NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Hello. World! (3)
Creating new creatures was a great idea, but how do I scatter them all over the world?
I’d love to just dump a whole bunch in one spot and leave, but that probably wouldn’t spread them properly across the globe. Hmm…
Well, I’ve got plenty of time, so maybe I should just wait and see? If it doesn’t work, I can always figure out another method later.
I waddled out of the cave where I was born.
Hmm… Walking is annoying. My legs are strangely thick, making it awkward to walk compared to when I was human.
I have wings on my back, but is it even possible to fly with them?
But let’s be honest, wouldn’t a dragon that can’t fly be no different from a dinosaur?
I gazed at the small wings attached to my back.
As a human, I could never look at my back, but now as a dragon, with my longer neck, it’s a quirky experience to see it.
My tiny, not-so-reassuring wings. For now, I have no choice but to give them a try.
I tapped my wings with the tip of my nose, attempting to remember how they felt.
The sensation of something touching near the wing bones on my back was bizarre—a strange feeling for a body part I never had before as a human.
After imprinting the feeling of them moving by nudging them with my nose into my memory, I attempted to replicate that sensation by moving my back.
It was quite difficult to move a part that I had never had before, but as I shifted it little by little, I began to catch on.
Hmm, ah. So, this is how it’s done? As I vigorously moved something on my back, my little wings began to flutter.
But it doesn’t seem like this will allow me to fly. Hmm…
In that moment.
An envelope icon popped up at the bottom right of my vision.
┌───────────────────────────
│What do you think of the new world you are facing?
│It’s probably lacking a lot since there’s not much there yet.
│But don’t worry! I’ll help you as much as I can!
│
│By the way, I’ve already prepared magical power there.
│Right now, the magic concentration is thin, but it’s expected to get denser over time.
│Once the magic thickens and some sort of system takes shape,
│you should be able to use magic.
│
│Of course, the fact that you’re a dragon means you’ll be able to handle that magic
│at an instinctual level.
│A large dragon being able to soar with tiny wings is all thanks to magical power!
│Of course, you should be able to breathe fire too, so give it a shot!
│
│I’m excited to see what comes out of your mouth.
│
│As for the ecosystems that are too small for you to create,
│I’ve taken care of them, so don’t fret!
│
│Maybe I’m doing too much for you and leaving you with nothing to do!
│
│But still, this world is for you.
│Enjoy it freely!
└───────────────────────────
Ah, thank you so much!
Whether there’s magical power or not, what good is it if I can’t feel it!
You said I could use it at an instinctual level! I can’t even tell if it exists!!!
Ah! Just like this! Flapping my wings isn’t going to magically make me fly!
Like this! Like this! My body is rising, lifting off the ground… rising…
Huh? Am I flying…? My feet are off the ground???
What the heck?! I just flapped my wings and suddenly a strong gust of wind is lifting me?! My body is floating?!
What? What is this??? I’m flying! I’m really flying!!! I’m actually flying!!!!
My body climbs higher and higher. Oh! This is amazing! By slightly adjusting my wing flaps, I can move forward, backward, turn left or right! This is incredible! So fascinating! So much fun!
Even as I soared higher, I had no trouble with flying itself. This is amazing! I’m having a blast!!
But my back is getting sore, and I’m starting to feel tired. Hmm… Maybe it’s because I just got born and my muscles aren’t fully developed? Or is it that the muscles near my wings just aren’t used to this?
At that moment.
The muscles around my wings hurt! Ouch!!! I have a cramp!!! Owww!!!!
I’m falling!!! I’m pretty high up! This height is quite the drop!!! If I fall from here, it’ll be a disaster!!! My wing muscles hurt so much that I can’t flap my wings!!! I’m going to die!!! Someone save me!!!!
Boom!!!
And just like that, before I could even do anything, I crashed to the ground.
The only good fortune in all this is that, even after hitting the ground hard enough to make a big crater, my body didn’t hurt at all.
Well, it does hurt! The wings where I got a cramp hurt like crazy!!! It’s just that my arms are too short to even massage the wing muscles!!!
After struggling in the crater for a long while, the pain in my wings gradually faded away.
Ugh. That hurt a lot. It was a pain I never want to experience again.
Could it be because I’m newly born? Or because it’s a part of me that didn’t exist before? Either way, I never imagined I’d get a cramp in my wings.
From now on… I guess I should do some stretching before I flap my wings.
At least my body seems really sturdy; after falling from a great height, I didn’t even have a scratch.
I’m not sure how tall I am now, but if I think it’s similar to my height when I was human…
Falling headfirst from about a three-story height without a single bruise is certainly proof of my body’s sturdiness.
Anyway, that’s not what’s important.
I moved my wings once again and took off into the sky.
This time, I felt a faint energy wrapping around my wings. Could this be magic? The energy faintly seeping through the air?
It was so subtle that I wouldn’t notice it unless I paid close attention, but as I flapped my wings and ascended, I started to grasp it bit by bit.
Although the concentration is still low, I wonder what I can do with it…? Maybe I’ll be able to use magic in the future?
I’m feeling a little excited about what’s ahead. Yes.
And so, I soared high into the sky.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
The very first thing I did once I could fly around the world was:
“Come forth, life!”
I went around scattering the creatures that would become the ancestors of all the beings I created.
I even added a bit of shock absorption, so these creatures would be just fine even if they fell from a great height.
Adding the shock absorption function somehow made their bodies wonderfully squishy, but that’s just a minor detail.
I also included self-replication, the ability to adapt to the environment, the capability to absorb air for energy combustion, and even the ability to mutate…
Ah, wait, this is slime.
No, it wasn’t intentional, but it’s totally slime!!!
And look, they wrap around tiny things to feast! They can’t consume anything too big! They gobble up things like moss and leaves from the ground!
Hmm… Well, does it really matter? It’s a fantasy world with dragons and magic, after all. What harm could a few slimes do?
In fact, with the function for slimes to consume waste and decompose it, it’s probably beneficial for the environment.
I even added that their slime and the bodies of any dead slimes could serve as fertilizer for the soil.
Thus, creatures existing just above the very bottom of the food chain were born.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
What is the origin of humanity?
The Church of Life, which worships the Goddess of Life, claims that she birthed all life in this world, but that’s not quite right.
After decades of research, I, a professor at the Imperial University, argue that slimes are the origin of all life.
Slimes that adapt to environments and instigate changes! They are the true source of all living beings!
This can be verified by slime fossils found all over the world—
– Presentation by a professor from the Department of Paleontology at the Imperial University.
– After this presentation, the professor was declared a heretic by the Church of Life and the Pantheon and subsequently went missing.
– Rumors swirl that the Empire’s Guardian Dragon played a role in the professor’s disappearance, but the truth remains unclear.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
I scattered slimes across the world.
And watching those slimes proved to be even more fascinating than I expected.
No, really, the process of change in slimes varied from region to region.
In similarly structured environments in different areas, they underwent entirely different evolutionary processes.
For instance, comparing two similar swamp regions, one became mud slimes that absorbed the muck, while the other turned into poison slimes that gathered rotting materials and produced toxins.
Even in ice-filled environments, there emerged ice slimes as rigid as ice, and in volcanic regions, lava slimes erupted with flames.
Slimes munching on leaves and then producing leaves for camouflage. Slimes devouring and assimilating ores to metamorphose into ore-like forms, and more. The world of slimes was boundless.
Typically, slimes entering water would dissolve and vanish due to osmotic pressure from concentration differences, but occasionally, water-adapting slimes began to appear.
And astonishingly, slimes adapting to the water started to alter their surface to prevent the loss of their bodily fluids.
Once single-celled, they began to divide and create a tougher exterior surface, preserving their internal moisture.
However, due to these surface changes, they started to develop mouth-like structures for easier absorption of their microbial prey.
They even began forming fin-like structures for more dynamic movements.
To cope with the challenges of breathing underwater, they started developing gill-like organs to absorb something akin to the oxygen in the water…? Is that really oxygen? Anyway, they’ve started to absorb something that resembles oxygen in the water.
Thus, slimes began to evolve into fish-like forms.