Status, I thought, as I could hear the Deotrexaptor pacing angrily around the outside of the worm. Gosh it was hot in there. And slimy. And gross.

And since my appetite was sated from earlier, I had absolutely no desire to eat any of it. The magic boxes saved me in the form of a distraction.

Frail Baby Dino

Level: 5 [--/--] Health:

50/50

Stamina:

30/30

Skills

Bite [Lvl 1] Claw [Lvl 1] Flee [Lvl 2] Stomp [Lvl 2]

Climb [Lvl 1]

Sneak [Lvl 2]

Feast [Lvl 3]

Dig

[Lvl 1]

Slam

[Lvl 1]

Instincts

Fight or Flight [Lvl 2] Freeze

[Lvl 2] Fearful Flight [Lvl 2] Observant

[Lvl 3]

Nocturnal

[Lvl 2]

Okay… So this “character” is fast progressing… But mostly thanks to this worm…

The sniffing and snorting of the Deotrexaptor didn’t stop, and I realized how stupid of a decision I might’ve just made. I trapped myself inside a worm that was slowly going to be taken apart and eaten, perhaps feeding an entire colony of these dinos.

Well, maybe they wouldn’t eat the head?

I scanned the status page while I inhaled the disgusting air inside the worm.

Well that’s something to do… I thought, as I looked at the level. I’d reached the maximum level for the Frail Baby Dino. Perhaps it was time to evolve?

I shrugged. Might as well. After all, if I did it, and something cool happened, nice! If I die, well, I was probably going to anyway.

…

It’s times like these that make me question how I can stay so calm in such an irregular situation. I mean, I guess it’s because nothing was immediately threatening me, like with Sailboat?

I wasn’t going to be able to answer the question anyway, so I just sighed and moved on.

Evolve…

Evolution Options:

Baby Dino (F) The general dinosaur baby, this evolution has nothing particularly impressive or unique about it, but it is the most customizable option.

Baby Night Stalker (E) Hailing from the shadows, this monster breathes fear. A creature that hunts at night, this dinosaur can see flawlessly in the darkness, but suffers from a weakness to light.

Baby Gorger (E) A feaster of fine foods, this dinosaur seeks out primarily palatable sustenance to sate its glorious appetite. It will eat and eat, until there is nothing left, bringing about the end of an era.

Baby Acro (F) Very athletic, this dinosaur is adept at running, climbing, swimming, and other athletic activities. It is an extremely active creature, thin and versatile, but also not built for direct combat, frequently fleeing fights.

Baby Nocu (F) An observant creature, this dinosaur has extremely strong vision. Adept at spotting small prey from a hundred feet away, the Nocu is also quick, and moves quickly in pursuit of its food.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

So… There were some options. Well, the Night Stalker path was pretty much out of my consideration immediately. I didn’t want to be relegated to night time unless I chose to be. Also, if I was going to try to escape a pack of level fifteen and up dinos, then sure, stealth would be a viable option, but when else would I really use that upgrade?

What were the letters next to the names? I’d have thought F might’ve been the gender, at first, but E… everything? That’s a spooky gender option.

So probably not.

Magic boxes, any help with what the letters are?

No response. I sighed.

What did I expect?

Well, as much as I liked the other options, the decision was a hard one. I could grab the Baby Acro, but then I would be stuck as a dinosaur that runs away. And I don’t run away from a challenge. Not anymore.

That left me with three options. Gorger, Nocu, or Baby Dino.

Hmm. Well… I was inside of a massive source of food… and just eating a little of it had led to me gaining 500 experience as well as two skills.

But did I want to risk that I might “bring about the end of an era”? That sounded apocalyptic. Not sure I was in for that.

Nocu was cool, because it sounded like it was fast and might help give bonuses to my Observant instinct. Or maybe the option was only there because of my Observant instinct.

Food for thought…

Baby Dino was by far making it exceptionally difficult to pick another route, if only because a gamer’s natural instinct, not the dinosaur’s, but the gamer’s. The gamer instinct in me told me that massive customization was never a wrong choice.

Sure, I might not be as strong as some of the other, more specialized options, but I could maybe get creative. Maybe I’d unlock stronger overall options. Or maybe I’d even be able to design-o my own dino. Sorry, bad joke.

The customization was really gnawing at me. Even if I wasn’t the best at something, being better at more was tempting.

I could really work with that.

Then again… in my current situation… Nocu might be the best option…

Or I suppose I could go Gorger and try to get as much experience and as many levels as possible before discovery…

There was no way to know which option was the best, and that’s usually how it is in games, unless you want to read up online about the best build paths, and find tutorials and guides.

But guides are for chumps.

If you don’t make your own way, despite the odds, and regardless of what other people say, then can you really call yourself a gamer?

After all, being a gamer… is about taking risks.

I resolved myself, selecting the option I was about to evolve into.

The world went black, blacker than when the crack of light and air had still been leaking through the worm’s mouth.

So black, I felt like I was back inside the egg I’d hatched from.

And the darkness beckoned me, calling out with its warmth.

I sank into it. Falling away from the world. Falling away from consciousness. Falling away… from the xaptor that hunted me.

The was only a single thought still bleeding through my mind as I fell into my deep slumber.

Please… for the love of gamers… don’t let them find me before I awaken.

Because that would be the opposite of chill.