Hm… where am I?
I can't see properly.
Evin opened his eyes slowly. He saw nothing but darkness, but gradually his eyes started to adjust to it. The first thing that came into his sight was a very ugly face with sharp teeth and saliva dripping from them.
Evin tried to scream, but he couldn't. He closed his eyes in fear.
Oh my god, it's a monster. But why? How am I here? And why can't I move my body? Am I going to die?
Before he could realize anything, he was picked up by something. When he opened his eyes, he was in the hands of the same monster he had seen. The monster started to move and hummed.
It was very terrible, but for Evin, it felt comforting.
Why the hell am I liking this horrific sound?
What am I?
He looked at his hands.
Why are my hands so tiny? What am I—a baby? But a baby of what? Don't tell me I'm a baby of this monster…
His gaze shifted.
A goblin? Why… a trash[1] monster?
Oh wait, maybe I'm strong as hell—as a baby.
He tried to move his hand, but it only moved a little.
Strong my ass. I'm not even able to move my hand properly.
But before he could complete his thoughts, the goblin inserted something into his mouth, and his mouth started to fill with milk. Evin's mind filled with disgust. He tried to stop her, but the only thing he could do was cry, so he started crying. The mama goblin panicked and put him down.
Oh god, what was that? Oh, stop thinking about that, Evin. Stop it.
He then looked around and saw that there were more children like him. But what he hadn't realized until then was that he was sitting, not lying anymore. As he noticed this, he thought, what? How am I able to sit this easily?
He tried to grab a rock near him—and he did.
My gripping strength has increased too. Am I growing? Well, I'm a monster, so it's normal for that. These things don't have much of a life anyway. The moment they go outside, they become the prey of people.
Oh wait… I'm a goblin. Which means I died in my previous life. So where am I exactly? Some kind of isekai world, like those Japanese novels?
He saw some other babies lying there, set down beside him. He looked at them and thought, poor things, they don't even know that they are born to die.
The mama goblin had already left, so he had nothing to do there. He crawled around for a bit to look at the place, but it was nothing but a rocky cave. He soon got tired and lay there for some time.
Later, the mama goblin returned and fed him again. It was the same experience as before for Evin, but he realized that every time he was fed, he was getting stronger. This time, he tried to get up on his feet and managed to stand—but he fell immediately.
Evin tried to get up again, and this time he maintained his footing. When he became stable, he moved his right leg, then moved his left leg forward. Just like that, after almost two hours, he started to run. He jumped and said,
"Yas."
Then he realized that he had just spoken a word. He tried to say, I am a goblin.
"I… am a goblin."
I spoke just now. I spoke. Yeah, now I can talk. Man, that was suffocating.
Before he could think further, more goblin children surrounded him and stared at him curiously. He looked at them and said, "What? Never seen a cute goblin before?" To his surprise, they simply walked away and left him there. That was rude. I was talking—at least give me an answer.
After some time, a big goblin arrived carrying a rotten piece of meat and handed each goblin child a portion. Evin received one as well. The smell alone was disgusting as hell. He looked at the meat and frowned. What, now I have to eat this? It's rotten. Why? But then he thought, I'm a monster—and a lower class at that—so maybe my taste buds are made for this. Gathering his courage, he took a bite, but his mouth immediately filled with a bitter, unbearable taste. He spat it out without hesitation. This is not tasty. I can't even keep it in my mouth. Eating this? Not in a million chances.
For the next two days, the same thing happened again and again. After each feeding, his body grew stronger, but that wasn't something to be happy about, because on the third day, he was sent to hunt—or be hunted.
Evin's mind filled with panic. This early? I'm only three days old, and I'm already being sent to hunt? And what the hell was he supposed to hunt with this destroyed spear? He was given a stone spear, which was pretty much useless. Still, he told himself that it was what it was. Now, he had to survive no matter what.
He walked with the group, and to his surprise, they were just rotating around the same area. Are these goblins dumb? he thought. We're literally circling the same place. But before he could think further, the bushes nearby moved, and a group of humans came out. One of them said, "Oh look, there are goblins here. We can get EXP."
As soon as the goblins saw the human group, they mindlessly rushed toward them. Evin looked at his group in disbelief. Hey, what are you guys doing? Those humans weren't even strong. There was a level 1 mage, a level 2 swordsman, and a level 1 tank—that was it.
Evin was completely confused as he watched his people die to the shallow attacks of those humans. The mage girl aimed her staff at Evin and shot a fireball at him. But Evin saw it coming and dodged. It was instinct—but for the girl, it was shocking.
She frowned and said, "Maybe I missed. You're a lucky goblin." Then she added, "I got the EXP I needed, and my mana is drained too. I'll come back later."
All three humans left.
Evin stood there, stunned. At the exact moment he dodged the fireball, his mind buzzed, and a message appeared.
You have done what you were not supposed to do.
The moment the message appeared, Evin felt a strange pressure inside his head. It wasn't pain, but it felt heavy, like something was forcing its way into his thoughts. His vision blurred for a second, and a cold, emotionless voice echoed inside his mind.
Warning.
Unauthorized behavior detected.
Evin froze.
What? he thought. Who said that?
The pressure increased, and more words appeared, not spoken aloud, but etched directly into his awareness.
NPC behavioral pattern deviation confirmed.
Subject has acted outside assigned parameters.
Initiating correction protocol…
His heart raced. Correction? What correction?
The pressure suddenly stopped.
There was a brief silence.
Then—
Correction failed.
Cause: Unknown.
Subject classification unstable.
Evin's breathing became uneven. What is this? What's happening to me?
After a moment, a different message appeared. This one felt quieter, almost cautious.
Initializing monitoring system.
Purpose: Observation and containment.
A translucent screen slowly formed in front of his eyes. It didn't glow brightly or look impressive. It was dull, simple, and almost unfinished.
[Status]
Race: Goblin
Age: 3 days
Class: Trash
State: Alive
Strength: Very Low
Agility: Low
Vitality: Low
Condition: Hungry
Evin stared at the screen, his mind blank.
A system…?
Before he could think further, a final line appeared at the bottom.
Note:
This unit is not required to understand this information.
The screen vanished.
Evin stood alone among the bodies of dead goblins, his hands trembling.
I wasn't supposed to do that, he realized.
And for the first time since waking up in this world, he understood one terrifying truth.
Something is watching me now.
[1] Trash is the lowest-class monster, which exists only as an EXP farm.