The sky was filled with dark clouds and a light drizzle was falling.

In the middle of the main road linking the two popular neighborhoods of the city, vehicles stopped and an ambulance team rushed to a place filled with blood and organs.

The headlights illuminated the middle of the night...

"Hey... What's happening in the middle of the cars?"

"I don't know. But someone said a person got run over!"

"God! I hope he's not dead!"

But people remained behind a barrier quickly set up by the competent authorities, notably the police forces.

In the midst of the conversations, two people spoke with a grim expression.

"How is the operation going so far?" asked the old man in charge of the accident investigation.

The culprit had been arrested for attempting to flee and was placed in custody, but the victim's condition seemed to have reached a critical point.

"...The patient is still in resuscitation. About 10 minutes."

The last sentence regarding the resuscitation was slow and weak, representing the difficulty of announcing such results when it was unlikely to save him.

How many minutes did he wait?

"Let's wait a few more minutes... Maybe..."

But how much time?

The gray-haired man sighed and leaned his back against the ambulance door, watching the personnel administer medication.

"Announce the death..."

Finally.

The chief director chose to abandon the patient.

The investigator nodded.

"The victim died on December 23."

Thus, the case was classified as involuntary manslaughter.

...

It's painful. Is it dark?

Why am I in this stifling place?

[The host died of organ failure]

Oh... A short exclamation came out of my mouth.

I clearly remember... my death.

I got hit by a truck right in the face.

The lower half of my body was crushed under the truck, while the rest of my body was mutilated. It was an instant death.

But I was still alive.

So what have I become then?

[Host Reincarnation]

A reincarnation?

Hey... Isn't that still the usual stuff for young people these days?

My nephew always brought novels, even if it was boring, it was a good way to pass the time when going outside was canceled.

Well? I didn't expect to witness a scene like this.

Besides, how would my nephew react to my death?

In truth, I was his only friend.

But I think he would get over this grief somehow.

Now... Let's forget about my personal attachments.

I died in my past life.

[Good luck]

So this time, let's try to survive.

...

[Race: Tree of Souls]

[Level 1]

[Skills: Devour, Royal Seed, Root Strike, and Wooden Shield]

My first reaction was a laugh.

Isn't this the moment where the MCs are surprised?

That wasn't the only thing.

I literally became a person reincarnated into another world.

Magical? Fantastic? Cyberpunk? Mecha?

No matter.

But it was as a tree.

Huh?

In a word.

Disappointment.

A feeling of loss occurred like a person thinking of winning millions in a lottery ticket, but the result was false.

But it was only a short feeling, the emotions became calm, maybe because I became a tree, but after all, I was no longer a young man.

Adolescence for me... ended long ago.

It was a harsh reality that made me realize the world was filled with darkness, especially in the work world but also in relationships.

Anyway, not counting my personal issues, my race was a tree and my level should indicate my strength and my skills were certainly peculiarities that could exert powers.

Let's discover my first skill.

By activating [Devour], a slight dark aura rose from my bark and immediately disappeared into smoke.

Shuuu...

My expression became sullen after activating just one skill.

But I also felt a dark atmosphere like intimidation.

A side effect of my skill.

Instinctively, I know it.

Although it generated slight intimidation, the effect was present.

Maybe the skill would be useful in another situation.

Was mana used as fuel during the skill's activation? After waiting several minutes, my expression softened.

So mana is also present in this world.

But its use was strange.

I wondered if it was normal...

[Do you wish to plant a royal seed?]

What is a royal seed?

[A backup seed in a situation leading to imminent death.]

[Usable once every hundred years]

A hundred years... It's a significant period.

Considering that the human lifespan is less than a hundred years, it was both slow and very long.

It was enough to be present in many events.

Even as a tree that could live for centuries easily, a hundred years was hard to believe.

Yeah. Better not to use this skill for now.

It wasn't a situation of imminent death.

And I still had hundreds of years left.

When my life ends, I would be happy to use it to be reborn in another tree, restarting a cycle of growth.

Alright! Now the skill [Root Strike]!

The roots manifested and ravaged the earth in a totally brutal way.

As a result, the earth was lifted and the rest scattered among the stones, rendering a mediocre and deplorable view.

I couldn't help but feel guilty.

Would the earth recover?

If I had known that my skill was so outrageous...! I might have restrained part of my powers!

Huh? Finally, continuing to exercise my next power, I materialized a wooden shield taking into account my previous experience.

A wooden shield emerged from the earth.

[Wooden Shield]

[Rugged structure allowing to withstand powerful attacks]

Hitting it several times with my roots, the dull sound only resounded.

It's really thick.

In making a short conclusion, my skills were divided into two categories: those specialized in combat and those in defense.

Knowing your limits and advantages was the basis of a reincarnation.

Now, looking at another window, I turned my head.

I pointed the pointer at a year, then I fell asleep deeply with the intention of waiting for the next year with impatience.

Year 1 Month 0

Bzz… Bz…

The clouds covered the entire sky and the dark, incessant aura continued to suppress the plants trying to grow.

Looking at the trees, a feeling of disgust overcame me.

The trees had a gloomy tint, their branches were dried up, and their trunks were twisted in a way that seemed impossible to believe in a tree.

Even the green grass had turned black.

Without sunlight, it was difficult to survive, the murderous aura of nature, the hostile vegetation made life suffocating.

Fortunately, my parts were free from all corruption.

Or rather, from miasma?

Although my trunk did not have eyes, it was possible to see the environment in 360 degrees, and even with a certain pose, it was possible to recognize my appearance and my surroundings.

Moreover, a boundary was visible.

Between the green grass surrounding my body and the black grass trying to overthrow my grass.

Each attempt cost a part of my mana.

To quickly regain mana, I had to sleep for a short time, allowing my body to absorb the surrounding mana.

Fortunately, the environment was rich in mana.

Caw!

But my healthy appearance, unlike the others, made me visible from afar.

Green leaves frequently fell.

Monsters often approached but always retreated at the last moment.

Finally, a Thunder Wolf appeared.

I called them Thunder Wolves because of the electric charges that enveloped their bodies like a defense. Their appearances were very similar to the wolves of my old world, but their resemblance deviated from the ordinary sense of an animal.

Several sharp canines protruded from their jaws, traces of blood visible between the teeth. Their eyes glowed red, and their electrified skins were covered with a thick layer of fur.

Several other Thunder Wolves emerged from the forest.

How many are there?

Manually counting the number of monsters, I counted a total of about ten.

[Thunder Wolf Level 20]

As they finally approached me, information appeared above their heads, each with their names and levels.

All were at level 20.

Damn? I was still at level 1.

How can I defend against these monsters?

Holding my firm position in silence, I silently prayed that these Thunder Wolves would lose interest and follow their path.

And as if they heard my prayers, the wolves turned their heads and crossed the forest, leaving my sight.

Shuuu…

I should probably take a break.

Year 2 Month 0

The environment was quiet today.

The growls echoed through the forest, and after a night's sleep, the unwanted sounds fell silent.

Year 3 Month 0

While quietly observing the still landscape, a surprising situation unfolded before my eyes.

A monster appeared out of nowhere and leaped towards a two-headed crow pecking quietly at the bark of a tree.

[Blitz Hound Level 15]

The Blitz Hound looked similar to a wild dog but had a large jaw capable of capturing an animal by the head of a crow.

[Two-headed Crow Level 10]

Pieces of carcasses lay around, and the Blitz Hound left the scene as if he had finished his work, lounging on the branch of a twisted tree.

The twisted trees of the contaminated trees could reach several meters in height, allowing them to withstand the weight of the monsters.

Real warrior shrubs.

...?

What's that.

Turning my head towards the carcass, a small white orb floated.

It was like seeing a tangible, living flame.

Hmm... I felt drawn to this thing.

Is it some kind of soul? The crow's, I suppose.

By the way, didn't my race involve a word including "soul"?

It must certainly be related to this white orb!

Maneuvering my roots under the black grass, I quickly reached the soul.

It only took me a few minutes to traverse several meters, but this lost time showed me that the white flame had greatly diminished.

I was really curious. Did the intensity represent the soul's duration?

Touching the white orb voluntarily, a spiritual form emerged, resembling a two-headed crow who bowed its head in thanks before rising to the sky in a dignified manner.

[Level Up]

Oh. My job is to extract the souls of the deceased.

I felt my mana reserve increase, and my overall skills greatly benefited from the level up.

If I increase my levels, how powerful could I become?

Year 4 Month 0

Striking precisely the rock in front of my position, my roots shattered the piece into hundreds of pebbles like mashed potatoes.

My robustness increased significantly.

Taking advantage of several monster killings, recovering the remains of others, I finally reached level 4.

Year 5 Month 1

A two-headed crow had been visibly circling around me for several hours or several days. It depended on my memory.

At the same time, it was just circling as if observing a rare specimen, as if it was wary of me.

Well, a tree that stands out from the others could attract curiosity.

But it was time for me to take a nap.

Its cawing caused a headache.

How long are you going to keep circling... Damn.