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Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Now that I’d seen humans and was in high spirits, I decided to grow stronger by defeating monsters in order to become more human.

If it was just those green giants, turns out they were goblins, I could handle them easily. All I had to do was scream, and if they didn’t die outright, they’d pass out, and I could eat them by touching them.

(And if it came down to it, I could just burrow underground and absorb nutrients there. This body really is convenient when it comes to food… Being a Mandragora might not be so bad after all…)

Despite everything, it seemed I was starting to accept my situation. I’d been in utter despair when I first realized I was a Mandragora, but now I had a goal, and things didn’t seem so bleak anymore.

I was happily on the move when something suddenly lunged at me from the side.

「UWAAAAAAAAAA!?!?」

Something sharp pierced my body, and pain erupted. I screamed from the agony, and in my blurred vision, I saw that some kind of beast had bitten into me.

The beast heard my scream at point-blank range and immediately collapsed to the ground. Its jaw loosened and released me, but where it had bitten still hurt terribly.

(Ow… It’s leaking some kind of fluid, blood? Ugh… Come on, heal already! Doesn’t being a Mandragora mean I should have some kind of healing ability or make awesome medicine or something?!)

I just wanted the wound to heal. I needed medicine. As I wished for that, a different sound echoed in my head, a single, short 「beep」 different from the level-up chime. I’d heard it before.

(Huh… it stopped hurting. …There’s some kind of… sparkly liquid coming out of the hole… Weird…)

At first, it had been green liquid, probably Mandragora blood. But now it was glowing, sparkling even, and frankly, it looked creepy. Even more so because the wound visibly began to close.

(Is this… a healing potion? I can make it inside my own body?)

Maybe that 「beep 」 had been a signal that the medicine was ready? No, wait, I’d heard it before too, back when I was screaming and running from the goblin. But that time, I didn’t make any potion. It must mean something else entirely.

(I don’t get it… If this were a game, there’d be a log, or messages telling me what’s happening… I wish I had a status screen or something…)

Another 「beep.」 Suddenly, letters appeared in front of me. 『【Status Display】 acquired』 it read. Startled, I let out a small scream and fell down. Mandragoras are prone to screaming, after all, don’t scare me like that.

(This really is just like a game now… Still, if I can get proper info this way, it’ll help a lot. Alright, show me my status.)

As I wished it, a flood of information appeared before me. I carefully examined it and began sorting through the details.

【Species】 Mandragora (Mutant)
【Level】 86
【Vitality】 B
【Magic】 Unmeasurable
【Skills】 Voice Spread / Medicine Creation / Status Display
【Evolution Points】 62

【Description】

A top-tier Mandragora grown in dragon-infused soil and steeped in rich magical energy. As an ingredient, it can produce any kind of potion, but it has undergone a unique evolution allowing for rapid movement, making it difficult to capture.
Its voice inflicts death via curse and requires thorough countermeasures.
Possesses the skill to spread its voice in a wide area, enabling attacks from unseen distances.

※At this rate, it is highly likely to become a disaster-class monster. Extreme caution advised.

The tone of the description felt weirdly like something aimed at people, not me. It was as if this was meant for someone else to read, like a game interface made for humans.

「…Wait, I’m considered an ‘ingredient’…? Also, hey, I can talk now?」

Somehow, I could now speak clearly. Just a few hours ago, I was bleating like a sheep when I tried to say 「sorry」 to a bird. Monster evolution sure is fast. But this new ability didn’t show up as a skill.

(That beep must signal a skill acquisition. But just changing body parts doesn’t count as a skill. Like these webbed hands—I mean, regular Mandragoras definitely don’t have those.)

Looking down, I saw that the wound had completely healed, but the bitten area now had a noticeable dent. The part where the beast had clamped down…

(…Wait. This dent… it’s not from the bite…)

My brown, daikon-like body now had—boing, curve, boing. A suspiciously perfect hourglass shape.

This wasn’t even practical. The only thing it was good for was being laughed at if posted online. Not that I had a smartphone. Or social media. Not even Twitter still existed in the old world, let alone here.

(Sure, I said I wanted a nice body—but not like this! Not while I still look like a root vegetable…!)

I slumped to the ground, hands on the dirt, dejected. That’s when my finger brushed against the dead beast beside me, and I was hit by that familiar sensation of 「deliciousness」—followed immediately by its energy being absorbed. I hadn’t even meant to.

This wasn’t listed as a skill either. It must be a natural trait of Mandragoras, or of plant-type monsters in general. Roots absorb nutrients. That’s just how nature works.

(But that means… I can’t touch other living beings with these hands. Isn’t there another way…?)

After thinking it through, I remembered that above-ground parts, leaves, stems, and flowers, didn’t absorb energy. That had to be why the goblin could grab my flower-top and pull me up.

(If I could grow vine-like appendages from up there that I could control… then I could make thin vines and use them like human hair…!)

The moment I wished for it, a mess of green thread-like strands spilled down from the top of my head. I could control them freely. Moving each individual vine was too much, but bundling them together like a rope worked just fine. Like a vine whip, really.

I glanced at my status screen again. The evolution points had dropped from 62 to 61.

(So one point for each transformation? …I wonder how can I earn more points. Still, with this many, I might actually be able to take human form!)

But I couldn’t tell how my changes looked unless I saw myself. I needed to find water, something that could reflect my image. Better to evolve somewhere with a clear view.

After wandering for a while, I found a beautifully clear pool of water, adorned with lotus-like flowers. I eagerly leaned over to check my reflection.

What stared back at me was a creature with tangled, uneven green hair sticking up in wild tufts, a lumpy brown body with oddly placed curves, and two pitch-black eyes peeking out from between strands like gaping voids.

I screamed, of course.

It looked like some cursed doll you’d find in a haunted garbage dump. The kind of thing that just radiates bad vibes. It was absolutely terrifying.

(Well… if I look like a doll now, that’s… progress? Progress. At least it’s vaguely person-shaped now…)

I’d evolved from a brown daikon to a cursed doll. That was still a step closer to being human, right, and thus a cause for celebration… At least that’s what I want to think.