The system dinged.
[Finally. A thought powered by two brain cells.]
Arin hissed, "I didn't ask you."
A beat of silence.
…So. How do I cultivate?"
Another chime.
[You haven't even tried, genius. Try it.]
Arin opened his mouth—
"Ugh—"
He froze instantly.
He knew one more insult would cost karma.
A smug chime followed.
[Host, smart choice.]
Arin's scales bristled with irritation. He wanted to strangle the empty air, but he forced himself to stay focused.
Fine. Whatever.
Cultivation.
Or at least figuring out what the hell cultivation felt like.
He curled his body into a tight, comfortable coil, placed his head above the center of his coils, and tried to concentrate—
breath steady, thoughts quiet, senses open.
Dark cave.
Cold air.
The faint pulse of energy somewhere just beyond his reach.
He reached for it.
He grabbed it.
Maybe it was his beast nature.
Or maybe it was simply because he was a beast.
Either way—
it felt natural.
Cold.
Pure.
His breath steadied.
Energy moved.
Mysterious, silent, everywhere—
flowing through him.
His consciousness stretched—
…and his stomach growled.
A beat later, pain hit.
Sharp.
Impossible.
As if his entire body detonated.
Pain wasn't new.
His soul had been ripped out once.
He knew what agony felt like.
But this?
This was… tolerable.
He lay there, drained,
every muscle screaming.
Even the smallest twitch
sent waves of misery crawling through him.
[Host, it seems your two brain cells weren't enough. So here's advice: eat something before doing anything stupid.]
The system window blinked into existence,
hovering over him like it was waiting
—patiently—
for his next act of stupidity.
rin's whole body twitched.
He had no strength left — if he did, he would've snapped back at the system with every insult he could muster.
But all he managed was a dry, croaking:
"Shut up… take out… the meat."
The system obediently took the meat from the inventory.
And then placed it five meters away from him.
Arin stared.
If murder were possible through glaring alone, the system would've evaporated.
He couldn't argue. Not now.
So he dragged himself — every inch of movement agony — across the cold ground just to reach a pile of rotten meat.
He hated it.
He hated himself more.
As he devoured it with trembling jaws, he felt it:
A tiny spark.
A fire.
Rising from the pit of humiliation and hunger and pain.
The more he chewed, the hotter it burned.
He looked at the wretched meat, the pathetic state he was in, the weakness choking every part of him.
And he swore — voice low, raw, trembling:
"I… swear… someday… I'll sit above everything… even the—"
He broke.
The world dimmed.
The system hovered lazily above him, poking his limp body with a glowing pointer.
"…Yeah, he's out cold," it muttered.
Time passed.
Arin's eyes finally fluttered open.
The first thing he saw was the system floating above him—
wearing spectacles
and casually reading a book titled "From Lowly Serpent to Godhood."
It flipped a page with interest.
[Oh, you're awake.]
The system didn't even look down.
[Good. Take my advice and crawl over there. Bunch of serpents eating each other. You'll fit right in.]
Although Arin didn't want to admit it… he knew the system was right.
He was desperate.
Desperate enough to swallow his pride.
"…Thanks," he muttered, voice rough.
The system didn't show its face, but Arin could feel it smiling.
He slithered toward the only path leading deeper into the cavern.
The cold stone scraped against his scales.
The air grew thicker… heavier… wrong.
He couldn't see clearly yet—his senses were still weak—but he could feel it.
Multiple presences.
Movements.
Crunching.
Wet tearing sounds.
Feasting.
As he reached the open hollow, the sight hit him like a blow.
Lesser cave serpents were devouring newborn hatchlings—tiny serpents that had barely wriggled out of their eggs.
And when those were gone, the adults turned on each other, fangs flashing, coils tightening, bodies slamming into the stone.
It was brutal.
It was vile.
It was the most disgusting thing Arin had ever witnessed.
The stench of fresh blood — thick and metallic — choked the air.
What disgusted Arin most wasn't the scene… but the fact that some part of him craved it.
But survival didn't care about disgust.
A pair of eyes snapped toward him.
Predatory.
Hungry.
Arin's instincts screamed, dragging his attention to the source — a lesser cave serpent, larger than the others, dragging its blood-coated body toward him.
Arin's mind raced.
This wasn't the time to think.
His body was already prepared.
He had to strike first.
He steadied himself, desperation flickering in his eyes.
His body coiled tighter.
His heart thundered. Warmth spread through his muscles as they primed for release.
He inhaled—deep, sharp—
then exploded forward, using all the stored tension to launch a lightning-fast strike.
The serpent dodged, retreating with practiced instinct, the kind earned from devouring countless others.
Arin expected that.
A small smile tugged at his lips—
he was already one step ahead.
He twisted mid-motion, realigning his trajectory, and repeated the strike—faster.
The serpent barely had time to react before Arin closed in, wrapping his entire body around its form and locking it in place.
He tightened—
and the serpent thrashed violently, trying to break free.
Arin didn't give it the chance.
He completed the final step, sinking his fangs into the neck area—its vital point.
Pinned and constricted, the serpent couldn't fight back.
It convulsed once, twice… then went still as life drained from its body.
Arin felt a surge of joy.
He was stronger. Deadlier.
The surrounding serpents stared at him—
and recoiled in fear.
He looked around, a grin crawling up his face.
Did I just take down the boss?
Pride swelled in his chest—
until another thought stabbed through it.
Wait… what if they group attack me?
Panic shot through him. His pupils widened, his coiled posture turning sharper—almost threatening.
To the other serpents, it looked like a challenge.
They froze… then quickly turned away, too terrified to risk it.
Arin blinked in disbelief.
[Don't worry, they don't even have two brain cells like you]
The system window flickered into view, as if reading every thought in his head.
Arin tore into the corpse without hesitation.
No disgust. No doubt.
Just hunger.
For the first time, it didn't feel strange.
It felt natural.
A dangerous thought settled in his mind—
I'm becoming one of them.
Before he could think deeper, a crisp window blinked into existence.
[Skill evolution]
Arin froze.
His eyes narrowed, a faint thrill crawling up his spine.