As a Charming Mushroom, I Fell into the Apocalypse (MUSHROOM)
Watching the sword shimmering with silver-white light disappear before his eyes, Hui Gu grew increasingly curious. Disregarding the few drops of blood staining his body, he huffed and puffed as he scrambled up Gu Wang's frame again.
"Squeak squeak grumble?" Where did you hide it?
Like a restless little jelly, he was remarkably agile and hard to catch.
Before Gu Wang could react, the mushroom had already slipped up to his neck and was now tugging at his collar, peering curiously inside.
Naturally, he saw nothing but collarbones.
Hui Gu felt disappointed, suspecting Gu Wang had hidden the weapon inside his clothes. Otherwise, why would his chest be so bulging!
He was a mushroom with common sense, knowing that male humans should have flat, sunken chests.
This "common sense" gray mushroom had no concept of what muscles were.
He tried to burrow deeper inside.
Gu Wang let out a low "Hm?" from his throat.
Having just picked up this little gray mushroom, he already felt the urge to frown and sigh again.
If he weren't worried about accidentally crushing the fragile creature with too much force, he wouldn't have been so careless as to let a mutant creature get this close.
The man furrowed his brows tightly, rationally explaining away this momentary lapse in vigilance to himself.
Hui Gu's scheme naturally failed. He had barely wiggled his little bottom halfway in when he was plucked out by his pale stem.
"Squeak!?"
Like some rubber duck toy that squeaks when squeezed.
Gu Wang rarely encountered anything so soft and vulnerable, and couldn't resist giving two more gentle squeezes.
"Squeak!!"
Hui Gu jumped in surprise, displeasedly wriggling between the two fingers.
Within half a minute, he ran out of energy and lay limp, motionless.
Gu Wang paused, experiencing a rare flicker of guilt.
He thought he might have hurt the little creature with too much pressure, despite having tried to be as gentle as possible.
Sitting down, he gently placed Hui Gu on his lap and softly stroked the Mushroom Cap, using his thumb to wipe away the blood that had accidentally stained it.
Hui Gu lay floppy and limp, allowing himself to be manipulated as if he had already stopped breathing.
For a moment, Gu Wang felt his heart skip a beat, though the sensation passed so quickly it might have been an illusion. His expression remained impassive, his demeanor as cold and indifferent toward all living things as before.
His handsome yet ice-cold face showed no change, radiating aloofness from head to toe.
Only his hand continued stroking the Mushroom Cap.
Until he detected subtle movement beneath his fingertips.
Those always-indifferent dark eyes narrowed slightly as he finally realized the mushroom beneath his hand wasn't dead or injured—merely asleep.
Gu Wang: "..."
Hui Gu didn't snore, but when asleep, he would rise and fall slightly with each breath, barely noticeable if one wasn't paying close attention.
As a Charming Mushroom, unlike other mushrooms, he not only didn't dislike sunlight but also preferred sleeping at night.
After a whole day of exertion, he was utterly exhausted, and the Incubator emanated a faint, pleasant scent that nourished him.
The Incubator was the very cradle meant to nurture him, and sleeping on it, Hui Gu felt not a shred of vigilance.
This was absolute confidence in his own Charm Skill.
He believed this human had been completely enchanted by him.
How could any creature spend so much time with him and not fall under his spell?
In such a comfortable environment, Hui Gu quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Aside from the slightly uncomfortable hardness of the thigh muscles beneath him, this Incubator was practically perfect.
Watching the little mushroom gradually melt into a puddle on his thigh, a gradient of silver light flickered deep in Gu Wang's eyes, like brilliant stars suddenly shining in the dark night. The colors shifted with a subtle, understated radiance before finally returning to their pitch-black hue, reflecting Hui Gu's tiny form.
He said nothing, simply cupped the mushroom, and placed it back into his pocket.
His dark pupils turned outward again, like a leopard lurking in the night, silent yet exuding an aura that commanded respect.
Until the sun rose once more, not a single reckless mutant creature dared approach that night.
...
Hui Gu stretched lazily, though it wasn't very noticeable—just a slight elongation of his white stem by a few millimeters and a brief expansion of the dusty edges of his Mushroom Cap before quickly snapping back to shape, like a stretched piece of rubber.
He poked his head out of the pocket and found the scenery had changed. It was no longer the dilapidated kindergarten classroom but a street overgrown with various green plants, obscuring its original appearance.
The shop signs along the street were entirely covered by Mutated Plants—all passive mutant creatures lying in wait for unsuspecting prey to stumble upon them.
Most of them survived on carrion, and high-level new humans like Gu Wang were not within their hunting range.
As for other active mutant creatures capable of hunting, they had long been torn apart by the Lord Titan Arum ruling this area.
The journey had been far safer than Gu Wang had anticipated.
As the pinnacle of human combat prowess, his supernatural ability wasn't healing-based, yet he possessed a terrifying self-regeneration capability.
Even though all new humans had robust vitality, his regenerative power set him apart by an insurmountable gap.
These wounds, inflicted through ambush, would kill an ordinary human in less than a breath. Even A-rank and above new humans could only await a slow death.
But now, after just one short night, the fatal wound piercing through his abdomen and other injuries, both large and small, had already begun to heal.
This kind of regeneration, almost terrifying, was something even the vice-chief, who knew him well, had never witnessed.
Hui Gu, however, was somewhat dissatisfied. As the Incubator's wounds healed, the scent of blood grew fainter.
He had never liked anyone's blood this much before.
Hui Gu looked down at his flattened belly, which automatically emitted a series of gurgling sounds.
Gu Wang, fully focused on hurrying along: ?
He pinched Hui Gu out of his pocket and placed him on his palm for observation.
What to do when the picked-up mushroom keeps making noises?
Hui Gu stood proudly on the human's palm, putting on a haughty little display.
Extremely petite and adorable, not the least bit annoying.
Seeing this foolish Incubator still looking at him with a confused expression, Hui Gu intensified his efforts to make gurgling sounds.
"Gugu gu—"
After watching for a long time, a sudden realization finally dawned on Gu Wang, who understood with strange clarity what he was doing.
This little fellow was actually imitating the sound of a hungry human.
Gu Wang's voice was magnetic: "Hungry?"
Hui Gu nodded happily and made the gurgling sound again: "Gugu."
He lifted his Mushroom Cap to show the man his white stem.
It had shriveled. He was hungry.
The energy bar he had stolen from the humans yesterday had long been digested.
Without a trace of guilt, Hui Gu commanded his Incubator to offer him new food.
Gu Wang himself hadn't eaten for a day and a night. He had no desire to search for food initially, but seeing Hui Gu's actions, a thought stirred within him.
Hmm, food was indeed necessary.
Of course, it wasn't because he needed to feed this little gray mushroom. To recover his strength, he also needed to replenish his energy.
Gu Wang thought with a serious expression.
He cast his gaze toward the surrounding shops but quickly withdrew it, dismissing the possibility.
These shops were all on the streets. At the beginning of the apocalypse, when this small town hadn't yet been completely overrun by mutant creatures, these easily accessible resources had already been scavenged over and over again.
By now, naturally, nothing could possibly remain.
Even if there were any leftover food, it would have rotted beyond edibility.
What kind of food did a mushroom need?
Sensing the gaze, Hui Gu looked up and met Gu Wang's eyes, giving what he believed to be a very enchanting smile.
In human eyes, this was just a silly, foolish little gray mushroom.
A bit ugly and dumb.
The corners of Gu Wang's lips unconsciously lifted by a few pixels.
Hui Gu grumbled to himself: Foolish Incubator, completely captivated by me, aren't you?
Then he was once again placed into the man's pocket. Just as he was about to hit the bottom, Hui Gu exerted effort and neatly lodged himself at the edge of the pocket, revealing his round Mushroom Cap to peer outside.
As a new human, Gu Wang's field of vision was broader than that of ordinary people, and his perception was several times sharper.
Whether it was scents in the air or the faintest transmitted movements, they were all intense sources of information collection for him.
He soon spotted a suitable prey.
Striding forward, a mysterious and unpredictable black substance suddenly coalesced between his fingers, like some kind of Dark Particles barely visible to the naked eye. As they gathered in large numbers, they gradually became clearer, eventually forming a throwing dart the length of an adult man's palm.
Though formed entirely from black particles, after taking shape, a few streaks of silver light more beautiful than shooting stars appeared, not only flowing along the dart's body but also accompanying it with a silver glow as it spun.
Gu Wang's originally pitch-black pupils underwent a slight change.
Here it comes again, this sharp, chilling aura!
Sensing an overwhelmingly powerful presence gradually forming, Hui Gu immediately leaned out a bit further, curiously watching Gu Wang's fingertips.
Clearly, Gu Wang's supernatural ability was related to these eerie black particles. For now, it seemed they could transform into various weapons for his use.
While this aura struck fear into the hearts of all mutant creatures, Hui Gu felt not a trace of fear.
Instead, he grew excited.
Wow, so cool!
He really had picked up an incredibly awesome mount.
Hmm, hmph.
Hui Gu hummed a cheerful tune.
He had already assigned three labels to Gu Wang—Incubator, Breeding Ground, and Mount.
Under Hui Gu's expectant gaze, the dart didn't disappoint, flying swiftly and nimbly toward the right front with a sharp whistling sound. The naked eye could only catch a glimpse of black light streaking through the air.
A cry resembling that of a rabbit came from the grass.
Prey had been caught.
The curious mushroom immediately chirped and chattered, urging Gu Wang to go check it out.
The man twitched his fingers slightly, and the dart returned carrying a rabbit that had been struck right between the eyes.
This rabbit had probably been a dwarf pet rabbit before the apocalypse, but now it had mutated to the size of a large dog. Its ears had become extremely thick and fleshy, with all fur gone, leaving only visible blood vessels and unevenly distributed veins.
The rabbit's teeth had also mutated into dense, shark-like serrations.
But compared to other ferocious mutant creatures, this rabbit wasn't particularly ugly.
Hui Gu stared at the prey's corpse on the ground for a few seconds before quickly losing interest.
For mutant creatures of this level, he had them competing to offer themselves to him every day when he woke up.
He had long stopped caring for such things.
He was lifted from the pocket by Gu Wang, with the palm approaching the completely dead mutant rabbit on the ground.
Hui Gu looked disdainfully at the rabbit with its head pierced through by a large bloody hole, then pattered along the man's wrist to his shoulder.
"Chirp chirp!" No way!
It was dirty and smelly—he absolutely wouldn't go near it.
Gu Wang thought deeply: "Don't like to eat?"
The man had already forgotten what he was thinking about earlier. Seeing the little creature keeping a clear distance from the food he had found, his brows furrowed tightly again.
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