A soft, warm light caressed Iyak’s face.
His eyes cracked open—just slightly—blinded by the brightness above him. Everything was white. Endless and glowing. It felt like the light wasn’t just surrounding him… it was pulling him.
“Is this it…?” he wondered. “The afterlife? A tunnel of light and all that cliché stuff?”
But just as his eyelids fluttered shut again, the warmth shifted.
Cold.
A sharp breeze cut across his skin, and this time, it wasn’t gentle. It was real.
Like—really real.
His eyes snapped open again.
This time, the light was gone.
Instead, an impossibly vast sky stretched overhead, painted in a breathtaking blue. Clouds moved lazily above him, and strange bird-like creatures soared through the air. Some of them had tails like snakes. One of them literally had antlers. Another glowed.
Iyak blinked, slowly sitting up.
The grass beneath him was soft and springy—vibrant green and dotted with flowers that shimmered like crystal.
He brushed his black hair back and muttered, “Where… where the hell am I? Heaven? No, this is too detailed for heaven. Maybe... a fantasy VR game?”
He looked down at his body—and froze.
His eyes widened. “Whoa…”
His arms looked bulkier. Veins like ropes. Muscles toned and defined. His legs were like tree trunks compared to the skinny twigs he used to have.
“I’ve been… upgraded?”
He poked his abs, then flexed his biceps. “Damn. Did I reincarnate as a gym bro?”
Then—
DING!
A floating, translucent blue window blinked to life in front of him with a soft shiiing sound. It hovered mid-air, gently pulsing.
---
[Status Window Unlocked]
Name: Iyak
Level: 1
Skill: DEATH (Unique)
MP: 0
Magic: 0
---
Iyak squinted. “Death? Just… Death? What kind of discount superpower is that?”
He stared at the glowing letters for a moment longer, then hesitantly reached out and poked the air.
“Close.”
Poof. The window vanished.
Still sitting on the soft grass, he pinched his own cheek. Hard.
“Ow! Okay. Not a dream.”
He stood up, brushed the dust from his white and gray hoodie, and turned in a slow circle.
A vast forest surrounded the field—massive trees with twisting blue leaves and vines that glowed faintly, like veins of magic. Insects with shimmering wings hummed lazily through the air. Somewhere far off, a deep roar echoed.
Iyak swallowed.
“Okay… definitely not Japan.”
He adjusted his hoodie, tucked his hands into his pocket, and sighed.
“Well, I’m probably not the main character of this world, and honestly? That’s fantastic. Less pressure. I can just be a side character and vibe.”
He started walking toward the edge of the forest.
But the moment his foot touched the shadow of the trees, he paused.
The canopy was thick, casting everything inside in a murky twilight. Twisting roots, odd glowing mushrooms, and chirps of things he really hoped were birds filled the air.
He stared into the forest like a man staring into a haunted house.
Then muttered to himself, “If I walk through the open field, I’ll probably be spotted and eaten by whatever those flying squirrel-dragon hybrids were…”
He shuddered.
“But if I go into the forest… I might die slower.”
Another roar echoed from the sky.
Iyak stared up.
“Forest it is,” he whispered like a soldier accepting his fate, and stepped into the shadows of the unknown.
The deeper Iyak walked into the forest, the more insane everything became.
Trees weren’t just trees—they had mouths. Actual mouths. With vines that twitched like they were waiting for a snack to stroll by. The plants were glowing, swaying even without wind, and the monsters? Oh, don’t even ask.
One-eyed frogs the size of golden retrievers. Birds with three wings and a bad attitude. At one point, he was fairly sure he saw a raccoon arguing with a mushroom.
“This forest is cursed,” Iyak muttered, shoving aside a glowing leaf. “Everything here wants to kill me, cook me, or adopt me. Even the trees look like they’re planning a heist on my soul!”
He stomped forward—then stopped.
Before him, like a pocket of paradise in the madness, was a small clearing… filled with glowing, magical flowers.
Every flower was a different color—some shimmered like polished jewels, others sparkled with misty auras. It looked like someone had spilled a bucket of rainbow in the middle of hell.
Iyak’s eyes widened. “Whoa…”
He stepped forward, his voice softening. “If I had my phone right now, I’d be farming Insta likes. But okay, nature... I see you.”
His gaze landed on a particularly large flower. Blue petals like velvet, glowing with an eerie mist that drifted lazily upward like a soft fog. It pulsed—almost like it was breathing.
“You look different…” he whispered, walking toward it like he was in a trance. “Different and dangerous. My favorite combo.”
He knelt beside it, raised a hand, and gently touched the glowing petal.
BAD IDEA.
Pain.
White-hot, bone-deep, nerve-destroying pain exploded through his body.
Iyak’s scream echoed through the forest as he collapsed, twitching, eyes wide in terror. Blood leaked from his nose, his ears, even his nails. His veins felt like they were boiling. His vision blurred. His limbs thrashed. His skin felt like it was melting.
“WHY—IS—THIS—A—FLOWER?!” he choked, right before blacking out.
---
Sometime Later…
Iyak jolted awake with a loud—
“SHIT!”
He gasped, sitting up with twitchy, trauma-filled limbs. His whole body itched like he’d just been cuddling poison ivy in a sauna. “I think my skeleton went on vacation without me.”
Then, a robotic voice echoed inside his mind:
> [New Skill Acquired: Poison Resistance]
A familiar DING rang in the air, and the floating window popped back up.
---
[Status Window Unlocked]
Name: Iyak
Level: 1
Skills:
DEATH (Unique)
Poison Resistance
MP: 0
Magic: 0
---
Iyak blinked, squinting at the glowing blue text.
“Poison resistance?” he croaked. “That’s what I get for almost dying? This game is cruel. This world is cruel. My armpits are still tingling, for crying out loud!”
He waved a hand. “Close!”
Poof. The window disappeared.
He staggered to his feet, pointing a shaky finger at the blue flower.
“You… you beautiful devil. I see you now. You’re not flora, you’re trauma.”
Grabbing a nearby stick with vengeance in his soul, he jabbed at the flower like a disgruntled gardener.
WHACK!
But instead of hitting petals again, the flower split open—like a curtain—and something slid out from behind it.
Something with long, silver-blue hair, golden eyes, and smooth pale skin… at least until the waist.
Below that?
Snake.
Long, scaled, glistening, very much not human tail.
“W-what the—” Iyak started, just as she opened her eyes and hissed—
Then bit him.
On the arm.
Just. Like. That.
“AAAAAAHHHHHH!!! A SNAKE WOMAN IS EATING ME!!!”
He flailed in panic while she clung like an angry ferret.
Then suddenly, she pulled back, breathing heavily. Her golden eyes were dazed, and her whole body trembled.
Iyak stared at her.
She was bleeding. Badly. Cuts along her arms. Scales cracked. She was barely standing.
He blinked. Then slowly looked down at his arm. “Wait… I’m… not dead? I don’t feel any poison…”
Lightbulb moment.
“Ohh… this is because of the skill! My poison resistance is actually working! Hah! You thought I was weak? Well, jokes on—AAAH!”
She bit him again.
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! STOP SNACKING ON ME LIKE A MIDNIGHT BURGER!”
He pulled back, waving his arms like a crazy man. “I’m trying to HELP you! Do I look like a chew toy? Who bites their savior?!”
The Lamia blinked, wobbled… then fainted on the spot.
Just—thud.
“...I didn’t even yell that much,” Iyak said, stunned. He looked around. “Was it something I said? Or do I just have that effect on snake women?”
He sighed, crouching beside her and checking her pulse. She was alive… barely.
“Alright, fine. I’m cursed, weird, bitten, poisoned, AND covered in flower goop… might as well play nurse now.”
He gently picked her up.
“And if you bite me one more time,” he muttered, “I’m feeding you to a vegetarian tree.”
Whew! What a chapter, right?
Iyak just wanted a peaceful walk in the woods, and instead, he got a glowing flower of doom, a surprise new skill, and a psycho snake-girl with biting issues. Welcome to this world, buddy—you’re gonna need therapy, a helmet, and maybe a first aid kit stapled to your chest.
Also… that DEATH skill? Yeah. It's not just a cool name. It's a curse, a blessing, and a one-way ticket to chaos. And this Lamia? She’s not just a random monster. Oh no. She’s important. But shhh… spoilers.
Thanks for reading this wild ride of a chapter! If you laughed, winced, or felt second-hand pain from Iyak’s bad decisions, drop a comment, and let me know what you think!
See you in the next chapter… where things only get weirder.
—Your slightly evil (but loving) author.
