Sunlight pierced through the tangled branches above the Forest Sea, casting a few soft golden lines on the quiet, tranquil canvas.
The branches and leaves of the tree canopy swayed with the wind. Some peculiar winged creatures, resembling fish, were startled by something. They skillfully threaded through the gaps in the branches, obscured by leaves, vigorously flapped their wings, leaped out of the Forest Sea, and soared into the sky where the outlines of celestial bodies were visible.
In the dim, lightless depths of the dense forest, terrifying figures could occasionally be seen moving through it.
This was the periphery of The Lost Land—the Edge Forest Sea.
The Forest Sea was both a hunting ground for the native supernatural beings of The Lost Land, the Life Clan, and a mysterious domain that drove countless Civilizations to madness, with numerous Civilization observation stations and experimental outposts located within it.
The endless stream of collection ships and greedy, opportunistic Civilization Explorers brought a strange sense of incongruity to the ancient, primitive Forest Sea.
But whether for Civilization or the Life Clan, the laws of the Forest Sea were, in some sense, impartial.
In a cave beneath Forest Sea No. 1702, a new batch of life began their journey of survival...
"It's so dark, who turned off the lights?"
Consciousness awakened from a hazy state. Neva opened her eyes, and her blurry vision was met with darkness.
Her body felt as if it were submerged in some viscous liquid, which was very uncomfortable, yet inexplicably provided a sense of security.
Indescribable whispers seemed to echo in her mind, accompanied by a slight stinging sensation, as fragments of memory flashed by.
A truck, violating traffic rules, sped towards her, giving her an enthusiastic and heavy embrace with its rushing wheels.
The scene... could only be described as horrific.
It was a rare weekend, and she had mentally prepared herself to get out of bed. She had planned to buy a bucket of instant noodles across the street but was directly hit in the face by a truck.
Not to mention such a big red light, just looking at the speed, it was clear that the driver had a great deal of resentment about not driving a race car...
While filled with righteous indignation, Neva also resolved that she would never wake up early on any Saturday or Sunday again!
Is this a hospital?
But it's too quiet here... Countless questions arose in her mind. She tried to move her body but found that she couldn't feel her limbs!
What's going on?
Paralysis?
Or amputation?!
Her thoughts began to wander, and the tragic image of herself, wrapped in bandages like a mummy, lying in an ICU bed, involuntarily appeared in her mind.
Immediately, her heart cried out in sorrow.
How much would that medical bill be!
At this moment, her head suddenly hit something.
It was soft, extremely resilient, like a thin membrane.
"Is this thing what's enclosing me and these liquids?"
Neva was both shocked and confused.
These liquids... couldn't be formalin, could they?
Imagine herself, already a corpse, immersed in formalin, wrapped in cling film... Bah! What cling film!
Neva herself felt this idea was utterly ridiculous.
This wasn't a ghost story!
Although she couldn't feel her limbs, she still had a mouth. She brought her head to the membrane and, driven by instinct, bit down.
With a "puchi" sound.
The membrane ruptured, and a faint, dim light shone in. The surrounding liquid, like people crowding onto a bus, rushed out of the ruptured gap.
She blocked the flowing liquid, and after a great deal of effort, finally managed to poke her head out.
She widened her eyes, surveying the strange and eerie environment around her.
A dark, damp cave... Faintly glowing moss grew on the cave walls, its weak light softening the profound darkness.
Clear, glistening water droplets hung from the cave ceiling, occasionally falling, emitting crisp and regular sounds, forming puddles of varying sizes on the ground.
Using the faint glow, Neva looked around.
Dense, countless whitish Worm eggs were clustered throughout the cave, like a grayish-white forest, extending to the end of her vision.
This shocking sight was enough to terrify any trypophobe.
At this moment, many grayish-white Worms were slowly crawling on the ground, clearly larvae born from those Worm eggs.
Neva looked at them, then lowered her head to look at the white Worm egg beneath her, and her brain, like a constantly spinning webpage, stopped loading.
Oh, she was one of them too...
"I... became a Worm?"
Surprise, bewilderment, disbelief—a storm of complex emotions raged in her heart.
Recalling what happened before she lost consciousness, no matter how slow she was to realize, she understood the whole story.
Oh well, her head was probably crushed into the shape of tofu pudding; it would be horrifying if she were still alive.
But turning into a Worm, what the hell!
Neva shook her small white head, letting out a Worm's roar.
But the sound was unusually harsh, like a suona filled with mud, combined with the sound of a saw cutting strings. She was disgusted by her own voice.
Heartbroken... Suppressing the urge to curse, Neva exerted all her strength, tearing at the edge of the Worm egg while twisting her body from side to side, finally managing to extract herself from the Worm egg.
Exhausted, she lay on the ground, like a salted fish that had lost its dreams.
After the fatigue, her stomach began to protest, and a sudden hunger started to invade her mind.
The broken egg membrane nearby and the milky white liquid emitted an enticing aroma, continuously tempting her taste buds.
But having once been human, she still had some psychological resistance.
To eat... or not to eat... two thoughts clashed in her mind. Hunger was merciless, grabbing her dignity by the scruff of the neck, a flurry of wild punches...
No longer conflicted, she transformed her grief and indignation into appetite, devouring the ruptured Worm egg completely, like a whirlwind.
After savoring it, she even felt a lingering desire for more.
It was a little sweet, like jelly.
It seemed... it wasn't as hard to accept as she had imagined.
After regaining some strength, she slowly crawled towards the nearest puddle. Using the faint glow around her, she looked at her blurry reflection in the water.
Plump and round, with six ruby-like eyes distributed on either side of her face, and a pair of slightly immature palps by her mouth.
She looked a little cute... Cute my foot!!
"But then again, what kind of Worm is this?"
Recalling her pitifully small knowledge of entomology, she racked her brains... Hiss, her head hurt.
She finally gave up.
[Gluttonous Worm, Larva]
"What's going on?"
A voice suddenly appeared in her mind. While her question was answered, she was startled and nearly fell into the puddle.
Before she could steady herself, the strange voice in her mind sounded again.
[Implantation complete, inferior structure replaced...]
Neva's three pairs of reddish eyes widened, and she didn't recover for a long time.
Could it be... a cheat, a system?
A sense of the absurd and bizarre arose, adding several new cracks to her already fractured understanding.
At the same time, many strange thoughts brewed in her mind.
Reborn as a Worm, with imaginary things appearing. Even though she had read many transmigration novels, she almost couldn't keep her composure at this moment.
Unintentionally looking at her plump body, she then noticed that in the center of her previously intact body, a hollow where flesh had been torn open had appeared at some unknown time.
If Neva understood the Gluttonous Worm well enough, she would know that the position of the hollow corresponded to the Gluttonous Worm's heart.
And her original Worm heart had been replaced by a black, multifaceted crystal heart.
The black crystal heart was embedded in her flesh, connected to blood vessels, and emitted subtle vibrations, which was very eerie.
There was no pain, no discomfort; the hollow appeared without any warning.
Confused, perplexed, feeling inexplicably horrified... Neva looked at the other Worms around her.
Their bodies were normal, with no hollows, and no strange black crystal heart... Well, although it was good to be a unique Worm, this completely exposed hollow and this bizarre black crystal heart were a bit too weird!
"System? Golden finger?"
Neva silently recited in her mind, trying to communicate with this black crystal heart.
Although she received no response, a panel appeared in her mind.
Name: Neva
Race: Gluttonous Worm (Larva)
Rank: None (Data Rating: 0.2)
Evolution Value: 0 / 10
Profession:
[Main Profession]: None
[Sub Profession]: None
Magic Energy: 2
Soul Strength: 10
Abilities: Unknown Data (??), Devour (1/10), Misfortune (1/10)
Racial Trait: None
Title: None
Special Status: [Misfortune]
Evaluation: A Worm that can be crushed with ease, utterly ordinary, without any special characteristics. It's already a miracle that it's alive.
---
Looking at the panel that suddenly appeared in her mind, Neva wasn't particularly surprised.
Since she had a cheat, it felt... quite reasonable for another strange panel to appear?
Excited? Thrilled? The joy of getting a cheat?
Uh, maybe a little bit... But more than that, she was bewildered by the extraordinary situation and uneasy about the unknown.
What exactly was this thing that replaced her heart?
Why did it appear on her?
And its purpose... Although treating it as a cheat felt perfectly normal, just accepting this premise so haphazardly felt too rash.
Believing that all gifts are deserved, such a plot only appears in wish-fulfillment novels.
Neva muttered in her heart.
And just then, a strange sound appeared in her mind again.
[■■ Shaping ■■ heart, ■■ Enabling... Granting Abilities: Unknown Data, Misfortune
Unknown Data activated...]