“Oh boy,” I say.

 

Name: (Unnamed) Class: Plant Species: Nitil Herb Growth(Stage): 1 Year(Budding) Stats: Strength: 4.21 | Endurance: 0.87 Agility: 2.47 | Dexterity: 4.03 Mind: 3.95 | Magic: 1.15 Charm: 3 | Luck: 0 Skills: Root Manipulation (Active) | Grade: Root Root Suction (Active) | Grade: Foundation Irrigation (Active) | Grade: Trunk

 

“If those numbers really translate to real life, then a small bud is three or four times stronger than me? Granted I’m just a newborn snake, but I’m still a snake!”

[Host has gained sufficient knowledge. +0.02 Mind.]

“I gained what now?” I look up by habit.

*Crack*

And, as if waiting for me to get distracted, the root of the plant jumps out of the earth again for another stab.

“I’m not falling for this twice!” I avoid the attack with a swift throwback of my neck. And instead of watching the root, this time I go at it for a bite.

I ‘catch’ the root with my very small mouth but that's all I can do. The root isn’t exactly caught since I don’t have any teeth to hold onto it, and if it tried to wiggle itself away, the most I could do is slow it down a little.

“Thish ish awkward...” I say with my mouth full.

...However nothing happens. Even after a few minutes pass the root makes no attempt at wiggling itself out of my mouth. It’s just so odd that I decide to lick it, both to get a reaction out of the plant and to feed myself.

“Hmm, id’s kinda... tasteless,” I mumble in between my licks. It makes me wonder if I still have a sense of taste or the gag reflex to not eat something untasteful.

After a while both me and the root seem to relax, I start curling my small body around it and pulling, twisting and even shaking it, in hopes that it’d snap. Of course, I also kept an eye on the main body and their profile, although nothing had changed.

As much as I wanted to end this standoff, and maybe the plant as well, my body clearly wasn’t suited to staying awake for this long, especially on alert. So I felt the heavy drowsiness dawn on me overtime.

“Don... sleep...”

And so, once more, I passed out, but this time with a root in my mouth.

 

---

 

“Oh no, Dear, what happened!?” A voice coming from above said.

“It has been trying to strike them at every opportunity,” and another voice follows. “It’s always a hit and run. Tch. That disgusting coward.”

“I told you to let me help protect them!” The first voice raises her tone.

“No!” And the second immediately silences it. “You have a duty to look after the last one... At least until then.”

“I- I know...?”

*Crack*

Maybe I was feeling curious about what those voices were, or I was just frustrated from being in the dark, but my body began to bash against the wall with my small tooth on its own.

“Wait! It’s coming out already,” the first voice lowers their tone down to a whisper. “Isn’t it too soon?”

My tooth barely manages to crack a small part of the wall and a few rays of light seep in through the cracks. It’s blindingly bright to me.

“It’s ok, it must’ve overgrown the shell faster than usual,” the second voice also did the same, but couldn’t hide its excitement.

I wonder if it’s me that is inside the shell as I continue to break the wall little by little.

*Cryaaa!*

“What?”

“Oh no.”

I hear a cry, much like an eagle’s, coming from afar and my body instinctively freezes up. It’s dangerous, I feel that all over my body.

“Tch, it followed me all the way here,” the second voice sounds extremely angry. “I should’ve been more careful.”

“We can’t fight it here, Dear!”

“I will hold it back, just go!”

I suddenly feel a shift in the position of whatever I’m inside of, it’s as if someone picked it up and started carrying me away. And it’s not a really pleasant feeling.

*Drip* *Drip*

It feels wet, muddy even, here.

*Drip* *Drip*

The noise of branches breaking, leaves rustling and wings flapping all sound so far and close at the same time...

*Drip* *Drip*

 

---

 

*Splash!*

“Ah, whaa!?” I scream.

“What? Where? Huh?” I look around in confusion. It’s already bright in the sky, which still doesn’t affect my view of the woods. The area looks the same as it did last night.

“Wait,” I say, “did I get moved?”

My previous spot was practically at the center of this open area, but now I am at one side, very close to a certain thin tree and...

*Splash!*

“I hate this plant.”

...After taking a bit of time to completely wake myself up and check my profile and the plant’s, I try to rationalize the current situation. Which feels like it might become a habit soon enough.

“Okay, first things first,” I mumble. “Why is this murder plant, which was trying to end me last night, now watering me as if I’m also a plant?”

“No idea,” I reply to myself, “but I think it may have something to do with how their ‘endurance’ stats increased overnight. Just guessing.”

[The host has learned something unique. Mind +0.01]

“Well, I will take that as a confirmation.”

“Now, second,” I close my eyes. “What was that dream about?”

The voices, the actual conversation, and the feeling of breaking out of the shell, perhaps of an egg, were all still fresh in my mind.

“Was that a memory from my birth as a snake? Is that even a thing? I’d rather not know so much about how snakes are born...”

“Haa, third,” I shake my head before continuing. “What am I supposed to do now? Live with the murder plant here? Go out, or into in this case, and find food?”

“Murder plant do you have food?” I sincerely ask.

*Drip* *Drip*

“Sorry, I forgot plants don’t speak. I mean, snakes don’t either, but here I am.”

I hide my body in the shadow of the murder plant since it seems to be acting way more tame than before, and ponder my options.

*Ping*

[The “Intro to M.U.S.E. #01” has been cleared.]

“Oh?”

[For the record, the host, User#33663, has taken nine hours, twenty-three minutes, and forty seconds, to complete “Intro to M.U.S.E. #01: Your Existence.”]

“Hm, isn’t that a good time?”

[In comparison to previous hosts, User#33663 was the slowest.]

“Whoa, I didn’t need that slap to the face.”

[Calculating rewards...]

“Ah, right, I forgot there were rewards.”

[The rewards for successful completion for User#33663 are as follows:]

[1.Access to Level.1 Commands.]

“More stuff to learn...”

[2. Five stat points]

“Oh?”

[3. One “Lowest-Tier Lucky Roulette”.]

“What the heck!” I shout.

*Splash!*

“...Okay, I’m calm now,” I sigh.

I try to take a moment to see what exactly I got, however...

[The second introductory function will be presented to User#33663.]

“Oh, right, there is more,” I make my disappointment audible.

[Intro to M.U.S.E. #2: The Power of Existence.]

[Details: As the host, you, continues to grow and live in their new existence, there will be several, if not countless, times where they must change, be it for the better or for the worse, and those changes can be either physical or mental, that’s one of the powers of an existence, also known as evolution. It’s part of the system’s job to assist the host on their evolutionary path, and make sure that they are aware of both pros and cons with a completely neutral stance from our side. Thus, the host must follow the instructions in order to ascertain the conditions and their own desires in regard to their future evolutions.]

“Mhm.”

[Conditions for completion: 1.Go through a physical change of any sort. 2.Learn a new skill. 3.Unlock two evolutionary roads.]

“That’s a lot more vague,” I say.

[Conditions for failure:]

“Death?”

[1. Death]

“I knew it.”

*Ping*

“Oh, what now?”