If I had eyebrows, they'd be halfway off my face by now.
Because what just happened?
I just finished evolving—went from wiggly goo to slightly thicker goo with armor—and then bam, a glowing crystal shows up and gives me a mystical upgrade called the Seed of Lumina.
> "Okay... either I'm hallucinating from larva fatigue, or the world just decided to drop a plot bomb on me."
I could feel it inside me now.
A tiny point of warmth. Soft, silent, and glowing.
Like a shard of the sun trapped inside my jelly-core.
> [Unique Skill Acquired: Seed of Lumina]
[Magic Pathway Unlocked: Light Affinity – Dimensional Tier: Minor]
[Status: Dormant / Inactive]
> "Of course it's inactive. What's a cheat skill without a tutorial gatekeeping it?"
---
The crystal floated silently, its glow slowly fading.
But its voice still echoed in my mind.
> "This seed is the last breath of forgotten light. Do not waste it."
> "I'll try not to die in the next hour, how about that?"
No reply. Just a soft cracking sound.
Thin fractures spread across the crystal's surface—like frost crawling on glass. Then, in one final shimmer, it shattered into a thousand glowing shards.
Gone.
> "Cool. I've got light magic, a meatball body, and emotional damage. That's a full starter kit."
But before I could savor my latest existential crisis…
The ground trembled.
---
> [Warning: Threat Detected – Level Unknown]
[Distance: 51 meters. Approaching rapidly.]
[System Suggestion: Flee.]
> "Hey! A system suggestion I can actually follow!"
I slithered as fast as my squishy body allowed, diving into a mess of glowing roots and fungus.
Gross? Yes. Effective? Also yes.
Peeking out from behind a shattered crystal, I saw… it.
A shadow. A beast.
Like a wolf—but cloaked in living fog.
Its body shimmered like heat haze, and its eyes… blood-red, glowing like hatred crystallized.
> [Name: Shadow Fang]
[Level: ???]
[Class: Dimensional Predator – Tier Unknown]
[Status: Active – Hunting]
> "Oh. So this world has open-world bosses with no warning labels. Great."
It padded forward, sniffing the air.
Then stopped—right where I had killed that Sludge Bug earlier.
The Shadow Fang opened its jaws.
And vacuumed everything.
Soil, goo, acid residue—gone in one inhale.
> "Okay. Note to self: clean up after yourself or risk summoning death incarnate."
Luckily, it didn't notice me.
Or maybe I was just too pathetic to register.
Either way… I survived.
> [Status: Survived Encounter with High-Level Entity]
[Survival Instinct Experience Gained.]
[Level Up: Lv. 3 → Lv. 4]
> "Wait... I get XP for not dying? Sign me up for more of that."
---
Once the earth stopped shaking and my nonexistent heartbeat returned to normal, I moved.
I found a crack between some stones—dark, damp, and coated in glowing fungi.
A makeshift lair. Not glamorous, but it would do.
For now.
I curled into a slimy lump, trying to process everything.
The crystal. The magic. The giant death-wolf.
The fact that a guy who used to eat instant noodles for dinner just melted a bug alive and now has god-seed powers in his gut.
> "Lucien Alaric. 26. Office drone. Reincarnated as a primordial worm. Chosen bearer of ancient light. Definitely underqualified."
And as I drifted off—well, whatever larva-sleep is—the system whispered again.
> [Alert: Other Entities with Lumina Seeds Detected in the World.]
[Connection Pending…]
[Warning: Not all light leads to salvation.]
> "Great. Even light has trust issues now."
> "This world really needs a manual."
---
To be continued…