Chapter 1: Welcome to…!
Dappled sunlight filtered through the dense canopy as tiny insects crawled slowly between withered leaves, struggling to survive.
This was a primeval forest, a perilous land rarely touched by humans.
Because the creatures inhabiting it were not ordinary beasts, but unique lifeforms possessing incredible power—
—Soul Beasts.
They didn't just live in the forest; they reigned as its undisputed overlords.
This forest was known as the Star Dou Great Forest.
On what should have been an ordinary, uneventful day, the tranquil Star Dou Great Forest welcomed an unexpected guest.
A formless, terrifying force appeared without warning in a clearing, instantly tearing through space itself. A deep, dark spatial rift was ripped open by the power, and from within, a small figure was spat out.
It was a human child, appearing no more than six years old.
"?"
After a brief moment of dizziness, the small figure lying flat on the ground sat up in shock, looking around in bewilderment.
The many unfamiliar plants around him left him completely at a loss.
"Where is this?" he murmured instinctively. But the moment he spoke, he immediately clamped a hand over his mouth.
Because…
That voice was wrong!
He was clearly a young man in his twenties—why did his voice sound so... childish?
And his body felt unusually weak!
Looking down at himself, the six-year-old's body in his view made him nearly burst into tears. Just a moment ago, he had been buying lottery tickets, had even won the grand prize, and before he could celebrate—he blacked out and arrived in this strange world.
"Did I die from overexcitement?" He'd heard that in moments of extreme joy or sorrow, emotions could overwhelm a person enough to kill.
As for why he was still alive—
Having read many novels, he quickly grasped the situation and accepted it.
"Who would've thought I, Lin Yun, actually transmigrated. Thank goodness my little brother is still here, or I'd have to rename myself Lin Yun with a feminine tone." Lin Yun let out a breath of relief after feeling a certain body part.
"But wasn't this transmigration a little too sloppy? Where's the truck-kun? Where's the divine justice?"
And what about my cheat ability?!
(Some careless mother god: …)
Though the weak, six-year-old body made Lin Yun uncomfortable, he couldn't stay in one place forever.
After recovering a bit from the dizziness, and gradually adapting to his new body, Lin Yun cautiously stepped out of the clearing.
He had no choice but to be careful.
No forest was ever truly safe. Not to mention, most of the plants here were ones he'd never seen before on Earth. Some looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't identify any of them.
That meant this was no longer his original world. Forests were already hotspots for venomous insects, snakes, and wild beasts—even more so in this unfamiliar land that might contain absurdly dangerous creatures.
And with a six-year-old's body, if he strolled casually through the woods, he might transmigrate again in the very next second.
Assuming he had a third life to spare.
Parting another patch of underbrush, Lin Yun cautiously poked out his eyes to look beyond—and his previously serious expression froze.
"Hisss—"
"Grrr—"
A snake and a wolf, mid-standoff, simultaneously turned their bloodthirsty gazes toward the very underbrush where Lin Yun was hiding.
'It's over!'
Lin Yun's heartbeat stopped.
Snakes were renowned for their heat-sensing abilities; with poor eyesight, they relied entirely on their tongues and thermal perception to detect prey. Wolves, on the other hand, had an astonishing sense of smell—able to detect prey from kilometers away.
Although Lin Yun had no idea why a snake would be fighting a wolf, one thing was certain—he was about to be barbecued!
More importantly, why were the wolf and snake in front of him so absurdly huge?!
A six-meter-long, thigh-thick purple-pink snake; a three-meter-long, 1.5-meter-tall cyan giant wolf.
What kind of messed-up world was this?!
But Lin Yun didn't even have a second to grieve for himself. About to take the stage were an unknown, vicious giant serpent and a bloodthirsty giant wolf!
The giant snake slowly opened its mouth, twin fangs sharp as daggers dripping venom that sizzled and corroded the fallen leaves below, releasing puffs of white smoke.
The wolf's foul-smelling breath was so strong Lin Yun could smell it from afar.
Could he win?
Could he—
Win, my ass! He was dead meat!
Lin Yun gave up instantly. Even in his adult body from his past life, he wouldn't have had the confidence to run away—yes, run away, not fight—let alone now, in a six-year-old's frail body.
All he could hope for was that when these two beasts ate him, they'd make it quick. Ideally, Brother Wolf would go for the throat, sparing him the experience of being strangled by a python.
The Mandrake Snake and Gale Demon Wolf didn't care what Lin Yun thought. In the Star Dou Great Forest, soul beasts might fight each other, but the moment a human appeared, no matter how deep their enmity, they would unite in attacking the human.
Soul masters were their common enemy. Humanity was no different.
Just moments ago, the Mandrake Snake and Gale Demon Wolf had been locked in a standoff. Now, they simultaneously turned their bloodthirsty gazes on Lin Yun.
Hiss—
Awooo—
Watching the snake and wolf lunge at him without hesitation, Lin Yun calmly closed his eyes. Judging by how fiercely they charged, at least he might get a swift death.
Three seconds passed.
Ten seconds passed.
A full minute passed…
"Huh? Why doesn't it hurt?" Lin Yun opened his eyes in confusion.
Everything in front of him had turned gray. Time and space seemed to have frozen. Except for the constantly flowing gray mist, the entire world had come to a standstill.
The snake and wolf were frozen mid-air, less than thirty centimeters from him. Their gaping maws, even the droplets of saliva suspended in the air—everything was clearly visible.
As Lin Yun realized time had stopped, a distant, majestic voice rang in his heart like a great bell or evening drum.
[Young one, welcome to the Douluo Continent!]
[Please choose your hero—]
[Oops, wrong line! Let's try again. Please choose your faction!]
[1. My fate is mine to command! Rise up, defeat Tang San, and seize the position of God King in the Divine Realm!]
[2. Give up the struggle! If you can't win, join him. Hug Tang San's thigh and become the next Huo Yuhao!]
[Reward for choosing: Unknown!]
"This is… my cheat ability?" Lin Yun's eyes lit up, excitement flooding his face.
I knew it—how could a transmigrator die right at the start?
Though the voice sounded a bit unserious, it clearly brought Lin Yun a wealth of information.
"Douluo Continent… Tang San?"
(End of Chapter)