down like a snowflake, and the mycelium stretched out to catch it without breaking a sweat.

"A letter from the Mayor"

"Dear new neighbor,

Welcome to Sun Town! Everyone's thrilled and a little curious about you moving in. Maybe you could swing by the town sometime? We've all got a little gift ready for you! Can't wait to meet you!"

Once he finished reading, the system automatically pulled up the quest log.

"New quest: Greet all 108 Sun Town residents."

The mushroom was floored—108 residents in Sun Town? Seriously?

"Guild Chat"

"You got nothing to do?": Just got a new quest to go say hi to every single resident in town.

"Sleep at two": Same here.

"Man who wants to be the Smoked Fish King": Heading to town now, but I'm totally lost.

"You got nothing to do?": There are signs the whole way, dude.

"Cold-faced Pig-Raising Succubus": What happens if we skip the greetings?

"Lu Ban, 1.5 meters": Why's the young master gotta go to them? Why don't they come line up at his door?

"You got nothing to do?": The system says we get gifts for greeting them.

"Baa on Wednesday": Is the gift food? I haven't eaten in two days!

"Cold-faced Pig-Raising Succubus": Is this quest trying to murder all us introverts???

Jiang Ye had already watered all 15 parsnip sprouts and was now heading to Sun Town too.

Before long, he came across the first signpost.

The mushroom glanced left at the fork in the road—that way led to the temple. Then he kept going straight—Sun Town was still up ahead.

The trip to town wasn't exactly a quick stroll for a tiny mushroom—especially a starving one.

Jiang Ye figured he'd grab a few apples and sea urchins along the way to tide himself over.

As he walked, he hit the apple tree first. Completely bare.

The mycelium stretched out and rustled through the leaves, but there wasn't a single apple hiding back there.

Jiang Ye's inventory was limited, so last time he'd only grabbed a few apples instead of clearing the tree. There should've been some left.

Further up, the apple tree gave way to a sea urchin tree—also completely bare.

But this time, the mushroom spotted two sea urchins lying in the grass by the side of the road.

"Bruised sea urchin"

"Knocked down by heavy rain and cracked open. Looks like it's past eating.

-30 Stamina

-20 HP

-30 SAN"

Right next to it was another one.

"Hollowed-out sea urchin"

"A sea urchin on the ground, hollowed out with just the shell left. Looks like some critter already ate the whole thing.

-30 Stamina

-20 HP

-30 SAN"

Jiang Ye: "..."

Jiang Ye's stomach was growling like crazy. He couldn't see his own face, but his cap was probably already a deep, sickly green.

The little mushroom slumped, its cap practically dragging on the ground.

Jiang Ye tried to hype himself up—Sun Town was right around the corner, and there'd be fresh bread and sizzling steak waiting.

The path stretched ahead, and sure enough, there were signposts everywhere.

As he walked, he spotted a sign that read—Welcome to Sun Town.

"We made it!"

"Friendly reminder: You've entered Sun Town (Safe Zone)."