A universe in boundless space, ever-expanding, ever-growing.
Home to countless galaxies, home to countless worlds, where countless humans and human-like beings live.
Earth was just another one of the hundreds of worlds out there in the universe.
But we are not here to talk about Earth.
We are here to talk about Ethan.
A young man with brown hair and green eyes, with above-average looks.
A teenager lying in the middle of a forest, dressed in a black and white robe.
It was unknown how he ended up here or why he was unconscious.
After a few minutes, the teen began to regain consciousness.
He sat up, rubbing his forehead as though suffering from a bad headache.
"I wonder which world I've been sent to this time?" the teen muttered as he looked around.
It seemed he had woken up in the middle of some forest, covered in greenery and trees.
Ethan closed his eyes and tried to sense something.
He sighed when he realized he couldn't feel what he was searching for.
"I see… my cultivation in magic has been reset, and I can't sense mana anymore. Did I lose my attunement to mana during the transfer as well?"
He then checked himself, running his hands over his skin, touching his face, feeling his features, trying to understand who he was this time.
"It seems once again I've been reborn as a teenager…" he muttered in a low tone, sighing.
"This is the 106th time already. I wonder how many more times it will continue like this."
As you might have anticipated, Ethan was transmigrated from Earth.
But Earth was no longer of concern to him.
To him, Earth was already ancient history.
He had once lived on Earth many hundreds of years ago, before he was unfortunate enough to get cancer and die in his late twenties at the age of 28.
For many, that would have been the end.
But not for Ethan.
After he died, he awoke in a completely different world that looked exactly like Earth, but as though it were hundreds of years into the future. Technology and medicine there were far more advanced.
He wasn't reborn or reincarnated.
It was as if his entire body and soul had been transferred to this new Earth-like world.
His illness, the cancer, was gone, and he found himself a teenager again.
But this futuristic version of Earth wasn't called Earth.
It was known as Morris.
Ethan did his research and discovered the truth: Morris wasn't Earth's future.
It was a whole different world, one with the same specifications as Earth, even with a similar history.
Lucky for Ethan, he had been given a second chance.
With the cancer gone and his youth restored, he could live his life anew.
Or so he thought.
On Morris, he lived for years until he died again at the age of 42, this time poisoned by a girl he had trusted as a friend.
Yet miraculously, Ethan once again found himself transported to another world.
This time, it was a historical version of Earth, but with a twist.
This world had supernatural beings: vampires, werewolves, witches, and more.
And, just as before, his body and soul simply appeared in this world.
Except now, he was no longer human.
He had become a werewolf, a Beta werewolf.
It was confusing.
Ethan didn't know why he didn't just stay dead like everyone else.
At times, he wondered if this happened to everyone who died, or if it was something unique to him.
Then again, maybe he was just too self-centered to think otherwise.
Either way, after Earth, after Morris, and now this third life, he was both concerned and grateful.
Concerned because he didn't know why it was happening, but happy because it gave him another chance.
A third chance to live differently and avoid the mistakes of his past lives.
Not to mention, this third world had supernatural forces, and he himself was one of them.
A werewolf living among humans.
It was thrilling.
And after dying twice already, he no longer feared death.
Instead, he embraced the excitement.
So he decided to live a fulfilling life.
As the old saying goes: third time's the charm.
But Ethan was wrong.
He lived as a werewolf until the age of 175, before dying once again.
And even that wasn't the end.
He found himself transported yet again.
To another world.
And then another.
And another.
Thus began his endless cycle: living, dying, being transported, and living again.
Until now, he had lived 105 lives in 105 different worlds.
Earth was the first, and a world of magic known as [Arcane] was the 105th.
And once again, after dying, he had been transported, this time into a lush green forest.
Once again, a teenager.
Once again, in new clothes he hadn't been wearing when he died.
Once again, with a new body: new hair, new eyes, new blood, new everything.
And so, the 106th life of Ethan began.
Ethan closed his eyes again and tried to feel and sense something else for a few seconds before opening them.
"It seems I'm not a werewolf, vampire, or any other supernatural race that I've had past experiences with. Looks like once again I'm starting as a human… should be fun."
"First, I have to figure out what type of world this is before I plan my next step. And before that, I need to figure out where I am and if there's any place nearby where I can get food or something." Ethan looked around, observing the place.
The chirping of birds rang from everywhere.
A little farther away, he could see mist and fog weaving through the forest.
Small water droplets clung to the leaves around him, formed by the morning chill.
"It's morning…" he muttered.
He walked in the direction where the mist seemed denser.
Along the way, he noticed more insects buzzing around, and the air felt slightly colder compared to where he had woken up.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, he came across a huge pond of clear water.
Ethan knelt down by the pond and dipped his hand into the cool, clear surface.
"Such clear water in a naturally formed pond must mean the presence of [mana] in it…" Ethan murmured as he tried to absorb the [mana].
But after minutes of effort, he pulled his hand out in disappointment.
Not only was he unable to absorb any mana, but he couldn't sense any at all.
"Hmm. Either this pond doesn't have mana, or my body has completely lost its attunement to it… which means I can no longer cast magic." Ethan clicked his tongue in mild frustration.
"It would have been better if I hadn't lost it. Magic made life easier."
"Oh well… maybe I'll find something else to make up for my lack of magic." Ethan rubbed his temples, then leaned closer to the pond, looking at his reflection in the water and observing his features.
"Hmm, not great-looking, but decent enough, huh?" he muttered. "As long as I'm not ugly, it's alright, I guess… but then again, I don't know the standards of this world."
A strange expression crossed his face. "I don't know why… but I have a feeling this time will be different."
Suddenly, his eyelids flew open and his pupils widened in surprise, though the rest of his body didn't react.
A deep voice rang out not far behind him.
"It should be here somewhere…"