[Ultimate Mecha System activated.]
[The function of vital organs inside the host's body is detected to be declining.]
[The host's body is almost dead!]
[Emergency function activated by force! Cost: 10,000,000 System Points.]
[Scanning host assets... battle data insufficient. System points still lacking. Initiating alternative collateral: Host memories.]
[A portion of the host's memories has been deleted. Remaining Debt: 9,850,000 System Points.]
[... Host soul successfully extracted. Beginning search for a new body for the host's soul!]
Darkness.
The world felt silent. There was no pain, no sound, not even my own heartbeat could I feel. It felt like a very long time had passed. That non-existential feeling ended when a blue notification board appeared, mentioning things I didn't understand: host, system points, emergency function.
What the hell is that?
Was I the host in question?
There was also memory deletion…
True, my memories felt very old. But I didn't feel like I had lost any memories.
I still remember the smell of warm asphalt after I was hit by a truck.
Am I dead?
Then why do I hear… a flat voice like a robot? Is that the "system" commonly found in fiction stories?
Before I could think any further, something pulled me. Not pain—it was more like being sucked into a whirlpool of water. After that, all my senses felt as if they had returned to me.
[Host soul successfully implanted into the target body!]
I opened my eyes and various colors began entering my retina.
The first thing I saw were my two hands that I had raised.
Why are the ones that appeared small, tiny hands?
Am I a baby?
Where is this?
Trees towering high into the sky… a forest?
Glare!!
The blue sky looked similar to the one on Earth. But when I looked at what was near the white clouds in the sky, I realized this was not the Earth I knew.
I saw an island. An island floating in the air. My small eyes felt hard to focus, but I could see clearly: mountains, waterfalls, and trees growing on those islands, like a world that defied the laws of nature.
Between the floating islands, sometimes an airship sailed by, leaving a trail of smoke; other times, a large shadow passed far in the sky—like a dragon riding the currents.
This kind of setting, why does it look so similar to that otome game I was forced to play?
Grrr!
The growl of a wild animal suddenly sounded.
If I am a newborn baby, shouldn't I be seeing my parents? "Welcome to this world, my child"—that kind of greeting should have been the opening words for me.
But, why was it instead a green-colored tiger welcoming me?!
The tiger's face approached mine. Its nose twitched, expanding and contracting as it sniffed my body.
From the tiger's eyeballs, I could see the full reflection of my own face and body.
My baby body was inside some kind of flower basket.
I stared at the small tail moving under the torn cloth that somehow covered my body. My pointed tail and ears had fine gray-colored fur.
'What is this..? Am I… not a human baby?'
I wanted to think this was a dream, but the cold feeling of the wind on my skin felt too real.
The green tiger bared its sharp fangs. Its drool dripping onto my face further convinced me this was all real.
'Can't you do something?' I spoke to the system.
[I, Omega, as the administrator of the Ultimate Mecha System, cannot help the host because the host has no system points at all.]
'What do you mean by system points?'
[System points are points converted from battle data.]
'You mean, I must have battle experience to be able to convert it into system points?'
[Exactly right.]
'Wow. Great. I'm just a helpless baby, and I must have battle experience to get help? Shouldn't there be some kind of convenience for new users?'
[There is none.]
To scream, to be angry, and to be annoyed were normal responses for me to show, right?! But I didn't protest at all. With strength practically nonexistent, I swung my tiny hand towards the tiger's snout.
Swoosh! Thwack!
I heard the sound of something cutting through the air.
'Huh?'
Suddenly, the green tiger's head was pouring blood onto the grass. After staggering for a moment, the tiger finally collapsed.
I almost thought the tiger fell thanks to my gentle slap. But it turned out it was thanks to a spear stuck in its head. The sound I heard earlier was the sound of the spear.
[You have obtained 100 SP!]
I only delivered a zero damage attack, how could I still get SP?
[You contributed to distracting the target.]
Appearing from behind the dense trees, it turned out the spear attack came from a woman. She wore an ordinary linen shirt with leather half chest armor as the outer layer.
She resembled a humanoid creature from a cat—a beastman.
The woman came to me and scooped me up without hesitation. She had cat ears with jet-black fur and skin as pale as snow. Even in that moment, I registered the plush softness of her chest against me—it was unexpectedly full, belying her youthful, teenage appearance and hinting at a more mature physique.
"Why is there a baby here?" She looked surprised. Her head turned hundreds of degrees to see if there was anyone who might have dropped my baby body. Then she patted my bottom to calm me down, thinking I was scared.
Speaking honestly, even though there was a tiger in front of me ready to devour me, I didn't panic at all. This wasn't the first time I'd stared into the eyes of a predator that wanted to kill me. I was used to receiving terror from the gangsters in the alley behind my house.
When I was staring at the tiger earlier, a thought crossed my mind: would my new life begin the same way as the story of Tarzan? Abandoned in the forest, raised by animals, and so on…
"Mira, did you find something?"
"Why did you move off alone?"
"Right. It's dangerous to hunt by yourself!"
Other beastmen emerged from behind the trees.
They swarmed around my baby body like ants seeing sugar.
"Mira, what are you going to do with this baby?"
The woman holding me, it turned out her name was Mira. She then answered, "I don't know…"
Blink~ Blink~
I tried to put on the sparkling eyes characteristic of a baby.
Adopt me! Adopt me! Please adopt me! I tried to convey words like that through my gaze.
It's fine to act a little disgusting. All for the sake of survival.
"... The main point is, we have to take him to our Catkin Tribe village first. We can't let him be killed by a demonic beast here." She offered her index finger for me to grasp. "Your grip is quite strong too."
She stroked the fur on my tail and ears.
The plan to act cute worked…
At that moment, Mira's warm smile turned dark.
Mira abruptly opened the cloth covering my body.
My naked body was exposed to the air.I almost died of embarrassment. But soon, I remembered that I was just a baby.
"The three-claw stigma?" She rubbed my chest. It seemed I had some kind of special birthmark. "You… are from the Wolfkin tribe?"
"What?"
All the other members of the Catkin tribe also looked at my chest and were shocked simultaneously.
"We have to kill this baby!"
"Right. We can't let this one with Wolfkin blood live!"
They aimed their swords, spears, arrows, and claws at me. The look in their eyes was that of a psychopath. Coupled with the blood still stuck in their weapons, the tragic scene seemed ready to be reflected on stage.
Hearing them say I was from the Wolfkin tribe, I realized my hope of getting a caretaker was gone.
[Do you wish to view your status window?]
'What's this?'
[This is a basic function that does not require SP.]
'Then, open my status window!'
[Opening status window!]
[Name: —
Race/Tribe: Beastman/Wolfkin
Bloodline: Unawakened
Mana pool: —
System points: 100 (Debt: 9,850,000.)]
The notification window confirmed my identity as a member of the Wolfkin tribe.