“Where the hell am I?” I wondered.

  I felt my fingers sink into something warm and soft — something like moss, scattered with broken eggshells. The ground pulsed faintly with warmth, as if it had been alive just moments ago.

  With great effort, I finally managed to open my eyes. The entire world appeared in shades of blue and green, blurred and alien. Dozens of lizards surrounded me on all sides, all covered in slime — just like me. Their bodies twitched chaotically, as if they had no control over their own limbs. The air was thick and damp, heavy with the smell of rot, blood, and something metallic that clung to my throat.

  Panic hit instantly. Uncertainty. Hopelessness.

  I thrashed my limbs, tried to scream, to run — anywhere — but no sound came from my mouth. The only thing I saw was a long, slender tail, completely beyond my control.

  “Did I reincarnate as a lizard!?” I screamed internally, cursing every religion I had ever known. “What the hell did I do to deserve this!?”

  Many of the hatchlings were only just discovering the world, testing their senses. From some of the eggs came scratching sounds and quiet cracks. Not all of them had hatched yet. Some shells trembled violently, as if something inside was already fighting.

  I felt small. Weak. At the mercy of others.

  Only my sight and hearing seemed to work properly. Though maybe that was even worse, because now I could clearly see just how screwed I was.

  My first instinct was to get out of there — as far away from this uncontrolled brood of reptiles as possible, before something snapped in their tiny heads and they descended on me in a starving frenzy.

  Around me rose cave walls, stalagmites, and stalactites. Moisture dripped slowly from above, each drop echoing like a distant heartbeat. I hadn’t even taken a few steps when one of my so-called “sisters” or “brothers” lunged at a weaker hatchling from a smaller egg and began biting it with its tiny teeth.

  “They’re going to eat me alive!”

  A slimy, dark-colored lizard stood in front of me. It hissed, staring at me with eyes red as blood. I froze, unsure what to do. We stared at each other in a silent duel of fear.

  And then something unimaginable happened. As if I were inside some kind of RPG.

  Above its body, faint text appeared — as if burned into the air itself, thankfully completely transparent and readable.

  [ Species: Cave Hydra ]

  [ Evolution Stage: Newly Hatched ]

  [ Level: 1 ]

  “H-Holy shit… a Hydra!?”

  I had no idea where I was, and I didn’t even want to think about it. Hunger, fear, and the growing cold spreading across my skin — or rather, my scales — overwhelmed me as I moved away from the hatching site. My stomach twisted painfully, as if it were shrinking in on itself, demanding anything it could digest.

  I tried to circle around it without taking my eyes off it, but another one suddenly attacked. It sank its teeth into me, trying to shake me like prey.

  I was lucky.

  The hydra that had been blocking my path lunged at the stronger one instead, helping me break free from its jaws. A full-blown fight erupted — hissing, biting, shrieking. Their small bodies twisted together in a brutal knot of claws and teeth.

  Something inside me snapped.

  An uncontrollable fury consumed me, as if a bloodthirsty instinct had awakened in my body. I bit at anything I could reach, tearing off bloody chunks of flesh.

  This wasn’t me.

  The taste of my newly hatched sibling’s blood was… pleasant. Too pleasant. Heat spread through my body, filling me with strength, sharpening my senses. My thoughts blurred, replaced by hunger.

  I bit, devoured, and drank blood mixed with slime.

  Other hatchlings quickly joined the slaughter, each trying to tear off something for themselves. All of them were starving. All of them naturally aggressive. Some were so overwhelmed by frenzy that they bit anything nearby, even their own limbs.

  My scales were still soft and slick with slime, and I felt other bodies sliding against me, just to get closer to the victim.

  Sensing a powerful grip closing in on me, I slipped away.

  They’ll be busy with that one for a while. This is my chance. Now or never. I had to run, or I’d be eaten by these little monsters.

  I desperately searched for an exit from the moss- and clay-filled depression. Then a horrifying thought struck me: Someone laid these eggs. Was there a massive hydra nearby? Or — gods forbid — more than one?

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Biology was never my strong subject. I even had to retake it once just to pass. But after watching Jurassic Park, I remembered that the reptiles there could reproduce without fertilization. Between the two options, that was definitely better than having two of those monsters around.

  Best case scenario, it wouldn’t notice me — or wouldn’t care about losing one hatchling when they were already eating each other.

  My claws were still short and soft, but good enough to scrape at the ground as I climbed the steep slope. The earth crumbled beneath me, damp and unstable.

  For a moment, I looked back, terrified of slipping and falling among hundreds of starving “brothers and sisters” again — if I could even call them that. Everything shimmered in countless shades of green and blue. The movement below looked less like a group and more like a living mass, constantly shifting and devouring itself.

  I still couldn’t get used to this body. Walking alone was difficult. Controlling my tail was a nightmare.

  But what unsettled me most was that damn uncertainty and disorientation. What the hell was going on? Everything felt far too real — every sound, smell, sensation, and sight.

  Once again, I focused on one of the hatchlings. The text appeared again, clearer this time.

  [ Species: Cave Hydra ]

  [ Evolution Stage: Newly Hatched ]

  [ Level: 1 ]

  I didn’t know whether some god was messing with me, or if I was hallucinating. Or maybe I was lying in a hospital somewhere right now, just having some insanely messed-up dreams.

  Only one thing was absolutely and unchangeably certain.

  I had to run — or these little monsters would eat me too.

  All answers and reflections could wait. Survival was the most important thing, nothing else! The last thing I wanted was to end up as someone’s snack.

  The climb was slow and exhausting. I was slick with egg slime and clumsy in this new body. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath, my tiny lungs burning. Cold air brushed against my scales, stealing the last remnants of warmth.

  Bored, frightened, and overwhelmed by this new world, I began testing my strange perception. I stared at the moss beneath me, focusing. No words appeared. But when I bit into it, I genuinely felt better.

  Scratches and bite wounds bothered me less. Strength slowly returned to my limbs. The moss was edible — more than edible, it was useful. A bitter taste spread across my tongue, followed by a dull warmth.

  So not only was I a carnivorous cannibal — I was also a herbivore.

  I tried eating clay too, but it barely went down my throat and didn’t help at all. Maybe that was for the best — eating that crap was below all standards of taste. I thought I was going to gag when I tried it. Now I just had a dirty snout and bits of dirt stuck between my tiny teeth.

  It seemed the rule here was simple: Eat or be eaten. Grow stronger or disappear without a trace. Damn cave. Couldn’t I have been reborn as some billionaire’s son? If I had to be an animal, maybe at least a panda in a zoo? I’d lie around lazily and chew bamboo. I always had bad luck.

  I closed my eyes and tried to remember my death. I could still see those dull faces of the drunkards, the fear in that girl’s eyes.

  “Doesn’t someone who defended the weak deserve something better than being reborn as a monster?” I asked whatever god might be listening. Slowly, I was losing faith in everything, in the whole meaning of existence.

  No answer came. In truth, somewhere deep down, I felt that I deserved this fate. It’s not like one good deed can make up for an entire wasted life, right?

  Whatever… I focused on myself, and after a moment, the text appeared.

  [ Species: Cave Hydra ]

  [ Evolution Stage: Newly Hatched ]

  [ Level: 2 ]

  I leveled up. Just like that? I still didn’t understand the rules of this world, but one thing was clear:

  Growth meant survival. I had been reborn as a hydra. A Cave Hydra, to be precise. I had to grow ridiculously fast. Eat and grow, without being eaten myself. Everything around me probably wanted exactly that.

  This definitely wasn’t my world. In mine, there were no creatures like this — unless all the world’s scientists somehow missed multi-headed lizards and floating text appearing above someone’s head.

  That thought terrified me.

  I was an economist by education. I liked numbers. But numbers floating in the air, tied to my very existence, filled me with dread — as if something invisible was watching me and measuring me.

  For now, I chewed on moss and thought. I knew a few things for certain:

  I was a one-headed, lizard-like hydra inside a cave — or maybe a massive cavern — in a world where strength and growth mattered above all else.

  And I had to understand it as quickly as possible. My survival depended on it. I clearly wasn’t a mage. The very idea of magic deeply unsettled me. But if this was some kind of RPG-like world, I couldn’t rule out its existence.

  I decided not to think about it. I already had enough problems.

  My small, reptilian heart pounded wildly as I continued climbing. Every movement was a struggle, but fear pushed me forward. My claws scraped against stone, leaving faint marks that would soon disappear.

  Some of the other hydras followed my example, trying to escape the brood — but their fights slowed them down. As for me, after immense effort, freezing and starving, I finally crawled out of the pit.

  I looked ahead, panting heavily — and I was taken aback.

  Before me lay one of the three sleeping heads of a colossal hydra — so massive and terrifying that I was like a mouse before a cat. Its scales were thick and dark, each one almost larger than my entire body. Slow, rumbling breaths shook me, and with every exhale, warm, foul air washed over me.

  Only by some miracle had it not woken yet.

  It probably never expected one of its young to escape so quickly from the pit carved by its own claws and teeth.

  I focused on it, and the text appeared instantly.

  [ Species: Cave Hydra ]

  [ Evolution Stage: Adult — Three-Headed ]

  [ Level: 49 ]

  That was enough. If I’d been wearing pants, I would’ve shit myself right into them out of fear.

  “Fuck this,” I muttered — producing only a weak lizard-like hiss, so faint that probably only I could hear it — and bolted.

  I ran toward the cave wall, desperately searching for cracks and holes to squeeze into. Every movement felt loud, every second stretched into eternity.

  Behind me, a terrifying roar erupted from three maws, followed by a tail slam that shook the entire cave. Dust fell from the ceiling. Stones cracked. The whole cavern seemed to tremble, as if it might collapse at any moment.

  I didn’t look back. I ran with everything I had. I squeezed into a narrow hole just as the ground behind me shattered.

  I was lucky. I escaped. I made it. Who knows what happened to the rest? Honestly… I didn’t care much.

  For now, leaving certain death behind, I crawled forward into unknown tunnels, my body trembling from exhaustion and fear.

  Once, I thought reincarnation might be better than eternal nothingness after death. Now I really wasn’t so sure anymore. This felt more like divine punishment than a second chance.

  Surrounded by darkness, the stench of damp earth, and distant sounds of creatures moving in the depths…

  I think I would have preferred nothingness.