Midnight at a modest neighborhood home, a man sat glued to his screen, surfing the vast ocean of the internet.
"Ugh, finding a job these days is almost impossible. You either need connections or a ridiculously handsome face to get hired. And me? No connections, an average face, and barely any standout skills. What a miserable life... Or maybe it's my fault for slacking off during my youth? Who knows. Anyway, let's call it a night with this job hunting."
With a sigh, he navigated to a website for reading novels.
"Lately, I've been hooked on novels. I started because I got bored with comics, I've read almost all of them already. But novels have their own charm. When reading, I have to visualize everything the author describes, and it feels like it's exercising my brain. My right brain's probably in its prime right now," he muttered while scrolling through the site.
Suddenly, something caught his eye. "Oh? What's this? A novel-writing competition? Let's see what the prize is."
Clicking on the competition banner, the page loaded with the details. "Hmm... 'Taming the Beast and Your Destiny'? Sounds interesting. Let's check the rewards." He scrolled down further.
"Wow, the prize money is pretty decent. Should I join this competition? Why not? I feel like my creative juices are just waiting to explode. Alright, let's do it, just click here."
The man entered a survey page. Confused, he frowned. "Huh? What's this? Did I click the wrong link? Let's try again."
After several attempts, the survey page kept appearing. "Is this some kind of weird ad? Ugh, fine, let's just fill it out."
The first question popped up:
"If you lived in a world plagued by monstrous disasters and could choose an artifact, what kind of artifact would you pick?"
"Hmm, seems related to the competition's theme. So this must be legit," he reasoned. "Now, what should I answer? In a world overrun by monsters, an artifact that could defeat them all in one blow would be great. But..."
He paused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Alright, I've got it. 'I would choose an artifact that can tame monsters and evolve them.' That sounds good enough." Satisfied, he clicked the "Submit" button.
The moment he pressed it, his computer froze and glitched. "What the—? This old thing was working fine just now!" he grumbled, smacking the side of his monitor.
Before he could complain further, the screen flickered ominously—and he blacked out.
***
The man woke up in the middle of a ruined city.
"Huh? Ugh, my head," he groaned, clutching his temples as he struggled to make sense of his surroundings. "What...? Where am I?"
He glanced around in confusion. Something felt off. "Wait, why does my voice sound different? My arms... they're thinner. My legs too. Hold on..."
Instinctively, he reached for his crotch. "Ahh, thank goodness. Still as solid as ever." He sighed in relief before shaking his head vigorously. "No, this isn't the time to worry about my... rooster."
Forcing himself to calm down, he began to analyze his situation. As he assessed himself further, realization dawned. "Wait a second... I'm in the body of a teenager."
Then, like a tidal wave, a flood of memories surged into his mind. Pain wracked his head as he clutched it tightly. "Ugh!" he groaned, struggling to endure the onslaught. Moments passed before the pain subsided, leaving him with newfound clarity.
"So, I really am in a different world. According to the memories of this body, this is a post-apocalyptic world. Monsters have been pouring in from mysterious portals for years, dominating this planet and driving humanity to the brink of extinction. And this body... its name is Seth Veylor. He was a portal explorer, but he was abandoned by his group because of how weak he was."
He let out a heavy sigh. "Great. Just my luck. Of all the bodies I could transmigrate into, I get one destined for disaster."
A bitter smile tugged at his lips as he muttered sarcastically to himself, "What a wonderful start to my new life."
The man sat in silence, lost in thought, when his stomach suddenly growled loudly.
"Damn, I'm starving. Alright, no time to sit here feeling sorry for myself. I'm Seth Veylor now, and if I want to survive, I need to find food first."
Resolving to act, he got up and began moving cautiously through the ruined city, searching for anything edible. After wandering for a while, a guttural sound echoed from behind him.
"Huh? What was that?" Seth turned around sharply, his eyes locking onto a shadowy figure emerging from a crumbling building.
The creature's body was formless, shifting and twisting unnaturally. A faint red glow pulsed at its core, casting an eerie light in the darkness. Panic seized Seth as he muttered to himself, "That thing... it's definitely not a normal monster. I don't remember this body ever encountering or hearing about something like this."
The monster moved silently, its gaze fixed on Seth like a predator eyeing its prey.
"Am I going to die here? No, I won't let that happen." Seth scanned his surroundings and grabbed a short iron rod lying among the rubble.
The monster inched closer, its shapeless form undulating with a quiet menace. Seth tightened his grip on the rod. "Alright... it's now or never."
With a burst of adrenaline, he charged toward the monster, but it stopped moving abruptly. Seth froze mid-step, confused. The faint red glow in the creature's core brightened, illuminating Seth as if it were analyzing him.
"Huh? What are you doing? Aren't you going to eat me?" he asked, baffled.
The monster tilted its amorphous upper body, swaying slightly, as though recognizing something about him. Slowly, it began to reshape itself, its form narrowing until it resembled an arrow. The creature wavered in the air, pointing in a specific direction.
"What? Are you trying to tell me to follow you?" Seth asked.
The monster let out a low growl, confirming his suspicion.
"Where is this thing taking me?" Seth wondered, his grip on the iron rod tightening as he cautiously stepped forward. "Alright," he said aloud, "lead the way."
The shadowy creature glided ahead, moving like a wisp through the rubble. Seth followed closely, struggling to keep up. "This thing moves like a shadow. Even when I focus, it's hard to track it in the dark," he thought.
On their way, they encountered other monsters. Seth tensed, ready for a fight, but the creatures froze in place, paralyzed with fear as the shadowy monster passed by.
"What's going on?" Seth thought, watching the scene unfold. "Good thing I didn't attack this thing. Look at how these other monsters cower just from its presence, and they seem way stronger than it does."
As they pressed on, fragments of Seth's inherited memories began resurfacing again.
"There's a rumor about a hidden treasure in the ruins we're heading into—something that grants unimaginable power. Most people think it's just a myth, but who knows? If it exists, it'd be worth a fortune, haha..."
"Wait... don't tell me this thing is leading me to that hidden treasure?" Seth asked aloud, narrowing his eyes at the shadowy figure. "Or are you just using me as bait?"
The creature gave no response, continuing its silent journey. With a mix of suspicion and curiosity, Seth followed, the iron rod still firmly in his grasp.
The monster led Seth to an abandoned underground chamber hidden beneath the ruins of a skyscraper.
The entrance was sealed by ancient runes, faintly glowing and pulsing with magical energy. Seth examined the symbols, his curiosity piqued. Almost instinctively, he placed his hand on the radiant sigil. To his surprise, the barrier responded to his touch, dissolving into nothingness as if granting him passage.
Inside the chamber, the air was thick with an otherworldly aura. At its center stood a short pedestal, atop which hovered a peculiar object, a black-and-silver glove emitting a soft white glow. Its radiance carried an undeniable air of authority, as though declaring its status as an artifact.
Seth glanced toward the shadowy monster that had guided him here, but the creature showed no reaction, remaining silent and still. With cautious steps, Seth approached the pedestal, his gaze fixed on the hovering glove. Slowly, he reached out, his fingers trembling as they neared the artifact.
The moment his fingertips grazed the glove, it reacted violently. The artifact dissolved into a liquid state, surging toward Seth's body like a living stream of molten metal. It snaked up his right arm, glowing brilliantly as it burned its way under his skin.
"Argh!" Seth cried out, clutching his arm as the liquid metal seared him. The pain was intense, like fire coursing through his veins. But after a moment, the burning sensation faded, and the liquid solidified into a sleek, metallic design resembling a bracelet around his wrist.
As Seth stared in shock, a glowing interface materialized before him, floating in the air. Strange symbols and unfamiliar statuses appeared on the translucent screen, but before he could make sense of it, he noticed movement in the corner of his eye.
The shadowy monster lowered its amorphous form, shaping itself into a gesture that resembled a kneeling bow. Its posture exuded reverence, as though it were submitting to Seth.
"Wait... you're kneeling?" Seth asked, his voice filled with disbelief. "Are you saying you want to serve me?"
As if to confirm his words, the interface updated with a new message:
[Confirmed: Monster Tamed]
Name: Voidshade Umbra
Race: Aetherials
Rank: Unique
Seth's eyes widened as he read the words. "Tamed...? You mean, you're my subordinate now?" he muttered, still struggling to grasp the situation.
The shadowy being, Voidshade Umbra, let out a low, rumbling sound, its glowing core pulsing faintly. For the first time since arriving in this world, Seth felt a flicker of hope. "Alright then... Let's see what kind of powers you and I can uncover together," he said, griping on the bracelet artifact determined smile crossed his face.