Most monsters were like animals. Driven by instinct, their minds simple and straightforward. Survival. Food. Drink. Sleep. Avoid ‘dangerous’ things. Some of them lived long enough to evolve into more intelligent forms. Of these, some even gained a sense of self.

It had not been one of them.

The System was closed off to a creature of base instincts and drives. It could not make choices and decisions based on abstract concepts, so its instincts pushed it one way or another and the System did the rest.

It had not been big and strong enough to survive. It had met an opponent that had beaten it. But it was not angry or sad. There was no emotion in the laws of nature. It did not resent its killer for making use of their right, nor was it afraid of death. Just like it had taken the lives of many of its lessers and some of its peers, now its life had been taken, and its time was over.

“My, what a grim thought. You know, for a creature claiming to be as simple-minded as you say, you sure think a lot.”

Another of its kind stood before it in the black void surrounding them. It was an Elder: the horn on its head wore the notches of many fights and the hide on its back was thick and hardened. However, its eyes glimmered with something unfamiliar. Something dangerous.

“Ah, but you needn’t worry. I’m not going to harm you. You see, you are dead – you gathered as much – but there was… an error. A mistake that I have come to rectify. You should not be dead… or rather, the way you were killed, should not have killed you.”

It did not know how it had died. It remembered having fought against the two-legged creatures. One had climbed into a tree and thrown teeth at it, that had bit through its hide and caused it pain. Then the one wearing a shiny hide had given off a bright light, there had been a burst of pain, then nothing more.

“Quite! You got hit by a bugged effect that did way too much damage. That’s why we’re here now, you see. We’re correcting the mistake. Turning back the clock. Undoing past events. Bringing you back from death. We’re not allowed that normally, but this time is an exception, because we have to fix things.”

It did not understand everything the Elder said, but if it grasped its meaning correctly, it would be returned to life. It felt a new sensation spreading inside it. It was warm. It felt good.

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“Quite!” the Elder said again. “That’s joy, my friend. Now that your mind isn’t occupied with base instincts since you’ve no body to take care of, it has room to feel other things and think other thoughts. Feels good, right? Well, sadly once you’re back out there, you’ll be back to your old self.”

That was indeed disappointing. After experiencing thought, was it to lose it again? It was worse than never having known it.

“Ahhh, don’t beat yourself up too much, Rocky. I’m sure there’s- Oops!”

The Elder covered its maw behind its leg, but it was too late. That singular word had changed everything. Rocky. That was a name. Was it its… no, his? Was it… his name? He was Rocky?

“Weeeell, I guess my tongue slipped and now you’re named. Too late to do anything about that now. Anyway, this is taking really long, and I can’t spend all day chatting with you. This whole thing gave us all a lot of work to do. So, I’ll send you back now. Take care, Rocky!”

As the void filled with light and the Elder disappeared, Rocky’s mind flooded with understanding. He was no longer an animal of instinct, but an individual with a sense of self. He had emotions. Desires. Control. It was a near-overwhelming experience, so much in fact that he mostly missed the handful of messages that rapidly flew past his eyes.

Of course, his focus was on the stone walls and the screaming two-legs around him regardless, so he would not have had much time to read the lines anyway. What they were screaming, he did not understand, but he realised that he needed to escape this situation as fast as possible.

He felt fear in a way that he had never felt before.

You have died. Undone. Reason: Reversing events caused by bugged effect.

Trait gained: Named

Mental capacity threshold reached. Primitive Awareness-level System access has been upgraded. Sentient-level System access granted.

Warning: Automatic choices have been disabled. Manual choice mode has been enabled.

Trait gained: Touched by Divinity: The Knife