Myena looked up at the tower of giantized fungi and lush vegetation as she made her way to the Mushroom Kingdom. Myena adjusted her cosmetic glasses when she made it to the mushroom gate guarded by two giant mushroom golems. Not golems made of mushrooms, but golems covered in various mushrooms. They could squish her with just their pinkies if they chose to. Monsters that were over level 100 would be a devastating enemy for any players or NPCs to face.
Mushroom Golems had no weakness. All of their points were put into the Body stat, which meant it took forever to kill them, and usually, their enemies died in one hit. However, the trade-off for no weaknesses and being nearly unkillable was that they were mindless creatures and incredibly slow for the most part. They could follow very simple orders from those they recognized as superior or ordered to obey. Although it would’ve been a huge secret about the mindless nature of the mushroom golems, Players couldn’t help but blab about everything they found in-game.
Myena was no different, as the mushroom golems allowed her into the Mushroom Kingdom. She was a player who chose to join the Mushroom Queen after eating her mushroom. Her eyes still lit up in wonder as she looked around in this enchanting, wondrous city. Modern-like buildings made out of mushrooms, creatures of all shapes and sizes happily socializing with one another, and surprisingly enough. Plenty of restaurants and food places that weren’t serving mushrooms!
It turns out that even after eating the mushroom and gaining immense buffs from it, the mushroom people still need to eat. Myena looked up to see a group of flying pixies sprinkling about, showering the people and buildings in magic dust. Those pixies were employed to do that to keep the mushrooms around the kingdom healthy and fed. When coming in contact with Players, they receive a temporary 24-hour buff. It was why several Players were following the pixies like a group of drug addicts hunting for their next fix. They jumped on buildings, ran at full speed, and used skills, all just to receive a minor buff to stats. 1% increase to their Body, Mind, and Magic stat. After getting the buff, people began traveling to the Kingdom’s Square in order to look for parties to hunt with or were on their way to leave to start hunting.
Although one of the debuffs to becoming part of the Mushroom faction was eternal servitude to the queen and forced missions, that didn’t mean all of their time was taken up by the Mushroom Queen. Players were exceptional creatures who learned to adapt. While they couldn’t hunt any mushroom monsters or monsters controlled by the Mushroom Queen, they certainly could hunt beings from the other factions with no problems. This included humans and players who weren’t part of the mushroom faction, those from the undead faction, regular monsters, the elf faction, the dwarf faction, etc.
Players that racked up enough achievements in weakening other races would be given special missions from the Mushroom Queen or one of her Three War Generals. Flash the Bunny, Mother-Daughter Doe, and Combat God. Myena wasn’t a serious player who focused all of her time leveling up and hunting monsters. She was more of a casual gamer who simply loved to experience all of that which was World of Eternia. If the regular player was the type to have fun killing monsters and acting like a hero in a world of fantasy. Myena was the type who had more fun interacting with the NPCs, exploring the fantastical landscape of the world, and mastering her current job. A small smile appeared on her face as she headed into the Queen’s mushroom palace.
It was the largest and most defended structure in the game! Myena was absolutely confident that the Mushroom Queen was the final boss of World of Eternia. Although it was a huge, luxurious place perfectly fitting for someone who calls themselves a queen, it wasn’t Myena’s first time in the palace. She traveled through the complicated corridors like a veteran and eventually made her way outside of a metallic door.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
As she neared the door to open it, it suddenly opened inward for her to step in. Myena retracted her outstretched hand and walked in while adjusting her glasses. She looked down at the tiny monster behind the desk looking up at her. He gave her a stern look as he gestured with his hand. Myena controlled herself to prevent herself from screaming about how cute he was.
“Yes, sir. Here are the results of my investigation after acting as a spy in Salona.” Myena handed her boss the results of her spy work.
He flipped through the journal patiently without a change in expression on his face. Myena stood there quietly as her boss appraised her work. She worked for the Combat God. A monster who, surprisingly enough, came to recruit her after seeing how she did such a good job working as a flower shop apprentice in the city. He frequently visited the flower shop for reasons unknown to Myena, but she suspected he had a crush on the shop owner, a female monster that looked like a humanoid snail.
After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, Myena finally got judged for her work. “Well done, Myena.” He told her in his super cute, high-pitched voice. Myena inwardly gushed in pleasure as she was rewarded with levels and an achievement. She was already recording when she walked in because she could never have enough videos of Combat God, and hearing him directly call her in-game name was a whole nother thing entirely! “To think those stupid humans believe they have a chance against us by making an alliance with the Elves and Dwarfs. It may be pointless in the end, but at least this way, they prevented themselves from being wiped out in the war first.” He chuckled. Myena kept quiet as she recorded all of this for later.
“Spy. You’ve done something that I thought was impossible for you, but against all odds, you’ve succeeded with your ability to blend in with those around you flawlessly. To think you could gather all of this information by simply working as a flower shop owner... I’m amazed at your talent or amazed by Humanity’s stupidity. My pride wouldn’t allow me to let you leave without a reward so, what do you want? Name anything, and I'll grant it to you.”
“Sir, my only wish is to continue serving you for the rest of my life.” Myena honestly told him.
To say Combat God was flabbergasted was an understatement. The toddler-sized mushroom monster fell out of his chair in shock before quickly hopping back up and staring at her in suspicion. “Nothing at all?” His gaze was piercing, but Myena only felt flustered by his stare. “Serving you is one of my greatest joys in life.” Myena wasn’t lying.
“...” He tried to get her to break under his stare, but only her cheeks reddened further.
Myena nearly fainted out of pure ecstasy when she learned the Combat God’s name was Shroomy. Myena received another achievement called Shroomy’s Most Trusted Human. She got a large boost to her stats. A passive skill called Loyalty that increased all of her stats when working alongside comrades in the same faction as her and a boost to experience gained when with those comrades. And a tiny silver mushroom cap that was the exact same as the top of Shroomy’s head. A rare cosmetic that gave stat boosts to Body and increased the rank of her Body skills by two. Most cosmetics didn’t give any boosts at all since they were purely for looks. Not even by dumping real-life money could someone buy cosmetics with stats or effects.
“Take this.” Shroomy ripped off the top of his head and tossed it at her. It should give you a small portion of my power.” He no longer made eye contact with her as his cap grew back in seconds. It was like liquid metal.
“Thank you, my Lord.” Myena bowed as she would treasure this hat for the rest of her life.
“You may leave. I’ll contact you again when I have another task for you. For now, rest. You’ve done the kingdom good work.”
“It’s my duty.” Myena left with a huge smile on her face.