Can Mushrooms Be Everyone's Favorite, Too?

Check out my upcoming novel, "Why Is My Archenemy Looking at Me Like That?" The blurb is at the very bottom.

[This story is nearing its conclusion]

Blurb: [Proud, Pouty Little Mushroom x Cool, Steady Egret]

As a gorgeous, beautiful thyme mushroom, Jin Chu has always been the most popular adored plant in "The Plant Little Guardians," thanks to his natural gifts and adorable personality.

Cabbage would make him a bed with its leaves, clover would fan him with its blades, and green beans would give him seeds to play marbles with. Even the grumpiest Boxing Chili called him cute.

Jin Chu lived a carefree, comfortable life.

Until one day, Jin Chu was transported to the apocalypse.

He opened his eyes to countless giant frogs, their slick, sticky tongues shooting toward him. The shock knocked him onto his butt, and he instinctively threw the pea seeds in his arms.

The round peas went off with a bang, their green husks flying like shrapnel and blowing the mutated frogs to pieces.

After the deafening blast, a group of humans ran out of the marsh.

The tallest and best-looking one scooped up Jin Chu and ran.

The first warning passed around the botanical garden was: Don't let humans catch you, or they'll turn you into vegetable salad and eat you.

Unable to break free, Jin Chu filled his eyes with tears. "Waaah, I'm going to become delicious cream of mushroom soup tonight."

*

As a suspicious person, Jin Chu was interrogated by the humans.

He realized he would never return to the botanical garden, and that he was in a perilous, mutation-filled apocalypse.

Jin Chu, with his charm stat maxed out and combat strength in the negatives: I might as well become mushroom soup. QoQ

Fortunately, the little leaf pouch Cabbage had given him had come along too. It was full of the seeds he'd collected in the botanical garden, each with its own strange and unusual effect.

Wide, thick plantain leaves could withstand any attack.

Foxtail grass seed heads could whip mutated creatures.

Glowing chamomile made a handy night-light.

More importantly, the human who had brought him back promised to take care of him. OvO

*

Yun Zhi rescued a young man from a wave of mutations.

His cheeks were fair and his hair soft, utterly out of place in the mutation zone.

After bringing him out of the marsh, the young man not only plucked out several of his feathers, but the first thing he said was, "Don't eat me, I'm poisonous!!"

Yun Zhi: ...

*

After learning that the young man's mutation had turned him into a mushroom, delicate and fragile, Yun Zhi knew it would be difficult for him to survive in an apocalypse full of danger.

So when the young man clutched his sleeve pitifully and asked if he could stay, Yun Zhi's heart softened, and he didn't refuse.

He thought taking care of a mushroom wouldn't be much trouble.

Later, that mushroom rode on his shoulder as they traveled the world.

[Reading tips]

1. A light team-based progression story

2. Lots of cute pets

Upcoming novel blurb:

On the day Song Jinhe was born, auspicious clouds filled the sky. He showed extraordinary talent from a young age, communicating with spirits at three and entering the Dao at seven. By the time he came of age, he had bested his peers in trials and debates on the Dao.

His entire sect was proud of him and placed great hopes in him. He was hailed as one of the "Twin Pillars of the Sword Dao."

Why only one of them?

Because another person had been born under the same auspicious sign, equally outstanding and peerless.

Yu Yang of the Yunhua Sect.

He, too, communicated with spirits at three and defeated opponents far beyond his level with his sword at seven. He had even entered the Dao one moment earlier than Song Jinhe.

What's more, auspicious signs had appeared in the sky when the two were born on the same day, so their families had arranged a marriage between them.

Even after the engagement was called off, Song Jinhe still couldn't let it go.

Twin Pillars? Who wanted to be paired with him as one of the Twin Pillars? If Song Jinhe was going to compete, he'd compete to be the one and only supreme leader of the immortal path!

For that reason, Song Jinhe got up before dawn every day to practice swordsmanship, all so he could defeat Yu Yang with his sword.

*

On the day of the immortal sect competition, Song Jinhe donned his most splendid robes and picked his prettiest sword.

Just as he was about to deliver the harsh words he'd prepared long ago, he heard Yu Yang call him "Nannan."

That was a childhood nickname Song Jinhe had forbidden anyone to use ever since he was four.

Song Jinhe: ??!!

How dare Yu Yang provoke him!

&

Yu Yang had known since childhood that he had been promised in an arranged marriage.

He heard that his betrothed was exceptionally gifted, advancing in cultivation by leaps and bounds, far beyond what ordinary people could hope to match.

To stand as an equal, he rose before dawn every day, practicing his sword until his sword intent stirred. He never slacked off, and finally managed to enter the Dao one moment early.

Afterward, he specially paid someone to write an elegant account of this feat and spread the news.

He did it just to make a good impression on his betrothed.

*

When the immortal sect competition arrived, Yu Yang put on a fresh set of robes and brought his sword, "Refraction." At last, he met his future Dao companion.

The young man had phoenix eyes, red lips, and a fierce look on his face. He was even more beautiful than Yu Yang had imagined.

After weighing his options, Yu Yang decided to use the childhood nickname he'd spent thousands of spirit stones, three sets of magical artifacts, and a sword manual to uncover, hoping it would bring them closer.

Then the other man pointed a sword at his brow and demanded, "Are you going to compete with me for the title of supreme leader of the immortal path, too?"

Yu Yang: ? Is that one of the necessary steps before marrying a Dao companion?

Theme: Love can cross the boundaries between species.