When I realized that the rude goddess, who never even gave me her name, had simply disappeared, along with that boring and mediocre eternal sea of white, I then perceived that I was finding myself in the middle of what could easily be some generic forest from anywhere on Earth.
But unlike what I was expecting, this transition was anything but peaceful. While I could stay firmly calm for some instant after the reincarnation, or maybe the transmigration, I began not much time after this feeling my entire body trying to crumble in the instant that my new lungs began burning with a pain unlike anything I had ever experienced.
It was as if my entire body was trying to destroy itself, my skin tingled as if millions of ants were crawling inside me, and every one of my muscles began throbbing harder than my heart.
To make everything worse, my entire nervous system was overstimulated. All the pains I was having were magnified several times over, and simply listening to the natural sounds of the forest was enough to give me the most severe headache I could remember having.
This was not something fleeting. It was as if my whole body was trying to get used to the very act of being among multiple other vectors, something that this body had never experienced before.
It is not so different from being a newborn. I cannot remember being less than a day old, but all babies scream and cry for some reason
The difference is that, unlike literally every other person, I had no one to help me at this critical moment. I was lying in the middle of what could be a dangerous forest, and as I had feared from the beginning, I was completely naked.
My mind instinctively refused to open my eyes, and after realizing there was nothing I could do, not even anything to lessen the pain, I simply gave up. I lay there on the forest floor, on common moist soil no different from anywhere else, just waiting for this hell to end.
And as I had predicted, it eventually did. After a few hours, my body went through a continuous real-time adaptation to this environment, slowly decreasing the pain. After that, I was finally able to begin recovering my composure.
Now that the sounds and the light were not trying to explode my brain, I could even open my eyes for a brief moment, which allowed me to get a better view of where I was, and just as I had requested earlier, at least in the immediate area, I could not detect any real threat.
Well, if there had truly been one, I probably would have already been killed hours ago, which at least would have spared me from enduring all that suffering.
Anyway, now that I can think properly again, I realize that the stupid goddess left out basically all the truly important matters about this new life.
It was not as if she had really tried anything to help me before, just like she said, she had found me in the void. But now that I have some time to consider this whole situation, there seem to be some real problems that I'll need to face if she doesn't show me some consideration. Like, will I even be able to speak with the natives? How did I not think about this at the time?
Or even this, as I am realizing now. I am in the middle of nowhere, completely naked, without any documents that could prove my identity.
I do not know how this world handles its affairs, but depending on how low the ethics of this society are, someone could just show up and claim to be my owner. And then what could I do? Absolutely nothing, since I have no power right now.
But all of these things are really my own fault. I couldn't think about them when I was busy staring at that beautiful face.
I might be the first reincarnated person to get killed because of puberty. Truly amazing. Something worth telling everyone if I end up dying.
Alright, apparently, the pain has almost completely faded, and my muscles are finally responding to my commands. Perfect. Maybe now I can stand up.
Luckily, I spawned, so to speak, at the entrance of what looks like a cavern, and with the help of its walls, I managed, with some effort, to stand myself after three or four minutes of trying.
Clearly, I am still unable to walk. Maybe I will need to develop the body's muscle memory first.
But I do not have much time. I seriously need to find some food and a shelter to survive the night, which is dangerously close, judging by the color of the sky.
But then, as I finally begin to look at my body, a strange feeling creeps in.
hold on, am I not much shorter than before? Like, I definitely never stayed so close to the ground, and..I definitely did not have this strange protruding belly.
And I was not this pale.
Wait, this is a world with a system, right? Then maybe I can invoke some kind of Interface to see and read about my own status
but then, just before trying to find a way to make this interface appear, I look to my feet and perceive something,
These are claws on my feet?
Okay… "Attributes?" No, that is not it. Maybe… "Class?"
I need to try again.
"Interface?"
What the hell, which is the word?
"Status?"
Then, instantly after saying the most probable word, which makes me feel a bit dumb for not trying this at the first moment, a Blue screen, a literal blue screen extremely similar to the GUI of a game in the RPG maker, simply appeared in front of my eyes
And after reading everything, a clear shock with a pinch of despair could be perceived on my face
Name: Bran Godwin
Title: The Dark Lord
Race: White Goblin[Lower]
Skills:
Language of the Bird[S]
Lead Belly[N/A]
Dark Vision[N/A]
WHAT THE FUCK? Calm down. There must be a logical explanation for this, right? This is probably some kind of joke… right?
I suddenly began to hyperventilate, thinking about the repercussions.
Okay, then I'm not human, but a Lower White Goblin? That puts me at the very bottom of the fantasy food chain in every story I've ever read.
I looked more carefully at my body, slowly realizing that it was clearly a bit different from a human one, but not much, leaving that in some area of the uncanny valley. The status screen didn't show physical or mental attributes, but it was clear that this body was extremely light. not more than thirty kilograms.
How am I supposed to survive like this? In a fantasy world? Where even the weakest creature I might encounter could kill the average human adult easily? Probably, I'm in a worse situation than if I had reincarnated as a slime
Wait… in many stories, slimes are actually extremely dangerous foes, capable of eroding the flesh in an instant, and in some stories, they can only be defeated by the use of fire or fire magic.
The only physical reaction I could have to this was to plaster a satirical smile on my face and just laugh freely and loudly, completely ignoring the probable threats around me.
I'm so doomed.
Looking at my hands, I couldn't help but think that the claws on both my hands and feet were nothing more than a cruel joke. They were completely useless, serving only to make this stupid body look even more barbaric and non-human.
I didn't even want to imagine how ugly my face must be. I already had enough stress dealing with all this, and since I was apparently the most cursed person alive, I had plenty of other things to worry about. No point in obsessing over just one.
because instead of becoming a hero, which might have at least redeemed my disgraceful status as a goblin and given me a place in human society as a protector, I now realized even that was impossible.
Because, obviously, I'm a Dark Lord.
What does that even mean? Who really knows
Isn't there already a Demon Lord? Are they supposed to be different? Wasn't one Demon Lord enough for this world?
So I wasn't sent here to save the world, but to destroy it?
Where is the punchline in all of this? Okay, I need to take it easy. Nothing is so bad that it can't get worse, and if I just keep complaining about everything, I will probably end up being eaten by a wolf or something even worse.
I forced myself to relax, which was not an easy task. It required me to remain with my eyes closed for a few minutes, purely trying to focus on my breath. That's something I always try to do when I'm feeling a little stressed. which is a technique that I learned to control my anger
I'm not a hero, but I'm not just an ordinary goblin either. I'm something else, well, technically I'm a human, yes, at least intellectually or spiritually maybe.
Thinking optimistically, I don't know how this world works, but given the word "Lower" next to my race's name, it seems reasonable to assume that maybe I can evolve.
I still don't know. Maybe even then, I'll remain condemned to being a goblin forever. But at least that gives me some twisted form of hope, and I'll cling to it completely since there's nothing else I can do.
And strangely, there are no levels on this status screen. Maybe the Dark Lord title works differently from the Hero class? I don't know. I don't really believe that stupid goddess lied to me for no reason.
Maybe, in the end, she was just so incompetent that she made me a Dark Lord instead of a Hero. But then, how could a goddess create something that at its core goes against her own followers and the world that all of them are trying to protect? That doesn't make sense.