In his past life, Henry was an otaku. He loved anime a lot, especially the ones that were based on Isekai and Ecchi.
So he was very familiar with how reincarnation worked. But he didn't just think it was possible.
"Wow, I can't believe this is really happening." he muttered in excitement, scrutinizing his new body. "I've actually being reincarnated."
Henry was elated. To be alive again, and to taking to a new world. One he had no knowledge of.
"Strange," he thought. "If I was reincarnated, that means the previous owner of this body is dead."
"But why didn't I inherit his memories?" he pondered, his gaze wandering around the pit. "And.. where the fuck am I?"
Henry stood up slowly, glancing at the rock that sat where his head had been, blood still fresh on the surface. His hands subconsciously flew to the back of his head, running through his hair for any signs of bleeding.
But there was none.
And though there were few traces of dried blood on his hair, there was no source. No wound. Nothing.
He was fine.
But judging from the condition he woke up to, his predecessor wasn't. It was obvious that he fell and hit his head on the rock, passing away in the process.
Henry sighed. "Poor guy. I wonder how he fell into this pit." he thought, eyes scanning the muddy walls of the deep hole.
"And I wonder how I will get out of it."
As Henry pondered his plan of escape, something flickered at the edge of the pit…
A faint blue light, blinking in and out like a dying firefly.
Henry squinted. It wasn't magic. It wasn't a ghost. It was… mechanical.
A drone.
Sleek, chrome-plated, and thoroughly busted, lying half-buried in the mud just at the base of the wall. One side was smashed in, wires dangling like entrails, but its rotor arms were still intact — thin metal struts with carbon fiber propeller blades that hadn't shattered.
Henry's eyes widened. "No way… a futuristic drone? Jackpot." he muttered in excitement, already coming up with a plan.
He scrambled over and picked it up, brushing mud off the surface. The thing whirred weakly, one blue lens blinking like it was trying to stay alive. Henry tilted his head, almost feeling sorry for it.
"You fought the good fight, little guy. But right now…" he muttered, cracking a grin as his gaze lingered on the drone's blade-like rotors.
"….You're my ladder."
Henry scanned the pit walls… sheer, slick mud with no footholds. Climbing barehanded was impossible… so was jumping.
But the drone? The rotors were long, flat, and surprisingly sturdy. With a little improvisation… They could be his way out of this muddy prison.
Henry yanked one rotor arm free, grimacing as the metal groaned but snapped loose. He tested it against the wall… solid enough to dig into the mud like a piton. An idea sparked instantly.
"Alright, brain," he whispered, his otaku instincts kicking in, "Time for some MacGyver meets Attack on Titan action."
He pulled out two rotor arms, gripping them like climbing axes. His fingers traced over the slick carbon-fiber rotors. They were sharp. Too sharp. Just gripping them barehanded could slice his palms open if he slipped.
"Yeah… I'm not gonna do this raw," he muttered, flexing his hands. Then his gaze dropped to his shirt. The white tunic he'd woken up in was already ripped along one shoulder.
An idea sparked.
"Okay, anime logic time: when in doubt, sacrifice fashion for survival."
He gripped the hem of his sleeve and tore hard, the fabric splitting with a loud rip. He did the same with the other sleeve, until both arms were bare. Then he wrapped the cloth tightly around the bases of the rotor arms, knotting them in place to form makeshift grips.
He tested one, pulling it against his palm. The edge bit into the fabric but didn't pierce. Perfect.
"Alright," Henry smirked, gripping his newly improvised climbing tools. "Let's do this."
Then, with a steadying breath, he drove one rotor into the wall. Mud splattered, but the blade sank deep enough to hold. He hauled himself up, jammed the other in higher, then pulled again. Step by step, stab by stab, he began climbing.
Every movement was slow, calculated. The mud tried to suck the rotors free, but Henry adjusted his grip, angling the blades just right. His arms burned, his biceps screamed, but he gritted his teeth in endurance. He was determined.
"Not bad for an accounting major," he grunted through clenched teeth. "Take that, PE teachers who said I'd never amount to anything."
Henry kept climbing, moving slow and steady as his trusty blades jabbed deeply into the muddy walls of the pits and allowed him to easily pull himself upward.
Henry repeated the motion. Again and again. Climbing higher and higher.
But as he got halfway up, his foot slipped.
His stomach dropped, but instinct saved him. He drove both rotor-arms into the wall just in time, hanging there like a terrified ninja. His heart thundered.
Panting, he whispered. "Okay… Note to self: Gravity is not your friend."
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself upward, muscles trembling with effort. He continued climbing and kept moving higher, until eventually… he reached the top of the pit.
With a final push, Henry jammed one rotor higher, pulled himself up, and rolled over the edge of the pit. He collapsed onto solid ground, flat on his back, gasping for air.
The broken rotors clattered beside him, gleaming faintly in the gray light.
Henry chuckled between breaths, mud-smeared but victorious. "And that, ladies and gentlemen…" he announced to the trees. "…Is how you climb out of a pit with style. Basic survival 101."
He lay there on the ground, laughing to himself in excitement of having survived the first hardship this new world threw at him. If only he knew… his hardship was only just beginning.
As Henry laid and laughed, his eyes darted to his surroundings. He was surrounded by tall trees, thick bushes, and a terrain that suggested the great outdoors. A forest.
He was in a forest. One very far away from civilization.
But before Henry could think further about it…
Rrrrrrrgggg!
He heard it.
A low, guttural growl.
Followed by another.
And another.
Henry froze. His laughter died in his throat. Slowly, he sat up.
From the shadows between the trees, eyes glinted… yellow, unblinking. Shapes moved. Big shapes. Four-legged. Muscles shifting beneath coarse fur. Their teeth gleamed when the light caught them.
Wolves. At least half a dozen.
Henry's mouth went dry.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
The growls grew louder, closer, circling him. It was like they'd been waiting for him to crawl out of the pit.
He glanced at his makeshift weapons… two battered rotor-arms wrapped in torn sleeves. Then back at the pack of hungry eyes closing in.
"Great. First day in a new world and I'm already dog food." he lamented.
The growls grew louder… then shapes began to peel away from the shadows of the trees.
One wolf.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
But these weren't wolves. Not really.
Henry's breath caught in his throat. His brain scrambled to label what his eyes were seeing, but no anime he'd ever binged had prepared him for this.
They were monsters.
Each one was as tall as an elephant, their hulking forms rippling with muscle under coarse black fur. Their eyes burned red with a wild, maddened gleam, like demons wearing wolf-skins. Rows of fangs jutted from their maws, long and jagged, glistening with saliva. Their claws were curved, sickle-like, gouging trenches into the dirt with every step.
Henry's mouth worked uselessly before a whisper escaped him:
"…What the hell are these?" he shuddered.
The beasts spread out, forming a crescent around him. Their growls deepened, vibrating in his bones. The air grew heavier, hotter, as though even the forest itself knew what was about to happen.
Henry's instincts screamed run. His legs twitched to bolt. But logic stabbed through the panic:
"They'll catch me. They know this forest better than I. They'll tear me apart before I've even taken ten steps."
His gaze dropped to the drone blades clenched in his fists, wrapped in his ragged sleeves. Two pitiful bits of metal against five nightmares.
"Yeah," he muttered under his breath, backing away step by step, his voice shaking, "This is fine. Totally fine. Just me, my anime training arc, and a bunch of kaiju wolves. No big deal."
The beasts advanced with him, each step deliberate, predatory. Their eyes never left him. They were waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Henry's heart hammered. His mind raced. He didn't know what to do.
Fight? Run? Scream? Pretend to be dead?
His brain was working faster than it was supposed to, calculating different scenarios to decide which option would not end up with him being eaten.
And then—
A sound split the forest.
ROAR!
A roar.
But not just any roar. This one was colossal. Bone-rattling. It rolled through the trees like thunder, shaking the earth itself. The sheer weight of it punched the air from Henry's lungs.
He froze, his face draining of color. His knees wobbled. "…Oh. Oh no. That… that did not sound like a normal lion."
The wolves, for the first time, faltered. Their monstrous heads whipped toward the source of the sound, hackles raised. Their growls faltered into uneasy whines. They were… afraid.
Henry blinked in disbelief. "Wait… If you're scared, then what the hell's coming?" he muttered, his heart beating fast. He could've taken this moment to run, to escape whatever was coming. But he didn't. Curiosity got the better of him and he stayed rooted on the spot.
The answer to his question came a heartbeat later.
From behind the pack, the trees shuddered. Branches snapped like twigs. Something massive moved through the undergrowth, each step shaking the ground. Then, it emerged.
A lion.
But as Henry anticipated earlier… this was definitely not a normal lion.
This beast was something else. It towered at nearly ten feet tall, its body thick with golden muscle. Two enormous saber-like fangs jutted from its maw, gleaming white and sharp enough to cleave steel. Its mane burned like living fire, every strand flickering, crackling, spilling light into the clearing. The flames hissed and popped, casting shifting shadows across the terrified wolves.
The air grew hot. The ground itself seemed to shiver under the monster's presence.
Henry could only stare, slack-jawed. The wolves were terrifying, yes. But this lion… if it could even be called that, was a nightmare.
"Am I… in hell?" he thought, sweat already trickling down his face from the pressure of the beast.
The lion's molten eyes flicked to the wolves. The pack of giants, moments ago bloodthirsty and unstoppable, trembled where they stood, tails tucked low.
This beast was the king of the forest. They didn't dare defy it.
The fire-maned king snarled, baring its saber fangs, and the wolves whimpered like scolded dogs.
Then its gaze snapped to Henry.
For a single, horrible second, time stopped. Those burning eyes locked onto him, piercing through flesh and bone like he was nothing but prey.
The lion roared again. Louder. Closer. The sound was a hurricane of fire and death, a promise that said: You don't belong here.
Henry stumbled back, heart slamming against his ribs, hands shaking around his makeshift blades.
His eyes widened in a ghastly realization. "…Oh shit, it has its eyes on me." he muttered, already regretting not running away earlier.
The lion snarled, its gaze still locked on Henry. And then, it advanced forward, moving towards him.
As the beast took its first step, Henry's heart nearly flew out of his chest. His throat went dry and his body unexpectedly went limp. He couldn't move his legs, or his arms.
He didn't know if it was fear, or something else. But one thing he knew was… if he didn't move soon, he was going back to the cold, dark abyss called death.