The night is deep.
It was pitch black and everything was invisible.
But the depths of the mountain were not peaceful. The beasts roared and roared like a tide. The forest could not help but tremble, and there were even rustling leaves falling.
And at this moment,
In the depths of a mountain range, from a distance, there was actually a soft light flickering faintly.
Looking closely, it was actually a delicate tentacle, oozing with a strange green substance. The appendage was malleable, almost like that of a slime, and seemed to have a life of its own. The surface of the appendage was covered in small, glittering formations that shimmered softly, its color a shade of blueish-green, almost like the tint of a mint leaf.
Beneath its surface, the crimson muscle-like flesh that controlled the tentacle rippled and contracted with each movement, giving the impression that the tentacle had a mind of its own.
The soft glow that emanated from the appendage was enchanting as if it was drawing in everything around it.
"Is this my golden finger?" [1]
A murmur, as if someone was whispering in the ear, but it was not heard by outsiders.
Amidst all this, there are only faint tremors in the air.
Xuan Wu,
A transmigrator, just because he choked on a sip of water, his consciousness would be hazy.
When he woke up again, he was stunned to discover that he had actually become a strange monster!
Yes, a monster.
Also, it is a green monster.
One of its appendages waved around the air.
But something was strange…
This appendage wasn't attached to its body, but rather its…mouth?
Looking at it again, the green monster's form was spread out and almost vacant, excluding its strange fleshy entrails, which was completely enveloped with a thick gelatinous exterior that trickled and dripped with every movement. Its surface was a deep shade of turquoise, and its irregular cracks gave it a menacing appearance.
However, upon closer inspection, there was a half-O-shaped circle inside the slime, looking almost like a bone of some sort almost resembling a half-pineapple slice with a hole in it.
This was the only solid part of the monster's body, and it seemed to provide some structure to the otherwise amorphous creature.
The half circle was a pale, bone-white color, in stark contrast to the reddish hue of the muscle-like flesh of the monster's body. The sight of this strange and unexpected feature only added to the mystery and danger of the monster. [2]
If you guessed correctly, it should be the slime-type monster with an ever so slightly higher danger level.
Of course, the danger level is higher to the weakest of monsters, but this type of monster can be seen everywhere, and it is also a commonly killed monster for beginners.
Xuan Wu didn't care much about crossing, or even crossing into a monster.
It just felt a little weird, like something far away from me suddenly happened right under my nose.
In the words of some people, "this is unscientific".
It's not scientific, it's definitely not scientific.
However, Xuan Wu's temperament of taking things with him is doomed so that he will not think too much.
Being alive is a good thing!
How dare you ask for more!
Moreover, he also has a very good golden finger.
When I felt around, I could feel a weak tendril move along, swaying gently under the shroud of night.
PR/N: The POV switches between 3rd person and 1st occasionally
This is the one and only appendage he has now.
And the reason why this limb shines is only because Xuan Wu invested an evolution point in this limb.
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***
An unspecified time ago…
A sound of touching something,
I focus all of my senses on that touching sensation .
On the side of my stomach, something that felt like grass was gently brushing against me .
As I concentrated further on that area being touched, I came to vaguely understand the span of my own body .
Occasionally, I could feel pointy ends prodding me in places .
That made me somewhat happy .
Becoming interested, as I tried moving towards that grass,
Concentrating on the part of my body in contact with the grass, I confirmed where it was and leaned on it .
Covering the grass entirely with my body, I ascertained its texture .
Indeed, there's no doubt this really is grass .
While I was confirming that, the grass in contact with my body began to dissolve .
I wondered if my body was melting, but it seems only the grass was affected .
And then, I came to realize that the components of the dissolved grass were being taken into my body .
Apparently, I dissolved and absorbed the grass .
In other words, instead of using a mouth, my body can absorb grass through contact .
By the way, there was no flavor at all .
How many times have I done this?
I am unsure of it myself.
Munch munch .
Munch munch munch .
There I was, eating grass .
Why you ask? It's obvious!
Cause, I've-Got-Time, yo!
After grudgingly accepting the fact that I was, in fact, a monster, the days passed reasonably well .
To start with, in the beginning, I was first concerned with food supply .
I moved while checking the immediate surroundings, and found a place where grass was plentiful .
Surprisingly, that place was not too far from where I had first found myself.
When needed, I could feed on the grass, and as for water, I'd somehow make do with grass sap .
Once again, I move towards the grasses, feeling them phase into my body and dissolve.
But suddenly,
[+0.1 Evolution Point]
"Hmn?"
Xuan Wu heard the notification.
"Point?"
A hint of excitement, never before seen in this monster, surfaced.
Perhaps fate hasn't abandoned me just yet!
I may be like this, but as a gentleman's hobbies, I have mastered in the past almost all of anime, manga, and light novels .
In the next second, a translucent blue light curtain that only Xuan Wu could see appeared in front of him.
[Evolution Points: 0.1
Ability: Mutated Tongue
Strengthening Tongue Consumes 0.1 Evolution Points. ]
Looking at the content displayed on the attribute panel, Xuan Wu also murmured softly.
Immediately, his thoughts turned to the tongue.
[Do You Wish To Spend 0.1 Evolution Points ?
Yes No ]
"Yes!"
At this time, a faint light emitted inside his body as he opened his mouth for the first time.
"I have a mouth?"
Or did I just grow one right now?
Either way, this was immediately followed by a protrusion growing out of his newly discovered mouth.
He watched the protrusion, seeing a flexible muscle-like flesh begin to grow out of it.
In just a few moments this appendage was already fully developed, and it should be the end of evolution!
However, at this time, Xuan Wu felt very strange.
It seems that he can freely manipulate this limb.
Yes, free control.
Before, although he became a monster, he had no appendages.
However, this is normal.
After all, slimes and sludge have no limbs to speak of.
Nevertheless, Xuan Wu had this strange feeling, as if this new tongue of his had been transformed into his arm.
With a thought, the tentacle has been gently swaying.
Then, along with the command of Xuan Wu's mind, it swayed again, and even coiled it into a circle, like a smart green snake.
"Interesting."
Xuan Wu was a little excited at the first attempt.
"It's like sitting for a long time…The whole thing is numb."
It was indeed controllable, and, whether it was an illusion or not, he felt a sensation rising in his heart that he seems to be able to do more than this.
For example,
Like now, he slammed into the air fiercely!
*Snap!
Just like a burst of air being drawn, the crisp sound suddenly cracked in the night sky.
Immediately afterwards, in front of Xuan Wu's non-existent eyes, a wave of white air also swept across the night.
The white waves are not long, only a meter.
But it is precisely the traces of his limb.
That is to say, with each fierce pull, he actually drew out a wave of air.
"In this case, I seem to have some lethality, and I'm not weak." Looking at the green whip two or three meters long swinging freely in the night sky, Xuan Wu was also a little emotional.
He thought that becoming a slime would mean he had to endure and swallow his pride for his entire life.
However, he never expected that after just a few days, he would have the power to fight back.
With a smirk, Xuan Wu felt like he was watching a very interesting scene. Those buzzing and annoying bees, he could now take them out one by one, or even two by two.
These past few days, Xuan Wu had had enough of those bees.
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***
To the current time…
Once more he opened his panel.
[Evolution Points: 0.1
Ability: Sight
Acquiring Sight Consumes 0.1 Evolution Points. ]
"Sight."
Yes.
So far Xuan Wu has been unable to see his surroundings.
He has wandered around the area blindly, merely following where his so-called "instincts" would point him to.
Though foolish, this is required as staying still grants no benefits and merely wastes away his 3 years of lifespan.
So what if I can't see?
It's inconvenient, but if I go steady and slow, sooner or later I'm sure to find something.
Probably.
I have now since once more consumed much more unknown grass and have finally acquired yet another of the so-called "Evolution Point."
With his new arm (tongue) he could now gather plants at a more efficient speed.
[Do You Wish To Spend 0.1 Evolution Points ?
Yes No ]
"Yes!"
A bright light shines inside my body, forming 2 small orbs inside.
The moment the lights dissipated, my mind began filling with information.
It was a vast amount of information, which would be impossible to comprehend for any old slime or ooze.
The rays of light pushing against the minuscule particles and surroundings, bouncing back into my new set of eyes.
I grasped all of this, converting it into recognizable information .
When I was human, my frontal field of vision wasn't even 180 degrees .
And now, I can "see" in a strange new way.
I can change my field of vision, dividing the "degrees" in all directions, without a single blindspot!
The shadows of rocks and even a scene 100 meters away, as long as I direct my consciousness, I can see it all .
And then,
My vision became clearer as the burning sensation assailing my brain faded away .
Now I could see the world.
Something I couldn't manage to do until this moment was now feeling so natural to the point of being mysterious!
Saying that I instinctively turned my focus towards my surroundings…
The place he was in was a canyon with a lot of wild flowers, Xuan Wu didn't know if they were fragrant or not since he had no sense of smell, but during the day, he could tell that there were many bees buzzing around, which was quite annoying.
As for the canyon, it was worth mentioning that it was about a hundred meters wide and several hundred meters high, like a crevice between two large mountains.
As for the exact height, Xuan Wu couldn't guess.
His height is only about two or three meters.
There were many tall trees around him, but through the dense foliage, he couldn't compare the height of the canyon.
"Can these trees really grow so tall?"
Xuan Wu was puzzled as he looked around at the towering trees that could only be hugged by several people.
Among these trees were willows, but ordinary willows were only twenty or thirty meters high.
Xuan Wu's heart twitched as he looked at the drooping willows that could be as high as fifty or sixty meters.
However, one thing was true:
There seemed to be something strange in the air.
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[1] A "gold finger" is essentially a cheat or special ability, in most cases it's some kind of game-like system. This concept is a key factor in many stories, such as in 'Monster Paradise' where the "Gold Fingers'' are special abilities given to world travelers. It's easy to just go with Gold finger = Cheat power/ability.
[2] To better understand, imagine placing your hand or a piece of paper on top of a ball. Then, imagine cutting the ball in half and visualizing your hand or the piece of paper inside one of the two halves. If that doesn't help, try imagining a cone and cutting off a large portion of the tip. Then, halve the cone and picture it inside a half sphere.