Grey stared at the three traits hovering before him, his fingers still resting against the Thornwolf’s cooling corpse as he carefully considered each option.
The system hadn’t explained what any of them would do, and judging from his limited understanding of this world, blindly choosing an ability simply because it sounded useful was probably a good way to make a mistake he couldn’t take back.
[Enhanced Olfactory Sense]
[Predatory Instinct]
[Minor Physical Enhancement]
He considered the first option for several seconds before dismissing it.
Enhanced smell sounded useful, especially in a forest where he had no idea what was hiding around him, but improved senses wouldn’t solve his biggest problem.
He was weak. That much had already been proven by the fact that a single Level 3 creature had nearly turned him into its dinner.
His gaze shifted toward the second option.
[Predatory Instinct]
That sounded considerably more interesting.
If the ability could improve his reactions or help him recognize weaknesses in other creatures, it might allow him to survive enemies stronger than himself. More importantly, he had already relied on his instincts during the fight against the Thornwolf, and the system had rewarded him for it.
Still, Grey hesitated.
His eyes moved toward the final option.
[Minor Physical Enhancement]
It sounded boring but it also sounded useful.
Grey let out a quiet breath before rubbing his forehead.
"If I were playing a game, I’d probably choose the ability with the most interesting description."
He looked at his thin arms.
"Unfortunately, this isn’t a game."
That decided it.
Grey selected [Minor Physical Enhancement.]
The interface immediately changed.
[Trait acquisition confirmed.]
[Minor Physical Enhancement has been absorbed.]
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then Grey’s body suddenly became unbearably hot.
He doubled over as a wave of heat spread from his stomach through his chest and into his limbs. His muscles tightened, his bones seemed to ache beneath his skin, and every breath felt as though he were inhaling something burning.
"What the hell?!"
Grey fell onto one knee and clenched his teeth.
The sensation lasted only a few seconds, but those seconds felt much longer.
When it finally disappeared, Grey remained crouched in the dirt, breathing heavily while sweat dripped from his forehead.
He slowly opened and closed his hand.
Nothing looked different.
His body was still thin, his claws were still tiny, and he still looked like a starving goblin.
Yet something felt different.
Grey stood there, feeling more balanced and lighter in his limbs.
He clenched his fist.
The muscles in his arm responded with noticeably more strength than before.
A status window appeared.
[Trait successfully integrated.]
[Minor Physical Enhancement — Level 1]
[Strength +2]
[Vitality +1]
Grey stared at the numbers, then looked down at his body.
"So that’s how this works."
The system wasn’t simply handing him abilities.
It was changing him.
That realization was far more exciting than it should have been.
Grey looked toward the Thornwolf’s corpse again.
If a single monster could provide experience, evolution energy, and traits, then the possibilities were enormous.
He opened his status.
[Name: Grey Valentine]
[Species: Lesser Goblin]
[Level: 2]
[Strength: 5]
[Agility: 4]
[Vitality: 3]
[Mana: 0]
[Evolution Energy: 5]
Grey studied the numbers carefully.
His strength had increased from three to five, while his vitality had risen from two to three.
That wasn’t sufficient to make him powerful. Far from it. However, it was progress. And that was all he needed.
Grey turned his attention toward the remaining options.
"Can I take those too?"
He concentrated on [Enhanced Olfactory Sense], but nothing occurred. He then attempted [Predatory Instinct]; again, there was no result.
After several attempts, a small message appeared.
[Insufficient Evolution Energy.]
Grey frowned.
"So I can only choose one."
That was inconvenient.
He looked toward the Thornwolf.
There had to be more to the system than this.
Grey opened the corpse interface again.
[Possible actions:]
[Consume]
[Extract Trait]
[Discard]
He selected Consume.
The moment he did, the Thornwolf’s body began changing.
Dark particles rose from its corpse and flowed toward Grey’s hand, sinking beneath his skin one after another.
The process was strangely quiet, almost peaceful, despite the grotesque sight of an entire creature gradually dissolving into particles of light.
Grey expected to feel sick, but instead, his stomach growled. He froze.
"...Seriously?"
Another notification appeared.
[Consumption successful.]
[Biological material absorbed.]
[Experience acquired.]
[Evolution Energy acquired.]
Grey stared at the window.
His stomach growled once more as he glanced down at his own body in disbelief.
"So this body actually needs food."
The realization made sense.
He had spent the last several minutes fighting for his life, and now that the danger had passed, hunger had suddenly become almost unbearable.
Grey looked around the forest.
The trees were filled with strange fruits and unfamiliar plants, but he wasn’t foolish enough to start eating random things simply because he was hungry.
He had already died once.
He wasn’t interested in finding out whether his second life could end because he ate poisonous berries.
Instead, Grey opened his status.
[Evolution Energy: 12]
His eyes narrowed.
The number had increased considerably.
"What exactly am I supposed to do with this?"
The system remained silent.
Grey tried focusing on the word [Evolution].
The interface changed.
[Evolution System]
[Current Species: Lesser Goblin]
[Available Evolution: None]
[Requirements for next evolution unavailable.]
Grey frowned.
"Unavailable?"
He made another attempt but still, nothing changed.
Apparently, the system wasn’t going to explain everything to him.
That was becoming a habit.
Grey sighed and closed the interface.
He needed information.
If this really was another world, then blindly wandering around was probably the stupidest thing he could do.
The forest around him was enormous, and although the moonlight made it beautiful, Grey had already learned that beauty meant absolutely nothing when something capable of killing him could be hiding behind the next tree.
He needed shelter, food, water, and eventually, information about the world.
Grey looked toward the direction from which he had originally come.
There was no chance of finding his old life again.
Even if humans existed somewhere beyond this forest, he didn’t know where they were or whether they would even consider him intelligent enough to communicate with.
For now, survival came first.
Grey picked up the broken branch he had used during the fight.
It was damaged, but the sharpened end remained intact.
He tested its weight.
"Better than nothing."
He started walking.
The forest seemed completely different now that he was no longer running for his life.
Every few steps, Grey stopped to examine unfamiliar plants, strange insects, and the occasional footprint pressed deeply into the soil. Some tracks belonged to creatures he could barely imagine, while others were so enormous that he decided he didn’t want to meet their owners anytime soon.
He continued deeper into the forest.
After nearly an hour of walking, Grey discovered something useful.
Water.
The sound reached him first.
A faint rushing noise somewhere beyond the trees.
He followed it cautiously and eventually found a narrow stream flowing between several enormous rocks.
Grey immediately crouched beside it.
He dipped his fingers into the water.
Cold.
Clear.
He sniffed it before taking a small sip.
Nothing happened.
He drank again.
Then again.
Within moments, he was kneeling beside the stream with his entire face almost submerged.
The water was cold enough to make his teeth hurt, but Grey didn’t care.
He drank until his stomach felt heavy.
Only then did he sit back.
"That might be the best water I’ve ever tasted."
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked at the stream.
Something moved beneath the surface.
Grey froze.
A small creature darted between the stones.
It resembled a fish, although it had six fins and a mouth filled with tiny teeth.
Grey watched it disappear.
He immediately decided he wasn’t catching that thing.
He followed the stream instead.
It eventually led him toward a cluster of enormous trees whose roots formed a natural hollow beneath the ground.
Grey examined the opening carefully.
It was small enough that a large creature would struggle to enter, but large enough for him to crawl inside.
More importantly, there were no tracks nearby.
"This’ll do."
Grey dragged several branches toward the entrance and arranged them loosely across the opening, leaving enough space for himself to escape if something attacked.
It wasn’t much of a shelter.
But it was his.
For the first time since waking in this world, Grey finally allowed himself to relax.
He leaned against the tree root and closed his eyes.
The forest was still unfamiliar.
The system was still mysterious.
His body was still that of a weak monster.
But he had survived his first day.
That was something.
Grey opened his status one more time.
[Name: Grey Valentine]
[Species: Lesser Goblin]
[Level: 2]
[Strength: 5]
[Agility: 4]
[Vitality: 3]
[Mana: 0]
[Evolution Energy: 12]
He looked at the final number.
He was uncertain about how much he still needed to evolve or what his next form might be.
But he knew that every creature he defeated could potentially make him stronger.
Grey smiled faintly.
"Tomorrow, I’ll hunt."
His expression slowly became more determined.
"Not because I have to."
He looked toward the darkness beyond the shelter.
"Because I want to know how far I can go."
Grey closed his eyes.
For several minutes, everything remained peaceful.
Then he heard a sound— a distant howl. Grey’s eyes opened.
He slowly sat upright.
Those sounds weren’t coming from the same direction.
They were surrounding him.
Grey’s hand tightened around the broken branch.
For a moment, he considered leaving.
Then he noticed something strange.
The system had appeared again.
A small notification hovered before him.
[Predatory Instinct has detected multiple hostile entities.]
Grey’s eyes widened as he looked toward the forest; the darkness beyond the trees appeared to shift.
He grasped the branch more firmly. A slight smile formed on his face.
"So that’s what you do."
For the first time, Grey understood that the system wasn’t merely giving him power.
It was teaching him how to survive.
And if he wanted to evolve, he would have to learn quickly.
Because somewhere beyond his tiny shelter, something was already hunting.