Raka sat on the branch of a tall tree, panting heavily. It had taken him nearly an hour to climb it, slipping several times before finally getting a grip with his awkward new limbs. Now, perched up high, he glared at the distant castle in the horizon.
"It's that damn bird," he muttered, tail flicking in irritation. "That feather-eating, ass-smelling, ugly-looking, well, that's a lie, but still, that fucking bird!"
He smacked the trunk with his small, hairy hand, the sound echoing faintly through the forest.
"A damn monkey," he groaned. "Out of all animals—all—I could've turned into a tiger, a bear, a cat… hell, even a lizard! I could've slept all day, done nothing, lived the dream!"
He threw his arms up dramatically. "But nooo, I had to devolve! A monkey!"
He shouted again, and only a series of shrill monkey noises escaped his mouth, echoing through the trees like mockery.
Birds scattered from nearby branches, and somewhere in the distance, another monkey called back, as if laughing at him.
Raka slumped forward, face buried in his hands. 'Perfect. Just perfect. First I lose my human body, now even the forest's roasting me.'
He let out a long sigh that turned into another involuntary screech. The sound startled even him.
"Great," he grumbled, rubbing his temples. "Now I can't even complain in peace without sounding like a zoo exhibit."
He leaned back against the trunk, glaring up at the sun filtering through the leaves.
'Fine. Whatever. I'll figure this out. But that bird bastard, when I find him, I'm shitting on his car.'
"Do angels even use cars, well... I'll rip his wings off."
He went quiet for a beat. 'maybe that's a little dark,' he thought, and his shoulders loosened a fraction.
Raka shoved his hands on his hips and looked out over the treetops. "Well, I'm here now. Can't change my situation. If I'm going to be a monkey, I better do it properly. This is a fantasy world, I'm sure even a monkey can get strong."
He tried to laugh, a high, ugly sound that slid into another involuntary screech. 'Maybe I'll turn into King Kong,' he mused, and the idea made him snort. The sound annoyed him more than it amused him.
He sighed and scratched at his butt where the hair tugged. The itch was persistent and oddly satisfying, like a small, rude reminder that nothing about this day would be normal again. He settled his weight on the branch and, despite everything, let himself watch the horizon for a while.
He kept scratching his butt until he smelled it, and frowned... "I wonder what now, "
[Scratch butt has passed]
He was interrupt by a sound, he looked around and saw a green looking holographic game like status.
'Now this is what I'm talking about' He smiled as he thought.
From what he knew from his old worl in fictional he spoke up, " status".
Uploading status.
Updates.
[You have entered ##### realm]
[You have consumed a radiated rotten Origin apple]
[You have been turned into a monkey]
[Welcome to world— Earth 23]
[Your body has been infected by the apple]
[Since you are a beast you cannot get a class]
[Update complete]
Raka stared at all of that information.
Raka opened the glowing status window, his eyes darting over the details.
[Name: Raka]
[Age: 17]
[Race: Monkey]
Health: (100%)
Mana Capacity: 10/10
Power level: — 0(0%)
Strength: 4
Agility: 16
Intelligence: 7
Energy: 1
Charm: 7
Luck: ???
Unassigned Stats: 0
Innate/racial Abilities:
– Devour
[- The ability to gain energy from anything you consume.
- The ability or chance to absorb an innate ability from anything you consume.]
– Monkey See Monkey Do
[- You learn faster by observing others and mimicking their actions.]
[????]
Acrobatic body(passive)
Affinity:
Lightning (0%)
Earth (Plant) (0%)
Skills:
Speech Craft — Apprentice (50%)
Techniques:
N/A
]]]]]]]
Raka stared at the floating text, speechless for a moment. Then, a grin slowly formed across his face. His fingers trembled slightly, not from fear but excitement.
'This… this is good,' he thought, unable to stop the growing smirk. 'This is really good.'
As a gamer in his past life, he knew what true potential looked like when he saw it.
And right now, he was potential.
Despite the questionable strength stat, the rest of the setup screamed promise. This wasn't bad luck, this was a jackpot waiting to happen.
The 4 in strength really did make him wince. That was tough.
'Guess I won't be punching through walls anytime soon,' he thought.
The agility, though, made sense. Sixteen was high, and considering he was now a monkey, it fit perfectly. The low strength also made sense for his size, small, nimble, not exactly built for wrestling bears.
He didn't even bother touching on the luck stat. Three question marks? That could mean anything. Maybe it was glitched. Maybe the system was mocking him. Either way, he wasn't ready to test it.
But what really caught his attention were the innate abilities.
Devour was the first, and it was insane. The description alone was enough to make his heart race. It said he could gain energy from anything he ate. Anything.
Let alone the part about possibly gaining abilities from what he consumed. That was ridiculous, broken, even. A gamer's dream.
But then another thought hit him.
'Wait… does that mean I gotta eat people now?'
He grimaced. Yeah, no. Maybe later.
The second ability, Monkey See Monkey Do, was less horrifying and way more fun. If he watched someone play the piano, fought, or even crafted something, he could learn it faster just by mimicking them. That was pure gold.
Then there were the affinities, Lightning and Earth (Plant). He knew what affinities were from every fantasy game he'd ever played, but the zero percent beside them confused him. 'So what, do I gotta grind exp for magic now?'
He scrolled further and found the skills section. Just one entry.
Speechcraft — Apprentice (50%)
He blinked. "That's it?"
A long pause. Then he sighed. "Of all things, I got monkey speech level fifty."
He leaned back against the tree trunk and muttered, "Guess I'm the smooth-talking monkey of Earth 23."