Chapter 3

“?”

Rena’s eyes snapped open.

Her pupils, golden and clear like polished gemstones, darted around rapidly, scanning the scene in all directions.

The sky was still pitch black.

The bonfire flickered weakly, its embers barely radiating warmth against the cold midnight breeze that swept past her face.

At the same time, Rena furrowed her brow, wincing in irritation.

“Dammit.”

She hadn’t slept for long.

Why did she have to wake up at dawn anyway?

No matter how much she tried to convince herself to fall back asleep, her body remained tense.

Everything had been fine, but now there was no way she’d be able to get back to sleep.

Everyone had probably experienced this before – waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to fall back asleep until morning, only to suffer throughout the day.

Still, she had to at least try to go back to sleep.

She needed to get a full night’s rest if she wanted to be active again early in the morning.

Just as she closed her eyes to try and fall back asleep, though, she noticed something strange mixed in with the wind.

It was an unpleasant, metallic smell – indescribable, but reminiscent of the odor she’d encountered when taking care of a friend’s puppy before it went on a long trip.

The smell of animal urine.

…Urine?

Her drowsy mind cleared instantly, as though doused in cold water.

“Survival Instinct (Lv.1) has been activated!”

“Survival Instinct has leveled up to Lv.2 through accumulated experience!”

There was something hiding in the darkness behind the thick bushes from which the wind was blowing.

Her intuition – practically an instinct – was telling her this much.

Rena slowly got up.

Sudden movements would only alert the predator.

She had to act as natural as possible, as though she didn’t know anything… But then what?

Confusion swirled in her mind.

Humans had risen to the top of the food chain by using tools and developing civilization.

In other words, without tools, humans were weak.

What could she possibly do against a wild beast with nothing but her bare hands?

Should she run? Or fight?

It was true that her physical abilities had changed dramatically after her gender transformation, but could she really win a game of tag against a ferocious beast?

Could she fight one head-on?

Bears tear humans apart, but how would she know if it was a bear or not?

She didn’t have much time to think.

It was about as long as inhaling and exhaling once.

But that was more than enough time for a predator to start its hunt.

A dark mass burst from the shadows.

It was fast.

She barely realized it had jumped before it was already halfway toward her.

Through the darkness, using the faint glow of the bonfire, Rena’s eyes pierced through the veil and identified her opponent.

[Serrated Jaguar]

The name hovering above the creature’s head was blurry, but it stood out to Rena as clearly as her own name.

Was this its name?

Was it because she didn’t have the qualifications to read anything more than the name on the status window?

Whatever the reason, there was no time to think about it now.

Rena’s body moved without her conscious will.

It was reflexive, like catching a fish mid-leap.

She crouched low and rolled forward.

Though her back scraped against the gravelly ground, she paid it no mind.

After all, the massive body of a predator had just passed right above her.

Jaguars are one of the largest feline predators, only smaller than tigers and lions. Even though she didn’t know their exact statistics, they looked imposing simply based on size.

They can weigh nearly 100 kg – a behemoth of a creature.

Generally, physical power in combat scales with size.

Even if the jaguar wasn’t as deadly as a bear, the sheer impact of colliding with it would feel like getting hit by a car.

There was no way she could win under normal circumstances.

How could a modern human who avoided the gym, spending their time lounging around at home, ever stand a chance against a wild beast?

When she saw the jaguar’s size with her own two eyes, her chances of winning felt even more hopeless.

She had to run.

Maybe she could climb a tree and escape.

Her rational mind decided this course of action, but her body seemed to disagree.

Her slim waist pushed off the ground with a spring-like bounce, and her legs shot skyward.

She didn’t land after rolling.

She was still in the middle of the roll.

The jaguar’s stomach collided with something with a dull, “thud.”

The jaguar let out a “cough!” of pain, its mid-air trajectory altered as it flew higher.

It flipped mid-air and collided with the tree trunk that Rena had been using to block the moonlight.

“Wow, it worked.”

Rena marveled at her own actions internally.

Though it felt long in words, the jaguar’s charge and her forward roll happened in the blink of an eye.

Their movements intersected for but a fleeting moment.

And amidst that chaos, she managed to kick the jaguar’s stomach mid-roll.

It was a jaguar-like movement, almost bestial in its precision.

The jaguar slid down the trunk, disoriented.

Considering it hadn’t expected such a counterattack and slammed its head into the ground, it was miraculous that it was even still alive.

Rena didn’t give it any more chances.

Using the nearby tree, she leaped upward with an almost gravity-defying motion. At the apex of her jump, she twisted mid-air and slammed her foot down with all her might.

The jaguar’s neck snapped with an audible “crack.”

“Eww.”

Rena winced.

The “crack” wasn’t something she heard; it was something she felt through her foot.

It was the sensation of shattering bone.

A chilling shiver ran down her spine, and her body shuddered at the strange, grotesque sensation.

“Why’d you attack me anyway?”

Rena wasn’t consumed by guilt for taking a life.

If she hadn’t killed it, she would have died.

Besides, did the fish she cooked ever die on its own?

The only difference was that the jaguar’s size made the sensation more vivid; there was no new feeling to gain from killing it.

“Strange.”

Rena examined her body, flexing it this way and that.

She knew her physical abilities had increased abnormally.

But that didn’t mean she should be able to take on a wild beast in direct combat.

It would be like a child swinging a sword against an adult, who could easily subdue them with a single slap.

No matter how advanced her physical body – the tool – was, without skills, she’d be useless.

Rena had no martial arts training.

She didn’t know how to control her own body.

But what had just happened?

Rolling on the ground, kicking the flying jaguar mid-roll, leaping up the tree with gravity-defying moves, breaking its neck without hesitation…

None of it was something she had consciously decided to do.

The unfamiliarity struck her all the more sharply because her body had moved of its own accord.

Literally, her body had acted on its own.

The instincts had led her.

“Looks like my software got an upgrade along with my hardware.”

What was instinct?

It was the natural response of her body itself.

After all, this body – transformed by gender change – wasn’t just enhanced physically; it also came equipped with a predator-like survival instinct that allowed her to use her abilities more effectively.

“Hard skills (Lv.1) has been learned!”

“Survival Instinct (Lv.2) affects Hard Skills (Lv.1)!”

“Hard Skills (Lv.1) evolves into Wild Hard Skills (Lv.1)!”

“Are you always so late to the party?”

Rena scoffed.

You’re useless.

Other people use the system as a cheat code, but why is mine so scatterbrained?

This time, a single word seemed to flash in golden letters, making her squint.

Do you even know what time it is?

It’s still the early morning, with the moon shining bright.

Her eyes had already adjusted to the dark, so the sudden brightness was making them uncomfortable, making it hard to keep them open.

Not only was it not helping; it was actively hindering her.

Rena grumbled at the unfair system.

“Survival Rule (3) Completed!”

“The imminent threat has been perfectly neutralized, granting bonus rewards!”

“Growth points have reached a significant threshold, presenting a choice!”

“You’re so unresponsive,” Rena complained, her frustration growing as the text in her vision was obscured by rows of words.

I told you to disappear, but instead, they’re pouring in like a flood.

Since I don’t understand any of this, it’s only making me feel more frustrated.

On top of it all, her chest suddenly felt itchy.

Had a bug bitten her through her shirt?

She checked her shirt for any red marks or bites but found none.

It wasn’t a surface-level irritation.

Deep within, something in her mind – her very soul – was tingling.

“Ugh, it itches.”

Rena scratched at her chest, but she couldn’t just rip open her sternum to reveal her insides.

She had the intuition that scratching her chest wouldn’t help the itch.

Maybe… she should try meditation?

Rena closed her eyes and turned her consciousness inward.

Apparently, that was the right move.

The sensitive external stimuli all vanished.

Rena realized she was standing at a crossroads.

A unique crossroads indeed.

Countless paths stretched out before her.

“Wow.”

She gasped in amazement.

She realized the nature of each of these countless paths.

They were destinies.

“This is the job advancement window.”

Finally, the system was doing what it was supposed to.

---