When Gino was a child, he would often visit construction sites around his city’s orphanage. It never ceased to fascinate him, these man-made concrete giants, a product of immense effort and will; they made him marvel at how all such buildings started off as an insignificant layer of concrete beneath the ground. And slowly, but surely, it was always only a matter of time until their constructions finished. Gino saw it as an inevitability.

Days and weeks and then months would quickly pass by until each edifice was finally completed, their awe-inspiring statures radiating a sense of permanence and comfort to those who needed shelter, hope. As he would watch with mixed emotions the finishing touches of each towering structure representative of man’s refusal to give in to nature and desire to defy gravity, Gino wished that he too could be like these prideful monoliths of human ingenuity and ambition.

But never could he have imagined that there would be a day in which he would fight heart and soul, teeth and aching muscle against such colossal structures.

To him in the past, it would have been an unimaginable dream. But now, it was everything.

Gino roared with rage as he slammed his right fist into the incoming mountain of a tail. Right before he collided with it, he forcefully activated ‘Reflection.’

WVooommmMnm.

An explosion of sound was instantly created, leaving behind a shockwave so intense that it rent the very earth into countless chunks and particles of fine dust. Storm clouds of massive proportions coughed down bitter rain and crumbling fragments of rocks and detritus that bombarded the ground in resentful echoes. In the midst of the maelstrom of chaotic phenomena stood Gino, a figure so bedraggled that he no longer wore clothing and was leaning heavily on his left leg. He was nursing his right arm and hand to recover them faster while his eyes glared sharp daggers at the calamitous creature that casually left him in such dreadful conditions. The Evolved Goliath equally stared back with undisguised rancor and also with a tinge of wariness.

Fuck!

‘Reflection’ doesn’t work on it. What the fuck is this monstrosity?!

That thing- that thing shouldn’t exist! I sensed it using multiple concepts already. Just- what..? What am I- what, the fuck?! Something involving rain, clouds, barriers, earth, and vision. All of them, whatever they are, are insanely powerful. Maybe accuracy is thrown in there too? How else can it attack me so concisely? I’m a literal ant compared to it, dammit.

Okay, calm down, calm down. There has to be something I can do here. I can’t escape from it, I have no Concepts that can help me escape that. I can’t fight it directly either, our level differences and sizes are too great.

Gino heard more than saw the gigantic tail approaching him again. He cursed before jumping with all his strength further to his left. Another enormous implosion of sound and earthy terror crushed the ground, his previous position now entirely eviscerated. Subsequently, he violently impacted into a protruding slab of earth as he was in mid-air when the Goliath’s tail made contact with the earth. Groaning, Gino slid down from the damp slab and shakily tried standing up, small pools of rain dripping down his face as a consequence. He clicked his teeth in anger at how brittle his bones were before surveying the situation again. The serpent was still observing him as its tail was preparing another onslaught of miniature earthquakes and irreparable environmental damage.

This is stupid!

I’m going to die at this rate if I can’t escape or fight back. This fucking rain isn’t helping and I feel like hot, wet crap. Aaurgh!

Come on, Gino. Think, think. You’ve been in worse situations before- no, no I haven’t! What am I talking about!? I’m fighting an actual Godzilla at this point, fuck! I can’t defeat this thing. I can’t. This is utterly impossible. I haven’t even reached level 0 yet!

Okay, okay, stop thinking about that Gino. Calm thoughts, calm thoughts. I am calm. I am calm. I. AM. CALM. Okay, what- what can I do right now? ‘Reflection’ isn’t the answer. Neither is ‘Balance,’ ‘Order,’ ‘Conversion’, ‘Awareness’, and ‘Insight.’ Okay. Now what? Digging into the ground? Can’t. Won’t be able to escape from that Lesser Goliath and the bigger one can obliterate the earth whoever-knows-how-deep. Illusions? Can’t either. Archie’s not here, I have no idea where he is. Hopefully, he’s far away from here by now.

His mind continued racing, frantically striving to capture any opportunity he could grasp and rapidly churning out plausible plans. As Gino did so, platters of ocean water endlessly fell down from the skies and drenched the barren earth into oblivion. Gales of powerful winds hissed at him and reconvened elsewhere in the heavyset, cumulonimbus clouds to continue their torment on the inhabitants down below. Both Goliathes remained static, still eyeing the unmoving twig of a creature that was Gino with varying degrees of uncertainty and determination to kill. The smaller serpent had moved itself on top of the larger one for further protection so it could safely regenerate without care. Flashes of lightning struck erratically while hail gradually began to form. The severe changes in the weather barely affected the two entities as they had long since been accustomed to such environments.

Gino, on the other hand, wasn’t faring too well. His body was utterly soaked and struggled to shrug off fist-sized balls of hail and freezing rain. They weren’t detrimental to his health but it was gradually becoming a bigger nuisance as he proceeded to think deeply. He stood still uncomfortably and silently gazed at his enemies. As long as they weren’t moving, Gino resolutely concluded that his situation couldn’t get any worse- yet. He had time, albeit a miniscule amount of it, to enact something. The serpents would directly approach him eventually and he had to figure out something by then. One was already a formidable opponent, and two would simply be overwhelming regardless of the newcomer Goliath being monstrously more powerful than the other.

Okay, I think I have an objective. Ridiculous or not, it’s better than nothing. I have to somehow get inside that Evolved Goliath’s body, preferably its head, and attack the shit out of it.

The Lesser Goliath didn’t have any Concept to make it physically sturdier or more resilient to damage. That better be the case for the Evolved Goliath as well. If it does however, I die at least trying. But if I don’t do anything, I die anyway. Lose-lose situation with all to lose and few to gain besides surviving. That Achievements section and ‘Insight’ are worth jack shit for now, and it definitely wasn’t worth fighting these monsters of monsters to get them.

Gino briefly squinted through the downpour and tensely observed the serpents. He detected movement but wasn’t sure what they were planning.

But speaking of achievements, that’s a note of interest. The status screen mentioned something about receiving a title just because I saw the Evolved Goliath and another title for surviving one hit from it… However… was it that impressive of a feat? It hits hard and is probably the size of the tallest mountain on this planet, but is that actually worthy of an accomplishment?

That’s like saying you win a million dollars for seeing the President of the United States in person, and then another million dollars for surviving after being hit by the President’s car. Stupid example but that’s all I can come up with.

A massive thunderbolt struck the ground, revealing the pitch-black silhouette of the Lesser Goliath and the pulsing-red patterns etched on the Evolved Goliath in all its glory. Gino subconsciously noticed that the creatures still stared at him with their unnatural, gleaming orbs of alien intelligence and mystifying shades of black and dark-green.

Why should ‘witnessing’ and then ‘surviving after being struck’ be such a big deal and worth that much? And why give it an achievement…?

Are there not other massive creatures just like it who also have insane accomplishments or whatever bullshit and hit like a bulldozer as well? Are there not other people who witnessed the President and could potentially live after an accident with the car? Like, why all this specificity? Why me?

Just what, what am I missing here? There has to be something here! I just need more time- fuck. The smaller one’s beginning to move again. Fuck me. They’re starting their attack aren’t they?

Gino grinded his teeth together and tightly clenched his fists, bracing himself for the tail to come swinging his way. He changed his stance as the Lesser Goliath hopped off the bigger one. From his position, he saw puffs of debris exploding from the ground as the smaller serpent landed roughly on fragmented terra. It then immediately dug straight into the earth. But to his surprise, the Evolved Goliath also began moving as well, shaking the very ground with every slither it took. Rather than panicking, Gino calmly released a deep breath and maintained his train of thoughts. He could no longer see where the smaller serpent was, but he knew it was most likely burrowing directly toward him.

A two-pronged attack.

The bigger one takes my attention from above ground while the other snake ambushes me from below when I’m distracted. Clever, and would’ve been effective against any other creature except me. The attack is simple to execute and difficult to defend, but that leaves me with only one option. I have to counterattack.

Reaching the head of the Goliath is now possible. The Lesser Goliath won’t make it in time to help its ally. There’s a high chance that both wouldn’t expect me to attack while also having a goal in mind. They’re incredibly intelligent but not human-level intelligent, I hope. Better now than later.

They should already know… an animal is at its most dangerous when cornered.

Gino rushed forwards just as the earth behind him erupted to release the Lesser Goliath from its hiding spot.

So it chose to directly attack. Okay, the probability of a successful counterattack definitely increased. I can outrun the smaller snake and reach the Evolved snake’s body before it can. I don’t think they know what I’m planning; the Lesser Goliath is literally herding me toward its partner.

The terrain pelted him with all forms of obstacles as water, earth, and wind fought against his approach and slowed him down slightly. Rain covered the ground in slick coatings while numerous boulders spiked up from the surface, preventing him from moving in straight lines. Winds heralded bullets of hail at Gino in its attempts to maim and potentially trip him. However, he rapidly crossed the terrain in smooth, unperturbed motions as if there was nothing capable of stopping his charge- his determination. Furiously, he evaded the swirling combinations of nature trying desperately to halt his advance through any means it could; Gino coldly entered critical thinking as he was making progress towards the Evolved Goliath.

He suddenly jumped into the air as the ground below him launched the smaller Goliath at him. It rose up from unknown depths as it opened its maws, intending on swallowing him again. Seeing such a questionable choice of action again, Gino promptly punched the air to shift him to his right, sending him flying away from the snake’s mouth while dislocating his arm in the process.

He tumbled into a smooth roll once he landed on the ground and picked up speed. As Gino sprinted, he repositioned his arm to working condition and contemplated his choices. He could see an enormous tail accurately hurling towards him.

How can I reach its head? Climbing it is an option but I have no idea if it has other defensive Concepts or if its scales are too slippery to mount. There has to be some way.

Wait, how about I use the Lesser Goliath as a trampoline? If I time it right, I can catapult myself using its momentum when it comes out of the ground again. Okay, okay. I can also use ‘Reflection’ to boost my launching speed as well. This is risky, but I don’t have a choice, do I? And- and the tail! I can use that too! But how-

Just as the ginormous tail was about to reach him, Gino felt the ground underneath him beginning to shudder. He instantly knew the smaller snake was about to explode out again.

This is it.

The aggressive storm up above momentarily paused as the Goliath’s tail unintentionally provided him shelter.

Archie. Wherever you are-

The earth lifted up Gino as a serpentine head speedily arose from it and spitefully glared at him all the while with its jaws as wide as possible. He deliberately placed himself on the lips of the beast before blasting off it, soaring directly into the tail approaching him.

-I will make it out of this, alive.

Instead of punching it like in his past encounter, Gino chose to deeply pierce into the tail’s scales only for a millisecond. His arms dug into the Evolved serpent’s flesh before he instantaneously swung himself in the direction that preserved much of his upwards momentum. Gino flashed passed the sides of the enormous tail and continued elevating his height until he reached the upper neck of the Goliath. It promptly roared in abrupt fury, sending out shockwaves of compressed atmospheric gases all across its surroundings; however, none came close to hitting him. Gino hastily climbed.

He barely made it to the Evolved Goliath’s head just as it started rapidly shaking its head in its attempts to throw him off. However, Gino had already embedded his two arms into the outermost scales of the top of the beast’s head. He hung on for dear life as the snake went berserk.

Shit! I can’t believe that worked!

As Gino clung to the frenzied serpent, he gradually realized how far from the ground he truly was. He glanced at the restless Lesser Goliath far below before looking far into the distance. His mouth then dropped in disbelief.

Oh shit! Just gotta stick on until, until I find a way inside its head. Can’t even breathe properly, haha! But I don’t need, need gases, oxygen, though? Phew, huh, shit. Wow- I can’t even, huh- wait what?

What..?

For the second time since his arrival in this new world, Gino questioned his existence and reality itself. His eyes glazed at a particular sight without blinking, unable to tear his attention away from it despite the constant bobbing and tempestuous head movements of the Goliath.

Far into the distance, beyond the mountain ranges, Gino saw a familiar blue planet dotted with dull greens and various whites.

He hazily whispered.

Earth.