"Ouch," He groaned in pain. A moment later, Raven's eyes fluttered open. Memories of the past slowly returned to him. The last thing he remembered was being shot by the security guard.
"Where am I?" he muttered to himself, knowing he was dead.
"So this is what it feels like to die," he whispered, taking a deep breath. He looked around and saw that he was surrounded by a white expanse. Everything was white.
"Heaven… is this heaven?" he wondered aloud, feeling a sense of joy as he observed the white light mixed with green hues around him.
"Sheesh, I hope I don't get thrown into hell. I promise to be a better person in my next life," he said.
After a while, he noticed that the white light and green hues remained unchanged. His surroundings seemed static, and he began to feel uneasy about this strange experience.
"Wait, why… does it feel like it's taking forever?" he wondered aloud.
"Wait, why don't I have a voice, and why can I still feel things if I'm already dead?" he asked himself, growing more restless.
"Damn it! What's happening?"
Raven tried to move and walk. He attempted to move his arms and legs but couldn't feel them. He wanted to look down, but he couldn't move his neck. It was as if he were a worm struggling to escape its confines.
"Damn it," he muttered in frustration until he heard a sound. In front of him, he saw a tear—a crack. Raven felt a surge of joy and focused on the crack. He pushed himself toward it until the crack widened, and water began to flow out.
"Damn it, am I going to drown?"
"Help! Am I going to die again?" he screamed in his mind, hoping this was just a nightmare and that he would wake up soon.
But his fear didn't last long. Slowly, it faded as he realized he was fine. He wasn't drowning; in fact, he could breathe even though he was surrounded by water. He didn't question how he could breathe underwater.
Without hesitation, he rushed toward the crack and forcefully pushed against it repeatedly until it widened into a small hole. He felt a surge of excitement and continued his efforts.
When he finally slipped through the hole, he was greeted by an unforgettable sight. There were massive branches, fish as large as yachts, worms, and a green landscape.
He was stunned by what he saw, trying to process what kind of bizarre phenomenon had happened to his life. He looked to his left and right, surrounded by greenish water and lush greenery. It dawned on him that he was underwater.
"Damn it, is this some kind of punishment?" he muttered to himself. He turned to look back at where he had come from, and his eyes widened in shock.
He had emerged from a white, egg-like object, almost as big as he was. Behind it were thousands of similar eggs attached to a rock. What shocked him the most was seeing his reflection in the egg.
"T-this is impossible. What kind of nonsense is this?" he exclaimed, horrified by what he saw. His appearance was completely different. He was pale, with a round head, three eyes, a mouth, and gills. To his shock, he had no arms or legs—instead, he had a long, snake-like tail. He couldn't believe he had become this.
He chuckled and laughed at his discoveries, wondering if this was some kind of divine punishment for the sins he had committed in his past life. Moments later, something stirred beneath the rock where the thousands of eggs were attached.
"A monster!" he gasped in shock. He backed away as a gigantic frog emerged. It had three large, menacing eyes, thick green skin, and a terrifying appearance. Its three eyes seemed capable of inflicting pain. On its back, it carried thousands of eggs—eggs that looked just like the one he had come from.
"Damn it, don't eat me!"
But the creature didn't attack him. Instead, it just stared at him, its eyes filled with a strange sense of love. Raven eventually realized that he was a tadpole. Perhaps this creature was the mother of his new form?
"Are you my mom?" he joked to himself. But eventually, he began to accept his new form. What else could he do? This was who he was now—unless he decided to commit suicide.
Soon after, he felt an intense hunger twisting his stomach. "What do these things even eat?" he wondered. The first thing he saw was some seaweed, which he tried but found tasteless. He spat it out. Then he noticed something else small dot floating— it's an algae.
"That's it," he thought. He tried eating the algae and was surprised by how delicious it was. It was even better than fried chicken or pork.
As he busily ate the algae, he noticed the thousands of eggs trembling. One by one, they began to hatch, and tadpoles similar to him swam out in different directions.
"Looks like my siblings are hatching," he joked. He couldn't help but laugh at himself. Just yesterday, he was a human. Now, he was a swimming tadpole. He still couldn't fully accept his new form.
He noticed that some of the tadpoles were eating their eggshells. Moments later, their white bodies turned green, and they grew a few centimeters. Some even began to grow legs.
"Damn, so that's how it works," he thought. He wanted to grow quickly, unsure of the dangers in this new environment. He rushed back to his eggshell, only to find another tadpole eating it.
"Damn it, that's mine!" he growled. Like a storm, he charged and rammed into the other tadpole, sending it flying backward.
"Now I only got half of it left."
The tadpole he attacked became furious and charged back, revealing its large mouth filled with small, sharp teeth that looked capable of tearing flesh.
"Damn, calm down. I didn't hit you that hard," he said, startled by the creature's ferocity.
The enemy charged, and Raven backed away but stood his ground. He bared his teeth and bit into the enemy. Green blood mixed with the water as they fought.
The enemy's bite was strong, but Raven didn't back down. He bit back, targeting the enemy's neck. The fight was intense, as if his life depended on it.
Moments later, the enemy stopped struggling and died. Raven let go, and the corpse floated, soon to be feasted upon by other tadpoles.
Raven had some injuries, but they didn't matter now. He had gotten what he wanted—the remains of his eggshell. He feasted on it and felt his injuries healing. It was as if the eggshell had magical properties. Soon, he noticed changes in his body. His white skin began to turn green, though some parts remained white.
"Probably because I only ate half of it," he muttered to himself. After eating, his injuries had significantly reduced, which made him happy.
He looked up and saw the sunlight reflecting through the water, signaling the start of a new life.
"Now, where am I?" he wondered.