My name is Tanaka Yuki, I'm eighteen years old, and I'm about to die in the most embarrassing way possible.
Not from the truck, mind you. The truck is coming—oh, it's definitely coming, I can see it barreling down the street like it has a personal vendetta against pedestrians—but that's not the embarrassing part.
The embarrassing part is why I'm about to get hit by a truck.
I dropped my limited edition "Demon Lord's Harem Chronicles" light novel. Volume 12. The one I pre-ordered six months ago. The one that just arrived today and gave me the courage to finally leave my room for the first time in three weeks.
And now it's lying in the middle of the crosswalk.
And I, like an absolute idiot, just stepped into traffic to retrieve it.
This is so stupid, I think, watching the truck's headlights grow larger. This is exactly how isekai protagonists die and I KNOW how isekai protagonists die because I've read like three hundred of these stories and yet here I am, literally doing the meme.
Time slows down. Or maybe my brain is just running overtime, burning through my last few seconds of life by roasting my life choices.
Two hundred thousand followers, my brain helpfully reminds me. You had twenty thousand followers on your 'switch' (bootleg twitch) channel. You were Jelly Princess. You had sponsorships lined up. Magazine interviews. You were going places.
And then that bastard Yamada Kenji happened.
I don't want to think about Yamada Kenji right now. I especially don't want my last thoughts to be about that creepy bastard who showed up at my school, who doxxed me, who turned my classmates against me, who made me into a cautionary tale about "attention-seeking online girls."
But my brain isn't taking requests, apparently.
One year, it continues. One year as a shut-in. One year of nothing but light novels, webnovels, manga, and pretending the outside world doesn't exist. And the ONE TIME you go outside—
The truck hits me.
It doesn't hurt as much as I expected. Or maybe it hurts so much that my brain just... skips that part? Either way, there's an impact, a moment of weightlessness, and then—
Nothing.
Okay, so.
I'm dead.
That's established. Truck-kun got me, classic isekai opening, very original. I accept this.
What I DON'T accept is whatever the hell is happening right now!
I can't see. I can't hear. I can't feel my limbs—wait, do I have limbs? I'm trying to move my arms but I'm getting VERY concerning feedback here. These are not arms. These are... noodles? I have noodles for limbs?!
And why is everything WET?! Am I underwater? I'M UNDERWATER! I CAN'T SWIM!
Wait. I'm breathing fine. Not breathing? I don't think I'm breathing. Should I be panicking about not breathing? I feel like I should panic but my body is just... vibing with it?
Okay. Okay. Think, Yuki. You've read enough isekai to know how this works.
Step one: Check your status. Every isekai has a system. Say 'Status' or 'Menu' or something.
"Status!" I try to say.
Nothing comes out. Because I don't have a mouth. BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE A MOUTH.
Mental command! Mental command! Think it really hard!
STATUS! MENU! SYSTEM! HELP! SETTINGS! INVENTORY! CHARACTER SHEET!
...
Nothing. Just darkness and the sensation of drifting.
This is fine. This is FINE. Maybe the system unlocks later? Tutorial phase? Yeah. Tutorial phase. Just gotta... survive... whatever this is.
Something brushes against me.
[Vibration detected]
WHAT WAS THAT?! WHAT WAS THAT?! Something just—there's something moving near me! Big something! VERY BIG SOMETHING!
Swim! SWIM! ...How do I swim?! NOODLE LIMBS, DO SOMETHING USEFUL!
I flail. My weird noodle appendages thrash around uselessly. I am moving, technically, but in no particular direction and with absolutely no control over where I'm going.
The vibration gets closer.
NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE—
Something massive passes by me. I feel it—not see it, because I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING—but I feel the water displacement, the pressure, the sense of something large and alive and definitely capable of eating me.
It passes.
I'm alive. I think. Can I die twice? Is that a thing?
Okay. Okay. Assessment time. You're underwater. You have weird limbs. You can't see. You're small—you must be small because that thing that almost ate you felt HUGE and it probably wasn't even that big. So you're... what? A fish? Some kind of water creature?
Please be a dolphin. Please be a dolphin. Dolphins are smart. Dolphins are cool. Dolphins have—
Something touches me again. Smaller this time. Much smaller.
And then, like someone flipped a switch in my brain, I know—with absolute certainty—that this thing is food.
I don't know how I know. I just know.
My noodle limbs move on their own, wrapping around the tiny thing. There's a sensation—a tingle?—and then the struggling stops.
[You have defeated: Brine Shrimp]
[+2 EXP]
A blue box. A BLUE BOX! THERE'S A SYSTEM! .... THE SYSTEM IS REALLL!
[Skill Activated: Poison Sting]
Poison sting? I have poison? I HAVE POISON?!
[Current Status: Hungry]
Yeah, no kidding I'm hungry! I haven't eaten since—wait. The shrimp. Did I eat the shrimp? How did I eat it? I don't have a mouth! DO I HAVE A MOUTH?!
[Consuming prey...]
Okay, apparently I do have a mouth. Somewhere. This is happening. I'm eating something I can't see, with a mouth I can't locate, using poison I didn't know I had.
...A shrimp. My first victory in this world. I, Tanaka Yuki, honor student, super streamer and former member of the computer club, have defeated... a shrimp.
Not even a big shrimp. Like, this thing was barely bigger than plankton.
Mom, Dad, if you can hear me in the afterlife: your daughter is doing GREAT.
But hey, at least I'm not hungry anymore. And I have a system! That's progress!
Status!
The blue box flickers, then solidifies:
[STATUS]
Name: —
Species: Moon Jellyfish (Planula)
Level: 1
HP: 3/3
MP: 5/5
Skills: [Poison Sting Lv.1] [Detect Vibration Lv.1]
Jellyfish.
I'm a jellyfish.
Not a dolphin. Not a mermaid. Not even a cool fish.
A. Jellyfish.
THREE HP?! I HAVE THREE HP?! A STRONG CURRENT COULD KILL ME! A MILDLY ANNOYED FISH COULD ONE-SHOT ME!
Moon Jellyfish (Planula). I know what that is—I read about it in some biology book once. Planula is the larval stage. I'm not even a FULL jellyfish yet. I'm a baby jellyfish. A blind, brainless, helpless baby jellyfish drifting in an ocean full of things that want to eat me.
And I have no name. The system doesn't even recognize me as having a name. I'm literally just... unnamed jellyfish larva #whatever.
This is...
This is...
THE WORST GACHA ROLL IN THE HISTORY OF REINCARNATION!
I mean, I've read "So I'm a S##der, So What?" I KNOW the weak monster start can lead to great things! K*m*ko became a god! But she was a SPIDER! Spiders are cool! Spiders have eyes! Spiders have venom and webs and can actually, you know, MOVE INTENTIONALLY!
What do jellyfish have?! We're just... angry bags of water! We drift! We sting things! We don't even have BRAINS!
Wait.
If jellyfish don't have brains, how am I thinking right now?
...You know what, I'm not going to question it. The system probably gave me a free brain as a consolation prize for this garbage reincarnation.
Another vibration. Smaller this time.
[Prey detected]
Oh. Dinner time again, I guess.
My noodle limbs—tentacles, they're tentacles, I need to start calling them tentacles—drift outward automatically. Whatever hunting instinct this body has, it's taking over.
The tiny creature bumps into me. My tentacles wrap around it. The tingle of poison activating. The struggle stops.
[You have defeated: Zooplankton]
[+1 EXP]
One experience point. For zooplankton. I'm grinding zooplankton.
This is my life now. This is my entire existence. Floating in the dark, eating things smaller than a grain of rice, praying nothing big notices me.
I went from shut-in NEET to... ocean NEET? That's not even a promotion! That's a lateral move at best!
But what choice do I have? I can't just give up. I didn't survive Yamada Kenji's harassment, a year of isolation, and getting hit by a truck just to let some random fish eat me in another world.
Besides...
This is like the ultimate starting zone, right? Every RPG has a brutal early game. You start weak, you grind, you get stronger. I've played a million games. I've read a thousand isekai stories. I can do this.
I just need to survive long enough to evolve. Get some actual abilities. Maybe some eyes. Eyes would be nice. I really miss eyes.
And then... and then I'll figure out what comes next.
Another vibration approaches. Bigger. Much bigger.
[Warning: Predator detected]
OH COME ON! I'VE BEEN ALIVE FOR LIKE TEN MINUTES!
I flail my tentacles, trying to move away from the vibration. My body pulses—some kind of swimming reflex?—and I drift maybe half an inch to the left.
The predator passes by. Close. Too close.
[Crisis averted]
My non-existent heart is pounding. Can jellyfish have heart attacks? Because I think I almost had one.
Okay. New plan. Immediate plan. Short-term goals only.
Goal #1: Don't die.
Goal #2: Eat things smaller than me.
Goal #3: Don't die.
Goal #4: Figure out how to actually move.
Goal #5: DON'T. DIE.
Simple. Achievable. Totally not terrifying.
Welcome to "That Time I Got Reincarnated as the Ocean's Most Pathetic Creature," I think bitterly. I'm your host, JellyPrincess—literally now, I guess—and today we're going to speedrun not getting eaten. If you're enjoying the content, please leave a like and subscri—
I stop myself.
There's no chat. No viewers. No audience.
Just me. Alone in the dark. Again.
...Yeah. This is fine. Totally fine.
I'm fine.
I drift in the current, hunting by touch, fleeing from vibrations, existing in endless darkness.
And I try very, very hard not to think about how much I miss having hands.
[You have defeated: Brine Shrimp]
[+2 EXP]
[You have defeated: Copepod]
[+1 EXP]
[Level Up! You are now Level 2]
[HP: 3→4]
[New Skill Available]
Finally. FINALLY! A level up! And a new skill!
How long have I been at this? Hours? Days? There's no way to tell time when you can't see the sun and every moment blends into the next identical moment of floating and eating and not dying.
But I leveled up! That's progress! That's—
[Select New Skill]
[A) Tentacle Control Lv.1 - Gain basic control over tentacle movements]
[B) Prey Sense Lv.1 - Enhanced detection of potential food sources]
[C) Current Riding Lv.1 - Ability to navigate water currents more effectively]
Oh. Oh, these are all good. These are all REALLY good.
Tentacle Control means I could actually steer myself. Prey Sense means I could hunt more efficiently. Current Riding means I could escape danger better.
This is... this is an actual meaningful choice. The kind that could determine my entire build going forward.
Think, Yuki. You've min-maxed a million characters. What's the optimal choice here?
Tentacle Control is mobility. Being able to move means I can position myself better, dodge threats, chase prey.
Prey Sense is efficiency. Find food faster, level up faster, get stronger faster.
Current Riding is survival. Use the ocean itself to escape predators, conserve energy, cover more ground.
In a normal RPG, I'd go for the damage skill. But this isn't a normal RPG. This is my life.
And I am so, so tired of drifting helplessly.
[Selection: Tentacle Control Lv.1]
[Skill Acquired]
The change is immediate. Suddenly, I can feel my tentacles—really feel them—like they're actually part of my body instead of weird alien appendages that sometimes do what I want.
I flex them experimentally.
They move. THEY ACTUALLY MOVE! On purpose! In the direction I want!
Oh my god. Oh my GOD. I have motor control! I'm not completely helpless anymore!
I pulse my bell—wait, I have a bell? I guess that's my jellyfish body—and move forward. Slowly. Clumsily. But intentionally.
This is the greatest moment of my second life.
Forget evolution. Forget getting stronger. Right now, in this moment, I can MOVE and that's EVERYTHING.
I do a little victory wiggle with my tentacles.
And then immediately sense a massive vibration approaching and have to frantically pulse away from it.
Okay. Celebration over. Back to not dying.
But hey... progress.
Level 2. Tentacle Control. Still alive.
Things are looking up.
...Relatively speaking.
I drift through the darkness, hunting, fleeing, surviving.
And somewhere in the back of my mind, I start planning.
This is just the tutorial zone. Just the starting area. I've beaten harder games than this.
I'm going to evolve. I'm going to get stronger. I'm going to get EYES.
And then...
Then I'm going to figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do in this world.