A faint sound echoed in the darkness. It did not come from the outside but from something internal.
A soft chime resonated inside me. Distant, yet clear. My thoughts stirred. Another pulse followed, this time sharper, like something knocking against the inside of my mind. The steady sound repeated rhythmically, pulling me back from the void.
I twitched. Consciousness crept in slowly, heavy and blurred, but the sound wouldn't stop. It lingered, pressing against my awareness until I couldn't ignore it anymore.
Then a loud chime reverberated inside my head, waking me up.
[New Gene Unlocked]
The words formed clearly in my mind, glowing faintly within the network. All my senses returned at once.
The pressure I felt earlier was still there, but something was different. This time it didn't feel as heavy as when I was chased by those crazy creatures.
A node pulsed in the gene network.
[ Gene Slot: A ]
[ Gene: Adaptation ]
[ Classification: Normal ]
[ Ability: ]
Pressure resistance
Environmental adjustment
Stability under stress
[ Limitation: ]
Effect scales with development
Cannot fully negate extreme conditions
I stayed still.
For the first time, my body didn't feel like it was being crushed under invisible weight. The pressure was still there, but it no longer pressed me into nothing. This gene didn't make me stronger, but it let me breathe.
I should have focused on that but I didn't get the chance.
A loud bang echoed through the cave. The sound hit hard, followed by the sharp crack of stone. Debris rained down from above, and my entire body froze. Then another impact came. And another.
The rhythm of it was violent. Relentless.
It made me remember everything. The chaos above. The swarm. The hunger.
My body trembled. I didn't think. I burst toward a narrow opening beneath a cluster of rocks and forced myself inside, curling tightly as I pressed against the cold surface. All I could think of was hide. Just hide.
The memory and the feeling of being hunted, surrounded by things far stronger, far more terrifying, stuck to me. It wasn't just fear anymore.
It was exhaustion. I've never felt so weak.
This useless.
This small.
My body trembled uncontrollably, my thoughts spiraling as my heart raced against itself.
There was no escape.
No safety.
No one. Nothing.
Just me.
Alone.
And slowly, I could feel it creeping in. The quiet kind of panic. The kind that doesn't scream but eats away at you from the inside.
What did I do to deserve this kind of life?
My vision blurred. A sharp sting spread through my eyes, then something warm slipped down.
Tears.
I'm crying…hahaha
I didn't deserve this.
I didn't do anything to deserve this!
So why… why am I here?!
My thoughts spiraled, anger mixing with something heavier, something that hurt more than fear. I cursed whoever it was that decided to play with my fate and reincarnated my soul as a snail.
I only asked not to be lonely. That's all I asked. I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask to suffer like this!
I shouted in anger.
" If I have hands I would be pointing my middle finger at you right now! "
I bawled my eyes out, lamenting the situation I was in. If I had been lonely and unhappy in my past life… then right now, I was even more miserable, more than any human… or snail could ever be.
I stayed there, drowning in misery.
Then something changed. A faint hum echoed through the cave.
A sound?
No… not sound A vibration.
A soft resonance spread through the water, subtle yet impossible to ignore. It brushed against me, gently, almost… soothingly.
From the distance, a faint purple glow appeared. It pulsed. Slow and steady. Something was there. Something… calling. I didn't understand it, but I could feel it, every part of me responding, every cell stirring as if drawn toward it.
I dragged my trembling body forward, pushing through the lingering vibrations.
Slowly, painfully, I crawled toward the faint purple glow.
Minutes passed.
Or… hours ? I couldn't tell anymore.
Yet the light still felt just as far. I glanced back and my body stilled.
I hadn't moved at all.
Damn it. Right… I'm a snail.
A dry, bitter laugh slipped out of me. Had I gotten so used to struggling that I forgot what I was?
Pathetic.
Still, I can't stop now.
I steadied myself and used burst in short, controlled succession, forcing my body forward little by little. Each movement strained me, but this time I didn't panic. I endured it.
Eventually, I reached what looked like an opening. A passage leading deeper into the cave.
I immediately pressed myself against a rock near the edge, hiding my body as much as I could. Slowly, cautiously, I extended my eyes forward and looked inside.
Faint light spread across the cave, not from above but from everywhere. I came out slowly from my hiding place, my body still weak, and what I saw made me freeze.
Clams.
They were everywhere.
Massive, each one larger than anything I had ever seen up close. Their shells were open, revealing smooth, glowing spheres nestled within them. Pearls… but not like any pearl I knew. These pulsed with a soft violet-blue light, illuminating the cave in a dim, otherworldly glow.
The light didn't feel harsh.
It felt… calm.
Alive.
It reflected off the uneven rock walls, flowed through the shallow water beneath me, and wrapped the entire cavern in a quiet, hidden radiance. Seaweed swayed gently along the edges of the rocks, catching fragments of that light like strands of drifting silk.
I remained still. Not because I was afraid but because I didn't understand what I was seeing. Some clam was open, unmoving, yet something about them felt… aware. Not watching. Not hunting.
Just present. Like they knew I was here.
I lowered my gaze to my own body then glanced back at the towering clams surrounding me.
So small.
So insignificant.
And yet… I had fallen into this place.
A place that didn't feel like the battlefield I had just escaped. For the first time since I was born into this world. Nothing was trying to kill me.
Something gigantic…that isn't trying to kill me.
Huh. That's new.