Derek's first conscious thought wasn't a pleasant one. It was a jumble of panicked shouts, guttural snarls, and the acrid smell of smoke that clawed at his throat.
He wasn't in his room. He wasn't staring at his phone, his blood pressure steadily rising as he scrolled through another idiotic, rage-baiting comment thread. The memory of it was a distant, fuzzy thing—some furry art fanatic had taken a joke way too seriously, doxxing him and… well, the details after the home invasion were murky. The last thing he remembered was a sharp, final pain.
And now, this.
"Wake up, Seth! Goblins!" a frantic voice yelled nearby.
Derek's eyes snapped open. He was lying on a bed of rough straw in a dimly lit wooden hut. Around him, chaos reigned. Creatures that could only be described as humanoid animals—a badger-man, a fox-woman—were grabbing crude spears and clubs. Their fur was matted, their eyes wide with fear.
Seth? Who the hell is Seth? And since when do badgers wear pants? Seth's mind raced, a torrent of confusion. This wasn't his world. This wasn't his body. He felt… different. Heavier. Stronger. And there was a strange, tingling sensation in his hands. No, not hands.
He looked down.
Two powerful, fur-covered paws with long, obsidian-black claws twitched in the straw. A wave of pure, unadulterated disbelief washed over him.
"What… what is this?" he mumbled, his voice a deeper, rougher growl than he was used to.
There was no time to ponder. The flimsy door of the hut splintered open, revealing three small, green, and exceptionally ugly creatures with pointed ears and even sharper teeth. Goblins.
Instinct, a raw and unfamiliar one, took over. The sight of a threat triggered something primal within Seth. The greedy, battle-hungry part of his old self, the part that loved dominating in every game and argument, surged to the forefront. He roared, a sound that was half-human, half-beast, and launched himself at the nearest goblin.
His new body moved with a terrifying grace. He swiped with a clawed paw, and the goblin's crude leather armor shredded like paper. The sensation was electric. As his claws tore through flesh, a crisp, blue text box materialized in the corner of his vision.
[Devour] System Online!
Welcome, Host: Seth.
Target Analyzed: Forest Goblin.
Biomass Quality: Low.
Devour Points (DP) Gained: 5!
Current DP: 5/100
System Function: Consume, Assimilate, Evolve.
- Gain DP from vanquishing foes and consuming matter.
- Spend DP to acquire Skills, Enhance Attributes, and unlock Evolutions.
- The rarer and more powerful the consumed target, the greater the DP yield!
Seth froze mid-swipe, his second target forgotten. A system? Like in those web novels? The goblin he'd wounded screeched and scrambled away, but Seth barely noticed.
Devour Points? A slow, greedy grin spread across his face. This was new. This was a sensation he could get used to.
The confusion was still there, a dull roar in the back of his mind, but it was being rapidly overpowered by a thrilling, vicious curiosity.
The remaining defenders managed to drive the goblins back, and a tense quiet fell over the hut. His heart—or whatever was pounding in his chest—was hammering.
He needed answers.
"Seth, are you okay? You fought like a demon!" the badger-man said, clapping him on the back.
Derek just grunted, not trusting himself to speak. He pushed past the others and stumbled out of the hut. The village was a smoldering wreck, but his eyes were drawn to a calm, glassy lake just beyond the tree line.
He staggered towards it, his new legs feeling clumsy on the soft earth. He needed to see. He needed to know what he had become.
He fell to his knees at the water's edge, the cool liquid lapping at his fur-covered thighs. He took a deep breath, the last breath of a boy named Derek, and looked down at his reflection.
The face staring back was not his.
Of course. Here is the description rewritten for a black wolf:
It was a lupine face, covered in a short, dense coat of black fur. A subtle, darker pattern of shadows mottled the fur around the eyes and across the muzzle. A strong, almost human jawline was set below a black nose, and from a wild, unruly mane of charcoal-gray hair, two sharp, dark-furred ears twitched. Golden eyes, wide with utter shock, stared back at him.
The pieces clicked together with horrifying, absurd clarity.
A strangled sound, somewhere between a laugh and a sob, escaped him. He pointed a trembling, clawed finger at his own reflection.
"I... I got isekai'd... and I'm a furry?!"