Prologue

Mikani pouted, looking pleadingly around the board room table. “But I’ve invested so time in the humans! And we’ve used a lot of their pop culture ideas to boost ratings, so-”

“Even still, profit margins are decreasing. No one is watching the humans. Their drama is so…” Den, sitting at the head of the table, made a helpless gesture with his hand. The he scratched his beard, as if embarrassed.

“So… all of my hard work… all of my nurturing… gone just like that…?” Mikani’s lips trembled, glistening tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

“Well, not exactly.” Qube readjusted his glasses as he spoke. Mikani glared hatefully at Qube. She knew he would be the one behind this. Always obsessed with profits, of course he would be the one to axe her Earth.

Qube continued. “We will obliterate the universe, but we will sell the humans to casting for The Great Tower. They will serve as fodder for the competitions.”

A dam burst, and Mikani finally giving way to the sobs built up inside of her. Den rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around the table, unable to find words.

Once again, Qube broke the silence. “Still, you never know. Maybe one will experience mild success. They appear to be a relatively adaptable race, after all.”

*****

A 20 year old male from Earth was exasperatedly refreshing his browser, waiting for the newest chapter to come out, when he experienced a lurching sensation. Suddenly, he was somewhere else. He gasped, looking around. A grey creature with 11 eyes watched him with a bored expression.

“Welcome. You will soon be competing on The Great Tower, one of the greatest programs the integrated multiverse has to offer! In order to make things interesting, you are offered the chance to sell bits of yourself to the Ilium, in exchange for power. What are you willing to offer, contestant?”

The male opened his mouth, and then closed it. This… this is exactly like a web novel! Based on the setup, not one with a very high chance of survival. His entire life flashed before the male's eyes, doing his best to realistically estimate his chances of survival. The male opened his mouth again, this time speaking.

“...bits of myself? Like body parts?”

“Perhaps.” The creature (was it referring to itself when it said Ilium?) seemed surprised he had responded at all. “Body parts, personality traits, inches of your height… basically anything. The more precious the thing is you sell, the more you will get in exchange.”

The male considered briefly. “First, I sell my name.”

“Done.”

The male blinked, then smiled ruefully. Then he closed his eyes, thinking mulling over a dangerous decision. 'It’s a gamble… but if I want to succeed, I must take risks. I must say this.'

“Okay, next I sell my memory of my previous world.”

The creature chuckled, snapping his fingers. “Fine accomplished. Anything else?”

But the male’s eyes blinked, and he seemed very confused. The creature sighed inwardly. It seemed like this one was done. Selling memories often transformed even the brightest individuals into bricks.

“If that’s all-”

“Wait.” The male’s voice was deeper, somehow, when he spoke now. The male frowned at the floor. Then he looked up. “I must… tell you something. ‘I sell my humanity’. And then…”

The male creature gazed into the distance as the grey creature with 11 eyes continued its processes. “And then I must… learn to kill.”

Day 1

...huh? I blinked my eyes, then I frowned. I was standing in a mass of confused looking beings in a large dark room. The floor was dirt. This place definitely didn’t look familiar, but at the same time… I didn’t remember anything at all. Who was I? What was I doing here?

I must learn to kill.

The thought rose unbidden, but before I could examine it any further, a loud voice barked out, “Hey! You newbies. Welcome. Most of you will die. Congratulations, you won’t have to stay here in hell for very long. Alright, first things first. Think “Status”. A window should appear.”

Name:Level:1Race:Vit:4End:2Str:3Agi:3Dex:4Int:5Wis:5Luck:31TitlesSkillsLesser Air Affinity

As soon as the blue panel appeared before me, several others appeared.

Welcome to the System! The Great Tower is proud to have you join our team, and wish you the best of luck!Congratulations! Due to your actions, you have earned the title "Nameless": As a being without a name, you live and die alone. +1 to all Stats. Congratulations! Due to your actions, you have earned the title "Raceless": As a being without a race, all races view you with suspicion. Gained the Skill "Endless Stomach" and the attribute "Biomass".

The Status screen flickered, and then reappeared with the changes.

Name:Level:1Race:Biomass:0Vit:4 (+1)End:2 (+1)Str:3 (+1)Agi:3 (+1)Dex:4 (+1)Int:5 (+1)Wis:5 (+1)Luck:31 (+1)TitlesNamelessRacelessSkillsLesser Air AffinityEndless Stomach

“Alright, see it? Who has a Skill? Raise your hands.” I raised my hand, inwardly feeling slightly smug that I had two abilities. As soon as I did, I was teleported before a person with a pig face, and small beady eyes.

“Ability?”

“Uh, Lesser Air Affinity and-”

“E class….eh… put him in the marsh bowl. If he survives for a week, then we can use him. Boy,” Now the creature turned to glare at me. “If you want to live, kill and level up. It’s the only way out.”

And just like that, I was standing in the middle of a marsh. Night was falling, and crickets began to chirp around me. My stomach rumbled. My clothes were different too. Gone was…

I frowned. Why did I think these clothes were different? The brown tunic and plain pants were all I ever remembered wearing, even if it was only from the last 20 minutes. Before that… there was only a haze.

I also currently had a belt on, which had a loop, and a cudgel hanging from the loop. I hefted it, wincing at how heavy it was. It wouldn’t be any problem swinging a few times, but more than that…

Ribbet.

I turned, surprised to find a frog the size of a basketball hopping out of the tall grass towards me.

Frog? Where did that word come from…? Some instinct was telling me that my lack of memories was unusual, but-

The frog opened its mouth and a pink blur darted forward, splatting against my collarbone. I could see rows of tiny, jagged teeth within the frog’s mouth. I frowned. Suddenly I wasn’t so sure this was a frog, whatever that was.

I was snapped out of my reverie by the tongue yanking me forward, causing me to stumble and fall to my knees, splashing a viscous mud. I needed to stop thinking about this. And I just need to…

Learn to kill.

The frog hopped towards me, and almost mechanically I removed the cudgel from the loop in my belt. I was… afraid. I knew I had never done this before. My right hand tightened on the wooden shaft. The frog hopped forward, continuing to reel me in towards its mouth. It hopped again.

But more than fear, I felt something else. I lashed out, my eyes almost glazed over. Anger, and a necessity so deep it was instinct.

Survive. Kill.

Unfortunately, my body wasn’t quite as on board with the plan as my instincts were, and the cudgel glanced off the right side of the Frog’s head, missing its skull that I aimed for, but as it slid down its face, its eyeball popped from the pressure. A small spray of blood and eye pus splashed my face.

The frog gurgled and pain and detached its tongue from my collar bone. It twisted, and began to hop away, likely driven by fear.

But as it jumped, I caught its leg. Was it really fear that I was feeling?

It began to croak wildly. I heard distant rustling, but I was marveling in how helpless the frog was as I pulled its bloated body back towards me. I could feel my heart pumping, a strange heat filling my veins. I felt… powerful. More powerful than this frog thing, anyway.

It apparently resigned itself to its fate, and whipped back towards me, throwing itself at me with its mouth open wide. The rows of jagged teeth looked fearsome, but my arm was already smashing downward.

This blow struck it directly at the crown of the head and created a dull cracking sound. It slumped to the ground. I continued to strike.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

I hesitated with the cudgel held up, considering the broken form before me. I was almost expecting emotion to gurgle upwards from within me as I gazed at the smashed skull, the broken skin, it's swiftly deflating body. But I felt nothing. Just a dispassionate satisfaction from winning. Is this how one kills?

Ribbet. Ribbet.

Shrugging, I turned to the three more frogs that had appeared from the tall grass and were hopping towards me. I had a vague impression of myself, and that impression seemed… shaken by what I had just done. But I was swiftly becoming dissociated with that impression, and a new self was emerging, with a phrase like a burning brand guiding me forward.

I must learn to kill-

Splat.

A tongue smashed into the cudgel, yanking it away. Seemingly pleased, the other two frogs hopped near to me, while the third dropped the cudgel, and hopped on top of it. The first frog shot its tongue out towards my leg.

This time I was ready. I twisted to the side, avoiding the tongue but slipping on the mud. The second frog forgo its tongue and just leapt at me, mouth wide. As I tumbled backwards, I managed to get my hands up and grabbed its upper and lower jaws and held it above my head, struggling to keep its mouth from crushing my skull.

Its tiny teeth dug into my hands, the force almost too much for me to resist. It was painful, but a transformation happened within me as I realized that these frogs wanted to kill me too.

I needed to learn to kill… because to kill is to survive.

“Ow.” I spoke almost reflexively, as the dull pain became sharper and deeper as the teeth began to bore into me.

“Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.” As I muttered to myself, slowly rising in volume, my strength surged, and I began to push open his jaws. After a few seconds,, I had reached the limit of how its jaw naturally opened, and I felt rather than saw its struggles to eat me shift to struggles to escape.

A tongue slapped into my legs and began to pull, but although it could unbalance me, it did not have the weight to pull me across the ground.

“OW. OW. OW. OW.” By now I was yelling it, grinding my teeth and glaring at this maw that consumed my vision. To kill is to survive.

With a sickening crunch, the mechanism of the jaw shattered as I ripped off the bottom portion. I gazed at it dispassionately, then dropped it to the ground as I began to stand. Another tongue slammed against my shoulder, but I just smiled. I stood and kept my center of gravity low, grabbing the tongue on my shoulder and yanking the frog towards me. It somehow disconnected the sticky bit of its tongue from my body, but I had a firm grip and drew it inexorably forward.

The other frog disconnected its tongue too, and turned to flee.

When the frog I yanked towards me was close enough, I raised my left foot and stomped once, powerfully, immediately crushing it.

The fleeing frog hopped towards the tall grass. I dashed forward, picked up the cudgel and leapt after it, my longer strides covering a significantly greater distance. I brought the cudgel down in a wicked arc, smashing its skull inward, eviscerating its brain.

Then, panting, I considered the 4 smashed frogs around me. My stomach rumbled. I scratched the back of my neck.

*****

After several failed attempts spanning several hours, I was forced to admit that the damp nature of the area would prevent me from lighting a fire. At least water was plentiful. The strange impression inside myself that seemed to be a remnant of what I once was hesitated at drinking the tepid water, but I was thirsty NOW. And now it balked at the thought of eating the frogs raw, but…

My stomach rumbled loudly, even painfully. I raised the least broken body, the one whose jaw I ripped off, and sniff it. My eyes brightened; it smelled delicious. I liked the dripping blood, and involuntarily released a low moan. Next thing I knew, I was ripping the skin and flesh of the creature apart, devouring it. Bits of grit and bone I tossed aside, but the rest disappeared within me, filling a craving I didn’t even know I had.

It was only when all that remained in front of me was a pile of bones that I noticed the small blue windows that appeared during my meal.

Biomass +1

Biomass +1

Biomass +1

Oh? I gained Biomass from eating?

I considered how I felt. My stomach rumbled. Well, there is no harm in eating a second. They don’t appear to be very filling. As I picked up the next body, another box popped up next to the corpse.

Inspect?

Curious, I clicked it, and another status screen appeared.

Lvl:1Race:Lesser March FrogVit:1End:2Str:1Agi:2Dex:2Int:3SkillsTongue Grab

‘Oh dear, no wonder it’s so weak’, I thought to myself, but I could feel myself smiling. Then I ate its corpse, leaving nothing but bones. After eating all the bodies, I checked my status again.

Name:Level:Race:Biomass:11Vit:4 (+1)End:2 (+1)Str:3 (+1)Agi:3 (+1)Dex:4 (+1)Int:5 (+1)Wis:5 (+1)Luck:31 (+1)TitlesNamelessRacelessSkillsLesser Air AffinityEndless Stomach

I clicked on the word Biomass on my status screen expectantly, but nothing happened. I frowned. Why did I do that? Also, that impression within me was telling me I should be trying something, but…

I yawned. Killing frogs was sorta tiring. I walked over to the treeline, away from the tall grass that the frogs came from, and prepared to sleep.