"*Sniff*... Hick..."
"What's wrong precious? Why'd you come home crying? Did somebody at school bully you?! Tell me who it is and I will END them!"
"... Daddy... How come I don't have a mommy? Everyone else has a mom for Mother's Day but I don't... "
"Oh. Oh boy... Listen to me sweetie. You do have a mommy and she love you very, very much. She's just… not here right now… Did I ever tell you why your name is Ruby?"
"No..."
"It's because your mommy chose that name for you. See this necklace that you always wear? It belonged to her. She always wore it and I never saw a time when it wasn't on her. She loved it so much that I got jealous of it. Hahaha... She named you after the pretty red stone on it... And… she immediately gave it to you after you were born."
"Daddy, don't cry."
"Ah sorry. We can't both be crying now. What I'm trying to say is, even if your mommy isn't around, she is always watching over you through this ruby. Whenever you think of her, just take a look at this and remember that she loves you so much, she gave her most precious possession to you."
###
I woke up after dreaming about something that happened in the past.
My school was going to have a Mother's Day celebration and I was the only one in class who didn't pass the parental consent form because I didn't have a mom to sign it.
I went home crying that day and my Dad had to comfort me.
However, on the day of the celebration, my Dad showed up in women's clothing and a wig on his head stating that he was my mom.
I, of course, knew it was him.
I was embarrassed but happy.
He wasn't allowed to join some of the competitions, but I still had a great time that day.
I later learned that he got fired from his job at that time for skipping a day of work.
"Ugh. Why can't I ever wake up normally in this world? This is why I hate mornings."
I grumbled as I struggled to get out of the chest that I found myself in.
Ever since I had been taken to this other world, I have never once woken up properly.
I used [Sensing] to scan my surroundings and found a familiar mask near me.
Memories started to fill my head.
Startled, I jumped and popped out of the chest like a Jack-in-the-box.
---
Item Name: Loki's Mask (Defective)
Rarity: Magical
Restrictions: None
Effects: Disguises the status to only show what the user wants. Can only omit words from the status.
---
I used [Appraisal Analysis] on the mask that Dawn's brother, Nat, had been wearing.
It was similar to Loki's Necklace that Dawn had.
The last thing I remembered was using [Detonate] on my entire body in order to kill that guy.
I scanned around the room and saw Sir Hamish on the nearby bed snoring.
He was quite the heavy sleeper if he still wasn't woken up by the loud noise I made.
It seems that I am currently in his residence.
I took this chance to look at my status.
Stats
?!
I was shocked at what I saw.
My race used to only have one question mark but now it is composed ONLY of question marks.
My class had also lost the half part and now it just says Magical Creature.
After seeing these two I immediately did a full body scan and analysis ignoring the rest of my status.
"No..."
I muttered and dropped to my knees.
My control over "myself" loosened and I started to melt into a mud puddle.
"No way... There's not even a single cell of my original body left…"
After thinking for a bit, it was probably destroyed by my own self-inflicted detonation.
Besides my ruby, I was now made entirely of mud.
"I'm just a mud girl now... no. A swamp girl."
Back in my world, there was a philosophical thought experiment.
A man got struck by lightning and died in a swamp but miraculously, his entire body was recreated down to the molecular level at a different part of the swamp.
Since the swamp man had the same brain and memories as the original, he behaved and acted just like the original.
However, can he still be considered as the same person?
I'm am now personally experiencing this on whole new level.
I technically don't even have a brain.
It's only just... mud mimicking my brain.
Am I still me?
I started feeling depressed.
Any hope I had of returning to normal has gone out the window.
I felt lost.
What's the point of trying to find a way back home now that I'm like this?
As I got more depressed, my mud continued to spread across the floor of the room.
I was so depressed that I couldn't even bother to cry anymore at the hopeless situation.
"This sucks."
Why did I even survive if I just ended up like this?
There's no point anymore.
Revenge?
The guy who did this is already dead so there's no point.
I soon covered the entire floor with my mud.
I'm just going to stay here.
Being a floor is nice.
No worries or problems about life.
No enemies trying to kill me.
I'm just a floor.
I have become one with the floor.
People should step on me like the floor I am.
[Conditions fulfilled.]
[Skill Regeneration + Mana Absorption + Death Resistance combined into Sin of Sloth.]
Ah shut up.
I don't care anymore.
Just let me lay down here... Forever...
###
Just before the sun rose, Sir Hamish woke up.
He got up energetically as if it was the most natural thing to do.
He was one of those morning people that I couldn't understand.
"Hm? Something feels different... Must be my imagination."
He muttered as soon as he stepped on the floor.
Quite perceptive.
But my floor imitating skills are perfect.
I am the perfect floor.
No other floor can compare to me.
He did some morning stretches and then walked over to his equipment chest.
"What? Where is it? I'm sure I put it here. "
He started looking around for something.
It was probably the arm guard I gave him.
"Where? Where? Where?! Dammit!"
He started becoming frantic while searching for it.
Calm down dude.
It's just a piece of equipment.
"Don't tell me it ran out of mana..."
He suddenly dropped to his knees and started crying.
"Ms. Rim... Forgive me. I have lost the gift you gave me... I don't deserve to live anymore!"
"..."
I started to feel sorry for the guy.
He's acting so childish.
As if the whole world had betrayed him or something.
I recreated the arm guard out of pity and placed it nearby where it can get his attention.
"Hm? AH! THERE IT IS!"
He got up immediately and rushed over to pick up the item.
He then held it tightly in his embrace.
"Thank goodness! I thought I lost you. I haven't disappointed you yet Ms. Rim!"
"..."
What the hell happened that made him so attached to that thing?
Sir Hamish left soon after for training.
It was his day off but he chose to spend it by training in the Cockroach Cave dungeon.
I shared senses with the arm guard in order to monitor him.
"Ha!"
He used his spear to kill monsters.
"I must get stronger... To protect my hometown! Ha!"
This guy... I see.
He has a purpose.
A goal he wants to achieve.
How admirable... and also enviable.
Using the arm guard to block an attack, he countered and killed the Cockroach Charger.
"I must become strong... Like Ms. Rim!"
"..."
Shit.
How come he made me his goal?
I'm not strong.
I'm... just a floor…
As I continued to watch Sir Hamish fight and struggle, my heart started to ache.
I don't even have a heart anymore though.
Soon, Sir Hamish was sprawled on the dungeon floor tired and beaten.
But he still got back up.
"I must not give up. The pain and suffering I experience today will lead to a brighter tomorrow!"
?!
The words he spoke reminded me of my Dad who said something similar before.
Even though we were constantly put through tough situations, he always found a way to make it better.
And because he kept on working and not giving up, we were able to achieve a better life.
"How could I have forgotten this? Ah! It's probably because my brain is now made of mud."
I reflected on my recent behavior and I started to reform myself.
"Even if I have to struggle now, I will firmly grasp onto the brighter future that awaits, huh."
Well I definitely can't get any lower than resigning myself to being the floor.
That's for sure.
I started to cringe at my recent thought process.
"Actually, with my entire body now made of mud, I have less weaknesses."
I started to look at the brighter side of things to take my mind off of it.
I no longer had to take care of my original fresh now that it's gone.
I circulated my mana throughout my new body.
I found that my mana flowed much smoother throughout my body.
Like a huge clog has been removed.
If my flow was fast like a sports car before, now it's speeding like a Formula 1 racecar.
I could activate my skills and morph my mud almost twice as fast.
My only weakness now is my ruby core.
I mean, it has probably always been my weakness, but now it's my ONLY weakness.
As long as I can keep it protected, aren't I essentially immortal now?
"I've always wanted to be an immortal cultivator! Wait, didn't I also get some skills?"
My mood grew lighter at the thought.
I reopened up my status and was surprised at what I saw.
CHAPTER END.
Name: Ruby Sen Lv. 18
Age: 17
Race: ???
Class: Magical Creature
Job: - Lv. 18 <+3>
HP: 20 [100%] <+5>
MP: 20 [100%] <+4>
STR: 15 (+5)
DEF: 15 (+25) <+1>
INT: 22 <+1>
WILL: 20 <+3>
SPD: 15 <+2>
<
Assimilate
Mana Manipulation
Physical Resistance
Foresight
Shapeshift
Novice Magic Caster
Poison Resistance
Sleep Resistance
Intermediate Weapon Master
<
Dissolve
Sensing
Sculpting
Detonate
Appraisal Analysis
Cloning
Mana Designing
Mana Disturb
Heal
Boost
Stealth
Engraving
<
Tongue Enhancement
Sin of Sloth