Randy

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

….

Randy, I know you won’t remember me, as I had to erase your memories of our conversation after you died. It’s me, God. To recap, you just have to survive and grow big. Anyways, I forgot to give you something. Once you’re out and about you’ll be able to see a particular skill, and that’s something I want to test. Oh, and I will be giving you the UI early because I had woken you up early. Thought you might get bored. Just wait a few days and it should come to your vision.

XOXO, God

T H E . . . .

F U C K ! ? ! ?

What in the triple hells is this?

‘Randy, I know you won’t remember me, as I hmm hmm hmm….’

Really now? God? They exist? What the hell does this even mean? Deleting my memories of my conversation with them? Skill? UI?

None of this makes sense. Well, it probably would if whatever memories I had with them didn’t get erased.

And that, ‘UI’, really the UI as in User Interface? As in, this bright blue box in my eyes that just suddenly pops out of nowhere?

Well, looking at it now this seems oddly similar to some kind of message box normally used in games. I’m not a fan of MMORPGs, but any teenage worth their salt will recognize a system like this easily.

Can I close the box though? It’s getting really irritating having something bright and pastel coloured following the very middle of my vision. How do you close a pop up without a keyboard or mouse though? Scream the command in my thoughts?

‘Uhh.. [Close message]?’

*whip*

Huh, that was easy.

The message closes back into the faint icon in the corner. Focusing on it brings it back.

Upon closer inspection of God’s message, they mention something about an experimental skill of sorts, and my only purpose is to ‘survive and grow big’. Is that what I had agreed with them? Being their guinea pig in the development of whatever game this is?

Is this even a game? For all I know this might turn out to be like those stories and novels I had read about systemic worlds. If it really do be like that, then damn, aren’t I somewhat lucky? I mean, I at least have some semblance of guideline of how it will probably work. I won’t know truly until the UI God promised pops out, but it’ll probably be something along the lines of “level up to get stronger,” “do specific stuff to get and raise skills,” and all that.

Maybe.

Heh, never thought I would have a use for all those procrastination materials I have been oh so diligently grinding pages after pages.

The UI will come in a few days, or so they said. Then what should I do in the meantime? Sleep? I don’t feel like sleeping right now, especially after fainting quite a number of times.

I probably should get to know by ‘new’ body better then.

[Close message]

*whip*

…

*twitch*

*wiggle*

*stretch*

So, I really don’t have limbs. I’m still not used to this at all, and trying to flex a single muscle related to my former ones breaks my paper thin mental health pretty quickly. Instead, there’s this coil around my lower body I can flex without worry.

This will take some time getting used too. Truly not what I had in mind, I mean in the books the main character usually got their full control of their new body relatively quickly and easily, even naturally.

But this? Its like I became a cripple while not being one simultaneously.

Wrestling myself from those thoughts, I turn into my situation instead. There are still a lot to be analyzed.

If I’m in an egg, and it doesn’t feel too cramped yet, then doesn’t that mean I’m still in a fetal stage?

....I don’t even know what to do with that information, nor I have either the means or ends to react to that.

Though, now I know that I will have at least a month before I can see the outside world, as eggs usually hatch within those time period. Ain’t that peachy. If the UI don’t come soon I’ll probably die of boredom before that.

Also, I’m a snake of some kind. 100% tested and confirmed, through the meticulous little experimentations I did and process of elimination. I mean, long body without limbs, egg reproduction, elongated face, it has to be a snake. Or whatever it is locally called, anyways.

Swallowing some imaginary spit, I feel like more and more unprepared for my new life, or reincarnation, or whatever this is. I just hope that I don’t get suddenly hunted once I’m out of here.

I feel myself getting unstable, especially after confirming what I am. The flood gates of chaos that has been boiling inside my mind burst forth in a fiery fashion.

This time, without a chance to internally freak out, I fainted.

…

…

…

‘Rghmmghh… Just a minute more….’

‘Rghmmhh… Fine fine I’m awake…’

Where’s the alarm clock? Dammit, did it fall on the floor?

Geez its getting really annoying now! I’m going to find that alarm clock and give it a good little stern talking to!

Oh wait a minute, I’m not in my room anymore.

Nor my world, to boot.

And this sound is not of the alarm, but that message notification thing from God.

‘Alright alright geez.’

I focus on the icon and open the new message.

GAH! BRIGHT! BRIGHT!

…

What might be the contents now, I wonder.

Randy, here’s the UI I’m talking about, say ‘Start UI as user: Randy’ to begin. Worry not about commands, as I took the liberty to make sure it follows your intentions instead of raw command input. Have fun 😊

XOXO, God

P.S: Set system to ‘Beast’ later on, otherwise it’ll be unusable.

…

This God is truly irritating, don’t they?

Have fun my sharp pointy ass! I not even hatched yet! And not to mention, you drop me in an unfamiliar world, in an unfamiliar body, as an unfamiliar species, with unfamiliar mechanics, and you ask me to HAVE FUN?!

AND WHAT’S WITH THE SMILEY FACE?! ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY?! ARE YOU TRYING TO BE HIP?! ARE YOU MOCKING ME?!

Haaaahhh, whatever, I’ll make damn sure they're the ones I pray to last.

If, at all.

What a betrayal.

And what is that with that ‘set as Beast’ thing? Are you trying to slam it in my face further that I’m no longer human now? This God is insufferable! Malicious!

I mean, it might actually be something related to the system, but still, isn’t it too face-front?

Now, about the command…

Wow...it truly is a game-like system, especially with that command.It will be nice if this world has respawn features too. I just hope that janky God’s attitudes don’t seep over into the UI as well.

Here it goes…

[Start UI as user: Randy]

….

I watch in deep determination and confusion as the screen starts flickering, closing, and then opening in an explosive way. Some kind of booting sequence went out, somewhat similar to a quick-running cmd screen. Few lines here and there I can spot include; “….recognizing species….”, “….loading preset skill….”, and “….hatch time factor calcu….”. I take that as another confirmation to my current position and species.

They really spare no resources in reminding me that, even almost made the fact itself mundane.

After several minutes, the cmd-like screen closes, with a single window replacing it, with words slowly animating into existence. Truly computer-like.

You are now integrated under the world system.

This is a special message brought upon due to the detection of True Intelligence. You will have two style of growth option, (Human), and (Beast).

(Human) growth option is slower, but simpler and more straightforward.

(Beast) growth option is in faster, in steps and levels, but more complicated and specialized.

You are given 60 seconds to choose. If input is not detected, you will be automatically assigned the (Human) growth option.

Choose now

*sigh*

If I’m given this “World System” thing a little bit while past, I wouldn’t even hesitate and choose Human. But now, I’m not so sure. I mean, I’m something of a snake now, so choosing Human might not be the best option. On the other hand, which I don’t have, I don’t want to throw away my humanity just like that. 21 years’ worth of living as a human ain’t exactly something one can throw out of the window in a day or two, especially after a sudden change in species.

Though, God’s instructions might be onto something. I also don’t want to screw the system without knowing the heads or tails of it. As much as I’m hating them, I don’t want to screw myself in the very long run just to piss them off once.

Settling my choice in with surprising ease, I choose Beast option.

[Choose: Beast Growth Option]

Hearing stuff again after quite a long moment of literal silence is pretty shocking. How do snakes hear anyways? Or is this UI projected directly to my brains, neurons and stuff?

Nevertheless, I stare back into the UI, which after a few flickering boxes pops in and out, decides to settle and display a loading bar.

It’s pretty funny if you ask me, out of all the things I don’t expect, I certainly did not expect a loading screen. It gives me time to recollect my thoughts and calm my mind, so it’s a welcome little hindrance.

….

Come to think of it, didn’t it said something along the lines of “not choosing in 60 seconds means an automatic choosing of Human Growth Option is selected”? Doesn’t that mean all humans will go there? Logically, they won’t be able to choose during their infancy, right? As they don’t have enough consciousness yet? Or do the system comes later? But wouldn’t it be weird if a lot of people actually choose the Beast Option?

What a weird little twisted quirk…

….

The loading screen is done, and changed with yet another window.

Legend

[Status] = Open status table

[Skills] = Open skill table. Choose between passive or active.

[Evolution] = Open evolution menu

[Help] = Ask for UI help

[Legend] = Opens this window

Ain’t that ridiculously straightforward? And what’s with the ridiculously gamey commands? And evolution menu, does that mean I can evolve into something else?

Well that’s really beastly and all, but well…

...nothing actually, it makes good sense.

Rather than stalling any further, I eagerly check around what I could do according to the Legend. As it is the first one, I command the UI to show me my status.

[Check Status]!

Name: Randy

Species: Tiny Dungeon Cave Serpent (Fetus)

Level: 0

HP: 1

MP: 1

Fortitude: -

Strength: -

Luck: 55

SP: 0

Status: -

Resilience: -

Intelligence: -

C̷̢̡̪̪͉̦͎̹̳̣̹̤̜̱͉̍̑̄́̒͌͐̒̿̂̆̆̎̚͜ơ̶̢̧̲̖̣͍͇̤͓̦̘̹̰̝̪͖̟͔̣̅͋̐̏̈́͊͆͋̒̾̎̋̌̀̑̀̓̈́̈͂̐̾̊̑̔͘͝͝͝m̷̛̙̬̤̥̥̺̯̘͉͔̠̻̰̮̪̙̳̖͎͋̈̌͑́͜ͅṃ̴͙͓̘̦̲̳̘̩̂̉̉͑̈͌͋̾̓̈́̋͐̃̂̈́̌͊͑̄̌͘͠: /

Well ain’t that fancy?

And what I feared for was truly and unchallengedly confirmed; I’m a snake. Tiny Dungeon Cave Serpent, to be precise, whatever that is. I will need to get a good look over myself after exiting my egg. For all I know I might be pink, which adds motor oil into my wounds incase it really is the truth.

The other stats are pretty standard, as far as an RPG system goes. HP for Health Points, MP for… well… Magic Points maybe? SP must be Skill Points.

The four main stats are pretty self-explanatory, though seeing it empty seems a bit disconcerting. Level 0? Is that because I’m still a Fetus?

Maybe…

The one stat that catches my eye however, is that Luck stat, with 55 whole points on it. Whatever the reason for that is, thank you and fuck you, God.

Now to address the elephant in the box; what the hell is that lower right factor there? With the weird, glitchy, flickering text with similarly corrupted-looking value. I can’t even catch any single glimpse of what might be written on it, the text come and go just too fast. I hope that ain’t what God said about experiment something, and I sure as hell hope that isn’t something of a curse value that will fuck me up in the long run.

Or Karma points.

Or something similar.

After staring to that glitchy corner for a bit, I decide to move on with that problem and move to the easier ones to solve, at least as of yet.

[Check species: Tiny Dungeon Cave Snake]!

I think I messed that one up, but God said I should be fine, right?

Tiny Dungeon Cave Serpent

A somewhat more uncommon early monster, they hunt alone with ambush tactics. Few can spawn with weak magical attributes, which is prized for their mana-conductive skin.

Ooookay, so I’m still a run-of-the-mill petite little nuisance, rather than a feared beast of legends. This is going to be really hard, except if I spawn in some kind of snake utopia, which is doubtful considering I literally have the word “Dungeon” in my species name.

But oho, what’s this? Weak magical attributes? Mana-conductive skin?

This is really magic isn’t it?

True, honest-to-goodness magic?

Now that’s what I’m talking about! Maybe you aren’t so bad after all, God…

…

Finishing my little euphoria regarding magic, I close the status window and proceeds to call forth the other windows with the commands Legend gave me.

[Skills: Active]

[Skills: Passive]

Skill Table 1 (Passive)

Parallel Whispers Lv. 1

(MAXED)

Blessing of God Lv. 1 (MAXED)

{+50 Luck}

[Open Evolution Menu]

[UI Help]

UI Helper Tool

- You can ask for any explanation regarding Skills, Stat Factors, etc. Command the system for explanation.

- UI can and will update over time, as it is connected to Interdimensional Parallax Connection.

- UI Information only updates according to areas explored, individuals interacted, and items inspected.

….

After a quick read, what I can gather is basically I need to wait after I hatch to be able to access active skills and evolution menu. Logical, if any, since you can’t expect an embryo to do anything except silently growing up inside their egg.

That passive skills list though, is what interests me. Parallel Whispers Lv. 1 and Blessing of God Lv. 1. Huh, so that insane luck value is because of this. If this truly is good, then I might give you a glance of the eye, you one heathen of a God. But what is Parallel Whispers? Is this what they’re talking about? The experimentative skill bestowed upon me? What does it do? How does it work?

Well I guess I’m sent here not for free. That skill better be something good. I will do as I’m ordered then; test the crap out of you. And with that, I start my task!

[Inspect skill Parallel Whispers]

Well ain’t that just swell.

As I’m still in the mood, I’ll start inspecting everything I can inspect then!

….

After what seems like hours inspecting the hell out of my UI messages, I get a tiiiny bit clearer of an idea of how the system works. SP is spent to the growth factors of Fortitude et cetera, and is gotten while levelling up and evolving. Luck has no real value, instead it affects the environment around you to be a bit more in your favour. Blessing of God skill has no description, though its pretty straightforward to begin with. Levels are raised with XP, which can be acquired through killing, eating, and a veeery tiny amount of background income for surviving. I confirmed that I’m in an egg, and confirmed that I need to grow and get out before I can get information regarding anything else.

One funny thing I discovered is a pong minigame hidden behind [Inspect: Name: Randy]. Played it for an entire minute before I got bored.

The other interesting thing I found while inspecting MP value is [Mana Manipulation] skill, which then promptly added to my roster of active skills, which I still cannot inspect. Further digging reveals that it can be later upgraded into various other specializations, which the UI haven’t told me yet. I’ll assume the more cliché ones will be present, like water, fire, earth, and air.

….

Speaking of Mana Manipulation, I wonder what can I do with it….