Groping around for the covers, Enzo couldn’t help grumbling. A sudden cold wind wrapped around his body. His hands grasped a piece of coarse fur, and his brow furrowed.
He opened his blurry eyes, feeling the thing in his hand was unlike the soft cotton of his comforter. The moment his eyes opened, his body jolted.
Where the hell is this? Did I get kidnapped? His eyes darted around the room, if that’s what it could be called. It was a windowless space made of mud. Calling it a hut would be speaking kindly.
Shaped like a dome, the area wasn’t very large. Just enough for him to have somewhere to put his clothes and small kitchen setup.
Enzo stared at the windowless room and wondered how he got here. He fell asleep in his warm bed and woke up in this place, wherever this was.
As he scanned his surroundings, he saw some small pieces of coarse fur on the floor. There was a small stone vat in the corner, a fire pit, and a stone pot.
The area wasn’t particularly clean, but it was orderly enough to see that someone lived there.
As he observed his surroundings, he realized the door was open. Or rather, there was no door. The large open space led directly outside. No wonder he was cold. In a place like this, without a door, it would be a wonder he didn’t freeze to death.
From his sitting position, he couldn’t properly see outside. At most, he could see a few trees. He needed to know what his surroundings were like and whether he could escape.
He tentatively stepped off the mud bed. His brows furrowed when he looked down at his feet. These were definitely not his feet. He took care of himself too much to have these mud-stained, chipped feet.
Not thinking much of it, he attributed his feet now to the person who kidnapped him. He couldn’t help complaining that whoever kidnapped him made him dirty.
His steps were cautious as he walked towards the opening. Eyes shifting side to side as if someone would pop out from a nonexistent corner at any minute. He stepped outside, one small step at a time.
He intended to run as soon as he found a suitable exit. The second he stepped out, he unconsciously inhaled deeply. He had to admit, even as his heart pounded in his ears, the air in this place was really fresh.
The tension in his body didn’t dissolve, but his tense shoulders sagged a little.
No sooner had his shoulders sagged than they tensed again. His mouth opened wide. His head swiveled left and right. He didn’t even think about whether there was danger again.
This wasn’t the village style that Enzo was expecting. It was something else altogether.
This place was a valley. There was a long, forested hill. It was a mountain, but it was high enough to overlook the settlement. The hill sloped towards the valley, creating a natural boundary.
The houses weren’t set in any specific pattern, but he could see signs of construction. A completed house came into his view. It wasn’t circular like his; it was square and large.
It was still some distance away from him, but it was the largest and tallest building in the vicinity.
"Where the fuck am I?" he whispered dazedly to himself.
He didn’t move an inch further outside the hut; instead, he stepped back in. He stumbled, falling on his butt. He winced, feeling the pain in his palm. When he looked down, he saw the slender hand covered in dirt.
This was definitely not his hand. He stared at it for what felt like forever.
A laugh bubbled up from his throat. A disbelieving laugh that made even him surprised. Thankfully, no one was around, or others would think he was crazy.
He looked outside again. It wasn’t quite morning yet. He got up slowly, brushing off his hands. It wasn’t cut, just a stone indenting the skin.
Enzo spoke to himself. "I think I should go back to sleep. Who told people that they can’t feel pain in dreams? Seems like bullshit. I felt the pain just fine."
He walked back to the mud bed covered with coarse fur, grass, and leaves. He didn’t even care whether or not it was comfortable. He lay down and closed his eyes.
Continuing to mutter to himself, he said. "I’m going back to bed. Maybe if I close my eyes again, I’ll wake up in my soft bed. Go to sleep, Z. In the morning you’ll wake up, and you’ll eat the last tub of ice cream for comfort, then you’ll start going back to the gym. This is all just a dream. A stress-induced dream."
So, he closed his eyes and went back to bed. He ignored the cold and everything else around him. Soon he fell asleep, breathing evenly.
The sun rose and gradually filtered into the hut. Enzo groaned and stretched. He’d had a good sleep. He opened his eyes, thinking he was back in his bedroom and... his jaw dropped.
This was definitely not his bedroom.
His body slumped, and his hands shook.
Was it not a dream? He slapped himself. What...what am I supposed to do now?
Enzo was panicking. He was sure that earlier was a realistic hallucination, but now he was still here. He couldn’t continue to convince himself that he was hallucinating.
But that didn’t mean he didn’t try. Repeatedly.
He flung himself back on the bed and closed his eyes. He was too well rested to sleep, so he kept counting sheep. He covered his eyes with his hands to ignore the sunlight. He sang to himself. He did everything he could think of except, maybe, breakdancing.
But nothing changed the fact that he wouldn’t wake up, and quite possibly, he was in someone else’s body.
He’d heard of transmigration. He lived in the modern world. He even wanted a system that would give him money so he could stop working. But this...this wasn’t in his plan.
Couldn’t he have been transmigrated into someone famous or rich or both?
He patted himself, feeling the structure of his body. There was no mirror in this awful place. He could only look at the places he could see and touch the places he couldn’t.
He noticed a few things in his inspection.
One, he had ears. Not regular ears, but ears on top of his head. He felt them twitch. He gasped at first, utterly confused. The thought came to mind: beastkin. Was he a beastkin?
He wasn’t sure whether to be happy or sad. It was one thing to acknowledge transmigration, but to become a beastkin, that was something else entirely.
Two, this body was skinny. It had none of the muscle definition he had before. He was terribly dissatisfied with this body. It was lean, but too skinny for his liking. He would have to eat more and work out to get his body in shape.
And last but not least, he discovered his flat bum. He actually wanted to drown himself with a spoonful of water after realizing the glute he had worked so hard on had disappeared.
The perfectly round cheeks that were his pride and glory disappeared into nothingness. Only he knew how hard he worked to go from no booty to a full round pair of cheeks that would make any woman who saw them jealous.
He wanted to curse the god of transmigration so much, but he decided against it. Maybe the gods were listening. It’s better to stay on their good side. Since he was sent here, maybe they were watching.
His eyes darted around the room, grabbing his behind. He was half-scared, half-angry.
He ignored the stray hairs that fell over his forehead.
Touching the body was fine, but he wanted to know what he looked like. The issue was, there wasn’t a single drop of water in the hut. He thought about going out, but what if someone noticed the difference? He didn’t want to draw attention to himself.
Enzo agonized over it. In the end, he still needed to leave his little space. Why? Because his stomach started grumbling and there was no food. He either needed to get out of the hut or starve.
So, he dragged himself out of bed and started his journey for food. He could only hope no one came up to him. He would keep his head down and ignore everyone as much as possible.