"Grrrrrr..."

That sound came from my stomach.

I am hungry.

That's not surprising considering that I ran across a forest for an indeterminate amount of distance right after I was born.

So what do I do?

I jump into the pond in front of me, unfold the fins of my tadpole tail, and swim diagonally downwards.

The water in the pond is a bit murky, a little greenish, probably because of algae or something like that, but I can still see clearly for several meters ahead.

As for breathing, although I don't have a nose, I do have gills.

They're thin and hard to see. I didn't even notice them in the water's reflection.

The pond isn't a small decorative one, but a big pond with a large number of fishes inside it, probably connected to some river somewhere.

Most of the fishes are small, and swim in a school of fishes.

There are some strays, but I don't care for the ones that are too small. I don't have a habit of eating babies.

I search for the big fish.

I search for a while.

Then, I found one.

It turns out...

the fish in this world, or at least the one I'm peeking at from my hiding spot right now, don't have scales.

It still has the usual neckless oval bodies of fishes,

but it only 3 fins, one big tail fin, and two long arm fins,

and by arm fins, I mean literally that. Although it has no fingers, there are two stretches of muscles carrying forth those fins.

From its side profile, I spy rows of small but sharp fangs hidden in its mouth.

"..."

Bubbles flow out of my gills as I let out a wordless breath.

Were there any fishes like this back on earth? I think there were, but I've never seen them in restaurants. Maybe I saw one in an aquarium when I was a kid, but that's too long ago to remember.

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Now that I think about, do eels count as fish? I think they do...

As I was thinking pointless things, I slowly stretch out my 4 arms, my flexible shell camouflaging itself to become the same color as the murky water.

Claws already having come out, they creeped closer and closer to the fish.

Perhaps they got too close, but the fish, who shouldn't be able to see me, reacted and started swimming away.

Did it feel the vibrations in the water? That doesn't matter.

I immediately pounce, my 4 arms stretching out like spears.

The fish dodges.

Damn, its movements are flexible. It moves more like a fly than it does a fish, owing to those long finned arms of its.

As my body chased, my arms also zigzag after it like they have no joints,

and in fact they don't.

Seeing those 4 arms cutting off all the fish's escape routes in such a bizarre manner, making a moving cage with their soft titanium flesh, closing the space in between little by little, I suddenly felt the urge to give up already.

I should give up calling them arms anymore. They are tentacles.

No ugly suckers on them, but still tentacles.

As long as they are stretched out, they are tentacles, not arms.

Soon, the fish ran out of space to dodge and was caught by my constricting tentacles.

I put a little strength in and

CRACK

the fish bones broke.

Red blood seeping out of a crack in its flesh, showing a glimpse of its bones, the fish lay limp and motionless between my tentacles.

Thus, my first meal in this world is acquired.

Killed stage 1 level 2 Trigilde. Gain 14 Exp.

Huh? What's this? Letters and words popped up in front of my eyes.

Is this the so-called system of this world?

"Grrrrrr..."

...I'll leave researching that for later. I have to address my hungry stomach first.

One tentacle wrapped around my trophy, waving my tadpole tail, I swim back to the surface.

Many moments later, seated by a campfire, a gray kitten-shaped creature is sitting on its butt?, roasting a fish on a stick.

It's hard to believe it, but it took more effort to build this fire than it did to catch the fish.

Finding dry branches,

setting up a ring of rocks,

rubbing the wood to set fire via friction...

It was mostly the last one that took time.

I blew on the smoking hot cooked fish with anticipation.

This is my first time cooking at a campfire. I can't help but feel positive expectations about the result.

Bite

...That didn't work. I have no teeth.

A brief thought.

Then, I shot my drill tongue.

Shred!

A large chunk of the fish was pierced through and carried away and back into my abnormally stretched open mouth, where it is further shred and crushed inside.

It tastes... horrible!

Is there something wrong with the fish, or something wrong with my taste buds?

I made sure to remove its guts, so that can't be the problem.

Nevertheless, I continue eating.

Beggars can't be choosers.

Suddenly, I miss earth.

Even though human society sucked, at least decent food was not hard to find.

Gulp

I want fried chicken.

Killed stage 1 level 4 Quadeago. Gain 32 Exp. Level +1

I look around,

and under my feet (hind arms).

I didn't step on anything.

After a moment of contemplation, I realized.

...It seems like that stupid 4 winged bird died,

to my poison ink spit.

It took so long that I thought it had no effect and that I got a faulty product.

This is why you should wash your eyes whenever you get anything in it,

not that a mere bird is smart enough to know that.

Too bad. I can't go back and fetch the chicken Quadeago meat. I can't remember where it is after my mad escape.