He raised his hand of black mist, still trembling slightly—not from fear, but from absurd excitement. "Confirm."
Gray barely had time to celebrate his own suicidal courage.
The world shattered.
It didn't explode—that would be too simple. He choked. Reality gave an ugly hiccup, like an operating system running on an internet café PC with twenty viruses and a very fragile hope.
[[Extremely High Rank!]]
The message appeared too large, too red, too urgent.
"Ah." Gray tilted his head. "Now you warn."
The entire cave trembled. The rainbow crystals vibrated like goblets about to burst, emitting a sharp, unpleasant sound, something between a discordant choir and a critical Windows error.
The mist that formed Gray's body began to writhe.
It wasn't painful.
What was worse.
It was as if something was trying to teach a fish to swallow an entire ocean at once. Too much information. Too many concepts. Too much existence.
[Error!]
[Error!]
[Error!]
"Okay, okay—" Gray put his hand to his head, which had begun to multiply by mistake. "—that definitely wasn't in the tutorial."
The system panicked.
Literally.
Windows began to flicker, overlap, contradict each other, disappear, and reappear with new titles, as if someone were desperately pressing Ctrl+Z on the fabric of the universe.
[[[God of the Void: Azathoth] outdated for [Beelzebub]]]
Gray's eyes widened.
"...Outdated?" He laughed nervously. "DID I JUST SEE A PATCH NOTE?."
The pressure increased.
The skeleton of the Primordial Demon began to crumble, not into dust, but into information. Invisible runes, conceptual residues, fragments of something that definitely shouldn't be digested by a being at level zero.
[[[Beelzebub] outdated for [Gluttony, the Merciless]]]
"Okay, I know this." Gray tried to maintain the humor. "Gluttony is a capital sin. I've had worse phases."
The black mist expanded, forming something resembling a mouth—not because he wanted to, but because the ability demanded it.
Swallow.
Absorb.
Consume.
[[[Gluttony, the Merciless] outdated for [Predator]]]
The system finally gave way.
Like an exhausted employee who realizes he's not going to win this argument.
The pressure ceased at once.
Silence.
The cave stopped shaking. The crystals returned to their steady glow, pretending that none of this had happened—cowardly accomplices. Gray fell to his knees.
Or rather, slid to the floor.
"...I survived?" he asked, half incredulous.
The narrator, if he could, would have applauded. Against common sense, against statistical probability, and against everything a cosmic safety manual would recommend, he was still there.
[Predator (Rank-S) acquired.]
A new interface appeared, more... restrained. Less hysterical. As if the system were walking on eggshells now.
Gray read.
Predation.
Analysis.
Stomach.
He blinked.
"...So." He raised his gaze to the space where a menacing skeleton had once stood. Now only a dark mark remained on the floor, like a shadow that had given up on existing. "I will not become a God of the Void."
[Negative.]
"Nor a Primordial Demon."
[Negative.]
"Not even a capital sin with a stylish name."
[Negative.]
Gray thought for a moment. A slow, crooked, and extremely worried smile formed.
"...But I'll become something that eats things."
Silence.
The system knew where this was going.
Gray stood up. This time, he didn't stumble. The fog around his body was denser, more... obedient. Not strong—not yet—but functional.
He looked at his own hands and thought of teeth.
They appeared.
Not visible. Not physical. But there.
The kind of thing the world preferred to pretend didn't exist.
"...Predator." He savored the word. "Rank-S."
[Predation: absorbs the target into its body. However, if the target is conscious, the success rate decreases significantly.] The affected targets include, but are not limited to: organic matter, inorganic matter, abilities, and magic.
Gray read.
He reread.
He blinked. "...Organic matter...Inorganic matter."
He slowly raised his gaze to the stone floor.
Then to the crystals.
Then to his own mist hand.
"...I eat stone now." Pause. "...I EAT MAGIC."
The narrator made a mental note: this is definitely going to be a mess.
Gray cleared his throat. "Okay. A conscious target decreases the success rate." He tilted his head. "That is... it's better to eat things that don't fight back."
Silence. "...I like this." and continued reading the second part of the ability.
[Analysis: The absorbed target is studied and analyzed. Crafted items can then be produced. If the necessary materials are present, duplicates can be produced.] In the case of successful skill or magical analysis, the same technique can be acquired.]
Gray stopped.
He stood absolutely still.
The kind of dangerous silence that precedes bad decisions.
"...Wait." He pointed to the line, his finger tracing the text like smoke. "You're telling me..."
He read it again, now aloud, articulating each word as if explaining it to a very stupid child. "...That if I eat a sword—"
Pause.
"...I can make another one?"
[If you have the materials. Yes.]
Gray brought his hand to his face.
"...I AM AN ITEM FACTORY."
He took a deep breath.
"No." He shook his head. "No, no. I'm worse."
He looked at his own mist, which rippled slowly, as if satisfied.
"...I am an existential 3D printer."
The cave didn't like that definition.
And finally.
[Stomach: The target can be stored. Items produced through Analysis can also be stored. There is no storage time limit.]
Silence.
Gray read it one last time.
Then he stared at the final sentence.
There is no storage time limit.
"...System."
[Yes?]
"This isn't a stomach." He pointed to the text. "This is a dimensional vault with no expiration date."
[Correct correlation.]
"And I can store anything I eat."
[Yes.]
Gray chuckled softly.
It wasn't hysteria this time.
It was worse.
It was that controlled laugh of someone who just realized they don't need to play by the rules anymore—because now they eat the rules.
"...So let me see if I understand." He began walking through the cave, now with firmer steps. "I have no strength. I have no mana. I have no status." He stopped before a large crystal, pulsing with pure magical energy.
"...But if I can eat this..."
The mist in his hand distorted, forming something like a hungry opening.
"...I learn what it is."
"...I keep it."
"...And I reproduce it."
He closed his hand.
The crystal remained intact—for now.
Gray took a deep breath, his smile returning, crooked, dangerous.
"...System."
[Yes?]
"This here." He pointed to Predator. "This is a very powerful hack, isn't it?"
Pause.
[...]
"Ah, you're annoying. Anyway, now... what about the Primordial Demon? Can I replicate its form or will I become a skeleton?"
[It's possible to replicate the appearance before death. However, currently, due to the lack of Mana, it's impossible.] Furthermore, the traits of the "Demon" race cannot be recovered. Due to the time elapsed since death, only a pseudo-appearance of the being can be recovered from bone formation and magical residue. To obtain the "Primordial Demon" race, it is necessary to absorb several demons until obtaining the superior bloodline.
"So… I only got the Predator?"
[In short.]
He sighed, "Okay, I guess it's reasonable," he said. "Although I still find it annoying to have this… mist form?" He said and looked around.
"Okay, a cave," he said, looking at everything with that analytical gaze, "Although I know this, it's complicated to see in monochrome." He said, after all, yes, he only saw in black and white.
He then began to explore the place; he could even walk, have a "solid footing," if you can call it that.
"Okay! Let's go." He spoke and pointed what he called his hand toward some random bush. "Predator!" he said, and a purplish mist completely engulfed it.
[Analyzing. Complete. Magic Bush, Rank-None, Trash.]
"Okay." He said, "And that?" He spoke and pointed his hand, using the Predator on an ore with various shades of white, gray, and black. He thought that meant it was at least multicolored, and being multicolored was good!
The predator swallowed the crystal and—
[Analyzing. Complete. Magi-stone Ore, Rank-A, Concentrated Magic Ore, mainly used for forging, but can also be used to supply mana.]
His eyes, if he had any, gleamed. "Supply?! Can you—"
[Do you wish to absorb the mana from the crystal?]
"YES!" Gray's answer came automatically, without even thinking twice.
The next instant, the purplish mist enveloping the Magi-stone crystal began to contract, as if being sucked into something invisible. There was no explosion, no excessive light—just a flow. A dense, heavy flow that entered him like a flood breaking through a dam.
Gray froze.
"...—HNG—"
It didn't hurt.
But it was too intense.
It was as if something was being poured into him without permission. Not heat this time, but weight. An energetic, vibrant weight that made the mist around his body thicken, becoming darker, more defined.
The cave reacted.
The nearby crystals lost their shine for a second, as if something had been pulled from the environment along with the absorbed ore. A magical echo ran through the walls, low and deep, almost like a collective sigh.
Gray fell to his knees again.
"...Okay." He took a deep breath. "Okay, this—this was different."
The interface exploded in front of him.
[Mana absorbed.]
[Mana absorbed.]
[Mana absorbed.]
[Warning: Energy input higher than expected.]
The numbers started to climb.
And climb.
And keep climbing.
Gray's eyes widened.
"...Hey, hey, HEY—" He pointed at the screen. "That's wrong."
[Mana: 0 → 120 → 860 → 4,200 → 17,500 → 64,000 → 128,000]
"...System." His voice came out strangely calm. Too calm. "Why won't the number stop?"
[Processing...]
The mist around his body now moved more steadily. Where it was once diffuse, it now seemed anchored, as if something was finally giving structure to his existence.
The crystals in the distant cave began to glow fainter.
Gray felt it.
Not as a physical sense, but as perception. He sensed the mana in the environment. Flows. Dense points. Empty spaces. Something that simply hadn't existed before.
"...Ah." He swallowed hard. "I think I broke something."
The interface finally stabilized.
[Mana: 256,000]
Silence.
Gray stared at the number.
Then he looked at the mist hand.
Then at where the Rank-A crystal had been—now there was only an irregular hole in the ground, as if someone had ripped a piece of reality from there.
"...System." He spoke slowly. "That's... a lot."
[Correction.]
The window changed.
[The energy value of a Rank-A stone is extremely high.]
Gray blinked.
"...Extremely high how?"
[By mortal standards: enough to sustain a human mage for decades.]
Absolute silence. The penny dropped slowly.
"...Decades." He repeated.
The mist around him rippled on its own, reacting to the accumulated mana. For the first time since waking up in that world, Gray felt something close to stability. As if he were truly there now.
"...So let me see if I understand." He stood up, without stumbling this time. The movement was fluid. Natural. "I absorbed ONE crystal."
[Yes.]
"And now I have enough mana to power an entire city of incompetent mages."
[Acceptable correlation.]
Gray began to laugh.
Not loudly. Not hysterically.
It was a slow, satisfied laugh.
"...So that was always the problem." He looked at his own mist body, now denser, almost solid at the edges. "I wasn't weak."
He clenched his fist, feeling the mana respond like a newly discovered muscle.
"I was just… drained."
The interface flashed again.
[Warning.]
[With mana available, previously blocked functions can be activated.]
Gray raised a non-existent eyebrow.
"...Oh?"
[Partial body formation is now possible.]
[Imitation: Expanded Limit.]
[Predator: Increased Efficiency.]
He looked around the cave.
At the crystals.
At the Magi-stone veins embedded in the walls.
At what now seemed less like a prison and more like an energy buffet.
Gray smiled slowly, dangerously excitedly.
"...System... Is it possible to absorb more?" He questioned;
[User capabilities are insufficient. Chance of self-destruction is extremely high.]
"Oh shit... there are so many crystals here," he said, looking around. Then he remembered the third part of the Predator skill!
"System, can I just store these crystals?" he questioned.
[Yes, it's possible to store any material.]
"Right... then..." Gray's eyes shone brightly, so brightly that he went crazy!!!
He began to collect them, crystal by crystal, in that cave. One, two, three... twenty. Forty...
[78 Rank-A Crystals were stored in the Stomach of the Predator skill.]
The notification lingered in the air for a second longer than usual.
As if the system was... reconsidering life choices.
Gray stood still in the middle of the cave, surrounded by empty spaces where there had once been gleaming crystals. The walls still shone, but now it was a timid, cautious glow. Like a treasure that realized it had been found by the wrong person.
"...Hah." Gray let out a low laugh, running a hand through the mist on his chest. "That was easier than I expected."
He took one step, then another. His body responded well. Better than well. There was weight now. Center. Gravity.
It wasn't strength yet—but it was existence.
The interface flashed again.
[Update detected.]
[Mana stabilized.]
[Adaptive capacity increased.]
Gray looked up immediately.
"...What now?"
The windows rearranged themselves, more organized, less chaotic. For the first time since awakening in that world, the system seemed... confident.
[Due to high mana reserve and the Aberrant Existence skill, new options have been unlocked.]
A new tab opened.
[Body Formation – Experimental]
Gray blinked. "...Experimental is never a good word."
[Correction: it's an honest word.]
"Fair enough." The text continued to scroll down.
[Partial mimicry of high-rank bodies is now possible.]
[Current limitation: absence of active racial lineage.]
[Result: Incomplete form / aesthetic only.]
Gray tilted his head. "Aesthetic?"
The screen answered on its own.
[Previous target analysis: Primordial Demon – ???]
[Available data: Bone structure + conceptual residue.]
[Demonic power: 0]
[Lineage: inaccessible]
Silence.
Gray crossed his arms. "...So I don't gain power."
[Negative.]
"I don't gain abilities."
[Negative.]
"I don't gain resistance."
[Negative.]
[Correct.]
He took a deep breath. "So what do I gain?"
The answer came simply.
[Appearance.]
The mist around Gray reacted.
Not violently. Not by force. It was like clay realizing that someone had finally decided to mold it.
[Automatically selected aesthetic base race: Human.]
"...Wait, what?"
[Reason: Humans exhibit the greatest neutral structural compatibility.]
[True demonic form requires demonic power greater than zero.]
[Result: humanoid pseudo-form.]
Gray opened his mouth to complain—
And the transformation began.
The mist contracted, pulling itself inward, compressing like smoke being sucked into a gentle vacuum. Where there had been diffuse edges, there were now lines.
Arms took shape.
Legs became firm.
A torso gained proportion.
There was no pain.
There was… fitting.
As if his existence was finally finding an acceptable mold.
The black mist didn't disappear—it condensed. It became something between solid shadow and flesh that didn't reflect light properly.
Gray fell to his knees again.
But this time, for a different reason.
"...I..." He brought his hands to his own body.
Hands.
Five fingers. Dark nails. Palms that were no longer just smoke.
He breathed.
The air went in.
It went out.
"...I HAVE LUNGS?" He brought his hand to his chest, feeling the movement. "—I HAVE A CHEST?"
He stood up, staggering, and ran—really ran—to a polished crystal wall. He hadn't looked directly at it yet, only remembered something...
"Wait, I won't be able to see my appearance—" He said, remembering his race's passive ability, however...
[This only applies to external sources, not to his own gaze.]
"...Oh, I get it." Gray swallowed hard and approached the crystal.
The reflection greeted him.
And he froze.
A man stared back at him.
A balanced height. A defined body without exaggeration, like someone naturally athletic, not inflated. Broad shoulders, a firm waist, posture that seemed correct even when relaxed. His skin had a deep caramel tone, like bronze.
His face was… handsome. Irritatingly handsome.
Well-defined features, a marked jawline, a straight nose, firm lips. Golden eyes that gave him a strange air of superiority, but still… attractive. Dangerous. The kind that would make someone cross the street without knowing why.
He was naked.
Completely.
Gray blinked.
Then blinked again.
He looked down.
To the middle of his legs…
He looked back at his reflection.
"...HAHAHAHA—"
The laughter came out loud, echoing through the crystal cave.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" He moved closer to his reflection, turning his body, analyzing himself from every possible angle. "Handsome, proportionate, absurd presence—Damn, it's big!"
He pointed to himself, laughing.
"I WON THE LOTTERY AGAIN!"
He ran his hand through his nonexistent hair—which now manifested as a short, well-defined shadow—and smiled broadly, too smugly for someone who technically still had zero status.
"I died a virgin, I was reborn a monster…"
"...but at least now I'm a good-looking guy."
He crossed his arms, satisfied.
"...Okay." He took a deep breath. "Let's get out of here, I need clothes." He said, smiling.
...
Note: Well, he might seem like an idiot at first.... To be honest, I believe he starts to improve around chapter 5. I ask for a little patience!
The first chapters will be a bit longer.
Don't forget to add the work to your library and support me with Power Stones — it makes a big difference! Also, for every 300 Power Stones I will post an extra chapter!
I'm counting on you 💙