Death wasn't dramatic. There was no tunnel of light, no last words, no time to regret anything. One moment, he was running, heart hammering, lungs burning and the next, everything simply… stopped. No pain. No darkness. Just silence… Then, cold.
He gasped. The air tore through his chest, as if his lungs had forgotten how to work. His body convulsed violently, fingers digging into the rough soil. The smell came first. Wet earth, moss, something rotting beneath it all.
He rolled onto his side and coughed, bile burning his throat.
"This… isn't right."
His voice sounded strange too, though he couldn't say exactly why.
He pushed himself up, palms slipping on the damp earth. Trees surrounded him, ancient and tall, their twisted branches blocking most of the fading daylight. The sky above was streaked with orange and purple, the sun already setting.
"A forest!" he thought. Not a street. Not a city. Not a house. A… forest!
Panic tried to rise, but something heavier crushed it first. His body ached.
No, "ached" wasn't the right word. Every muscle felt tense, as if stretched too far and set in the wrong place. His joints throbbed. His head pulsed. His heart pounded loudly, erratically, almost aggressively.
He looked at himself. His clothes were strange: simple, worn, thin fabric. No phone. No shoes. No backpack.
"Did I… die?" he whispered.
The words felt real, solid. Memory came rushing back: the screech of metal, the headlights, the feeling of weightlessness just before impact.
He should have vanished! But yet here he was.
A high-pitched sound echoed inside his head. It wasn't from the forest. It wasn't something his ears could hear. It was something else…
Initializing…
Analyzing host body…
He froze.
The air ahead shimmered like heat rising from asphalt. Letters formed, pale blue and translucent, floating just out of reach. His breath caught.
"Is this… a joke?!"
Analysis incomplete.
Critical condition detected.
The letters pulsed faintly.
He stared at them, heart racing. Fear twisted in his stomach, but beneath it, something else. Recognition.
That was not normal, but it wasn't random either.
Opening Status Window.
The screen changed.
Name: —
Age: 15
Race: Human
Class: Unassigned
Level: 1
Condition: Unstable
"Unstable?!" He let out a trembling sigh. "Okay. Okay. No panic… I can handle this."
But relief didn't last. A sharp pain tore through his spine, forcing a groan from his throat. He doubled over. It felt like the pressure of something pushing his body from inside.
The screen flickered again.
Warning: Host body integrity compromised.
Error detected.
"What error? What the hell is this?" he hissed through clenched teeth.
The pain vanished as abruptly as it began, leaving him gasping. Sweat drenched his skin despite the cold air.
The forest had grown quieter. Too quiet. No insects. No birds. He slowly raised his head and froze. He could hear something…
Footsteps. Not close, not yet. But clear enough. They came from the left, crushing leaves and twigs softly. His ears picked up the rhythm instantly, separating it from the wind, gauging the distance without conscious effort.
That was not normal. His heart raced faster. Instinct screamed at him to move.
He staggered to his feet, legs trembling. His balance felt strange. Actually, too light, too responsive. He slipped between the trees, hiding behind a thick trunk as the steps drew near. Three figures emerged from the undergrowth.
Men. Rough clothing. Leather, metal, crude weapons strapped to their bodies. One of them laughed, low and ugly.
"We smelled blood," said one. "I told you there was something here."
Blood?
He looked down. A dark stain spread across the sleeve of his shirt. He hadn't noticed it before.
His senses sharpened again, without permission. He could feel them by scent. Sweat. Iron. Old oil. One of them had an infection on his leg. Rotting flesh hidden beneath the fabric.
The perception made his stomach turn.
Threat detected.
Survival probability: 12%.
The message appeared unbidden. Twelve percent. That was… low.
He retreated silently, each step precise, careful. His heart pounded painfully, yet his body moved fluidly, almost with pleasure.
Another pain erupted, this time in his chest. A deep, gnawing stab. Hunger? No. Not hunger. Something else. Something worse.
The men stopped. "Did you hear that?" one asked.
His breath caught. He covered his mouth, but it was useless. The sound wasn't coming from his throat. It came from deeper.
A low vibration. A tremor beneath the ribs.
Abnormal physiological response detected.
His vision blurred. Colors intensified at the edges, bleeding into one another. The forest felt closer, denser, every shadow suddenly meaningful.
"Run!" The thought wasn't his. He turned and ran. Branches whipped his face as he tore through the dense undergrowth, feet barely touching the ground. He should have stumbled. Should have fallen.
But he didn't.
Behind him, shouts exploded.
"Hey!"
"There he is!"
Something whistled past his ear and struck a tree with a solid thud.
The chest pain exploded. He screamed.
His legs gave way, and he crashed hard onto the forest floor. He rolled, hugging himself as agony tore through his bones. It was as if his body were being pulled and reshaped from the inside.
The sky above was now dark. The bright moon appeared between the branches.
The screen returned, flashing violently.
WARNING.
Curse detected.
Classification: Unknown.
Transformation in progress.
His fingers dug into the soil as his heart roared in his ears.
"No," he gasped. "Stop!" The pain drowned out everything else.
The last thing he saw before his vision went completely dark was the message pulsing once more.
Recalculating survival probability.