[Are you guilty?]

An old male voice suddenly sounded inside Regulus' head.

"Huh!? Who are you?"

Regulus looked at the ocean around him. But there was no one, except for the small waves accompanying him as they slammed onto the sides of his small boat.

[Do you know what it feels like?]

The voice asked again. This time, Regulus could feel it whispering directly into his ear. His average-looking face instantly turned into horror as shivers ran down his spine.

"Who!??"

Regulus raised his kitchen knife in front of him. It may sound odd, but Regulus uses it to cut his net if it gets tangled.

[How many fishes have you killed?]

The voice continued asking. It was as if it didn't have any intention of answering his question.

"W-Why are you asking? I'm a fisherman!"

Regulus answered as he looked around him while trembling. There was no one around him, yet someone was talking to him. If this didn't scare him, then nothing could scare him!

[Look in front of you.]

The voice said to him. Regulus slowly cranked his neck and looked in front of him.

[Down here.]

The voice continued.

Regulus looked down, and he saw a fish staring at him. It looked so eerie and unreal.

"A talking fish? Ahahaha… I think I'm going crazy."

Regulus laughed to himself dryly. He didn't dare take his eyes off the fish for fear that it would attack him.

[You are not crazy. I'm the God of All-Fishes. I have come here after hearing cries for help from 3,038,209 fishes.]

The fish talked to Regulus.

"W-What's with the specific number?"

Regulus couldn't help but ask.

[That's the number of fishes that you have fished.]

The fish replied to him. It squinted its eyes and stared at Regulus judgingly.

"Wow. Even I'm impressed by myself."

Regulus exclaimed in amazement. He had only been fishing since he was 5 years old, and he's only 25 this year. He couldn't believe that he had actually caught over 3 million fish in the span of 20 years.

[Do you understand the gravity of your crimes now?]

The fish asked Regulus in a grave voice.

"Y-Yes! I should do my best and catch 69 million!"

Regulus nodded his head vehemently.

[Stupid! I'm here to judge your crimes! How dare you tell me that you will catch the magic million number of fishes!?]

The fish rebuked Regulus angrily.

"You are?"

Regulus blinked his eyes as he looked at the fish in incredulity.

[You're so annoying! No wonder you're just a fisherman all your life!]

The fish replied to Regulus in anger. Talking with Regulus is like talking with a child.

"Hey! I have feelings too!"

Regulus frowned at the fish.

[Enough talking. Consequently, I found this small pearl on my way here. You take it and deal with it!]

The fish then spat a gray pearl to Regulus' face.

"Ow!"

Regulus wasn't able to dodge as it hit his forehead.

"What's this?"

Regulus picked it up and examined it curiously.

[I don't know. Whatever it is. It doesn't taste like it's from this cluster of dimensions. Anyway, off you go, lad.]

The fish then raised its right fin and made a vertical cutting motion in front of Regulus. Suddenly, a slit appeared in space, and it sucked Regulus in together with the gray pearl.

"Woah!"

Regulus entered the slit. He looked behind him and saw the other side. It was the vast ocean and his boat.

"Ah! Ahhhh!"

Regulus fell inside. There were red vertical lines wherever he looked inside this black space.

"AHHHHH!!"

Regulus continued screaming until he ran out of breath.

A few minutes later, he calmed down after realizing that his life was not in any immediate danger.

"What the hell is going on?"

Regulus asked out loud. He was just a fisherman in the west of the Philippines. This day was supposed to be another normal day where he catches fish to make a living.

He never thought that his life would change because of a God of All-Fishes. What the heck does that even mean?

Regulus fell seemingly endlessly. Suddenly, the gray pearl that had been falling beside him shone with a bright white light.

"W-What is it this time?"

Regulus covered his eyes with his right hand while he looked at the shining pearl.

[System Start.]

A monotone and feminine voice sounded out. Regulus immediately turned around to see where the voice came from, but there was no one. This time, he already learned from the fish earlier, so he looked down. Though, the only thing in front of him was the gray pearl.

"Don't tell me… This gray pearl can talk too!?"

Regulus exclaimed in shock. He was really losing his mind today. He shouldn't have tried playing that addictive RPG game his relative gave him.

[Welcome, host.]

The monotone feminine voice sounded again. Regulus then stared at the gray pearl intently.

"Are you the one that spoke?"

[Correct. Is the host stupid?]

The voice retorted coldly.

"..."

Regulus looked at the gray pearl with a deadpan face. He never thought that a gray pearl would call him stupid.

[Initializing merger…]

The monotone feminine voice suddenly said.

Just as Regulus was wondering what it meant, the gray pearl shot to his forehead rapidly.

He had no time to react as the gray pearl passed through his skin and entered his head.

"H-Hey! That's not funny! Why did you enter my head? Surgeries back home are very expensive!"

Regulus touched his forehead in alarm and horror.

[Host, prepare for impact.]

This time the monotone feminine voice sounded inside his head.

"Huh?"

That was the only thing Regulus could say before he blacked out.

…

Regulus opened his eyes slowly. He felt like he had been asleep for years.

He blinked his eyes repeatedly and focused on what's in front of him.

"Ah!"

Regulus exclaimed in shock. There was a giant grass in front of him.

[Good morning, Host. My name is Alteria.]

The monotone feminine voice from before sounded inside Regulus' head.

'Host?'

Regulus asked in confusion.

[Yes. As I'm a system, I'm legally obliged to call you Host.]

Alteria replied to him in monotone.

'But first, who are you!? What are you doing inside of my head?'

Regulus interrogated her inside his mind.

[That's not your priority now, Host. Look behind you.]

Alteria replied to him.

'What do you mea—'

Regulus turned around him in confusion. He immediately saw the large fish staring him in the face.

[Ding! New Mission accepted. Goal: Survive the attack of the curious trout!]

"A-a mission?"

Regulus ran away, but he suddenly realized something. He looked behind him, and he saw that he had a tail! He had become a fish!

"What the hell!? Why am I a fish??"

Regulus shouted as he flitted through the grass blades under the water. As for the trout, it followed him calmly.

"This guy is not willing to let me go!"

Regulus was nervous. He doesn't know why that trout was even following him. It was obviously much larger than him! He's not much meat for the trout.

Regulus failed to realize that in the wild, any food is food! Even if it's as small as a fly, it's food!

"Wait… I remember Alteria saying that it was 'Curious'."

Regulus suddenly thought about Alteria's words earlier.

"Anything… Anything that could take his attention away from me..."

Regulus looked around as he swam through the clear water. There was nothing but the bottom of the water and the grass blades around him.

"There!"

After swimming for a while, Regulus found a blue crayfish walking through the water slowly. He knew that this was his chance.

"I'm sorry buddy, but a man's gotta do what- wait, that's wrong. A fish gotta do what it takes to live!"

Regulus said to himself as he swam towards the blue crayfish.

The crayfish noticed him when he got near enough, and it immediately scuttled away.

"Hey! Come back here!"

Regulus shouted towards the crayfish. He sped up and entered the bundle of grass blades the blue crayfish was hiding in. He saw it looking at him with pitiful eyes.

"W-What? Why am I feeling sympathy for a crustacean?"

Regulus felt sad seeing the blue crayfish.

"No! I'm a human."

Regulus shook his head and swam past the blue crayfish.

The trout entered the bundle of grass, and the blue crayfish immediately caught its attention.

Regulus took this chance and hid inside a bundle of grass far away.

"Phew. I managed to escape fairly easily."

Regulus sighed in relief.

[Congratulations! The host has completed his first mission! Saint Skill: Evolution has been bestowed. Skill: Cold-Hearted has been bestowed. +1 EXP Additionally, access to the status window has been granted.]

Alteria's voice sounded inside Regulus' head.

"What?"

Regulus blinked in confusion.

A status window suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.

——————————

Name: Regulus Diaz

Level: 1

Species: Milkfish (Scientific Name: Chanos Chanos)

Job: Fisherman (Former)

Skills: Cold-Hearted Lv. 1

Saint Skills: Evolution Lv. 1

#Stats#

ATK: 1

DEF: 1

HP: 1

MP: 1

——————————

"Wait, isn't that insanely low!?"

Regulus exclaimed in shock.