“So, Blyat. Where are you?” The three-eyed girl looks around again, as if she’ll somehow find me this time.

I can’t help but giggle at her pronunciation. “It's Oo-blee-et,” I say slowly. “And you’re inside me right now."

The girl’s pair of smaller eyes turn a deep red, imitating a blush. “U-Uh, no, I don’t think so. I haven’t found my special someone yet, so…” She trails off, looking at the floor.

I kill my connection so that my laughing doesn’t reach the girl. Well, some tremors still do, but not the noise. After I’ve calmed down I re-establish the connection.

“No, you’re inside a dungeon right now, Wem. And I am the dungeon.”

Understanding dawns on the slime’s face as she begins to nod. Just as quickly she stops nodding, and a frown appears on her face. “So… that means I won’t be able to see you…” She sounds… sad?

“Well… I could, but I need to make a body first…” A bout of shyness takes root in my chest for some reason.

The pink-eyed demon perks up. “Makeover?!” A lust I’ve never seen in either of my lives burns in all three of her eyes. “Let me help!” She isn’t requesting, she’s demanding.

“Uh…” I glance towards Maddi for help, but find her missing. At some point the blue-skinned woman snuck out of the room. Traitor!

Without the guidance of my trusty aide, I cave to my baser instincts and let the pretty goo girl have access to my avatar menu. After giving her the appropriate permission I see her face light up in pure joy.

“Yes! So I have to make one that suits you?” Her excitement gives way to a large pout. “Only one?”

“W-well, I guess you could make more. Just don’t delete my kobold on-” Before I can finish my sentence, the menu in front of me starts whirring to life.

All I can do is watch on in horror and awe as the complete stranger designs my body.

────────────

At some point in my strange new friend’s creative process, I nodded off. I only realize this when I slowly start to become aware again. My vision fades back in, focusing on the laboratory. Wem stands in the exact same place, still tapping away on an invisible screen.

I wonder… Did whatever entity that created the system base it off Earth computers, or was it convergent design? Maybe Earth was influenced by it instead?

My mind is startled back into reality by the goo girl jumping up excitedly. “I’m done!” she says in a sing-songy voice.

She looks around, searching for me. I guess she forgot that she can’t actually see me. After almost a solid minute of watching her fruitlessly scour the large room, I take pity on her.

“I’m not actually there, remember?” I try to hide my amusement, but not very hard.

The girl is totally oblivious. “Oh, right!” She smiles widely. “Well, anyway, before we look at these, can I ask something?”

I resist the urge to say ‘you just did’. “Yes, you can always ask. I won’t always answer.”

Happy with my response, she asks, “Why was your only body besides the lizard a boy?”

I mentally flinch, which is unfortunately sent over our connection. “Well, I guess I just…” How do I even word this? Wait, why am I telling her? …She did help me out, even if she seems to have had fun doing it… “I guess I just figured out that I was a girl?” My statement ends up an unsure question as my confidence flickers.

She suddenly scowls, and thinks silently for a moment. “Aren’t people supposed to know that right away?” Suddenly her face smooths over. “Ooooh! It’s a dungeon thing! Isn’t it?” She bounces in place, happy she might’ve figured something out.

I sigh. “Yeah, let's go with that.” For some reason I catch myself smiling.

“Yay! Time to show Ms. Oubi her new clothes!” she sings to herself in joy.

They aren’t really clothes, but I’m finding it difficult to squish her fun. As I go to open my avatar menu, my focus drifts over the main page. I haven’t checked my stats since… since I woke up here, I think. Let’s do that quick, before I get myself buried in the fun stuff.

The stat list flashes open.

〘〜〜〜〜〜〜〙 #u3j&c*7 -4_: Oubliette Dungeon Adolescent Female Alluring Grotto (Cave)* No Affinities Extreme Endurance, Extreme Vitality, High Spirit, High Lifepool, Otherwise Average Blessing of Territory *Class Test Underway 〘〜〜〜〜〜〜〙

A shot of dungeon dopamine rushes through me as I see my new name and gender in their rightful places. Before I can digest anything else however, the slimy chick rips my attention back to her.

“Helloooo~ Ms. Oubi? It’s time to check out the bodies!” Her enthusiasm is infectious and I start to grin. “Oh, and no peeking! I’ll be swapping the bodies out for you, so you won’t get spoiled!” She beams with her trap-like teeth. Wait, wha-

Then my vision fades out.

────────────

When I fade back in, I’m in a first person perspective. It’s always so odd that this is no longer my normal. I look down, to see what kind of form the insane demon made for me, but all I see is my usual plastic mannequin. Well… almost.

This version has a pair of massive tits. Comically large, to the point that I’m sure there is some form of magic keeping me upright. My gaze slowly moves upwards, until it locks onto the madwoman responsible. Her smaller eyes are glowing red, in her version of a blush.

“I uh, I forgot about this one…” She kicks some rocks hard enough to crack the wooden ground. “Moving on!” she squeaks.

I expect to black out again, but instead my whole form just flashes a bright orange. After the light fades away, my body is completely different. For one, I’m wearing clothes. Specifically, a very familiar poncho. I quickly raise my arm, to try and confirm my suspicions.

Sure enough, my hand consists of two clawed fingers and a thumb, entirely made of bright white goo. I’m starting to doubt my new friend’s creative talents.

My expression must’ve betrayed my thoughts, because she rushes to defend herself, “I came up with more! I just made this one so we could be twinsies!” The words come out of her mouth without a hint of humor. She’s completely serious.

I sigh. “What color are the eyes?” I point one of my new digits at my face, lifting the poncho.

“U-Uh, orange!” she stammers. “I think… orange suits you.” She smiles at me meekly. She’s shy over the strangest things.

I giggle, my layered voice making it creepy as usual. “Alright, next!” Wem nods just as another orange flash fills my view.

Immediately I can tell something is very different than before. My body feels much lighter, and there’s an orange glow around my vision. I look down to see what changed… and find nothing. No body, nothing. Did I go back into my true form on accident? No, I didn’t fade out…

With a smile, Wem answers my unspoken questions. “I made this one in case you ever wanna be spooky!” She throws her hands into the air, flashing her completely nude body underneath her poncho for a brief second. “You’re an orange ghost ball!”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

How… strangely utilitarian. Maybe I wasn’t giving her enough credit… On second thought, this is just a ball of light. Not much creativity involved.

Taking my sudden silence as disapproval, she switches me to the next form with another flash.

Completely opposite to the last body, this one feels very heavy. I try to look down, just to find that my head takes a full second to shift the few degrees needed. I soon see why.

My new body is completely made of large gray stones, piled on top of each other in a vague person shape. Where a person’s chest would be is a large orange crystal, speared through the boulder. I don’t particularly like this one, too hard to move in.

I can’t even get my mouth to open to complain before Wem switches to the next form.

Black strands of hair fall in front of my eyes, a new sensation for me. Oh, I can feel, too! It’s actually been a long time since I’ve felt with a body like this. I look down at myself and see that I once again have smooth, pale skin.

How… nostalgic. My eyes drift to the ends of my dainty hands. …Dainty… The thought fills me with euphoria. My hands! Right! They have small claws where there should be nails. Well, claws might be a bit generous, as the nails are just pointed enough to be sharp more than anything. Just don’t really know what else to call them.

As I mull over what else to call my new nails, something brown and fuzzy drifts lazily into my line of sight. I quickly grab it, which causes me to squeak in surprise. Someone grabbed my ass! I whirl around, expecting to see Wem, but find no one. My eyes drift down to the fuzzy thing in my grasp.

It’s clearly a tail. I’m not sure what kind of tail, but definitely a tail. I give it a tug, which causes another feeling of getting my butt groped. It’s apparently my tail. I give the appendage another once over. It’s long, very long, but thin. At the tip is a fuzzy brush of darker fur. It reminds me of a cow’s tail, except cowtails aren’t this long.

I want to see what I look like! …I never would’ve expected that I’d ever think that. I spent my life fearing mirrors, due to the ugly fiend inside them. Whatever… A full body mirror materializes in front of me, along with the back half of a door. Not my cleanest job, but it’ll do.

I gasp at the adorable girl in the mirror. She’s on the shorter side, maybe five foot one, and has very dark hair which stands out against her snow white skin. Her eyes are a bit too large for her head, giving her a slightly childish vibe. On either side of her head, where a typical person would have their ears buried under their hair, stick out two long ones. The lengthy ears have brown fur covering them and white fluff filling the insides. As I watch one of them flickers. What a weird feeling…

Speaking of, my tail! I mean, the girl’s tail! My initial impressions were pretty spot on, it’s very cowlike. Except for instead of pointing towards the floor, it sticks straight out behind the woman. It whips around in a relaxed manner, as if completely unbothered by anything.

Her clothes are all shades of dark browns and greens, a simple ruffly dress. It stops around her knees, giving it a bit of a more modern look. There must be a tail hole in the back, seeing as the additional limb is swinging freely.

After looking over the girl in her entirety, something clicks into my brain. Something she reminds me of. An animal I only saw once, when one of my teachers was sick during middle school. The substitute just put on Animal Planet and left us to our own devices, namely chaos. But I was pulled in by a special on cute animals, which included the jerboa. The girl is a jerboa person, or at least something similar.

And that’s me. That cute girl with an adorable outfit, it’s me. Part of me wants to tell Wem to pack it up and not bother with the other bodies she made, because something in me clicks with this one. My soul just nestles in really comfy.

Speaking of Wem, she’s been watching me stare at myself with a massive grin. When she sees me looking at her, she puffs her chest out in pride.

“I did good, right?” She grins smugly.

Before I can stop myself, I run up and hug the wonderful girl.

────────────

Eventually, once I’m satisfied, I pull back and look at Wem. Once again she’s blushing furiously. I can’t help but smirk.

“Hey, Wem, where’d you see someone like this? Or did you come up with it? Is it a race somewhere?” The poor girl blinks in confusion, her mind struggling to catch up after my sudden hug.

Eventually she gets to a point where she can respond. “Uuuh… No, I didn’t make it up. It’s not a race, either.” She pulls away from me, covering her cheeks with her hands cutely. “I saw someone like this once. A boy, probably about thirty years ago? He was a monster hybrid, so I never saw another person that looked like him…” She looks off into the distance. “B-but, he was so cute!” She balls her fists up, as if angered. “I never forgot how he looked! A-and…” She peters out.

I wait a bit, but eventually realize she isn’t planning on continuing. “And?” I press.

“W-Well…” She starts blushing again. “Your voice sounded just as c-cute, so I thought of him…” She stares at the ground, her eyes turning an even deeper red.

For the first time since reincarnating, I feel my cheeks get hot. “O-Oh,” I stammer. I really did not expect that answer. W-well… if that’s how she came up with this amazing form, I don’t mind…

“Wait!” I squeak, literally. “Did you say thirty?!”

She tilts her head in confusion. “Yeah? What about it?”

My new mouth hangs open. “How old are you?” I ask incredulously.

For the umpteenth time, she blushes. “Y-you’re not supposed to ask that!” she whines. “But I’m turning two hundred and four this year… If I didn’t lose count at some point.”

“But! Aren’t you like, barely an adult?!” I can’t believe it, how can such a childish woman be so old?

Again she tilts her head. “Yeah? I’m a demon, we don’t have a natural life expectancy. We only die through being killed by someone.”

Oh… right, fantasy world. I should’ve really remembered, seeing as she has three eyes and dark ooze for skin and all. I feel myself blush. That’s a bit embarrassing.

“Right…” I mumble.

Wem giggles furiously, seemingly happy to have something to tease me about. Eventually she calms down and asks, “You want to look at the next body?” After a second she deflates a bit. “Or are you done?”

I won’t lie, part of me doesn’t want to try the other forms out. This one is just too… homey. It’s like someone is asking me to go outside of my house when it’s a bit nippy. I just don’t wanna, but it’s not that I can’t. Through sheer force of will, and my… appreciation… for Wem, I shake my head.

“No, show me the next one.”

Instantly, the girl brightens up. Her mood swings are really something. With another orange flash, I feel my body change.

My view shifts as I find myself looking up at Wem from the floor. I try to stand, or move at all, and find that I can’t. Before I can start to panic, Wem scoops me up off the ground and carries me to the mirror. For some reason, she puts me on her head, like a hat.

Sure enough, once the mirror is in view, I see Wem. On her head sits a dapper new tophat, with a large, glowing, orange crystal sewn in.

“Why?!” Luckily my voice still seems to work, once again being the layered chorus of women.

Wem beams at me in the mirror. “So if you want to go outside, I could wear you and use my magic!” She again flashes me by throwing her arms up in excitement. C’mon, girl! You can see what you did in the mirror! Is she some kind of pervert?

Oh, hold on, her plan won’t work. How do I tell her I can’t leave the dungeon? I guess I just have to rip off the bandaid. I mumble out an explanation, and the girl deflates like a balloon. She gently places me on the ground without a word before triggering the flash again.

I’m back to my ‘normal’ height, which is slightly taller than my jerboa form. I look down and see that I have skin, so I’m human… probably. The odd thing is that there’s orange crystals growing all over me. Also I’m fucking cold!

I look up into a mirror and see someone I can only describe as an ‘ice queen’. Not just as the personality stereotype either, though it would fit, but she also has large orange ice crystals growing all over her body. Orange… ice? I look over at Wem, hoping for an explanation.

She just shrugs at me. “I thought it looked cool.” And with that we moved on to the next body.

This one is another humanoid, that from what I can see in the mirror is totally human aside from the orange gems in place of her eyes. But something feels off. Like things are… watery? It’s a strange way to describe your body, but it’s the closest thing I can think of. I glance over to Wem, who smiles mischievously.

She taps her face. “Try to suck in your skin.” She demonstrates by puckering her lips and sucking in her cheeks. Suck in my skin? What the hell is sh—

I squeal like a little girl as I see my skin melt away in the mirror, leaving a bare skull with two gems sitting in its eye sockets. Even my hair melted! After a moment the fear passes, and I start giggling at the skeleton that pulled her leg up and squealed like she saw a rat. I try to reverse the process, and sure enough my skin is replaced almost instantly.

“I thought it’d be good for intimidation.” Wem explains. I nod slowly, starting to kick myself for doubting her creativity earlier.

With an orange flash, I find myself looking up from the floor again. I sigh as the demon girl picks me up and holds me in front of the mirror.

In her hands sits a typical orange masquerade mask, except the eyes are filled in. Before I can even speak my questions, Wem turns me so that I can see my new shape’s profile.

If I had a stomach, I’d throw up. On the backside of the mask is what I can only describe as an organic torture device consisting of spiny limbs and tentacles. Wem quickly puts me up to her face, and I feel my body horror parts spur into action against my will. I start to feel nauseous, lack of stomach be damned, as my bits push their way around Wem’s eyes and into her sockets.

And suddenly, I feel none of that. What changed? I absentmindedly scratch my head… wait, what? I look at my hand. More accurately, Wem’s hand. I look into the mirror and see only Wem, wearing a bright orange mask. I quickly reach up and pull myself off of her face.

With a loud slurping sound, I lose the feeling in my limbs — Wem’s limbs. The poor girl gasps for air violently, before laughing loudly.

“Wow! That was so weird!” She starts giggling again.

I feel anger well up inside me. “Are you insane? What if I hurt you? I might be immortal, but you can still get killed!” My anger is much more intense than I would’ve expected.

Wem looks at the floor sheepishly. “Well, it didn’t hurt. And I’m pretty durable. But you didn’t do any damage anyway!” She regains her confidence for some reason. “This is so you can go undercover, and infiltrate the enemy!”

I just sigh. “Wem, I can’t leave the dungeon, remember? Also, I have no enemies to infiltrate.”

The girl stomps in frustration. “Dammit!”

────────────

A giant spider sits in the center of her chamber, watching the brood tenders work on the egg sacks. At first she felt very protective of each of her children, but after her many months of being alive that feeling has passed. Too many died useless deaths, fighting against creatures far stronger than them. So now affection only grows after a child has lived long enough.

The monster knows that there is a reason for her children’s deaths, a purpose for their sacrifices, but it's hard for her to understand that. She’s smart, very smart for an arachnid, but still not on the level of understanding the nuance of why her children are dying in droves. She just felt the tinge of pain whenever one was snuffed out.

Her patience is running thin. Not long ago a two-legged one came and spoke to her. It gave her images of a plan, of her creator’s plan. It’s a plan that she despises. To continuously throw away the lives of her spawn, in order to keep the vermin busy. She won’t go against her creator, not ever, but she cannot follow such a plan.

It would hurt her too much.