An insatiable curiosity burned inside me as I stared at the tesseract floating before my eyes. Every fiber of my being screamed at me to touch it, yet a sliver of caution held me back. I paced restlessly, biting my nails while half-formed theories tumbled over one another in my mind.
I needed to examine it closer.
I had to understand what this mesmerizing thing really was.
I took a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heartbeat. In the end, curiosity crushed prudence.
I stepped forward slowly and, with a trembling right hand, pressed my palm against its surface.
Instantly, the smaller tesseracts swirling inside it began spinning wildly, faster and faster.
Then, an invisible force pierced straight through me.
A savage electric surge ripped from the base of my skull all the way to the tips of my toes. The impact was so violent it hurled me several meters backward, sending me tumbling across the forest floor.
Dazed, I lifted my head with effort. The tesseract was now glowing with blinding white light, growing brighter… until, in one final flash, it vanished completely, leaving no trace behind.
"Haaah!"
A long, shaky sigh escaped my lips.
Disappointment hit me hard, but it was quickly drowned out by an even greater wave of curiosity. Were the laws of nature in this place completely different from Earth's? Or was this bizarre behavior unique to the forest?
…
I had no choice but to keep exploring this strange new world.
After several minutes of trudging between the trees, I reached the bank of a river. Its waters were so crystal-clear they looked like liquid glass under the forest's eerie light.
I knelt down, cupped my hands, and drank greedily. The water was refreshingly cool and unexpectedly sweet. I splashed some on my face, washing away the dirt and sweat from my earlier fall.
When I looked up, my reflection stared back at me from the still surface.
A young man with messy red hair and piercing blue eyes. Pale skin dotted with freckles across the cheeks and the bridge of the nose. He wore ragged clothes straight out of the 18th century: a loose linen shirt, a dark vest, and trousers that had clearly seen better days.
"So this is my new face…" I murmured, leaning closer. "Not bad at all. Actually pretty handsome. And I look like I'm in my mid-twenties."
I let myself fall backward onto the grayish grass lining the riverbank, arms spread wide. A chuckle slipped out before I could stop it.
"This is fucking incredible…"
I never imagined that "Unicorn Prime" would reincarnate me into another universe.
It felt like I had suddenly become the protagonist of those web novels and manhwas I used to devour in my old life.
I laughed again, this time with a rush of euphoria rising from deep in my chest.
Then, without warning, a sharp sting pierced my skull—like a needle driven straight into my brain. In seconds, the pain exploded into pure agony, as if someone were twisting a rusty kitchen knife inside my head.
I clutched my temples with both hands, squeezing hard, fighting to endure the torment.
And then everything burst.
Hundreds of foreign images and memories flooded my mind like a raging torrent. They belonged to the original owner of this body.
His name was Jeremy Scott Washington, a student at Brighton Academy in the Karthus Empire. An only child. His father—a respected physician—had died during a civil war. His mother, on the other hand, was a formidable swordswoman and the current head of House Washington.
Some memories were sharp and vivid: faces, voices, key moments of his life.
Others arrived blurred, distorted, or fragmented, like pieces of a shattered puzzle.
Just as suddenly as it had begun, the pain vanished.
I slowly lowered my hands, breathing hard, and sat there on the grass, staring into nothing while I tried to process the flood of information.
Even though I had already accepted that I was in another universe and now inhabited someone else's body, one question still nagged at me.
"Where the hell am I, exactly?"
"And how did Jeremy end up in a place like this?"
I studied my surroundings more carefully.
It was definitely a forest, but it was impossible to tell if it was day or night. A thick gray fog blanketed the sky, blocking any hint of sun or stars. Fortunately, the countless glowing plants and trees provided enough light—soft blues and greens that gave the whole place an ethereal, almost dreamlike glow.
One thing was certain: Jeremy had been a noble. What I couldn't figure out was how someone of his status had ended up in such a remote and bizarre location.
Had he been kidnapped and murdered?
Or lured here by someone he trusted?
Intrigued, I stripped off the tattered clothes and examined my new body in the river's clear reflection once more.
I checked thoroughly—no bullet wounds, no deep cuts, no obvious signs of violence. But other details stood out: the skin was deathly pale, almost translucent; the lips were cracked and dry; and the body was alarmingly thin, with bones clearly visible beneath the skin.
It felt like I had possessed a walking corpse.
On top of that, the stench was unbearable—like something that had crawled out of the deepest pits of hell. I couldn't stand it for another second.
Without hesitation, I dove into the river and began scrubbing myself frantically, rubbing every inch of skin.
The crystal-clear water quickly turned a murky brown, but after a few moments, it returned to its pristine state on its own, as if it had never been dirtied.
I stared at the surface for a long time, fascinated. It was like the river could purify itself automatically.
Curious, I decided to test it. Using a sharp stone, I made a small cut on my right palm and let several drops of blood fall into the water.
Each drop triggered a soft white glow that spread outward in concentric circles before fading away.
Satisfied, I improvised a crude container: large leaves, pieces of bark, thin branches, and sticky resin from a nearby trunk as glue. I waited until it dried enough, then filled it with river water.
Who would have thought… A brilliant scientist, reduced to this. I looked like a primitive caveman straight out of the Stone Age.
I let out a deep sigh as I caught my reflection again. My scientific dignity had officially hit rock bottom.
I tried to sleep for a couple of hours, but the forest insects showed me no mercy. Bites everywhere.
Mental note: never lie directly on the grass again.
In movies it always looked so peaceful and idyllic. In reality, it was itchy, uncomfortable, and painful.
I woke up with my back covered in blisters and burning. A feverish heat pulsed through my body.
I poured some of the healing water from my makeshift container over my back and chest.
Instantly, the burning, the heat, and the pain began to fade, as if a cool hand were gently soothing every inflamed spot.
…
I tied the container to the waist of my ridiculous caveman skirt and continued pushing through the unknown forest. I walked for a while longer until the terrain suddenly opened up, revealing a wide valley bathed in the same ethereal glow from the fluorescent plants.
I quickly ducked behind a thick, moss-covered trunk and observed cautiously.
The valley was teeming with creatures I had never seen before. Several large quadrupeds that resembled rhinoceroses—but with four bright blue eyes and four curved gray horns protruding from their foreheads—lounged peacefully on the gray grass.
Others were primates of various sizes: robust gorillas, medium-sized apes, and small agile monkeys swinging through the lower branches. All of them had intense, vibrant yellow fur and strange glowing tattoos on different parts of their bodies—arms, chest, back, even around the eyes.
It was extremely fascinating… and more than a little unsettling.
I crept through the bushes and trees surrounding the valley, staying as hidden as possible.
I spotted another quadruped in the distance—this one with an intense scarlet coat. It was far away and drinking from the river, so I didn't pay it much attention.
But just as I was about to step out of the tree line, a deep, guttural roar erupted right behind me. The sound was so close the air itself seemed to vibrate.
A cold sweat ran down my spine.
The beast had spotted me.
Survival instinct kicked in instantly. I bolted without looking back, shoving branches and vines aside as my heart hammered against my ribs.
My breathing grew ragged, my vision blurred in spots, and my legs became heavy and clumsy.
I glanced back in terror. The creature was closing the distance with powerful leaps.
Then came the searing pain as its claws sank deep into my back and tore downward with brutal force.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to give in to panic… but I knew that if I did, the thing would devour me without hesitation.
In that critical moment, something inside me shifted.
My vision sharpened completely. My speed surged, and my mind narrowed to nothing but the path ahead.
Every sense heightened to an almost supernatural level.
I felt like Usain Bolt on his best day… except powered by the pure adrenaline of running for my life.
I managed to put enough distance between us. Gradually, the furious roars faded behind me among the trees.
Gasping for air, I finally reached a completely different section of the forest. The ground beneath my feet had transformed into a translucent crystalline surface, as if I were walking on an enormous sheet of glass.
Through it, I could clearly see a waterfall plunging dozens of meters below, its waters shimmering with iridescent colors.
"What the hell…?" I thought, skidding to a halt. "This forest makes absolutely no sense."
Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, the beast's guttural roar echoed again—much closer this time. The sound reverberated through the trees and the crystal ground, tensing every muscle in my body.