Norris had a dream.

He dreamt of returning to the surface with Magic Crystal Ore, and inside was a Demon Crystal of A Level quality.

After selling it, Norris paid off his debts and still had quite a bit of money left.

He no longer had to endure the daily grind of mining with his face covered in dirt.

With this money, Norris went to study Herbalism and became an Alchemist. He opened a Magic Potion Store in Dumb Wind Town and lived the stable life he had always dreamed of.

One day, that girl came to the shop.

The girl whose name he didn't even know.

Norris was so excited that he forgot how to greet customers, but fortunately, the girl spoke first.

He thought the girl was there to buy potions, but she opened her mouth and said:

"Strange? Haven't you fully awakened yet?"

Then came a series of crisp slapping sounds.

...

Slap slap slap slap——

He opened his eyes to see a Puki using its tentacles to lightly pat his face back and forth. The force was so gentle that he almost didn't feel it, but the sound was loud...

???

"Finally awake. How do you feel, still clear-headed? Not poisoned, right?"

This voice!

The Death God... No, it was the person who previously asked if he wanted to live.

Norris finally distinguished between dream and reality and remembered what had happened before.

"My body?"

He tried to move his body and felt no discomfort; in fact, he felt incredibly good!?

"It's actually really good..."

The moment Norris propped up his upper body, he heard a sound like metal friction coming from his body.

He looked down and saw countless diamond-shaped silver-white scales covering his entire body, reflecting a play of colors under the light of the Glowing Mushrooms.

He raised his hands, seeing ten silver thread-like claws that seemed capable of easily tearing everything apart before him.

What was even stranger was the hollow cavity on his right chest, where numerous mycelia formed new structures inside...

What have I… transformed into?

In the Mushroom House, Norris appeared bewildered, even wanting to pinch himself to see if he was dreaming, but his claws were too long to pinch himself.

"Now are you awake?" Lin Jun asked again.

"Who... who are you, exactly? Why did you turn me into this?" Norris felt like he had turned into a monster.

"I'm the one who saved your life. As for why you turned out like this, didn't I already tell you? It's just a small price to pay after treatment.

I even specifically asked you again, did you forget?"

Norris thought about it and realized that was indeed the case, but he never expected such a price at the time.

Seemingly guessing Norris's thoughts, Lin Jun continued, "What, if you had known you would turn out like this, would you have chosen to give up on life? If you want, you can still choose right now."

Norris looked at his sharp claws and swallowed hard.

Indeed, even knowing the result, he still didn't want to die…

Lin Jun then comforted him:

"There's nothing bad about this, isn't Silver Armor beautiful?

Honestly, I didn't expect the Scale Armor to mutate into this color when mixed with Steel Bone.

And it's not only beautiful; you've also become stronger!"

"Stronger...?"

"Do you want to give it a try?"

Soon, two Pukis led Norris to a small clearing in the Mushroom Forest.

A Fat Otaku Puki walked over with heavy steps.

Gurgle——

"Am I supposed to fight it?"

It wasn't that Norris was shrinking back; he truly didn't know how to fight. His only high-level skill was the mining skill [Chisel Strike], and seeing the Fatty Puki's large size, he felt intimidated.

"Of course not."

Just as Norris breathed a sigh of relief, he saw the Fatty pull out a large wild boar from its belly.

???

Norris, looking at the big creature lying on the ground still unconscious, tried hard to recall the Demon guidebook of the Underground City.

"Could it be a Stone-skinned Pig?" Norris said uncertainly.

"Correct!"

The Stone-skinned Wild Boar doesn't actually have stone skin; the name is just a metaphor.

It's one of the few animal-type demons that can roam freely in the Level 6 Botanical Garden, relying on its thick skin, meaty flesh, and great strength, unaffected by the plants' entanglements.

"No way! How can I fight a Level 6 demon!"

Although Norris was Level 21, in a real battle, even the demons of the first three levels would be a tough challenge.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll keep an eye on you. You won't die."

The Pukis pushed Norris back, and the Stone-skinned Wild Boar slowly woke up. The moment it did, a stone thrown by a Puki hit its head.

The beast shook its head and then turned to notice the shining Norris opposite—it was true that Silver Armor was conspicuous.

Faced with the massive boar standing as tall as a person, Norris felt no courage and turned to run.

Not moving was fine, but as soon as he started moving, the boar started to charge directly at him.

[Charge Level 3]

The skill level wasn't high, but with the weight of the boar, the impact was astounding.

And as Norris was running around wildly, he didn't even observe the enemy's movements, just running blindly without realizing the boar was charging at him.

The boar caught up from behind and with a shove, sent him flying.

Norris flew through the air in a beautiful arc and crashed into a Mushroom Tree before bouncing to the ground.

His life value panel only showed a 15% decrease, but Norris didn't know this and thought he might die from the fall.

He writhed on the ground for a while before realizing it was just a bit painful, and by this time, the boar had charged in again.

This time, the Stone-skinned Wild Boar pinned Norris under a Mushroom Tree and kept ramming him until he was deeply embedded.

Cornered, Norris desperately tried to block the boar's head with his hands, only for his claws to easily pierce the boar's hide.

Unfortunately, he missed a vital spot. Injured, the boar only became more frenzied.

It rammed again and again. Although its tusks were not particularly sharp, Norris's scales were still intact, but his internal organs couldn't withstand the assault.

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Norris became desperate. His claws plunged into the boar's body and pulled desperately, while the magic power inside his body instinctively gathered at the chest cavity's gap.

Boom!

The point-blank range Mushroom Cannon erupted with a loud blast, blowing away more than half of the boar's head. Norris himself was sent rolling far away by the impact.

Observing, Lin Jun wasn't worried; although Norris looked in danger, he still had about 60% of his life value left, some of which had been reduced by his own Mushroom Cannon.

After hiding the ruby, Xiao Hai, who had snuck over to watch, made a comment: "Svirgis, so weak."

Svirgis?

Lin Jun thought for a moment and then recalled that this was the Dragon Race's term for those unworthy of having a name.

Could Xiao Hai be mistaking him for a Dragon Man too?

Clearly, he didn't even have a tail or wings, and his scales were more close-fitting than Xiao Hai's upright thick scales. How could this be mistaken?

But the comment wasn't wrong—so weak.

The skills Lin Jun equipped him with were enough for a Puki to defeat this Stone-skinned Wild Boar, not to mention Norris's Attribute Values were much higher, yet he performed like this.

But it made sense, thinking back to Norris's previous skill panel, he probably hadn't been in any real battles.

Though Lin Jun and Xiao Hai thought Norris's performance was pathetic, Norris himself didn't see it that way.

Norris looked at the fallen Stone-skinned Wild Boar before him, his chest heaving violently.

A strange sensation crawled along his spine, a mix of fear, excitement, joy, and pain, filling his mind.

He looked at his blood-dripping hands.

"This is... power!"

[Level Up: LV21→LV22]

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