Chapter 4

A [tunnel] was rather hard to describe with words alone. Imagine an underwater corridor with its sides, ceiling and floor made of dense flowing water that ushers you in one direction. The walls outside of the tunnel extend far and far — connection to other [tunnels] and forming this huge cavern like [Area], where countless branches, [tunnels], lead to other [Areas]. None of that truly describes the tumultuous nature of the winding pathway to more of this somewhere.

Oh, and apparently the place I’m in is not endless. An [Area] got walls, like a cave system.

The walls weren’t particularly solid, but it was impossible to break through and weirdly elastic, rebuffing anything that impacted it without harm. Even [Grey blobs] survives brushes with it.

As of now, I floated idly in front of a [Tunnel], watching how the strange, not-really-there material that the [Beyond] is consist of billowed like clouds, funnelling into the [Tunnel] from the pull of the currents.

This looks and sounds really dangerous, I noted to myself warily.

From this position, I couldn’t see the other end of the [Tunnel], which seemed to have hidden beyond the crazy loops of the [Tunnel]. Occasionally, near me I could see the [Blobs] getting drawn in, accelerating in the tube and getting spat out somewhere out the other end.

I didn’t swear much, given my upbringing in an uptight orphanage, but this calls for a 'fuck'.

This is a freaking bad idea, Elisa.

…

I still need to do it if I want to find something other then [Blobs].

Do you really?

….

If you are going to do it, just do it. Stop wasting time.

Fuck, I repeated, This is a mistake.

My eyes are going to need to open for this one, doesn’t it?

Just do it.

I sighed again to myself. I thrust myself into the [Tunnel].

…

And nothing.

Wait no, I’m moving.

Kind of.

There was no current acting on me, nothing that seemed out of the norm in the [Beyond], yet I’m zooming away into [Tunnel] away from my starting area with ridiculous speed. It’s like space itself was being leaked out into another [Area], and me being caught in it was just as perfectly preserved as the entire area. As a result, I got punted over to the other [Area] along with all the [Blobs] caught unwary.

So that’s how the [Blobs] survive this trip, I thought to myself as I was sucked through the [Tunnel]. The walls around the [Tunnel] blurred and mushed together, racing by as I got sent through.

Before I even finished my mental reflection, I’ve already gone through to the other side.

…

Well, that was easy.

…

Who said that all [Tunnels] function the same way?

Enough of that. I needed to make sure I am in a safe position first. Opening my [Eye], I surveyed the new [Area] I’m in.

Huh.

Okay.

It was not too different from the [Area] I just came from, about the same size. It was populated again, with countless [Grey Blobs] and [Red Blobs]. However, there seemed to be a bridge/ column like thing in the middle of the [Area], it’s ends welded to the walls. The bridge itself seemed… solid, it’s surface calm and barely shifting.

There is no up or down here in the [Beyond], and the idea of a solid object gave me quite a shock as I attempted to figure which way is up before I realized that it was stupid to assume there is one.

Looking around once more, there weren’t any other large creatures around, the biggest thing being a [Red Blob]. Mentally sighing to myself in relief, I swam over to the column-thing with the intent of checking it out. As the column span across the entire [Area], it meant the thing was pretty big.

Then, I spied movement on the column.

No, I’m not just seeing stuff. I’m hearing stuff, for the first time since I woke up from the dead.

Hovering closer, I realized that there were these… green coloured things stuck on the surface of the column. Alarmed, I paused in my approach, carefully trying to comprehend what I’m seeing right now.

Are those… bugs?

With closer inspection, the strange red thing that is not a blob resembled a worm. Tiny tendril-like legs anchored itself to the column, with slightly longer hair-thing waving above their head like feelers. It was altogether both creepy and cute at the same time, which clashed within my psyche.

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Huh… they seemed more solid than a [Blob].

With their tiny tendrils, they crawled slowly over each other on the column, sticking together. Their sizes too differ, some around the same size as a [Grey Blob] and some as big as a [Red Blob: Big]. The wriggly tendrils made these clicking sounds as they scraped over the column and each other, creating this absolute canopy of sounds.

Wait a moment.

Aside from the [Green worms], there are also these… seaweed like things protruding from the column every now and then. Grey coloured, they appeared from the column, sticking out of the “ground” and stayed there.

As I watched, a [Green worm] went over to it, butting aside its competitors. With its hair, it reached for the [Plant] and ensnared it. A small opening appeared at its front, like a tiny toothless mouth. It started pulling the Plant in, bit by bit until a “leaf” went into its mouth, taking tiny bites out of it with tiny “chomps”

Astounded, I realized I just found an ecosystem. A surprisingly solid-looking one too.

It seems that in my eye, the colour grey represented the lowest tier of the food chain, where red meant predators and green herbivores. How convenient.

A large [Red Blob] slowly approached the column, it’s translucent body inching down. Below it was an oblivious [Green worm], its back exposed.

The [Red Blob] swiftly clamped onto the [Green worm], securing its misty form against the jelly looking back. The [Green worm] shook and squealed violently, the hair on its head reaching for the offender on it’s back in futility.

The [Red Blob] was merciless, dissolving the [Green worm] within its body, absorbing the motes and [Essence] of it’s prey. Not before long, the [Green worm] had been reduced to mush, slurped up by the growing [Red Blob].

However, the battled seems to have drawn the ire of other [Green worms]. With surprising speed, they rushed toward the blob, their hair waving about.

Huh, their individual sensory range wasn’t that far, but they seemed sensitive if something near them got attacked.

The first [Green worm] to arrive sent its hair flying, slicing at the [Red Blob] with squeals of promised vengeance. The blob itself seemed reluctant to leave its meal, shrugging off the seemingly weak attack of the [Green worm]. However, as more [Green worms] crowded against the blob, sending their hair flying, more marks appeared on its surface.

Realising its potentially dangerous predicament, the [Red Blob] attempted to float away. However, it seemed the worm’s hair had formed a net of some kind, trapping the blob down on the surface of the column, unable to move.

The [Green Worms] crowded even closer, their mouths revealing themselves. With tiny bites, each [Green Worm] took a chunk out of the captive [Red Blob]. With around ten of the worms, the blob was swiftly torn apart, erupting into red motes as it burst all over the place, the predator becoming the prey.

Holy shit, that was violent.

Elisa, you whip blobs to death in your stomach.

I am fourteen, me! I should be allowed to say ew.

…

But it seems manageable… as long as I do not remain on the surface.

When the [Green worms] were done with the remains, they scattered once more, having apparently calmed down and ready to go back to their usual [plant] eating business.

However, some congregation remains, usually surrounding a particularly large [Green worm]. Their sizes were almost three times larger than their kin, which made them around three-fifths of my size. Maybe it’s the leader? Do the [Green Worms] live in families?

Using my powerful eye to spy on them, I realized that under the mass of wriggling greens, small orbs of… yellow? shone through.

Are those eggs?

If those are eggs, then it means the [Green Worms] can repopulate themselves… as long as I leave enough of them intact.

However, their wriggling, wormy look did make me rather apprehensive. I may not be human now, but I was a fourteen-year-old girl. I don’t want to eat worms.

Also, these are definitely “alive”, unlike the strange thing that a blob is.

…

But they might taste differently? I suggested to myself.

…

Fine.

I swam around the column, carefully eyeing the fields of green and grey. I smiled to myself as I located a stray [Green Worm] that seemed to have wandered away from its nestmates.

Slowly stalking it, I mimicked what the [Red Blob] earlier had done, which was to ambush the [Green Worm] from the back. Granted, I’m almost three times its size, but still, skill is skill.

Sending out my [feelers], I curled around it as gently as I could.

If the [Red Blob] felt like vapour, the [Green worm] was foam.

Solid enough that I could lift the thing up without issue, its tendril-like feet dangling away from the column in outrage and squealing. Now that I’ve kidnapped the worm, hugging it close, I sped away to a comfortably far enough place where their own hair can never reach me.

The earlier [Green Worm] took quite some hits before dying, and only burst apart when it’s head got mushed, so I supposed that I can nibble a bit without it going kapow.

Orientating it’s back to my mouth, I took a tiny bite.

Oh. It tastes like beef! I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn’t had proper meals for quite some while now, and everything tasted either like air or really boiled down chicken. This beef-like flavour was immediately favourable to me.

Ha, favourable. Flavour-able. Ha.

I should go kill myself again.

Taking offence with me nibbling on its rear, the [Green Worm] twisted around me. With only two [feelers] holding it lightly in fear of tearing it apart, it somehow wiggled its way out of my grasp.

Oi, I’m not done with you yet —

I had expected it just float away since it wasn’t anchored down anymore.

What I did not expect was it to fall.

Despite me, and the blobs being immune to gravity, it seemed that gravity, does, in fact, exist in the world of [Beyond].

Oops. I thought as I watched the hapless [Green Worm] tumble toward the mighty pull of the column, accelerating and accelerating —

"Splat —”

Ouch.

Sorry.

…

I need more feelers, I reflected, definitely not avoiding to claim responsibility for my clumsiness, that way I can secure the worm more easily.

With some hard thinking and a pop, two more [Feelers] erupted around my mouth, resulting in a total of four twisting appendages that I can move at will. My [Deposit] took a minor hit, but that’s fine.

Is it just me, but is [Self-Mould] getting easier to use? I remarked to no one in particular.

…

Let's try this again.

Looking down, I saw several [Green Worms] crowding around the splat-circle, alarmed.

Sorry.

I moved on to elsewhere, looking for another isolated [Green Worm] to hunt. I ran into a [Red Blob] on the way, which I snacked on with impunity.

Finally located a [Green Worm] that wandered too far off, I once again scooped it up and lifted it away. My four [Feelers] did wonders in keeping my prey stable, which I’m pretty happy with.

Once I’m far enough, I ignored its squeals and swallowed it whole.

Why did I do that?

I felt it’s movement as it got squeezed down my throat, being way too big and not-squishy to travel down quickly. If I didn’t require breathing, I would probably have choked on the [Green Worm] already.

When it hit the bottom of my [Stomach], I felt my [Stomach: Masher] rip the being apart, slamming it against the walls. Despite it bypassing my mouth, I could still taste its beefy flavour. With it crushed, the [Essence] came rushing in, trailing over to my deposit.

As I’ve thought, an average [Green Worm] contains more [Essence] than a [Red Blob] of the same size. It seems that the density of the being does correlate to the amount of [Essence] it can give.

There are more of them too. A lot more.

With a mental psychotic grin, I found myself getting pumped for a hunt.