At the bottom of a pitch-black mine shaft over a thousand meters deep, a place far from light, far from life.
Absolute darkness, absolute silence.
Suddenly, a weak cough echoed through the profound darkness.
Then, a faint glimmer of light appeared.
By the faint glow, Ye Fei discovered he was lying in a cavern.
The cavern was dark, damp, cold, and cramped.
Ye Fei struggled to get up. As his body shook, the faint light wavered.
But he soon realized it was futile. His body was so weak that moving even a single finger was a struggle.
Of course, this wasn’t the biggest problem.
What was more troublesome was that as his fingers twitched, he realized over half his hand was submerged in water. He guessed the water must be freezing, because his entire body was frozen numb.
’I’ll die if this keeps up, won’t I?’
The thought flashed through Ye Fei’s mind. He began to take deep breaths, trying to muster more strength. Even just crawling out of the puddle would be an improvement.
Just then, a splitting headache was accompanied by a flood of unfamiliar memories surfacing in his mind.
As the fragmented memories surfaced, Ye Fei understood. He had transmigrated.
This had been a parallel world very similar to Earth, but everything changed when a global mutation occurred without warning. All plants, animals, and even viruses began to mutate rapidly.
In just one month, the entire planet underwent a biological explosion, transforming completely. Jungles grew with wild abandon, and massive trees could shoot up ten meters in a single day.
Wolves with metal claws, ants the size of human heads, mosquitoes that could drain a person’s blood in a single bite... all sorts of terrifying mutated creatures began to appear.
For the Human Race, armed with firearms, this wasn’t the most terrifying part. At least those threats could be seen and touched.
The most terrifying part was the mutation of bacteria and viruses. In a single day, the elderly and children with weak immune systems all died, wiping out more than half of the population. Many of the survivors also developed strange mutations.
Some grew a third eye. Some found their bodies growing without limit. One woman claimed to be a witch who could remotely extract people’s brains—and to top it all off, she was a prostitute...
Most mutations were harmful, but a few were beneficial for survival, even granting a small portion of the Human Race immense power.
According to the memories of Ye Fei’s new body, the Human Race had exhausted every option by that point but was still suffering a crushing defeat.
The previous owner of this body had been hiding in this Uranium Mine with his coworkers, barely scraping by until recently.
In the end, however, he was fatally wounded by a monster. His coworkers had simply tossed his body into the deepest part of the mine.
But none of that was the important part. The important part was... Ye Fei followed the direction of the glow with his eyes, and his heart filled with despair.
That’s right. Because he’d been dead for a while... mushrooms were growing on him.
The faint glow came from the mushrooms.
Looking toward the glow, Ye Fei could just make out a mushroom in the corner of his eye. At that distance... it was probably growing on his arm.
’Don’t panic... At least it’s not growing in my mouth.’
Ye Fei tried to be optimistic.
’After all, I’ve already hit rock bottom. The only way to go is up.’
As he processed the memories, Ye Fei’s mind cleared considerably.
Just then, he noticed a strange sensation. ’Wait... do I have a hand that’s still... active?’
’I’m going crazy... This must be a sign that I’m losing my mind, right?’
’My whole body is frozen numb, yet I suddenly feel one hand is warm? Even full of life?’
Ye Fei’s heart sank.
’I thought I’d already hit rock bottom, but it turns out there’s a basement. This is a Hell-mode start!’
’But things can’t possibly get any worse now, can they?’
He immediately stopped resisting the strange sensation and instead tried to focus on it.
VMMMM~
Dozens of "sensory" inputs he had never experienced before flooded his mind.
Moisture... water content... dry air... and the ever-spreading Fungal Hyphae...
’Mmm... the Spores are mature. It’s about time to release them.’
BANG!
The thought that had abruptly surfaced shook Ye Fei to his core. In the next instant, the sensation vanished!
Fuck!
’Was that... was I just perceiving the mushroom?!’
’My third hand is a mushroom??’
Ye Fei was dumbfounded.
’Crazy... I’ve really gone completely fucking crazy...’
And yet, the information remained in his mind, as vivid as any of his own memories.
Ye Fei took a deep breath to calm himself, then tried to sense the mushroom again.
This time he was prepared, so he could clearly perceive the mushroom. He could even control it with surprising ease.
The urge to open the mushroom cap and shake out the Spores... resurfaced.
It was like having an itch on your back you couldn’t scratch—an unbearable, pent-up feeling.
After a dozen more attempts, Ye Fei confirmed it. He really did have a "third hand."
This hand was the mushroom growing on his arm!
Once he figured this out, Ye Fei grew excited. The sensation was incredible!
He had somehow gained a new bodily "organ" out of thin air. The mushroom was no different from his arms or eyes; he could control it by instinct alone.
But after the initial excitement, Ye Fei quickly realized it was completely fucking useless.
That’s right. It was no help in his current predicament. His most urgent need was to regain the Ability to move his body. What could a mushroom possibly do?