Chapter 1 - Reborn

I woke slowly.

Thoughts surfaced like they were being dragged through syrup—sticky, heavy, unwilling to move.

A yawn slipped out of me.

Then a groan.

Why was it so dark?

Was it still night?

And why did my body feel… wrong?

Not sore.
Not numb.

Just—incorrect.

A faint crack echoed above me.

Light spilled through a thin fracture overhead, sharp and blinding. It stabbed straight into whatever counted as my eyes now, and I recoiled on instinct.

What is happening?

The crack widened.

Something broke loose.

Fresh air rushed in—cool and damp, thick with unfamiliar scents.

Green.
Earthy.
Alive.

Trees.

Leaves.

Sky.

The rest of the shell collapsed around me in brittle fragments.

I froze.

I wasn’t in my bed.
I wasn’t in my room.
I wasn’t anywhere familiar.

I was lying in dirt, half-buried in shattered shell, surrounded by other eggs—dozens of them—splitting open one by one as pale, shifting things wriggled free.

My chest tightened.

This isn’t right.

Am I dreaming?

Something massive loomed over me.

I looked up.

And my brain rejected what it saw.

A grotesque shape crouched above the nest—low and slumped, its body spread against the ground like melted flesh that hadn’t decided what form it wanted. Pale, slick skin sagged and quivered as it moved, dragging rather than standing.

Its face refused to settle.

Two oversized eyes sat too close together, sliding slightly out of place before drifting back. A soft mouth opened and closed unevenly, stretching wrong every time it moved.

It leaned closer.

“Look, darling,” it said in a high, oddly cheerful voice. “Our first egg hatched.”

It was looking directly at me.

My thoughts screamed.

WHAT IS THAT?!

Another voice answered—deeper, slower.

“I think it’s a boy.”

The first creature tilted its head. The motion warped its face, making my stomach twist.

“I don’t think so. We’ve never had a gender before.”

The deeper voice paused.

“…Of course we do. You’re a female.”

The other creature blinked. Its eyes briefly misaligned.

“Am I? I always thought I was more like a male.”

My thoughts spiraled.

What are they talking about?

Why are these hideous things talking?

Why can I understand them?

Panic surged—

—and something flickered into existence in front of me.

[System Initialized]

Species: Mimic Larva
Level: 1
Status: Stable
Gender: Unknown

I stared at the translucent text hovering in the air.

“…What?”

A system?

My eyes—whatever passed for them—flicked back and forth, trying to process the information.

Mimic Larva?
Why do I have no gender?

The moment the thought formed, another window slid into view.

[Species Information]

A Mimic Larva is a low-tier monster born without innate abilities.
Commonly used as experience fodder.
Often killed for training or sport.

…Well that fills me with confidence.

My breathing hitched.

This wasn’t a dream.

It was too coherent to be a hallucination—and far too cruel to be anything else.

A video game?
Did I die?
Why am I here?

A distant boom rolled through the forest.

Not thunder.

Footsteps.

Voices.

Human voices.

Relief surged through me so hard it almost hurt.

Humans.
Thank god—maybe they can explain this.
Maybe they can fix this.

The two hideous creatures—my… parents?—didn’t react at all. They just stood there, smiling vacantly as the sound grew closer.

Figures emerged between the trees.

Armored.
Confident.
Relaxed.

One of them laughed.

“Oh, perfect,” a man said. “We found the right nest.”

Another voice chimed in eagerly. “This is perfect.”

The first man grinned and raised his hand.

“My little fire dragon is going to level up so much today.”

Confusion twisted my thoughts.

…How does finding these monsters help level yours up?

None of the humans even looked at me.

The man’s hand clenched.

Mana condensed into a glowing sphere—

—and burst.

Light exploded outward.

A small fire dragon emerged from it, scales glowing faintly red, wings flexing as it hissed.

The man smiled.

“Time to level up.”

The other two humans moved a heartbeat later.

Mana flared again—twice.

A thick-bodied lizard with plated skin slammed into existence beside them.

Then a massive dog-like beast followed, jaws parting to reveal far too many teeth.

Every instinct I had screamed.

The fire dragon stepped forward.

My… parents moved too.

Not to fight.

Not to flee.

They waddled toward the dragon without fear.

“Well isn’t this lovely,” the higher voice said pleasantly. “We’ve never had visitors before.”

The dragon inhaled.

Fire roared out.

The deeper-voiced creature was engulfed instantly.

No scream.
No resistance.

Just ash drifting down where it had stood.

I stared.

Frozen.

The remaining parent tilted its head, staring at the empty space.

“…Darling?” it asked. “Where did you go?”

Then it looked back at the fire dragon.

“Oh, sorry about him. He disappears sometimes. A bit foolish, really.”

Something inside me cracked.

Not grief.

Not rage.

Just disbelief.

This is a joke.

It just killed him.

Are these monsters actually this stupid?!

“Hurry it up,” the human snapped. “Get the quick EXP so we can move on before nightfall.”

Fire washed over the second parent.

Ash.

Silence.

Around me, the other larvae didn’t react.

They wriggled.
They stared into nothing.
They existed in tiny, instinct-driven worlds.

Waiting.

Something cold settled deep in my core.

They aren’t hunting.

They’re farming.

I can’t stay here.
That dragon is going to kill me.

I took a step back.

My body resisted.

Every movement dragged, sticky and sluggish—like I was made of half-set glue.

Another step.

Slow.
Awkward.

One of the humans frowned.

“Oh?” he said. “Is this one trying to run?”

He laughed, genuinely amused.

“I’ve never seen one so smart before. Might give better EXP.”

He pointed at me.

“Kill that one first.”

The others chuckled.

“You two take care of the rest,” he added. “This one’s mine.”

My mind screamed.

This cannot be happening.

Something like adrenaline flooded my system—raw panic overriding thought.

I turned.

And ran.

Down the slope behind the nest.

Sticky.
Slow.
Terrified.

Behind me, footsteps quickened—

—and the crackle of gathering flame.

I didn’t look back.

The ground vanished under my feet.

I slipped.

Then fell.

The world flipped.

I tumbled head over—if I even had a head—rolling down the slope at a ridiculous speed.

Trees blurred into green streaks.

Dirt and leaves slammed into me from every direction.

I braced for nausea.

It never came.

That realization hit mid-roll.

I should be scared by that.

The fact that I’m not scares me more.

I slammed into something hard at the bottom of the hill and skidded to a stop.

Dizzy.
Disoriented.

I pushed myself upright—

—and looked up.

The fire dragon descended from above, wings beating slowly as it hovered just off the ground.

Its eyes locked onto me immediately.

Of course they did.

I scrambled forward, sticky feet peeling off the dirt with wet sounds—

—and ran straight into something solid.

I froze.

Slowly looked up.

Big.

Really big.

Armored plates.

Muscle layered over muscle.

A massive monster leaned against a tree, eyes closed, breath rumbling low and steady.

I stared.

…Are you kidding me?

Just my luck.

For one terrifying second, nothing happened.

Then I noticed something important.

It hadn’t seen me.

It was asleep.

An idea sparked.

A terrible, desperate idea.

I turned and bolted back into the open.

The fire dragon swooped lower, fireballs forming in its mouth.

They streaked toward me—

—and missed.

Wide.

Embarrassingly wide.

He wasn’t lying.

It really does need levels.

I zigzagged through the brush, then suddenly veered sideways and dove behind a fallen log.

The dragon burst through the foliage after me, landing hard, fire already building—

—and the ground shook.

The massive monster’s eyes snapped open.

Instant fury.

Its head turned.

Locked onto the fire dragon.

The dragon froze.

Then took a step back.

Then another.

The human arrived just behind it, breathless and annoyed.

“What are you doing?” he snapped. “Did you lose it? You’re so use—”

He followed the dragon’s gaze.

Locked eyes with the monster.

His arm shot up on instinct.

What is he doing? Summoning more monsters?

He froze.

Then slowly lowered his hand.

“…No way,” he whispered. “Level thirty-four? That shouldn’t be here.”

Panic replaced arrogance instantly.

The fire dragon vanished in a flash of light as he recalled it.

The man turned and ran.

The forest erupted.

A deafening growl shook the air as the massive monster charged after him, trees splintering in its wake.

I sagged against the log.

Breathing hard.

Even though I didn’t need to.

A distant scream echoed.

Then another.

Then the sound of something very large hitting something much smaller.

I swallowed.

That’s what you get, for killing my parents.

The words felt strange.

They hadn’t really been my parents.

They were… something else.

But still.

I stared at the forest floor, surrounded by silence and ash-scented air.

The system wasn’t wrong.

Mimic Larvae really are experience fodder.

System is never wrong.

I flinched.

Don’t do that, you scared me.

I hesitated, then asked.

The human said he was lucky to find this nest to level up in. How do you level up a monster?

By killing monsters.

…Well, I guess that was obvious.

Then don’t ask.

I blinked.

“Why are you sassy with me?”

I’m not.

I looked down at my weak, sticky body.

At the forest.

At the empty space where the nest had been.

…What has my life come to?

I let out a slow breath, forcing myself to calm down.

Then I looked around.

The forest didn’t answer.

If I wanted to survive this world—

I’d have to learn fast.

Because no one was coming to save me.