The new Title was quite intriguing.
The last time he had seen a Title was on the Shadow Wolf King’s System Panel.
Since that was the only instance, it suggested that these things were incredibly rare and potentially very useful.
Ning Lan opened his System Panel, searching for answers.
As he expected, the Title came with its own set of supplementary information.
[Man-Eating Mushroom]: The chances of a mushroom killing someone are slim, but they are never zero.
Rise up, mushroom; no one is born to be another’s rations.
Title Effect: The owner can randomly acquire one skill or skill experience from food.
Title activation check: L > 8.
‘Whoa, it’s actually a growth-type divine skill.
This is more than just useful.’
Even if it required a check and the conditions seemed quite harsh, Ning Lan was already very satisfied, considering his “Hell Mode” start as a mushroom.
If he had enough time to develop, there might actually be hope for his life as a mushroom.
Furthermore, after leveling up, all his attributes—excluding Agility—had increased to 3.
Although he still couldn’t defeat anyone, he could at least see a tiny glint of hope in what had been a pitch-black future.
This account wasn’t bricked; it was playable.
‘Thank you, Lady Elf!’
Now that he had obtained the [Man-Eating Mushroom] Title, Ning Lan finally understood the reason for his level-up.
If she hadn’t managed to hold on until now, allowing him to land the killing blow with his spore’s staggering one point of attack power, how else could he have gained levels and a Title?
‘She really is a beautiful and kind-hearted angel investor.
I hope she has a good dream.’
With his prayer finished, it was time to eat.
Based on the Title’s effect, he needed to “eat” the Elf to randomly acquire a skill.
‘Light Magic Level 3, Nature Magic Level 4, Nature Affinity Level 7, Bloodline Link Level 2, Concentration Level 1, Quick Casting Level 1, Human Common Language Level 9, Elven Language Level 10…’
He had caught a glimpse of them when he pulled up her panel earlier, but he didn’t have the chance to look again now.
Regardless, Ning Lan wasn’t picky.
An offensive skill would be best, but it didn’t really matter if he didn’t get one.
As long as he could successfully acquire a skill, going from zero to one was a victory.
This was one small step for a mushroom, but one giant leap for his survival.
As a former human, he felt a bit uncomfortable about this, but he had to cross this hurdle to survive.
‘I’m sorry, Lady Elf.
People often say that in death, one returns to nature.
A mushroom is a part of nature, so returning to the embrace of a mushroom shouldn’t be a problem.’
Besides, “eating” for a mushroom simply meant decomposing something into nutrients.
There was no “mouth” involved in the process, which made it easier to accept.
In fact, he didn’t need to do anything special.
He had already planned to dispose of this conspicuous target; he just had a bit more motivation now, which made him shake his spores even more vigorously.
Ning Lan intentionally tried to speed up the process.
However, after watching for a long time, he didn’t notice any obvious changes.
The wound on the Priest’s abdomen had stopped bleeding—perhaps she had simply run dry.
Her skin was becoming increasingly pale and translucent, but there were no signs of cadaver spots, bruising, or rot.
Although it felt like several days had passed in his consciousness, in reality, it might not even have been a single day.
This was the downside of not having a timekeeping tool.
One’s physical senses could be deceptive, making it impossible to get accurate results.
Especially when one was waiting with anticipation—much like waiting for a class to end—it felt like every day lasted a year.
He was just an ordinary person; he didn’t have the freakish ability of some people to manually count every second for over twenty-four hours.
‘Anyway, the surrounding Purple Mushrooms have already grown, so the progress should be quickening.’
He rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
‘Wait, something’s wrong.’
Ning Lan’s consciousness felt a wave of confusion.
For a mushroom without hands, that thought shouldn’t have triggered any physical feedback.
Yet, just now, he had felt the sensation of hands as if it were a phantom limb.
He tried again.
‘It’s true!’
In the next second, his vision went black.
It felt as if a classmate had played a prank on him from behind, covering his eyes and asking, “Guess who?”
But a prank is only a prank if it’s funny; for some people, it can be much more than just a joke.
At the very least, Ning Lan could not accept such a sudden development right now.
Panic filled his heart.
He even thought he had died again, secretly lamenting how unfortunate it was… he had finally found a shred of hope, only for it to end in such a confusing way.
The darkness didn’t last long.
He opened his eyes again and saw the world clearly.
The perspective was wrong.
It was as if he had switched from a free-roaming camera to a fixed one; he suddenly felt restricted and incredibly uncomfortable.
Ning Lan tried to understand this strange phenomenon.
Subconsciously, he raised a hand to rub the bridge of his nose.
Whenever he encountered trouble, he liked to do this to relieve stress and relax his mind.
‘Wait, how do I have hands?’
The hand before his eyes had long, slender fingers.
They were white and delicate like polished jade—clearly the hands of a young girl.
Lowering his gaze, he saw a pair of modest curves, and below those were the tips of feet clad in tan boots.
Ning Lan was stunned at first, but then a realization dawned on him.
He knelt down and leaned over a narrow crack in the wall.
Through the faint, eerie glow, he saw a tiny Purple Mushroom deep inside.
‘How did I become an Elf?’
When the perspective switched again, Ning Lan realized things were even more complicated than he thought.
From the mushroom’s perspective, the Elf remained in the last position he had seen her in.
She was frozen in place like a puppet without a master.
[Lumina Felin (Symbiosis)]
That was what had happened.
He had to thank the generous Lady Elf.
Not only had she given him a Title and experience, but now she had provided him with a body.
Granted, it was the body of a weak and pitiful Elven girl who was 1.5 meters tall, wearing a pale white and gold priest robe, with short, curly white hair tied into twin tails with ribbons, pointed ears, and pale purple eyes.
But he couldn’t exactly be picky, could he?
Compared to being a mushroom, an Elven girl who was no different from a normal human was clearly the best choice—even if having a female body was awkward for someone who had been a man in his previous life.
In the past, he would have found this hard to accept, but people learn to compromise.
During his days as a mushroom, his standards had dropped to “as long as I can move, it’s fine.”
‘Fine, I’ll be her for now.’
However, at his core, he was still a mushroom.
That hadn’t changed.
From the mushroom’s perspective, a small Purple Mushroom had appeared on the girl’s head.
It was tiny, looking like a simple, small hair ornament.
Ning Lan felt that this was the reason he could control this body.
Based on reasonable speculation and his observations, he realized he likely had two primary bodies now.
This was good; it spread the risk.
If something happened to one of them, as long as the other was fine, he wouldn’t die.
It was essentially a second life.
After the excitement of his rebirth, his rationality slowly returned.
Now that he understood the situation, it was time to make his escape.
This place was dangerous.
No one could say for sure if the owner of the cave, the Gloomforest Shadow Wolf King, would return.
If it did and saw a lively Elf who wasn’t quite dead, it would definitely take another vicious bite.
He had worked so hard to gain the ability to move around; he didn’t want to lose it all to the Wolf King.
Glancing in the direction where the Wolf King had last departed, the Elven girl picked up the staff lying on the ground and quickly fled in the opposite direction.
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