It was on the way back into the jungle that I stumbled upon an interesting scene. Giant cocoons, the size of a fully developed human male, hung from the trees, and after I’d taken a minute to watch them, I could see movement within.

I was just about to wander off and go in search of a good place to make my home base before I saw a tan lizard, about the size of a komodo dragon, sneaking on its long legs through the woods. I followed its line of sight to see that gathered on the ground, in a pile that seemed suspiciously intentional, were several types of fruits I was unfamiliar with.

One of the fruits was broken open, and as a breeze picked up and blew the scent in my direction, my eyes widened and I gulped. That… smelled good.

For some reason, the delicious aroma the fruit gave off reminded me of grilled chicken, and I licked my lips.

I really wanted that fruit.

I wanted to taste it.

The komodo dragon-sized reptile was almost at the pile. I almost moved to fight it. That scent was so enticing, and I could barely hold myself back. Movement in the trees reminded me that the massive cocoons were hanging above the pile of food. I’d forgotten about them.

I caught the scent of whatever that fruit was again.

And I took a step forward.

Snap!

The big lizard reached the pile of fruit, extending a clawed hand toward the one giving off that heavenly smell. Then the crack rang out.

Only, I realized now that a fountain of blood had erupted from where the creature’s head once was. The body took another stumbling step, as though it hadn’t realized it was already dead, and as it began to fall, the same sound echoed through the woods.

Snap!

This time I tracked the movement. A sleek body, scaled like a wyvern and colored a deep red, burst from the cocoon in a blur, extending out of the organic structure, but staying connected by a long, thick, stretching cord. Perhaps a tail?

When the monster bit down on the body of the headless lizard, it seemed like a bungee jumper that had reached the bottom of the line, at the point where you could see them slow down, and you realized they were about to fling back upwards.

And that’s exactly what the cocoon-wyvern did. With the body of the headless lizard in its maw, it suddenly shot back towards the spot it first emerged from, like a rubber band. But just before the wyvern entered the safety of its shell with the food, the other cocoons erupted.

Snap! Snap! Snap!

Multiple wyverns were bursting from their homes, launching themselves toward the food the first had retrieved.

The demons fought in the trees, slicing each other with bladed wings and snapping with their jaws as they ripped the lizard apart like birds fighting over bread.

I’m safe as long as I don’t get close to the fruit underneath them...

Glancing around, I saw that there weren’t any other animals around. The smart ones had likely already learned what kind of area this was. And the dumb ones were probably dead. I found a large bush just to be safe, and watched the monsters tear at the meat that bounced through the air.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

I’d never seen any creatures like this before. This whole world was filled with amazing creatures! Dinosaurs, just by themselves, were an amazing thing to see, provided they weren’t trying to kill me…

But these things? Can you imagine if they existed in the modern world?

Just picture it. Soldiers, sneaking through a jungle, they realize suddenly that they just entered the nest of whatever-the-flip these things were.

I squinted at the creatures. Could they have a name? Perhaps this world already had all the species categorized, considering that I was listed as a “Frail Baby Dino”.

Hmmm…

Suddenly I felt something. It was like a cord had pulled on my brain, connecting me to the creatures I was examining. I blinked, and the feeling vanished.

What the hell was that?

I shook my head, clearing it, and gazed at the creatures again, this time more intently than before. After a moment, the feeling returned.

A pressure wrapped itself around my head, and it felt like my brain was being pulled towards my eyes. Slowly, the force condensed. It grew smaller and more focused further to the front of my mind, as though somebody had linked a bungee cord between myself and the wyvern-like creature I was focusing on.

My eyes began to burn as I stared at the creature, the force growing stronger and stronger until I felt as though they would pop out of my head. I gritted my teeth and focused on the force even harder.

Then suddenly, the pressure was gone. And a notification appeared in my sight.

You have developed your sight.

Congratulations! You’ve unlocked the [Observe] instinct.

[Observe]

By carefully viewing an object of interest, you may garner basic knowledge of it.

Success!

I had a feeling that since I’d been able to develop new instincts and skills that the force I’d been feeling was one that was trying to be discovered.

It was a lot more difficult to uncover than I thought, though, and I wondered how many more types of hidden secrets I would find in the future.

Could there even be abilities that weren’t natural? Things that a dinosaur couldn’t normally do?

Would I be able to find an ability that would let me breathe underwater? Or fly?

I put those thoughts to the side for when I was in a safer place, and dismissed the notification, finding another hidden underneath it.

Metamorphic Impersonator [Lvl ???]

Huh.

I examined the other impersonators, to see if I could increase the level of my Observe instinct like I’d done with my other ones.

Metamorphic Impersonator [Lvl 5] Metamorphic Impersonator [Lvl ???] Metamorphic Impersonator [Lvl 3] Metamorphic Impersonator [Lvl 3] Metamorphic Impersonator [Lvl ???] Your [Observe] instinct has leveled up. It is now level 2.

Perfect!

It seemed that my ability would only let me view creatures of up to level five. Or perhaps it only had a chance of success? I quickly dismissed that after I examined them again, finding the two that had originally displayed as “???” were actually only level six.

So the level I can perceive increases based on the level of my Observe instinct…

Right now, the skill provided me little to no information about a subject, though I had faith after enough levels it would, but at least it had proven my hypothesis correct. This world had already categorized every living thing, just like in a game.

And I’m going to make sure I win whatever game I’m playing!

In fact, I could only imagine the expression a certain friend of mine might have were he to discover I’d reincarnated into the greatest game we could ever play.

Heh. I bet you’d make it your personal mission to out level me, wouldn’t you, Aaron?