This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms

After sending away Norris—who was still shaken, cold sweat soaking his back—

Lin Jun had already prepared tonight’s personalized nightmare theme for him: being endlessly chased through dark caves by an indescribable giant creature.

Switching his attention back, Lin Jun looked at the failed experiment inside the cavern.

[Giant Form LV5]

This skill, gifted to him by the Qis[‘Chiss’], had proven remarkably useful. In the battle at Dragon Roar Valley, that towering behemoth Puji had already demonstrated its full value.

Not only did it enlarge the body, it also pushed physical attributes beyond the usual limits of Pujis, turning them into massive, tank-like units.

When paired with skills like [Life Essence], such units became a moving fortress—guarding chokepoints, holding lines alone against thousands.

Not to mention that the power of [Self-Destruct] scaled directly with physical attributes.

The only flaw was that Strength and Speed could not grow in tandem, leaving enlarged units slow and somewhat clumsy.

But despite that flaw, it remained a highly promising skill worth further development.

So naturally, Lin Jun didn’t hesitate to invest resources into continued experimentation.

At this moment, the existence groaning in pain inside the cave was a D-rank lizardman prisoner chosen for testing.

Unfortunately, the results disappointed the mushroom.

Just like many skills had varying compatibility with Pujis, [Giant Form] seemed also incompatible with lizardmen—and humanoid creatures in general.

Under the skill’s influence, the lizardman had indeed ballooned rapidly through frenzied eating, but the process was crude and barbaric.

His skin and scales were torn apart by the violently swelling muscle fibers, exposing red, pulsating tissue beneath.

His original skeletal structure couldn’t support the sheer mass. If Lin Jun hadn’t rushed to load [Steel Bones] onto him to reinforce it, this body would have collapsed under its own weight during gigantification.

And the same Strength–Speed imbalance appeared in this lizardman as well.

But unlike Pujis, humanoids had long, narrow legs and fragile knee joints. Without sufficient attributes, they couldn’t even maintain balance after gigantifying—much less fight.

His combat power was likely inferior even to a giant Puji.

On top of that, the food consumption required to sustain this enlarged body was enormous—far less convenient than Pujis who only needed mana replenishment.

This failed specimen hadn’t been disposed of immediately, and now it had managed to scare little Norris earlier.

Pup-pup-pup…

One mushroom after another burst eagerly from beneath the giant lizardman’s torn skin, growing rapidly. The unimaginable agony drove the gigantic test subject into a deafening scream, the shockwaves rattling the cave walls and knocking loose debris from the ceiling.

But the tortured roaring didn’t last long.

As the fungi devoured the last of his life force, his voice weakened, until finally it faded into a long exhale tinged with relief—ending the sinful life of this D-rank lizardman.

Lin Jun didn’t dwell on this failed experiment.

Because—

The Sunstone had arrived!

…

At the entrance of the Pujis Dungeon, two fully armed guards were leaning on their spears in boredom.

The moment they saw the cloaked figure approaching, one of the guards straightened at once, wearing a smile filled with enthusiasm—and flattery.

“Lord Aiden! You’re heading into the dungeon again so soon?”

In the civil system of Mordu, no one failed to recognize this influential subordinate of City Lord Fahl.

Recently, rumors claimed he had personally rushed to the front lines and successfully rescued the City Lord of Redstone City from the demon army and a rampaging elemental spirit.

That legendary small team which earned ownership of a whole city as mission reward was said to be recuperating in nearby Norwid.

Aiden kept his hands hidden within his cloak, only nodding slightly to the guard before continuing into the depths of the dungeon entrance.

Now that the dungeon was fully mushroomized, Puji supply points were everywhere. Those who paid the “protection fee” even enjoyed Puji rescue services—the safety had improved drastically.

But because of that, the upper layers had long been stripped clean by adventurers. They had now become little more than training grounds for beginners and the “stockroom” where Puji Tamers bought fresh Pujis.

Anyone seeking huge profits through adventuring now had to risk diving below the eighth floor.

To the guards, Lord Aiden’s frequent visits were probably related to research on Puji production.

After all, judging by recent political trends, the upper administration valued the new profession of Puji Tamer very highly.

Only Aiden himself knew the true purpose of this trip.

Against his chest, he carried a magically sealed container holding the Sunstone fragment.

Behind him, a Knight Puji in stealth mode followed silently.

Turning into an inconspicuous corner on the first floor, a familiar hidden chamber shifted into place before him.

Using the fungal chamber, he transported directly to the tenth floor, where more fully armed Pujis waited in formation.

Surrounded by this silent escort team, Aiden proceeded unhindered back to the deep-zone.

Upon reaching the core area, he carefully removed the arcane box and handed the still-glowing Sunstone fragment to the Knight Puji behind him.

The Knight Puji was straightforward: it took the fragment, stuffed it into its body, and slipped into a nearby fungal tunnel.

With the mission complete, Aiden finally relaxed. Now he could go home and study that S-rank mana crystal.

Inside a massive sealed chamber, reachable only through fungal tunnels and isolated from the world, the Knight Puji emerged.

At the moment it appeared, blazing, warm light washed over its body—from the large, half-intact Sunstone at the room’s center.

And today, this artifact fully belonging to Lin Jun was finally about to become whole!

Lin Jun personally controlled the Knight Puji, wrapping its tendrils around the two Sunstone pieces, his excitement so intense his tendrils trembled.

When the two fragments were slowly brought together, the ancient crack aligned perfectly—no longer lacking even a sliver.

In that instant, light more intense than ever before burst out of the now-complete Sunstone. The radiance was so overwhelming it nearly devoured everything. The Knight Puji’s tough mycelial tendrils crackled under the scorching heat, almost failing to hold on.

Fortunately, the violent energy surge lasted only a moment.

The light quickly receded and calmed. In the end, the warmth and glow emitted by the complete Sunstone were… even weaker than before?

At the same time, its panel information shifted:

[Artifact: Sunstone (The soul is the foundation of the Ark.)]

The artifact was complete—but instead of a description of functions or abilities, the panel showed a strange, contextless sentence. It even mentioned an “Ark”?

The soul is the foundation… Was it saying the Sunstone was related to souls?

Lin Jun immediately began investigating what changes had occurred.

The most obvious was the weakened glow and heat—confirmed by the fact that the surrounding Mycelium Carpet was producing magic through [Photosynthesis] at a lower efficiency.

As for other differences… aside from looking fully whole and feeling smoother to the touch, there seemed to be no noticeable change.

The complete Sunstone was worse than the broken one?

No way.

Judging by the text—did he need to “sunbathe” his own soul to strengthen it?

If so… that seemed… not very useful.

It wasn’t like he lacked soul strength.

While Lin Jun’s thoughts spiraled, a giant cocoon woven from dense mycelium—one that had lain dormant for half a year—suddenly twitched.

A moment later, the Puji inside, which had been resting in standby mode, tore open the cocoon’s outer layer and slowly stood up on its own!

What shocked Lin Jun was—

None of this was under his control!

The Knight Puji and the newly emerged Puji stared at each other, the cave falling eerily silent.

Then, from within the mycelial network, a voice echoed—strange, yet carrying a faint, unsettling familiarity:

“Mo… ther…”

SPLAT—!

On instinct, Lin Jun whipped the Knight Puji’s tendril and exploded the thing on the spot!