The next afternoon, I woke up alone in my room for the first time in a while. I had learned the trick to groping the girls before they got up, so it's a shame.
[You're finally alive.]
[Wenches, how dare you use my bed and not pay me with a sweet awakening?]
[Shut up. You were the one who was dead in the first place.]
As always, Louise has a foul mouth.
[So? Can you move?] —Louise asks with a raised eyebrow.
[I don't dare check.]
I answer honestly. Believe it or not, the rat kid hates pain. Because pain, hurts. And hurting is bad.
["Fuhuhu~~~."]
Louise lets out a playful laugh as she pokes my cheek with her finger, taking advantage of my paralyzed state.
[Vixen, you'll pay for that.]
[Oh yeah? Let's see it then.]
[[Why do you two always have to fight?]]
As we were fighting, Amelia and Kiti came in with complex expressions… Did I remember their names?
It seems that without realizing it, I've started to accept them as trustworthy people… Well, whatever.
[It's because this wench doesn't know her place.]
[It's because this idiot is annoying me.]
[[…That's going to be hard to achieve…]]
What are these vixens talking about and what are they doing in my room? A morning quickie?
[I'll change your bandages.]
["Guck…"]
I flinch at Amelia's declaration. Because changing bandages means moving, and moving means pain (unverified).
[Guhuhu.]
The vixen Louise scoffs from the side, a sadistic glint in her eyes.
[Don't be like that… I know it hurts] —said Amelia, her voice soft but firm as she sat on the bed with her first-aid kit—. [I'll be careful. Let's start with your hands.]
I watch it all from the corner of my eye. I don't want to move.
[How will I know the effects of my tonic if you don't move?] —Kiti insisted, impatient.
[Vixen, I'm not your damn guinea pig.]
[Don't be like that. I came prepared to support you with more tonic if the pain is too strong, okay?]
"Tsk," the fact that she's useful makes her more annoying. I even remembered I need to add her to the Network.
[This… doesn't make sense] —Amelia muttered suddenly, getting my attention.
[Did the rat kid grow a third arm?]
[That tonic doesn't do that!]
[How much for one that does?]
[I don't have any that do that!]
["Tsk," so useless.]
[WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT A THIRD ARM FOR?!]
While I was arguing with Kiti, Amelia lifted my arm and held it in front of my face.
[[[…]]]
Silence fell like a curtain. In the light filtering through the window, the skin on my forearm was… too good? The deep cuts looked like they had weeks' worth of healing, and the smaller ones were already scarring over.
To put it in game terms, I recovered 30% of my HP in a single night.
Definitely impossible, even the rat kid knows that.
[[[[…]]]]
In complete silence, I get out of bed very slowly.
As I suspected, it hurts, but it's not a terrible, agonizing pain. It's more like the soreness after a demanding muscle workout.
[Tell the rat kid the truth. How many days do I have left after using your radioactive tonic?]
Time to face reality, the rat kid unknowingly bathed in radiation.
[MY TONIC IS NOT RADIOACTIVE! Better yet, come here. What the hell?]
Kiti pounces on me, her mad scientist fingers examining every wound, every muscle.
["GYAAAA!", vixen, it still hurts!]
[Fascinating… This is definitely superhuman.]
I want to complain more, but the way her eyes are shining is starting to scare the rat kid.
........
RatKid2: So, is Rat Leader Super Rat now?
RatKid5: Super asshole, I'd say.
RatKid3: But that's nothing new.
RatKid10: True that.
RatKid7: Lol
RatKid5: Lol
RatKid4: Lol
RatKid8: Lol
...….
[Damn it, get over here and say that again.]
In the dining room, while I wait for my food.
I'm complaining to Louise who's slandering me on the rat kid network.
[Bleeeh]
But the vixen keeps her distance and sticks her tongue out in my direction.
......…..
RatKid8: Serious opinions?
RatKid3: What are we supposed to say? Rat Leader is right, his physical specs during the excursion clearly didn't match what he did. A simple cardio routine won't let him get that far.
RatKid2: The power of love?
RatKid5: Oh, that sounds more logical.
RatKid10: Obviously not…
RatKid7: Evolving to his final form? Anyone got a pokeball?
RatKid4: (ignoring 7) Jokes aside, it doesn't sound that crazy. Look, there are reports of domestic animals with abnormal growth. There's a video of a guy showing how his "cat" now looks like Mufasa's second cousin.
RatKid8: Oh, I saw that, didn't it look like a Fera Feline?
RatKid4: Wasn't that just edited?
RatKid1: Looks like it wasn't.
RatKid3: What does that have to do with our rat?
RatKid5: Well, humans are animals too, right?
RatKid2: I get it, if other living beings are undergoing mutations, why not us? Right?
RatKid3: Rat Leader, if you were aware of your specs, why did you insist instead of looking for another way?
RatKid1-Astrad: I just thought I could do it, so I did.
RatKid2: That damned instinct of yours…
RatKid3: That's Rat Leader for you…
RatKid10: Um, anyway… Insufficient data.
RatKid8: We need to keep investigating.
RatKid7: What do we do with Rat Leader in the meantime?
RatKid6: What if he mutates into some horrendous thing?
RatKid5: More? Even if he mutates, it'll be an improvement, right? Worst case, he'll be just as ugly.
RatKid6: Lol
RatKid2: Lol
RatKid8: Lol
RatKid10: Lol
RatKid3: Lol
RatKid4: Lol.
.....
Bunch of bastard sons of…
...........
JOURNAL ENTRY NO: 252
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Serpens primordialis
REGIONAL ALIASES:
Latin America (Swamp Areas): El Luto del Río / El Ojo del Pantano (The River's Mourning / The Eye of the Swamp)
Revisited African Folklore: Mind Mamba
Cryptozoology Forums: Eyes of the Abyss.NICKNAME (ASTRAD): The Justification for Ophidiophobia.
📊 THREAT ASSESSMENTCLASSIFICATION: VENATOR / ELEMENTALIS
Its nature is that of an elemental incarnation, the spirit of stagnant and poisonous waters. Its conduct is that of a Venator, but one that hunts the mind before the body. It is a predator of supreme cunning and stealth, which uses psychological terror as its main hunting tool.
DANGER LEVEL: RED (3 stars)
A 3-star Red. Its danger lies not in its venom or its strength, but in its gaze. Reports suggest that direct eye contact induces total paralysis caused by a primordial fear. Weapons are useless if your own brain prevents you from pulling the trigger. It's a threat that defeats you before the fight even begins. Other, more… concerning… reports suggest that bullets pass through its body as if firing at a column of water…
AGGRESSIVENESS LEVEL: RELENTLESS
Once it has chosen you as prey, the hunt is inevitable and methodical. It will not pursue you with fury; it will stalk you with a glacial patience. It will use its shadow echoes to guide you, to corner you, until you have no choice but to meet its gaze. Its sadism is not physical, but psychological: it enjoys paralyzing its prey and watching the hope drown in their eyes before the final attack.
🧬 COMBAT FILE (TL;DR)TYPE: Aberration / Beast
AFFINITY: Psychic (Fear) / Water / Shadow / Toxic
🎯 PRIMARY WEAKNESSES (Theoretical):
Sonic attacks (interrupt its psychic concentration), Extreme cold (slows its metabolism).
📌 KEY STRENGTHS:
Abyssal Gaze (paralyzing psychic attack), Summoning of Shadow Echoes (minor clones for tracking and harassment), Amphibious Dissolution (turns into mist or poisonous water), Neurotoxic venom, corrosive secretion (through its scales), venomous bite (no kisses).
📚 ORIGINS AND COMPARATIVE MYTHOLOGYUniversal Archetype: This creature is the reason for the instinctive fear of snakes. The myth of Medusa and her petrifying gaze, the Basilisk that killed with its eyes, or the serpent from the Garden of Eden that tempted with forbidden knowledge; all are cultural echoes trying to describe the same primordial horror: a gaze that paralyzes and condemns you.Egyptian Mythology: It is compared to Apep, the serpent of chaos that dwelled in the aquatic underworld. It is not a simple beast; it is an entropic principle of terror.South American Folklore: The legends of the Mother of Water or the Boitatá often describe a giant serpent with hypnotic eyes. It is believed that tales of people who "were lost forever" near rivers are victims of its gaze.Astrad's Analysis: Ophidiophobia is not an irrational fear of a legless animal. It is the genetic memory of our encounter with this thing, an instinct that screams at us: "DO NOT LOOK INTO ITS EYES."
📝 DETAILED ANALYSISPHYSICAL AND SENSORY DESCRIPTION:
A serpent of titanic proportions, with matte black scales that absorb light. Its body is elegant and powerful, moving with absolute stealth both on land and in water. However, its defining and most dangerous feature is its eyes: two gems of a sickly green that seem to glow with their own light. Fragmentary testimonies claim that looking directly into its eyes does not cause pain, but a sensory overload of pure terror, projecting the victim's deepest fears directly onto their cerebral cortex.
(Regarding the sighting report of a slithering column that rose above the swamp trees, we're going to ignore that.)
BEHAVIOR AND ECOLOGY:
It is the apex predator of the swamp's bodies of water. Its hunt is an act of cold sadism. First, it detects its prey and begins to stalk it, using its Shadow Echoes—small serpents made of liquid darkness—to subtly guide it towards an open area. Once the victim is in position, the serpent reveals its head and seeks eye contact. Its Abyssal Gaze paralyzes the victim in a state of catatonic terror. Only then, with the prey completely defenseless, does the serpent approach to bite, constrict, or simply let its echoes consume it. Its conflict with the Aranea funestus is a war of terror: the claustrophobic panic of the spider versus the paralyzing horror of the serpent.
☣️ PROTOCOLSRECOMMENDED ENCOUNTER PROTOCOL (Theoretical):DO:
AVOID EYE CONTACT AT ALL COSTS.
Use peripheral vision, mirrors, cameras, or motion sensors.
Use flashbang grenades to constantly break the line of sight.DON'T:
Look directly at the water or anything moving in it.
Trust in your own bravery or willpower (it's a psychic attack, not a test of courage).
Engage it in a direct staring contest.
FIELD REPORT (Excerpt from the interrogation of a survivor of a failed expedition to the Orinoco Delta, 2012):
"It wasn't a snake at first. We were on the shore and... and I saw my brother's face in the water. The day he drowned. I was... frozen. Couldn't move. Couldn't scream. And then, the face stretched, twisted... and became those eyes. Green. The rest of the team started shooting, but it was useless. I did nothing. I just watched as it took Maria."
🎤 ASTRAD'S NOTES (THE ONLY SHIT THAT MATTERS):
I always thought the fear of snakes was bullshit. A long, slippery tube? Come on. And then you read about this. And you get it. We're not afraid of its venom or of it crushing us. We're afraid of its fucking eyes. Because this thing doesn't bite your body, it bites your soul.
It's the perfect counterpart to the spider. The spider is a sadistic strategist; it kills you with its traps, with its legs, it plays a bit with sounds, but it's mainly physical. This son of a bitch is an artist of psychological sadism. It defeats you using your own mind, turning your worst memories into the weapon that paralyzes you. It's a fight you lose the moment you agree to play.
If the spider is the justification for arachnophobia, this snake is the fucking origin of ophidiophobia. An instinct engraved in our DNA by our ancestors, a simple and clear message that we have forgotten: if something slithers in the water, don't look. Never look.