They Wanted a Hero. They Made a Monster: Born at the Bottom
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 56: A Tough Nut to Crack
Evan took the tawny leatherbound codex back from Sable. The half-torn page drooped from its binding.
Strange as it sounded, Evan felt as though that part of the page had died.
Words continued appearing and vanishing across it, but no longer in the dense mass of identical lines from before.
[It’s falling off! My page is falling off!] [Having a Dragonkin here is cheating!] [Let’s talk. Communicate. No violence.] [Whoever you are, we can discuss this like reasonable beings.] As the codex produced its words, a faint ripple of mana spread from it. The tawny leatherbound codex had deployed its greatest weapon.
Evan noticed the mana fluctuation, but ... nothing seemed to happen.
He had expected the book to try charming him and Sable.
Yet his Status Panel showed no change.
With nothing else to examine, Evan focused on the words themselves.
Something ... something ... can ... power ... reasonable...
Excellent.
His LV2 Common Tongue skill was completely useless!
Damn it. He missed being able to read in his former life. If only he had more humans around...
Evan, how could you sink so low?
Could you really do nothing on your own without Greed?
Once Dylan returned to normal, Evan would start learning Common Tongue from him.
That small resolution did nothing to solve the immediate problem of the book.
Evan held it up in front of Sable, intending to ask her something. Then he looked into her clear, guileless eyes and decided there was no point.
It seemed they would have to wait until Dylan, the only literate employee in the Mycelial Garden, woke up before they could continue their research.
Evan tossed the tawny leatherbound codex onto the ground. A detonation Puffcap sat directly on top of it to keep watch.
If the book tried anything, the Puffcap could demonstrate what it did best.
Several more Puffcaps lifted the unconscious Dylan and dumped him into another hollow mushroom. Hyphae inside could replenish his mana. From now on, these mushroom lodges would serve as staff quarters.
“Mm ... where am I?”
Everything around Dylan felt soft, like an exceptionally comfortable bed.
The hyphae inside his body were replete with mana. He had not felt this full in a long time. Outside the dungeon, he had rationed his Mana Potion sip by sip and never dared drink enough to satisfy himself all at once.
He opened his eyes to a very strange ceiling.
It was neither stone nor timber. In fact, it looked rather like ... a mushroom.
Dylan’s eyes flew wide. His memories from before losing consciousness were chaotic, but he still recalled some of what had happened.
He rolled to his feet and climbed out of the enormous bed. Looking back, he confirmed that it truly was a giant mushroom.
“You’re awake? Stay exactly where you are.”
At the Boss’s command, Dylan obediently remained in place.
He did not understand what was happening. Had he done something wrong?
Before long, several Puffcaps arrived carrying his good friend, the tawny leatherbound codex, in their tendrils.
The humanoid creature covered in thick, razor-edged scales came with them.
Some kind of Lizardkin?
No, that did not seem right.
Dylan had never seen a species like her. And the pressure she gave off ... surely she was stronger than a Diamond-rank adventurer.
If they fought, there was no doubt the creature, though a head shorter than Dylan, could kill him with a single punch. Not even his unusual Constitution would save him.
Now that she was close, he could sense her through the Mycelial Network. Was she a new underling the Boss had recruited?
As expected of the Boss!
Still ... why was she eating the Puffcap in her arms?
Thump.
His good friend landed in front of him.
The Boss’s instructions came through the Mycelial Network.
“Read aloud whatever it writes. Repeat everything I say to it. Understand?”
Was the Boss about to speak with his good friend?
Wonderful. Surely everyone could get along once they communicated.
“No problem, Boss!”
Dylan opened his good friend, the tawny leatherbound codex. What had happened to this page? Why was half of it hanging off?
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