Gasps echoed all around.
Though it wasn’t a language he knew, Tanaka somehow understood every word perfectly. Strange, but convenient.
He calmly swept his eyes across the chamber.
A wide underground room lit by oil lamps.
On the floor, circles drawn in some unknown paint glimmered faintly.
Around them knelt robed figures, chanting in unison.
So… an isekai summoning, huh?
He wasn’t some shut-in old man—he knew the trope.
Maybe he should be grateful they’d at least brought the toilet with him. Otherwise, he’d be stuck in a horse stance right now…
At his side stood a tall blonde woman.
Shorts, stockings—looked modern. Clearly another summoned Hero.
But why was she holding a bloody dagger?
No, no, now wasn’t the time to stare at her. The problem at hand was how to pull his pants up without looking awkward.
Still… wasn’t he supposed to get some kind of cheat power?
As he thought it, a status screen appeared before his eyes.
【Name: Tanaka Hideshichi】
【Racial Trait: EXP Gain +20%】
【Skills: Poison Resistance LV3, Mental Resistance LV4】
【Title: Hero (Ignores racial level restrictions; may draw one random unique title or skill. Usable.)】
Tanaka focused on the “Usable” option.
【Hero Title Effect Activated】
Three minutes after arriving in another world, Tanaka finally saw something that gave his eyes a spark of life again.
The priest smashed his forehead to the floor, silver-lined hood slipping off, voice trembling with awe.
“Ixion! Lord Ixion’s blessing!”
Two Heroes, summoned in the same era—such a thing hadn’t happened in a thousand years!
Proof that the Lord of Light loved humanity! And he—he had been part of it!
Around him, the clerics whispered, prayed, their excitement filling the air.
No one paid the Heroes themselves much mind.
The blonde woman’s expression flickered. At last she stepped forward to speak—
“Everyone, can you please—”
“Excuse me, everyone, eyes on me?”
Someone cut in first. The man still sitting on the toilet.
Tanaka spoke fluently in the common tongue of this world, as if he’d known it all his life.
He raised a finger and swept the room, making sure all eyes were on him.
A blinding light. Everyone froze in place.
Tanaka calmly pulled up his pants and shut the toilet lid.
He walked out past the kneeling priests, pausing only to snag a bundle of paper from a nearby shelf.
A few moments later, the crowd stirred, snapping back to themselves as one.
The priest looked at the glowing circle, tears spilling down his cheeks.
“Success… we’ve done it! We’ve summoned a Hero! Archbishop, I did not fail you…”
He raised his voice in praise of the Lord of Light, who had granted humanity hope in its darkest hour.
Meanwhile, the blonde woman in the circle frowned, scanning her surroundings.
Her gaze lingered on the white porcelain toilet beside her. Strange…
Amethyst Dungeon, fifth floor.
Magic poured out of the Knight’s body in torrents, more than his frame could contain, spilling wildly into the air.
Through mana-sense, it would look like a Super Saiyan aura exploding around him.
No, no, this was bad!
He was going to blow!
Lin Jun hastily pressed the Knight against the mycelium mat, letting the excess mana disperse through the fungal network.
Only then did the “cooling” begin.
Lin Jun’s heart still raced with excitement and fear.
Too careless. He hadn’t expected it to work this well. Next time, he’d better not run tests with his main body in the same chamber.
Dying in an experiment-induced explosion… that would be embarrassing for a dungeon boss.
The mana flooding from the Knight came from the 【Sunstone (Fragment)】, its radiance converted into raw mana by 【Photosynthesis】.
Lin Jun suspected the output might even surpass direct sunlight on the surface.
After all, surface plants couldn’t generate anywhere near this much mana.
As expected of a divine artifact—even incomplete.
It had lain useless in his possession for so long, but now he’d found its true purpose.
Still, another problem arose.
【Photosynthesis】 was passive.
And the Sunstone’s supply was overwhelming.
Either the Knight stayed linked to the mycelium to vent excess mana—
Or he had to burn skills nonstop. Otherwise, he’d explode like an overloaded magic crystal.
The blast would probably outstrip 【Self-Destruct】.
Other people’s mechs ran out of energy too fast.
His Knight risked bursting from too much energy.
Truly a case of “gear too good, wielder not worthy.”
But since he didn’t need full strength right now, the Knight could serve as a living mana generator. That was fine too.
Meanwhile, on the surface.
“Boss… is this supposed to happen?”
Dylan stood before the Scout, his【Mimicry】 canceled. Green skin of mycelium woven with flesh peeked out.
He’d long known he wasn’t quite human anymore.
The white fungal growth had been barely acceptable.
But now, with 【Photosynthesis】 added, he looked more like a giant goblin.
The Scout shuffled forward and patted him with a tentacle.
“Dylan, this is the price of power.
If you can’t even bear this, how will you overcome hardship and climb to the peak?”
“B-boss, I never wanted to… climb to any peak…”
“Fool!” Lin Jun snapped.
“If you don’t grow stronger, how will you protect your daughter?
What’s a little green skin?
If it meant saving her, even if I gave you three extra arms and four extra legs, would you object?”
Dylan dropped to his knees.
All for his daughter.
A little color change was nothing. With【Mimicry】, it wouldn’t even show.
“Boss, I understand now. You’re right! For my daughter!”
Lin Jun, pleased his test subject number one had been convinced, had the Scout nod firmly, mushroom cap bobbing.
“…Boss… the extra arms and legs were just a metaphor, right?”