The last thing Kael remembered was the smell of a sterile hospital corridor and the monotonous beeping of the machines monitoring his failing heart. Then one last, convulsive breath and silence. A peaceful, enveloping blackness.
Until now.
A jolt. Cold. Hard. He sucked in a sharp breath of air that smelled of damp earth, rotting leaves, and something wild, unknown. His eyes fluttered open. Above him, there was no clinical room ceiling, but an impenetrable canopy of leaves, through which only isolated sunbeams struck the forest floor like golden spears.
Confusion battled with rising panic. He tried to sit up, but his limbs felt alien, weak, but also strangely… young. He looked down at himself. Small, dirty hands, tattered, coarsely woven clothes that barely kept out the cold. This wasn't his body. His adult body, marked by illness.
Where am I? What happened?
As if his thought had flipped an invisible switch, a series of glowing, turquoise symbols appeared directly before his mind's eye, followed by text that wrote itself into his consciousness:
[System initialization complete. Welcome, Entity #734.]
Kael gasped and instinctively recoiled, only to hit his back against a rough tree trunk. This couldn't be. A system? Like in those stories he used to read to escape the reality of his hospital bed?
[Anomaly detected: Transmigration of a soul. Protocol 'New Beginning' activated.]
[User profile being created...]
More text appeared, clear and distinct, as if floating on an invisible screen before him:
Name: (Not yet assigned – Please choose)
Race: Human (Variant: Unknown)
Age: Approx. 8 cycles (Physical)
Status: Hypothermic, Hungry, Frightened
Title: The Reborn (Grants increased adaptability to new environments)
Level: 1 (0/100 XP)
Attributes:
Strength (STR): 3Agility (AGI): 4Constitution (CON): 2Intelligence (INT): 7 (Carried over from previous life)Wisdom (WIS): 6 (Carried over from previous life)Charisma (CHA): 5
Skills: None
[First Quest generated: 'Survival for Beginners']
Objective 1: Find or build a shelter for the night. (0/1)
Objective 2: Obtain clean drinking water. (0/1)
Objective 3: Obtain food. (0/1)
Reward: 50 XP, Skill 'Basic Survival (Passive)', 1x Emergency Ration.
Time Limit: Until sunset (approx. 6 hours)
Failure: Status 'Exhausted' (Reduces all attributes by 50% for 24 hours).
Kael stared at the quest description. His heart, which had failed him for so long, now pounded strongly in this new, small chest – a mixture of fear and a strange, unexpected excitement. So this was his second chance. A hard, unforgiving one, but a chance nonetheless.
The title "The Reborn" and the transferred mental attributes were a clear indication. He wasn't just in a new body; he had brought a part of his old self with him.
The sun was already noticeably lower between the trees. Six hours. Not much time in a completely alien, potentially dangerous environment. The "Hypothermic" and "Hungry" statuses couldn't be ignored.
"Okay," he whispered, his voice thin and shaky, but resolute. "If this is a game, then I'm playing to win."
He had to choose a name. "Kael," he decided. It was his old name, an anchor in this new reality. No sooner had he thought the name than the system window updated.
[Name: Kael confirmed.]
With a deep breath that carried the scent of the forest into his lungs, Kael forced his trembling legs to stand. The first step in his new life. And the first quest awaited.