Chapter 786: Chapter 772: Autodidactic Phenomena

The alley was narrow and deep, and withered vines covered the stone walls on both sides.

The soles of the girl’s boots clattered on the slippery cobblestones as she raced through the alley with two Puki. However, the footsteps behind her grew ever closer.

She turned the corner and ran headlong into a dead end.

The stone wall at the end was several meters high, and she couldn’t climb over it.

She turned around to find another route, but three panting men were already blocking the entrance of the alley.

The one leading raised his head, his face full of rough flesh, the veins on his temple throbbing.

"Little brat... your legs are fast!" He stood upright, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and grinned, "Run? Let’s see where you can run now."

The girl’s body was pressed into the corner, her voice trembling, "Please... let me go."

"Let you go?" The man sneered and took a step forward, "Who will pay your father’s debt if I let you go?"

"That was your scheme!" the girl shouted, gritting her teeth.

"Who cares what scheme it was." Another short, stout man squeezed in from the back, his gaze sweeping over her face twice, tutting twice, "Debts are paid with money, that’s only natural. Rest assured, with that pretty face of yours, once we tidy up some mycelium, you’ll pay it off in a few years, where we are."

The girl’s lips trembled, her eyes reddened, but no tears fell.

The three men exchanged a glance and rushed forward simultaneously.

The girl commanded the two Puki for a final resistance!

Two Puki sprang into action, one lunged at the leading man’s face, tentacle blade flashing cold light, while the other charged its Mushroom Cannon.

However, although the three men weren’t formidable, they weren’t something that two cannon fodder Puki could defeat.

With one palm stroke, the man knocked away the Puki lunging at his face. The round body hit the wall; its mushroom cap was dented significantly, and it slipped to the ground, struggling a few times without managing to get up.

The short, stout man threw a flying knife, pinning the other Puki accumulating Mushroom Cannon mid-way to the ground.

The girl tried to take advantage of the chaos to slip past them, but a hand grabbed her by the neck and yanked her back forcefully. Another hand clamped her wrist; a third person grabbed her waist from behind, lifting her entirely.

She struggled desperately, kicking wildly in the air, her boot heel hitting the nose of the person in front.

Blood sprayed from the nasal cavity; the person staggered back, covering his nose, blood leaking through his fingers.

"Damn bitch—!"

A fist struck her side, making her groan, her body bending forward. The second punch landed on her shoulder, the third hammered her arm. Each punch carried an angry force, probably breaking several bones.

"It hurts... Ugh... Stop hitting... Please stop..." The girl’s voice was choked and intermittent, finally tearful, but her attackers were indifferent, still venting their anger punch by punch.

No one noticed that the bloodstain at the girl’s mouth had somehow crystallized into frost.

"I said... stop—!"

Pale dragon breath erupted from her half-open mouth, engulfing the two men before her in frost before they could react.

One was covered in frost from head to toe, his pupils dilated, deathly silent on the spot.

The other had half his body turned into an ice sculpture, his right arm frozen at his side, yet his left arm barely raised, reaching out for help to the last standing person.

"Help..."

But the sudden scene had already terrified the last person.

"Monster... Demon Race aaaaah!"

He turned tail and fled, rolling and crawling. As he reached the corner, a claw covered in scales suddenly reached out and pierced his neck.

Blood gushed from the wound, dripping down the claw’s fingers.

He opened his mouth, a gurgling sound emitted from his throat, then was casually tossed against the wall by the claw, slid down to the ground, leaving a pool of blood.

By this point, the man only half frozen had also ceased breathing, thoroughly dead.

The girl who caused all this was no better off.

She slumped in the corner, half her face covered in frost, lips purple, her vision already beginning to blur.

She vaguely saw a figure emitting silver light approaching, she tried to see clearly that face, but her eyelids grew heavier, consciousness sinking into the deep water, finally plunging into darkness.

...

Outrageous! Automatically acquiring dragon breath or something, is that right?

Lin Jun, during these past days within the United Kingdom region, intensely scoured displays, and indeed discovered several cases, the most outrageous being this girl named Ailala.

Others barely displayed some electricity on their bodies; even if discovered, it would only be considered as awakening some ancestral bloodline.

She, however, acquired frost dragon breath!

Too conspicuous, Lin Jun had no choice but to send Norris to reclaim her to the Underground City.

Through recent observations, Lin Jun also noticed.

Such cases of self-acquiring skills indeed only occur in individuals parasitized by mycelium, which means it’s definitely related to himself.

Calling it a disease doesn’t fit; Lin Jun temporarily labeled it as "self-study phenomenon."

Though he conducted quite a few observations and comparisons, until now, Lin Jun hasn’t figured out the pattern of this phenomenon’s occurrence.

Race, age, gender, duration of parasitization... these seem unrelated to whether the "self-study phenomenon" occurs.

What skills can be learned appear linked to the individual’s "needs."

However, this "need fulfillment" doesn’t follow the individual’s will, and for them, it doesn’t necessarily bode well.

For example, in combat, for enhancing defense, the learned [Chitin Shell] instead hinders movement, or like Ailala, if Lin Jun hadn’t sent Norris over, her frost breath would have wiped out both the enemy and herself.

Nonetheless, overall, Lin Jun doesn’t view this as a purely negative phenomenon.

Applying survivor bias, those Lin Jun pays attention to are inherently mis-evolved beings.

If someone just gained some resistance-type skills, then even if Lin Jun can flip through panels, identifying them would hardly be possible.

Either way, this is a mystery related to Lin Jun himself, unraveling it will certainly aid Lin Jun in better understanding himself.

Thus, gathering individuals exhibiting "self-study phenomenon" for focused observation became a necessary action.

Hmm... temporarily assign these people to Norris, concerning body mutation, he has more experience.

...

Ailala’s consciousness drifted up from the darkness.

In a daze, she saw that figure again, this time hearing the voice as well, "Oh? You’ve finally woken up!"

The figure approached, the light finally converging, but the girl’s pupils abruptly contracted!

The scales shimmered with an eerie glow under a fluorescent gleam, long sharp claws adorned the outreaching hand, and this monster was leering at her!

"De... Demon Race!" Ailala screamed, desperately retreating, backing against the inside wall of the Mushroom House, nowhere to run, "Don’t! Don’t come near!"

"Wait, I’m not from the Demon Race, nor do I mean harm..."

However, it was too late.

In panic, Ailala instinctively released her breath again, and Norris hadn’t finished speaking when pale frost plastered his face.

He remained frozen in the posture of reaching out, becoming an ice sculpture.

Crack— The ice shattered internally.

Norris shook off the icy shards on his shoulders, brushed the frost bits from his head.

With [Frost Resistance Level 10], Norris naturally wouldn’t be frozen by a mere Level 1 dragon breath like those weaklings.

Nonetheless, when he gazed at the girl again, half-dead from her own breath, he couldn’t help but feel exasperated.

After a while, he brought over a heated Puki, gently pressed it against Ailala’s face. The warm sensation made her eyelids twitch, her body eased somewhat from stiffness.

Norris stood and glanced around the area. Besides Ailala, there were seven other victims of the self-study phenomenon from the United Kingdom, and this number might continue to increase.

He sighed, shifting the heated Puki to the girl’s other cheek.

This new job, it seems, won’t be easy.

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