Plip plip plip
In a cave, water drops dropped from the ceiling as the ground was wet.
The cave wasn't that big, but it still wasn't that small.
It was completely dark.
Srrrrr
Until a moment ago, the cave was empty, and only the sound of water drops was resonating, but that suddenly changed as the dark surroundings started to lighten up a little.
From the lightened area, a few glowing shapes emerged as they all moved towards the middle of the cave.
All the glowing shapes slowly combined with each other as they formed into a bigger glowing shapeless thing.
Srrrrr
It didn't stop at that, as the big, shapeless thing tried to condense and take shape.
[Human DNA detected.]
[Transforming into the race; human.]
Two holographic screens appeared as the big, shapeless thing started to take on the shape of a human.
But as it tried to take the form of a human, the thing collapsed as if it had failed to do so.
It again became shapeless, but it didn't stop and still tried to take the form of a human.
A similar phenomenon happened again as the thing collapsed and became shapeless.
It still persistently tried to take the form of a human, but no matter how much it tried, it failed.
[Error: The detected human DNA is impure.]
[Please obtain more human DNA to complete the transformation.]
Some more screens appeared as they remained still.
The big shapeless glowing things shook for a few moments and suddenly became still like a rock.
Among the darkness, there stood a big shapless glowing thing that remained still like a rock. Just a moment ago, it was moving, but now it is still.
'…D-did you see that?'
'Yeah.'
It seems that the glowing thing wasn't the only one in the cave, as two whispering voices resounded.
Two humans wearing leather clothes were crouching down behind a big rock; they seemed to have seen everything from the beginning.
Who knew their small quest to collect cave mushrooms would result in them witnessing this never seen phenomenon?
'W-what should we do? It doesn't seem harmless.'
'Shut up. It is clearly a monster. Do you think any monsters we have encountered till now were harmless?'
'…Not at all. Then what should we do?'
'…Let's return for now and report it to our guild.'
The calm human said this as the other one nodded his head.
But unfortunately for them, their dilemma has not been solved yet.
The exit for the cave was on the other side.
Yes, the glowing thing was currently sitting between them and their only way out.
'Shit.'
The calm human cursed in panic as he looked around himself for something.
Immediately, he found a rock, picked it up, and threw it towards a wall away from their way of exit.
Tak tak
The stone bounced and made some noise, but the glowing thing didn't react as it remained still.
'…Sigh.'
The calm human took a breath of relief as the monster didn't seem to have any hearing ability.
'Let's walk fast.'
He whispered as they nearly ran, but calmed themselves and just walked.
The glowing thing didn't move when it heard the stone bouncing, since it didn't care for that.
But when it saw the two humans walking in front of it, a few screens appeared in front of it.
[Humans detected nearby.]
[Host can collect their DNA for transformation.]
As soon as the screens appeared, the glowing thing immediately started shaking like before.
The two humans instantly realized that the monster had woken up as they paniked and started running.
Whoosh
The glowing thing didn't let its potential prey run away as it jumped and attacked the two humans.
Whoosh
Two rope-like, glowing limbs emerged from its body as it swung it towards them.
"ARGH."
The nervous human shouted as he raised his circular shield and…
[Reflection]
He mouthed some words as his circular shield glew and repelled the two glowing ropes.
Bang Bang
"agh"
The nervous human felt the impact as he felt threatened.
"BIND IT." He shouted as the calm human was already mouthing some words with a book on his hand.
[Nature's embrace]
Thick brown tree vines emerged from the ground as they quickly wrapped around the glowing thing.
"agh" The calm human groaned as he quickly felt resistance from the monster.
"Let's hurry up."
He said this as both of them started running fast.
Meanwhile, the glowing thing, even after being bound, didn't stop as it emerged few other rope-like glowling limbs and attacked the running humans.
Whoosh
The nervous human again used his shield.
[Reflection]
Just like before, the shield gleamed and repelled the limbs, but this time there were too many forces.
Crack crack
A lot of cracks immediately started to form on the shield.
"Shi-"
Bang
Before the nervous human could finish his cursing, the shield turned into pieces.
The nervous human was shocked that the monster was able to destroy his treasure item.
The shield wasn't a normal shield; it was his companion that had been with him since the moment he bought it from a merchant with the money that he earned from his first quest.
"Idiot, you can buy many others like that or even better than that. For now, run." The calm human said as he quickly grabbed him by his collar and pulled him.
By constantly dodging and running, they reached a certain point where they realized that the attack had completely stopped. But they didn't dare to stop and relax, as they quickly reached the exit and ran out of the cave.
They still didn't stop, as they were now completely surrounded by trees and bushes; they were in a forest.
"Lets run. We can make it to the portal before dawn." The calm human said, as it was still early since the sun had been out for only a few hours.
Back inside the cave,
Srrrr
There not being anything around it, the glowing thing shook again as it returned to remaining still.
But it was still bound by the thick brown tree vines. Those thick brown tree vines were not normal, as they slowly but effectively started weakening the glowing thing.
Feeling weakened and uncomfortable by the vines, the glowing thing started to get rid of them.
Slowly, the tree vines that were in contact with the glowing thing started to emit a faint glow as those faint glows were sucked in by the glowing thing.
It stood still, like a rock, as it slowly kept doing that.
…
In a pitch black place,
"W-where am I?"
Aiden's voice resounded as he looked around.
His eyes were confused, as he didn't know where he was looking. Wherever he looked, only pitch black was visible.
He even tried to look at his hands, but they were also not visible.
Were they even there?
Aiden questioned but he immediately avoided that as he knew it was going to make him panic.
Bracing himself, Aiden walked straightforwardly, or that's what he thought he was doing.
Am I even moving?
Slap
Aiden questioned himself again, but he quickly slapped himself to avoid panicking.
"I'm walking. This place is just tricking me. I will just walk around. I'm sure I will soon find something."
He talked out loud since he knew doing this would be more comforting.
All the panic that had started to emerge earlier started to disappear as he felt calmer.
He walked.
He walked for a few minutes.
He kept walking.
He walked for a few hours.
He kept walking.
He walked for a few minutes.
He kept…
Slap
"This shit is driving me crazy."
Aiden talked out loud as he again slapped himself when he sensed himself panicking.
"How many steps did I take?" he asked himself.
"Eight thousand." He answered himself.
"No no, after eight thousand, I could not sense my legs, so I stopped counting." He reasoned out his answer as he scratched his head.
"What am I even doing?" He said as he dropped his hands, or that's what he thought he did.
He couldn't sense any of his limbs.
"Ahahaha, at this rate, I might even lose the feeling of my ears, eyes, and then my entire existence." He said 'jokingly.'
Eyes? Wait, was he even feeling his eyes?
Were they closed or open?
Fortunately, he felt his eyes blinking.
Ting
Suddenly, from the corner of his eyes, he saw a glow.
Aiden immediately turned his head towards the source of light.
Crack
"Arg. So I still have the feeling of my neck." He groaned in pain as he rubbed his neck.
Hmm?
"Woah, I feel my arms." He muttered in happiness as he looked back at the glowing place.
Without thinking, he ran. Or that's what he thou-
Slap
"Stop with these thoughts."
Aiden slapped himself to calm down as he 'ran' towards the glowing place.
As he ran, his vision became clear.
As his vision became clear, he saw something that made him slow down his pace.
…Scary
It was a mirror reflecting Aiden's figure.
Aiden raised his hands as he felt his face, specifically his mouth.
He wasn't smiling, but the reflection was.