Reborn as a Mimic?!

For as long as he could remember, he always could replicate what everyone else could do. Whether it was an athletic sport or a mental one, all he had to do was observe another individual in action, and then he could replicate their steps and sometimes add a little spice to the moves.

"Argh, darn it! You beat me again?!" The boy exclaimed as he looked down at the chess board.

"Umm, I guess I did?" Skeptical of his victory, the other boy eyed the board with curiosity, still trying to figure out how he had outsmarted his opponent.

"Wow, he beat Lyle twice in a roll." One of the boys watching the game commented as the rest murmured.

"I have never seen anyone give Lyle such a hard match."

"Didn't he start playing only this week?"

"Really? What a talent!"

Later that evening, as it was getting dark, the applause from the other students watching the chess match resounded in his mind as he made his way home through the path in the woods.

The chess game still fresh on his mind, he recalled the moves he had made to subdue Lyle, they were the very moves he had seen on TV during a master's tournament one time.

"Foden? Moden? Boden...?" The name of the chess move seemed to float within his grasp, it was made by an old chess master that dominated the sport at one time.

The woods became cold at night. Fortunately, the cold did not affect him much, as his body was attuned to different weather elements. But as he came towards the center of the woods, he felt the hair on the back of his head stand on the ends.

The boy stopped in his tracks, sweat descended from his forehead as a putrid scent suddenly filled the air.

He could feel the scent.

Dirty air mixed with a sewer-like odor filled the air around him. Suddenly, the air became pungent, and the odor only got stronger. Immediately, after regaining his senses he knew that whatever creature was emitting that scent was getting closer.

He began to run.

A terrible neighing mixed with a piercing screech filled the air, combined with loud galloping sounds permeated the air behind him as he made a run for it.

Veering away from the path the boy made a B-line through the woods, it had already gotten dark around him, so he relied on his memory of the times he explored the woods during the daytime to help him make his way through the tight trees.

The noises kept getting louder as he ran faster, the ground had gotten steeper as he realized that this path led to the main road that curved around the edge of a hill. Branches slapped his face and scraped his body as he zipped past the trees, and for a moment his sight was interrupted causing him to trip and fall.

The boy used his arms to protect his head as he rolled down the slope slamming into trees and rocks on his way toward the main road.

With a loud thud, the boy slammed into the pavement. The terrifying screeching had stopped and the putrid scent had scattered, all he could smell now was the scent of asphalt. There was no mistake, he had tumbled down from the woods to the main road.

His body ached all over, but he knew he had to move from this spot. This road was notorious for its reckless drivers who seemed to think vehicles had no speed limit.

"Get... up!" The boy urged his body.

A pair of lights suddenly flickered in the distance.

The boy forced himself to get to his feet, but he had sustained too much damage for him to move out of the way in time. The only thing he could do was signal to the driver and hope he would see him before it was too late.

"I can't... Give up!"

With the last remaining strength in his body, the boy lunged to the side of the road as the truck zoomed past him.

Truck-kun would not prevail, not today. He recalled how many anime protagonists had been slain by this twelve-wheeled fiend.

Unfortunately, the boy's success was short-lived as he seemed to have used too much strength during his jump which ended up sending him off another cliff beside the road.

The boy's vision darkens before his body splashes into the water.

[Later...]

When he finally woke up from what felt like an endless dream, he found himself sitting in a poorly lit chamber.

His body felt sluggish and he could barely move, when he tried to look around he could only see as far as his eyes would let him.

'I can't move my head...?' He wondered. 'I can't move my mouth either!'

When he tried to speak, only his thoughts seemed to seep out like an echo.

'What's going on?' Instinctively he thrashed his body and was immediately taken aback by the ooze-like tentacles that flung themselves ahead of him. 'What the hell is that?'

When he panicked a transparent secretion oozed from his being and plastered itself on the ground.

[Ability Gained: Lesser Sticky Ooze]

Suddenly a translucent panel showed up within his vision and showed him the name of the substance he had secreted.

He recognized the appearance of the panel like that from the games he played in his former life.

'If that's a skill window?' He observed. 'Then is there a status window too?'

Immediately after saying this, another panel appeared over the last one and this one was written status.

[Status Window Acquired]

[Name: Dalmai Fulsan

[Species: Spawn Mimic

[Titles: None

[Health: 1/1

[Mana: 10/10

[Stamina: 10/10

[Strength: 10

[Defense: 10

[Intelligence: 50

[Resistance: 10

[Speed: 5

[Magic: None

[Skills: Bite, Lesser Sticky Ooze

[Mimic Inherent Skills: 「Sticky Body, Imitator, False Appearance, Strangle」

[Resistances: 「Lightining damage, Fire damage, Magic damage」

[Weaknesses: 「Poison damage, Dark damage, Bleed damage」

'Is this all about me? So I am a mimic?' Dalmai pondered as he reviewed his status. 'How could this be? I don't remember dying...'

Flashes of his former self running through the woods and falling onto the asphalt replayed in his mind.

During his panic, he had used all his strength to evade the oncoming truck successfully, but his mistiming had sent him falling off the side of a cliff into a lake.

'So I died...'

It was heart-rending for him to finally realize what happened to him. He knew that he would be missed by his family, but he had an opportunity to thrive in this world even as a... Mimic?

Dalmai sighed.

Suddenly a pair of yellow eyes peered at him from the shadows, then a large jaw lunged at him.

Dalmai slinked back as the jaws clamped down on air.

'What's that?'

The figure of a rock with two purple tentacles and a pair of yellow eyes appeared before him, it was another mimic.

'Who are you?!'

Dalmai tried to communicate with the creature, but his words were translated to a growl that proceeded to agitate the mimic.

Its purple tentacles lashed out and tried to grab Dalmai, but he managed to evade them and retreat beyond its reach.

When he was at a safe distance, Dalmai noticed that the mimic had stopped trying to eat him.

'What was that thing?!' Dalmai screamed in his mind.

Immediately after crying out for information regarding the creature that attacked him, a status window revealing the creature's information appeared in front of his eyes.

[Enemy Status Acquired]

[Name: None

[Species: Spawn Mimic

[Titles: None

[Magic: None

[Skills: Bite, Sticky Tentacles]

Dalmai was flabbergasted.

He figured the creature that had tried to eat him alive was a mimic too, but it seemed to have a different ability than him. Though it was the same species as he was, he could not see its basic stats.

Dalmai was desperate for an explanation for what was going on.

'Isn't there someone who can tell me what's going on?!' Dalmai screamed in his thoughts but ended up roaring.

[Unique Skill Acquired: Sophia]

'Sophia? Who's that?'

「Sofia, a unique system ability created to guide the user as they grow and explore this world」

'Sofia? I think I have heard of that name from somewhere.' Dalmai pondered. 'So you will be my guide, right? Tell me where the hell am I?'

「A Cave」

'Say what?'

「A Cave」

'You are kidding me, right?!' Dalmai queried, sounding outwardly annoyed.

「User has yet to explore his surroundings to acquire the necessary data for a more lengthy description of the user's current location」

After noting how this all made realistic sense, Dalmai opted to ask questions that Sofia may have the information to provide him with the right answers.

'Okay, umm the mimic that attacked me earlier. It belonged to a species of spawn mimics, right? What is a spawn mimic?'

「Spawn Mimic: A group of servant mimics that can change their form to rocks, twigs, or other small inanimate objects. Spawn mimics are created in swarms by Impersonator mimics that they serve with their lives- 」

'What do you mean swarms?' Dalmai interrupted Sofia.

「Swarms: A large group of-」

'I know what swarms are, Sofia! What I am asking is what do you mean by that? Are you telling me that they are here with me right now?'

「Affirmative」