Centuries passed.
For Arin, the flow of time felt strange.
He no longer counted days by rotation or seasons by orbit.
He counted time by eruptions, storms, and system mistakes.
And over hundreds of years, two of his earliest skills began to evolve.
The system chimed after a long period of silence:
[Skill Evolution Notice]
[Skill {Bleeding} → Bleeding (Level 10)]
{Host bleeds 10% more efficiently while reducing blood consumption by 10%}
"Great," Arin muttered. "Now my volcanoes gush even MORE."
Another message appeared:
[Skill {Burning} → Burning (Level 10)]
{Host burns 10% more efficiently while reducing fuel consumption by 10%}
Arin sighed.
"So now I burn better and bleed more. Wonderful. Exactly what a planet needs."
But something ELSE evolved.
Something he didn't notice at first.
Because of his "Bleeding" skill, massive amounts of volcanic material kept being ejected from his surface. But due to reduced lava consumption and efficient burning, his core wasn't being depleted.
Instead…
New mass was slowly building up.
Not by much.
Barely noticeable at first.
But over hundreds of years, that tiny growth added up.
Arin's mass increased.
More mass meant more gravity.
More gravity meant more pressure deep inside him.
And more pressure meant…
Rock at extreme depths was slowly melting into magma.
His molten core was expanding.
Arin felt it.
"…Why do I feel like my stomach is getting hotter?"
After YEARS of this core expansion, something finally triggered in the system.
[Notice: Sufficient records of blood regeneration gathered.]
Arin tensed.
Oh no.
[Generating new skill…]
[Skill generation successful.]
[Skill Generated: Blood Regeneration]
{Effect: Host generates 1% more blood while consuming 1% fewer resources}
Arin's consciousness trembled.
"…WHAT!?"
He yelled so loudly the entire planetary mantle vibrated.
"YOU'RE TELLING ME I CAN NOW REGENERATE MORE LAVA IN MY CORE!?"
He panicked.
"That means MORE volcanoes! MORE eruptions! MORE bleeding! MORE mass!"
He imagined himself ten thousand years later—
A giant magma balloon.
Growing endlessly.
Burning endlessly.
Bleeding endlessly.
"IF THIS KEEPS GOING, WON'T I JUST KEEP GROWING INSANELY!?"
Then a horrifying thought hit him.
With mass increasing…
Gravity increasing…
Density increasing…
"…WILL I ONE DAY COLLAPSE INTO A BLACK HOLE!?"
He screamed at the system:
"SYSTEM! ANSWER ME! WILL I BECOME A BLACK HOLE!?"
The system calmly responded:
[Host should really have himself checked by a golem doctor.]
Arin wanted to cry magma.
The system continued:
[How can a normal golem collapse into a black hole just from bleeding, regenerating blood, and growing?]
[And Host has not even grown 1% in total size. Talking about black holes is unnecessary.]
Arin went silent.
Then whispered:
"…Are you looking down on my intelligence?"
There was a pause.
Arin waited.
And waited.
"SYSTEM? ANSWER ME."
[…]
Silence.
"SYSTEM!?"
[…]
Total silence.
Arin trembled with rage.
"DON'T YOU DARE GO SILENT ON ME NOW! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!"
Nothing.
Not even a beep.
"COWARD! COME BACK!"
Still nothing.
Arin sighed and calmed himself.
"…Fine. Ignore me. But I swear if I start turning into a star or black hole, I'm blaming you."
He looked inward.
His molten core surged.
New magma formed.
Volcanoes bubbled eagerly.
His planet was getting stronger.
Bigger.
More intense.
But also…
More alive.
"Fine… let's see where this evolution takes me."