As a Charming Mushroom, I Fell into the Apocalypse (MUSHROOM)
Blocked firmly by the pocket, no one noticed Hui Gu’s lapse.
He stared fixedly at the small bottle of blood, eyes gleaming and smacking his lips slightly.
By the time the bottle was just filled, Gu Wang’s wound had already healed. Having lost blood before, he didn’t collect any more.
The others looked on in confusion. Both New Humans and ordinary people gathered around, someone quietly asking what this was for.
Gu Wang: "I've calculated that the resources in the Shelter will only last you another two weeks. If you want to survive, you must head toward Dawn Base."
The group exchanged uneasy glances, but no one dared to interrupt.
The ordinary humans subtly glanced at the remaining new humans, trying to gauge their reactions.
As humans without supernatural abilities, they had no choice but to align themselves with the strong and follow those with power.
If the new humans were unwilling to venture into the wasteland, they could only drift along like duckweed, their own agency long eroded by the cruel reality.
Meanwhile, all the new humans were watching Gu Wang.
Following the stronger members of their kind was an innate instinct for new humans—much like how contamination level invasion would drive them to bloodlust, it was an irresistible impulse.
Gu Wang: "My blood carries an S-class aura, which can help deter most mutant creatures in the wasteland to some extent. But the deterrent effect in the blood is time-sensitive—it will fade after a month. I'll provide you with the shortest route from here to Dawn Base. At your pace, driving will take only five days."
Black particles materialized at Gu Wang's fingertips, but this time they did not form a weapon. Instead, they slowly flowed into the small vial of blood.
These black substances would automatically activate to defend against lethal attacks, though only three times.
Gu Wang looked at them: "Resources must be distributed fairly per person. When you reach Dawn Base, you'll need to register identity tags. I'll be monitoring your numbers."
This was to prevent the new humans from using ordinary humans as shields in critical moments or from hoarding resources disproportionately—a scenario he had seen too often and had to preempt.
Throughout his speech, Wang Xiaojun and Fang Xiangxiang kept their heads down, hiding behind the crowd. They felt both uneasy and guilty, though fear dominated their emotions.
They were terrified that Gu Wang would seek revenge but lacked the courage to apologize.
This was a microcosm of countless people in the apocalypse: unable to fully abandon their conscience for evil, yet becoming despicable to survive.
Gu Wang had no intention of settling scores with them; after all, he had never trusted these two from the beginning.
Having explained everything that needed handling, he turned to pack his belongings.
"Wait…"
Someone chased after him, hoping to beg Gu Wang to lead them, but a single glance from the man stopped them in their tracks.
It felt like being thrown into an ice cellar—a clear warning. The person instantly understood they could go no further; his attitude was resolute.
Watching the small vial of blood moving farther away, Hui Gu grew displeased.
This was his Incubator! Why should his blood be given to them?
He couldn't even bear to drink it himself.
Hui Gu gritted his teeth, staring at Gu Wang's neck and imagining sinking his teeth in, and gulping down the blood spurting from the artery.
The taste was a hundred times more delicious than he had imagined, though it felt warm when drinking.
The sensation was strange—it made Mushroom uncomfortable, yet not entirely unpleasant… an indescribable peculiarity.
Most importantly, it satiated his most primal craving.
The side effect was that he might be influenced by the human blood and turn more human.
It was uncertain whether this side effect occurred every time he drank it—perhaps it was just too intense the first time.
I'll have to verify this another time.
It definitely wasn't because he was greedy and wanted another taste.
Hui Gu gulped audibly once more.
This time, in the surrounding silence, the sound was particularly clear.
Gu Wang's hands, which had been packing, paused momentarily. He glanced inside the large combat pack.
It contained a change of clothes for convenience, several bottles of water, emergency compressed biscuits, and still had plenty of room in its spacious interior.
Gu Wang asked, "What do you want to eat?"
He mistakenly thought Hui Gu was hungry.
In a way, he wasn't entirely wrong.
Hui Gu blinked somewhat guiltily. He couldn't very well say "I want to drink your blood," so he just perfunctorily chirped twice.
Twenty minutes later, the combat pack was full.
The compressed biscuits had vanished, replaced by wet canned goods that weren't filling but took up space, along with overly sweet bread and cookies loaded with sugar.
...
Three days later.
They arrived smoothly at Dawn Base.
Hui Gu let out an excited "Wow!" and stood on Gu Wang's head to get a better look at the base entrance.
The entire base was laid out in a massive circle. Viewed from above, it resembled a giant bird's nest, though its scale covered half the city.
This was currently the largest base, ranking first in both area and overall strength.
After the apocalypse, the magnetic fields were severely damaged, making long-distance communication a thing of the past. They had no way of knowing if other countries across the sea still had bases, but for now, Dawn Base was the promised land for all survivors.
The closer they got to Dawn Base, the safer it became, as base officials regularly issued missions to mercenary guilds to handle nearby threats.
Any monster rated B-level or higher immediately became a high-value bounty target upon discovery.
Every day, survivors streamed toward the base. Despite heavy casualties on the road, long queues still formed at the base entrance daily.
"Chirp?" Hui Gu looked curiously at the grass in Gu Wang's hand.
He remembered this plant—it was a corrosive mutant creature. Harmless as long as you didn't touch its sap.
It looked like ordinary wild grass and was common everywhere after the apocalypse.
Yesterday, while on the road, Gu Wang had specifically stopped to gather some.
Hui Gu hadn't asked at the time, but now, seeing him pick it up, curiosity finally stirred.
Gu Wang gathered all the blades in his palm, clenched his fist tightly, and easily squeezed out the grass juice.
The man expressionlessly smeared the juice onto his own face.
A burning sensation immediately followed by pain spread across his skin, yet he didn't even furrow his brow.
It was as ordinary to him as taking a sip of water.
"Jii!!" Hui Gu was startled, hopping up in alarm.
Gu Wang used his other clean hand to gently stroke him: "Did I scare you?"
Hui Gu looked utterly shocked: "Gugu gu??"
Human! Have you lost your mind?!
Why are you ruining your face?
Hui Gu anxiously paced in circles.
Gu Wang raised his hand, touching the large scar on his face to confirm its coverage: "I need to conceal my identity for now."
Hui Gu stared at him unhappily.
"Does it look very frightening?" The man's brow tightened slightly. He had never cared about appearance, let alone about disfiguring himself.
But if Mushroom didn't like it, he would resolve his matters as quickly as possible and return to his original appearance.
It wasn't exactly frightening.
Hui Gu carefully studied Gu Wang's face.
The man's bone structure was truly exceptional—his tall nose bridge, thin lips, and deep-set eyes remained striking. Even with the burn marks, it wasn't as ugly as one might imagine.
That wasn't the point, though. Hui Gu disliked how calmly he harmed himself.
No matter what his personality was like or what kind of life he'd lived before, now he belonged to Mushroom!
Only Mushroom had the right to inflict wounds on him; no one else, including himself, had that privilege!
"Gugu jijijiji!"
Hui Gu lectured him vehemently, his tone agitated yet his voice endearing.
Even though he couldn't understand the words, Gu Wang patiently waited for him to finish, then nodded earnestly: "I'm sorry."
He didn't comprehend, but his attitude was sincere.
Hui Gu was easy to placate; with a soft grunt, he let go of his anger.
After cleaning his hands, Gu Wang picked up a roll of bandages and began wrapping them around his head, covering about sixty percent of his face.
The bandages not only served as insurance but also reminded him not to accidentally let the wounds on his face heal too quickly.
If there was any chance he might be recognized by those overly familiar with him before wrapping the white bandages, it was nearly impossible now.
He looked like a gloomy eccentric, and no one would ever connect this appearance with the decisive and ruthless Chief Gu.
With everything prepared, Hui Gu hid in the backpack as Gu Wang joined the queue.
The base had four entrances; they happened to arrive at Entrance No. 1.
Here, the people in line were divided into two queues: one dedicated to base taskers returning from outside, and the other for outsider registration.
The latter moved at a pace comparable to a snail's, yet no one dared complain.
Outsiders wanting to obtain an identity card in the base had to go through numerous procedures. Filling out the basic information form alone took each person at least twenty minutes, and they were also required to memorize dozens of pages containing hundreds of base rules.
Gu Wang's handwriting was elegant. He deliberately switched to a more unrestrained style, wilder than his usual formal script for signatures, with strokes that seemed to break free from constraints.
He completed the basic information in the shortest time possible, fabricating nearly eighty percent of it, and still used the false name Gu Chen.
As for those rules, ninety percent of them were established by him, and the remaining ten percent had his approval vote. He knew them by heart without even needing to look.
It had been less than a month since he was framed. Even if the base's rules had been revised, these fundamental rules were unlikely to change within half a year.
Only a minority had betrayed him; his other supporters would not easily allow the base to undergo a complete reshuffle.
The registration officer took the form, and his previously indifferent expression lit up upon seeing the Super A-class ability. He flashed an ingratiating smile: "This way, please. You'll still need to undergo a final assessment by the examiner to obtain your identity badge. Oh, and here’s my badge ID—feel free to contact me if needed."
He quickly recited a string of numbers. Gu Wang gave a slight nod, remaining coldly silent.
After all, high-level new humans were often influenced by their pollution level, and many had eccentric temperaments. Someone with bandages wrapped around his face wasn’t all that strange—just yesterday, someone had even shown up carrying a human head to register.
The registration officer shrugged, entirely unbothered by the cold shoulder, and continued smiling obsequiously.
Just as they were about to proceed, an emaciated man darted out: "You arrived later than me! Why should you go first?"
What an annoying fly.
Hui Gu, lying inside the backpack, watched him through the zipper while chewing on something, treating the man like a clown for his entertainment.
The man’s agitated tone drew sidelong glances from others.
The registration officer had no choice but to speak up: "He has an excellent memory. If you could recite a hundred basic rules that quickly, you could go now too."
The man stiffened his neck, momentarily caught off guard by this reasoning, and could only stubbornly retort: "I’m a new human too—how could my memory be bad?"
Then he pointed at himself proudly: "I have a B-class offensive ability, you know."
Tch.
The registration officer looked at him disdainfully, turning his face away to hold back a sarcastic remark.
In any other base, a B-class offensive new human would indeed be impressive and considered high-level. But here—this was Xiguang, where geniuses and talent were never in short supply.
Only A-class or above could truly be considered high-level.
Countless new humans, one in ten thousand, arrived at the base thinking they would receive special treatment like they did elsewhere, only to be harshly brought back to reality by the truth.
The scrawny man didn’t dare vent his anger at the registration staff, but he followed behind Gu Wang with a vicious glare.
Hui Gu had no interest in him, but he was somewhat curious about the man’s arrogant attitude and the registration officer’s obvious change in demeanor.
Ability Level…
Hui Gu had never really considered what level of mutant creature he belonged to.
If tested, he’d definitely be at the highest level.
Hui Gu nodded to himself, self-assured.
Inside, there were two examiners.
After using instruments to verify that neither had misrepresented their Ability Level, they began testing their knowledge of the basic rules.
"How are points converted after entering the base?"
Gu Wang’s tone was neither submissive nor arrogant, slightly altered to sound hoarser than usual: "One point has purchasing power equivalent to one hundred RMB…"
"How are points earned?"
"Through lawful labor…"
No matter what question the examiner asked, Gu Wang answered fluently and accurately.
Compared to the thin man beside him, his performance was practically perfect.
The previously arrogant thin man, completely caught off guard by the sudden questioning, turned green in the face but could barely answer anything, ultimately slinking back to the end of the line in disgrace.
Everything proceeded as smoothly as expected—until they reached the toll station.
"First-time entry into the base requires 500 points."
Hui Gu could sense the man, who had been calm all along, suddenly tense up at these words. It was subtle, but his displeasure was palpable.
Gu Wang: "Shouldn’t it be 50 points?"
That had been the fee before he left the base. Now it had increased tenfold.
It wasn’t hard to guess who was behind this.
Whoever it was didn’t dare to alter the basic rules to make life harder for the base’s ordinary residents, so they targeted this instead.
First-time registrants wouldn’t know the intricacies of the system. Even if they wanted to protest, they’d have to become members of the base first to have any standing.
And those already inside the base were unlikely to spare much concern for outsiders, let alone rally to their defense. Changing this rule had been all too easy.
The toll collector, accustomed to dealing with reluctant payers, replied impatiently, "This was changed just a few days ago. If you have supplies, you can exchange them for points and enter now."
Gu Wang: "I have food."
He unzipped his backpack—only to find it completely empty.
A "little mouse" had gotten into his bag.
The last piece of bread was now nestled in the arms of said "little mouse."
Sensing the gaze on him, a certain gray furball hurriedly stuffed the last chunk of bread into his mouth. The piece was even larger than he was.
Hui Gu looked up innocently: Burp?
What happened? What food? What bread?
Mushroom doesn’t know.
"..."
Gu Wang’s eyes darkened as he reached into the bag.
Hui Gu instinctively shut his eyes.
Then he felt the crumbs on his head being gently brushed away.
Gu Wang discreetly scooped up the mushroom and tucked him into his sleeve, using his supernatural ability to mask his presence.
With perfect composure, he zipped up the bag and placed it on the security conveyor before speaking. "I’ll take a loan on points."
The toll collector, utterly unfazed, handed him a form. "Fill this out. Every point you earn after entering the base will be subject to a 30% deduction until the loan is repaid."
Noticing the Ability Level Gu Wang had written down, his tone softened slightly. "For high-level ability users like you, taking on a few missions will clear the debt in no time."
But what about the ordinary people?
Hui Gu couldn't help tilting his head inside the left sleeve.
New humans could use their supernatural abilities to find suitable jobs, but how long would it take for ordinary people doing basic work to pay off these loans?
Even he, a mutant creature, found it unreasonable.
Before even entering the base, they were already burdened with a five-hundred-point loan.
This was essentially a disguised tax on newly arrived survivors.
But these weren’t things a Little Gray Mushroom like him needed to worry about.
Gu Wang’s hand didn’t hesitate as he signed.
Two characters flowed like a swimming dragon: Gu Chen.
After a photo was taken, a simple ID card with a picture was produced.
During the security check, Gu Wang casually placed both the ID card and Hui Gu into his bag.
Just like that, he swaggered into the base with the mushroom in tow.
As soon as they entered, Hui Gu couldn’t stop chirping in amazement.
So lively!
So many two-legged creatures!
It was the first time a wild mushroom had entered such a complete human activity zone, and everything felt novel to him.
Even the fake green belts imitating pre-apocalypse cities along the roadside captivated him.
The backpack material was excellent, soundproof enough that no one except Gu Wang could hear the faint rustling.
Hui Gu: "Chirp?" What’s that?
Gu Wang glanced around, his gaze settling on a small vendor stall.
There were always people setting up makeshift stalls selling things nearby, but this one was the busiest because he was selling food.
A bowl of mutated dragon meat for five points.
It came from a mutant creature called an Earth Dragon—not very aggressive but highly skilled at hiding.
One point could buy a satiety biscuit that provided an intense feeling of fullness. Many people without points would eat one to last the day.
Five points might be their food budget for five days, and a bowl of Earth Dragon meat was mostly konjac with just a few pieces of meat on top, good only for satisfying a craving.
The taste wasn’t particularly great either, but with a heavy sprinkle of seasoning, it was more palatable than other dry rations.
Even without seeing the little mushroom’s current expression, one could imagine his wide-eyed, longing look.
Gu Wang instinctively took a step toward the stall, but after just two steps, he fell silent and stopped.
…No points.
Before the apocalypse, he was the eldest son of a prominent family. From what he could remember, his cards had no spending limits. After the apocalypse, with the establishment of bases, he’d never even counted the zeros in his point card balance.
But now, he couldn’t even afford to buy a snack for the mushroom he was raising.
Not even when facing an S-class mutant had Gu Wang’s expression ever been this grave.
The stall owner felt a chill and, looking around nervously, spotted Gu Wang. His hand trembled, spilling too much chili powder.
It wasn’t his fault—Gu Wang looked somewhat ominous.
Not to mention the bandages covering half his face, making his expression unreadable as he stared fixedly in his direction…
Was his stall blocking the way?
Unlike the flustered stall owner, Hui Gu directly expressed his confusion: "Chirp?" Why aren’t we moving?
Gu Wang turned his head away, his voice low. "I’ll buy it for you another time."
Hui Gu: "Gurgle." Oh.
The Mushroom King had always gotten what he wanted through his own efforts.
So he didn’t pay much attention to Gu Wang’s words.
They hadn't gone far when someone who had been lying in wait nearby rushed over.
"Handsome, looking for a place to stay..." The man's voice trailed off mid-sentence.
Faced with such a heavily bandaged face, he nearly bit his tongue.
He forced an awkward laugh, quickly regaining his professional composure: "The apartments I have are absolutely cost-effective with top-notch environments. Housing in the base is tight right now; it's not easy to find vacant units."
Gu Wang: "How many points are required?"
"You're a new human, right?" The agent glanced at him surreptitiously. "Do you have anyone to share the rent with?"
"No."
Hui Gu bumped around inside the backpack.
The corner of Gu Wang's lips quirked upward as he repeated: "No one."
He emphasized the last word slightly.
Hui Gu nodded with great satisfaction.
No people, but there is a mushroom.
Agent: "Well, I happen to have suitable candidates for shared housing to recommend. You—"
Before he could finish, Gu Wang cut in directly: "No shared housing."
"Ah?" The agent sounded skeptical. "Apartments that don't require sharing are very expensive right now. Are you sure?"
It wasn't that he looked down on Gu Wang—the man's physique and aura alone radiated an undeniable strength. But no matter how formidable he was, he had just arrived at the base. Aside from taking out a loan, there were almost no other ways to earn points.
And taking a loan for rent required an additional 5% fee to the base, which was really not cost-effective.
Ninety percent of people who first arrived at the base initially chose to live in shared housing, with half of them cramming three or four to a room. Some even more extreme cases had over a dozen people sharing, with sleeping mats covering both the rooms and the living room floor.
After all, in the base, food, clothing, shelter, and transportation were all exorbitantly expensive. Countless people rushed around day and night just to fill their stomachs and secure a place to sleep.
Gu Wang: "Yes, find one with good conditions."
If it were just him, he could endure harsh conditions. But now it was different—he had a delicate mushroom to care for.
The confused Hui Gu silently sneezed inside the backpack.
Hui Gu: ?
The agent simply thought he had encountered an eccentric but didn't dare show it. He flipped through several pages before finally finding a suitable address: "There's a single room here. The previous tenant was a mercenary who recently died in the wasteland."
He stated it without any hesitation.
After the apocalypse, death had become an ordinary occurrence. There was no need to worry about anyone caring.
"How much for the loan?"
"The first month's rent must be paid in full upfront. Including interest and service fees, it'll be five hundred points."
Gu Wang said nothing, merely signing again.
He had just arrived at the base but was already burdened with a thousand-point loan.
Hui Gu looked up at him, concern in his eyes: Human, you're so poor.
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