I awoke the following morning to a dripping snout and wet feet. It was raining, and the spot I’d chosen to curl up in for sleep didn’t have any protection. I snorted as I shook my head, sending droplets flying.

Time to go.

Looking into the instincts would have to wait until I was in another safe location, preferably a dry one. I’d learned, especially due to my encounter with the Thragil plant, that this world had a bit too much content for me to go idly wandering around while staring at my phone screen.

As I drank water in preparation for today’s hike, my bleary eyes blinking away sleep, I tried to recall the details of the previous night’s dream. They were swiftly fading as I began to climb the rocky slope away from the water’s edge, but I could’ve sworn there was some sort of mutant shark-plant monster dragging me into hell.

I shuddered. Maybe it was for the best that I didn’t remember it.

I tilted my head to the side, pondering as I walked. Was it possible for the lifeforms in this world to fuse together like that vague dream hypothesized? I grinned as I imagined the giant dinosaur I’d nicknamed Sailboat fusing together with one of those Metamorphic Impersonators, launching downwards from a tail connected to a hanging cliff as he chomped on small stegosaurus-like dinosaurs.

No, that probably wasn’t possible.

The spring in my step caught my attention. Was I… bouncing?

Huh.

For some reason, I was just… happy. Maybe it was the fact that I was actually hydrated for a change. Or perhaps I was having more fun than I expected in this death game. Then it hit me.

Could I just be happy to be free of my old life?

No more debt. No job. No forced relationships.

There were times in my previous life when I just wanted a complete disconnect from society. I wanted to lay in bed, be alone, and sink into the cushion beneath me. While I couldn’t do that here, I didn’t feel the stress of maintaining social norms.

No. I wasn’t an occupant in a world in which rules had already been determined, forcing me to follow them or suffer the consequences. I was my own person now. I could determine whatever rules I wanted for myself. If I wanted to be the apex predator? That could happen, given time. Did I merely want to explore, without consequence? I could probably find a way to achieve that, too.

I wasn’t chained down anymore. No longer was I locked inside a frail human body.

No. I was a dinosaur. And not just any dinosaur, I was a monster that could evolve!

A rush of giddiness flowed through me as my mind once again turned to the prospects of evolution.

Ooh, I can’t wait! I need to hit level five ASAP!

I’d be the laughingstock of my guild if they were to find out how long I’d been here in this world without grinding.

Hey guys, I tried!

Sadly, it seemed like it was impossible to level up Skills and Instincts without actively using them for what they were meant for. So, clawing the ground wouldn’t get me any experience. But adding that knowledge to my arsenal was important. Wikis were so crucial to players because of the value of knowing things, after all.

It was time to start compiling my own wiki. I looked at my thumbless hands, clenching and unclenching my claws.

Okay. Mental wiki, then.

I made it a personal quest to gather all the knowledge I could about this world and, if I could manage it somehow, write it down.

Thwack! A sudden sound drew my attention away from the path I was trailblazing, and towards a bright light shining through the trees. I carefully made my way towards the light, caution in my every step since the Thragil Plant encounter. I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of foul play.

I wasn’t using Observe on anything, mainly because I’d learned that the notifications would fill my view, and it would become more like an Obscure.

Oh yeah, I recalled, jogging my own memory. I need to investigate why Observe started activating on its own…

I crept through the trees, making sure to avoid any branches or leaves I could see. My talons clicked as I stepped on a rock, and I made sure not to walk on my toes, as I would’ve done when I was human. Instead, I deliberately placed the middle of my foot onto my target rocks, avoiding the clicking sound.

You have developed a new Skill: [Sneak Lvl 1].

[Sneak]

Enter with barely a scrape on the floor, exit the den with treasure galore.

A vital skill for the discerning dino that wishes to avoid confrontation.

[Sneak] is a Skill that requires you do not have specific body parts.

Nice. That’s what I’m talking about.

I didn’t let the notification distract me too much, and dismissed it with a thought as I snuck up through the woods, towards the light bursting through the trees, though I did note that now I didn't have to consciously focus on the skill to pull up the detailed information, as it seemed to do it automatically.

Thwack!

The same noise, this time much closer, reached my ears. I could’ve sworn I felt the ground vibrate a bit, and I swallowed dryly. Peeking around a large mossy tree, I found the source of the noise.

Logs lay across the ground, some rotten, others fresh. The bulky roots reached high into the air as if proudly proclaiming their existence to the sky. Boulders were broken and heaps of dirt lay piled in mounds around the artificially created clearing. Black grass rose in stalks from any uncovered ground.

Across the space, a giant pink and brown something was repeatedly slamming itself into a nearby tree. I observed the giant fleshy cylinder that bunched up and struck the pillar of wood repeatedly, like an angry proctor drumming a finger against her desk.

Now I used Observe, noting happily that I still managed to have control of the Instinct.

Giant Tree Worm [Lvl ???]

Ah…

Yes, that could be correct. The fleshy pink and brown thing could certainly resemble a worm, if I looked at it with that thought in mind, anyway.

Good job, Observe.

I gave the skill a mental thumbs-up and backed away from the clearing, watching closely as the worm felled the tree before vanishing underground. A loud creak resounded through the area, and roots ripped out of the ground, snapping like bungee cords, only a hundred times bigger, and a thousand times louder.

Okay, I thought as I picked up my backpedaling pace, alarmed when I noted the worm hadn’t reappeared. Time to go.

The artificial clearing faded back into the light as I reentered the dark woods, and I spun to turn my retreat into a dash away from the area. No way was I fighting a creature when I couldn’t see its level.

Thunk!

I stumbled backward, my head pounding as I noticed my health drop a bit. Blinking, I looked up at a wall of reddish-brown feathers tipped with yellow, which swayed in the wind.

“Craaw?”

The head of the raptorlike dinosaur tilted to the side, amber eyes blinking slowly as they examined me. And a grin of wickedly sharp needles revealed itself, pulling wide across the creature’s face.

Little Deotrexaptor [Lvl 14]