The Hero Turned Into A Potato And The World Fell To Ruin

Chapter 1: How Did He Turn Into A Potato?

Liu Ji turned into a potato.

That was how it happened.

Liu Ji had once been a normal college student who, after having been cruelly tortured by an advanced mathematics exam, wandered off campus in a daze, met with truck-kun, and was whisked away to another world.

When he first arrived in this other world, Liu Ji wasn't a potato.

Then, he was a human, though a hapless one stranded in the wilderness.

Normally, the transmigrated party would either be dropped off near a village or town, land in some monster's lair, or have been summoned as a hero. However, none of these scenarios applied to Liu Ji; he simply found himself in the middle of nowhere.

At that moment, Liu Ji hadn't yet realized that he had fallen into another world. Though unclear about what had occurred, he started to follow the sound of water, planning to walk downstream along the stream, hoping to find a village or town.

After all, humans tended to develop settlements near water sources.

However, Liu Ji forgot one thing.

About half a day into his journey downstream, he encountered a bear, four to five meters tall, with a horn on its head.

It was then that Liu Ji realized he had probably landed in another world.

And, if he wasn't careful, he was probably about to die again.

Perhaps spurred by the looming threat of death, Liu Ji, who had never climbed a tree in his life, scrambled up to the top of a nearby tree like his ancient ancestors did and clung to the trunk, too afraid to move.

Ironically, at the height he was at, the four-to-five-meter-tall bear only needed to stand up and could easily swat Liu Ji down with a paw.

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Fortunately, his luck held out. The giant bear, perhaps due to poor eyesight, did not notice him, or maybe just wasn't interested in a meal with legs.

In any case, it didn't spot Liu Ji or seem to bother looking for him. Instead, it just sat by the side of the stream, pawing fish out of the water and eating them one after the other.

Liu Ji dared not move. He hung on to the tree, watching that giant bear slap fish out of the water as easily as someone cracking sunflower seeds.

He didn't know how there were so many fish in this tiny stream; all he knew was that he definitely wouldn't dare eat them. Each one looked as if it had been exposed to nuclear radiation, their scales shimmering with a strange glow.

But the bear seemed to enjoy its meal, staying by the riverbank and eating all day long, which resulted in Liu Ji being stuck in the tree for the entire day.

As dusk fell, the bear seemed finally full and leisurely left the stream bank.

At that time, Liu Ji's limbs were nearly numb. Seeing that it was clear, he relaxed his grip and fell straight down.

Fortunately, the ground below was covered with bushes, at least saving Liu Ji from some broken bones.

Liu Ji was somewhat bewildered as he lay in the bushes. He didn't know whether to consider himself lucky or not.

On one hand, it was unlucky because he had died. But he hadn't completely died and had transmigrated to another world.

On the other hand, his location after crossing over could have been better as it seemed that he could die once more at any time.

But at least, he was still alive for now, so it could be considered good luck.

Having spent an entire day clinging to a tree for dear life, Liu Ji was really starting to feel quite hungry.

He had been gripped by fear while hanging on to the tree, but now that he was on the ground, the sensation of hunger hit Liu Ji like a surging tsunami.

Struggling slightly, Liu Ji got up from the bushes, brushed off the fallen leaves on his clothes, and scanned his surroundings, trying to find something to eat.

His gaze first settled on that tiny stream.

Although those fishes looked like they had been exposed to nuclear radiation…

No, it was still unrealistic. He wasn't a bear, and trying to munch on raw freshwater fish was too much of a challenge.

Moreover, he doubted if he could even catch any fish in the first place.

Liu Ji's rational line of thought was to find some wild fruit to eat and quickly leave.

With night approaching, he didn't dare stay near the stream, not knowing what kind of wild beast he might encounter next.

In the end, Liu Ji did find some fruit, just that they had a faint glow, seemingly like those radiated fish, which made him rather hesitant to try consuming them.

Just as he was getting frustrated, Liu Ji discovered some plants that looked a lot like potato shoots.

He found a stick and tried digging around the plants, and indeed unearthed a few small potatoes.

At that moment, Liu Ji naively thought that he might get to eat some roasted potatoes.

Thus, he energetically dug around the area, unearthing a dozen or so potatoes of varying sizes. After washing his haul in the stream, he left the stream bank.

Liu Ji ran to a more distant wooded area, found a dry spot, and prepared to make a fire to roast some potatoes and keep warm overnight.

However, Liu Ji soon realized that he had underestimated the task.

He became aware of it when he spent a long time trying to produce a spark by rubbing a stick against a piece of wood without any success.

At that moment, Liu Ji realized that starting a fire with friction was a skillful task.

Indeed, it seemed practically impossible for someone like him to ignite a piece of wood directly with a stick, unless he could move as fast as the Flash.

But clearly he wasn't.

Therefore, after half an hour of futile efforts, the only results were nearly rubbing his hands raw.

He also realized that there must be something wrong with his method, but the strong hunger pangs, unease, frustration from his failure to start a fire, and anxiety about the future were clouding his thoughts.

He simply wasn't in a state to think clearly on how to successfully start a fire.

So much so he even began considering trying to eat the potatoes raw.

While raw potatoes can be toxic, isn't the toxicity rather low if they aren't green or sprouting?

Staring at the potato in his hand, Liu Ji pondered for a long while.

Eventually, whether due to extreme hunger or the surrealness of the day's experiences giving him some sort of courage, he did something bizarre.

He actually bit into the raw potato, skin and all, even though all the dirt wasn't washed off properly.

Not only did he bite in, but he also chewed and then swallowed.

The taste of raw potato wasn't as strange as he expected. Rather, it was the earthy taste of the skin that was somewhat nauseating, but Liu Ji still swallowed it.

He only realized what he had done after swallowing.

At first, he was somewhat shocked. And then, he felt a surge of impulse within him.

It was an inexplicable impulse, similar to the instinct of standing up or raising a hand; the sort of natural urge to perform some kind of action.

Liu Ji went along with this instinct and did the "action."

And then… he became a potato.

Or rather, a potato plant.

A potato plant that had no hearing, no sight, no touch. A potato plant with verdant leaves with only some sense of awareness of its own physical state.