A Hellish Case of Domestic Violence
Right after I distributed the stats, my vision was filled with white light.
For a long time, I couldn't see anything or hear anything.
Then I heard a voice.
[Mental Strength is 20. As a bonus, you have acquired the unique trait "Indomitable."][Potential is 20. As a bonus, you have acquired the unique trait "Diligence."]
Inside, I cheered.
Just hearing those names made them sound extraordinary.
I had suspected it from the moment the system asked me to distribute stats—
maybe I had been reincarnated into a world with a status window, like in games.
I didn't know what effects Indomitable or Diligence had,
but since they were called unique traits, they were surely something special.
So what happens now?
Like in web novels… would I be born as a baby?
Maybe I'd grow up being called a genius from childhood, keeping my memories and intellect intact.
***
I don't know how long I spent imagining things like that.
At some point, my body began to form.
Was I inside my mother's womb?
It felt warm.
Time passed, and finally the moment of birth arrived.
With pain, light entered my still-undeveloped eyes.
I was thrown into the world.
I had been born.
Just as I prepared to cry out "Waaah!" like a newborn—
"Sssaaak!"
Only that sound came out of my mouth.
My vision slowly cleared.
The first thing I saw wasn't my mother's warm smile.
Well… it was definitely a woman's face.
But it wasn't human.
No person has such a gigantic body or smooth scales.
***
All around me were thousands of eggs.
Right before my eyes, hatchlings were emerging.
Tiny Serpents slid out of the eggs along with slime.
My body trembled.
Did "Background" not simply mean family status or wealth?
Did it include species too?
The average was supposed to be 10 for a normal human.
Then what is 1—a Serpent?
And 20—a dragon?
…Was that how it worked?
***
Inside the dark cave were countless newborns and a monstrous mother.
I looked up at her.
That monster… was my mom?
Above the Serpent's head, a name appeared.
[Medusa Serpent Lv.89]
The mother silently watched her children hatch.
Most of the eggs had already broken.
A purple tongue flicked from her lips.
Shiririririt—
A sound like wind rushing through a narrow tunnel echoed.
The moment I heard it, my entire body stiffened.
…
They say your knees buckle when you face a predator.
That was exactly what it felt like.
Though, now that I was a Serpent, I didn't really have knees.
Sure enough—
All my siblings, who had been wriggling like worms, froze at once.
Some were so terrified they started excreting on the spot.
And I too was overwhelmed with a terror so intense my mind nearly collapsed—
***
[You have been exposed to Serpent's Fear. Protected by the trait "Indomitable."]
***
At least I didn't soil myself.
I was scared enough to wet myself.
My body trembled violently.
But somehow… I didn't completely lose my mind.
I had been reincarnated as a Serpent—
the son or daughter of that monstrous woman-faced creature.
Objectively speaking, it was a situation terrifying enough to drive someone insane.
Yet somehow, I remained calm.
"...Is this the power of Mental Strength 20?"
There was no other explanation.
It had definitely been a good choice.
…Though honestly, setting Background to about 5 would probably have been a better choice.
***
Chut-chut!
At that moment, the mother made a strange sound.
Calling her "mother" felt weird, and calling her "mom" was even worse…
So I decided to mentally call her Medusa Mom.
Right then, all my siblings suddenly began crawling toward Medusa Mom.
It was hard to believe they had been terrified just moments ago.
The baby Serpents climbed up her massive body and settled on her scalp.
I didn't understand how, but their bodies locked firmly into place there.
After hesitating briefly, I followed them.
I had a bad feeling that staying still here would be dangerous.
And my decision was correct.
***
Medusa Mom's scalp had countless grooves carved into it.
When I slid my tail into one of them, my body locked firmly in place.
In other words—
Thousands of siblings became our mother's wig.
Hair that moved as if alive.
No—not "as if."
It was alive.
Like a luxurious shampoo commercial, her "hair" swayed dramatically.
Medusa Mom seemed satisfied and lifted her head proudly.
Then she looked toward the children who were still frozen in fear.
Those who were too terrified to obey her command.
Our mother raised the rod of discipline for them.
In other words—
She swung her tail.
***
WHAM WHAM WHAM!
When the massive tail swept past, all that remained were blood and flesh.
Hundreds of my siblings were crushed into pulp instantly.
Medusa Mom seemed to be very strict when it came to child-rearing.
And my fate of being born under such a mother was surely thanks to Background 1.
***
…Honestly, I didn't know whether I had gone insane or if I was somehow still normal.
But there I was.
Hanging from my mother's head, swaying like hair.
***
It probably hadn't even been a week since my birth.
That armored man named Gunter showed up and chopped off my mom—
no, Medusa Mom's—head.
My monstrous mother died.
Just like I had worried when distributing stats, I became a parentless orphan.
That too must be thanks to Background 1.
*
Wow.
I really crawled like crazy.
My body was covered in Medusa Mom's blood.
I barely even remembered how I escaped.
After entering the cave, I turned my head to look behind me.
The monstrous knight was gone, but the village men were still guarding the entrance.
"Light several fires. Some of them might try to escape!"
"I'll go report to the castle."
The villagers, who had been trembling earlier, now seemed a little excited.
The first people I met after being born here were those villagers.
For some reason, I could understand the language they were speaking.
If I could have it my way, I'd crawl over there and try talking to them.
I'm actually a human, not a Serpent… please help me a little. My body ended up like this.
That's what I'd want to say.
Of course, the only sounds I could produce were things like "Saaak!" or "Shirrit-shirrit."
So that was impossible.
***
"Let's wipe them all out."
"We should kill them all while they're still immature. If they grow up, they could become dangerous."
It was obvious the villagers intended to kill me and my siblings.
As far as I knew, there was no exit from this cave…
This was bad.
Well, there was no way I could escape alone right now.
I needed to assess my situation more objectively.
***
I hid behind a rock and closed my eyes.
When I shut them tightly and concentrated, something interesting appeared.
[Little White Serpent Lv.1]
That's right.
I wasn't Medusa Serpent Lv.1.
I was a completely different species from my mother.
That made sense—none of my siblings had human faces either.
And none of us had the ability to turn prey into stone with a gaze.
If I had to guess, maybe once my level increases, I could evolve someday.
Or perhaps something would change when I shed my skin, like Serpents naturally do.
***
That wasn't the only thing I could see.
[Traits]
IndomitableDiligence
[Skills]
Venom Fang Lv.1Fast Crawl Lv.1 (New!)
These were the resources I currently possessed.
The Indomitable trait seemed connected to mental strength.
I wasn't quite sure about Diligence yet.
The things I could actually use right now were skills like Fast Crawl and Venom Fang.
***
It wasn't listed as a skill, but maybe because I was born in a cave…
I could see fairly well even in the darkness.
If I couldn't, I probably would've died already.
Judging from the name Venom Fang, I must be a venomous Serpent.
But honestly, I had no idea how useful it would be or how strong the poison was.
It probably wouldn't help me survive right now.
***
The skill I had just obtained was Fast Crawl.
I got it earlier when I crawled with all my might.
The name sounded lame, but it seemed important.
Even if I shouted "Fast Crawl!" in my mind, the skill didn't activate.
Maybe you use it like this…?
So I tried crawling with all my strength.
Slither…
My body moved.
…Maybe it was a little faster?
But honestly, it wasn't dramatically faster.
Whenever Medusa Mom rested in the cave, she would release her children.
During those times I crawled around plenty, but I had never obtained this skill before.
So why did I get it this time?
Probably because I crawled with absolute effort.
That was the only explanation.
***
So I tried again—putting all my energy into crawling.
Slither, slither.
Slither, slither, slither.
Since I was cold-blooded, I couldn't sweat—but I crawled like my life depended on it.
Then something changed.
[Due to your great potential, skill proficiency increases rapidly.][Fast Crawl Lv.1 has become Fast Crawl Lv.2.]
Fast Crawl had leveled up.
I could clearly feel myself becoming a bit faster.
Still, I was far slower than a running human.
But maybe if I trained hard enough to reach Lv.10, I could somehow survive.
…
Nope.
That wasn't happening.
***
After crawling with all my strength, my whole body was exhausted.
A one-week-old baby normally can't even walk yet—babbling would already be impressive.
Long live Potential 20.
[Status] Hunger, Exhaustion
Damn it.
I was hungry.
Medusa Mom used to hunt prey herself, chew it up, and spit it out for her children.
It was half-digested and disgusting, but thanks to my strong mentality, I forced myself to eat it every day.
After all, I had been in a growth phase.
But now I had gone a full day without food.
I had no energy left.
Crawling so much only made the hunger worse.
***
For now, I should go deeper into the cave where my siblings are.
If I move with thousands of Serpents, my chances of survival should increase.
In my previous life I was an only child.
Now I had plenty of reliable brothers and sisters.
That naive expectation shattered almost immediately.
***
Inside the dark cave, my siblings were tangled together.
They weren't hugging each other to endure hardship.
To my shock…
They were biting and tearing each other apart.
The moment Medusa Mom disappeared, they followed their instincts.
You pathetic idiots!
Serpents normally swallow prey whole and digest it.
But the teeth of my siblings and me were dense and sharp—almost like a shark's.
They looked evolved for ripping prey apart.
And now those teeth were tearing into each other's flesh.
***
Plan change.
It would probably be best to wait until they finished satisfying their hunger.
I turned around to hide between some rocks.
That's when—
"Shirrit."
A Serpent larger than me blocked my path and flicked its tongue.
Hey, big brother… could you move a little?
I flicked my tongue too, but he didn't seem willing to let me pass.
I focused my eyes and examined the violent brother.
[Little Green Serpent Lv.3]
Come to think of it, I was the only one with white scales.
Of course I'd stand out.
My brother's level was two higher than mine.
Had he secretly eaten insects or bats behind Mom's back?
Actually… judging by the blood around his mouth, he had probably just eaten another sibling.
***
I checked the domestic abuser's traits and skills.
[Traits]
Ferocity
[Skills]
Venom Fang Lv.2Fast Crawl Lv.2Bite Lv.1
His skills were better than mine.
Did he also have Potential 20 or something?
Instead of answering, my brother lunged at me with a hiss.
"Saaak!"