Leo's flailing body quickly reached terminal velocity before being pulverized by the concrete street below.

'Ah, it's finally over,' Leo thought, 'Am I dead? Kinda dark. Well, that's to be expected, I guess.'

After twenty-seven uneventful years, Leo had ended the monotony of slaving behind a desk for a company he didn't care about, and for people he had never even spoken to.

Leo's coworkers ostracized him for seemingly no reason other than to let off a little steam on someone weaker than them. Leo could cope with such injustice; What he couldn't cope with, however, was the general populace pretending as though he didn't exist. Such a life of dull repetition and social invisibility was simply too unsatisfactory for him. He felt like a ghost lost in a sea of people.

Leo had no friends, and his only family couldn't be bothered to send him even a simple text message for his birthday. It was clear that they did not consider him as being of the same blood.

Thus, Leo worked up the courage and leaped off the 131st employee balcony under the astonished gazes of his coworkers. Of course, they were only shocked not because of his suicidal actions, but because he was over thirty minutes past his break time. Such a scoundrel was not appreciated inside the company. Surely, he would've been duly fired had he taken more conventional methods to reach the bottom floor.

'Fuck them. I wish I could have pulled them all off the ledge with me.'

Now the only thing that occupied Leo's thoughts concerned what he was going to eat.

'I'm so damn hungry. How is that even possible? I should be dead!'

Leo couldn't move, nor see or feel. There was only darkness, and only his thoughts permeated the void. However, he could still clearly feel an instinctual hunger within him.

'Dammit! Did I fail? That was the highest point accessible to employees!'

Leo could only inwardly sigh. He could not even properly kill himself. It was no wonder his parents didn't love him.

'Well, that life isn't important now. Now I just need to figure out where the hell I am. A dream? A coma? Or maybe even purgatory?'

Leo's mind raced with theories; However, he couldn't find a solution to his predicament. This was his life now; This is what he chose.

After a short moment, however, something changed. The once endless sea of black was pierced by a ray of light.

'Light? Am I free? Am I waking up? Wait… am I being born? Like one of those reincarnation stories? Exciting! Finally, something exciting!'

Leo couldn't help but bubble with anticipation at that sight. He could finally be one of those magical characters he envied: Fighting dragons, conquering demons, and building nations.

'Oh, oh, what am I gonna be? An elf? A hero? Maybe even the demon lord!'

The more Leo pondered about his second life, the more he energized himself. This was certainly the most interesting thing he'd ever experienced.

'Killing myself was the right choice. Good job past me!'

The ray of light grew in size. The darkness was quickly consumed by its enemy, and the once empty void became a world of golden light. As the last strand of darkness was vanquished, Leo's consciousness disappeared.

--------------------------------

[Wake up, Leo- No. Let's let the past remain where it is. Your name now is Zulu. Wake up, Zulu.]

--------------------------------

When his consciousness came to be again, he felt heavy. Zulu felt as though his body had been out of use for a long time, and it was only now recovering.

Of course, Zulu's first instinct was to lift his eyelids and inspect the new world of fantasy in which he'd been reborn.

'What's it gonna be? Magic castle? Elven forest?'

Zulu's drowsy eyelids slowly broke apart, and the first light of the world entered.

'Ah? It's a… cave? Fuck. Hmm, I can't speak either. I guess I'm still a baby, so that's only natural.'

Zulu slowly turned his head to observe his surroundings. It was all gray. The only light he could find came from a wooden torch on the wall. He replaced one world of darkness for another. It was a far cry from the fantastical scene he envisioned.

'Well, that's fine, I suppose. No need to get upset yet. I mean, who's born outside anyway? This must be my new family's home. Kinda weird, though. Was I reborn as a hobbit? Speaking of family…'

Zulu turned his gaze in each direction; However, no matter how hard he looked, he was alone.

'Wasn't that light me being born? Where is my mother?'

Zulu could only lay in confusion; He really did not understand what was going on.

'Oh right, maybe I should check out my race first. C'mon elf, c'mon elf!'

Zulu tried to lift his hand in front of him, though, he found it to be quite difficult for his new body. When his "hand" finally appeared in his field of vision, he wanted to faint.

'I'm no elf.'

Zulu's eyes were glued to the tiny black paw below him.

'What… the fuck? Is this my punishment for committing suicide? Killing myself was the wrong choice. Fuck you past me. Well, that explains why I can't speak; It's not that I'm a baby, but because I'm nonhuman altogether.'

Zulu's mood turned sour. His hope for a brilliant adventure with overpowered spells and beautiful elven women had been crushed. He'd been reborn as a filthy animal.

After a few moments of self-depreciation, Zulu attempted to stand on all fours. It was a foreign action for him, and it would likely take a while before he could become accustomed to his new body. He would be quite literally learning to walk all over again; However, he was surprised to find that it was actually quite easy. In only a few tries, he could walk relatively normally.

'Is this animal instinct? Probably. It's not like I've practiced this before.'

Zulu walked back and forth in the dimly lit cave, becoming accustomed to movement in his new body. He may know how to naturally move, but it still felt damn weird.

At the same time, Zulu noticed a subtle sensation coursing throughout his body. He could feel the faint substance within every inch of him; It filled his head to even his toes.

'What is this feeling? Mana? Can animals cast magic? Or did my new mom regret having me and poisoned me after birth before tossing me in a cave and fleeing? Well, not so different from my previous home life. I'm used to it,' Zulu thought, investigating the strange sensation that circulated throughout his body.

'I wonder what kind of animal I am. Hopefully a badass one like a wolf or tiger. Well, I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. For now, I should probably figure out where I am. Oh, and I should find some food. God, am I hungry.'

That bestial hunger had lingered since his time in the dark void. Even now, Zulu could feel his stomach yearning for something to digest.

The cave — which Zulu was presumably born in — was roughly ten meters in width and stretched far into the darkness to his left. From his perspective, it was impossible to tell exactly how deep it went. In contrast, to his right was an abrupt wall, sealing off the direction entirely.

As Zulu inspected it, he noticed that it was not a natural formation in any way. It was smooth and had a crease directly down the middle.

'Is it a door? Is this how I get out of this place? Okay, but how am I supposed to open it? I don't see a button or switch.'

Zulu tried pressing his right paw into it, but it wouldn't budge.

'Am I too light? Yeah, that makes sense; I am quite small.'

As Zulu thought this, he began sizing himself up. He was just over a foot tall and nearly two feet long, not including his bushy orange tail tipped with black. He had black paws, an orange fur coat, and white belly. On his head were two fuzzy orange ears. He had a long snoot with a wet black nose and whiskers. His eyes were amber in color with vertically-slit pupils.

'I think I'm pretty big in relation to normal baby animals, but compared to a human, I'm tiny. Assuming the door was made by humans, for humans, I'm gonna need to find another way out.'

At that thought, Zulu spun around and gazed into the deep abyss in front of him. There were no more torches to illuminate the passage. He'd have to brave the depths if he wanted to escape wherever he was.

'Guess I have no other choice. Into the pit of hell I go.'

Despite his reluctance, Zulu pressed into the darkness, slowly leaving the boundary of light created by the lonely torch. He crept at a snail's pace through the cave, worried that even the slightest vibration would attract the unknown horrors that lurked in the dark.

The more time Zulu spent in the pitch-black cave, the more his eyes adapted to the poor lighting condition. Truth be told, his eyes were far better than when he was a human, at least in the dark. Despite the apparent lack of light, he could still see a meter in front of him.

'I'm surprised I can actually kind of see. I guess it's some kind of animal night vision?'

After an undetermined amount of time had passed, a faint shuffling noise reached Zulu's position. His fuzzy ears perked up at that sound, and he instinctually lowered his body to the ground as if hiding in grass.

'It sounds small?' Zulu thought.

Then, his nose twitched.

'And it smells… good!'

Zulu couldn't help but grin at that thought; He'd finally found some delicious food!

'What is it? It smells incredible! Beef? Chicken? No… turkey! Ahh, I can already taste it. I can't wait.'

Zulu hastened his approach toward the mouth-watering odor. His little paws audibly pitter-pattered as he strode across the cold rocky ground.

Then Zulu froze, as did his newfound friend.

'I hate my life.'

The delicious meal Zulu had imagined shattered in his mind. The intoxicating smell came not from a plate of roast beef, but a large rat with dirty fur and a disfigured face.

'Good GOD, look at the size of him! What kind of rat is that?'

It was twice his size with dull gray fur, a long pale tale, and beady black eyes. On all fours, it barely surpassed the height of a human's knee. Its crooked mouth was filled to the brim with jagged yellow teeth. Truly, it was a hideous creature.

Zulu suddenly found himself grateful for having been born as whatever he was. He knew that he could not possibly be that ugly.

'I guess it always could be worse.'

As Zulu began to accept himself, the overgrown rat jumped toward him.

'Oh, shit!'

Zulu quickly leaped backward and to his astonishment, found that he was rather agile.

'Great! I can get the fuck out of here even faster!' Zulu thought as he spun around and fled as fast as his new body allowed.

The rat didn't sit and observe; It immediately gave chase and screeched with a war cry, challenging the small orange creature that dared to enter its territory.

Of course, Zulu had no clue what the rat's intentions were because it was after all, a rat.

'Stop chasing me you damn spawn killer. At least give me a chance to level up or something!'

The rat ignored Zulu's mental pleas and hunted him with zeal, nipping at his wildly flailing tail. Fortunately for Zulu, he was slightly faster than his attacker, slowly building separation.

'Yeah, that's right you rat bastard. Tiger-wolf race for the win!'

However, as Zulu entertained those early thoughts of being triumphant, a dim light appeared in the distance.

'Oh, right. The torch and- THE DOOR!'

Zulu quickly realized his fatal mistake. It didn't matter how much faster he was than the rat if there was a wall blocking the only route to freedom.

'Dammit!' Zulu cursed in his mind

Zulu's back was now against the stone door, and the rat was rapidly approaching. He'd gained momentary respite with his superior speed, but that was all. It was only a matter of time before the rat appeared and ended his journey before it could even begin.

'I'm reincarnated and immediately get killed by a rat. I'm just pathetic.'

As he thought that, Zulu's gaze — which lingered on the darkness before him — fell on the torch.

'Unless…'