“I brought back three!”
In the little private hut prepared for Inanna, she set three boxes down before the Pujis.
“You did wonderfully! That’s a huge help!” Lin Jun praised sincerely.
One Puji extended a mycelium tendril and deftly whisked the boxes away.
The others crowded in, and amid Pink Puji’s playful giggles, they delivered a perfect full-body “mushroom massage,” kneading and patting away the fatigue of her journey.
Only after Inanna drifted off into contented, humming sleep did Lin Jun turn his full attention to the boxes.
No need to return to the Dungeon—he simply carried them to a patch of Mycelium Carpet inside the hut and tossed the flowers down.
【Seven Sins of Greed Activated】
【Skill Plundered: Mental Guidance LV1】
Through [Inspiration LV5], the faint light the flower gave off appeared like a star sinking into a dark abyss.It shattered soundlessly, dissolving into countless motes of light, until it was completely broken down and devoured—leaving not a trace behind.
With higher [Inspiration], Lin Jun could see more clearly than ever, and at last he confirmed something—plants had no souls.
In fact, not just plants—most monsters also lacked souls.
Or rather, whatever “spirit” they had was fundamentally different from the souls of intelligent beings like humans or minotaurs.
When the Mycelium Carpet decomposed humans, it “spat out” a pure, skill-less soul orb. That orb would gradually disperse back into the world.
In Lin Jun’s view, [Greed] only consumed the “skills” attached to it—the soul itself was not the target.
But when decomposing low-intelligence monsters or plants, nothing resembling a soul was produced.
His guess: either such creatures lacked souls in the sense of higher beings, or else their “spirit” was so tightly bound to their life form and skills that once stripped away, it simply vanished.
Either way, at the soul level, intelligent life and non-intelligent beings were clearly two completely different categories.
What that distinction meant… Lin Jun didn’t yet know. But it felt like something tied to the very foundations of the world.
Unfortunately, he knew far too little.
And though he hadn’t asked Aiden to research it yet, he doubted humans knew much more.
After all, they didn’t even know Dungeon Cores could be controlled through souls. Clearly their understanding was lacking.
He might look into it, but expectations were low.
The demons, on the other hand, likely knew more. At the very least, the Yellow Tome, their sacred text, contained such knowledge.
He refocused on the new skill.
He recalled the description: could be used on already hallucinating targets.
So, who to test on?
Pink Puji, already asleep…
Norris, just slipped back into the mushroom hut…
Little Black…
No way!
This was a “mental” skill—too risky. Lin Jun had a better test subject.
—
At the edge of Silentwind Town, in a hastily fenced settlement, tents sprawled in chaotic rows. The air was heavy with mixed odors.
Inside one crooked tent, a bearded drunkard snored loudly.
A Puji silently emerged from the Carpet in the corner, watching from the shadows.
Silentwind was racing to expand and reorganize, but never fast enough to keep pace with the incoming refugees.
Fahl had forbidden random shack-building—those unstable, unplanned constructions would become nightmares to manage later.
For now, the overflow refugees were crammed into temporary tent camps.
Naturally, these camps had the worst security.
Fahl wanted to handle it, but manpower was limited. Only the worst crimes could be addressed quickly.
Petty theft and brawls? Lower priority.
And this drunkard was the very embodiment of such a festering problem.
He wouldn’t dare murder or rape—those would cost his head. But extortion, theft, bullying the weak? That was his daily trade.
Lin Jun enjoyed observing human life from afar—it reminded him of watching TV dramas in his old world.
But he never interfered.
Pujis weren’t heroes. Lin Jun didn’t even consider himself righteous. His kindness extended only to his minions, no further.
Still, when he needed test subjects, scum like this were the perfect choice.
Even if he broke them, he’d feel no guilt.
And since Silentwind was under his surveillance, no one would ever find a trace if this man “vanished.”
Tonight though, it was only an experiment.
Hallucinogenic spores spread through the tent. The drunkard, deep in his stupor, inhaled them eagerly.
【Mental Guidance LV1】
The moment the skill activated, Lin Jun felt it!
His soul unfurled invisible tendrils. Guided by the skill, they slid along the spore-built bridge and brushed against the drunkard.
A tenuous connection—fragile as gossamer, nothing like the vacuum-like pull of a Dungeon Core, nor as strong as when he had invaded the Yellow Tome.
But it was the first time Lin Jun had actively linked his soul to another. Novel indeed.
Through it, he “saw” the man’s dream.
Excitement welled up—Lin Jun hadn’t dreamed once since becoming a mushroom!
The dream was trite: golden goblets, greasy food, painted courtesans—an endless banquet.
Strangely, Lin Jun’s awareness manifested there, forming a shape—
—a green mushroom, lying on a platter.
Wait. What the hell?!
Yes, he was a mushroom now, but before reincarnation he had been human!
Even if his race had changed, his soul should still look human!
Had even his soul turned into a mushroom?!
At the very least—couldn’t it be a Puji?
No sooner had he thought it than the mushroom swelled like a balloon, twisting and reshaping into a plump, round, white Puji.
Huh? Convenient dreamscape…
If so, could he also become human?
The Puji stretched—two fungal legs elongated into human limbs, arms split out from its sides, hands forming, fingers unfurling…
But when it came to the head, he froze.
What did he used to look like?
Strange. He remembered being handsome… yet no details came to mind.
And so, a humanoid with arms and legs but a mushroom cap for a head stood awkwardly in the grand hall, lost in thought.
The drunkard, who had been reveling with women on his lap, stared wide-eyed in horror.
“M-m-monster!”
He shoved the girls aside, scrambling to the wall, then remembered his “status” and shrieked:
“Guards! Guards! Kill the monster!”
“So you gave yourself a noble’s dream life, huh…”
Though faceless, Lin Jun’s mushroom-man spoke.
Wooden, puppet-like guards in blurred armor rushed in. Lin Jun dropped his thoughts of memory and decided to test the skill.
Though weaker than the dream’s host, his conscious will, aided by the skill, easily dominated the unconscious dreamscape.
Suddenly, mushrooms sprouted from every guard’s head.
Their movements froze—then in perfect unison, they turned their spears on the cowering drunkard.
“You… what are you doing?! I’m your master! Kill him! Kill the monster!”
But there was nowhere to run.
His screams and the wet sound of blades silenced him. Scarlet splattered across the once-opulent hall.
Lin Jun was about to push further, maybe try to recall his “handsome” face—but as the dreamer died, the entire banquet shattered.
His awareness was yanked out.
He tried to reconnect—but only emptiness awaited.
Alright… so you can’t just kill dreamers inside their own dreams.
—
“M-m-mushroom… mushroom monster…”
The next day, the drunkard wandered half-delirious, muttering endlessly.
He only recovered after three full days.