Seth's stomach growled as he laid in bed.
His thin arms clung desperately to the fluffy pillow as if trying to escape the neverending sting in his stomach. He gritted his teeth. All he could think about was of the last slice of bread he ate from the loaf, his mouth watering at the sweet, peach jam he would spread on the toasted bread before devouring it whole.
The thought of his empty fridge made him groan. All these days, these agonising weeks without a single piece of food for him to eat and to finally fill his stomach with something else besides the occasional glass of water, Seth thought of the end.
At that moment, his eyes began to droop.
A yawn later, and Seth was asleep. Perhaps tomorrow he could finally get a job, and maybe not starve again, only downing water as if it were to quell the flinching pain in his hollow stomach, and probably, Seth could find peace.
He awoke to a screen.
[Human stage completed, loading the next stage...]
It was strange. The text box floated in front of him as if it were magic. A peachy-brown border made out the confines of this screen, and the very words loading were of a light white kind.
Despite this, Seth had other thoughts.
"What is this place?" He spoke, his eyes shifting around to look at the space around him, "Huh?"
Seth's gaze lowered to what would be his stomach, but it wasn't the unnatural white glow that emanated from his now transparent body that surprised him. It was the pain.
Or lack thereof.
He couldn't help but let out a deep, long sigh of relief. For a moment, Seth felt the warmth of joy once again after countless days of numbing hunger and weakness, he was finally free from it.
Seth looked back at the screen and frowned.
Now, it was time to wonder what was this dark place he floated around in, a place so quiet one could drop a pin and hear it hit the floor. A place of uncertainty.
"Next stage?" He spoke aloud, narrowing his eyes at the words on the screen, "What the hell?"
The cogs of his mind began to shift, and Seth tightened his hands into fists. Was everything he went through just a mere stage in the grand scheme of things? An unimportant event? A grain of sand on a beach?
[Loading new world...]
Seth raised an eyebrow. He didn't bother even wondering what this screen was, for Seth huffed, his insides bubbling with rage like a volcano ready to explode. It died down immediately after Seth saw the next words that rolled past his eyes.
[The Lion King...]
By now, that anger he felt in his chest was replaced with a mixture of the pang of concern and the wonder of curiosity. This boiling pot in his chest led Seth to speak again.
"What...are you?" He asked, not knowing what to expect from a screen, "What are you doing? Where am I? Am I on earth? Am I dead?"
[Loading complete...providing buffs...]
Seth's shoulders lowered weakly. It seemed this computer screen of some kind wasn't going to answer his questions any time soon. He closed his eyes, inhaling sharply through his nose.
[The selected buffs have been added to you, Seth:
Strength
Stamina
Instant Adaptability]
Now this sent a cold shiver down his spine.
"You know my name?" Seth blurted out but stopped at that question, knowing that the screen wouldn't respond.
Besides, what were these buffs for, anyway?
[Your new life shall now begin, Seth.
You are to be reborn into an alternate universe of The Lion King as Mufasa. You are to live as you please.
Disclaimer: Your buffs may make you overpowered but not invincible; keep that in mind.
Press 'Continue' to begin]
Now it made perfect sense.
"Reborn? What is this, an isekai?" He sighed, staring at the word 'Continue' at the bottom of the text, "Why...should I even accept this?"
Seth glared at the words, reading the screen over and over, wondering the meaning of it all, if he was in a dream, what the hell this place he was in, and what this screen was. He blinked. Sure, the screen started a new life at the press of a button, but was Seth really sure?
He inhaled.
Even so, what if this was a trap? What if instead of what this screen promised, he was sent to some other place of eternal torture? Plus, doing nothing was not a great idea either. To stay in this quiet and empty space of nothingness could make any man crazy.
Seth placed a hand on his stomach before he reached forward, his finger nearing the 'Continue' button.
Of course, he wasn't going to just sit around in a space, waiting endlessly for absolutely nothing. The offer from the text box didn't sound bad either. As for it being a trap, Seth had to take a big risk and only hoped it was real as his finger tapped the screen as if it were a phone.
[Thank you for your input. Please enjoy your experience. This shall be the last message you see before rebirth.]
He felt his body shiver when he read that. As his body morphed and twisted, his body structure turning to one of a feline, Seth couldn't help but feel both concerned and excited.
Suddenly, he was atop a rocky cliff.
Those emotions of worry and excitement morphed into one of complete awe.
There he was, a bright light shone down on him, as before Seth, was an enormous group of animals, large and small, all seeming to bow for him. Elephant, Zebra, Antelope, Wildebeest, Buffalo, Giraffe, Monkey, Rhino...and many more Seth couldn't name, he saw below. His eyes gazed around him.
Sure enough, he could tell he was being held.
Wrapped around his now furry lion cub body were two hands holding him at the edge of the cliff. Not with bad intentions. Seth felt whoever was holding him held him as if he was something of value. A cub of interest.
One of value.
Seth couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of joy from the thought. From everything that had happened to him. He was a lion and not any lion, but one with gifts from a system, gifts that made him powerful, which he would be in the future regardless.
In any case, this new life was one he was to enjoy.
Without the burning hunger.