"Are you by chance a Reincarnator as well." The leader of the group of male deep-sea Black Sea Devil Angler Fish had asked me, with a slightly hesitant tone of voice.
I then answered back, whilst saying, "Isn't that really obvious."
"What I'm trying to get across is. Do you want to join our group? It would be a whole lot better and much safer to be in a large group, than being alone by yourself, wandering around at the bottom of the vast ocean expanses." The leader of the Black Sea Devil Angler Fish group said.
"Wow, leader. What a great way to start an awkward conversation." A male deep-sea Black Sea Devil Angler Fish within the group had said.
'Hmmm. It would certainly be a whole lot much safer to be in a large group, rather than going out alone. At the same time, if there ever comes a chance where an unlikely large predator would appear. I could then steadily utilise some of them as bait to draw the large predator's attention, and possibly prolong my escape.' I thought.
"The name is Andrew." The male leader of the deep-sea Black Sea Devil Angler Fish group readily introduces himself to me.
Andrew, the leader of the group of male Black Sea Devil Angler Fish then turns his head towards his side and readily introduces the people within his group.
"This person here is Samuel, but most people call him Sam," Andrew said.
"But aren't we all actually blood relatives, since we are all literally born from the same legitimate mother," I said.
"Well, what he just said is kind of true," Samuel interjected.
[You have received your fifth task!]
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Quest Objective: Join a group or choose to go solo!
Detail: You can choose to either join the group consisting of male Black Sea Devil Angler Fish or simply go off and survive by yourself in the wild.
Joining the group [0/1]
Reward: 3 unallocated stats points
Going Solo [0/1]
Reward: 6 mutational points
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'How come the rewards are leaning more towards going solo than surviving in a group.' I thought so to myself. And the system A. I then immediately responded backwards towards my enquiry.
[That is because it is a lot more dangerous to wander off by yourself, as danger steadily lurks around every corner than to survive by simply grouping up together in greater numbers to overpower a sole target as the enemy. And the number of rewards that are given would certainly reflect how dangerous the outcome of your choices are.]
And then a thought suddenly crossed my mind. 'Couldn't I just pretend to go solo first by picking the second option to receive the reward, and then later I would change my mind to join the group to gain their protection.'
The system a. I was completely speechless at the statement that I just made, as she responded adequately.
[You could, but I would then advise you upon not doing it, as it may affect the outcome of your future given tasks.]
I was quite confused about what the system a. I had just said. So I then decided to ask her. 'What do you mean? Can you please elaborate upon what you've just said?'
[By choosing the group mentality one, everyone that is considered to be a part of the designated group will from now on be given a shared task to be accomplished, instead of completing the task on your own by yourself. You would complete the mission as a group, with each designated individual can make a small contribution towards reaching a single goal. The reward pool for completing the task may be large, but it is shared evenly amongst the group's surviving members.]
[On the other hand, if you were to go with the surviving by yourself option. The dangers would be far more dangerous, and the given tasks would be done solo. So the rewards that are given for completing the task would be much more than the group one.]
'Oh.' I thought so towards myself.
I then thought to myself. 'Going along with that thought, wouldn't the second option be most ideal for me, as it would provide me with immediate benefits. Whenever I was playing an MMORPG game, I would always choose to play solo, as I don't really have any actual friends to play with.'
'And I really can't say that there aren't really any hidden dangers with being inside a group, as betrayal and greed do tend to happen, rather uncommonly. Or have I just read too many xianxia novels for it to have completely changed my moral mindset.' I thought.
I then responded to Andrew the leader of the male deep-sea Black Sea Devil Angler fish group. "Unfortunately, I would have to reject your offer to join your group, as I've preferred to go solo. And who knows, considering we all have dirtied our own hands by killing our own kin for our own survival. Who knows whenever it is the time for you guys to betray me, and then leaves me behind so that I may die, and steadily rot away at the bottom of the ocean."
The words that I've just said was undoubtedly true, as it strongly left everyone speechless. And silence soon envelopes the bottom of the sea for a couple of seconds. It wasn't until something suddenly swam passed by right in front of me.
The system then recognises my decision, as I've then heard the sound of the system notification ringing inside of my head, whilst the rewards are being given out.
[You have successfully completed your fifth task! Rewards are now being distributed!]
[You have received 6 mutational points!]
'Well, sweet. I've managed to obtain 6 mutational points by simply completing the fifth task. Though the first options may seem promising. The hidden dangers of being killed and steadily eaten by your cannibalistic brethren are quite prevalent all the time.' I thought.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
[You know that you can buy different kinds of mutations from the mutation points stores that you have already unlocked.]
'What! mutational point store? Since when...' I ask system A. I.
[To conjure up the mutation point store interface, you must recite the keyword mutate in your head, similar to how you say 'Status' in order to open up your status window. Though, I would suggest you don't use the mutation point store yet. Since you have yet to unlock anything within the mutational point store.]
'What do you mean?' I then ask system A. I once again.
[To unlock the necessary mutational trait. You must have already consumed a sea creature or organism that has already unlocked that particular mutation. But don't worry. A task will be given to you in the near future where it will hand you a free option to pick one out of the mutational trait that is given a reward for completing the task.]
'Oh.' I said completely speechless.
"I see. That is most unfortunate, but we can't help but accept and face the reality. we are no longer human but monsters." Samuel then spoke out towards the group.
It was then that I saw something unusually small, that is less than a tenth of my overall body size, just about roughly 2 millimetres in body length, managing to catch my eye. Its own body was completely translucent and see-through, similar to that of a ghost shrimp.
The deep-sea creature seems to be a miniature crustacean, considering that it has a soft-shelled translucent exterior that resembles a shrimp. And two long protruding antennas, bigger than the entirety of their shrimp-like bodies, in which they used to steadily manoeuvre and swim within vast open waters.
However, what is noticeably eye-catching about this deep-sea creature is that it is glowing. Its own body is emitting a faint trace of bioluminescent.
'Is that a shrimp, but it looks too small to be a shrimp. And its body shape doesn't actually fully resembles a shrimp. So it may perhaps be a Krill.' I thought so to myself.
[You are almost correct. It is similar to that of a legitimate Krill, but it is fact a Zooplankton. Bioluminescent Plankton to be exact.]
[Plankton are the diverse collection of small organisms found in water and cannot propel themselves against a current. The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the vast expanse of the ocean, they provide a crucial source of food to many small and large aquatic organisms, such as bivalves, fish, whales, and such.]
[Bioluminescent Planktons are those that strongly thrive within the deep sea ocean, as they can simply survive by only simply eating bioluminescent bacteria.]
At this time, everyone within the male Black Sea Devil Angler Fish group had heard a familiar ringing sound resounded withinside their heads, including me as well, as the system had handed them a task to accomplish.
[You have received your sixth task!]
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Quest Objective: Hunt 10 Bioluminescent Plankton.
Detail: Go out and simply hunt 10 bioluminescent Plankton
Reward:1 mutational point
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Whilst, my sixth task was to simply hunt 10 of these small Biolumininescent Planktons. And the other male Black Sea Devil Angler Fish were given similar tasks, except their task was to hunt 100 of this Biolumininescent Plankton, which was ten times my overall question objective.
"Well, let's get the show on the road then. Chop. Chop. Time to do some killing in order to complete our given task." Samuel instructed as he gives out orders to his team.
"Hmmm," I uttered.
And without a second of thought, I then proceeded to open my mouth wide as possible and gobble down the little Bioluminescent Plankton in one bite.
[You have successfully killed an Lv.3 Bioluminescent Plankton! 6 experience points acquired!]
[You have acquired 1 bio growth point!]
[By consuming carcass of the Bioluminescent Plankton! You have thereby unlocked the mutational trait {Soft-shell Exoskeleton}{Transparent Body}{Small Leg Appendage}{Antenna}{Bioluminescent Light] option within the mutational point store!]
'Cool. Cool.' I thought, whilst hunting down the small Bioluminescent Plankton, one by one.
And it didn't take long for me to finally kill the tenth Bioluminescent Plankton on my own, thereby finishing the sixth task which the quest objective was to hunt 10 Bioluminescent Plankton. It lasted in under a minute or two to finally complete the quest objective.
[You have successfully completed your sixth task! Rewards are now being distributed!]
[You have received 1 mutational point!]
I thought so to myself. 'Killing those Bioluminescent Planktons have garnered me enough experience points to literally filled up about halfway up my experience bar, and I'm so close to reaching level 4. However, eating that miniature Bioluminescent Plankton would only provide me with 1 bio growth point for each one.'
[7 mutational points]
'I now have 7 mutational points in my reserves. So I wonder what I should spend my 7 mutational points upon upgrading something, or maybe buy a mutational trait from the mutational point store.' I thought.
At the same time, after I've managed to complete the sixth task, at a record-breaking break-neck speed. The system A. I then immediately hand out the seventh task, without questions asked.
[You have received your seventh task!]
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Quest Objective: Open up the mutational point store!
Detail: To open up the mutational point store system interface. Please recite the keyword out loud or say the word 'Mutate' inside of your head to summon up the mutational point store.
Reward: Please pick one [Option 1: Small fish scales][Option 2: Shortfin spines][Option 3: Lengthen Body]
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'Cool. The rewards for the completion of the seventh task is pretty impressive. It completely outshines all of the previous task rewards combine.' I thought so to myself.
Without a second thought, I then recited the key activation word withinside my head 'Mutate' in order to conjure up the mutational point store system interface, and finally complete the seventh task with utmost to no difficulty.
[Mutational Point Store]
{Soft-shell Exoskeleton} - 3 mutational points
{Transparent Body} - 2 mutational points
{Small Leg Appendage} - 1 mutational points per pair of legs
{Antenna} - 2 mutational points
{Bioluminescent Light] - 4 mutational points
* * *
[You have successfully completed your seventh task! Rewards are now being distributed!]
[Please pick one out of the three given choice options [Option 1: Small fish scales][Option 2: Shortfin spines][Option 3: Lengthen Body] ]
'I wonder which one out of the three should I go with. Any ideas...' I thought, then asking the system A. I for its own opinion.
[These mutational traits are quite common and easy to get, as literally, almost every deep-sea fish has them. And you can easily unlock them by consuming any other fish within the vast expanse of the ocean. Though, I would suggest going with either the {Small fish scales} or the {Shortfin spines} at least, since it would then steadily provide you with some sort of protection.]
The ocean is full of dangerous predators that would literally eat anything, even small fishes as well. And predators are animals as well as they hunt and eat other animals, but the pufferfish species, in particular, have an unnatural way to protect themselves from predators like sharks and other big fish. Sharp spines and puffing up help pufferfish stay safe.
'Anyhow, who would want to eat any kind of food that would literally cause you internal bleeding, by having the spikes steadily piercing into the inner layers of your stomach and such.' I thought so to myself.
With that said and done, I've then decided to pick option 2 the shortfin spine as my seventh task quest reward. And then I have the sound of the system notification ringing withinside my head, as the system then responded back to my choice.
[You have chosen the {Shortfin spine} as your seventh task quest reward. You have thereby obtained the {Shortfin Spine} mutational trait.]
It was then that I immediately felt the small changes that were being made towards my body, altered by the system. An unknowing itch emanating from the back of my fish body, that which I could not scratch. And then several thin spikes started protruding out from the top and bottom fin of my fish body.
The mutation process had lasted a couple of seconds before my body then completely adapts towards the new shortfin spines protruding out from my top and bottom fins.