This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms

In the long stretch of time, the Qis[“Chiss”] had always lived inside that transparent cage.

Whenever it gently stretched a limb forward it would touch the smooth, hard boundary — that was the entirety of the world it knew.

Until one day, the jar shattered from a sudden tremor; the nutrient fluid that had sustained it drained away, and it had no choice but to try probing its limbs out.

So… the thing it had been touching before wasn’t the world’s edge after all!

The outside world was much larger, but… it was so hungry!

The Qis licked the nutrient fluid from the ground clean, but for some reason the opening that used to keep producing fresh fluid had dried up.

So hungry, so hungry, so hungry!

It wanted to go back into that jar; outside was so hungry!

In its hunger it ate one of its own legs, but then grew even hungrier.

It felt itself growing weaker.

Another tremor — something fell beside it from above and nearly crushed it.

More things began to tumble down.

The Qis frantically dodged; after one leap it avoided a collapsing boulder, only to be pierced through by a pillar falling from the sky, and soon a second one followed.

It was skewered between two pillars and could no longer move.

Purple blood pooled everywhere; the Qis felt its consciousness dimming.

In a daze it sensed something tearing into its body — a thing it had never seen before, not a hard, immobile object, but something that moved like itself.

It was eating the Qis. In the next instant, a claw pierced that unknown monster’s body, and the Qis crazily shoved it into its own gut!

After digesting and regaining a little clarity, the Qis realized that beyond the broken, collapsed gate lay an unknown new world.

Too bad it couldn’t move now, but that was fine — food would wander in from outside and come to its mouth for it to catch.

After an indeterminate time, sated, it produced its first flesh lump; the lump grew into a Six-Claw!

The Six-Claw fetched more food for it, then more Six-Claws, Eye Insects, Jump Insects… Evil Eyes…

It ate everything it perceived; it never wanted to feel hunger again.

[Seven Sins — Gluttony Check: Hunger Fear Value (√), Harvest Phase (√), Triggerable Races (×), Notoriety Value (×)]

[Check Failed]

The Qis continued to gorge, but soon realized the nearby food was growing scarce.

It felt fear; it wanted to escape!

The force trapping it weakened, but it was not yet weak enough — it needed to become weaker still.

Otherwise its heart might run out first and become someone else’s food.

It hated being someone else’s food.

Luckily, a new dawn appeared.

A strangely connected region opened up.

There the Qis first knew warmth, first saw lava and pools.

And there… an endless supply of food!

Although so much food existed, the Qis refused to waste it. It treasured every bite, clearing out everything edible wherever it went!

Then it encountered that nightmare.

Those soft, white, easily digestible mushrooms!

Those things that should have been its food instead killed and dragged its insects away.

When the Qis first watched the Mycelium Carpet decompose a Six-Claw through an Eye Insect, it felt rage.

It was the predator! It was supposed to eat others!

It would eat those mushrooms clean, leave none!

It—

It fled.

It abandoned everything, even losing another leg in the process.

On the ice plains, hunger’s terror returned after a long absence.

With each passing second of hunger, its hatred and dread of mushrooms grew.

But unlike before, it was no longer trapped; its free body could actively hunt.

By gnawing mud and bark it found the Luo River.

Strangely, though it entered the water for the first time, it felt as if it had been born to live there.

And the water teemed with food!

On its second development, it was practiced — it ate aquatic monsters and preyed on two-legged shore creatures.

After another feast it encountered mushrooms again… and the mushrooms had come out.

But it didn’t matter; it had changed. It had escaped the cage — give it time…

A bat of unknown origin suddenly attacked it, muttering “purple is odd” as it flew east to west.

Only by splitting itself again did the Qis barely survive.

Outside… it was terrifying…

After that, the Qis hid its “heart” deeper, carefully developing while searching for a safer place.

At the western end of the Luo River it found the sea!

There would be more food there; it wanted to go!

But dangers lurked there too, so it needed more power.

Before leaving, it decided to gorge one last time!

The target… naturally, were the two-legged fools by the riverbank!

…

Several giant tentacles covered in teeth and mouthparts tore through the ice and rose into the sky!

Amid the unlucky victims’ screams, blood rained from above.

The ice cracked continuously; people staggered and fell into the river, never to surface again.

Some tribal warriors attempted to attack the tentacles; under concerted assault they managed to sever one, but it changed nothing.

The Toothed Tentacle Beast wasn’t a brand-new species created by the Qis — previously such beasts’ eggs always failed to hatch because there was no water. Now the Qis realized the reason.

The Toothed Beast’s rank resembled that of an Evil Eye; it lacked petrification or magic shields, possessing only sheer size and robust vitality!

Gathered together, those two-legged prey were indeed strong on land, but in the water…

The tentacles didn’t attack individuals — they kept smashing the ice.

As intact ice dwindled, all but a few fliers or truly agile fighters fell into the river.

Then the feast began.

…

Wah, it was a massacre.

Through the scout Puji’s invisible vision, the scene on the ice-covered river below was fully exposed — it could no longer be called a battle.

They had first perceived a large mass beneath the ice — it was the Qis’s new troop!

This greedy bastard again tried to steal prey that belonged to Lin Jun’s forces when they were unprepared! Unforgivable!

Although Lin Jun realized he had misjudged the tribal allied army’s true target, he did not order Gray’s army to turn back.

Since the main force had already marched this far, they couldn’t return empty-handed. Even if they only arrived late to the fight and kicked the Qis a few times to drill the troops, that would be worthwhile.

It now appeared those worthless tribal allies were purely fodder!

No one understood the danger of the Qis better than Lin Jun. If left to rampage and grow near his homeland, handling it later would be much harder.

“Gray, accelerate!”

Receiving Lin Jun’s direct order, Louisa immediately turned and relayed commands through the Mycelial Network from the Puji war-chariot: “All units, heed orders! Advance at full speed!”

On the snowfield, the great army kicked up a blizzard as it moved.