Am I dead? Why can't I move?

Where am I? Am I in a hospital? I can’t see anything! Am I blind?

“******,” a voice that wasn't his own reached his ears.

"*********."

"*****?"

Is someone there? Hello?

Muffled voices could be heard talking back to each other.

He tried to move, but he couldn't. He tried to speak to ask something, but his voice was blocked. He wasn't even sure if he was still breathing.

Who’s that? I think I need help over here. Did I get in an accident? He was getting more and more restless, being unable to move as he wanted to.

He felt like he should just stop thinking useless thoughts and go back to sleep, but he could've been kidnapped and was currently being shipped to someplace else.

I think I didn't offend anyone. I'm the one that's supposed to be offended! I'm not even rich or handsome.

Suddenly he could feel someone coming closer.

Did they discover that I'm awake?

“A worthy spirit," the voice finally said something audible. It's like there was a barrier of some sort in between, muffling the conversation before.

What spirit? I'm still alive, right?

Why aren't you answering me? Who paid you to take me?

“...”

Please don't kill me!

I can't pay you that much, but maybe we can work something out.

“...”

I think I know where my former manager hid his secret safe.

“...”

Can you even hear me?

But the unfamiliar voice didn’t bother answering any of his questions, and with a dismissive tone, it leisurely declared, “Your memories... you no longer need them.”

What the? Who do you think you are? God?

What can you even–wait, why does it hurt all of a sudden? What are you doing? At least have the guts to show your face to me—Aaargh!!!

The feeling being instantly frozen penetrated straight to my very bones and spread throughout my entire body. The plummeting then soon followed as I thought, I would never be able to open my eyes again.

In the darkness, my body felt like the embodiment of weightlessness, like I was being submerged in a body of water, when my thoughts gradually came back to me as I emerged from my deep sleep.

What was that voice I heard earlier? Wait, did I even hear something? Was that a dream? What time is it? I don’t want to go to work. I just want to play on my PC all day! Let me check today's date to see if there is a holiday.

Wait... I can't move a muscle. I can think straight, but why can't I move?

I thought I was thrown into the sea with nothing but a large rock chained around my ankles but I'm even in a much dangerous place. I think I just woke up from a dream.

As my eyelids slowly opened, countless landscapes passed by my field of vision, as I seemed to be drifting a few hundred meters above the ground with no certain direction.

I was slightly startled to see some flagships fighting around a giant whirlpool with their cannons billowing smoke, which forced me to double-take.

I was drifting above the clouds so fast that scene blurred as it passed by me.

I thought that was the end but there was more, including tundra, molten hot lava regions, mountains, oceans, islands, and deserts. I drifted over towns, cities, and giant towers. Oceans and seas filled with calamities and vast open fields—and this time, an enormous continent enveloped by fog.

I'm not even sure if I'm awake. Maybe I'm not, since I’m pretty sure I couldn’t fly.

I didn’t know that the world has so many interesting places to visit. Maybe it’s because I work overtime eight days a week and thirteen months a year. Come to think of it, why have I not encountered any large human cities? Even the largest buildings I encountered earlier were too short and wide. Was that a castle? No, it couldn’t be.

I squinted my eyes and saw some flashes of light deep inside the fog.

They’re all hazy. Why am I moving so fast anyway?

Am I really a spirit now? This is kind of anticlimactic... What were those voices from before anyway?

As my view was passing through a foggy region, I almost shit myself when I almost crashed into a colossal corrupted-looking tree. Good thing my supposed body missed it by a large margin. But the strange thing was that the tree felt like it was watching me.

I kept my eyes gazing at the huge trunk, expecting some vines to spring on me while I passed by. After a few moments, I turned my head back to the front, releasing a sigh of relief.

Phew, I thought that tree was going to move.

Hmmm. What is that? Did I just see people?

Even with the thick fog, I can see hundreds of rows of weirdly-dressed figures preparing for war.

Are they at war? I don’t like the—Oooh! Fight! Fight! Fight!

Suddenly, numerous blazing projectiles came out from shadowy figures beneath the fog, hurtling straight at the opposing army.

BOOM!

A deafening explosion reverberated through the area, rattling the thick fog for a moment. But even that sounded muffled to me.

Wait, are those... magic!?

I don't see any cannons or rocket launchers. I mean, why would people use cannons in this day and age?

On the other side, a rain of arrows came from the fog as humongous roots sprouted quickly from the ground and immediately blocked the path of the flaming projectiles, extinguishing them.

A bunch of flying men and women with golden hair, wearing robed armor with a curious insignia. Suddenly their eyes glowed pale-greed when a tidal wave of thinner roots emerged from the ground and headed straight to the line of robed figures.

It’s a counterattack! Are they druids or something?

But when he passed by the hallowed ground, instead of a human army, what popped out from the fog was thousands and thousands of crawling pale and bloody entities. They were too disfigured to be considered humans.

Some were too large, furry, and luminescent for a human. Some of those throats were glowing and regurgitated another set of volleys, which were still blocked by the opposing army.

BOOM!

Am I... in another world?

The sudden thought sparked inside my mind as I continued to observe the exchange of volleys.

Those aren't humans. What are tho—Wait, no! Stop, please. I want to watch it!

I released a disappointed sigh as I sped through the hazy lands, leaving the mystical war.

I kept traveling this way for a long time with nothing but trees and lakes to see. The animals were too small for the height I'm currently on. Good thing I don't have a fear of heights.

After a few minutes that gradually turned to hours, I realized that I was not waking up anytime soon.

I must have died back then.

Hah! So what that voice said was true after all? A "worthy spirit?" So I died huh? That voice must have come from a god.

After a few more hours with nothing but trees, the view finally changed as I reached an open sea. The sun or this planet's star was finally visible as I gazed at it as it went down. So far I couldn't see anything that was the same as the moon traveling up to the sky.

Hours turned into days. And days turned to weeks. I finally decided to psyche myself up and decided to throw away thoughts that the owner of that voice had forgotten about me.

Maybe I’m just waiting to be reincarnated into someone's baby. I hope my life will be better this time. But why are my memories still intact? Wait, I can't remember my name, but I can remember everything else. Did that voice screw something up?

Thoughts continued to dance inside my head as my uncontrollable speed continued. I thought this place could pass as an older version of Earth if I had never seen the magical war a few weeks ago and now this group of people forming a pattern inside a glowing circle in the middle of a forest far from the nearest town.

Yeah, nothing suspicious about what they were doing. Look at that well-paid employee, crying her eyes out in happiness as her employers.

Wait, is that a torch?

Wait! Wait! Wait—don’t!

Hiss!

I winced as I turned my head around, trying to ignore the distant crackling of burning wood and the muffled cry for help, but her desperate expression filled my mind. I shook my head out of these depressing thoughts.

I'm sorry lady, I can't help you. I'm also dead myself... I think.

The tragic wails slowly diminished in the distance as I drifted to another place.

I know this is late but I still want to say it. I think I'm no longer on earth.

As I continued on my never-ending journey, I thought it’s been over a month now, and I was getting bored.

Come to think of it, why do I still have my memories anyway?

As I drifted forward into the unknown, I tried to see if I could control myself. When I attempted to raise my hands, my eyes widened to see myself transparently blue.

I can move my limbs, but I can't control which way I'm going or how high I'm floating. Am—I a wandering spirit?

I tried to get the feel of my skin and texture, and weirdly, it just feels like my skin. I was glad I could still feel it. I pinched my cheeks with my hands in front of me. Although the pain wasn't too great, I could still feel it. I tried to look down very slowly, but I froze on the spot.

Something that was supposed to exist, was no longer there.

The normal reaction would be to panic, but after a quick contemplation, I shrugged.

I’m a spirit now anyway. I should be thankful the voice allowed me to retain my previous life’s memories, except for my name. So I didn't think much about it. I’m not even sure why I wasn’t affected, knowing that I died.

Then it occurred to me, that maybe becoming solely a spirit without a body changes one's mind. Will I slowly lose myself as time continues? Should I try to possess someone? I can't even stop myself from drifting aimlessly.

Such thoughts plagued my mind for a few days until I could no longer tell how long was I drifting over this ocean.

I reined in my thoughts and waited for this journey to end. This made me wonder if this was just a dream, but suddenly, my uncontrollable journey picked up speed and moved in a certain direction.

This is not how it was before. My body was drifting over landscapes, moving from place to place like it was looking for something, but now it was traveling so fast in a specific direction. Perhaps thirty miles per hour? I'm not sure if the owner of that voice was controlling me. However, this time it feels more like I'm about to crash with my stomach churning.

Is this it? Did the owner of that voice finally find a body for me? Will I be a son of a rich person this time? I wasn't given the time to speak with that voice earlier. Did I live a good life? At least I haven't committed any crime. Well I'm not in hell at least.

Whoosh!

My head and legs snapped backward as I was being dragged by my torso.

Are spirits able to sense pain?

I tried to maintain my gaze at the front to see where the wind was taking me, but with the speed I was going, everything became a blur as lights flashed all around me. Suddenly, my attention was drawn to a brilliant ball of light in the middle of my vision.

Is that it? My destination? Sh*t. I think I'm going to crash. Why isn't this slowing down?

The last thing I saw was a wide forest behind a mountain range being struck by a never-ending storm before being smashed into the ground.

W-What... the f*ck? It hurts! My head! My head hurts!

When was the last time I experienced such a painful headache? It feels as though I was being bumped by a lot of cars, throwing me around and causing me to finally fall head-first onto the road.

It feels like someone stuck a screwdriver through my ear and punctured my brain after dipping it in a bowl of crushed chili peppers.

It hurts! What's wrong with my body? I—I can’t move! Why is my body so hot?

I tried to open my eyes, but they were too heavy.

I can’t even move my limbs. Speaking of limbs, what’s up with my limbs? They feel different. I can barely think with this f*cking headache!

I need to calm down.

Inhale—Bla! Blurgh! Ptooey! What’s this taste? Soil? Come to think of it, what I last saw myself doing was crashing to the ground. Did I just get buried? No way…Did I just possess a dead body!?

I tried moving my limbs again or my head. Good, I can lift my head a little. I checked my limbs again and only got minor movements as a result. A couple of wiggles here and there, and I think I loosened something. I was finally able to breathe again.

Gasp!

Phew.

I seemed to free myself from a form of constraint, but I still couldn’t feel the rest of my body that much due to the pain.

Did I hit the ground that hard? Yeah, no kidding. You only hit the ground at the speed of a freaking airplane! I don’t even know how to fly a plane, and I crash-landed with my body—eh, uhm, my translucent body?

In any case, I’m still trying to move my limbs and these eyelids that weigh a ton. I tried moving more, as I could still feel something weighing down on me. But my curiosity still won.

This time I tried to control my left hand and lift it closer to my eyes. My vision was still a little blurry like I was looking through an opaque glass window. I directed my gaze and squinted at my hand. I squinted a little more and saw a brown, no, it was just dirt as a few fell and grayish-white fur was exposed, so it’s a furry limb with four fingers and tiny claws.

Are these paws? Am I a bear? If I remember correctly, bears have five fingers.

I tried sliding my other hand forward to verify my assumption and indeed it was the same.

Is this me? So, I’m no longer a human now.

Maybe this was just a bad dream, and I’ll wake up soon and go back to—wait, I don’t want to go to work.

Suddenly a profound exhaustion overwhelmed my mind as I could feel the strength leaving my body. The weight of my eyelids multiplied and then I'm back to darkness.

…

In the middle of the night, the forest was bathed with the lights from the stars peeking through the canopies. A young woman with shoulder-length black hair, looking no older than fifteen years old, was walking through the woods looking for something.

Her blue eyes looked distressed as she swept her gaze all over the area. Her eyes were bulging a little, and her cheeks were a little red with traces of dried-up tears.

She slowly walked and went in one direction on a tree nearby, stretching her neck to look behind, but was disappointed when she didn’t find who she was looking for.

The young woman went in another direction with a group of boulders of varying shapes and sizes and climbed one of the boulders with a height just enough to reach her hips.

With a few more attempts and grunts, she successfully climbed over one but still failed to find what she was looking for. Her eyes started to water again as she quickly wiped them off, replaced with determination.

With a few glances in different directions, the undergrowth blocked most of her view, so she hopped back down and walked into the deeper part of the forest to continue her search.

…

Somewhere in the forest, a frail-looking small creature was covered by a few patches of soil, with a destroyed mound sitting just behind it.

Sniff-sniff.

hAchOoo!

I don’t know how much time has passed, but I think it was enough for me to get some sleep. I can no longer feel that crazy headache. Why did suddenly get cold? Brrr!

The small creature slowly opened its eyes as it witnessed the dark forest. It slowly stretched its limbs as two ears popped out and wiggled themselves.

Whimper...

The small creature was still covered with dirt as it squinted its eyes and scrutinized its surroundings. Humans would have a hard time seeing through this level of light, but it was not a problem for the small creature.

After learning that there was no one around, it slowly lifted its head, gazing at the canopy. It could still see some stars peeking through the leaves as the light of dawn slowly colored the sky beyond the canopy. The near pitch-black darkness of the forest slowly receded when he gazed back down.

The creature had a long time to take this in and just closed its eyes again and slumped down.

Hmmm, I’m sure I heard some kind of whimper, the creature thought.

Not even a minute went by, and the creature’s eyes opened wide and blinked a few times. It stood up groggily on all fours as it weakly darted its head around.

Why are these trees so tall that it’s like they’re giants? How come even the grass is taller than me?

The creature thought internally for a moment before it looked down.

Arf!

It quickly hopped a step away when it saw dirty-white limbs that weren't supposed to be its own attached to its neck. They were covered with dust, presumably from being buried before.

The creature blinked a couple of times and concluded that they were indeed attached and were able to control them.

What the? Oh right, I died somehow and got transferred to another world with some memories remaining.

Did I really turn into a wolf cub!?

The creature tried to move as if it were trying to assess something. It tried to stretch its paws and found them too dull to be used as a weapon, but still, it tried to do swiping motions as if trying to punch something.

A wolf cub huh? Maybe it's not that bad... Swipe!

Wooo? Woo… GrrRrR!

The creature quickly kissed the ground as it lifted its paws to cover its mouth. It still wasn't used to its new body.

Sh*t that was too loud. I better be careful about talking. I'm not even sure if this area is safe. I think I landed somewhere in a forest.

Nothing reacted to his voice but he still decided to wait for a minute before deciding the coast was clear.

It released a silent sigh.

Hmmm. Aside from my remaining memories, maybe I also got some sort of cheat-like ability like from those web novels?

With furrowed brows, the small creature stretched its limbs and arched its back, imitating the power-up stance of powerful quadrupedal characters it saw in the shows in its previous world.

Ahhhh!

Grrr!

It emitted a silent guttural noise that slowly got louder.

As it growled with expectation, its eyes widened as something inside its body snapped and was about to release an ancient power!

Here it comes! I can feel it!

Prooot...

...

Sigh.

The small creature was glad no one else was able to hear it.

It shook its head in annoyance as it thought internally, The next possible thing is highly unlikely, but I hope it is.

With a tiny wag of its tail, the small creature closed its eyes and propped itself up. It suddenly opened its eyes and screamed System!

Woof!

But nothing happened.

Interface!

Woof!

*~Chime~*

_____________________

Name: -none-

Title: -none-

Level: 13 Exp 929 / 2,000

Health: 9/30 (Weakened)

Mana: 0/0

Strength 2 (Weakened)

Dexterity 4 (Weakened)

Agility 3 (Weakened)

Intelligence 32

Endurance 3 (Weakened)

Perception 14

Charisma 9

Unassigned Stats: 36

Life Form: Canine [???]

Skills: [Bite], [Intimidate], [Incapacitate], [Haste], [Track], [Rage]

Items: -none-

Friends: -none-

Credits: 0

Remarks: You can barely kill anything bigger than your size. Shame.
_____________________

A translucent window with a blue hue popped up right in front of the creature as it finally confirmed its situation.

Huh.

The small creature gazed at the translucent window in front of it and thought, Did this thing just insult me?

The remarks line thing is cheeky. Why am I already at level thirteen? I'll think about this later.

Did I reincarnate? No, I'm already grown, and I couldn't see the mother wolf anywhere. That means I got transmigrated into this body.

I could be abandoned.

Hmmm…

There’s no way the soil can birth wolf cubs.

The creature took another glance, but suddenly, its pupils dilated, ears tucked together and mouth agape, but no sound came out.

Is this some type of spawning ground for monsters? I’ll be hunted as a weak monster, ripe for beginners to harvest! Why are my stats "weakened" anyway? A debuff? A negative status effect right at the start?

Calm yourself down, you've been loud enough already.

The small creature darted its eyes around and settled in a corner of a tree trunk with its roots forking out—before disappearing beneath the ground.

That place will do.

After being satisfied with the protection of the large roots on his sides, the small creature gave a small nod and concentrated on the translucent window before him.

First things first, check my status page more thoroughly and check all my skills. My name is still blank. Now that I think about it, this looks like those games I used to play when I was younger. After growing up and getting locked inside a black company with an insane contract, I never had time to play anymore.

The small creature shuddered at the memory.

Who am I kidding!? It's not fine. Why do I still have these memories anyway? Well, at least I can now choose a name for myself and a fresh start.

With a determined look, the small creature took a deep breath and screamed internally. Then it’s settled!

The Sword Saint.

Arf.

[Already taken!]

A small, translucent rectangle window appeared significantly closer to its area of vision, covering only a small portion of the interface. After a few seconds, it gently faded.

The Lord of Secrets!?

Arf?

[Already taken!]

The Supreme Mechanic!

Woof!

[Already taken!]

Pirate Emperor!!!

Woof!!!

[Already taken!]

The small creature was seething in anger but quickly calmed down. The small, translucent screens indicating his attempted names were already taken slowly disappeared one by one as he continued to calm down. After a moment, he continued.

Ultimate Magus...?

Arf...?

[Already taken!]

The small creature refused to believe that every cool username was already taken, so he thought about it seriously before mouthing the words.

How about this? I would like my name to be—

“Ash! I finally found you!”

Ash?

*~Chime~*

[“Ash” is accepted!]

The sound of a crow cawing from somewhere reverberated throughout the entire forest, or it might be just inside the small creature's mind.

Wait, what!?

A second ago, a shrill yet hoarse voice interrupted his naming ritual.

The small creature turned its head and located where the voice came from. Based on the voice, the figure was a young human female with her short black hair dangling from her head as she poked out from the other side of the tree he was hiding on. The small creature, which was now called Ash, couldn't see much yet since the light of dawn was coming from behind the young woman.

What!?

Arf!?

The creature turned its head back on the interface and saw “Ash” plastered on top of the interface, existing in all of its glory.

NOOOOOO!

AWOOOOO!