The first thing I felt was pain.
Not sharp, not burning—just heavy. Like my entire body had been pressed into the bed for days, maybe weeks. My head throbbed in slow waves, and when I tried to move, my fingers barely responded.
I forced my eyes open.
Light flooded my vision, too bright, too white. I blinked several times, breathing shallowly, waiting for the dizziness to pass. The ceiling above me wasn't familiar. It was made of dark wood, carved with strange patterns that looked almost… alive.
Where am I?
I tried to sit up.
"Don't move."
A male voice stopped me instantly.
Deep. Calm. Cold.
My heart jumped. I turned my head slightly, and that was when I saw him.
A man stood beside the bed. Tall. Broad shoulders. Long dark hair tied loosely behind him. His face was handsome in a sharp, dangerous way—but that wasn't what froze me.
On his head…
Were animal ears.
Black ears. Wolf-like.
My breath caught in my throat.
Before I could react, another voice spoke.
"She's awake."
I slowly turned my head to the other side.
Another man leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Silver hair. Narrow eyes. And on top of his head—soft, rounded ears, twitching slightly.
No.
No no no.
This has to be a dream.
Panic crept into my chest. I tried to laugh it off, but my throat felt dry.
"Is this… some kind of cosplay?" I whispered.
Silence followed.
The men stared at me.
Not confused. Not amused.
They looked at me like they were watching something disgusting crawl back to life.
That was when I noticed them.
One. Two. Three.
Five men in the room.
Each one different. Different hair. Different eyes. Different animal ears.
And every single one of them looked at me with the same emotion.
Hatred.
A sharp pain exploded in my head.
I gasped, clutching my temples as memories—no, not memories—foreign memories poured into my mind like a flood.
A woman screaming.
A whip striking skin.
Cold laughter that sounded like it came from my own mouth.
Men kneeling. Bleeding. Enduring.
"No—stop—!" I cried, curling into myself as the images burned through me.
I saw it clearly now.
This body.
This woman.
She was cruel.
She wasn't me.
She hurt them. She enjoyed it. She used her position as a rare female to control, humiliate, and torture the men forced to marry her.
My stomach twisted violently.
I wasn't dreaming.
I had transmigrated.
When the pain finally eased, I lay there shaking, tears sliding silently into my hair.
The truth settled like ice in my veins.
This was a beastman world.
A world where women were rare—only twenty percent of the population.
A world where men outnumbered women so badly that laws were created to force reproduction.
A world where every woman must marry multiple beastmen.
And I…
I was married to all five of them.
"You finally remembered?" the wolf-eared man asked coldly.
I flinched at his voice.
His eyes were dark. Empty. Like someone who had already given up.
"I—" My voice came out hoarse. "I don't remember everything yet…"
A lie.
But the truth would get me killed.
The man with silver hair scoffed. "Don't pretend. You always remember when it benefits you."
Another stepped forward.
This one had tiger ears. White and sharp. His golden eyes burned with something violent, something barely restrained.
"You survived," he said slowly. "How unfortunate."
My blood ran cold.
Unfortunate.
So I hadn't imagined it.
The previous owner of this body didn't just collapse.
She was almost killed.
By them.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to stay calm. Panicking would only confirm their suspicions.
"I was unconscious," I said quietly. "I don't even know how long."
The tiger-eared man laughed. It wasn't warm. It wasn't amused.
"It would have been better if you never woke up."
The words stabbed deeper than any blade.
I hugged the blanket tightly, nails digging into my palms beneath the fabric.
These weren't men who disliked me.
These were men who wanted me dead.
A softer voice suddenly spoke.
"Enough."
I looked toward the sound.
The fifth man finally stepped into the light.
He had long brown hair, fox-like ears, and eyes filled with something different.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Pity.
"She's weak right now," he said quietly. "If she dies, we'll all be punished."
Punished.
Right.
In this world, harming a female—even one as cruel as her—was a crime.
That was the only reason I was still breathing.
The wolf-eared man turned away. "I don't care. I won't touch her."
The tiger-eared man's gaze lingered on me a second longer before he scoffed and followed.
One by one, they left the room.
Each step felt like a countdown to my execution.
Soon, only the fox-eared man remained.
He looked at me for a long moment, then sighed.
"You should rest," he said. "Your body hasn't healed."
"Why… are you helping me?" I whispered.
His lips curved into a sad smile.
"I'm not," he replied. "I'm just the only one who hasn't decided how much I hate you yet."
Then he turned and left.
The door closed softly behind him.
I was alone.
The room felt too big. Too quiet.
My heart pounded as the reality fully sank in.
I was trapped in a beastman world.
Forced into a marriage I never chose.
Living with five husbands who hated me.
Men who had every reason to want me dead.
I stared at the ceiling, tears slipping silently from the corners of my eyes.
"How am I supposed to survive this…?" I whispered.
Outside the door, footsteps echoed.
And I knew, deep in my bones—
This was only the beginning.