Cold.
That was the first thing I felt.
The air in the forest was damp and heavy, carrying the metallic smell of blood. My blood.
I lay on the ground, staring at the dark sky between the tall trees above me. My breathing was uneven, each breath painful and shallow.
My hands were shaking.
When I looked down, I saw it.
Blood.
Too much blood.
My stomach had been torn open, and warm blood kept flowing out no matter how hard I tried to press my hand against the wound.
"...So this is how I die."
My voice sounded weak, almost like a whisper swallowed by the forest.
A few meters away from me lay the body of a massive tiger-like beast.
Its neck was twisted at a strange angle.
I killed it.
But it also killed me.
I let out a weak laugh that turned into a cough.
Blood filled my mouth.
As my vision slowly blurred, memories began to surface.
Memories from a different world.
My previous life.
Back then, I always tried my best.
At school, at home, in everything.
I studied hard. I followed the rules. I tried to become someone respectable.
But no matter how hard I tried, it never worked.
People avoided me.
Conversations became awkward.
Slowly, without realizing it, I stopped talking to others.
By the time I reached middle school, I had already become an antisocial nobody.
I spent most of my time alone.
Eventually, I stopped believing that my life had any real meaning.
One night, standing near a busy road under the rain, I made a decision.
Bright headlights rushed toward me.
And then—
Darkness.
When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer in that world.
I was lying in the middle of a forest.
No buildings.
No roads.
No people.
Just endless trees and strange sounds echoing in the distance.
At first, I thought it was a dream.
But hunger quickly proved it was real.
My stomach growled painfully.
As I walked deeper into the forest, I began seeing strange animals I had never seen before. Creatures that looked like reptiles crawling through the grass, insects larger than my hand, and birds with unfamiliar colors.
Then I saw it.
Something that looked like a chicken.
My first real chance to eat.
"I just need to catch it..."
I grabbed a broken branch from the ground and slowly approached it.
But before I could move—
A low growl echoed behind me.
My body froze.
When I slowly turned around, I saw it.
A tiger.
No.
Something bigger than a tiger.
Its yellow eyes stared directly into mine.
And then it lunged.
The next few moments were chaos.
Claws tore through my body.
Pain exploded across my stomach.
But somehow, I refused to let go.
If I died here... everything would truly end.
With the last strength in my body, I wrapped my arms around its neck.
And squeezed.
And squeezed.
And squeezed.
Until finally—
The beast stopped moving.
Now I lay here, barely alive, staring at the sky.
"...What a stupid way to start a new life."
My vision grew darker.
And the forest slowly faded away.