Darren knew that being reincarnated was going to have problems. He knew it was even going to be more problematic when he woke up in the body of a girl that looks like she was suppose to be a zombie but only some parts of her were! Wait? He should be saying he, shouldn't he? 

Anyway, moving on, it seems that he is facing two new problems. One is that his arms seem to drag on the ground whenever he loses focus of them for too long. Now, that is only part of the first issue. The second part would be that, when he accidentally tripped on himself and catch himself with his arms, he was instantly surprised by how much more comfortable walking on four legs is than walking on two.

Then, Darren realized he just called his arms legs and had a minor fit. Those Gods may have made him into some kind of loli but he will not allow them to make him less "human" than he already is.

The second problem is probably one of the most concern, and it is that, no matter how hard Darren and Black look around, they can't find a single trace of any kind of mob, and they have been going at it for a good twenty minutes.

Now that you are all caught up, the story can begin! Who am I, you ask? Don't worry about it. You'll find out soon enough.

....

"Black, please tell me those goblins don't rule this place," Darren asked, finally breaking the silence and ever-growing tension in the air. 

"Sorry bud, but I don't know. I know just as much as you do," Black said with a sigh, doing yet another awkward shrug.

Darren gave the floating ball a sideways glance before letting out a sigh.

"This is just great. We're stuck with no way to get any exp and-" Darren began but stopped, her eyes going wide.

"Wait...how are we going to get food?"

The question caught Black totally off-guard, and they too realized the problem that they failed to think about.

"You can always try eating the gob-" Black started, jokingly, but was cut off when Darren's hand flew at them, nearly smacking them into the wall, "Geeze! It was just a joke."

"It may be a joke but think about it! Those Gods made me a damn little girl. What makes you think they won't make it that the only food I can eat is raw monster meat?"

Black was silent for a while before their body surface rippled, which Darren assumed was their version of a shudder. 

"Let's not worry about that for right now. From what I feel from our connection, you aren't hungry or thirsty. For now, let's just focus on finding something to kill."

"Gosh, I feel like we're in a video game," Darren huffed, and Black agreed. Instead of focusing on their basic needs, both of them focused on grinding up experience points.

So far, this place was full of nothing but the same thing over and over again, with only a little difference being in the room such as a crack in the wall or a difference in the art, or sometimes both. There was no sign of any exit or even some kind of entrance to another level or section. If it wasn't for Black, Darren was sure that he would have lost his mind by now and begin to talk to himself. 

"You know, you make a good point," Black suddenly pointed out, causing Darren to pause in his tracks, "Let's do some practice."

"What do you mean?" Darren asked, tilting his head.

"When you fought those goblins, you were in en enraged state, meaning you couldn't think properly. You don't even remember fighting them, in fact," Black explained.

"From our memories, or yours, I know that you know some fighting techniques from that kiratie and fencing club you took back in high school but, other than that, you don't know how to fight, and those clubs were years ago. There is also the fact that your current body is vastly different from the one that you are use to. If you come across the goblins or some other monster in here, you may not be able to defend yourself."

Darren took in what Black said with a nod. He knows that, especially right now, that he is kind of a jerk, but he honestly believes that Black means him no harm. He wasn't going to be some kind of stuck-up arrogant jerk who thinks they can handle things by themselves.

"Alright. So, what do you have in mind?" Darren asked, sitting down criss cross applesauce style. Black would never admit it but he found Darren's serious face ridiculously cute. No matter how threatening or weird her body looks, a cute face is still a cute face.

"Great! First thing first, I'm going to need you to try and hit me,"

Black said and instantly regretted it when Darren smacked them into the wall.

'You know, what did I expect from her?' Black thought as they hit the wall and fell to the floor.

"Black? Black, are you okay?" Darren asked, walking up to the black ball with a concerned look on his face.

"Yeah...Just, next time please wait for me to give the okay," Black groaned, causing Darren to feel even more guilty.

"Y-yeah, alright. S-sorry."

'Great going there, damn meathead!' Darren cursed himself, watching Black float wobbly back into the air.

"Okay. You can definitely hit fast," Black noted with a nervous chuckle, "But don't let that fact get to your head. The goblins here already proved themselves to be fast, so you not only need to be smarter and attack faster, you need to dodge fast as well."

"On my mark, I shall launch myself at you. You have to try and dodge out of the way. I'll stop once you manage to dodge me successfully three times in a row."

Darren nodded, a totally basic loli hum sound coming from her-his mouth as he did so. Ignoring the small blush that formed on his face, Darren got up on his two feet and got ready to dodge. Right away he knew it wasn't going to be easy. With how long his arms are, and how short his legs are, the stance he was in was uncomfortable and awkward. 

"Ready?" Black asked.

"Yes!" Darren shouted, feeling his blood pumping.

'Wait. It said I was undead. How can my blood be pu-'

"Begin!" Black shouted and promptly rammed into Darren's unprepared face, causing the two to stumble back and hit the wall behind them.

"Gonna be honest, I thought you were going to dodge, or at least try to. Why'd you stay still?" Black asked, their voice muffled since they were underneath Darren's long white hair.

"I was distracted," Darren answered, letting out a little groan.

"...."

"...."

"Wanna try again?"

"Might as well. A little pain isn't gonna make me give up!"

....

"Again!" Black shouted before rushing forward, this time at a much faster pace than when they first started.

Darren crouched down and darted to the right, not moving too fast so he can control his movements yet moving fast enough to make sure he could get ready to dodge upon landing. The two have been going at this for a while. At first, Darren struggled and struggled. It wasn't until he accidentally realized that dodging on all fours was much easier than dodging on his two feet did the two make any progress. 

Once Darren completed the first goal, Black started to move faster. This was now the third set and easiest the hardest. Even if going on all fours made it easier to dodge, dodging three times in a row without getting hit at all with no time to prepare in between dodges was much easier said than done. 

Darren's eyes narrowed when he saw the blur of Black rushing at him even before he landed. With no time to waste he braced his feet and jumped up, using his momentum to do a backflip in the air, avoiding Black. 

Even if he didn't like this new body, there are a lot more advantages to it than his old one. One was that it was incredibly strong. Darren only felt out of breath after all this time of dodging. He also didn't get a headache or feel light headed from all the movements he was doing, nor was he sweating. At first he thought that was due to this body being undead but Black quickly explained otherwise. Even the undead will feel tired since their muscles are still working and, if they overwork themselves, they'll break. In fact, undead are actually weaker in terms of a elongated fight since their own body, without any of the perks of being alive, will overstrain themselves.

Then, there is the flexibility. The somewhat gross skeletal hands of his are much stronger than they have any right to be, and his wrists can swivel almost entirely around, same with his arms. Darren did try it. Try what? Well, licking his elbow obviously! What are you, a dummy? You baka!

With this ability, plus how flexibility the rest of his body is, he can pretty much turn in midair on a dime. Darren would actually bet that he is more flexible than a cat.

The same weird strength that he has in his arms and hands applies to his feet and toes too. He can, although it is quite uncomfortable, stand on one toe for about eight seconds. Seeing and using this abilities that Darren's body has made both him and Black agree that the body is indeed one fitting of a so-called super predator. 

Below, Black stopped before they hit the wall and launched at Darren. Darren saw this and twisted his body around and arched his back and used his two long arms to push himself off the wall with them, just narrowly avoiding Black. And, to top it all off, he stuck the landing-

....

....

...He almost stuck the landing! It was because his limbs were tired and not because he failed to realize, out of excitement, that he should re-position his arms and legs so he can catch himself when he hits the ground. 

"Nice job, Darren. I must admit tha-" Black began, floating next to Darren who still hasn't looked up yet.

"Blackey, did I do good?" A cute voice asked, causing Black to do a double take...kinda. I mean, can a ball do a double take?

'What? Oh, she hit her head on the ground.' Black realized before letting out a sigh and rubbing Darren's cheek.

Darren lifted her head and got ready to say something when her eyes jolted and she quickly shook her head.

"Ack! Oh, I felt really weird there for a second. Yeah, I really need to-why are you whistling?" Darren asked, narrowing her-his eyes at Black who was floating nearby.

"Holding in my laughter," Black responded without a moment hesitation.

"...And I thought I was a jerk," Darren snorted, falling for the lie. 

Darren and Black read the message once, then did it again.

"Daily needs?" Black asked. If they had eyebrows they would definitely be raising one.

"I feel like that is something to be concerned about," Darren said, flatly. Not only did his own stats not work but now it seems that he has things to do in order to survive, something that his stats won't tell him.

"Daily Needs are things a pharrator must do before they can properly begin the hunt. Even the mighty you still need to follow these basic rules," Black explained, causing Darren to raise an eyebrow.

"Where are you reading that?" 

"I just focused in on the words. To me, they are underlined."

Darren tried to do what Black said they did but to no avail.

"Well, at least one of us can read it," Darren muttered before getting more serious, "Does it explain what the other two Daily Needs are?"

"No, which sucks because I am pretty sure you have to complete those needs in order to hunt and gain exp," Black growled, feeling annoyed at learning something useful only to have it taken away.

"Agreed," Darren nodded, "At least we now know why we couldn't see our experience points."

"Sorry, bud. I still can't see your experience points."

"...Just great. Ugh, I swear this is-" Darren began, about to have another fit, only to stop himself when he spotted movement in the corner of the room. In a flash he ran over and snagged a familiar half-skeletal rat in his right hand.

'Oh fuck.'

"Well, looks like I finally found something!" Darren exclaimed, a predatory smile on her-his face.

"Wait!" Black cried, rushing forward to put themselves between Darren and the struggling mob, "They're not exp! I told them to follow us since they saved us!"

"...."

"...."

"...Why and how did they save us?" Darren asked, some disbelief in his voice.

"Well..." Black began, trailing off.

'Come on, Black. Think of something! What can fool this gi-'

"Blackey," Darren called out, his voice low and ominous, "you aren't lying to me, are you?"

'Your eyes! Your eyes are scarier than any yandere! A little girl should not have such a look on her face.'

"Two of the goblins slipped through and, if it weren't for the rat biting one of their ankles, they would have attacked me while I was distracted," Black explained, their lying voice of the toppest of notches quality.

Darren stared at Black for some time, her eyes shifting from light blue to dark blue before, with what should have made a pop, went back to light blue again.

"Well, alrighty then," Darren said, gently putting the rat down, "Thank you little buddy for saving Black. I would hate to lose them."

Black felt touched at her words.

"Aww. Thank you...Um, Darren? Hello?"

Black started floating around Darren, who just suddenly went still, trying to get her attention.

"Tell me, Black," Darren suddenly asked, nearly causing Black to jump, "what does F5-R8 mean?"

Black turned and looked up and saw what Darren was talking about. Written, or more of carved on the stone wall in a sign-like shape were the letters and numbers 'F5-R8. Black was about to answer that they didn't know when they saw that Darren's eyes were almost red in color. Luckily, the second time Black thought about the weird letters and numbers, he too realized what they most likely meant.

Wait! Floor five, room eight. We're in a dungeon!"

"Yeah, and for some reason, that pisses me off," Darren snarled, his eyes turning almost completely red, "And they didn't even bother to put mobs in every room! What kind of dungeon is this!?"

Black turned to look at Darren so fast that, if they were human, their neck would snap.

"Are you talking about those rules made in dungeon core litrpgs or whatever they're called? You do know that, from a technically standpoint, they don't work, right? Going off the rules in those stories, massive dungeons cannot exist since no one can actually make it through them. Either that or they are some kind of powerful dungeon protagonist and, because of that, are instantly overpowered and ruin the entire grind of the story."

"...You are going to be hated so hard for that comment," Darren told Black, backing away slowly from the floating ball.

"Oh yeah? What are they gonna do? We're in an entirely different world and you are a powerful loli and I am a floating ball made up of something. You can rip them to shreds and I can ram them into existence. Also, my opinion is my own opinion. I'm sure tons of people hate reading a weird loli with an anger problem run around in a dungeon."

"Well, your opinion is your own. I happen to like those novels," Darren snapped back, crossing his arms.

"...."

"...."

"...."

"...?"

". . .You disgust me."

"Oh you little-!" Darren growled before launching himself at Black.

Western42

Sorry for the slightly awkward chapter. Anyway, hope you enjoy! I am planning on doing a Zenar 24 week so expect chapters from that story to be posted. I may not stick with it and choose to write a chapter for some other story.

Have a great day!