I find it hard to breathe. It feels like I'm in a tight space filled with thick fluid. I try to open my eyes, but I can't see anything. When I attempt to move my body, I feel a wall-like structure in front of me.
I don't know where I am, but at least I can feel my body. That's better than the endless void I was in. I think this, then try to hit the wall with my hand, but it won't move. Ignoring this, I try to hit the wall with my head. My efforts create a crack in the wall. Light seeps through, so I hit harder until the crack widens enough for me to pass through.
I crawl out. Suddenly, I realize something important: I can't feel my hands or legs. I move my head to see my body and discover I have a slender black tail and a long, snake-like body. Looking back, I see the wall I came from is a giant egg with a large crack in it. As I process this, I realize I've been reincarnated as a snake. Despite telling the system to send me back, it seems I'm stuck in this body.
Sighing in acceptance, I assess my situation. I'm in a damp cave surrounded by similar eggs. Some snakes are breaking out, while others are busy eating their eggshells, clearly hungry. I try to imitate them and eat my eggshell, which has a crunchy taste.
After eating, I refocus on my surroundings. Some snakes have eaten their fill, some are still eating, and a few remain in their eggs. Instinctively, some snakes begin to fight shortly after birth, pushing their siblings aside to eat their shells.
Seeing this chaos, I decide to leave. I don't want to wait for a mother snake to arrive. What if she's hungry and tries to eat her offspring? Snakes are known for this behavior.
After crawling along the wet stones of the cave for a while, I finally reach the entrance. I can see sunlight. Emerging from the cave, I am greeted by a bright sky with beautiful clouds. Turning away from the sky, I spot a forest filled with lush trees and vegetation that reminds me of the Amazon rainforest. Did I reincarnate in the Amazon? This could be good because I'll be far from human civilization. With my intelligence, I can think of ways to adapt to this new life.
Moving away from the cave, I navigate through the grass and finally rest in the shade of a rock. I start contemplating my life. For someone who has died and been reincarnated as a snake, I seem too calm. This calmness comes from my ability to remain steady in dire situations, thanks to my life experiences and knowledge from sages and scholars. I understand one thing: we should accept life as it is, which makes many things easier.
As I reflect on myself, I shift my focus to my body. My skin appears black, covered in tiny scales. I look to be about 30 cm long, suggesting I'm some kind of python.
While lost in thought, I suddenly notice movement. Turning my head, I see a large shadow approaching the cave. As I get a clearer view, I realize it's a giant panther, as big as a car, roaring at the cave. After seemingly five minutes of roaring, I hear a hissing sound from inside. A long snake, about 15 meters long, crawls out, hissing violently at the panther. This snake is entirely black, with shimmering scales.
As that black snake emerges from the cave, I realize this must be my mother snake confronting the massive panther. The snake lunges at the panther with lightning speed, trying to strangle it, but the panther easily dodges. Angered, the snake straightens its body, and now the two predators stare each other down in a classic standoff. Ignoring their unusual size, this scene resembles a natural occurrence in the jungle.
Suddenly, the snake opens its mouth, and mist starts swirling from it. To my astonishment, it forms an icicle and shoots it at the panther. I could never have imagined this. The icicle strikes the panther's left shoulder, gouging a wound. Instead of retreating, the panther roars in response, sparks of lightning flashing along its body as it zigzags towards the snake. In a blink, it strikes with lightning speed, severing the snake's head from its body. Despite this, the snake's body continues to writhe on the ground. The panther ignores it and approaches the cave entrance. Standing there, it opens its mouth, releasing bolts of lightning that enter the cave, likely killing anything inside.
Watching this unfold gives me goosebumps. Even though I'm a snake now, my mother and siblings have just been killed by a panther. Worse yet, both my mother and the panther possess elemental powers.
This sudden realization hits me: maybe that system didn't send me back to Earth. It reincarnated me in another world as a snake. Now I'm trapped here, relying on nothing in a hostile jungle.
Sighing again, I try the most important thing. "System, are you there?"
No reply. I call out again, "Hey, system, are you here?"
Still no response. After several attempts, I realize the system, whatever it was, didn't come with me.
Sighing again, I decide it's a good thing. I don't want to get caught up in the plans of any higher being. First, I need to move away from this cave. The panther has gone inside. I climb a tree some distance away and pause to organize my survival goals; this will make things easier.
First, I need a new name. My old name belongs to my past life, which I want to leave behind. The name "Vik" will do. It's short and easy to remember. From now on, I'll be called "Vik."
With my new name decided, I embark on a new journey to leave my past behind and become something great—something that will be known and feared as the "Saintly Scholar Snake." But for now, I need to focus on surviving in this dark forest.