Whoosh...
The morning wind blew gently from the east, swaying the sprawling wild grass across the endless plains that stretched beyond the horizon.
Rustle... rustle... The leaves brushed against each other, creating nature's soothing symphony. Sunlight danced atop the dew that still hung, reflecting soft silvery gleams like a painting just finished by the hands of gods.
Drip... drip... drip...
Morning dew slowly dripped from the grass tips, creating sparkling patterns on the still-moist earth. In the center of this mesmerizing green expanse, a girl lay peacefully her body slender with gentle curves, her face serene yet foreign to the soul that inhabited it, her breathing restless like someone who had just awakened from a nightmare.
Hah... hah...
Consciousness came slowly, like fog thinning in the morning. Thump-thump... thump-thump... The steady heartbeat began to sound clear a familiar rhythm yet somehow different, faster and more delicate. The first sensation felt was warmth not painful warmth, but soothing warmth, like a gentle embrace protecting a soul that had just left one life to enter another.
Her eyelids moved slowly. Rinoa—a name that somehow was already etched in her consciousness like a long-known song—opened her eyes carefully. Blink... blink... Her vision was still blurry, but slowly began to focus.
The blue sky stretched wide above, with white clouds moving slowly like cotton floating in an azure ocean. Chirp... chirp... Birds sang in the distance. The gentle breeze carried the scent of fresh grass and wild flowers she had never smelled before—a pure and natural aroma, without vehicle pollution or industrial smoke.
"Where... am I?"
Her thoughts were still foggy, like trying to remember a nearly forgotten dream. She tried to sit up, and was immediately shocked to feel her body was... different. Not just lighter or smaller, but different in a way that made her confused and panicked.
"What is this?
Her hand raised to wipe her eyes was white, slender, with fingers smaller and softer than she remembered. Smooth skin without the small scars that usually existed on Rio's hands from cycling or sports. Clean nails that were slightly longer, well-maintained in a way she had never done before.
Rustle...
Silver hair silver hair?! covered part of her face, moving gently in the wind. Long and smooth strands, very different from Rio's messy short black hair.
"Eh... w-what is this?" her voice came out and she was immediately shocked to hear the tone that emerged. Soft, gentle, melodious, with a clearly feminine timbre. Not Rio's hoarse voice that often cracked when nervous.
Impossible...
Panic began to spread quickly like wildfire. Thump-thump-thump! Her heart was beating fast, because this clearly wasn't her body. She rose hurriedly and looked around with wide eyes, trying to understand this incomprehensible situation.
The green grassland stretched wide as far as the eye could see, surrounded by low hills that rolled gently. Occasionally, large trees stood alone like magnificent guardians. There were no buildings, no paved roads, no signs of modern life at all. This was like a world from the fantasy books she often read.
She looked down and almost fainted seeing her own body. A simple thin linen dress in ivory white covered her body, a body that was clearly not hers. Curved hips, a slender waist, and... gulp... a chest area that clearly showed female anatomy.
Weak...
Her legs could barely support her body due to the deep shock.
"U-uwaaah!? I... I became a woman!?" she screamed with a voice that still sounded foreign to her own ears, a clear soprano voice, very different from Rio's usual tenor. Her voice echoed across the wide plain, answered by echoes... echoes... that slowly faded.
Rinoa rose trembling, then tried to stand. Her first step felt... strange. Her body's center of gravity was different, as if she had to learn to walk again. This body was shorter, lighter, with proportions that made every movement feel foreign.
"Why does it feel different..." she mumbled while looking down, her voice trembling with confusion and panic.
The thin linen dress she wore moved with the morning wind, and for the first time she truly noticed the curves of her body that were... very different from what she remembered. The soft fabric material clung to her skin, showing a clearly feminine silhouette.
Gulp... Her face flushed red. "T-this is really a woman's body..."
Her hand reflexively touched her chest area and immediately pulled away with a quick movement, her face getting redder from embarrassment and shock. "Oh my god... this is so real..." The sensation she felt was truly real, not a hallucination or dream.
Her own voice made her jump every time she spoke. High, soft, melodious. Very different from the hoarse voice she remembered as Rio. Every word that came out sounded like someone else speaking.
"Whose voice is this?!" she exclaimed, then covered her mouth in shock hearing the feminine tone that emerged. Even the gesture of covering her mouth felt different more delicate, more graceful than Rio's usual way of moving.
FLASH!
Suddenly, her memories returned brutally, flooding her consciousness like a powerful waterfall hitting with full force.
BEEP! BEEP! The loud truck horn broke the afternoon air.
SCREECH! The deafening sound of brakes screeching.
Yuki standing frozen in the middle of the zebra crossing, her eyes wide with fear, her body frozen seeing the container truck speeding toward her. The instinctive urge to protect, Rio's body moving without brain command, driven only by love and the desire to save.
CRASH!
The hard impact that shattered ribs, unbearable pain spreading throughout Rio's body like fire burning from within. Warm blood flowing from his mouth, vision beginning to darken, and Yuki's voice crying desperately calling his name. And then... darkness that sucked everything away, absolute silence that marked the end of one life.
"Awaken. And find a reason to keep living. Find new love."
"Aetherion..."
That voice deep and echoing like it came from cosmic depths echoed again in her memory. The voice that spoke directly to her soul before she awakened in this place, giving her a second chance she never asked for but desperately needed.
Hah... hah...
Her breathing was labored from the traumatic memories that returned with clear detail. Rinoa held her chest the foreign yet real chest that rose and fell rapidly.
"So... I really died," she whispered with a trembling voice, the high tone foreign to her own ears. Thump... thump... This new heart was still beating hard. "And now... alive again? As... as a woman?"
I saved Yuki... by sacrificing my own life... And now I'm given a second life in a completely different body.
Tears... tears that felt different, somehow warmer flowed without her realizing. Drop... drop... Falling to the fertile ground below, moistening the small grass.
She stood trembling, feeling this new body react to every movement. Creak... Her joints made soft sounds, like a newly started engine. This smaller and lighter body moved differently naturally shorter steps, more upright posture due to the changed center of gravity.
Strangely, though everything felt foreign and confusing, there was an unexplainable sense of familiarity. As if this body had been waiting for her, already prepared for her soul that had moved from another world.
Glimmer... glimmer...
On the ground around where she had been lying, the remnants of a fading magic circle were still visible: golden glowing lines that slowly disappeared like dew evaporating in the morning. Traces of the reincarnation ritual that brought her to this world.
Magic... another world... reincarnation...
Her brain tried to process concepts that previously only existed in fiction. She rubbed her own arm smooth and soft skin, very different from Rio's rougher skin from sports and outdoor activities.
"If this is a fantasy world like in novels or games..." she mumbled while remembering her hobby of reading light novels in her previous life as Rio, her voice still sounding foreign. "Maybe... maybe there's a system or something? Like in isekai stories I often read."
With hesitation and still-trembling hands 'these small and feminine hands' she raised them and said softly with a voice still unaccustomed, "S-Status?"
Ding!
Instantly, soft blue light appeared before her eyes with a gentle gleam. Shimmer... A transparent panel formed in the air like a hologram, displaying information that amazed her and brought some relief at least there was something familiar from all this strangeness.
📃 STATUS WINDOW
Name: Rinoa
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Class: None
Level: 1 (0/100)
Affinity: Unknown
Titles: Reincarnated Soul
HP: 200 / 200
AP: 100 / 100
STR: 6
AGI: 9
VIT: 8
INT: 12
LUK: 10
Skills:
• Instinctive Pulse (Passive Lv. 1) – Body responds to threats automatically + reacts automatically when attacked
• ??? (Locked)
• ??? (Locked)
Items: None
Amazing...
"Rinoa..." she read the name softly, feeling how the name flowed on her tongue. "So... that's my name now. No longer Rio..."
The title "Reincarnated Soul" made her 100% certain this wasn't a dream or hallucination. She had truly reincarnated to another world, from a high school male student to a 17-year-old girl named Rinoa.
Click.
She closed the status panel with a hand gesture and the system responded perfectly to her intuition. Now she tried to understand her situation: a 17-year-old female body, in a world that looked like a medieval fantasy setting, complete with an RPG system like in games. This was exactly like the isekai stories she often read, only with a gender transformation twist she never imagined.
Yuki...
Flash.
Suddenly that girl's face appeared clearly in her memory. Brown eyes that were usually cheerful, now filled with tears and terror. Heart-wrenching desperate screams. And a love confession that came too late when Rio was already dying on the cold, wet asphalt.
"I... I like you! I always have!"
Drop... drop...
Her chest tightened holding back sobs. Tears flowed more heavily, wetting cheeks that were softer and more delicate.
"I can't go back," she whispered with a trembling voice, gazing at the wide blue sky with teary eyes. "I'm dead in that world. Yuki... are you okay now? Can you be happy without... without Rio?"
The wind blew stronger, as if carrying answers she would never hear. A gust that made her thin dress move and reminded her again of the fundamental change that had occurred to her.
"But... maybe here I can live more meaningfully. Maybe here, in this new body and life, I can become someone useful. Someone who no longer just watches from the sidelines."
She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and stared toward the horizon with eyes that began to sparkle with new determination. Whatever this place was, this was clearly her new life. A second chance given by fate or whatever power brought her to this world.
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
The sound of heavy footsteps could be heard from afar, getting closer with a threatening tempo. Rinoa turned warily and saw three adult men running toward her with hurried steps. They carried wooden spears with iron tips and bows on their backs. Rough leather clothes and dust-streaked faces showed they were hunters or village guards on patrol.
Damn... strangers. And I'm in this condition...
"There's someone in the Summoning Field!" shouted one of them with a loud, rough voice that made Rinoa step back slowly.
"A young girl? How could she survive in such a dangerous place?" replied another with disbelief and suspicion.
Clang! Clang!
They surrounded Rinoa with organized movements, spears raised warily. The iron tips gleamed menacingly under the sunlight, and Rinoa realized how vulnerable she was in this smaller and weaker body.
Gulp...
Rinoa swallowed, her heart beating fast again. Thump-thump-thump!
In a situation like this, Rio's body might have tried to fight or run faster. But this body...
"Who are you? Where did you come from?" asked the bearded man who seemed like their leader. His voice was firm and demanding answers, eyes staring suspiciously.
What should I say? If I tell them I'm from another world and used to be male, they'll definitely think I'm crazy...
"I..." Rinoa searched for the right words, her voice still sounding and seeming more vulnerable in feminine tones. "I'm lost. I don't know where this is."
"Lost?" the man narrowed his eyes with a skeptical expression. "In the Summoning Field? Without equipment? Without companions? Do you think we're stupid?"
Whisper... whisper...
"Maybe she's a dark sorceress," whispered one of his friends with a frightening tone. "Or a ritual victim who failed."
Oh no...
The atmosphere became increasingly tense. Rinoa stepped back a movement that in this body felt more defensive and less confident compared to if she were still Rio when she saw spear tips aimed directly at her.
"Wait! I'm not dangerous—" she protested with a voice that sounded more pleading.
"Catch her first, then we'll ask!" the bearded man decided with finality.
WHOOSH!
The bearded man advanced with his spear raised, ready to stab. In a split second, something extraordinary happened Rinoa's body reacted in a way she never expected.
ZING!
Rinoa's body instincts reacted with astonishing speed. Without conscious command, she jumped to the side with a perfectly flowing movement this smaller body moved with surprising agility, avoiding the spear thrust as if the movement had been predicted from the start.
Ding!
[Skill Activated]
[Instinctive Pulse - Level 1]
[Reflexes increased. Threat movements predicted.]
A notification panel appeared briefly in the corner of her vision. Her body moved automatically ducking to avoid the second thrust with flexibility she never had as Rio, then spinning elegantly and sweeping her attacker's legs with a very effective movement.
THUD!
The man fell to the ground with a loud sound, dust flying.
What the hell?! I can move like that? This body... is more agile than I thought!
"She's not ordinary!" shouted his friend while raising his bow in panic. "Her movements are too fast! Like a trained dancer!"
Twang!
An arrow shot toward her.
WHOOSH!
Rinoa was surprised by her own body's abilities, but her reflexes reacted again. She spun her body with an almost dance-like movement and the arrow missed by several centimeters from her ear.
I have to get out of here! This body... is different but has its own advantages!
She had no time to understand what was happening to her body. She turned and ran with all her might toward the forest west of the field, her thin dress fluttering with the movement.
Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
"Chase her! Don't let her escape!"
Shouts of pursuit echoed behind her, but Rinoa's feet kept moving at surprising speed. Thud-thud-thud! Her new body was much more agile than she expected though smaller, she was lighter and more nimble.
JUMP!
She leaped over large tree roots easily, this more compact body having excellent balance.
SPLASH!
Crossing a small stream without difficulty, the wet dress clinging to her body and reminding her again of the anatomical changes that had occurred.
Rustle! Rustle!
And entering the dense forest, leaves brushing her face as she ran through bushes with admirable agility.
Huff... huff... huff...
After running far enough and ensuring the sound of pursuit had disappeared, Rinoa stopped under a large tree to catch her breath. Her chest rose and fell rapidly this foreign chest moved in ways that still made her uncomfortable.
Thud.
She leaned against the rough tree trunk, feeling the bark texture on her back through the thin dress fabric.
"Hah... hah... good thing this body is fast," she mumbled while wiping sweat from her forehead sweat that felt different on smoother skin. "But... what was that? My body moved by itself... and apparently this female body has abilities I didn't expect."
"I seem to have supernatural abilities... and this body, though different, has its own advantages."
Rustle...
A soft rustling sound came from nearby bushes. Rinoa immediately became alert, her body tensing ready to flee again.
Hop! Hop!
But then, a small creature jumped out from behind the foliage like a rabbit, but with light green fur that sparkled beautifully under the sunlight filtering through leaf gaps. Its eyes were large and golden warm. Most notably, on its head was a small light blue crystal horn that gleamed softly like a living gem.
Ping!
[New Creature Detected]
[Name: Kirubbit]
[Type: Forest Beast]
[Level: 2]
[Temperament: Curious (Non-aggressive)]
[Ability: Aether Sense]
[Status: Friendly]
"A forest creature? And it's... friendly?"
The creature approached Rinoa with careful but curious movements. Its golden eyes gazed with innocence, not fear or suspicion. There was something in its movement that showed it didn't feel threatened by Rinoa's presence.
Sniff... sniff...
It sniffed the air around Rinoa, its head tilted cutely with an adorable expression.
"Hello, little creature," Rinoa greeted softly while slowly extending her hand. Her heart fluttered this was her first contact with a native creature of this world.
Sniff... sniff...
The Kirubbit sniffed her hand briefly with its small wet nose, then with adorable trust jumped directly into her lap.
Thud.
The warmth of the small body and soft purring that emerged made her feel not alone in this strange world. In this new body that still confused and made her uncomfortable, the presence of this innocent creature provided unexpected comfort.
Purr... purr...
"Do you want to come with me?" Rinoa asked while stroking its soft fur a movement that in this body felt more natural and gentle. The texture was soft like living silk.
Chirp!
The Kirubbit made a small purring sound that sounded like enthusiastic agreement, then jumped onto her shoulder and sat comfortably, its crystal horn glowing softly. Its light weight felt comfortable on these smaller shoulders.
Warm...
Rinoa smiled her first genuine smile since awakening in this world. There was something about this small creature that calmed her heart, diverting attention from the confusion about her body changes.
"Alright, then we're together, okay."
Chirp! Chirp!
She stood with better feelings and looked toward the sun that was already quite high. In the distance, through gaps in the trees, she could see thin wisps of smoke that might indicate settlements. A safer place than this forest, and maybe where she could begin to understand this new world and the new body that still felt foreign.
"Civilization... I hope they're friendlier than those hunters earlier."
Before stepping forward, she looked toward the sky and whispered to the gently blowing wind.
"Yuki..." her voice trembled with emotion, the feminine tone she was slowly beginning to accept. "I can't change what has happened. I can't return to see you happy. But I promise..." her determination hardened, "in this life in this body, whatever happens I will try to protect the people I care about. I will live more meaningfully."
Whoosh...
The wind blew stronger as if responding to her promise, making the thin dress flutter and reminding her again of the new reality she had to face.
With the Kirubbit on her shoulder making satisfied sounds, and new determination burning in her heart though still accompanied by confusion about the fundamental gender change Rinoa began to step toward the horizon.
Step... step... step...
Each step was an adjustment, a learning curve for a body that moved and responded in different ways. Leaving the Grassland the place of her second birth and entering a new chapter of her life in the world of Aetherion.
Chirp... chirp...
Birds sang in the trees above, as if welcoming her new journey.
Whoosh...
The evening wind blew gently, as if blessing the first step of the long journey awaiting her a journey not only to understand the new world, but also to adapt to a completely different identity and body.
"This is it... my second chance in life." In a foreign body, but with the same determination to become better.