Shani stared straight into the darkness beyond the trees.
Memories that belonged to a girl named Sasha began surfacing in her mind.
Sasha was a beastman from the rabbitkin race. She was only nineteen years old, fifteen years younger than Shani.
She lived in Rabbitooth Village with her widowed father. Like most men, Father Harris didn't really understand a girl's needs, but he always tried his best to fulfill whatever Sasha wanted.
Through Sasha's memories, Shani obtained quite a lot of information about how this world worked. Including the reason why Sasha had been wandering alone in the forest at night.
Shani clicked her tongue.
"I thought this dream of mine would just be filled with erotic romance. Turns out there's actually some complicated lore behind it," she commented, still convinced that everything happening was merely a dream.
"Host, this is not a dream. And Sasha's memories are correct. This world is on the verge of destruction," the System said. "Ever since the air became contaminated with poisonous substances, beastmen can only live until the age of twenty. Unless they cultivate and use their elemental power to protect their bodies from the poison."
Shani let out a heavy breath.
"I know. During the Element Awakening Ceremony this morning, Sasha failed to awaken any element. That basically means she'll die within a year."
She paused, emphasizing the next word as if she wanted every creature in the forest to hear her frustration.
"But!"
"Becoming a sacrifice is just wrong! If I knew I only had one year left, I'd live that year to the fullest. Not become some village sacrifice and die!"
Shani stood up and angrily dusted off her clothes.
She still couldn't believe the tradition practiced in Rabbitooth Village.
Every year after the Element Awakening Ceremony, the villagers held a ritual offering to the Beast God. The ritual required the life of one villager as a sacrifice.
The chosen sacrifice was always a youngster who failed to awaken an element. If everyone awakened successfully, then the weakest or the one with the lowest potential would be selected instead.
"They're seriously sacrificing one young life every single year?!" Shani scoffed. "I totally support Sasha running away. She was the only one who didn't awaken."
The dying girl had fled the village after the ceremony. But in her panic, she hadn't brought a single coin with her.
As she ran through the dark forest, her foot got caught on a tree root. She fell and rolled down the slope.
While she was unconscious, a snake bit her. She died from the poison.
That was the moment Shani's soul entered the body, forcing the poison out of the weak vessel.
Shani stopped complaining when a terrible smell reached her nose.
Actually, she had smelled it earlier, but now it was becoming unbearable.
"This must be because Sasha was too lazy to bathe… No. Actually, the whole village barely bathes. My friend's cat cries every time it gets washed too. Makes sense."
Shani shook her head and sniffed her blouse.
Her nose wrinkled immediately.
When she lifted the hem of her blouse, she felt something slimy on her stomach.
"Ugh!"
Under her shirt, right on her abdomen, was a thick black sticky liquid.
Shani nearly fainted.
No matter how busy she had been in her previous life, she would never allow thick black slime to stick to her body like this.
"What is this?!"
She tried wiping it with her shirt, but the shirt itself was already filthy.
"Host, that is a poisonous substance expelled from your womb," the System explained. "Your womb is now an SSS-Grade Womb. It possesses extremely high fertility, can purify seeds that contain toxins, and provides one hundred percent protection from the poisonous substances in the environment."
For a moment, Shani was stunned by the System's explanation and the incredible transformation of her body.
From Sasha's memories, cultivation could protect the body from poisonous air. However, toxins already inside the body could only be expelled little by little as one's cultivation increased.
Unfortunately, beastmen reproductive organs were an exception.
No matter how strong their cultivation became, toxins inside those organs could never be removed.
Because of that, fertility among beastmen in this world was extremely low.
If a beastman awakened their element at a young age, they would instantly become a highly sought-after partner.
Before, that fact had never mattered to Sasha. After all, she only had one year left to live.
But for Shani, who now possessed an SSS-Grade Womb, that fact was incredibly important.
"The most important thing in this world is having descendants," Shani declared. "Wealth and power can't be inherited without children. Even if I don't awaken an element, I'll still be extremely valuable because I can produce offspring!"
"HAHAHA!"
Shani laughed loudly as if she had just hit the jackpot.
The System could only stare at its new host in complete bewilderment.
"Alright, let's go back to the village and show them how amazing we are, Sasha." Shani patted her own shoulder.
"But first, we need to clean up. I can't follow your habit of rarely bathing."
Following Sasha's memories, Shani headed toward the river.
The villagers didn't have bathrooms in their houses. They bathed and washed their clothes in the river.
Beyond some bushes, clear water flowed gently. Moonlight shimmered across its surface.
Shani removed the beige linen blouse and brown skirt from her body. Both pieces of clothing were extremely dirty, not only because of the black slime from her womb, but also because Sasha had rolled across the ground earlier.
"I might as well wash them too. I shouldn't catch a cold if I hurry home afterward. Wearing wet clothes is still better than putting these dirty ones back on."
Completely naked, she stepped into the water.
Her body shivered immediately.
"Endure… endure…" she muttered, encouraging herself.
She began scrubbing her body thoroughly. Slowly, the gray skin started revealing a reddish-brown tone beneath the dirt.
"How much grime was stuck on this body…" she muttered, shaking her head.
After cleaning her body, she moved on to washing her hair. She scrubbed her scalp and tried to untangle the messy knots.
Her tied-up hair turned out to be horribly tangled.
Shani nearly cried trying to work through the endless knots.
Her movements suddenly stopped when she heard a sound from the bushes.
She quickly lowered her body in the water, leaving only her head and neck above the surface.
Her eyes stared cautiously at the bushes.
A man stepped out.
At the same moment, the System's voice rang in her ear.
"Congratulations, Host! You have encountered your first male beastman with an A+ rating."
…