Next morning, I woke up.

"Meow? (What's going on?)"

My movements feel kind of stiff.

I can move my eyes, my mouth, and my limbs. But every movement feels a bit restrained.

A look at one of my limbs, then at the others, made me realize that most of my body had been wrapped in silk. That includes the tentacle that was cut short and bleeding last night.

I look to the wooden cage. Number 1 and number 2 are sleeping there. Or it looks like they're sleeping. I can't really tell since they don't snore and don't have eyes.

If they did this under normal conditions, I'd think it's a prank and spank them. But if it weren't for them wrapping up my bisected limb in their silk, I'd probably bleed to death without waking up.

"Meow... (Thanks, you little brats...)"

Grumble~

A sound and a cave-in feeling comes from my stomach.

I'm hungry. Let's go eat something.

"Meow ow ow (Ouch ouchie ow)"

I made away from Sara as I ventured into the woods to search for food. Every wide movement made some part of my body hurt. I can't see from above the silk, but I'm sure I have plenty of fractures in my shell and bruises in my flesh underneath.

It might have been under the effect of adrenaline, though I not sure if mollusks have adrenaline, but I'm surprised I was able to fight in this state last night.

Unfortunately, after a short trip, I was unable to find any prey that I could confidently take on in this state. Instead, I just brought back a bunch of fruits to stave off the hunger.

As I ate, I reflected on last night's actions.

Simply put, I was a fool.

No, I do not think I was a fool to steal, to break a society's laws or something like that.

I was a fool because I stole too much of something even when I already got enough of what I needed.

I went to the same place over and over to steal, thinking that the victims would never respond and that I would never get caught.

I also never expected that their response would be so intense.

These are lessons that I must remember, so that if and when I steal things again in the future, I do not make the same mistakes and end up losing more than I lost last night.

Now then,

I fought a long series of battles last night. There were no material spoils, so let's check the gains in status instead.

Name: Gosh Species: Faux kat (Stage I) Level: 17 (5%) Innate Abilities: Poison Ink Glands, Stretchable Titanium Shell, Night Vision Eyes, Retractable Titanium Claws, Camouflage Pigment Acquired Skills: Spit level 3, Dash level 3, Constrict level 3, Swim level 2, Cook level 3, Whack level 3, Scratch level 3, Leap level 4, Twist level 3, Endure level 4, Pierce level 4, Hide level 4, Chop level 4, Construction level 4, Dismantle level 3, Snatch level 3, Dodge level 2, Danger Sense level 0

My level rose a lot. It's been a long time since that's happened.

A lot of my combat-related skills rose, some 1, others 2, not surprising considering how perilous it was and the fact that all my opponents were in the stage above mine.

But what's this? The skill so clearly standing out, with it written in green?

Danger Sense?

Judging by the name, it must be how I noticed the danger coming from the crowned ape before. Or maybe it came after I noticed the danger. Is it special somehow?

Unfortunately, the system of this world does not answer me, nor is there anyone nearby to tell me.

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If games are anything to go by, a different color in these cases would mean higher rarity or higher value. In that case, this would be a good thing and nothing to worry about.

In the worse case, there is something wrong with my status and consequentially something wrong with my soul or body after getting beaten all over. But there's nothing I can do about that anyways, so why worry about it?

I wonder if there's a skill that I can acquire to regrow my limb. Or if my tentacle will grow back after I evolve? How far am I from evolving?

Once again, there is no one to answer me.

Days pass, as I perform as little activity as possible to allow my body to rest and recover.

At most, I would dip into the pond to try and catch some small fish to eat.

Surprisingly, the silk remains stuck to me even when soaked, as long as I don't stretch it. I ended up swimming through the water relying on just my finned tail and catching prey with just my drill tongue. If I could see myself doing it, it'd probably look kind of creepy, like some kind of carnivorous tadpole.

Maybe it's due to this more troublesome way of swimming though, but my swim skill that has been stagnant till now due to the limited amount of swimming I did, finally rose up to level 3.

Suddenly, one day, something showed up.

"Meow?" Staring into the forest, I was suspicious and confused.

From afar, that something looked like a brown egg in a pouch.

Only when it came close enough and became bigger did I notice that the thing has big eyes and a wide smiling mouth.

"...!" It's actually a living thing!

It has no arms, no legs, and floats across a few feet above ground. Can such a creature actually exist?

It entered the clearing and stopped at the fence.

"Hello, can I come in?" It said, amicably.

"Meow!? Meow? (What!? You can speak?)" I stretch out and wave a tentacle, gesturing for it to come over.

The egg creature floated over the fence and came near, as I stare at it in rude bewilderment.

"Hello, my name is Amfri. I'm a silot merchant. I saw your house from afar and came to see if I can do some business."

My jaw, if I had one, dropped in surprise. Upon listening closely, I can hear the egg creature silot merchant's voice come out as meow meows, but understand it as distinctive words in my brain. In other words,

"Meow? (You know my language?)"

"Of course." Amfri smiled proudly. "To do business across the continent, we silot merchants learn the languages of many sentient races. Our silot race is good at that."

Is that the natural talent of a race? Fascinating.

"Meow? Meow? (Can you tell me more about your race? And other races?)" I ask energetically. I've never believed the only sentient race in this world to be apes.

"I can. But it will cost you money."

"...Meow meow. (...Then forget it. I don't have any money.)"

Amfri shook his... head? Rather, he just turned his whole body left and right. It's hard to tell whether he's expressing objection or moving for the sake of moving.

"We silot merchants can accept anything in place of money. We can also get you anything in return. Just ask."

"Meow? Meow. (Anything? But I don't see anything on you.)" I tilt my head as I observed its egg-like body.

"It's here. It's all here." Amfri said. Then, his pouch expanded, and all kinds of things started popping out.

Weapons, farming tools, books, food, furniture, clothes, and a bunch of other things I don't know are.

Once again, I am surprised. Is this magic? Some kind of spatial magic? There's no way an ordinary pouch can hold so many things.

"Meow. Meow. (Wait. I'll go get my stuff.)"

I quickly went around and gathered all the things I had in excess, the planks and stone weapons I stole from the apes, pelts I had carved off of monsters that I killed, nuts I gathered in the forest, and the extra roasted fish I planned to save for lunch today.

"Meow? (Can these work in place of money?)" Barter, I believe the term was called.

"Yes." Amfri smiled. "Do you still want information about the other races? Or would you like something else?"

"Meow. (Something else.)" Information like that, I can find out on my own someday. I prefer something more tangible now.

"Meow? (Do you have something that can fix my arm?)" I asked, as I showed my stumped tentacle. Since there exists magic in this world, I suddenly felt hope.

A frown appeared on Amfri's face. "Yes, but you can't afford it."

"..." For a moment, I thought about robbing him.

But I quickly gave up on that. I didn't need my danger sense to tell me, that such an action would be dangerous. This silot merchant traveled through a forest filled with monsters without getting a single scratch. Coupled with his ability to perform magic, there's no telling how strong he is. I shouldn't underestimate him just because he looks like an egg.

Besides, unlike the apes, Amfri has never attacked me, nor has he shown himself to be some evil villain. It'd be mean to harm him for selfish gains.

"Meow? (Do you have books on magic?)" I asked.

Amfri smiled. A book floated up out of the pile. "Yes. With your current funds, I suggest this book of beginner's magic. It has 10 magics, from elemental magics like puddle to a divination magic like compass. But... can you read? Most faux kats I've met don't know how to read."

"Meow. (Of course I know how to read.)" Don't underestimate a reincarnator who went through college education.

...wait. I'm also a transmigrator from another world.

"Meow? (Can you give me a peek?)" I asked, having a bad feeling.

Amfri flipped to a page with purely text and hovered it in front of my eyes.

...Shit, hieroglyphics.

----------------------------------------

A comment on the silot race by an anonymous student of the Mod Genius University:

The silot race is born with the power of telekinesis. Their race has bigger brains, better memory, and more flexible throats than most. They can learn magic and languages faster than others. Their reproductive ability is not very high, causing their population to be perpetually low. Maybe that's why when they go out, they consistently travel in a hard egg-shaped protective shell, making gullible people think that is their original form. The eyes and lips you see on their shells are just illusions conjured by magic. You can never guess what they're thinking because their true faces are literally hidden behind a wall. And that's one wall you'd never want to tear down, because they look absolutely-

The rest of this comment has been removed due to insensitive content.