Complete darkness. I've been trapped in complete darkness for who knows how long now. There isn't even a single ray of light in this place.
There's also this soft wall around me. I've tried pushing against its thin barrier, but my strength was not enough to break it.
I don't really remember anything about myself from before I got here. I could tell you everything about the human race, but I don't even remember my name.
'Maybe I was a human before? It's possible... I think? Maybe I died and got reincarnated? That would be really cool if it's true! Maybe I'll get cool anime protagonist powers and a super OP system to boot.'
'Or... maybe I was just kidnapped and put in some strange place...'
'Although realistically, what would they gain from that... unless I was rich or something... which I doubt is the case.'
I'd also been in here for what seemed like months, and you'd think they would have at least given me water or something to eat. The human body can survive a week without food before starving to death and only like a day or something with water before getting dehydrated.
'That means there is only one answer to this question. Drumroll, please! It means... I'm definitely not human, at least not anymore.'
'If I know anime, which I do, then I've reincarnated as some sort of monster. Maybe I'm a slime or a spider! The possibilities are endless!'
'But I won't know what I am if I'm trapped in this thing for all eternity! Someone get me out of here, please! I'm praying to whoever is willing to listen! Get me out, I'm dying of boredom!'
I moved my body haphazardly in every direction, a routine I'd grown very used to over the past few months. I expected it to have no results as usual; however, this time I felt the soft wall give way to the pressure I applied.
'Thank... whoever! I'm finally free from this dump. Now starts my brand new life!'
I pushed past the wall, finally freeing myself, and instantly felt a cold breeze assault my body.
'Freedom— who turned off the heat!'
I looked around to see nothing but green. Trees as far as the eye could see!
'Why is it so cold! Maybe it's because I was just born.' I tried to wrap my arms around myself, only for my hands to not reach each other. 'What the!?'
I finally took a look at my body. I was completely white with multiple reflective black spots covering me. I had multiple sections, each with their own appendages. I looked into one of my spots to see my reflection. My head looked totally different from my body, being completely black.
I realised everything from the way I looked. 'I'm a caterpillar! I look at my new acquired mandibles and multiple legs.'
'Oh, come on! A freaking caterpillar! This is highway robbery! It's not even one of the cooler insects! It's basically a glorified worm! What a rip-off!'
I let out a sigh. 'Worst reincarnation choice ever. Can I get a refund, please?'
'...Is that a no?'
'Whatever, then! See if I care!'
While I was rightfully displaying my anger towards the gods that trapped me in this form, I felt a knot well up in my stomach. 'Damnit!'
'I just hatched, so it makes sense that I'm starving right now.' I looked around and saw that I was on a tree branch.
'There's a bunch of leaves over there. I guess I should eat to avoid starving to death.' I walked— or was it crawled?— towards the end of the branch at a snail's pace. 'Damn, I'm so slow.' At first, I struggled to properly move my body, but after a minute, I got the hang of controlling multiple limbs.
Inch by inch, I crawled towards the leaves. Considering how big those leaves looked, I could only guess that I was about the size of an actual caterpillar. I finally reached the leaves after a few minutes of crawling.
'Finally! It only took me about a few years to get here!'
I got close to one of the smaller branches. The leaves all looked fresh, but I'd never tasted leaves before, for obvious reasons.
I climbed up one of the leaves. I felt the coolness through my feet and gave it a quick sniff. Not much of a scent, but honestly, what did I expect from a leaf?
'I guess it's safe to eat?' Without thinking, I instinctively used my mandibles to cut pieces off and shoved them into my mouth. Not really any notable taste to it, kinda bland, really.
I continued to eat until the whole leaf was gone.
'I'm still hungry, though!'
'Is it normal to be this hungry? I don't know, I just want more food.'
I started eating the next leaf, munching greedily to fill the void that was my stomach. Next thing I knew, one leaf turned into two, two turned into three, and three turned into the whole branch.
As I finished the final leaf, I looked around at the now leafless branch. 'Did I really eat all that? And I'm still hungry!'
'I guess it's off to the next branch for me.' Before I could do that, I heard a sound.
It was the sound of something cutting through the air. A shadow passed by from above, and I saw a bird flying overhead. Its red feathers shimmered in the sunlight; it left a trail of little specks as it flew by.
'Oh, look, a bird.'
'Oh no, a bird! Birds eat caterpillars! I gotta get out of here!'
I started my long crawl to get out of the bird's line of sight. But I was too late; it spotted me.
It started to dive down in my direction at top speed. I panicked, trying to crawl away as fast as I could, which, by the way, was not that fast.
The bird got closer and lower, and I saw all three and a half hours of my life flash before my very eyes.
Just as the bird was about to get me, something swooped down and caught it. A winged lizard with violet and gold scales had the now-dead bird in its clutches.
'I... Is that a... is that a dragon!?'
Judging by the size of the bird that was now in its claws, it wasn't that big. Maybe it was still young?
'But that was still a dragon! A real-life, good to honest, scaled, winged dragon!'
'I have so many questions, but no one to answer them! Wait! Come back, Mr. Dragon sir! I have so much to ask you! At least let me say thanks for the save.'
'No? Fair enough, I guess. No dragon would be caught conversing with such a pitiful creature like me.'
'Anyway, I should probably get out of here. Living in the open is definitely not a good idea for my fragile self. I gotta find a space that's hidden and has enough food to last me years.'
I looked around. All I saw was green, green, open fields, and more green. Not really a safe place for a defenceless creature like me.
'Wait a minute! I'm in a magical world... as far as I can tell. If there are dragons and shiny red birds, then there must be magic.'
'And in every magical world, there's an overpowered, reincarnated protagonist with an equally overpowered system. I'm in a magical world and I'm reincarnated!'
'Now all I need is an OP magic system to activate, and I'll be on my way to absolute world domination! Hahahaha!'
'Relax, I won't use it for evil... probably... maybe.'
'What I'll use it for is not important right now. What I need is to activate my system.'
'...Sooooo~ any ideas?'
'Nothing? Yeah, me too. Who knows, if I scream random words, something will happen. It's better than doing nothing.'
'Well, here goes nothing.'
"Magic System Activate!"
'...'
"Then how about this! Activate User System Protection Protocol!"
'...'
"Infinite Evolution Magic System!"
'...'
"Insect God Creator Program!"
'...'
"Random Nonsense, Go!"
'...'
'Yeah... you know what? I think I'll just give up on that plan before I die of self-inflicted second-hand embarrassment.'
'I guess I'll go with my first idea of a safe home. I better get on that before it goes dark.'
'Well, off I go! Hello, new world!'