The lights from the monitor cast an ethereal glow across Ray's face. He grinned, eyes locked on the screen, fingers dancing over the keyboard. His character—a silver-armored paladin—stood victorious, blade pointed to the heavens, surrounded by the corpses of pixelated demon lords.
"Damn, that was the cleanest raid I've done all week," he whispered, heart still pounding from the excitement. "You see that, chat? You see that dodge?"
The chat window on the side scrolled rapidly.
> Bloodreign27: "BROOOOO"
PaviseTank: "HAX"
LilithKillz: "Legend. Literal legend."
He laughed, leaning back in his chair, arms up like a champion. He was good. Maybe too good. Gaming wasn't just a hobby—it was his life. After dropping out of college and disappointing both his parents and his bank account, Ray had found solace in this world of magic, monsters, and numbers. Here, he wasn't a loser. He was a god.
Suddenly, his screen froze.
"What the—" he muttered, leaning forward.
The image glitched. The final boss he had just killed began to move—twitching, jerking unnaturally. The corpse turned its head, looking directly at the camera. At him.
"…Huh?"
The speakers erupted with distorted noise. It wasn't a scream. It wasn't music. It was something wrong.
Ray clutched his chest. A sharp pain—hot and immediate—spiked through his ribcage. His vision blurred, heart racing out of control.
He tried to breathe. Couldn't. His hands clawed at the air.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
---
Everything hurt.
No… that wasn't quite right. Everything felt.
A thousand sensations flooded him at once: the cold press of earth, the damp scent of moss, the distant howling wind. His eyes—no, his senses—were sharper, wider, unfamiliar. There were no screens. No keyboard. No voice chat.
He lay still. Not out of choice, but because his body refused to move.
What… happened?
His thoughts were sluggish, jumbled. Images flashed in his mind: his game, the boss, the glitch, the pain…
Did I die?
Panic rose—then something primal silenced it. Something ancient and heavy pressed down on his mind. A presence within himself. Not a voice, but instinct.
Move.
He rolled onto all fours.
The body wasn't his.
Instead of hands, he had paws—dark, clawed, twitching with strange muscles. His bones felt lighter, more compact, and his skin itched beneath a thin coat of black fur. His heart beat faster, legs trembling. He could hear… everything. The chirp of insects. The shift of leaves. Water dripping somewhere far off.
He staggered forward and fell. Stood again. Fell again.
"Okay… not a dream. Not a f***ing dream," he tried to say.
Only a low growl came out.
No. No, no, no.
His breath came in rapid pants, fogging the air. He stumbled to a nearby pond, pulled by thirst—and perhaps the hope that he was wrong.
The surface of the water showed a reflection.
A wolf. But not just any wolf.
Its eyes glowed faint red. Its fur was matted and gray-black, thin in some spots. Its fangs jutted from a lip twisted in an eternal snarl. Horns—small, jagged—curved back from above the brow.
It wasn't a normal wolf.
It was a demon.
---
Lower Demon Wolf (Unranked)
Status: Weak | Starving | Cursed
Race Class: Lesser Demon Beast
Danger Rating: E-
---
A prompt appeared in the water, like some cruel game overlay. His brain instantly translated it.
Status window? I'm… in a game?
No. Not a game.
But close.
The rules were there. The mechanics. Instincts. Everything he knew from years of gaming was relevant—but now, it was his life. He could feel the system, the framework. Like he'd been inserted into a bootleg version of his favorite MMORPG.
Except this time, death was real.
He stumbled away from the pond.
Okay, Ray. Think. You're a demon. A weak one. What do demons need? Food. Shelter. Power.
His stomach growled—a deep, monstrous sound. His mouth salivated, and his senses sharpened. He could smell it. Nearby. Prey.
---
The First Hunt
Ray moved awkwardly through the underbrush, low to the ground. His paws made little sound—natural padding, like nature's stealth boots.
Then he saw it.
A rabbit. Small. Plump. Minding its own business near a patch of glowing mushrooms. His instincts screamed.
Kill it.
His human side hesitated. It's just a rabbit…
His stomach overruled him.
He pounced.
The rabbit squealed. His teeth sank into flesh, and hot blood spilled into his mouth. The taste was foul—like copper mixed with ash—but his new body loved it.
He tore into the rabbit, eating every bite, bones and all.
It wasn't humane. It wasn't clean.
But he was alive.
---
+3 EXP
Hunger: Satisfied (for now)
Status: Stable
Skill Unlocked: [Savage Instinct Lv.1]
---
He panted, red in the eyes. Then it hit him—he had just killed. And not in a game. In real life.
He staggered backward, bile rising. But there was no throwing up. Just the metallic aftertaste and the warmth of meat in his belly.
Is this who I am now?
A growl in the distance cut his reflection short.
A new shape stepped into the clearing. Larger. Leaner. Familiar.
Another demon wolf. But this one was different.
---
Demon Wolf - Rank E
Status: Aggressive | Pack Leader
Level: 5
---
It snarled.
Ray turned, ready to bolt—but his feet didn't move. Not because he was brave, but because something clicked.
Fight or die.
No respawns. No reset.
The wolf lunged.
Ray dodged, barely avoiding a crushing bite. He retaliated on instinct, clawing at the beast's side. It yelped, blood spraying across the moss.
It hurt him.
He could hurt it.
The battle continued, a flurry of fangs and claws, growls echoing across the trees. Ray's body moved with a mixture of human tactics and animal speed. He remembered hitboxes, movement patterns—anything that gave him an edge.
Then, as the alpha charged again, Ray dodged low and sank his fangs into its exposed throat.
Crack.
It collapsed.
Dead.
He was panting. Covered in blood. Eyes wide.
---
+15 EXP
Level Up!
New Title Earned: "Instinct-Driven"
Trait Unlocked: [Adaptive Mind Lv.1]
---
The Silence After
He collapsed beside the corpse. Exhausted. Scarred. Triumphant.
Then came the realization.
I just killed something intelligent.
There had been something in that demon wolf's eyes—understanding. Emotion. Rage. Territory.
Ray wasn't a hero here.
He wasn't even human anymore.
He was part of a food chain—and not very high up.
As the moon rose over the twisted trees, and the wind whispered through the otherworldly forest, Ray curled beneath the roots of a gnarled black tree and tried to sleep.
He couldn't.
Not yet.
He was hungry again.
---