As a Charming Mushroom, I Fell into the Apocalypse (MUSHROOM)
The shockwave spread throughout the entire Shelter. Those outside didn't know what was happening, terrified and thinking it was an earthquake, everyone was fleeing in panic while covering their heads.
As the epicenter of the explosion, Hui Gu who should have been most affected remained completely unharmed.
Only when the aftershocks completely subsided and everything returned to calm did he slowly open his eyes, his curled-up body gradually relaxing.
The overly dazzling silver light had disappeared, replaced by an unnervingly dead silence and darkness.
"Ji?"
Hui Gu let out a faint questioning sound.
No one responded.
He began to feel panicked, desperately pushing outward with his small round Mushroom Cap, trying to break through what was originally protection but now felt like confinement.
But the man's fist was clenched tightly, with just enough space in the palm to avoid injuring the mushroom.
Hui Gu used all his strength to finally create a small gap at the base of the thumb.
The scent of blood drifted through the air, overwhelmingly strong.
Whether it was the scent of mutant creature blood or other impure blood odors, they were all overwhelmed by the pleasant scent of Gu Wang's blood, flooding the space with the aroma the mushroom loved.
So thick it was impossible to ignore, as if standing in a field of flowers inhaling their fragrance.
Yet he couldn't feel happy at all.
Gu Wang was severely injured.
The stronger the scent of blood, the more critical the situation.
His Incubator was dying.
Hui Gu felt sore and swollen all over, an emotion he had never experienced before surging up, dominating his entire will at this moment.
If not for protecting him, this human wouldn't have needed to suffer such severe injuries...
During Gu Wang's prime, even a close-range self-destruction by an S-class mutant wouldn't have mattered much. But now, with new and old injuries combined, even a human at the peak of the pyramid couldn't withstand it.
Hui Gu didn't know what this emotion was called—he only knew he felt deeply distressed.
Even as his mushroom cap was squeezed flat and deformed, he did not stop.
Perseverance paid off. The gap between the tiger's mouth widened just a little more. Mushroom compressed himself to his smallest form and finally squeezed through that one-centimeter crack.
He tumbled a few times on the ground, his already flattened cap now dusted with grime, making him look pitiful—like a mushroom accidentally stepped on by a passerby.
Hui Gu, who had always prized cleanliness, did not immediately shake off the dust. Nor did he bother to check if his surroundings were safe. Without hesitation, he scurried toward Gu Wang.
The man was half-leaning against the wall, his handsome but stern face marked with a few scratches, his brows tightly furrowed and eyes shut. It was impossible to tell whether he was alive or dead.
"Ji…"
Hui Gu had never felt such urgency before. He hopped up and down frantically in front of the man, hoping to wake him.
But the dark eyes that usually watched him so intently remained closed.
Gradually, Hui Gu stopped jumping. He slowly moved closer to the man's wrist, pressing gently against the pulse point, listening carefully.
His heart nearly leapt to his throat, only to plummet back down when he felt the faint, weak beat.
He was alive!
But only in a deep coma.
Yet that faint, flickering breath could vanish at any moment. The untreated old injuries were the root cause of his critical condition.
Hui Gu didn't understand what Mental Shackles were—he only knew that something vile was hindering Gu Wang's will to live.
He had to intervene. At the very least, he couldn't just leave him lying on the cold ground, surrounded by debris and spider silk from the explosion, with the risk of Yu Zhenxin's loyal followers showing up at any moment.
Even though Yu Zhenxin and that Spider had long been blown to bits, not a shred of intact flesh remaining.
Hui Gu still couldn't bring himself to trust any other humans.
He tried using his tiny body to push Gu Wang, driven by instinct to hide him in a safe place only a mushroom would know.
But at most, he could only budge one of Gu Wang's fingers—any more effort and he’d be crushed.
Frustrated, Hui Gu circled anxiously, watching helplessly as the scent of blood seeping from Gu Wang grew stronger and more alluring, even as his breathing grew weaker.
For the first time, he felt too small—too insignificant to save a life on the verge of slipping away.
Hui Gu nestled against Gu Wang's cheek, gently nuzzling it. The feverish warmth made the scent of blood even more intense, almost lethally enticing.
Driven by both the fragrance and his anxiety, Hui Gu did something even he hadn't expected.
As if guided by fate, he dizzily lowered himself and leaped down, plunging directly into the wound on Gu Wang's abdomen.
Blood dyed his white stem and gray round cap crimson. Within seconds, little Hui Gu had turned into a small red mushroom.
The bleeding stopped. Little by little, the mushroom began absorbing the blood, like a tiny sponge soaking up water.
Dazed and lightheaded, suddenly bathed so directly in blood, he felt like a parched wanderer in the desert finally finding an oasis. His long-unsettled soul finally came to rest, no longer adrift. The faint, persistent emptiness within him was, at last, filled.
That indescribable hunger he’d felt for so long was finally, truly eased.
Hui Gu gulped and absorbed greedily, feeling a burning sensation rise in his stomach.
It felt so scalding hot it seemed about to turn him into a cooked mushroom.
Hui Gu whimpered in discomfort.
Why was Gu Wang’s blood so hot?
Was he feverish and about to die?
If he were human, he could move him and cool him down.
This wasn’t the first time such a bizarre thought had crossed his mind, but what was once a fleeting idea now burned intensely under the pressure of Gu Wang’s impending death, almost searing his heart.
Hui Gu didn’t want to keep drinking Gu Wang’s blood, but his instincts weren’t something he could easily resist with willpower alone.
Frustrated and anxious, his rationality briefly snapped.
So hot… his whole body felt so hot… no strength…
About ten minutes later, Hui Gu slowly woke from his daze. Though nothing around him had changed, everything looked strange from his perspective.
His viewpoint had become much higher, and objects seemed to have shrunk.
Where was Gu Wang?!
Hui Gu jolted awake, reaching out to feel around beside him. He grabbed Gu Wang’s hand where it lay on the ground and held it tightly.
A hand…?
Hui Gu looked down, stunned to see a fair, jade-like hand gripping Gu Wang’s slightly bronzed one. It looked two sizes smaller, but it was unmistakably a human hand.
Disbelieving, he used his other hand to touch his own face.
Had he really turned into a human?!
Hui Gu pinched the tip of his small nose, yelping in pain as tears welled up in his eyes from the sensation.
Dazedly, he looked down at his own naked body, his moist cat-like eyes widening in disbelief. "Gu Wang, is your blood poisonous?!" he exclaimed.
No wonder it was so addictive. He’d only accidentally taken a small sip at first, then lost all control and couldn’t stop.
A clear, slightly soft adolescent voice rang out—no longer the chirping of a fledgling bird but as pleasing as a clean stream, a joy just to hear.
But Hui Gu paid no attention to these details. Frowning, he didn’t even have time to ponder what had happened to his body, because Gu Wang’s condition seemed even worse.
If he could still faintly sense a pulse beating weakly before, now there was almost no sign of life left.
Could it be because he’d drunk too much of his blood?
Hui Gu felt even more distressed. He tugged off Gu Wang’s black trench coat and draped it haphazardly over himself—it happened to cover most of his body. His frame was slender, his shoulders narrower than a man’s, his waist slim and delicate yet not without strength.
Though it was somewhat strenuous, he managed to lift Gu Wang.
Relying on decent core strength, Hui Gu carried Gu Wang all the way into an empty room.
With a thud, he laid the man down on the bed and reached out to touch his burning forehead.
Muttering to himself, he said, "Human, how do I save you?"
"If you have a fever, you need to cool down, right? Should I throw you in ice water? But there’s no ice water here."
"No, no, I should stop your bleeding first."
He climbed onto the bed too, half-embracing Gu Wang as he fumbled clumsily, before murmuring in a muffled voice after a few seconds, "...Gu Wang, please don’t die."
It was unclear whether he had been jostled awake by the turbulence moments before or disturbed by the incessant murmuring beside him, but the man’s tightly shut eyes flickered open for an instant.
Yet the agony of his will and the Mental Shackles imposed by the ambush clung relentlessly, swiftly dragging that flicker of consciousness back into the abyss of darkness.
Just before slipping into unconsciousness again, he seemed to see a pair of blue eyes, like those of a Persian cat holding entire sunlit seas within them, gazing at him with concern.
Unconsciously, Gu Wang clenched his hands as if trying to confirm something. Even after being comatose for so long, he had never once relaxed his fists.
But now, they were empty. There was nothing inside.
The unconscious man’s brow furrowed even more deeply.
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