2-Rebith

On the top of a snow-covered mountain, there lay the body of a monster, wounds covering every inch of its body.

Though this monster resembled a polar bear in structure and color, there were significant differences between them.

The monster's height, from its tail to its nose, was approximately 350 centimeters, and considering its bulk, it must have weighed around 1500 kilograms.

Its skull structure resembled more that of a lion than a polar bear. It had a mane stained with blood from the wounds on its neck. The monster's teeth were razor-sharp, and from the blood on them, it was evident that whatever killed this creature had paid a hefty price.

The monster had four legs, and its legs appeared relatively oily. This was likely due to the incredible cold at the mountain's peak. Lastly, the monster's claws were long and blue, and its hand structure was multi-jointed like that of a human.

The dried blood around where the monster lay indicated that several hours had passed since its death. The monster had long perished and gone into the infinite void.

But that didn't hinder the monster's resurrection.

When the mana around the monster vibrated and intensified, the open sky rapidly darkened, and black clouds gathered.

The monster's body began to tremble as if in agony.

As time passed, the large and mortal wounds on the monster's body began to heal until there were no wounds left.

Even after the wounds on the monster's body healed, it didn't cease trembling. The surrounding mana, like water emptied into a vessel, surged into the monster's body. The thick layer of fat on the monster's skin quickly melted away, replaced by large muscle masses. The monster's already razor-sharp teeth grew even longer and began to emit a metallic gleam. Its mane elongated, with black-gray spots forming on it. The monster's claws sharpened further, lengthened, and took on a serrated structure.

Lastly, a gray fur formed, starting from the monster's nape, following its spine, and ending at its tail.

When the changes to the monster's body finally ceased, the only feature reminiscent of a polar bear was the snowy white color covering most of its body.

Just a minute after these changes, the monster shockingly opened its eyes. Deep within its gaze, there was a spark of great intellect and confusion. This confusion was natural, as the monster had been reborn.

In fact, it wasn't the monster's rebirth but Arthur's.

Arthur, bewildered, opened his eyes and looked at the endless white horizon. Snow was everywhere, and it continued to fall. If it weren't for the flying birds in the air and the incredible pain in his heart, Arthur could have thought he had gone to heaven.

*"Am I not dead?"*

The last thing he remembered was the sound of a gunshot and the orange flames of gunpowder. After that, there was nothing until he reopened his eyes.

After watching the snowfall for a few seconds while lying on the ground, Arthur noticed something unusual.

"Why can I see my nose? And why is it black?"

With these thoughts in mind, Arthur tried to get up or rather, to attempt to get up. When he tried to stand, he felt that his body was different. His movements didn't feel natural. It was as if he were in someone else's body or something else's.

Finally gathering his courage, Arthur looked down, only to see a pair of hands covered in white fur, unlike human hands, and with claws.

With a puzzled expression in his eyes, he muttered, "Someone must be fooling me." But after saying these words, he paused.

"Why does my voice sound different?"

His voice, once thick and human-like, now sounded raspy and came from the throat. It was akin to the monsters in horror movies.

Before Arthur could overcome his astonishment and find answers to his questions, a blue screen appeared before him.

[Storm has chosen you!]

[System initializing!]

With these words, his heart, already in incredible pain, began to burn.

"ARRRGH!!!"

Arthur groaned in agony, throwing himself to the ground, hoping the pain would pass. However, it did not alleviate the pain. As time passed, the burning sensation in his heart spread throughout his internal organs, burning Arthur alive.

Whenever Arthur neared the brink of fainting from the pain, his brain sent him warnings to prevent him from passing out.

...

After what felt like years to Arthur, but was only five minutes in reality, the fire inside him slowly extinguished, and the pain finally subsided.

"This... is definitely not a dream..." Arthur said, struggling.

With his eyes slightly narrowed from intense pain and exhaustion, another blue window appeared before him.

This blue window was rectangular, with lightning symbols on its edges. In shape and color, it was exactly like the ones Arthur had seen before. The only difference was the text on it.

[System installation complete]

[Data transfer initializing...]

[Data transfer started]

With these successive notifications, various pieces of information flooded Arthur's mind.

"TCH!"

Arthur closed his eyes abruptly due to a slight headache. Fortunately, this pain was short-lived and disappeared after just a second.

After the pain subsided, Arthur began to examine the information in his mind in astonishment. With each passing moment, his mouth opened a little wider.

"I can clearly feel pain, so this can't be a dream. That leaves only two possibilities. Either someone is fooling me badly, or I was reborn in the body of another creature," Arthur said to himself.

"Frankly, the first possibility is highly unlikely. That means I was reborn. Moreover, in a world where an energy called mana circulates," he added.

After fully assimilating the information that had flooded his mind, he gained some knowledge about his situation.

Firstly, he was not a human at the moment. He was a four-legged, muscular monster of unknown origin. Secondly, he had been given a gift under the name of the system. In fact, he didn't know who or why this gift had been given. According to his guesses, this gift was given to him because he was reborn. Thirdly, the information that had flooded his mind a while ago was about how the system worked. Therefore, he still knew nothing about this world.

All of this summarized Arthur's current situation.

Finally, he wanted to ask himself a question.

"Why am I so calm?"

Despite being a cold-blooded killer in his past life, he found it illogical to remain so calm after being reborn. After opening his eyes, he was only slightly surprised.

Without wasting much time thinking about this question, he murmured, "System."

With Arthur's words, a window similar to the previous blue ones appeared before him.