The jungle did not celebrate our victory.
It listened.
I realized that as night fell.
The insects were quieter than usual. The birds stopped calling earlier. Even the wind through the leaves felt… cautious.
I sat against a tree, chewing slowly, eyes scanning the darkness. The monkey sat beside me, unusually calm, tail wrapped around his own legs.
Something was wrong.
Not dangerous—yet.
Just… different.
---
The Ache
It started in my hands.
A deep ache, not pain, not injury. Like pressure inside my bones. I flexed my fingers and felt resistance, as if my joints were relearning how to move.
"…You feel that too?" I asked quietly.
The monkey froze.
Then he nodded.
Slow.
Careful.
That alone sent a chill down my spine.
He looked at his hands again. Turned them over. Touched his fingertips together experimentally.
Too deliberately.
"That's not instinct," I murmured.
"That's… thought."
The system did not immediately respond.
Which made it worse.
---
Too Quiet
Hours passed.
No predators.
No warning pings.
No emergency windows.
My heart should've slowed.
Instead, it pounded harder.
The monkey suddenly twitched.
Ears flat.
I followed his gaze.
At the edge of the clearing, something moved.
Not attacking.
Watching.
Tall silhouette. Not a dinosaur. Too upright. Too still.
I reached for a spear.
The figure stepped back into the brush.
Gone.
The system finally flickered.
[Attention Detected]
[Your hunting pattern has been observed]
[Risk Level: Increasing]
"…So we're not invisible anymore," I whispered.
The monkey swallowed.
---
The Dream
That night, sleep came hard.
When it did, it dragged me somewhere else.
I wasn't a monkey.
I wasn't human either.
I stood upright—but my hands were still furred, thicker, stronger. Around me were sticks sharpened by stone. Fire flickered. Shapes moved in the dark—creatures that hesitated instead of charged.
Fear was gone.
In its place—
Understanding.
A voice echoed, not the system.
Older.
> Strength is loud.
But thinking survives.
I woke up gasping.
My heart raced.
My hands—
They were clenched around nothing.
But they remembered holding tools that didn't exist yet.
The monkey stared at me, wide-eyed.
He had been dreaming too.
I knew it without asking.
---
First Symptom
Morning came.
I stood.
And immediately stumbled.
Not from weakness.
From imbalance.
My center of gravity felt… higher.
My posture adjusted on its own.
I straightened—
Just a bit more upright than before.
The system finally appeared, slow and measured.
[WARNING: Minor Physiological Drift Detected]
[Current Status: Pre-Evolution Phase]
[Cause: Repeated Tool Usage + Tactical Decision-Making + Pack Coordination]
I clenched my jaw.
"So this is it," I muttered. "We're changing."
The monkey lifted a rock—
Then aimed.
Adjusted his grip.
And threw it with intent.
CRACK.
Perfect hit.
We stared at each other.
Silence.
Then both of us slowly started smiling.
---
Something Answers Back
The jungle stirred.
A distant roar answered our presence.
Not close.
Not yet.
But aware.
The system issued one last message:
[Evolution will not trigger automatically]
[Your next transformation must be earned]
[Danger Approaches: Intelligence Tests Are Harsher Than Combat]
I picked up a spear.
Not shaking.
Not afraid.
"Good," I said quietly.
"I don't want a free upgrade."
The monkey hopped onto my shoulder, eyes sharp, mind awake.
We weren't just prey anymore.
And we weren't fully monsters yet.
We were something new.
And the world was starting to realize it