Something hissed violently from behind a rock.
After many days on the higher levels, where monsters were weak, that sound brought me joy. Nothing beats an easy meal and priceless experience.
The two-headed snake posed almost no threat — it was maybe a meter long. Its venom could make a mess of someone, but after gorging on poisonous mushrooms and barely surviving, my body had changed. Toxins no longer affected me the same way, and a venomous bite from such a weak creature could at most irritate my skin.
It was unlucky to find itself between me and the wall. It tried to dodge to the side and bite my neck, but it didn't expect that after hunting a couple of iron-skinned moles, my scales had hardened to the point where such attacks could barely scratch me.
A few seconds later, it was over. I tore apart its slimy body and got to the meat. I devoured the whole reptile in a few bites and headed to the upper levels to finally check if it was possible to leave this disgustingly boring place.
Since my escape from the three-headed hydra and my so-called siblings, I had grown and become much stronger. My body had changed significantly, and I was getting more and more used to it. Unfortunately, over time it became harder to grow stronger by eating common plants and weak monsters like this snake, which could do nothing more than hiss and break its fangs on my scales.
My body had grown and become incredibly durable. I was no longer that soft, helpless lizard. After hundreds of consumed reptiles, insects, and amphibians, I realized that by consuming enough of them, I absorbed a fragment of what they were — something that stayed with me. The less common and simple the creature, the easier it was to take something from it. Though in the end, quantity also turned into quality…
Venom was an immeasurably valuable weapon. My bite carried it, and I could even force it outward. My scales hardened into a solid defense, in a place where everything wanted to eat me and shit on me. With that, all it took was one bite, and I could follow my prey until the poison slowed it down and finished the job.
My new body bothered me less and less. Surprisingly, I didn't miss computers or phones, nor energy drinks, which I had been obsessed with in my previous life. It turned out that the fight for survival and constant search for food in these endless cave systems was more than engaging enough.
I won't hide it — the changes I had undergone made life in this filthy place much easier.
In time I've learned that every creature emanated something I could call an aura. The stronger the individual, the bigger and more overwhelming the aura. The weaker the creature, the less noticeable its presence and, I assumed, the weaker its ability to detect and feel the auras of others. Perhaps that's why I didn't die of fear after hatching, being only a few meters from that monstrous hydra.
Over time, I developed a stable routine. I slept on high rock ledges in safer areas, where there weren't as many monsters. Upon waking, I drank water dripping from stalactites and flowing through cracks, then spent most of my time hunting and consuming common plants, mostly weeds and grasses.
As an economist with some professional experience, I approached this as professionally as possible. With my claws, I marked maps of the area on stones, and for every expedition into the corridors and lower levels, I acted with full caution.
As they say, "better safe than sorry."
After many days, I was sure that this place had a multi-level structure, and the higher the level, the weaker the monsters. Where I hunted, there were only unpleasant, tiny creatures that could serve only as food.
I hypothesized that the exit (if it existed at all) must be somewhere on the higher levels — after all, it wouldn't make sense for the strongest monsters to dwell among the weak ones, because they would have gone extinct long ago the source of food would most likely quickly disappear.
I swore to myself that I would leave this place.
However, I didn't want to get lost and die somewhere unknown. For now, I only wanted to find the exit and better understand my situation. The most frightening thought was that there might be no exit at all, and I would be stuck here until my last breath, devouring trash like cattle.
The most important thing now was evolving. Since the hydra that laid the eggs had three heads, while all its offspring had only one, it was obvious that growth didn't end here. I hadn't yet learned its rules, but I knew that if I wanted to survive in this bloodthirsty world, I couldn't remain like this forever.
Not long ago, I was a tiny pseudo-lizard that could fit in a human hand, and now I was over a meter long and half a meter tall at the withers. Hard scales and a tail that could crush stone, not to mention a tongue rough like a lion's.
Not to mention level 9!
And yet I still felt that this wasn't my final form. Something in me remained… incomplete.
All that was left was to follow my intuition and search for the exit. The higher I climbed, every few hundred meters it grew warmer, and greenery of various species and sizes began appearing more frequently on the walls. I had never been so high; vast corridors twisted and turned, with occasional steep inclines or ancient steps someone had once carved with a chisel. On the walls, I saw signs and drawings of pseudo-human figures and monsters. I didn't understand their meanings and wasn't in a hurry to.
The scale and strangeness of this world overwhelmed me.
"How the hell much farther to the exit?" I cursed in my mind, still angry that as a reptile I had no way to communicate verbally — my only option was complaining in my old millennial human mind.
I could groan and think about thousands of things, but the fact remained — my time here was practically unlimited. I had nothing to do except eat weaklings and chew grass. I was bored as hell. For someone overstimulated in their previous life, boredom at the very beginning was a cruel torture. Over time, I got used to it. Now this hydra body was mine, and besides calmness and a sense of strength, it gave me hope that maybe I wouldn't waste this life.
The closer I got to the exit, the shorter the corridors became and the more frequent the turns. Small creatures scattered in all directions before my presence. After passing some strange, rocky steps — steep and slippery — I felt uneasy. There was no presence around me. Were they all avoiding this place? Should I be afraid of something?
The desire to get out was stronger than the fear of the unknown.
I climbed the last step, and my reptilian eyes saw a vast space, like a plaza that could fit thousands of people, with richly decorated walls and floors, now overgrown and ruined.
Two great statues — one wielding two swords, the other a shield and a sword — guarded a massive gate adorned with dusty, damaged decorations set into exquisite metallurgical ornaments of strange shapes. I could have looked at it for hours, but time pressed. I only wanted to check if I could go outside and what awaited me there. I could always return to the cave to look at all this incredible stuff again, if I only wanted.
I felt a strange mixture of excitement and uncertainty. Now, after seeing those figures and drawings, I was almost certain that humans must exist in this world. To think that even in my previous life I was bad at social interactions, and now I was also a disgusting, bloodthirsty monster…
I didn't know what to expect. I could only grab the bull by the horns.
Why did I have to be reborn as a hydra? I was furious, but that was all I could do. I had no control over it. I could only complain, and this life and the previous one had taught me that it achieved nothing. Not worth the nerves.
I approached the gate and struck it with my head. It rattled. The resistance was less than I expected, and the gates slowly gave way, creaking, revealing a vast space before my eyes.
Then my green-blue world changed.
I felt the warmth of the sun on my snout and saw the world in completely different colors. My vision was better than in life, and my perception of colors was sharper.
Before me stretched a vast expanse — the slope of a peak descended, revealing the harsh landscape of a mountain range. Sparse, dwarf trees stood like solitary lanterns, and between them gray, dried grasses grew here and there. Rocks and stone terraces formed natural corridors I would eventually traverse to explore this terrain. The entire world around seemed bathed in shades of brown, orange, and gray, contrasting with the clear blue sky above. I felt a strange, wild rawness — inhospitable, empty, yet calling to me.
So what? I didn't sense any strong presence, and besides venturing into the unknown, all that remained was returning to that hole. Grazing on grass and insects again. I quickly made my decision.
The warm ground pleasantly heated my paws. The wind was calm, and the only sounds I heard were birds and the crackle of dry earth with each step. Soon, as I approached a cliff stretching about 200 meters, I felt something below — something so vast and overwhelming that my heart nearly stopped.
I panicked.
I coiled my tail and sharply turned west, into more forested terrain, just to stay away from whatever ruled below, within the massive chasm, as if something had unnaturally created it. I saw no river or stream, and the abyss stretched beyond the horizon in every direction.
I don't remember how long I ran at full speed, just to get away from that terrifying presence.
Before I knew it, I was surrounded by trees and grayish vegetation. It was quite possible these were local variants of grasses I hadn't encountered in the caves. I had neither the time nor the desire to examine every bush individually. The memory of what I sensed kept me on edge. Worse still, I felt hundreds of different presences around me. The auras varied in size, but none of them filled me with fear.
After a longer moment, it was clear that this place truly teemed with life!
I decided to calm down and think through my actions. Returning toward the dungeon meant approaching the cliff, which I wanted to avoid for now. Hunger and the desire to see who lived in these lands gnawed at me.
Soon, I got to work. I lowered my presence as much as I could and carefully moved through the wilderness, searching for prey.
Birds and ant colonies dominated here. Wherever I looked, I saw ants of various colors and sizes, with mounds sometimes reaching several meters high. Terrifying. I realized that if an entire colony attacked me, I'd be done for, and even my hardened scales wouldn't save me.
I hid in a dense bush, trying to blend into the gray vegetation. My scales almost merged with the surroundings, and I minimized every movement — like a chameleon in a world full of predators. Before me stretched small ant mounds, bustling with movement and sound. I couldn't resist — along the way, I ate a few of the bigger ones to satisfy my hunger.
Finally, my patience paid off. I saw something resembling a huge monkey with black fur, holding a stick. It walked on two legs from mound to mound, using a sticky branch to pull out smaller ants, licking them off and eating them, unaware that I was right next to it.
The monkey was level 12. For the first time in a long while, I encountered a being the system rated as stronger than me. It could be dangerous, but I knew I could handle it — after all, I was the predator who had been killing all kinds of cave creatures for weeks.
It was clear it wouldn't be easy, but I wanted to use the element of surprise.
I stayed hidden until it got close enough for me to spit venom straight into its face. Full of vigor, I lunged at its legs, biting whatever I could reach. After a few seconds of loud struggle and exchange of blows and bites, the poison slowed its movements and tipped the scales in my favor.
It thrashed violently, roaring to the heavens. The monkey's roar was so powerful that I almost chickened out. I wasn't used to such resistance. Its body was tough and sinewy, and the fight tested my patience. Even my hardened scales couldn't fully protect me from the burning pain.
In the end, my predatory instinct and quick thinking tipped the scales. The beast gave in, and the fight came to an end. It bled out and died — the poison had done its job.
I could calmly eat it and regain my strength before returning to the cave.
To my surprise, something started happening. Something bad!
Pain exploded throughout my body. Heat flooded every part of it. Something gathered along the side of my neck — pressure, movement, bones shifting under my skin. My body was changing. I was growing, suffering terribly in the process.
Panicking, I wondered what could be happening. I looked at the inscriptions and saw that I had just reached level 10!!! Was I evolving!?
From the left side of my torso, something was trying to force its way out — as if another part of me. After a moment, I saw a second head forming!
It trembled, slowly rising upward. Its eyes opened — darker, calmer… but hungry — wild and dangerous, like death itself.
It turned toward the carcass and, without hesitation, began tearing it apart. Wild. Uncontrolled. It ripped into the flesh and howled furiously as it fed. I heard the cracking of bones, the slurping of blood, the tearing of meat. The beast was unrestrained, and I was almost afraid it would soon turn on me.
More terrifying than this suddenly created companion growing from my torso were the sounds of dozens of ape-like roars coming from afar! Numerous auras — similar to that of the monkey I had just killed — were rushing straight toward me! Meanwhile, I struggled with pain and fear.
Maybe I had evolved? Maybe I had become stronger — but what was the point if I had to pay for it with this new lizard life!?
I coiled my tail and, with all my strength, forced my body to flee!