Activation of Abilities

In the evening after the rain, the humid air carried faint traces of earthy fragrance, and from afar came the occasional croak of frogs.

From a nearby thicket came a sudden rustling sound, and soon after, a large, cautious rat poked its small head out of a burrow.

It first carefully surveyed its surroundings, and only after detecting no danger did it cautiously crawl out of the hole, slowly moving forward in search of food.

It moved step by step, pausing frequently, glancing around with a furtive, shifty-eyed look, its small nose twitching constantly, as if ready to flee back into the grass at the slightest disturbance.

"Swoosh!"

A sharp sound of something cutting through the air rang out.

Then, a massive snake head clamped down firmly on its body.

The entire rat was lifted into the air, and a thick, long body coiled around it like a cage, squeezing the dwindling space it had left to move.

Only then did the rat react belatedly—it had been bitten. It began to shriek in panic, its tiny legs flailing wildly.

But was that any use? No.

The next moment, a tremendous force surged from all sides, and the rat, which had just been screaming and thrashing, stiffened its limbs and fell silent.

Then, a trickle of crimson blood foam began to seep from the corner of its mouth.

And now, the perpetrator of all this revealed its true form—a massive snake, over three meters in length.

Beneath a small, clever head lay a wide, flat neck, like a cloak draped over it, majestic and beautiful. Its thick, long, powerful body was covered in dense scales, which gleamed with a metallic luster even in the twilight.

From a distance, it looked like a dignified and commanding king.

Without a doubt, with this enormous frame and imposing appearance, it lived up to its name as the king of venomous snakes—the King Cobra.

Normally, the diet of the King Cobra, the king of venomous snakes, consists mainly of other snakes.

Unless it was starving, it would rarely hunt prey like rats, as the meager amount of meat wasn't worth the effort.

But this particular King Cobra was a bit special.

Because it wasn't a snake—or rather, it hadn't been a snake before.

Its name was Bai Chuan. Ten days ago, he had been just a corporate drone living on a blue water planet, working overtime day after day, pushing himself to the limit.

That night, as usual, he was working overtime when, without warning, his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

When he woke up again, he found himself a snake—a King Cobra that had just reached adulthood.

Of course, a person's death is like a lamp going out. Bai Chuan didn't want to dwell on his past life anymore. He was an orphan anyway, with nothing much to hold onto.

Being able to live again was already enough to make him happy.

Half an hour later, having swallowed the small rat, Bai Chuan crawled back into his tree hollow nest.

Sensing the familiar safety, the snake finally relaxed completely, taking a good look at today's catch.

As his snake eyes focused on his own body, a faint, imperceptible glimmer passed through them.

Instantly, a dim panel unfolded before him.

'Name: Bai Chuan'

'Race: King Cobra'

'Lifespan: 8 years'

'Points: 0 (99.8%)'

This was an ability he had discovered as soon as he arrived in this world. Whenever he stared intently at his own body, a crude panel would appear before his eyes.

Unfortunately, even after ten days in this world, he still hadn't figured out what the panel did.

The only thing that gave him some comfort was the number in parentheses on the Points line, which was slowly increasing over time.

Through days of observation and reflection, he had concluded that the rate of increase was tied to what he ate.

Normal snakes, after a full meal, could go a week or even several weeks without eating again.

But he was different.

He could feel that whenever he was full, unless he actively forced his body to hold still, a strange warmth would surge through his stomach, then fade away.

It seemed to be gathering somewhere.

At those times, the rate at which his panel's points increased would speed up. But if he forced his body to behave like a normal snake, digesting slowly over weeks, the data on the panel would crawl along like a turtle.

It was as if his body had an extra switch compared to ordinary snakes—a switch for rapid digestion.

Though this switch seemed harmful and useless for now, it at least gave him something to look forward to, since this ability was closely tied to his panel.

And even if the panel was currently useless, it was still a golden finger. If he wanted to use it, he had to fill up the points.

Of course, he could give up. But would he be content with that?

Give up all possibilities and live out an ordinary snake's life? Waiting to die of old age in eight years?

Or maybe not even lasting eight years, dying in some accident along the way?

After all, even a King Cobra has natural enemies—crocodiles, Komodo dragons, tigers, or oversized birds of prey could all take him down.

Even if his death meant the enemy wouldn't survive either, what meaning would his death have?

No way—he'd barely managed to get a second chance at life. How could he accept that?

It was precisely because of this that he'd spent nearly every day of the past ten days hunting to fill his stomach.

Fortunately, heaven rewards the diligent. Today, the data was finally almost fully charged.

As time passed, the numbers on the panel slowly began to rise...

99.8%... 99.9%... 100%...

With the shift in numbers, the point counter in Bai Chuan's vision also started to jump.

'0—1!'

The next moment, a faint glimmer flashed. A mysterious light pattern emerged on the previously dim panel, and then the entire panel lit up completely.

Like an old machine finally activated, or a phone screen turning from black to bright.

"Huh? That's it?"

Bai Chuan stared blankly at the panel for a while. Seeing no huge change, he wondered in confusion.

Shouldn't this thing suddenly pop up with some kind of system spirit or something to explain its use, like in those system novels?

Or maybe a flood of information pouring into his mind?

Just... nothing? Just a panel?

That can't be right. Somewhat unwilling to accept it, Bai Chuan swept his gaze around and then looked back at his own snake body.

But then—a change appeared...

'Scanning... Scanning... 10%... 15%...'

Seeing this, Bai Chuan's mind jolted.

It changed! It changed!

Of course there had to be some change!

I knew it!!

Soon, the data progress in Bai Chuan's eyes was fully complete, and a brand new panel emerged.

'Name: Bai Chuan.'

'Species: King Cobra.'

'Lifespan: 8 years.'

'Points: 1.'

'Abilities: Final Growth LV2 (Details), Snake Venom LV2, Energy Saving Storage LV1, Strength LV1, Flexible LV1, Scales LV1, Swimming LV1...'

'Ability Structure Library: Wild Hare (Details), Rat (Details).'

'Editable...'

"So these are the abilities I have now?"

Bai Chuan stared at the information on the panel, murmuring to himself. The snake's forked tongue, unique to his kind, kept hissing "s-s-s," enough to show his inner turmoil.

Curious, he checked the ability details.