Chapter 2
‘But how am I supposed to eat?’
As it charged toward the nearest deep-sea unicellular larva, Nereia murmured to itself.
Come to think of it, it didn't have a mouth.
Of course, it had no eyes, nose, or ears, either. It was nothing more than a unicellular larva, just as its name suggested.
That left Nereia unable to help wondering.
It had charged toward the nearest deep-sea unicellular larva to keep from dying, but had no idea how to eat it.
But that was a pointless thing to worry about.
Its body had already begun devouring the deep-sea unicellular larva it had charged at.
The method, however, was quite different from the way humans ate.
Humans grabbed food with their hands and chewed it with their mouths.
As a deep-sea unicellular larva, it first covered the other larva with its body.
The other deep-sea unicellular larva struggled to escape, but to no avail.
The larva swallowed by ‘me’ gradually dissolved, and ‘I’ absorbed the ‘something’ that remained.
This behavior resembled an act known as predation, or phagocytosis.
At first, Nereia was quite shocked, too.
Although it had become a deep-sea unicellular larva, it still had the memories of a lifetime spent as a human, and its mind remained much the same.
The act itself came as a considerable shock to Nereia.
Even though it wanted to survive, it couldn't help wondering if it really had to survive this way.
Still.
【You have devoured a deep-sea unicellular larva.】
【Hunger level has decreased to 87%.】
A system window appeared before its eyes.
At the same time, Nereia realized that part of the hunger tormenting it had vanished, along with the terrible pain.
Right. Now that things had come to this, it couldn't go on clinging to a human way of thinking forever.
Since it had become an unknown creature called a deep-sea unicellular larva, it would have to live in a way suited to one from now on.
More importantly, right now...
‘I'm still hungry.’
It was hungry.
Its first meal had eased its hunger a little, but it was still hungry.
If it had been human, it would have been hungry enough to tear off and eat a piece of its own flesh without hesitation.
So...
‘Let's eat. Let's devour them.’
Muttering those words, Nereia charged toward the nearby deep-sea unicellular larvae to devour them.
* * *
‘Phew—now I feel a little better.’
【Hunger level: 23%】
Its hunger level, which had been as high as 93%, had fallen to 23%.
It could still feel deep-sea unicellular larvae dissolving inside its body and being absorbed—a sign of just how many it had devoured.
More importantly...
‘What's this?’
After dismissing the hunger-level window floating before its eyes, Nereia turned its attention to another system window blinking in the corner of its vision.
Something was flashing in the shape of an exclamation mark, like a game prompt pointing out a quest.
It had filled its stomach somewhat.
And it could think clearly again.
‘I should take a look.’
But how could it open that blinking exclamation mark?
The moment Nereia wondered that to itself...
The constantly blinking exclamation mark vanished without a trace.
At the same time, a system window appeared right in the center of Nereia's vision.
‘It opens just by thinking about it? That's pretty convenient.’
It didn't even have to touch anything; the window simply appeared before it when it thought about it.
More importantly...
【Unique Trait 「Trait Predation」 has been activated.】
Unique Trait? Trait Predation?
Oh, right. It had that, too. It had forgotten because it was so hungry.
The unique trait called Trait Predation.
It was one of the things Nereia had seen in one of the many system windows that appeared when it first opened its eyes in the body of a deep-sea unicellular larva.
It also remembered something called Mutative Evolution, in addition to Trait Predation.
Since that hadn't appeared yet, it seemed the requirements hadn't been met.
In any case...
‘Trait Predation. Judging by the name, it sounds like I can acquire something specific to each living creature.’
As Nereia murmured to itself and focused on Trait Predation, more windows appeared.
【You have acquired a new trait.】
【You have acquired the Fine Cilia trait.】
‘Fine cilia?’
【Fine Cilia】
＊Forms fine cilia on the body surface.
＊Slightly increases efficiency of movement in water.
The effect of the newly acquired Fine Cilia trait was much like what Nereia had imagined as soon as it saw the name.
More importantly, if efficiency was going to increase, why only ‘slightly’?
No, it was only a unicellular larva, after all. Maybe it should be grateful for even this much.
‘But I guess not all deep-sea unicellular larvae are exactly alike.’
Nereia thought as it looked over the other deep-sea unicellular larvae still scattered around it.
It had only just realized it, but the deep-sea unicellular larvae weren't all the same just because they were grouped together as a single species.
Some were a little larger.
Others swam a little faster.
And some held just a little more mana than the others.
After all, even humans were broadly classified as a single species, ‘human,’ despite each person's different talents and physical characteristics.
So it wasn't all that strange for individual deep-sea unicellular larvae to have their own differences.
More importantly, it had eaten quite a lot of deep-sea unicellular larvae, yet the only trait it had gained was Fine Cilia. Wasn't that rather inefficient?
Nereia chuckled without realizing it.
It had been reborn as a deep-sea unicellular larva, there was a system that made it feel as though it were playing a game, and it had just engaged in predation.
Even by its own standards, it was adapting to the situation far too quickly.
Perhaps this, too, was an effect of the nameless system that had affected it. Or had its mind changed to suit its body?
Well, whatever it was...
‘It doesn't matter.’
More importantly, right now...
‘How efficient are these Fine Cilia, anyway?’
It was time to find out how effective the Fine Cilia trait it had acquired really was.
Back when it had been human, it had been a deep-sea researcher.
And now, an unfamiliar deep-sea creature had appeared before it. Even if that creature was its own body, Nereia didn't care.
It would study an unknown deep-sea creature.
Even if that creature was itself.
That alone was enough for Nereia.
Perhaps this way of thinking was itself a kind of defense mechanism...
* * *
The research itself was simple.
Nereia first focused its mind and observed the changes that had taken place in its body.
Sure enough, things that could be called fine cilia had sprouted all over its body.
When it moved its body gently, it found that moving was much easier than before it had acquired the Fine Cilia trait.
This was probably what ‘slightly increases efficiency of movement in water’ meant.
With that, Nereia continued its research by moving its body around.
It tried accelerating forward, then stopping.
It sharply changed direction, swam and stopped, then stopped and started swimming again.
After a brief period of research, Nereia couldn't hide its excitement.
Sure enough, the system window had been right.
Its efficiency of movement in the depths of the deep sea had improved.
And not just ‘slightly,’ as the description had said.
Of course, before acquiring fine cilia, it had moved only by instinct while suffering from dreadful hunger. Even so, Nereia still remembered those moments faintly.
That was why it could easily tell the difference between before and after acquiring the Fine Cilia trait.
And now that its research was over, Nereia thought.
If Fine Cilia alone could do this much...
What about the other traits? And what traits did the deep-sea unicellular larvae around it have?
It wanted to acquire new traits.
It wanted to study deep-sea creatures like the deep-sea unicellular larva in even greater depth.
And...
‘I want to get stronger.’
It wanted to get stronger.
Huh...? I want to get stronger? Why did I think that?
Nereia was momentarily flustered by a thought so completely unrelated to research.
But its confusion didn't last long.
Come to think of it, it did need to get stronger to survive in this dangerous deep sea.
So...
‘Let's devour them.’
Nereia looked at the deep-sea unicellular larvae drifting nearby and moved toward them.
Rather than fight the deep-sea currents, Nereia went with the flow and began devouring the deep-sea unicellular larvae around it indiscriminately.
It did so while thinking about research—and about becoming stronger than it was now.
As a result...
【You have acquired the Mana Storage Cell trait.】
【You have acquired the Primitive Sensory Organ trait.】
Nereia was able to acquire two new traits.
As its name suggested, the Mana Storage Cell trait created cells that allowed it to store more mana.
The Primitive Sensory Organ trait, just as its name suggested, created primitive sensory organs.
Having gained two new traits, Nereia was about to set off once more to devour deep-sea unicellular larvae and acquire even more when...
Something enormous emerged in the distance, cutting through the darkness of the deep sea.
It was certainly a deep-sea unicellular larva. But it wasn't like any of the deep-sea unicellular larvae it had devoured so far.
Its huge body, countless cilia, strange light-emitting organs, and various other traits were all visible.
As Nereia stared at it in a daze, the system window responded.
【Loading information on the opposing individual.】
Species: Deep-Sea Predatory Larva
Body Size: 3.2 cm
Predation Rank: Lesser Predator
Threat Level: Very Dangerous
The system informed it that the creature wasn't a deep-sea unicellular larva, but a deep-sea predatory larva.
It also warned that the creature was very dangerous, though Nereia had realized that long ago without needing the system to tell it.
As Nereia stared blankly at the deep-sea predatory larva...
The deep-sea predatory larva moved.
Perhaps it recognized Nereia as prey. It moved its countless cilia and went after it.
The countless cilia moved like tentacles, trying to coil around Nereia's body.
Only then did Nereia snap out of it and move in a panic.
Run. There was no way it could beat that thing in its current state.
It was a monster measuring a full 3.2 cm.
So...
‘I'm getting out of here.’
There was nothing shameful about running away in the natural world.
On the contrary, failing to recognize the difference between yourself and your opponent and refusing to flee was all the more abnormal.
That was why Nereia felt no shame about running from the deep-sea predatory larva.
It simply thought...
‘I'll evolve someday, too. Later, after I evolve and get stronger, I can eat that thing. There's no rush.’
Thinking that, it hid itself in the deep, deep darkness of the sea.