He lifted his head and let out a mighty roar that made the air vibrate around him. It was the time – the day he will take over the nearby jungle territory. He felt his body raise in temperature as it realigned and became more adept. After consuming the invading tyrant, he was more than ready.

=======

Do you want to play a g…

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He shakes his head in annoyance and concentrates on his target while the box slowly dissipates. Another roar, this time in annoyance escapes his jaws. It's still there – the headache-inducing blue thing. He hoped his meal had finally fixed this problem, but it seems he needed to hunt a bigger prey for that. Yes… It was finally time to consume and grow.

He gets up, life-water cascading down his back, which now held new spikes after his growth subsided. They glistened in violet undertones, making them look not only threatening but also informing any would-be predator that he was more than just a good bite. Deadly toxins ran deep within those spikes.

Slowly he moves out of the water and towards his next target. He holds in a growl of annoyance as the blue thing again moves into his vision, covering part of his precious view - a weakness in his growth, a weakness that might prove deadly if not fixed soon. Growing new set of eyes hadn't helped.

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Do you want to play a game?

*Yes *No

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Ignoring the blue nightmare, he stalks forward, no reason to alert his next target. A multitude of shapes and forms run from the sight of him. He pays no heed to smaller ones; they hold no more means of advancement for him. With the side eyes, he spots a red coloured creature with five appendages scuttling away. Memories of different times flash. One leap and the red one is down, using his six-fingered claws to hold it down, humongous jaw clamps down on it, red carapace making cracking sounds as it breaks apart revealing flesh inside. Revenge is sweet. He still remembers how the same creature made him spend a whole cycle hiding, while the pain from its toxins, wrought havoc in his body. He's better now, the growth came and with it, the pain left, only mild sting in tongue reminds of the old times. Even that fades and is replaced by savoury taste of flesh.

He can already feel his body adapting, the new violet spikes on his back becoming slightly red at the ends. While the change minor, he knew it could become a deciding factor in the upcoming fight. New power kept coursing through his lithe body. It felt good to consume, to grow, it always did.

=======

Do yo…

=======

As always, the annoyance still came back.

Deeper into the jungle he went. The beast could already feel the pressure coming from the distance - a conscious act of a predator undergoing deep change. It would keep most at bay, too scared of the wrath that would follow if disturbed. He was not most.

Dark jungle trees made way for clearing up ahead. In the middle fleshy egg was pulsing. It's size dwarfing even the beast himself. Still, it was time to act. He would fight, consume, grow just to fight some more, and any stop in this cycle would mean that it was his time to be consumed. With a roar, he leaps at the egg - claws extended, toxic bile already coating the teeth, droplets of it falling and burning the ground beneath him. Before the leap connects, the egg explodes in a gory fashion. He lands, claws and teeth connecting with the target - a creature twice his size. He smells it. Weakness is shown, by its failed growth attempt. It's now or never, the opponent will never forgive his intervention.

Massive claw connects with his back, tossing him aside, but the damage is already done. He sees it for a second - a huge black creature with grey plates covering its back. Biomass of failed growth still covering some of the greyish plates, slowly rotting away as the growth potential was wasted. Another second passes as he assesses the damage done and tries to find a better position for another leap. Chance comes as the black beast tries to attack, but finds its appendage unable to hold weight. The same one it used to smack him away.

Another dash, and this time he has a clear target. Powerful jaws close in on the less protected neck, yellow blood gushes and just like that, the fight is over. He can still feel his prey convulse underneath him, but it's already too late.

He consumes, fresh flesh providing him with the needed biomass for the next deep change. He can already feel it coming. A roar of victory resounds. He has done it! This time, he doesn't even care about the fact that the blue thing is still not going away. Deep change will make him better. It might even fix the annoyance.

=======

Do you want to play a game?

*Yes *No

=======

As a passing thought, before the egg like shell engulfs him to provide an environment for the deep change, he reaches out and touches one of the lesser parts of the blue menace.

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-*No selected

-Finding new host

-New host not found

-Executing: "reserve plan"

-Using soul bank

-Host soul found

-"Precise soul override" commencing:

10% … 50%

-Error-$&

-"Precise soul override" failed

-Executing: "backup plan in case of backup plan's failure, seriously how did it fail?"

-"Not so precise soul override" commencing

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The sky burned as huge asteroid split the atmosphere. As it fell, multiple beings, far stronger than the beast, took to hiding wherever they could. Ground shattered and a wave of energy pulsed outwards, killing all beings nearby. All that was left of the once green jungle territory was a huge crater that was slowly filling in with water.

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... 100%

-"Not so precise soul override" completed

-Warning, host body not found!

-Finding suitable carriers

-Soul stored in a suitable carrier

-Starting the game phase

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"I think I'm alive."

I would open my eyes, to look around, but somehow this body feels wrong.

"It's dark."

I try speaking, but the words just don't come out.

A flash and a blue box show up.

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Do you want to play a game?

*Yes *No

=======

How am I seeing… you know what? It doesn't matter. Might as well play, not much else I can do right now.

I focus on the *Yes and the blue box rewards me with more nonsense.

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-*Yes selected

-Welcome user and thank you for participating in our new alpha test program. Please be aware that (?!,();!? corporation holds all rights of terminating your avatar permanently without further notice in case of ?,?)!(?)(!('b

-Let the games begin!

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"What the Fuck?"