Darkness. Cold. Silence.

I drift.

The water presses in from all sides, heavy and endless. My body is small, weightless. I move without thinking, my form swaying with the deep-sea currents.

I do not know where I am.

I do not know what I am.

But I am alive.

A strange feeling lingers in my mind—something distant, like a dream I cannot remember. A world without water. A world where I moved differently, where I had a different body.

A different life.

The thought is alien, unnatural. It does not belong here.

The abyss does not care about memories. It only demands one thing.

Survive.

And then, I feel it—hunger.

It coils inside me, an empty, twisting ache. It is not a thought. It is not a feeling.

It is a command.

I must feed.

A Fragile Existence

I flick my body, moving for the first time.

It is instinctive—smooth, effortless. My form is long and slender, built for weaving through the water. My gills flare, pulling in oxygen, keeping me alive without thought.

I am not alone.

Tiny shapes drift beside me—others like me.

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They are small. Weak. Newly hatched. Some are still curled inside their eggs, unmoving.

I do not understand them, but I know them. They are my kin.

But there is no safety in numbers.

The abyss does not protect the weak.

Something shifts in the water. A low vibration, barely noticeable—but my instincts recognize it.

Danger.

A predator is coming.

The First Culling

The current changes. The water thickens—not with weight, but with something wrong.

I feel the tremor before I see the shape.

A shadow—vast, powerful. Its movement disturbs the ocean, sending a deep pulse through my body.

I do not think. I hide.

I press myself against the seafloor, my dark body blending with the rocky sand.

And then, the monster arrives.

A massive rush of water as a silhouette descends upon us.

Jaws snap shut.

The abyss erupts into chaos.

A violent shockwave sends me tumbling as my kin vanish.

I do not hear them. I feel them disappear—tiny bodies swallowed whole, their weak vibrations snuffed out instantly.

The predator does not hesitate. It does not hunt. It simply devours.

Then—silence.

The current steadies. The massive shadow moves on, its hunger satisfied.

Only fragments remain.

The Hunger Never Ends

The survivors do not waste time.

They turn on the unhatched eggs.

The moment the predator leaves, the weak are abandoned.

Jaws snap. Shells crack. Unborn kin never take their first breath.

Something inside me hesitates.

Then, my hunger overpowers me.

I lunge forward, my tiny teeth sinking into a half-cracked egg.

Warm, soft flesh greets me. I swallow.

It is not satisfying. It is not enough.

But it is something.

The first lesson of the abyss is simple.

Eat, or be eaten.

The First Kill

The current pulls me forward. My body is too small to resist.

But I see.

Shapes flicker in the dark. Some are prey. Others are hunters.

I must become a hunter.

A tiny shrimp floats ahead, pulsing with weak light.

I lock onto it.

I do not think. I do not hesitate.

I strike.

My jaws clamp down on the shrimp’s back. It thrashes, legs kicking, tail whipping, trying to break free.

I do not let go.

My teeth are small, but they are sharp.

I bite harder.

The shrimp convulses, its glow flickering.

Then—stillness.

I swallow.

The warmth spreads through me, dulling the hunger slightly.

But I know it will return.

It always returns.

And next time, my prey will not be so small.

The Whisper in the Abyss

Then—something changes.

A deep pulse rolls through the water. It is not a predator. Not the current.

Something else.

And then, a voice—inside my mind.

[ SYSTEM INITIALIZING… ]

I freeze.

The abyss is silent. Nothing moves.

Then, more words appear.

[ Welcome, Abyssborn. Your survival has been recognized. ]

My small body tenses.

What is this?

[ Basic Status Acquired ]

▶ Name: Veyrn

▶ Species: Abyssborn (Hybrid Conger-Moray)

▶ Age: Hatchling

▶ Health: 99%

▶ Hunger: 80% (Recently Fed)

▶ Abilities: None

I do not understand.

The words mean something. I know they do.

But I do not know why.

The abyss does not explain.

The system does not guide me.

It only watches.

I wait for more. A hint. A message. A whisper.

Nothing comes.

Then—just as I start to ignore it—

A single line appears.

[ Your skin is dark. You blend into the seafloor. Stay still, and predators will pass you by. ]

I blink.

I… already knew that.

But I had not thought about it.

The system does not give me anything. It only reveals what I already have.

Before I can think further, the voice fades.

[ Survive. Grow. Adapt. The Abyss is watching. ]

Then—silence.

The deep is unchanged.

But I am not the same.

I was not meant to be here.

And yet—here I am.

And I will survive.

---

End of Chapter 1