"I remember I was in pain before I fell asleep! Then the next thing I know, I wake up here." Laios marveled. "I really wish Marcille and Senshi could try the food here. They'd love it."
Just as Laios said that, his body suddenly began to undergo a violent transformation before the others.
In the blink of an eye, Laios turned into a… dwarf.
Thick arms, a stocky build, muscular thighs…
Laios's body released a bit of smoke, and he expanded into a brawny dwarf.
"What the heck?!" Kazuma shouted. "Why did he suddenly turn into a dwarf?!"
"I think I saw it happen just now. That should be… that Transformation Mushroom, right?" Naofumi said. "Didn't think we'd actually see it activate in real-time…"
"In that case, things are pretty obvious now." Kairo Retsu glanced at Laios and let out a breath of relief. "You didn't bring your sword with you? Good. If you brought your sword spirit here, we might've accidentally dragged the demon into this world too. That would've been a real pain."
"So we accidentally stepped on a Transformation Mushroom, huh?" Laios poked at his new body in fascination. "So this is a dwarf's body?"
"Just take a bath to wash off the spores and you'll return to normal. But… judging by your expression, you kinda wanted to experience a dwarf's body." Kairo Retsu mused. "As for the demon—since we're not in a rush to go after it yet, Laios, take some time to get used to life in the Gathering Hub. We'll reconvene for a strategy meeting later."
"Let's eat first. Our Hunters' Meowscular Meals are the best around!" Kairo Retsu gave a big thumbs-up.
"Fantastic!" Laios instantly perked up. "I want to try even more of this world's ingredients…"
Having made that decision, the Hunters happily dug into their Meowscular Meals…
…though Kairo Retsu and the others couldn't help but keep their eyes on Laios the whole time.
After the meal, as the Felynes cleared away the dishes, Kairo Retsu finally couldn't hold it in any longer. "Laios, I've got to ask—I'm really curious. Could you…"
"Let us try the Transformation Mushroom too?!" Kairo Retsu asked excitedly.
"I mean, I guess you could. But how would we do that?" Laios agreed, clearly getting interested in experimenting.
"If someone passes through the spore ring, they'll transform—so we just need to go through your arms." Kairo Retsu said. "I really want to see what species we'd turn into."
"Yeah!" Joseph added. "Our world doesn't have elves or dwarves or any of that stuff. I want to know what transforming feels like too!"
Naofumi stepped up. "Hmm… transformation affects physiology too. If possible, I'd like to collect some spores and see if I can unlock a new type of shield…"
"Ooh!" Laios's eyes sparkled. "I feel like we'll get along really well! Let's try it!"
Three minutes later, beside the now-looped arms of dwarf-form Laios, Kairo Retsu, Joseph, and Naofumi had tied up Kazuma and were preparing to throw him through the spore ring…
"Why me?! I never agreed to this!!" Kazuma thrashed like a Magikarp trying to Splash.
"How could we leave out my best friend Kazuma for something this fun?!" Kairo Retsu declared proudly. "Kazuma! Show us what species you'll turn into!"
"OHH!!"
With Kairo Retsu's shout, he, Joseph, and Naofumi hurled Kazuma through Laios's arm-ring.
As spores burst outward, Kazuma underwent a rapid and agonizing transformation.
"IT HURTS SO MUCH!!!" Kazuma screamed as his body swelled.
Laios blinked. "The Transformation Mushroom Ring… works that fast? Looks painful—maybe because the body's changing too quickly?"
While Laios mused aloud, Kazuma's transformation completed.
He had become… a big pink tusked beastman.
Specifically, the kind of beastman from Kazuma's world—not the green orc kind from Laios's.
"Kazuma!" Kairo Retsu said in awe. "So this is your destiny! You really did become a beastman! I knew it—your fate is to command a beastman harem!"
"LIKE HELL I'D ACCEPT THAT!!!" Beastman Kazuma howled in outrage. "I absolutely refuse to yield to this fate!"
"Wait, this beastman isn't from Laios's world," Joseph noted. "Why did Kazuma turn into a beastman from his own world?"
"The Transformation Mushroom alters things to resemble something close in nature…" Laios theorized quickly. "Maybe because he's not from our world, it turned him into the closest equivalent from his?"
"I did get isekai'd there, you know!" Kazuma protested. "Why would I turn into a beastman from my original world?!"
"Let's keep testing." Kairo Retsu said. "Who's next?"
"I'll go." Tanjiro stepped forward bravely. "I'm small, so I should be able to pass through Mr. Laios's arm ring easily."
"Ohh! Tanjiro! You're a big help!"
With some help from the others, Tanjiro passed through the arm-ring and began to transform.
However…
Tanjiro's physique didn't change. Instead, smoke and burns began to appear on his skin.
Before anyone could react, Tanjiro had turned into a demon—right before their eyes. Naofumi immediately stepped in and shielded him from the sun with his shield.
"I… turned into a demon?" Tanjiro murmured in a daze.
As Tanjiro processed what had happened, the burn marks on his body healed rapidly. When he reached out his hand to test, he found that sunlight no longer harmed him.
The speed at which he overcame the sun's weakness left everyone staring in silence.
As expected… Tanjiro was unnaturally gifted at being a demon…
"Well, this confirms it." Kairo Retsu said. "This mushroom turns us into creatures from our own world!"
"Fascinating… I want to try too," said Shield Hero, intrigued. He asked Tanjiro and Laios to hold hands to form the ring and passed through it himself.
Accompanied by the pain of transformation, Naofumi's head now sported a pair of animal ears.
"This time it's a beastman from our world…" Naofumi was even more intrigued by the mushroom spores.
If he embedded those spores into his shield, could he unlock a shield that changes enemy species?
If so, it might prove extremely effective against strong enemy races…
"I wanna try too!" Kairo Retsu's eyes sparkled. He eagerly leapt through the mushroom ring. "Let's see what species I become!"
Everyone watched with curiosity as Kairo Retsu stood inside the ring, waiting excitedly for the transformation.
A few seconds later, mushroom spores floated onto him, and the transformation completed.
He turned into… a regular human civilian form.
Like… a Human-Human Fruit: Commoner Form.
"Damn it! This mushroom discriminates against worlds with nothing but human races!!!"