I Became the Only Reptile in the Community

Chapter 3 – When I opened my eyes, I was a snake 3

—–CROW—–

How does a beast become a mythical creature?

To understand that, one must first know the difference between a beast and a mythical creature.

What is the difference between the two?

Mystique? High intelligence capable of communicating with humans?

No. There was only one criterion that distinguished beasts and mythical creatures.

[Mana.]

Whether or not they could wield it.

That was the single standard that separated mythical creatures from beasts, and the path I had to follow.

And the most basic step in the process of wielding mana.

People started by first sensing mana.

But ironically, the stage of sensing mana didn’t apply to me.

“Sss.”

‘Good, good.’

I explained that the criterion for beasts and mythical creatures was the ability to wield mana.

Then what was the difference between humans and mythical creatures?

‘Whether they wield mana or magic power.’

Mythical creatures used the mana spread throughout nature as is, but humans couldn’t.

Because their bodies couldn’t withstand mana.

Humans, unable to handle mana, made various attempts and eventually came to use a derived form of mana called magic power.

Then what was the reason for the process of sensing mana?

Because you had to sense mana to grasp its quantity, control it, and convert it into magic power.

What if you couldn’t control the amount and absorbed more mana than you converted into magic power?

It would put a strain on the body, and in the worst case, cause the body to collapse.

‘Of course, that’s for humans.’

Mythical creatures didn’t have such worries.

Since mythical creatures handled pure mana itself?

They could just absorb it while breathing?

And this applied to me, a beast striving to become a mythical creature.

‘I just have to lie down and breathe to get stronger.’

Especially in a place where mana was concentrated like this, the speed would be even faster.

Even though breathing was difficult now, it would get better once I got used to the mana and my body adapted and accepted it.

‘But it’s a bit much that I can’t even handle the entrance, isn’t it?’

I never thought I’d be stuck lingering at the entrance of the cave, unable to even enter.

Getting here was fine.

But I could only go so far into the cave entrance. If I tried to go any further, my body couldn’t withstand the pressure of the mana.

If I could just endure it, this place would be the ultimate elixir and training ground, but it was a shame to be blocked at the entrance.

‘Just how much mana is gathered inside?’

And curiosity stirred within me.

How much mana was gathered at the end of this cave?

If I could endure the pressure and absorb that power, how quickly could I become stronger?

‘It’s still too much, too soon. I need to accept my current situation.’

Of course, that didn’t mean I went inside.

I had just been born?

Even now, if I made a mistake, I could suffocate from the pressure of the mana, and if I went further inside where the mana was even denser, I would surely die.

‘I came here to survive.’

Not to die.

“Sss.”

So, I decided to spend some time adapting here for the time being.

The entrance was easier to navigate than the inside of the cave when it came to finding food anyway.

Unlike mythical creatures, I, a mere beast, had to eat to live.

‘There are many trees bearing fruit, so food shouldn’t be a problem.’

However, since these fruits were something I hadn’t seen in the game, I felt a slight sense of caution, wondering if they might be poisonous.

‘I should ask the gallery in times like this.’

There were people who had come here before me, so I was sure to get the answer I wanted.

Thinking so, I took a picture of the fruit so it was clearly visible and posted it on the gallery.

Oh, by the way, I could take pictures just by thinking about taking a picture with my eyes as the medium.

[Is this fruit edible?]

-Author: YonggariSnack

(Picture of round, golden fruits hanging on a tree)

I found a strange fruit, is it okay to eat this? If anyone knows, please answer.

I was a newbie who had just arrived here.

Could those who had come before me avoid the questions of a clueless newbie?

Ding.

Ding.

Ding.

Ding.

‘Alright.’

As I expected, the post I made was quickly filled with various comments.

-?

-Is there a place like that near the temple?

-I’ve never seen that fruit before? Where is it?

-What is that?  I’ve never seen that in my life.

-Is it an apple? But the color is strange?

└Isn’t that a tangerine?

└Do tangerines grow on trees?

└Tangerines grow on trees, you idiot.

└Really? I didn’t know that.

However, this time, there wasn’t an answer I was looking for.

Was this their first time seeing this too?

This was unexpected.

-I know what that is. I saw it in the encyclopedia.

“Sss!”

‘That’s it!’

As always, the gallery didn’t disappoint!

I immediately replied to the comment that claimed to know the identity of the fruit.

-I know what that is. I saw it in the encyclopedia.

└(Author): Really? What is it?

└That’s an ancient fruit called Amrita.

‘Amrita?’

There was a fruit called Ambrosia in the game, which was an elixir.

But Amrita? I’d never heard of that.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who thought so, as others started asking questions too.

└What’s Amrita? I’ve heard of Ambrosia.

└Ambrosia is one of the elixirs obtained in the process of restoring this Amrita. Of course, Amrita is said to be much more effective.

└Restoration?  Is Amrita extinct?

└Yes. It went extinct in ancient times.

Extinct?

It was shining brightly right in front of me?

└Then how did Yonggari take a picture of it?

└You can’t even photoshop pictures here.

└I’m curious too. Yonggari, how did you take that picture?

└Seriously, how did you take it…?

The atmosphere became strange.

If this Amrita was an extinct fruit from ancient times, how was it in front of me?

Gulp.

‘Could it be…’

Was I… living in a time period called ancient times, unlike them?

In an era before the fruit called Amrita went extinct?

‘It was strange from the beginning.’

Everyone else was summoned here as players with the Hero class, retaining their original bodies, but I was reborn as a snake.

And this place. At first, I thought it was just a cave rich in mana, but it wasn’t something that could be explained simply by an abundance of mana.

I had never seen a place like this even while playing the game.

‘Should I share this information?’

But what if someone with malicious intent came here?

Without any power, I would be killed.

Of course, that possibility was low.

There was a high chance that the time periods we lived in were different.

But even so, I hesitated to write, so I just read other people’s posts instead.

‘This is…’

Then I found an unusual post.

[Wanna meet up here?]

-Author: SugarRush

Sorry.  How are we supposed to meet when we live in different dimensions? Let’s just be satisfied with meeting online lol.

-Dude.

-Oh, are we all in different dimensions?

└Yeah. We all live in different dimensions. That’s why meeting up is impossible.

-No wonder I waited for 5 hours for that guy we were supposed to meet last time.

└You foolishly kept waiting?

└Yeah, so I left after 5 hours. I contacted him, and he said he got tired of waiting and left too.

└How long did the other guy wait?

└1 hour.

└LOL.

“Sss!!”

‘This is it!!’

Everyone lived in different dimensions.  That meant there was no problem even if I revealed my identity!

I had the justification.

The justification that my actions wouldn’t lead to dangerous consequences.

Click.

I immediately took a picture of the cave and posted.

[Does anyone know where this is?]

-Author: YonggariSnack

(Picture of the cave with Mana Spirits floating around)

This is a cave right next to the Amrita or whatever fruit, and as you can see, an enormous amount of mana is gathered here. It gets even denser inside, does anyone know this place?

-?

-?

-?

-Damn, where is that again?

-Seriously, where is that place?

-Wait, but the perspective in the pictures has been strangely low, hasn’t it?

└And if you look closely, you can see a green tail at the edge.

└What? I’m getting a little scared. Is newbie-chan actually not human?

└I’m scared of your way of speaking.

With the additional picture, it seemed they noticed something was strange.

Honestly, at first, I didn’t intend to reveal my identity.

There was a possibility that someone might read my post, find me, and kill me.

But I realized from the recent posts that such an imagination couldn’t come true.

[Hey Yonggari newbie]

-Author: FireGinseng

Were you summoned to the past?  I’m really curious, can you tell us more about your situation?

-Why him?

-I’m curious too.

-LOL.

-Honestly, we’ve all experienced the same situation, except for the different dimensions.

└Agreed. Except for the part where we listen to the Goddess’s explanation, the game is progressing exactly the same;;

[I feel a little sorry for Yonggari]

-Author: TangTangSlurp

There are a few theories going around, but what if the newbie was really summoned to ancient times? We don’t know exactly when in ancient times, but if you consider the information about ancient times we see in the library, it’s hell.

-This is real.

-Is ancient times that bad?

└It’s estimated that mana was hundreds of times denser than in modern times. If we were dropped in ancient times right now? One wrong breath and we’d be dead.

└Scary. Crazy.

└And the cave in Yonggari’s second picture, if we assume it’s ancient times, means the mana is even denser there.

└It might be better to not be human for survival.

Just like that, the gallery was ablaze because of me, a person… no, a snake.

—–CROW—–