Cherreads

Chapter 4 - Chapter 4 – Light Seeds and the Monster Beneath the Ground

If I had eyebrows, they'd be halfway off my face by now.

Because what just happened?

I just finished evolving—went from wiggly goo to slightly thicker goo with armor—and then bam, a glowing crystal shows up and gives me a mystical upgrade called the Seed of Lumina.

> "Okay... either I'm hallucinating from larva fatigue, or the world just decided to drop a plot bomb on me."

I could feel it inside me now.

A tiny point of warmth. Soft, silent, and glowing.

Like a shard of the sun trapped inside my jelly-core.

> [Unique Skill Acquired: Seed of Lumina]

[Magic Pathway Unlocked: Light Affinity – Dimensional Tier: Minor]

[Status: Dormant / Inactive]

> "Of course it's inactive. What's a cheat skill without a tutorial gatekeeping it?"

---

The crystal floated silently, its glow slowly fading.

But its voice still echoed in my mind.

> "This seed is the last breath of forgotten light. Do not waste it."

> "I'll try not to die in the next hour, how about that?"

No reply. Just a soft cracking sound.

Thin fractures spread across the crystal's surface—like frost crawling on glass. Then, in one final shimmer, it shattered into a thousand glowing shards.

Gone.

> "Cool. I've got light magic, a meatball body, and emotional damage. That's a full starter kit."

But before I could savor my latest existential crisis…

The ground trembled.

---

> [Warning: Threat Detected – Level Unknown]

[Distance: 51 meters. Approaching rapidly.]

[System Suggestion: Flee.]

> "Hey! A system suggestion I can actually follow!"

I slithered as fast as my squishy body allowed, diving into a mess of glowing roots and fungus.

Gross? Yes. Effective? Also yes.

Peeking out from behind a shattered crystal, I saw… it.

A shadow. A beast.

Like a wolf—but cloaked in living fog.

Its body shimmered like heat haze, and its eyes… blood-red, glowing like hatred crystallized.

> [Name: Shadow Fang]

[Level: ???]

[Class: Dimensional Predator – Tier Unknown]

[Status: Active – Hunting]

> "Oh. So this world has open-world bosses with no warning labels. Great."

It padded forward, sniffing the air.

Then stopped—right where I had killed that Sludge Bug earlier.

The Shadow Fang opened its jaws.

And vacuumed everything.

Soil, goo, acid residue—gone in one inhale.

> "Okay. Note to self: clean up after yourself or risk summoning death incarnate."

Luckily, it didn't notice me.

Or maybe I was just too pathetic to register.

Either way… I survived.

> [Status: Survived Encounter with High-Level Entity]

[Survival Instinct Experience Gained.]

[Level Up: Lv. 3 → Lv. 4]

> "Wait... I get XP for not dying? Sign me up for more of that."

---

Once the earth stopped shaking and my nonexistent heartbeat returned to normal, I moved.

I found a crack between some stones—dark, damp, and coated in glowing fungi.

A makeshift lair. Not glamorous, but it would do.

For now.

I curled into a slimy lump, trying to process everything.

The crystal. The magic. The giant death-wolf.

The fact that a guy who used to eat instant noodles for dinner just melted a bug alive and now has god-seed powers in his gut.

> "Lucien Alaric. 26. Office drone. Reincarnated as a primordial worm. Chosen bearer of ancient light. Definitely underqualified."

And as I drifted off—well, whatever larva-sleep is—the system whispered again.

> [Alert: Other Entities with Lumina Seeds Detected in the World.]

[Connection Pending…]

[Warning: Not all light leads to salvation.]

> "Great. Even light has trust issues now."

> "This world really needs a manual."

---

To be continued…

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