The metropolitan sunset was a masterpiece of bruised purples and bleeding oranges, reflecting off the glass skyscrapers of the city. Rio Trukio navigated the crowded sidewalk with a peculiar skip in his step. In his right hand, he carried a small, elegantly wrapped box—the "Celestial Vanilla Limited Edition" cake. It was the only one left in the shop, and he had fought through a sea of salarymen to claim it.
"Finally," Rio thought, a blissful smile playing on his lips. "After a week of overtime, this little piece of heaven is going to make everything worth it. Just me, my cake, and my favorite anime. The perfect night."
To save five minutes of walking, Rio took a sharp turn into a dim, damp alleyway. It was a shortcut he had used a thousand times, but tonight, the atmosphere felt heavy—thick with the scent of rusted iron and fear. Ten meters ahead, a group of three men in leather jackets had a middle-aged businessman pinned against a brick wall. A switchblade glinted in the dying light.
"I—I already gave you my wallet!" the man stammered, his voice trembling.
"Not enough! We saw that gold watch, old man. Take it off!" the leader barked.
Rio froze, his heart hammering against his ribs. He should run. He should call the police. But his feet felt like lead. Suddenly, the youngest thug, his eyes wide with amateur nerves, spotted Rio's shadow.
"Boss! Someone's there!" he shrieked.
In a moment of pure, panicked adrenaline, the thug's finger twitched on the trigger of the handgun he was clumsily holding. "BANG!!"
The sound was deafening, a sharp crack that shattered the silence of the alley. Rio felt a sudden, white-hot heat bloom in the center of his chest. It didn't hurt at first—it just felt like a heavy punch. He looked down, watching as a crimson stain rapidly bloomed across his white shirt. His knees buckled.
As he fell, the dessert box slipped from his grasp. Time seemed to slow down. He watched in horror as the box hit the dirty pavement, the delicate cake inside smashing into a mess of cream and sponge, mixing with the dark pool of blood spreading beneath him.
"Damn it..." Rio's vision began to blur at the edges, the cold of the concrete seeping into his bones. "I didn't even... get a single bite... I worked so hard for that cake... you bastards..."
With one final, bitter thought, the world faded into an eternal, silent dark.
Darkness. It wasn't the cold, empty darkness Rio expected. It felt like being submerged in lukewarm water. Slowly, consciousness returned, buzzing like a faulty neon sign.
"Am I alive? Did the paramedics find me?"
Rio tried to open his eyes, but he didn't feel eyelids. Instead, his vision simply... manifested. He wasn't in a hospital. He was floating in a cavernous space, the ceiling so high it was lost in shadows. Glowing moss clung to the jagged stone walls, casting a ghostly cyan light over everything.
He looked down to check his wound, but his jaw—or what was left of it—dropped. He had no chest. No legs. No arms. He was a flickering, translucent sphere of azure energy, a lonely wisp of light bobbing in the stagnant air.
"What the... WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" he tried to scream, but the sound was more of a psychic ripple in the air.
[System Notification: Soul Synchronization Complete.]
[Status: Soul Form. Duration: Temporary.]
[Task: Acquire a physical vessel within 24:00:00. Failure will result in 100% Soul Disintegration.]
A mechanical, genderless voice resonated directly within his mind. It was devoid of emotion, like a computer reading a death sentence.
"A System? Soul disintegration?! Are you kidding me?" Rio's wisp flickered violently. "Is this an Isekai? Where is my Cheat? Where is the Goddess who's supposed to apologize for the 'mistake' and give me a legendary body?"
[System: Error. No Goddess found in this sector. Level 1 Soul detected. Please proceed with finding a host.]
"You're useless!" Rio zipped around the cave in a frantic blur. "I can't die again! I haven't even had my cake yet! Hey, System! Talk to me! Give me some advice! What's the best creature in this cave?"
[System: System Level too low for conversational AI. Social Skills: Rank F.]
"Rank F?! I'll show you Rank F! Just you wait until I get a body with hands, I'm going to find your 'Off' switched
Three hours had passed. Rio was exhausted, his blue glow dimming. Every creature he found was either a disgusting giant centipede or a slime that looked like sentient snot. He refused to spend eternity as a pile of goo.
Suddenly, he heard a low, rhythmic thumping. He floated toward the back of the cave, where the air grew colder. There, coiled atop a mountain of shimmering blue crystals, was a serpent of impossible proportions. Its scales were like polished obsidian, and its closed eyes were the size of dinner plates.
"A Shadow Serpent! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Rio's hope surged. "It's huge, it's intimidating, and it probably has a palace somewhere. System! Can I take this thing?"
[System: Host Target: Shadow Serpent (Grand Class). Soul Strength required: 500. Your Soul Strength: 10.]
[Skill Unlocked: Soul Laser (Level 1). Damage: 5-10 HP.]
"Only 10 HP? Fine, I'll just have to be precise!"
Rio gathered every ounce of his being, focusing his azure light into a single, needle-thin point. He aimed right for the soft tissue of the serpent's ear-hole. "SHOOOOOO—BOOM!"
The laser streak sizzled through the air, piercing the serpent's brain through its weakest point. The massive creature gave one final, violent shiver and went limp.
"Yes! Precision beats power every time!" Rio cheered. He charged forward, closing his non-existent eyes to brace for the soul-merging process. "Here I come, world! The Legend of Rio the Great Shadow Snake begins—"
SQUAWK!!
A sudden gale of wind nearly blew Rio away. A massive Giant Eagle, a predator of the upper caverns, dived from a hidden ledge. With a screech that cracked the nearby crystals, it sunk its talons into the fresh snake carcass and hauled it into the air before Rio could even touch it.
"NO! STOP! THAT'S MY RIDE!"
In a blind, desperate panic, Rio lunged forward. He didn't see the snake was gone. He only saw a large, white, pulsating object sitting in the nest of moss right next to the snake's former position. He dove headfirst into it.
[System: Physical Vessel Found. Possession Initiated... 100% Success.
Rio felt a sudden, crushing pressure. It was like being stuffed into a suitcase three sizes too small. He tried to stretch his limbs, but he only hit a hard, curved wall.
"System... why is the snake body so... round? And crunchy?"
[System: Error. Possession Target: Divine Fox Egg (Nine-Tailed Lineage).]
"AN EGG?! I'm in an egg?!" Rio wanted to facepalm, but he didn't have hands yet. "Wait... Nine-Tailed? Like the legendary kitsune? Okay... okay, I can work with this. That's even better than a snake! When do I hatch?"
[System: Natural Incubation Period: 3 Hours remaining.]
"I don't have three hours! The clock is ticking!"
Rio began to thrash. He used his snout, his paws, and even his tails—wait, tails? He felt a strange weight behind him. He channeled his remaining soul energy into one final, explosive shove.
"CRACK! SHATTER!"
The white shell exploded outward, sending shards of calcium flying. Rio tumbled onto the mossy floor, shivering as the cool cave air hit his damp fur. He stood up on shaky, four-legged stilts and looked at a nearby puddle of water.
He was a fox. But not just any fox. His fur was a blinding, transcendent white, glowing with a soft moonlight. And behind him, nine tiny, fluffy tails fanned out like a bouquet of clouds.
"I'm... I'm actually cute?" Rio admired his reflection. "Look at this fur! This is top-tier protagonist material! System, what are my stats? Give me the legendary skills!"
ROOOOOAAAARRRRR!!!
A shockwave hit the cave, knocking Rio off his small paws. He scrambled to the cave entrance and looked down into the valley below. It was a nightmare. A three-headed chimera was currently tearing through a pack of armored wolves, while a dragon-kin rained fire from above. Trees were being uprooted like weeds.
"Wait... the System said I'm a 'Divine' beast," Rio whispered, his tails trembling. "Which means every single monster out there is going to want to eat me to level up, aren't they?"
[System: Correct. Current Threat Level: Maximum.]
"Gway-zi-ပဲ (BS)!!" Rio barked, his tiny fox voice sounding more like a squeaky toy than a legendary beast. "I just got born! Give a guy a break!"