Consciousness crept back into Alex like a reluctant tide. Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing a world blurred and shapeless. She lay on her back, staring up at sunlight filtering through a canopy of leaves—green, gentle, and almost painfully bright after the void she had come from.
Warm wind brushed against her skin. Birds chirped distantly. A river whispered nearby, its sound calm and steady. None of it made sense.
Alex pushed herself up with a groan, blinking until the world sharpened. A forest. A real forest. Sunlight, trees, grass… life. She looked down—and froze.
Her clothes were soaked in blood.
"What the hell…?" She touched the stains. They weren't her wounds—none of the blood seemed to be hers. But what caught her attention even more was the clothing itself. A loose white tunic, wide dark trousers, thick boots, gloves, and a sword strapped to her waist. She frowned.*
"This looks like… something out of a hunting manga I used to read…"
She stopped. Her voice—deep. Rough. Not hers.
Her breath hitched. She touched her throat, then her chest—flat. No breasts. Nothing.
She stumbled backward in shock, tripping over a root and hitting the ground hard. Panic rising, she scrambled toward the river and leaned over the water.
The reflection staring back at her was a stranger's face.
A young man with short blond hair, sharp blue eyes, and a scar running down the left side of his lip.
"No… no, no—"
She splashed the water, as if the image would disappear. But when she touched her face, her fingers met the same sharp jawline, the same scar.
She had become a man.
Her hands shook as she searched her pockets. Anything. A clue. A reason. Finally, she found a single card:
Name: Zeke
Class: Hunter
Rank: D
Alex laughed bitterly.
"So the goddess was serious."
Her voice cracked with hatred. "I don't care. I won't change. They can't change me. Gods… I hate them. When you need them, they're never there. And then they judge you after it's too late."
Her thoughts spiraled until—
Rustling. Behind her.
Every instinct sharpened. She gripped the sword in both hands, lifting it defensively. Her heart hammered as seconds dragged by like hours.
Then something stepped out from between the trees.
A creature—tall, monstrous. A wolf, but standing on two legs, its black fur bristling, its shoulders broad, its yellow eyes locked onto hers. Its snout curled in an expression she couldn't name—anger? Confusion? Recognition? It was definitely shock, the wolf was shocked??
It raised its clawed hand .he slowly advanced towards Alex and let out a roar so powerful it shook the leaves.
Alex stepped back, breath sharp—but her new body moved before she could think. Her muscles reacted with instinct she didn't possess. She swung.
Steel sliced cleanly through fur and bone.
The creature's head rolled across the forest floor. Its body collapsed with a heavy thud.
*Alex stared at the corpse, chest rising and falling.
"This body… it's strong."
But the moment of awe ended abruptly.
More roars. Many. Close.
She turned. Shadows raced between the trees—dozens of them. Wolves. Bigger. Faster. Angrier.
They charged.
Alex raised her sword and fought. She cut one down, then another, but they were too many. Claws raked her back, tearing deep. Pain exploded through her spine. She collapsed to one knee.
"Not again—"
The pack descended.
Teeth sank into her arm. Claws tore through flesh. Her body was ripped apart piece by piece as the monsters feasted. She screamed, blood filling her mouth, vision fading.
The world dimmed.
Darkness bled in from all sides.
Alex died.
Again.
And everything turned black once more.
.........
There was no darkness this time.
No quiet void.
No drifting.
No moment to breathe.
Alex opened her eyes into chaos.
Screams.
Fire.
Buildings collapsing into clouds of dust.
Shadows of massive creatures leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
The air burned with smoke and the metallic scent of blood.
She stumbled forward, disoriented, coughing.
Heat licked her skin from every direction.
She wasn't in a forest.
She wasn't alone.
She was in the middle of a city under attack.
People ran past her—hunters, civilians, children—fleeing from monstrous figures tearing through the streets. The sky was choked with black smoke, ash drifting like dying snow.
Alex looked down at herself.
A young male body again—different from Zeke's. Leaner. Smaller. Dressed in simple hunter gear stained with soot. A short sword hung at her side. Her hands trembled—not from fear, but from exertion. The body was already exhausted, already in pain.
"Great," she muttered bitterly.
"Dropped into hell without even a warning."
A thunderous roar shook the street.
Alex turned—too late.
A massive creature burst through the stone wall of a shop, sending shards flying like knives. Its form was twisted, almost human, but stretched and corrupted: long arms tipped with claws, skin blackened and cracked like burned earth, glowing veins pulsing red beneath.
It locked eyes with her.
And charged.
Alex reacted instantly, muscle memory overriding confusion. She grabbed her sword, steadied her stance—
And then she heard it.
A small, desperate cry.
"Help…! Someone please… help!"
Alex froze.
There—behind her, pressed against the remains of a doorway—
a little girl.
Maybe seven.
Brown hair.
Big eyes brimming with terror.
For a second, the world went quiet.
Liz.
No—she knew it wasn't her.
But the eyes… the fear… the way her hands shook…
It was the same.
Something inside Alex cracked.
"Run!" Alex shouted at her.
But the girl's legs wouldn't move.
The monster lunged.
Alex stepped in front of the child, raising her blade—
And the curse awoke.
Bloodburn.
Pain exploded inside her like molten metal flooding her veins.
Her chest tightened—crushed—
Her breath vanished.
Her vision warped into a shaking blur.
"No—" she rasped, trying to force her body to move.
Nothing responded.
Her knees buckled.
Her fingers went numb.
The sword fell from her hand and clattered against the stone.
Move. Move!
Her mind screamed, but her body betrayed her, drowning in the curse's fire. Her muscles refused to obey, spasming violently. Her heart felt like it was tearing itself apart.
The monster's claw slashed across her back, spinning her onto the ground.
Warm blood splattered the stone.
The child screamed.
Alex crawled—dragging herself with trembling arms—trying to reach the sword, reach the girl, reach anything—
But the curse burned harder, forcing her body flat against the earth. Tears of rage stung her eyes—not from fear, but from helplessness.
The same helplessness as that night.
The same helplessness holding Liz's dying body.
The same failure.
The monster stepped over her, ignoring Alex completely.
Its shadow fell over the small girl.
"No…" Alex whispered, voice cracking.
"Not again. Please— not again…"
But the curse flared, crushing her into the ground.
The creature reached the child.
And the scream that followed was cut short—
too fast.
too final.
Alex's vision blurred with pain and horror as blood pooled across the broken stones, creeping toward her fingers.
She couldn't save her.
She couldn't even move.
The monster turned back toward Alex, claws dripping red.
She didn't resist.
She didn't have the strength.
As the beast descended, tearing through this fragile new body, her last breath came as a whisper—weak, broken, and full of hatred.
"…I won't forgive you for this." Seraphielle
Blackness swallowed her.