To enter the location where the monster was, it was necessary to pass through the disinfection area.
Tang Xiao, wearing a gas mask, was fully armed on the surface. After repeated disinfection, the last door finally opened.
Because 428 had escaped previously, the room was relocated to a more securely sealed and reinforced area. Before analyzing the nature of the substance secreted by 428, the walls here were changed to a stronger material. People monitored it 24 hours daily, and high-temperature currents were installed on every wall. This was done so that the entire room could instantly turn into a microwave oven or an air fryer if there was any movement from the monster inside.
For some reason, there were no lights on in here. As soon as Tang Xiao walked into the place, the door behind him closed, plunging the entire thing into darkness.
Humans had an instinctive fear of the dark. Perhaps stemming from the painful memories of ancient ancestors being attacked by wild beasts in the night, as it was now, and he was well aware that in the darkness hid a monster that spied on him.
Thump, thump…
His heart rate gradually rose.
Tang Xiao stood still, hoping to at least wait until his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Babbitt, who was trying to teach him a lesson, would not be indifferent and urged through the indoor radio. “What are you waiting for? Hurry up and do it. We’re still waiting for you to take the biological samples.”
As he spoke, there seemed to be a few mocking laughs in the background.
Tang Xiao took a deep breath and walked into the darkness with a blank face. Not knowing if it was an illusion or not, he seemed to smell some rust.
He could hardly see things and was blind to the fact that this prison had long since become a monster’s nest.
As the night passed, the monster, which was originally only the size of a plate, expanded several times. The mycelium covered almost all the corners, and the corners furthest away from the exit were the white bones of enormous creatures. The mycelium body in the very center was like a predator in a spider’s web, and at the heart of it all, spread out into an irregularly shaped body. The plural orange-yellow vertical pupils stared unblinking at the young man, who was gradually walking towards the center of the web.
Those blood-colored mycelium were about to move, silently bypassing Tang Xiao’s steps, covering the only entrance and exit gate, and blocking the last escape exit.
The main body affected each section of mycelium, trembling with pleasure. The orange-yellow pupils stared at Tang Xiao who walked in, trying to catch his smell with its olfactory senses.
Its prey set up the hunter, and the hunter was even recaptured with serious injuries.
428 should hate Tang Xiao, but the attraction of this young man to it caused 428 to not hate him at all.
The little deer, which he thought would never appear again, took the initiative to come into its arm.
If 428 had obtained a human body now, it was estimated that it could not control the corners of its mouth from smiling at this moment, but it did not have this function now. Those pupils just stared at Tang Xiao’s figure fixedly. The fine mycelium followed his footsteps, watching the young man walk to the very center of the prison, only a meter away from the location of the main body.
428 thought that the reckless deer would hit the center of the net directly so that it would wrap him tightly, but unfortunately, the deer seemed to sense the crisis and stopped.
But it was too late.
Feeling the familiar touch of the mycelium covering his ankles, Tang Xiao shook it hard, trying to break free. However, the sticky mycelium wrapped up the skin upwards. He wore protective clothing, but it was as if he could feel the mycelium trying to find a gap to crawl in.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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The hairs on his arms stood up, and cold sweat oozed from the young man’s forehead in the protective suit. After this period of adaptation, his eyes had gradually seen a little hazy shadow in the dark environment. Before he suddenly saw a few bright pupils in the dark, and thus stopping, and now he finally saw a little clearer.
It was better not to see it.
The entire room was covered with blood-red mycelium, like the stomach pouch of some kind of monster, and he was the food that had voluntarily walked into it.
The mycelium just carefully surrounded him, little by little, wrapping it around the prey before it was noticed.
The orange-yellow pupils stared directly at the young man’s every move. As soon as the prey’s breathing rhythm became constricted, the mycelium seemed to receive some kind of signal, quickly tightened and trapped the young man firmly in the net, and then the originally soft mycelium quickly became sharp.
As soon as the tearing sound of the protective suit sounded, Tang Xiao’s hand hanging on his waist immediately reached for the heat gun. However, the mycelium’s speed was even faster than him, the slender mycelium snatched the weapon quickly, and the rest of the mycelium was like flowing water that was about to drown the prey in an instant.
At the critical moment, Tang Xiao didn’t panic and threw out a round sphere from between his torn sleeves in the direction of those orange-yellow pupils.
The sphere exploded, and intense heat steamed out. The mycelium that leaned in close became charred and curled, falling to the ground and losing its life. Tang Xiao immediately regained his heat gun, aimed the muzzle at the orange-yellow pupils, and said in a very fast tone while 428 had not recovered:
“Hear me out! I’m here to seek cooperation! I know you crave my flesh and blood, but as long as you’re in this lab, you won’t be able to devour me quickly enough. As soon as my life traits disappear, this place will instantly go into attack mode and you’ll be dead!”
Hearing this, the monster in the dark moved and seemed to be in some kind of thought.
Tang Xiao knew that the other party’s intelligence was not inferior to that of humans. Seeing that he had attracted its attention, he continued, “And if you keep me, I will provide you with a portion of my blood daily so that you can slowly achieve your goal.”
At present, the only cards in his hand were his attraction to the monster and the armed forces of the Third Eye.
But if they stayed in this kill-and-be-killed relationship, then the game’s main task could never be completed. Even if the monster’s emotional turmoil was aroused, then the goodwill would surely be in the negative. He would have to risk being devoured by the monster and doing it all over again every time he walked in here.
To move forward with the task, he still had to start with this monster here. He also had to start with the relationship between them.
It couldn’t simply be a hunter and prey, but also a prisoner and an accomplice, an experimenter, and a breeder.
As long as the monster was smart enough, it should know that it couldn’t just eat him here. Recalling the strange behavior of the monster before, it was clear that if it had a choice, the other party wouldn’t feed on him in a dangerous area because then the devouring wouldn’t be complete. This greedy monster didn’t want to let go of even a single bit of him.
Tang Xiao’s heart was beating like a drum. Countless compound eyes stared at him, followed by the mycelium attack!
The young man’s heart sank completely. Countless mycelium tied his legs like ropes. Tang Xiao did not hesitate any longer and immediately pulled the trigger.
The mycelium under his feet suddenly undulated and rolled. The young man was unstable, coupled with the forcefully yanked mycelium, the gun’s muzzle suddenly lost its accuracy. The entire person was dragged to the ground, and layers of mycelium instantly pounced up, wrapping around the young man’s arms, and legs, and even covering his mouth and tongue.
This familiar scene simply made Tang Xiao’s soul fly out of the sky. He even thought that the CG of ‘Strange Tree’ was going to come again…
No, maybe, this monster did intend it that way!
Tang Xiao violently raised his chest to look at 428, who was looking down on him condescendingly. Most of the pupils that were like grapes had been repaired. At this moment, he stared directly at the young man who was pressed to the ground and desperately trying to raise his body.
In a flash of lightning, Tang Xiao reacted furiously to what had gone wrong with his words just now.
‘As soon as my life traits disappear, this place will instantly go into attack mode and you’ll be dead!’
But in turn, if the life traits hadn’t disappeared…
Cold sweat soaked from Tang Xiao’s forehead.
How can he forget if 428 is a mushroom, or has some of the characteristics of a mushroom?
Ant zombies, caterpillar fungus.
As long as it was a mushroom, there was no shortage of means of parasitism.
At the critical moment, Tang Xiao even wanted to give up and wait for the restart. His limbs were crushed heavily, and a cracking sound came from his bone.
He was about to be parasitized by this terrifying monster again.
This time’s strategy seemed to have failed. This monster couldn’t cooperate. It had intelligence no less than humans, but it seemed to trust itself more than it trusted humans. It believed that it could deceive the humans outside, using this night to devour him, evolve, and then escape…
Wait, evolution?
Tang Xiao bit down hard on the mycelium that entered his mouth, spat it out, and spoke hoarsely and quickly,
“I will… let you evolve into the King of Mushroom.”
He closed his eyes. In extreme fear, the two CGs he had collected before flashed in his mind. No matter which one he had, the form of this monster had changed drastically. When he thought about the main task, 428’s purpose seemed to have jumped out.
The mycelium stopped on the surface of Tang Xiao’s skin and did not drill any further. This was the first time in countless weeks that the monster had hesitated in the process of devouring him.
Tang Xiao slowly inhaled a breath. His original movement to exit the game was paused.
He felt as if he had grasped the monster’s lifeline.
A certain sense of wariness suddenly rose from his heart and spread to his entire limbs. It was the first time he grabbed the attack pattern of a certain ultra-high-difficulty dungeon boss. Little by little, he cut off the health bar of the monster that had killed him several times.
This sense of accomplishment was still unforgettable for him.
This tension and excitement filled his mind again. Tang Xiao raised his neck, staring at the orange-yellow pupils with a burning gaze. His gaze was like a sharp scalpel, accurately opening the incision from the monster’s weak point.
“Once an experimental subject gets out of control, the only end is destruction. Even if you devour me, you won’t necessarily be able to fight against this organization.” Tang Xiao said calmly, “You have already experienced the power of technological weapons, and the data of your and my life traits will be monitored in real-time to where you’re located. The worst possibility is that when you or my data fluctuates, an armed force will break into the door and interrupt your devouring process.”
“But if we work together, I’ll help save you from destruction and protect you. I will cultivate you just like I saved you last time.”
As he spoke, the young man forcefully pulled out his hand wrapped in mycelium. 428 was completely different from the appearance of a human, just by looking at these pupils, he couldn’t even tell what this monster was thinking, only the mycelium that was easily broken proved that the monster was not indifferent.
“So…” Tang Xiao moved his only free left arm and bit down hard on his wrist.
He didn’t show the slightest bit of mercy this time. The blood vessels were immediately bitten through, and the blood flowed like a winding red rope, sliding down his white wrist.
He stretched out his hand and walked in the direction of the monster. The remaining blood stained his lips red, the glasses had long since fallen somewhere, and those affectionate peach blossom eyes, now bursting with twisted fervor:
“Drink my blood and evolve into a real ‘monster’.”
Here we go.
The orange-yellow vertical pupils were constricted. The retina reflected the young man’s smiling lips. His lips were as deep as blood, and his cold and bright eyes were amazingly beautiful.
428 would not be able to describe the scene before it. It was not until a long, long time later that it became a ‘human’ and began to learn about human culture when it suddenly remembered this scene and found the right words to describe the scene.
Like the succubus of hell, a serpent from the Garden of Eden, spitting out letters, stretched out his hand to it, offering a fatal temptation.
The strange sense of confusion disturbed its biological nerves, churning uncontrollably, making it irritating and confusing. Amid this unknown confusion, the young man before it deeply attracted it.
This monster who grew up in the lab, with a heart like a baby, like a child, an empty beast but an inhuman soul, did not know what this mood was.
Just subconsciously, following instinct.
A section of intertwined mycelium, forming the shape of a tentacle foot, grabbed the young man’s bleeding arm.
The blood and blood-colored mycelium were entangled with each other as if they were a mass of red threads that had been stirred up.
At this moment, officially intertwined.
In the darkness, someone curled his lips.
This will be the first step in putting a leash on this beautiful monster.
Thanks for the chapter 😄😄😄
You’re welcome 🤩 🤩
Can’t wait for the long long time later!!😳
+1 😍
still long long time later 😂
Nooooooo 😭😭😭 *go to the corner to sulk*
Wait, so mushrooms gonna be “human”!? Can’t wait, thanks for the update :))
yepp, that mushroom will become ‘human’ 😏
you weren’t thinking of cross-species (as in non-human form) breeding were you 😳
Haha no just like it seems that the mushrooms will like evolve to have a imitation body of a human (cus there was a hint in the chap). Not saying the other isn’t a possibility tho lol 😉
Also ur username matches up comment amazingly well!
lol but imagine having s*x with ur husband that is a gooey slime xD (not that Xiao Tang would mind I feel like he would be into that kind of freak 😭😂)
I honestly cannot remember why I picked that name, I guess this is just my default expression now xD
so good! thank u for the new chapter!
You’re welcomee! 🧡
Thank you for the chapter!
Now that I actually think about this, this kinda remind me of a game called “homegrown pet” where we kinda raise some kind blob creature by feeding it “stuff” and it’ll kinda turn into a obedient human looking creature if successful, and if not it’ll turn into some kind of flesh tree that’ll probably eat you.
I love this novel. Can’t wait for more but willing to wait 🙂
MC really has patience to die over and over again in a vr game. I would have long deleted it, so good work. Thanks for the lovely translations. I read this thrice in one go. Also, the MC’s profile pic looks extremely smart in a cool way. Hoping that updates remain regular (as in Tue & Thu) always.
Thank u for the chapter 🙏
Keep up the good work MC 👏
this seems like such an interesting novel! i can’t wait to see how their relationship develops ^^ thank you for the chapter!
Thanks for the chapter♡