Endless Evolution as a Centipede in a Game-Like World

[NoobPlayer69: Who’s gonna tell him?]

Seeing that abstract comment, I couldn’t help but feel irritated, but I played it cool and simply asked:

[ApexHunter101: Tell me what?]

[NoobPlayer69: Bro doesn’t know, welp :faceslappingemoji:]

Of course I don’t know; that’s why I asked in the first place!

Players were obnoxious; some of them even treated this world like an actual game, thinking of the people as NPCs so they could carry out all sorts of depraved acts and live this ’fantasy’ to the fullest.

It wasn’t the monsters I was worried about in this world; it’s the players who think they are gods. Interacting with this guy made me remember all the posts I used to read defaming players.

In the end, I decided to ignore him and waited for someone else to respond.

[GoddessOfLust: @ApexHunter101 Ignore him. The place you just described sounds a lot like Kronus. It’s a small kingdom for demons, but don’t worry; the demons there are weak. This is where most of our demon slaves come from. When the demon empire was driven back to the south, this kingdom was all that was captured. Since we couldn’t decide which kingdom should take possession of it, it remained free.]

[ApexHunter101: @GoddessOfLust Thank you. I understand now.]

[GoddessOfLust: And also, it’s the monsters you should be worried about. Those worms have a D-ranked threat level, so unless you have a D-rank threat level yourself or you’re at least at level 25, then I don’t think you stand a chance. If you could force one of the demons into a slave contract, then I suppose it’s possible to form a party to help you survive. If not, then the only way is to try and level up by picking off the weaker or injured monsters.]

[ApexHunter101: OK]

So in short, I can’t leave here unless I get strong enough to face those worm monsters. I can get stronger by fighting insects, but that would take too long since the EXP needed to level up doubled at every level.

This left me with only one choice: I had to enter the dungeon I saw. I needed to see the monsters there for myself to decide whether it was better to face them or the worms. As for the biomass and skill points I had, I decided to wait before spending them.

Every resilient creature in this world evolved based on their environmental needs, so instead of spending biomass arbitrarily, I’ll wait and decide the best evolution I need based on my environment.

After all, evolution was adapting the traits most suitable for survival, not just choosing traits arbitrarily.

For now, though, I decided to log out since I had been inside Vesperia for nearly an entire day. Immediately as I logged out, my body felt strange. I was hit with a maddening headache so powerful that my eyesight was gone for a fraction of a second.

"Arg!"

"Here, quickly take this."

Suddenly, a sweet, familiar voice flowed into my ears as a hand reached out to rest something against my lips. It looked like a tablet, while the hand belonged to Amelia. Seeing this, I didn’t hesitate before opening my mouth and swallowing the pill.

Almost immediately, the pain began to subside before it disappeared completely. As the pain faded, my vision settled, and I was able to see my surroundings more clearly. Amelia was sitting beside me on the bed with a worried expression.

"What happened?" I asked as I tried to catch my breath.

"You stayed in Vesperia for nearly a day. You must’ve leveled up quite a lot there; that’s what caused this."

Leveling up caused the sensation of my mind being split in half?

"But how?"

"My sister went through the same thing. Whenever she logged out of Vesperia, she was constantly in pain. Leveling up doesn’t only improve your strength; it decides what percent of your strength gets transferred over to the real world. It’s placed on a scale of 100."

"So the fact that I’m at level 7 means 7% of my strength is being transferred over into this world?"

Amelia nodded.

"The pain is because your body can’t keep up. You need to start exercising and taking better care of yourself."

This was the first time I was hearing this. I would’ve thought something like this would’ve been discussed in the forum, but I’ve never seen any mention of it. The only explanation is that there must’ve been a ban on certain information being revealed there.

It must’ve been their attempt at forcing players to attend the university. Amelia’s family was highly influential, so it made sense how she knew.

"That tablet you gave me, what was it?"

"It temporarily relieves the stress of having your strength being transferred. When I saw that you didn’t wake up after nearly a day, I thought you may need it, so I went out to buy it."

I couldn’t even imagine how expensive something like this was. Any specific item geared towards players was extremely expensive. She must’ve used most or all of her salary to pay for this.

There was no use in asking; I knew she wouldn’t tell me. Meanwhile, she was wearing the same clothes she showed up to my apartment wearing without buying anything for herself. It was washed so many times that the colors were fading.

Speaking of clothes, was I wearing this when I logged into Vesperia? I don’t think so.

Looking across to the mirror, I realized that my hair was neatly combed, and these clothes were washed and ironed. For someone who slept for almost an entire day, my appearance was well put together, and I wasn’t even hungry.

The only issue I found was my joints that felt kind of stiff, and my ribs were hurting for some reason, as if something was being pressed against them as I slept. Looking down at my shirt, I realized that there were a few strands of blonde hair on my chest area.

Did she...

Looking over at Amelia, I realized that she was doing her best to avoid eye contact as if she was guilty of something.

Asking her that question may cause her to flip out like a crazy person, and though it may be cute to see the crazy expressions that may cross her face, it may also be hazardous to my health; hence, I decided to ask another question instead:

"Did you umm... change my clothes?"

The question seemed to have sent electricity coursing through her spine as her posture immediately straightened up. This caused me to raise an eyebrow, which then caused a bright flush to appear on Amelia’s cheeks as she suddenly got defensive.

"It’s not like I wanted to bathe, clothe and feed you, OK! It’s not like I enjoyed it or anything because I didn’t! It’s just... you left me no choice."

"You always purse your lips when you lie."

Amelia’s face lit up as she was ready to explode in what seemed to be anger, but before she could, I reached out and rested my hand on her head. This caused the words to get stuck in her throat as her mouth opened and closed a few times without a sound coming out.

This caused a smile to appear on my face.

"Are you mocking me?" she pouted. "This is the last time I’m helping you out. Next time, I’ll let you rot before I lend a helping hand."

"I’m sure you will."

She wouldn’t. I knew her too well.

Seeing that I was still teasing her, she stomped her feet before storming out of the room but before she could, I grabbed her hand.

"Thank you. I appreciate your help."

We stared at each other for a brief moment before she held down her head and a faint smile appeared on her face before it was gone in an instant. Her response came in the form of a small nod before she left the room.