Me, The Sovereign of the World? [Modern Evolution]

Back at home, Zoe Carter set down her backpack, swiftly entering her private room. She checked for any outside disturbances and retrieved an old phone from the aluminium safe—a device she used to log her ever-evolving physical changes.

[Second Entry: 20th January, 2024]

[New Bodily Changes Detected]

I’ve noticed an extraordinary sense of smell today. It far exceeds human limits, similar to my enhanced physical strength. I can now perceive the world almost entirely through scent. Simple tracking experiments have yielded exceptional results.

Additionally, my memory recall has significantly improved—my thoughts and past experiences are clearer, suggesting an enhancement in brain function.

As for the disadvantages typically associated with being female, such as menstrual discomfort, heaviness in the chest, and general physical imbalances, they have entirely disappeared. In short, all subtle discomforts have vanished. This observation is based purely on objective experience.

[Summary]: My bodily evolution is moving me further from humanity, but I intend to remain true to my personality. I embrace this evolution, not as its servant, but as its master.

After making her entry, Zoe sat silently on the sofa. The clock read eleven, and the air was filled with the faint aromas of dinners drifting from nearby homes. Normally, this would have tempted her appetite, but Zoe no longer needed food. It left her feeling a touch lost. Without the usual rhythm of mealtimes, what should she do with herself?

Reading novels or binge-watching dramas was tempting, but such distractions would only divert her attention from her evolving body. Playing games wouldn’t help her focus either. If she wanted to remain aware of her physical changes, she needed something more productive to occupy her mind.

It was a familiar sensation—feeling the need to be busy, but unsure of how. Luckily, she had already noted her most recent bodily changes and drafted a plan.

Her list of tasks read as follows:

1. Investigate the cause of my bodily changes.
2. Develop a professional exercise routine to explore my physical abilities and better utilize them.
3. Continue documenting changes and update my "Memo - Creative Web Novel Ideas" in real time.
4. Research further unknown bodily changes, such as potential immunity to sleep deprivation, or enhanced resistance to temperature extremes and physical impacts.
5. Identify new energy sources and investigate whether food consumption is still necessary (initial tests with food have yielded unclear results; no need for bowel movements yet).
6. Experiment with detaching biological matter like hair, skin, and nails, to assess their properties outside the body.
7. Purchase necessary items such as exercise equipment and food.

Tasks three and seven were already in motion, but there were no solid leads for tasks four and five. The exercise regime from task two was scheduled for later in the evening. For now, it seemed, exercise would get her through the long night ahead.

As for the rest, tasks one and six were yet to be explored. After pondering for a moment, Zoe decided to conduct the sixth experiment first.

Collecting samples of her own biological matter—hair, skin, nails—seemed simple enough.

Curiosity had gnawed at her since she awoke the previous day to find herself irrevocably changed. What had happened to her old body materials? Had they transformed into new cells, or had they simply decayed and been replaced? Though she had been preoccupied with her evolving form, she had never stopped wondering about these questions.

With a sigh, Zoe activated the camera on her old modified phone, adjusted the angle, and placed it on the table to record her experiment.

From a drawer in the corner, she pulled out a pair of scissors she'd prepared earlier. Cutting her hair would surely be the easiest place to start. However, the moment she made the first snip, she froze.

The scissors jammed as if caught on something unyielding. Not only did they fail to cut her hair, but they were forced out of alignment, trapping the strands between their blades.

Zoe blinked, momentarily silent. After prying the scissors open again, she grabbed another few strands of hair, pulled them taut, and pressed the blades tightly against them. This time, she squeezed the scissors slowly and repeatedly, hoping to saw through the hair.

But after ten long seconds of effort, the hair remained unscathed. Zoe stared at the strands, speechless. Something was definitely wrong.

Determined, she retrieved a set of nail clippers, now targeting her nails. As she applied pressure, the clippers snapped with a sharp crack, even before she managed to make a dent. Her nails, however, were completely untouched—smooth and pink, as if nothing had happened.

A creeping realisation settled in.

Her skin was the next test. Gently pressing a kitchen knife against her arm produced only a faint white mark. Even with more force, her skin refused to break.

Zoe's grip slackened, and the knife slipped from her hand. Her breath caught in her throat. "This is... terrifying," she murmured, her voice trembling, eyes wide in disbelief as though she had encountered a ghost.

It was no longer a matter of dull tools. Something more profound had happened to her. Yet, ever the meticulous investigator, Zoe decided to sharpen the tools using the bottom of a bowl, as one might do with a whetstone. She even fetched two brand new pairs of nail clippers from her supplies.

The result? The same as before.

Her skin, hair, and nails had grown too tough for ordinary tools to handle. Her hair, while soft to the touch, had become virtually indestructible. And her nails, though delicate in appearance, snapped every pair of clippers she could find.

In the stillness of her room, Zoe stared at her hands, her mind awhirl with conflicting thoughts. The notion of gathering biological samples suddenly seemed laughable.

Her body, it seemed, had become something akin to an "iron body"—though not quite at the level of the superheroes in comic books. Still, she was far beyond any ordinary human. She could imagine a hair salon burning through multiple pairs of scissors just to cut her hair. And surgery? She shuddered to think how doctors would even begin to perform an operation on her now.

What troubled her the most, however, was the strangeness of it all. Her skin, hair, and nails felt so normal—soft, pliant, entirely unremarkable to the touch. And yet, their durability had increased exponentially.

It was, quite simply, a mystery that defied all reason.