I went hunting to survive again today. Gobkichi, who clearly understood the hierarchy by now, moved as I instructed much more quickly, and with the experience we’d gained the previous day, we secured prey at a good pace.
Today’s catch was another horned rabbit, but one significantly larger than yesterday’s. Gobkichi’s wooden stick might have been insufficient, but my horn weapon proved to be even more effective than I expected. While Gobkichi distracted the horned rabbit, I moved in from behind and stabbed it with the horn, crushing its spine and piercing its heart. Although the tip of the horn got a bit chipped from all the rough use, the horn from today’s catch more than made up for it, so I didn’t mind.
I couldn’t help but quip, “Do I look like I was horn yesterday?” out loud. When I saw the genuine confusion in Gobkichi’s gaze, I felt a bit embarrassed. To hide it, I made a show of snapping the horn off the new horned rabbit, just like the day before.
[Gobrou has obtained Medium Bunnicorn Horn!]
Once again, I thought I heard an announcement from somewhere, but since I still didn’t understand much about this world, I decided not to think about it more than necessary and focused instead on splitting the spoils with Gobkichi. As I chewed and crunched through the meat and bones, swallowing them hungrily, I felt the pulse of life surging through my entire body… and I became certain of what I had only suspected yesterday.
[Ability learned: Escape Dash!]
It seemed that even though I had reincarnated as a goblin, I’d retained my ESP ability, Absorption, from my previous life. In other words, I had essentially carried over my abilities into a new game, even if my new starting point was a severe downgrade.
ESP abilities, or Extra Sensory Perception abilities, appeared around the time humanity ventured into space several centuries ago. A small percentage of evolved humans, known as espers, are born at about one in a thousand and can use ESP abilities. However, while they are called “evolved humans,” this evolution is often limited to a single generation. Espers did not necessarily produce esper offspring. Although the likelihood is higher than with non-espers, it was still not guaranteed.
Today, in an era where humans regularly contact and coexist with aliens, espers are no longer persecuted as they were in the distant past. Their abilities were recognized as just another form of individuality, though that’s mainly because devices that help suppress these powers were affordable and readily available.
Back to the main point. My ESP ability, Absorption, was vastly different from more common abilities like Psychometry, Telekinesis, or Teleportation. Simply put, my ability allowed me to consume anything—no matter how hard or inedible, from iron to gold—just crunching it all up. Once consumed, even the most toxic substances became harmless to me, and I could reconstruct them into something benign. And there was always a chance that I could gain some ability or power from whatever I ate.
I didn’t understand the principles behind it myself. They were a complete mystery, but please accept it as one of those ESP abilities. It’s nonsensical to question the science behind superpowers. It was not as simple as eating just anything to gain abilities, either. There were conditions. For living creatures, freshness was crucial. I could only gain something from consuming a living creature within twelve hours of its death.
The more of the same thing I ate, the easier it became to gain an ability from it. Eating parts where the prey’s power was concentrated, like the brain or the heart, increased the probability even more. This also allowed me to strengthen abilities I’ve already acquired, as well as enhance physical aspects like strength, healing ability, and vitality. If I ate a creature stronger than myself, I could almost certainly gain its abilities.
Basically, Absorption may not be a powerful ability on its own, but the more I ate, the stronger I became. Before I reincarnated, I awakened this ability and strengthened it by killing and consuming Disaster-class creatures—ones as dangerous as natural disasters like tornadoes and earthquakes—and by capturing criminals who used their ESP abilities to commit crimes. I borrowed parts of their bodies to gain numerous abilities, such as Precognition, which had allowed me to know what would happen if I’d left Kiritsubo alone.
Unfortunately, all those abilities have been reset. I used to have several abilities that would have been very useful for survival, so I’m not too happy about losing them.
On the other hand, having Absorption was more than lucky enough. Having consumed human flesh in the past—when I first ate human meat and felt nothing —I did some research and found that Absorption also has the effect of numbing aversion. This allowed me to eat mysterious bugs and raw horned rabbits without hesitation, which is why I was still alive. And though losing all my abilities was frustrating, I could regain them.
Eating was crucial for survival, so I was ignoring common sense and ethics for now. The Escape Dash ability I gained from the horned rabbit seemed to enhance running speed, the likelihood of escape, and environmental adaptability during escape attempts. I wondered why the horned rabbit had charged straight at us instead of running away if it had this ability. While spending some time thinking about it, I managed to catch and eat two more horned rabbits.
Feeling full and content, I slept well. Gobkichi’s trust in me seemed to be rising rapidly; according to the laws of the wild, he probably recognized me as a superior being.