[Hello Ivy Cross, Congratulations on getting your first bond!]
A holographic screen appeared in front of me.
Suddenly, I was no longer in the room with the beastmen and women, but alone and surrounded by darkness. Weightless, I was floating in the unknown.
The void was not empty for a long time. A small, round furry ball popped out of the thin air. It bounced around in excitement.
"What the hell? Why are all these crazy things happening to me?" My voice echoed in the never-ending void. The ball of fur widened its eyes, a little shocked.
"First, I was about to get eaten by a Hyena. Then I was about to be eaten by a Lion, which turned out to be a weird one that could turn into a human. They now want to toss me back into the jungle, and now I am talking to a ball of fur!"
I let out a deep huff, admitting defeat to whatever scenario I was in. I was too exhausted to muster even a hint of fear or anger.
"What are you then?"
[Ok! Ok, Ivy Cross... Umm... Is it ok if I call you Ivy?] The ball looked at me with its large, glistening eyes.
Without waiting for my response, it started to ramble again.
[I will just call you Ivy!] It shook its body up and down as if nodding. [I am your System! Anyway, Ivy... in precisely 13:24, you died. Your cause of death was Pulmonary embolism. You died working, saving people's lives. This is why we have decided to give you a second chance. Yaaayy! Yippieee!]
It started to jump around again in celebration, hopping in circles.
Flabbergasted, I watched the furball celebrate my death. As it kept up its playfulness, it seemed like there was no end to it.
A burst of anger replaced my confusion at this moment. I lunged towards it, grabbed the furball, and squeezed it tight.
"Alright, listen here, I am not dead, I am alive. You see this hand gripping onto you, only living beings can do this!" I screamed at it. A tinge of fear and anxiety mixed could be heard.
Its eyes started to swirl, its body struggled in my fist, trying to get loose.
[Bad Ivy! Stop hurting me!] The furball squeaked, unable to release itself from my grip. [Listen, Ivy, you may be alive now in this world. But back on earth, where humans exist, you are now dead. Your physical model is the only one that can ever exist in this world. Duplications are not possible!]
A screen popped up with the images of my death and funeral. It looked so empty. Being estranged from my family, I wasn't shocked to see that they never attended it. Still, I felt a tinge of pain in my heart.
These are useless feelings. Stop thinking about it, Ivy!
"I don't care, send me back!"
[I am sorry that it is not possible. In the world where your eath exists, your physical body has already been disintegrated! But do not fear! You have been given a new life and with an excellent opportunity!]
It kept on struggling in my hand, grunting through its speech, so I eventually let it go.
[You have been given the task to help the beasts in their world. A mass illness has been going around this universe, where all the females of the tribes have been mysteriously dying. With unknown diseases popping up, it's been challenging with no one with experience to cure.]
For a second, it frowned.
[But you, Ivy, the excellent doctor, will save them! Wow! Isn't that amazing?!]
It quickly regained its cheery nature.
"Huh?" I could not believe what the ball of fur just said.
[Yes, your job is to save this world from extinction in any way possible! The more you help, the stronger you can get!]
"Extinction?" I repeat the word. My mind was already racing, trying to wrap my head around the fact that I was never going to be able to return to the human world. Now provided with this new information, I was not able to compute, "So you mean to tell me my reward for saving lives till death. Working my ass off to be a doctor all those years, barely having enough to even feed myself through medical school, is this? My life has been stolen away from me and then dropped into a world where I was about to be killed the second I opened my eyes. Now I have to save these people?"
The furball nodded excitedly, not understanding the fact that I was angry.
Anger boiled inside me. There was a silent and furious scream inside my chest. I wanted to burst out loud. But then the silhouette of the furball fuzzed up, and my vision started to twist.
"Wh- What is going on now?"
[Oh, it seems like you are waking up! Don't worry, I have left some instructions in a format you will recognise! Remember to save them!]
---
A jolt of pain ran through my body, a heavy, suffocating feeling on top of me as I woke up. I open my eyes and wince, trying to push this heavy load off me.
Rubbing my eyes, I looked down to identify the source of my discomfort. I held my breath. A fully grown Lion was lying on me partially, sleeping in silence. Its paws stretched out inches away from my face. In terror, I let out a piercing scream.
The Lion, shocked by the scream, lunged violently. The beast morphed back instantly into Thalen. He quickly scanned the room around me before dropping his guard, realising nothing was wrong.
"Why are you screaming?" He yawned, rubbing his eyes, "You scared me. I was sleeping."
"Oh god, I really was hoping this was all just an elaborate, lucid dream or something." I dug down hard on my lower lip, unwilling to accept the reality. The bite broke the skin, but I was too distracted to recognise the metallic taste of blood.
Thalen, still leaning part of his body on me, tilted his head to the side, confused. Picking up the faint copper scent, his eyes fixed on the trail of red on my lips.
A predatory grin stretched along his face.
He leaned in before I could react. Before I could flich away his rough, warm tounge licked the blood of my lip. Pulling back, he left a trail of heat, his eyes locking onto me, challenging me.
Feeling my face flush, I touch my lips where his tongue had touched. I look at him and try to process what he has just done. I swallowed hard and tasted the metallic blood, realising the motive for the lick.
"You crazy perverted bastard!" A wide swoop as I smacked his cheek, "Are you crazy?"
I grab my hair and let out a choked cry.
I hoped this was all a dream. Beasts that morph into humaoids...
"If I were you, I would not attack the person who saved you." Thalen sat up, rubbing his cheek, with not a single sense of regret for his actions.
"What? From the Hyena?" I sniffle, wiping my tears with my tattered sleeves. "Aren't you guys trying to send me back there anyway?"
"Well, that's why you should be grateful. I claimed you as my mate. That means you are under my protection. You won't be kicked out. You are now mine." The possessive grin sent shivers down my spine, not of the fear of death but of the unknown.
"I-I am sorry, but a mate?" I shook my head furiously. "I am no one's mate. You don't choose that for me. Still, that only comes after dating and marriage anyway!" Backing away, I denied his claim over me.
"You can say whatever you want, but the mark I placed on your body says something else." Thalen's hand cupped the back of my neck. His thumb pressed down, stroking the same spot. He handed me a mirror from his pouch, "Familiarise yourself with it well. I sacrificed a lot to choose you as my female. We are bound forever. I will come back for you later."
Thalen flicked his long hair back. Without another word, he strode out of the room.
Barely waiting for the door to close, I angle the mirror towards my neck. Precisely at the spot he had kept touching to see a tattoo-like mark had been imprinted onto my skin.
What the hell? I scrubbed it with my hands to see if it was removable. Is this a tattoo?
Just then, the same holographic message from the darkness appeared before me. A message bar and a UI similar to those found in games.
[Congratulations! You have made your first bond, thus being accepted into this world. Your Medic System is now active!]
I blinked hard multiple times and rubbed them.
"What the hell is going on now?" I mumble to myself, reaching out to touch this panel in front of me. A slight resistance was felt, but it was like dipping your hand into water.
[I am your Medic System. Your current Level is 1! Please work hard to help this world from extinction!]
-----
Level: 1 Bond: 1
Lives saved: 0
Lives created: 0
Skills Quests(!)
Inventory Shop
----
[To open and close, please say: System]
I stared at the new panel, baffled.
Is this what that infuriating furball meant? Something to help me in a way I recognise? It's like a game panel. Does that thing really think my life is a game?
Anger boiled inside me seeing this. Ripped out of my life and thrown into this reality with strangers. I felt like I was going to puke. I wrapped my hand around my mouth, fighting a gag. Frantically, I looked around the room and spotted a window. Disregarding my pain, I opened it and then vomited violently into the shrubs.
After the violent retching stopped, I took several deep, shaky breaths, wiping my mouth. I slid down and leaned against the cold, hard wall.
Turning my head, I caught a reflection of myself in the mirror next to me. Dishevelled, my surgical clothes were covered in blood and torn apart. My hair was still tightly balled up. I could not help but let out a dry laugh.
"I guess all that time training to tie my hair securely for surgery went well. Even after being chased by animals, it's still nice and tight."
I tugged at the elastic and let my hair fall, feeling a gripping sensation fade as I did. Then I proceeded to remove my lead apron, which was still fastened tightly, although it was half torn. I could finally feel better.
"I really am stuck in this world now, huh?" I muttered, staring at the system panel. I was shocked by how quickly I had adapted, then remembered this was not the first time.
The event that estranged me from my family was too sudden, unbelievable, and impossible to change. I laugh to myself and decide to start familiarising myself.
My fingers flick through the options. The inventory was empty, and so were the skills. The shop was inaccessible, but the quest button had an exclamation mark on it, as if to indicate that it had something for me. Curious, I click on it.
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Quest: Create a bond with a beastman.
Status: Complete
Reward: Starter Box
Claim
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