Once I realized the rude goddess, who hadn't even bothered to give me her name, had vanished along with that bland, eternal sea of white, I found myself in the middle of what looked like a generic forest, the kind you could find anywhere on Earth.
However, contrary to any expectations I might have had, the transition was far from peaceful. Although I managed a brief moment of calm after the reincarnation, or perhaps transmigration, it wasn't long before my entire body felt as if it were about to crumble. A searing pain, unlike anything I had ever experienced, ignited in my new lungs.
It felt as though my body was attempting to tear itself apart from the inside. My skin prickled as if millions of ants were crawling just beneath the surface, and every muscle began to throb with a fierce intensity that overshadowed the beat of my own heart.
To make matters worse, my entire nervous system felt overloaded. Every sensation of pain was magnified several times over, and the simple, natural sounds of the forest were enough to trigger the most severe headache of my life.
This agony was not fleeting. It was as if my entire being was struggling to acclimate to the sheer volume of sensory information in this new environment, a barrage of stimuli this body had clearly never experienced before.
I suppose it's not so different from the experience of a newborn. While I have no memory of my own infancy, I understand that all babies scream and cry, overwhelmed by their new reality.
The key difference, however, was that unlike almost every other newborn, I had no one to help me through this critical moment. I was lying in the middle of a potentially dangerous forest, and just as I had feared from the start, I was completely naked.
My mind instinctively kept my eyes shut. Realizing there was nothing I could do to lessen the pain, I simply surrendered to it. I lay there on the forest floor, on damp soil that could have been from anywhere, just waiting for the hellish experience to finally end.
And, as I had hoped, it eventually did end. Over the course of what felt like a few hours, my body underwent a gradual adaptation to the new environment, and the pain slowly subsided. Only then was I finally able to begin regaining my composure.
Now that the surrounding sounds and light no longer felt like they were trying to detonate my brain, I could risk opening my eyes for a moment. This allowed me to get a better look at my surroundings, and thankfully, at least in the immediate vicinity, I couldn't detect any obvious threats.
Then again, if a real threat had been nearby, it probably would have killed me hours ago. At least that would have spared me from all this suffering.
Anyway, now that I could think clearly again, I realized that the incompetent goddess had neglected to mention practically every important detail about this new life.
It wasn't as if she had been helpful before; she did say she just found me in the void, after all. But now that I had a moment to consider the situation, some serious problems were becoming apparent. Would I even be able to communicate with the local inhabitants? How could I have overlooked something so fundamental at the time?
And another thing I was only just realizing: I was in the middle of nowhere, completely naked, and without any form of identification.
I had no idea how this world operated, but depending on the state of its societal ethics, someone could simply show up and claim me as their property. What could I do then? Absolutely nothing, not in my current powerless state.
But really, all of this was my own fault. I couldn't think of these critical questions while I was busy being mesmerized by her beautiful face.
I might just be the first reincarnated person to get killed by a pretty face. Truly a magnificent achievement. It's a story worth telling everyone, should I end up dying because of it.
Alright, the pain had almost completely faded, and my muscles were finally responding to my commands. Perfect. Perhaps now I could finally stand up.
Fortunately, I had spawned, so to speak, near the entrance of what looked like a cave. Using its walls for support, I managed, with considerable effort, to get to my feet after three or four minutes of struggling.
It was clear that I was still unable to walk. I would probably need to build up this body's muscle memory from scratch.
But I didn't have much time. I desperately needed to find food and shelter to survive the night, which, judging by the color of the sky, was rapidly approaching.
Then, as I finally took a moment to properly examine my new body, a strange feeling crept over me.
Hold on, wasn't I much shorter than before? My perspective was definitely much closer to the ground, and I certainly didn't used to have this strange, protruding belly.
And I had never been this pale, either.
Wait, this is a world with a 'system,' isn't it? If so, perhaps I could summon some kind of interface to view my own status.
But just as I was about to figure out how to make this interface appear, I glanced down at my feet and noticed something.
Are these… claws on my feet?
Okay… "Attributes?" No, that's not it. Maybe… "Class?"
I had to try again.
"Interface?"
What the hell is the right word?
"Status?"
The instant I said the most obvious word, making me feel a bit stupid for not trying it first, a blue screen materialized before my eyes. It was a literal blue screen, looking remarkably similar to the user interface of an RPG Maker game.
After I read its contents, an expression of pure shock, tinged with despair, must have been visible 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 has to be a logical explanation for this, right? This has to be some kind of joke... right?
I started to hyperventilate as I considered the repercussions.
Okay, so I wasn't human, but a 'Lower White Goblin'? In every fantasy story I had ever read, that put me at the absolute bottom of the food chain.
I examined my body more carefully, slowly realizing that while it wasn't drastically different from a human's, the small changes placed it squarely in the uncanny valley. The status screen didn't display physical or mental attributes, but it was obvious this body was extremely light, weighing no more than thirty kilograms.
How was I supposed to survive like this? In a fantasy world where even the weakest creature I might encounter could likely kill an average human adult with ease? I was probably in a worse situation than if I'd been reincarnated as a slime.
Then again, in many stories, slimes are actually extremely dangerous foes, capable of eroding flesh in an instant. In some tales, they can only be defeated with fire or fire magic.
The only physical reaction I could muster was to spread a bitter, satirical smile across my face and laugh. I laughed freely and loudly, completely ignoring any potential threats lurking nearby.
I am so doomed.
Looking down at my hands, I couldn't help but think that the claws on both them and my feet were nothing more than a cruel joke. They seemed completely useless, serving only to make this ridiculous body look even more barbaric and inhuman.
I didn't even want to imagine how ugly my face must be. I was already dealing with enough stress, and since I was apparently the most cursed person alive, I had plenty of other things to worry about. There was no point in obsessing over this one detail.
Any hope of becoming a hero, which might have at least redeemed my disgraceful status as a goblin and perhaps earned me a place in human society, was now impossible. I realized that with dawning horror.
Because, as was now painfully obvious, I was 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 was the punchline in all this? Okay, I needed to calm down. Nothing is so bad that it can't get worse, and if I just kept complaining, I would probably end up being eaten by a wolf or something even more unpleasant.
I forced myself to relax, which was no easy task. It required me to close my eyes for several minutes and focus solely on my breathing. It was a technique I had learned to control my anger and stress.
I wasn't a hero, but I wasn't just an ordinary goblin, either. I was something else entirely. Well, technically, I was still human, at least intellectually or perhaps spiritually.
Thinking optimistically, I didn't know how this world worked, but the word 'Lower' next to my race suggested it was reasonable to assume I could evolve.
I still didn't know for sure. Perhaps even then, I would remain a goblin forever. But it at least offered a twisted sort of hope, and I would cling to it with everything I had, since there was nothing else for me to do.
Strangely, there were no levels listed on my status screen. Maybe the 'Dark Lord' title functioned differently than the 'Hero' class? I wasn't sure. I didn't really believe that incompetent goddess had lied to me for no reason, though.
Perhaps, in the end, she was simply so incompetent that she made me a Dark Lord instead of a Hero. But then, how could a goddess create something that, at its very core, opposed her own followers and the world they were all trying to protect? It just didn't make any sense.