After the terrible day he’d had today before the transfer, he realized that mutualistic relationships were only a pipe dream. And thus, James went axe-crazy on these deplorable humanoids to vent his frustration. It wasn’t hard on his conscience to eradicate these vermin: they were wearing mementos of human flesh in garish necklaces—eyes, ears, someone’s pendant, hung askew.
It was the first time James had fought with his life on the line, and surprisingly, he enjoyed it. These four goblins were only equipped with knives, but for an ordinary office worker, they were tough. They showed no fear even when he smashed one of their heads with an axe.
A goblin hurled its knife and lacerated his hand. He ignored the stinging pain on his wrist; adrenaline fueled him as he bashed its head with an overhead swing. Then he bashed it again, and again, even when it was clear it was in a death spasm.
“HAHAHA!! DIE!!! DIE!!!” He laughed.
He barely recognized his own voice—the slightly manic tinge, the excitement this brawl brought him. He then charged another goblin with his axe. These green demons were only waist-tall, and they only had a knife.
The knife was the important part. Even if they only had the physique of a kid, if those knives were to stab him, he would still die like any other living being. Such was the unfairness of a weapon. His only advantage was his weapon: his axe. Even when it was merely a foot long, it still had a greater reach than the crude knives the monsters were using.
Exhaustion began to creep up on James. He was merely an admin staff member in a startup company, and gym day was a thing he’d told himself, ‘I’ll go tomorrow,’ far too many months in a row.
There were only two goblins left—he could finish this. He took a deep breath and gave a furious roar.
This act of killing had filled him with excitement!
It felt like he had found a new purpose in life.
Killing monsters, bashing their heads to the floor. Seeing them suffer and die was the revenge he had been longing for.
Another goblin tried to charge him with its puny knife, and he countered with his axe at its ugly body—it did little to dodge. Once it dropped to the floor, grasping at the wound, he charged. He brought the axe up with one resounding scream and brought it down with such force that the skull split in half like a watermelon.
He then did it again, and again.
Blood and viscera are now the office attire for my new career, he thought as he panted, surveying the carnage—his carnage, his own bloody and extraordinary violence.
“HAHAHAHA!!” He laughed and relished the euphoria at the final goblin—what was left of it.
The axe that had appeared in his hand when he transferred felt better and better in his grip.
It felt like this axe had already become a lifelong partner of his.
“James four, goblins, zero!”
He lay sprawled on the ground, his white shirt stained with blood, goo, and dirt. But he didn’t care. He was now jobless anyway, and he didn’t want to find work.
All he wanted was vengeance.
But to whom? And why?
A message flashed before his eyes—some kind of prompt?
It was the same prompt as before, the moment before he was transferred here.
[Congratulations! You have won against your first usurpers! The System deems you worthy and will grant you status and unique skills.]
[Installing….]
He looked at the blue box before him in a daze.
It broke the tempo of his feeling of not having… anything in his life.
Five minutes prior, he had been sitting outside his workplace after getting fired—then, after a sudden prompt and queries, a flash, and he was teleported here with five goblins to kill.
Why did he even bother fighting these monsters anyway?
He could have just let go. Let them hack him to pieces.
But a drive inside him told him he still had something in his life to pursue.
A goal.
[Query: Do you wish for ultimate power?]
“Hm? Are you asking me?”
[Yes. We are querying you, survivor.]
“As opposed to, what, exactly?”
[As opposed to, say, becoming monster food or being worked to death as a slave.]
He straightened up, wiping the blood off his face.
This office shirt was going to have to be retired after today.
“Not really. I just wanted to survive. Boring jobs are fine. But now, I feel… I need something more. Something to prove.”
He sighed while reminiscing about his days.
Nowadays, being average and mediocre was no longer accepted.
[Acknowledged. Query: Do you wish for comrades? Are you a team player?]
The answer came instantly to him.
“No. I hate working in a team.”
He had enough of his so-called coworkers asking for favors and his so-called team working him to the bone while they were having a party with rich clients.
He wondered why he answered them honestly. This system sounded like an automated machine, but it felt more human than his boss or coworkers.
[Acknowledged. Query: Do you wish to change?]
“Yes.”
He answered quickly and instinctively. It felt like he had an epiphany.
The monotonous life was comforting. However, he understood now that people needed to change. They must change. They must adapt and be superior.
Those who couldn’t adapt fell woefully behind. That wasn’t a mistake he was making again. He wanted to change. He wanted to be more adaptable. He wanted to be… something more… something suitable for the world.
[Acknowledged. Calculating. Desire to change accepted. You have been granted a unique skill: Chimera.]
[Chimera: A unique ability to swap your body with other beings to improve yourself. You can swap out any part of your body except the brain. You can also add up to two parts of the body that don’t exist within your current body.]
Then, the notification about the status screen appeared before him.
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[Name: James
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Levels: 1
Coins: 100
Stats:
STR: 25
Dex: 30
Magic: 0
Mana: 0
Skills:
- Beginner Axe Mastery Level 1 (new)
Unique Skill:
Chimera]
“This is all just like a game,” he muttered. He sat down and inspected the skills–it seemed simple enough, for now. When he looked at the goblin’s corpse beside him, another message spawned.
[Do you wish to modify your body? y/n]
[Available body parts:
- Goblin hand: STR -30%
- Goblin stomach: Iron Guts
- Goblin legs: Dex -30%]
[Goblin’s stomach:
A monster-derived stomach that allows you to eat and digest any raw food without cooking. A goblin’s stomach is the only part superior to a human’s.]
He hovered his hand over the screen. He was conflicted. If the System was to be believed, he would discard his human stomach and replace it with a goblin’s. It felt like he was discarding his humanity.
How did that even work?—He shook his head. It was a useless question. He was teleported here by magic, after all. Most everyone he knew would have been murdered by those goblins if they had accepted the invitation. However, James saw an opportunity, a chance for him to change. He needed to become stronger so he could survive. He must become stronger; if not, he would not survive. His experience had proven that.
After a deep breath, he tapped “yes.” At that moment, a light enveloped him, and he could feel his body changing—pinpricks of energy surrounded his body. The goblin’s corpse disappeared in a swirl of disintegrating black motes. However, he couldn’t feel anything different after the spectacle vanished.
Of course, the stomach was inside his body, after all.
Fighting those goblins felt right. Like he was doing a great service, if only for himself. It felt like all of his frustration all this time was a lie. He thought he was a passive and introverted person when, in fact, he was a predator.
[New Quest!]
[Objective: Survive and clear the dungeon.]
He scoffed at the message. Survive. That was his motto until yesterday. Now, he simply wanted to kill. He wanted to vent. He wanted to prove that he was not some pushover. But he was still woefully exhausted. He sat down in the corner, regaining his energy before marching on to the abyss.
The dungeon was filled with winding pathways with luminous blue moss that lighted the way. He wondered if this was all a dream or a mental break from being let go. Maybe he’d fallen asleep on the bench outside his office? He glanced down. The blood and pain in his hands was his answer. It was not an illusion. It was too real.
Moments later, he found another group of goblins. They were making a camp out in the middle of a large clearing of the dungeon–moss-draped mushrooms formed an eerie clearing in her. A corpse was being stripped and mutilated by the monsters–a human, he realized grimly, their clothes torn off their body, to be hacked apart. They roasted one of the legs on fire while some of them ate the meat raw.
An unsettling realization dawned on him. The corpse could have been him. If he died to the prior group of goblins, his fate would be the same. He would be mutilated and eaten. This was a dog-eat-dog world. If he wanted to survive, he must kill.
He counted 5 goblins partying there. However, this group was more adequately armed. One was holding a sword, one a bow, one a shield, and another a spear. One held a staff taller than their body height. That staff didn’t look like it was made for bashing. If he read his status screen correctly, there should be magic in this world—Though his magic was 0.
So, that goblin might have been a mage. A dangerous unknown.
But these goblins were easily defeated, only if he showed no fear. So he went with what worked before: He charged like a bull. He was a beginner and had no range weapon, so there was only so much he could do. The murder, the possibility of death, excited him. With a roar, he charged. His first target was the goblin with a spear nearby.
The green monsters were surprised. They scampered toward their weapons with haste, but he had closed the distance already. They were already in a striking range.
“AAAHH!!!” he roared. With a single brutal swing, one goblin’s head was split like hitting an egg against a mixing bowl. The sword goblin tried to intercept but James ran the other way and lunged at the bow goblin.
In close combat, these ranged attackers were helpless; it was the rule of thumb in games to aim for the healer and ranged unit first, and it went down with a gurgle. Two down, three more to go. Only the shield, sword, and mage goblin were left.
The sword goblin closed in on him and swung its sword. He parried the blow, however, its swing had more force than he imagined from such a small monster. It knocked him to the ground. In the corner of his vision, he saw something flash red. Sensing danger, he rolled away with as much agility he could muster and avoided the haphazard fireball flung by the goblin mage.
The goblin was stupid. Instead of chasing him, the sword and shield goblins stood there as he sprang up. He smirked at their foolishness. He might have been just a mediocre employee before, but he was still smarter than a goblin, and he worked better under pressure.
“DIEE!” he lunged at the sword goblin. The goblin blocked the strike, its weapon bouncing from the impact of the axe. He took the opportunity while it was off balance and tackled it to the ground. Then, as he mounted it, he raised his axe over and bashed its sorry head straight on. One coat of blood and viscera isn’t enough for my new dress code—we’re adding another layer today, he thought with a bit of dark humor. He smirked at the stupid faces the goblins were making. Even though they were monsters, they could still feel fear.
The goblin mage, looking like it had been winded from its attempt to fry him, was trying to conjure another fireball—that was his next threat to deal with. He pushed up from the dying goblin and charged at it. However, the shield goblin lunged with its shield, trying to protect its teammate. He blocked it with his hands—this goblin hadn’t drawn its knife, and he was stronger. Another fireball flashed from the corner of his vision.
“Heh…” he chuckled. He grappled and maneuvered the panicking shield goblin, gripping it with inhuman strength when he saw his opportunity to make use of a case of unfriendly fire. The fireball hit its back with an explosion—not a powerful one, but he smelled his hair singing. A medium-rare steak of goblin’s back was on the menu today.
“GIEEK!!” The goblin screamed as the flame burned its back. It foolishly dropped its shield and the knife it was holding and ran away like a frightened chicken while on fire.
“DIEE! STUPID MONSTER!” Seeing such an opportune chance, James went on the offensive. He grabbed its body, and another skull was split open.
When the mage goblin realized all of its vanguard had lost, it tried to flee. James didn’t let it go; he threw the axe he was holding at the green creature. It might have been stupid to throw his only weapon, but he was a beginner, and it paid off. The axe embedded itself in the mage’s head.
Exhaustion crept in. It was less than before. However, the heat from the campfire was soothing. The flickering of the flames was captivating. That’s when James realized there was a notification in the right corner of his vision. He had leveled up. Back at his work, he would only get messages and emails if he did something wrong, but it was nice that the system did the reverse. He felt like he had gone down the right path.
[You have leveled up to Level 3! Coins Received: 10]
[Do you wish to modify your body? y/n]
[Available body parts:
- Goblin hand: STR -30% (Hand slot)
- Lesser Mana Core: Magic +10, Mana +50, Fire spell (Extra slot)
- Goblin legs: Dex -30% (Leg slot)]
“Hehehe.” he inadvertently giggled. This unique skill was amazing. Even when his magic stat was zero, he could still use magic if he plundered the body part of a mage. With this new skill, he could become anything he wanted. Whether using magic or flying in the sky, he could do it. He just needed to find the right body parts.
He picked the mana core without hesitation.
[Acknowledged, here are your final stats]
[Name: James
Age: 35
Sex: male
Level: 3
Coins: 110]
Stats:
STR: 35 (up 10)
Dex: 32 (up 2)
Magic: 0
Mana: 0
Skills:
- Beginner Axe Mastery Level 1 (new)
Unique Skill:
Chimera:
- Goblin stomach (Iron Guts) (Stomach slot)
- Lesser Mana Core (Fire spell, Magic +10, Mana +50) (Extra slot 1)
James tilted his head. Even when he had equipped the mana core, the stats didn’t show any change. Nevertheless, he could still feel the power inside him. It was alien, like he was growing a third hand or something. When he focused on it, a small fire, like that of a candle, flickered above before his eye. He didn’t understand how these stats worked, but since he got the magic he was promised, he didn’t dwell much on it. He didn’t realize it yet, but the stat augmentation from his unique skill was separate from his normal stats. His stats from the status screen only showed his base stats from leveling and not from weapons or skills.
Exhaustion began to overwhelm him. There was no clock, no sun, and no electricity. The phone in his trousers indicated that he had been here for six hours. It was almost midnight. The phone would soon run out of battery. He sighed once again. He was about to miss his online game daily reward. He chuckled. Why would he bother playing on a computer screen now? He now lived in a game world where there were levels and monsters to kill.
He was trapped in this dungeon with no way out. However, instead of fear and worry, he felt relieved. Here, he was alone; no coworkers would nag him.
“Well, I am fired either way,” he muttered as exhaustion finally caught up to him, and he fell asleep. Christmas was just around the corner. He must be the most miserable person in the world. He lost his job, had no girlfriend, and would be kicked out of his apartment in the new year.
Alas, one thing was for sure. Killing these monsters brought him excitement. And he would continue to do so now until his body no longer lasted.
Little did he know that chaos was about to engulf the world, and he was about to emerge on top. However, by the time it happened, he no longer cared for such things.
For his wrath was eternal.