Pain. It wasn't sharp or burning, just... heavy. A crushing weight pressed against my chest, as though the universe itself had decided I wasn't worth the air I breathed. My body felt cold, yet somehow I still felt the sticky warmth of blood pooling around me. The metallic tang of it filled my nose, mixing with the acrid smell of smoke and tear gas. My ears rang with the cacophony of screams, the distant crack of gunfire, and the panicked shouts of people running for their lives.
I opened my eyes—or tried to. The world was a blur of colors and sounds. My vision swam, but I caught glimpses of the chaos around me. Protesters scattering in every direction. Police shields glinting in the sun. The sign I'd been holding, now crumpled in the dirt beside me, its message still visible: "Our Land, Our Lives."
It was my father's land—our land. The last thing he'd left us before he passed. I remembered the way he'd worked himself to the bone, his hands calloused and cracked from years of labor. He'd always said the land was our legacy, something no one could take from us. But he was wrong. The government had come with their papers and their promises, and when we resisted, they came with force.
I thought about my mother, who had worked herself to death trying to keep us afloat after Dad was gone. I thought about the nights I'd spent studying in our small house, dreaming of a better future, only to find every door slammed shut by corruption and greed. And now, I was dying. Not in some grand, heroic way, but as collateral damage in a protest that had spiraled out of control. A stray bullet, they'd call it. An accident.
My vision darkened, but I clung to a single thought: If I get a second chance... Never again. Never again will I be this helpless.
When I woke, the first thing I noticed was the absence of pain. The second was the noise—or rather, the lack of it. Gone were the chaotic sounds of the protest. In their place was a profound, almost oppressive silence. My body felt... strange. Light. Too light.
I opened my eyes, and for a moment, I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. My surroundings were blurry, fragmented into thousands of tiny pieces, like looking through a kaleidoscope. Instinctively, I blinked, and the image snapped into focus. I was in a dense forest, surrounded by towering trees with leaves so green they almost glowed. Sunlight filtered through the canopy in golden beams, casting dappled shadows on the forest floor. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and decaying wood, and the distant chirping of insects filled the silence.
And then I looked down at myself.
At first, I thought I was hallucinating. My arms—no, my limbs—were long and thin, ending in sharp, blade-like appendages. My body was covered in a chitinous exoskeleton that gleamed faintly in the light. My legs were jointed and alien, and when I tried to move them, they clicked against the ground in a way that made my skin crawl—if I still had skin.
I scrambled backward, my movements jerky and awkward. A wave of panic surged through me as I caught sight of my reflection in a nearby pool of water. Staring back at me was a creature straight out of a nightmare: a mantis-like being with multifaceted eyes and serrated limbs.
I wanted to scream, but no sound came out. My breathing quickened—or at least, I thought it did. Did I even breathe anymore? My mind raced, trying to make sense of what was happening. Had I gone insane? Was this some kind of twisted afterlife?
And then, as if answering my unspoken question, a translucent screen appeared in front of me, hovering in midair.
Name: N/A
Race: Mamti
Tier: 1
Level: 7
Body: 5
Soul: 14
Mind: 16
Stat Points: 0
Skills:
Blade Limbs [Tier 1 Level 1]: "Natural weapons, honed for the hunt, swift and unyielding."
Compound Vision [Tier 1 Level 1]: "Eyes that fragment the world, catching even the faintest motion."
Camouflage [Tier 1 Level 1]: "A gift to vanish, blending into the fabric of the world to evade or strike."
I stared at the screen, my mind reeling. It was like something out of a video game, but it felt far too real to be a dream. I hesitated, then reached out to touch the screen. My blade-like limb passed through it, and the text shimmered but didn't change.
"What... What is this?" My voice sounded strange—chittering and alien—but the words were clear in my mind.
As if in response, a wave of information flooded my brain. It wasn't like hearing or reading; it was more like remembering something I'd always known but had somehow forgotten. This world operated on a system. Levels, tiers, stats, and skills governed everything. Every creature had inherent knowledge of how to survive and grow stronger, and I was no exception.
I took a shaky step forward, my limbs trembling as I adjusted to my new body. The fragmented memories of my past life flickered in my mind: my family, my struggles, my death. I clenched my blade-like limbs, a surge of determination rising within me. This wasn't the life I'd known, but it was a second chance. A chance to rise above the helplessness that had defined me.
The first challenge came sooner than I expected. I had barely taken a few steps when the bushes ahead of me rustled. My compound eyes caught the movement instantly, each flicker of motion magnified and analyzed. A small creature emerged—a rodent-like thing with sharp teeth and glowing red eyes. Its status appeared before me:
Race: Forest Gnawer
Tier: 1
Level: 7
Instinct kicked in. The creature snarled and lunged at me, its movements quick but clumsy. My body reacted almost on its own. I sidestepped, my legs moving with a grace that surprised me, and swung one of my blade limbs. The attack was sloppy, but it connected, slicing into the creature's side. It screeched and staggered back, blood dripping from the wound.
Adrenaline—or whatever the equivalent was in this body—surged through me. I pressed the advantage, darting forward and striking again. This time, I aimed for its neck. My blade sliced clean through, and the creature collapsed in a heap.
A notification flashed before my eyes:
You have defeated Forest Gnawer (Tier 1 Level 7).
Essence Gained.
I stood there, breathing hard even though I wasn't sure I actually needed to breathe. The creature's body began to dissolve into shimmering particles, which flowed into me. I felt a faint warmth spread through my body, and the screen updated.
Level: 7 ➔ 8
Stat Points: +1
I stared at the screen, then at my blade limbs, still slick with the creature's blood. The fight had been short, but it had felt... exhilarating. My movements, my reflexes, the way I had analyzed the creature's attacks—it was like my body and mind were perfectly in sync.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I didn't feel powerless. I felt strong. And I wanted more.
As I ventured deeper into the forest, I began to understand the rules of this world. The inherent knowledge provided by the system was like a guide, explaining how to hunt, how to use my skills, and how to grow stronger. I learned to activate my [Camouflage], blending into the environment to stalk prey. I honed my [Blade Limbs], practicing precise strikes on trees and rocks. My [Compound Vision] allowed me to detect even the slightest movement, making it nearly impossible for anything to ambush me.
But the memories of my past life lingered, a constant reminder of why I was doing this. I thought about the people who had taken everything from me. I thought about the helplessness I had felt as I lay dying on that cold, hard ground. And I thought about the vow I had made: 'Never again.'
This time, I wouldn't let anyone oppress me. I wouldn't let anyone take what was mine. I would climb higher, grow stronger, and ensure that no one could ever threaten me again.
As I looked up at the towering trees and the endless sky beyond, a single thought burned in my mind: 'This world will not break me.'