The city lay in ruins, but it wasn't silent. The moaning wind blew through broken windows, and in the distance, something growled with hunger.
Ejilah crouched behind an overturned truck, trying to steady his breath.
The system screen hovered quietly in front of him:
[Transformation: Level 2 Alien]
He'd already transformed, burning precious energy to increase his strength and resilience. But now, he wasn't sure it would be enough.
Because what stood across the street was a Level 3 Alien — and it was a monster.
[New Quest: kill the level 3 alien or escape ]
[Rewards: ??? ]
It stood nearly 10 feet tall, humanoid in structure but completely alien in texture. Black-scaled skin gleamed in the broken daylight, its body thick with layered muscle and armored plates. Tentacles—many of them snapped from its back, each as long as a car and tipped with razor-sharp bone blades. It had no face, just a single glowing red eye in the center of its chest, staring through buildings.
It wasn't hunting randomly.
It was looking for him.
Ejilah swallowed hard.
"Okay. ", he whispered to himself, stretching his arms and rolling his shoulders. His body still felt foreign — the alien form was powerful but heavy, and his control over it wasn't perfect yet.
The system chimed softly:
[Warning: Hostile proximity—Combat advised. Escape probability: 11%]
"I already know it was going to hard. ", Ejilah thought as he stared at the bad news.
The alien turned its head. The eye blinked.
Then it charged.
Ejilah moved, barely dodging as a tentacle tore through the truck like paper. The impact threw him across the road. He hit a concrete wall hard—his shoulder popping from the socket with a sickening crack.
[Health -10]
[Health: 20/30]
"Dammit!" he gasped, rolling away before another tentacle stabbed the ground where his chest had been.
That was the hardest hit he has ever received in his entire life.
He forced his shoulder back into place with a scream and leapt, slashing with his claws—enhanced by the alien form. He struck the alien's leg. Sparks flew.
The skin was like titanium. He only left a scratch.
It responded with a backhand, knocking him into a shattered bus stop.
[Health -5]
[Health: 15/30]
[Energy: 40/100]
Ejilah groaned, coughing blood. "This is not working…"
He ducked another strike and sprinted toward a gas station across the street. A plan formed — one that could get him killed just as easily as the alien could.
The creature chased him relentlessly, its tentacles crashing down around him like whips. One grazed his thigh—cutting deep.
[Health -5]
[Health: 10/30]
[Energy: 29/100]
He was almost dead.
"Sh*t. ", Ejilah thought in pain.
[Emergency healing activated ]
[-10 energy ]
[HP can't be restored ]
The healing effect started kicking in, Ejilah's injuries started healing.
Inside the gas station, he toppled shelves to create noise, ran past fuel tanks, and yanked wires from power lines still faintly alive.
He slammed his hand against his chest.
"System—cancel transformation!"
[Transformation reverted]
[All stats has returned to 15]
His body shrank, bones cracking as he returned to human form, weak and shaking. He hid behind the counter, placing all remaining explosives near the back where fuel pipes were most exposed.
The alien entered with a roar, slamming through walls like a demon unleashed.
Ejilah knew he couldn't run. He didn't even have the strength to stand.
He clutched the detonator and whispered, "this should be enough…"
Just as the alien lunged, tentacles outstretched, Ejilah slammed the button.
BOOOOM!
The world went white.
The gas station exploded in a dome of fire and thunder, the heat instantly vaporizing parts of the alien's skin. The force launched Ejilah into the street again—he blacked out mid-air.
…
He awoke to the sound of crackling flames.
He couldn't move. Everything hurt.
Smoke burned his lungs.
The alien lay in pieces — its body torn apart by the blast. Its chest-eye was shattered, leaking black ooze.
The System notification appeared in his head.
[Level 3 Alien Eliminated]
[Rewards ]
[You have leveled up]
[1 free stat]
(Note: for every level up, a stat is given to any race transformation the user wants )
[Level 3]
[Exp: 100/1000]
[+10 evolution points ]
[Kill level 2: 10/100]
[New Ability unlocked: Tentacle Extension]
[Allows user to extend the tentacles in the alien body using energy]
[+20 HP and energy ]
[Health: 50]
[Energy: 120]
Ejilah lay there, barely breathing.
But he smiled.
He had survived.
Barely.
And now he was stronger.
"Next time," he whispered hoarsely, "I won't almost die doing it."
The flames danced in his eyes, but that wasn't the end. The explosion has already gotten the attention of multiple aliens around.