安折



BRIEF INFORMATION
NAME Ān Zhé (安折)
AGE (Approximately) 22 years old (post apocalypse, human form)
SPECIES Xenogenic, white mushroom
GENDER Male (human form)
AFFILIATE(S) Abyss; Northern Base (temporarily); Highland Research Institute; Venom's Orphanage (Venom City)
OCCUPATION Educator (Venom City)
STATUS Alive
PARTNER Lù Fēng (陆沨)


APPEARANCE

HUMAN: An Zhe's human form looks almost identical to An Ze—first human whom he contacted to—since his body was built on An Ze's genes. This is also evident by the fact that Josh recognizes him as An Ze, and he passes facial recognition upon entering the base. He describes himself as having "soft black hair and eyes that were the same color." He also says that they—he and An Ze—were alike in many ways, but there were some details that weren't the same. In addition, he didn't have An Ze's gentle and calm expression. It appears that he actually has pretty appearance, since one of the children at Garden of Eden is astonished by An Zhe when first meeting him.

MUSHROOM: An Zhe's mushroom form is a tiny white mushroom. He is described as being a common mushroom found all over the place in the abyss. He is generally safe from larger predators due to its lack of nutritional value and sedative effect following consumption. He describes the taste of his hyphae as soft, sweet, and very tasty.


PERSONALITY

An Zhe—a tiny mushroom which is transformed into a human and interacting with humans for the first time—basically has zero experience in human’s society and no knowledge about humanity and morality, which lead him to be perceived as naive and somewhat submissive around his surroundings.

On the other hand, those aspects also drive An Zhe to be both as an open-hearted and open-minded individual. That means he is eager to accept and learn any kind of knowledge about human’s society—since he places himself as a xenogenic, not human—and is always full of curiosity to his surroundings. He thinks that by accepting that knowledge and knowing the answers to his questions, he can eventually know human’s feeling and adapt himself to human’s society. Well, the attempts mostly betrayed him, resulting in him being rather clumsy.

In the midst of a world unraveling at the seams, An Zhe—who is an open-hearted and open-minded individual—actually has a pure heart that shines like a beacon. He is easily forgiving, even though he has been deceived many times. Thus why he could adjust with the children well when he joined the Garden of Eden for teaching literature. He thinks every person has a reason to do something, though it is seen as an ‘unconventional’ one by other people. This mindset is probably because of An Ze’s genes, so An Zhe also accepts and adapts to the attitude very well.

This attitude also leads him to be resilient despite his gentle and fragile appearance. He doesn’t falter though the atmosphere is filled with overwhelming feelings, showing his warmth and generosity to other people. It is caused by him looking and learning a lot from the past; losing people that he knows, and dealing with trauma.

In the novel, it is also said that An Zhe is also very faithful towards his partner, Lu Feng. He is described to be tolerant and genuine with Lu Feng, even in the moments when Lu Feng caused him pain, An Zhe never thought of taking any vengeance or hating his partner.


BACKGROUND STORY
ABYSS

The world has collapsed. The sky was no longer blue. Poison seeped into the air, the water, and the bodies that were once alive and warm. Humanity, in its arrogance, created its own destruction—and from those ruins, new life emerged. Not pure, not natural… but still alive.

Among the mutant creatures that spread from the ruined land, there was one that was different. It didn’t grow to hunt or to kill. It grew quietly—small, soft, and fragile. A tiny mushroom that absorbed the light, the smells, and the sounds of the world. It didn’t know who it was, not having family, only that it existed, and that it could feel.

One day, the tiny mushroom lost its spore and it began to wonder: what does it mean to live? Especially after its spore was taken by irresponsible human.

An Zhe was the name given to it by the one who shared knowledge with it—An Ze, who told him stories about his life when he was close to death. Those stories made the little mushroom wonder.

An Zhe was a mutant mushroom that slowly developed awareness and a human-like form. He learned from a distance, copying how humans walked, spoke, and even felt. But what he could never imitate was the emotions; happiness, desperate, anger, disappointed, and hatred that actually had become common among people after learning from An Ze.

He didn't have memory as human—but all he had were memories of An Ze. Someone who, in a short time, showed him that the world wasn’t entirely cruel.

That was enough for An Zhe to begin his journey—across dead lands, leaving behind his place, and heading into the human place, hoping to take back the spore that was taken from him.


NORTHERN BASE

From a small, ordinary white mushroom to the form of a human being, An Zhe arrived at Northern Base—that would become his new world. It was there, far from the chaotic depths of the Abyss, that he began to discover feelings and sensations he had never known before.

But above all, he had a mission: to find the missing spore that had once been a part of him.

Unfortunately … he wasn't a human. He just realized that he actually was something that had to be hidden, feared, hated, or killed. The human place was a place where mutants were hunted—a harsh place full of sensors, military, and fear. There, he had to survive as a fake human who couldn’t afford to make a single mistake.

At first, he gradually learned basic necessities; he needed to work in order to earn some money and he could eat potato soup which matched his taste as human and the water was expensive, casually making him work as a dollmaker apprentice with a recommendation by his new ‘friend’ when he was at Outer City—a city which couldn’t be survived—and teacher assistant for The Garden of Eden when he got qualified as a volunteer—refugee—from Outer City to The Main City of Northern Base. As the time passed, he realized that his mission was much more difficult and complex than he thought. It was caused by his spore eventually being attached to Lu Feng—The Arbiter who was feared for his reputation—and his strategy was changed to try knowing more about Lu Feng.

Alas, all of his efforts to get his spore back, eventually reached its limit since he had been exposed at that time. At the worst time, it was when Lu Feng was on his duty, and An Zhe made his attempt to run away, leaving the Northern Base which wasn’t on his side anymore.


A SACRIFICE

The world was beyond survived. Trees had mutated. Insects had mutated. Beds had mutated. An iron key had mutated. The dangling lights had mutated. A single grain of sand had mutated. Even atomic particles were no longer what they used to be. The magnetic field—the source of the tragedy—had reached its limit. Chaos reigned everywhere. Humanity was no longer fighting each other; they were fighting against the world itself, they were going to be extinct. The only hope left was to harness the power of an artificial magnetic pole—perhaps, just perhaps, to wrestle an ending from the jaws of apocalypse.

He had fled from human society, because he was never truly human. And yet, those two small feet kept moving, trembling, toward the raging flames of Simpson. Flames that had to be tamed, so that humanity might stand a chance at victory. He thought, after a long time passed to find the solution from this fluctuation, his species from Abyss could be an answer.

He wasn’t even human. And yet, he kept remembering how Lu Feng stood for humanity. He remembered, too, the memories carved into this human body—memories that at first, endured the cruelty of the world, then replaced by moments he had lived through, overflowing with something he could no longer describe.

The warmth from a pair of eyes which reflects an astonishing aurora, he would remember it.

He would meet them again, even though his body leaned into the flame, like a withered leaf drifting down at the end of autumn. He became ash, carried by the wind—fading not in vain, but as an offering, so the hope might take root in the ruin he left behind.

He came from the area that has been destroyed, but his heart was more whole than many humans. He was a strange being who carried the most human feelings. Not a hero, not a threat—just someone who wanted to live as himself.

And in his quiet, simple way, he became a symbol: that even in the most damaged world, something pure can still grow—and bring a small, new hope to the world.

He would be free. His spore, a quiet trace of his existence, remained as a final whisper that he had once been part of this world.


POST-APOCALYPSE

Three years passed, and a spore which was the part of someone's hope in this world gradually showed its shape from inside the laboratorium's tube. It was a human-shaped individual. His eyes were covering, yet his tiny body's shape, long eyelashes, and brown-colored hair seemed denying any intention to hide the identity.

He was almost there—bringing back his words, and preparing to live as himself. He waited for so long to chase his life once again.

Hoping the world wouldn't avert its gaze from him this time.


WRITER'S NOTE

Yaho! This is REREN, the writer behind An Zhe (@abysslantern) speaking! First of all, please allow me to send my gratitude towards you, who spare your time by reading this character's page. Relating to that, there are some notes about this character which may help to improve our interaction. Your attention is truly appreciated!

  1. The information provided in this link, especially the personality section, is summarized in the novel Little Mushroom by Shisi.
  2. An Zhe's timeline is post-apocalypse. That was after a huge disaster happened, eventually leading to an ending where humans and xenogenics began to coexist—and An Zhe had become Lu Feng’s partner.
  3. As this account is also associated with VENOM CITY, An Zhe will follow the agency's universe by using his permanent human form. He can't use both of abilities and transforming into his tiny mushroom form, and physically approximately 22 years old according to his human form. The occupation will also be adjusted by his personality and experiences as well.
  4. Please don’t hesitate to send me your feedbacks or suggestions regarding my character or how I carry this character through direct message. I’d truly value it, as long as it’s shared with much kindness.

That’s all for these notes. I’m always open to co-writing opportunities and do plotting together, so feel free to reach out!

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Pub: 18 Apr 2025 13:05 UTC

Edit: 28 Apr 2025 08:36 UTC

Views: 916