Reborn as a Serpent
In the pitch-black darkness, a loud rustling sound suddenly cut off. A large rabbit, which had been innocently roaming through the underbrush, collapsed, stiff as a wooden log. Looking closely, one could see a black snake, seemingly merged with the darkness, biting the rabbit's neck and tightly wrapping its entire body around it.
The rabbit twitched convulsively a few times before finally going limp. Yet, the black snake did not budge. Even though the rabbit had already stopped moving, the snake waited for several minutes, as if to ensure the kill, before finally unraveling its body.
If anyone had witnessed this scene, they would have thought the expression of the uncoiling black snake was remarkably human. It looked as though it were feeling relieved, letting out a sigh. In truth, it was. The black snake felt relieved and sighed. However, because it was not human, that sigh merely manifested as a flick of its tongue and a soft hiss.
This black snake possessed human emotions and thought like a human. That was because this snake had been a human. To be precise, he was a human in his past life. Yes, this black snake was a reincarnated soul. He wasn't sure if the term "reincarnator" could be applied to a serpent, but regardless, he—Jekyeong—had been reborn. He had lived once as a human, experienced death once, and then began his second life as a snake in this strange and mysterious world.
Jekyeong's second life was not easy from the very start. The moment he barely managed to crack his shell and breathe the air of this new world, a terrible hunger hit him as if it had been waiting. It was an intense, dizzying hunger. Without a single thought, he frantically chewed and swallowed the eggshell he had just hatched from. Still unsatisfied, he greedily devoured three or four other eggs lying around.
Only after barely appeasing his hunger did he realize he was no longer human. Accepting death itself hadn't been that difficult. He still possessed the memories of his past life—specifically, the memory of his final moments, when he had foreseen his end amidst the agonizing pain of a terminal illness. However, accepting a second life as a snake was a different story. His human identity, rooted in his past memories, drove him half-mad.
What saved him from the brink of madness was the hunger that returned in full force, as if it had never left. Even in his half-crazed state, he could tell this intense hunger was abnormal. How long had it been since he last ate? Amidst the agonizing sensation of his stomach sticking to his spine, his instincts guided him toward the remaining eggs. He could not resist his instincts, nor did he even have the will to try. Once again, he devoured five or six more eggs—along with the tiny, unborn snakes still sleeping inside their cracked shells.
Thinking back on it now, those had been his siblings. Or rather, prospective siblings. In a way, he had committed cannibalism and kin-eating... but he didn't feel particularly guilty about it. Even looking back now, that hunger had been too horrific. He hadn't been in a position to be picky. If he wanted to survive, he had to eat, whether they were his siblings or not.
Sniff, sniff! Jekyeong, who had been tearing into the rabbit meat, swallowed the remaining third in a single gulp and pressed his body flat against the ground. He slithered silently through the underbrush and climbed up a nearby tree of modest size. After a few breaths, a dark silhouette emerged. It was a wild boar. But it was no ordinary boar. Putting its massive size aside, its entire body was covered in thick, wool-like fur, much like a sheep's. It was because of this fur that Jekyeong had initially mistaken the "boar" for a sheep when he first saw it from behind.
'Damn pig.' The beast had an incredibly keen sense for the smell of blood. Jekyeong had already lost his prey to that pig once before. When it had ambled over, snorting as if telling him to get lost, Jekyeong had no choice but to back down quietly. The creature was the absolute tyrant of this area. More than a few poor beasts had their prey stolen by it. Those that resisted and refused to hand over their food were brutally mauled by the merciless beast.
'This isn't enough.' Having climbed onto a branch, Jekyeong regurgitated what he had hastily swallowed. He then began to tear off and eat the slightly softened meat bit by bit. In his past life, Jekyeong hadn't liked snakes. He had only vaguely heard that snakes swallowed their prey whole and digested it slowly. Yet, he buried his head in his food and tore at the meat like a male lion he had once seen in a documentary. He hadn't done it consciously; it just happened naturally. Jekyeong didn't find it strange. His teeth weren't like those of the snakes from his past life, which only had a few fangs. Instead, dozens of sharp teeth lined his mouth, packed tightly like those of a shark or a crocodile. In truth, he might not be a snake at all, but something merely resembling one.
Swallowing the very last morsel, Jekyeong suppressed a lingering sense of disappointment and raised his head. Through the sprawling branches and leaves, he saw a brilliantly glowing sky. The light was similar to, yet different from, the auroras of the polar regions he had only seen on TV or the internet in his past life. It was more colorful, mysterious, and vast. When he first saw it, he had been so overwhelmed by its wonder that he couldn't tear his eyes away for a long time. On the other hand, the fact that numerous celestial bodies, large and small, resembling the moon of his past life, shone in that wondrous and beautiful sky did not surprise him much. He had already guessed as much and was prepared to accept it.
'Another world, huh.' In his past life, Jekyeong had enjoyed reading web novels. Especially when his illness worsened to the point where he could barely leave his hospital bed, he practically kept them piled up next to him. Among the many novels he read, there were quite a few reincarnation stories where a protagonist died and was reborn in another world. It would be a lie to say he hadn't envied those protagonists who built wonderful new lives in a new world without any worries or hardships. That desire had grown more desperate as his pain intensified and death drew nearer. Could the wish he harbored back then—a prayer to a god he had never believed in throughout his life—have been answered like this? If so, he should have been a bit more specific with his wish. Well, not that it mattered now. At any rate, after opening his eyes in this new world, Jekyeong did nothing but eat and sleep in the place where he was born. For maybe two days? Three days? Perhaps even longer. His food, of course, had been the other eggs. There were dozens of eggs in the nest where he hatched, and only after devouring them all did he finally venture outside.
And there, he saw it. A snake far more massive than any anaconda he had ever seen on TV in his past life—creatures he had already thought of as monstrously huge. It could no longer even be called a snake. A dragon? An imugi? It was so vast that he couldn't even capture its entire form in a single glance, let alone estimate its size. He could only tell that its body was thicker than any tree in sight. Every time it flicked its tongue and breathed, the surroundings seemed to vibrate. Confronted with a colossal creature that looked like it belonged in a monster movie, Jekyeong froze like a stone. However, it was merely the shock of witnessing something so unrealistic, not fear. Once the shock faded, far from feeling afraid, he felt a sense of familiarity and relief. In fact, the moment Jekyeong first saw the monster, he already knew it instinctively. It was his parent.
What should have been a touching first reunion between parent and child, unfortunately, did not last long. Three days? Four days? While Jekyeong was comfortably tearing into the food his parent—father or mother, he still didn't know—had brought from somewhere, his eyes went wide as two figures suddenly dropped from the sky. Yes, they were humans. Their skin wasn't blue, they didn't have horns on their foreheads, nor did they have multiple eyes or tails. They looked exactly like he had in his past life. But only their appearance was the same; their essence was entirely different. The moment they appeared, a suffocating pressure washed over him like a tidal wave. It was hard to even breathe.
"Grrrrrr." The colossal black snake, which had been watching its offspring eat, also sensed the anomaly and growled fiercely. The air seemed to freeze under its terrifying aura, but the two intruders didn't seem to care in the slightest.
"A Solitary Ink-scaled Python. There's no mistake. And a massive one at that."
"Haha, Senior Brother. With a size like this, we can easily craft dozens of Treasure Armors from its scales."
Jekyeong couldn't understand what they were saying. However, he could tell that they weren't afraid at all, even when facing a monstrous snake larger than most buildings; instead, they seemed delighted. Though he couldn't fathom the source of their confidence, Jekyeong sensed danger in their attitude and quickly hid. He slithered deeper into The Cave and squeezed his body into a small crevice in the wall. He didn't dare try to escape outside. He simply followed his instinct's warning.
Boom! Boom! Soon, a terrible screeching and deafening explosions began to echo. The violent vibrations alone made it impossible for Jekyeong to keep his senses straight. His entire body ached, and his head spun. If he let his guard down for even a second, he felt he would pass out.
'What on earth is this?!' Driven by the foolish emotion of curiosity, he peeked his head out slightly, only to see constant flashes of light. Explosions erupted near the giant snake's head, and hazy, white shapes repeatedly appeared and vanished. Just looking at it for a brief moment made his eyes ache.
'Ah.' Even if he didn't understand what was happening, he could vaguely sense that his parent was losing. The initial, ferocious roars had now turned into screams drenched in pain.
Thud! Jekyeong's intuition was correct. The colossal snake, which had been struggling desperately, let out a long, agonizing shriek and collapsed powerlessly. Having seen that much, Jekyeong squeezed himself back into the crevice of the cave wall. He held his breath and waited, playing dead. Without a doubt, it was the moment he exercised the greatest patience in both his past and present lives.
Until then, Jekyeong had thought he didn't have much attachment to his second life as a snake, but he now realized that was an illusion. He wanted to live. He had felt that way when he was human, and he felt the same way now as a snake. Whether human or beast, both were living creatures, and survival was their sole, ultimate instinct.
How much time had passed while he desperately held his breath? He had dozed off briefly, but he stubbornly held onto his consciousness and endured. However, while he could manage the fatigue, there was nothing he could do about the extreme hunger. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Jekyeong cautiously poked his head out. The devastated entrance of The Cave came into view. It was collapsed and cracked, as if it had been hit by an aerial bombardment. Neither the snake nor the humans were in sight. Was the giant black snake—his parent—dead? A fleeting, worried thought crossed his mind, but Jekyeong soon began to crawl desperately across the ground. His eyes were half-rolled back from hunger, and the single thought of filling his stomach dominated his mind. Fortunately, there was a rat nearby, peacefully digging in the dirt. Holding his breath, Jekyeong slithered silently toward it and bit the back of its neck in a single, swift strike.