23:15:42
I've been counting.
Not just watching the timer—actually counting. In my head. Every second.
Do you know how many seconds are in 23 hours?
82,800.
I've counted every single one.
23:15:41
I've also:
- Recited every light novel plot I can remember (47 of them)
- Mentally replayed every stream I ever did (the good ones, anyway)
- Composed 3 terrible poems about being a polyp
- Had 6 complete mental breakdowns
- Questioned my life choices approximately 1,847 times
00:15:40
I'm so close.
So. Close.
Just a little longer.
I can make it.
I have to make it.
00:15:00
Fifteen minutes.
Fifteen. Minutes.
I'm going to have a body again. I'm going to MOVE again.
I'm going to hunt and swim and actually DO things instead of just existing as a conscious rock!
00:10:00
Ten minutes!
This is happening! This is REALLY happening!
00:05:00
FIVE MINUTES!
Okay, okay, stay calm. Don't get too excited. You don't want to—
Who am I kidding? I'M SO EXCITED!
00:01:00
One minute. Sixty seconds. I can count to sixty. I've counted to sixty THOUSANDS of times in the last 24 hours.
But this sixty is different.
This is THE sixty.
00:00:30
Thirty seconds.
My body feels... tingly? Is that possible? Can polyps feel tingles?
00:00:10
Ten!
00:00:09
Nine!
00:00:08
Eight!
00:00:07
SEVEN!
00:00:05
I can feel something! Something's changing!
00:00:03
00:00:02
00:00:01
[Evolution Complete]
[Maturation Process: Finished]
[Initiating emergence sequence...]
00:00:00
My body EXPLODES with sensation.
I can FEEL again! Water rushing against me! Movement! Texture! EVERYTHING!
But I'm... stuck? Trapped in something hard and confining.
[You must exit your polyp casing to complete evolution]
[Push outward to break free]
Right! The egg! I need to break out!
I push. Or try to. I don't have limbs yet—or do I? Something's forming. I can feel appendages growing, expanding, pressing against the walls of my polyp shell.
Come on, come ON!
I push harder. The casing cracks.
[Keep pushing]
I throw everything I have into it. My whole body strains against the shell.
CRACK
The polyp casing shatters.
And I'm FREE.
Water rushes over me—cold, FREEZING cold—and I'm tumbling, spinning, completely disoriented.
But I don't care because I CAN MOVE!
My tentacles—I have so many tentacles!—flail wildly as I try to orient myself.
[Evolution Complete: Turritopsis rubra]
Wait, what?
[Species: Turritopsis rubra - Lesser Immortal Jellyfish]
Lesser? I picked Turritopsis! Where's my immortal jellyfish?!
[Evolution Tree Available]
A new screen appears in my mind, showing a branching path:
[Evolution Tree: Turritopsis Line]
Level 1: Turritopsis rubra (Current)
↓ Level 25: Turritopsis nutricula
↓Level 50: Turritopsis dohrnii
↓ Level 100: Ancient Turritopsis
Oh.
OH.
I'm not THE immortal jellyfish. I'm the almost immortal jellyfish.
I have to evolve TWO MORE TIMES to get the actual immortality!
[Note: Each evolution in the Turritopsis line grants progressive regeneration abilities]
[Current regeneration: Basic cellular repair]
BASIC?! I waited 24 hours for BASIC?!
I'm about to mentally scream at the system when something else catches my attention.
My stats.
[STATUS]
Name: —
Species: Turritopsis rubra
Level: 1
HP: 20/20
MP: 15/15
STR: 8
DEF: 5
AGI: 18
INT: 12
Skills:
[Poison Sting Lv.1] (Weakened)[Detect Vibration Lv.3][Tentacle Control Lv.2][Intermediate Camouflage Lv.1] (NEW)[Pulse Burst Lv.2][Prey Sense Lv.1][Self-Heal Lv.1] (NEW)[Basic Vision Lv.1] (NEW)
Wait.
Wait wait wait.
BASIC VISION?!
I HAVE EYES?!
I focus on my new sense—this strange, weird input that isn't vibration or touch—and suddenly the world... changes.
It's not SEEING, not really. Everything is dark and murky and indistinct. I can't make out shapes or details. But I can tell where it's DARKER and where it's LIGHTER. I can sense... brightness? Dimness?
And combined with my vibration sense, it's like the world has suddenly gained another dimension.
This is... this is...
I'M NOT COMPLETELY BLIND ANYMORE!
I do a happy spin, my tentacles—so many tentacles, I have like twenty of them now!—waving in celebration.
[Self-Heal activated: Minor damage from emergence repaired]
Oh! And healing! I have healing!
I check the skill description:
[Self-Heal Lv.1: Passively regenerates HP using stored nutrients. Healing rate: 1 HP per 5 minutes. Does not consume MP. Effectiveness reduced when starving.]
It's slow, but it's PASSIVE. As long as I keep eating, I'll slowly regenerate any damage. That's... actually really good for a survival build.
And Intermediate Camouflage replaced my old Drift Camouflage:
[Intermediate Camouflage Lv.1: Renders user nearly invisible to visual predators. Does not protect against echolocation, heat sensing, or magical detection. Costs 2 MP per minute to maintain.]
NEARLY INVISIBLE. I can basically turn transparent!
The only downside is my poison got weaker—[Poison Sting Lv.1 (Weakened): Reduced potency due to smaller size and lower venom concentration]—but with my speed and evasion, maybe I don't need strong poison?
Okay. Assessment time.
I'm level 1 again, but my base stats are MUCH higher. Twenty HP! That's almost triple what I started with as a Moon Jellyfish!
I'm faster (18 AGI!), I can heal, I can turn invisible, and I can SEE!
Kind of.
Barely.
But it's better than nothing!
I pulse experimentally, testing my new body. I'm definitely smaller now—maybe only 10 centimeters?—but I can MOVE. Really move. My speed is incredible compared to before.
And my tentacles! They're longer, thinner, more numerous. I look like some kind of elegant death ribbon.
This is good. This is actually GOOD. Maybe being reset to level 1 won't be so—
Something massive moves in the darkness below me.
[Warning: Predator Detected]
My Basic Vision picks up movement. Something BIG. Something with bioluminescent spots that glow a sickly green.
[Entity Detected: Abyssal Stalker - Level 47]
FORTY-SEVEN?!
I activate Intermediate Camouflage immediately and freeze.
[MP: 15→13]
The thing passes beneath me. I can't make out its full shape, but what I CAN see is nightmare fuel. Massive jaws. Too many teeth. Eyes that glow with their own light.
[Warning: Current depth - 4000 meters]
Four THOUSAND meters?!
I'M IN THE ABYSS! I'M IN THE ACTUAL DEEP OCEAN ABYSS!
The polyp must have sunk while I was evolving. I'm at the BOTTOM of the ocean. Where the actual monsters live.
[Local fauna threat level: EXTREME]
THANK YOU, SYSTEM. VERY HELPFUL.
The Abyssal Stalker moves away, hunting something else.
I remain perfectly still, invisible, trying not to have a panic attack.
Okay. Okay. New plan. GET OUT OF THE ABYSS.
But first: don't die.
Second: find food because I'm STARVING.
Third: SWIM UP.
I scan my surroundings with my combined vision and vibration sense. The ocean floor here is... alien. Rocky. Cold. Dark. And full of things that absolutely want to eat me.
But there's also... movement. Tiny movement. Lots of it.
[Prey Sense activated]
[Detected: Krill swarm - 200+ individuals]
[Detected: Deep-sea plankton - massive concentration]
Okay. OKAY. I can work with this.
The abyss might be full of horrors, but it's also full of FOOD. Lots of food. Easy food.
I just have to not get eaten while hunting it.
Standard Tuesday for me, apparently.
I drift toward the krill swarm, staying invisible, moving slowly to avoid creating vibrations.
A krill swims close. My tentacles lash out.
[You have defeated: Deep-sea Krill]
[+5 EXP]
FIVE EXP! That's more than double what brine shrimp gave me!
[EXP to next level: 5/150]
...150?
I need ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY EXP to reach level 2?!
[Evolution increases EXP requirements significantly]
[Higher tier species require more EXP per level]
So what you're saying is... I'm going to be level 1 for a WHILE.
Great. Fantastic. Love that for me.
But at least the prey here gives better EXP. That's something.
I continue hunting, carefully, methodically. Each kill gives 4-6 EXP depending on the creature. I avoid anything bigger than me. I stay invisible whenever I sense vibrations.
[You have defeated: Deep-sea Plankton]
[+4 EXP]
[You have defeated: Krill]
[+5 EXP]
[EXP: 47/150]
Hours pass. Or maybe minutes? Time is weird in the abyss where there's no sun.
I'm getting better at using my Basic Vision. I can't see DETAILS, but I can see MOVEMENT. I can tell when something big is approaching by the way the ambient light changes.
And combined with my vibration sense, I'm actually becoming a decent hunter.
[You have defeated: Amphipod]
[+6 EXP]
[EXP: 89/150]
I'm making progress. Slow progress, but progress.
Then my vision picks up something... different.
A structure. Angular. Artificial.
[Landmark Detected]
I drift closer, curiosity overriding caution.
It's huge. Massive. Some kind of stone archway covered in barnacles and deep-sea growth.
[Dungeon Detected: Abyssal Trench Ruins]
[Recommended Level: 50+]
FIFTY?!
I immediately back away. Why? You ask? Chat, lemme tell ya something: When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares into you. When that happens you turn tail and fucking run.
That's for Future Yuki to worry about.
Present Yuki is getting the HELL out of the abyss.
I turn away from the dungeon and start swimming upward.
Up. Up. Away from the horrors. Away from the darkness. Toward... less darkness?
The ocean is weird.
I pulse steadily, conserving MP, staying invisible whenever I sense movement.
[Self-Heal activated: HP 20/20 maintained]
The depth counter in my status starts decreasing:
3900 meters
3800 meters
3700 meters
It's slow going. I'm tiny and the ocean is VAST. But I'm making progress.
[You have defeated: Krill]
[+5 EXP]
I hunt as I ascend. No point wasting time.
3200 meters
3000 meters
2500 meters
[Warning: Predator Detected]
I freeze, going invisible.
Something passes by. Not as big as the Abyssal Stalker, but still terrifying.
[Entity Detected: Gulper Eel - Level 31]
It doesn't see me. Doesn't sense me. Just swims past, its mouth opening and closing rhythmically.
2000 meters
1500 meters
I'm getting higher. The creatures up here are less... eldritch? More recognizable as actual fish instead of nightmare fuel.
1000 meters
[You have defeated: Krill]
[+5 EXP]
[LEVEL UP! You are now Level 2]
Finally!
[HP: 20→22]
[New Skill Available]
I quickly select [Tentacle Control Lv.3] without even thinking about it. Better control means better hunting means faster leveling.
800 meters
600 meters
The water is definitely warmer now. I can sense more life. More movement.
400 meters
And then I see it.
A structure. Familiar vibrations. A specific pattern of water flow.
[Landmark Detected: Sunken Ruins - Outer Gate]
The first dungeon!
I'm back! I'm actually BACK!
I drift toward the entrance, my basic vision picking up the outline of the ancient archway.
[Dungeon: Sunken Ruins - Outer Gate]
[Recommended Level: 10+]
Level 10. I'm level 2. But...
But I'm also MUCH stronger than I was before. Better stats. Better skills. Better everything.
And I know what's inside. Sort of. I encountered the guardian last time.
Could I... could I actually try this?
My tentacles twitch with anticipation and nervousness.
Last time I ran away. But now...
Now I have camouflage. I have speed. I have healing.
I could scout it. Just peek inside. See what's there.
If it's too dangerous, I'll run again. No shame in that.
But if it's doable...
If I could clear even part of this dungeon...
The EXP rewards would be MASSIVE.
I hover at the entrance, the dark maw of the dungeon beckoning.
Behind me: the safe but slow grind of hunting krill and plankton.
Ahead: danger, but also opportunity.
I think about the last 24 hours. About being trapped. Helpless. Unable to move or act.
I think about grinding krill for hours just to gain one level.
I think about how LONG it's going to take to reach level 50 at this rate.
Screw it.
I'm going in.
I activate Intermediate Camouflage and pulse forward, crossing the threshold into the dungeon.
[You have entered: Sunken Ruins - Outer Gate]
[Dungeon Type: Ancient Structure]
[Recommended Level: 10+]
[Current Level: 2]
[Warning: You are significantly under-leveled for this dungeon]
Yeah, I know. Thanks for the reminder.
The water inside is different. Stiller. Colder. The vibrations are muffled, just like last time.
But now I can SEE—sort of. My Basic Vision picks up dim light filtering through cracks in the ancient stone. Bioluminescent algae growing on the walls.
It's beautiful in a creepy, abandoned way.
I move slowly, carefully, every sense on high alert.
[Entity Detected: Dungeon Guardian - Juvenile]
There it is. Why is there a fucking mini boss at the entrance.
But this time, I'm not running.
This time, I'm going to LOOK at it.
I drift closer, staying invisible, making no vibrations.
The guardian is... big. Really big. My vision can't make out details, but I can see its shape. Some kind of... crab? No, too many legs. A spider crab? An ancient crustacean?
[Entity: Dungeon Guardian - Juvenile - Level 15]
[Species: Sentinel Crab]
Level 15. I'm level 2.
This is insane.
This is ABSOLUTELY insane.
But I'm here now.
And I want to see if I can—
The guardian moves.
Not toward me. It hasn't detected me.
It's just... patrolling. Moving in a set pattern around the entrance chamber.
It's like an NPC with a patrol route. Just like a video game.
Which means...
Which means I can predict it.
My mind starts racing, analyzing, planning.
If I time it right... if I stay invisible... if I move when it's on the far side of its patrol...
I could get past it.
I could explore deeper into the dungeon.
Find loot. Find treasure. Find whatever secrets this place is hiding.
The guardian completes its circuit and starts again.
I watch. I wait. I learn its pattern.
Okay, Future Yuki. This one's for you.
Let's see what's inside this dungeon.
I pulse forward, invisible and silent, slipping past the guardian as it turns away.
Into the depths of the Sunken Ruins.
Into the unknown.
Time to find out if I'm brave or just stupid.
Probably both.