My name is Kim Ahri Gaumond. I am a simple employee who usually spends most of her time working, doing charity work, or attending treatments. I never really had a chance to give myself a break since I am not an outgoing person.
For the first time in my 30 years of life, I decided to finally give in to my dream of having an international vacation not related to work. I may not be outgoing, but I still wanted to experience a life of leisure in a faraway land.
My destination was the City of Love, Paris. Romantic, isn't it? If one were to ask if I was going to travel with my boyfriend, I would say, "Hell no, because I am traveling alone, but not lonely."
Yes, I know it was awkward for a single person like me to travel to the City of Love alone, but I didn't care. I just wanted to travel overseas, hoping to finally find my soulmate elsewhere despite my special condition.
The reason I have been single since birth is that I have an extreme fear of men, causing me to work only in a company run by women. It took me years to adapt to my condition. I was homeschooled and never had a chance to attend a regular class ever since my family discovered my illness. I have been diligently undergoing therapy and medication, but it hasn't actually cured me of my phobia until now.
Living in constant fear was actually tiring and depressing, so I decided to go on a vacation on a whim. My mother and my doctors were all supportive of my travel plan, but my manager was really shocked. She was extremely opposed to my travel plans, so she went to ask the general manager instead. The higher-ups granted me a leave of absence immediately upon checking that I had already finished my current tasks ahead of schedule.
I was given a week's paid vacation since I had never used my vacation leaves since I entered the company. The company diligently promotes work-life balance, so it's only natural for them to grant vacation leaves as long as the tasks at hand were handled ahead of time. My manager was just an exception because she loves to dump her work on me, especially if it was regarding the charity events that the company was supporting.
I had already prepared my stuff the night before the scheduled flight, so I woke up at 4 in the morning to prepare myself to set out early and check in at the airport. I rode a cab and took a nap on the way since it would take me at least an hour or two before we could arrive at the airport.
It was still early when I arrived at the airport because it was a must to check in at least two hours before the scheduled flight. My heart was pounding really hard when our flight number was called. I was nervous but excited at the same time, especially when I walked down the runway.
I only availed of an economy class seat, so I would be sitting next to a stranger, and it made me so anxious knowing that the person who would sit next to me might be a man. I chose a seat next to the window so that I could see the view despite being anxious. I took my medication upon boarding the plane because a man was seated beside my designated seat, and I didn't want to look awkward.
I was so excited when the plane started to run. The flight attendants were diligently reminding everyone about the safety reminders during the flight, and I double-checked everything, from the seatbelt to the emergency kits that were being demonstrated by the flight attendants. I pulled up the hood of my jacket, wore my headphones, played music at a loud volume, and took a nap after the announcements.
Suddenly, I felt an extremely unpleasant feeling that woke me up from my nap. I thought it was just my phobia, so I ignored it and kept my eyes closed. I was shocked when I opened my eyes—there were hijackers aboard the plane.
My mind was in a state of panic, and my heart was beating fast. One of the hijackers pointed his gun at me and demanded, "Give me all your belongings, including your jacket!"
He pressed the gun roughly against my forehead. Trembling, I muttered to myself, "Rest in peace, my happy travel."
Why am I so unfortunate?
The hijacker yelled with a horrifying tone, "What did you say?" My heart skipped a beat, and I trembled in fear. I instantly obeyed the man's demand, but as I pulled down my hood and removed my jacket and headphones, I suddenly felt the urge to vomit.
The hijacker grabbed my pale and numbing face, then looked intently at me while smirking with his lustful eyes. I tried to struggle as I screamed in my mind, "Gosh! Not now!"
Suddenly, I vomited on his face as I fainted in fright, thinking, "Sorry, Mom, I think I won't be able to come back home alive."
Rest in peace, my dear life.
This may be the end.
I didn't know how he reacted after I fainted, but I felt like my body was thrown aside, and an old woman held me while trembling and mumbling as if praying—using a language I wasn't familiar with.
I still couldn't feel anything due to numbness, but the last thing I remembered was that the plane suddenly lost control as the pilot was shot dead, and I fainted again due to hyperventilation and panic. I didn't even know if I died in a plane crash or from cardiac arrest triggered by my condition.
"Well, rest in peace, my dear self, rest in peace," I thought to myself.
Damn it!
Why me?
Why am I so unlucky?
I still regret not being able to find love in my past life. I was so frustrated, so I screamed while I was in the Abyss, "Oh, dear God, what sin did I do to deserve such a life?"
I only wanted to finally live a normal life and finally find the special someone I could share the rest of my life with.
But why?
Why do you detest me so much to the point that I am unable to find my soulmate and experience what love is?
Why?
I felt like I was in a river of darkness before suddenly being sucked into a wormhole. Then I woke up in a dark, cramped, and damp place. "Am I alive, or is this the afterlife?" I thought to myself.
It was so slimy, but I could hear some people mumbling and chatting from a distance outside this wall-like thing. I felt like I was trapped in a capsule or shell. It was warm and comfortable for some reason, despite the sticky slime surrounding me. I tried stretching out as much as I could and felt like I was breaking out of some kind of shell.
It was so tiring trying to break free that I fell asleep once in a while. I couldn't tell how long I was in the cramped enclosure since I couldn't tell if it was day or night—all I knew was that it took me at least a few days. Finally, I broke out of the shell and realized that I was inside an egg. I looked around and saw a few more eggs clustered together. Each cluster varied in number, though the size was random.
I was too tired to crawl out of the shell, so I laid down on my tummy like a baby to rest. My tiny, chubby arms made me realize that I had become a baby.
Where am I?
Why did I come out of an egg?
Did I die and be reborn into an unknown world?
I screeched, "Ooodjee [OMG]!" then asked frantically, "Wah iihh hee [what is this]?"
My voice came out like gibberish, so I was frustrated and realized that I had really turned into a baby. I tried to crawl out of the shell, but I was gasping for air due to exhaustion after trying so hard a few times. I yawned a few times and almost fell asleep.
"Daeet [dang it]!" I shouted frustratingly as I lay flat on my tummy.
Sleepily, I looked at the eggshell parts that I had broken and noticed that I was placed on top of a blue furry animal pelt blanket and was isolated from the other eggs. I heard footsteps approaching, but I couldn't see the face of the person clearly as I uncontrollably shut my eyes to sleep. Though half-asleep, I could hear a commotion while I was being held by a familiar yet firm warmth. From the side, I could hear a woman's voice arguing with the crowd as the person holding me stayed silent yet caressed my hair as if reassuring me that everything would be okay.
I couldn't understand what they were saying because they were speaking a language that was not familiar to me. The only thing I knew was that they were arguing about me. I dozed off a few times before I was able to wake myself up. When I opened my eyes, I angrily looked at all the people surrounding us.
"Ewoeeh ek [What is going on here]?" I screamed, scolding everyone with all my might. I was suddenly taken aback when I realized that everyone around me was not human. At that very moment, I finally realized that I had been reborn into a world that only exists in novels—a world full of beastmen.
Silence surrounded the room when the beastly creatures looked into my eyes. They all suddenly bowed down, praising us in words I couldn't even understand, before roaring enthusiastically.
Gosh!
This jerk of a god really was playing tricks on me. Why was I transmigrated into a world like this? Why did these beastly creatures treat me like a pest for a few moments and bow down in front of me the next second? Were they crazy, or was I crazy?
I was born in the Forest Lion Tribe, the only tribe of the Lion race in the whole Beastman World. A regular beastman had two forms, which were passive and aggressive. Their passive form was their human or human-like form, while their aggressive form was their beast form.Male beastmen were naturally hatched in their aggressive form and will be able to transform into their passive form once they reach the age of seven. In our tribe, at this age, he was required to attend school with all the other Cubs under the teaching of the assigned elders.The passive form of a male was only a human-like form because they still had beastly body parts. A Lion has lion ears and a tail but has a human shape.On the other hand, a regular female beastman was hatched with her natural passive form, which was a full-fledged human form. She has no ability to transform into her aggressive form, even if she cultivates her body. Only a few females were born every generation, so they were required to accommodate
Even though I still couldn't move my body freely, I finally realized that this body has a Passive-Aggressive Form. It means that, even though I am a female, my Passive Form has features similar to the Passive Form of males. It was an isolated case, and no other case was known throughout the history of the world of beastmen. Another thing that puzzled everyone was that I was the only known Winged Lion and was born by a Lion couple—because a Winged Lion belongs to a separate race. There were rumors after my egg hatched saying that my mother secretly mated and formed an informal relationship with an unknown Winged Lion male from an unknown tribe behind my father's back. Even so, despite the rumors, my father trusted my mother and believed in her because a mark they called an insignia shows up on the male's chest once he impregnates a female until the egg hatches. It indicates the condition of the little Hatchling inside the egg. Only males have the ability to transfer the energy needed
[Trigger Warning: This chapter contains sexual assault, post-traumatic flashbacks, and mental health disorders; please read with caution.] What is androphobia? Androphobia is a phobia or an intense fear of men. Similar to the other phobias, symptoms may include intense fear, anxiety, or panic when seeing or thinking about men. The anxiety worsens as a man gets physically closer to you. An active avoidance of men or situations where you might encounter men can also indicate that you have a fear of men. The reactions to your fears can manifest physically—such as sweating, a rapid heartbeat, tightness in your chest, or trouble breathing. Nausea, dizziness, or fainting when in close contact with men may also occur in some patients suffering from this type of phobia. In my previous life, the exact cause of this type of phobia was not yet well understood by the current studies around the globe. Some experts said that the possible causes include past negative experiences with men, but it c
Grandma Lony used to bring me up to the mountain to gather medicinal herbs every morning. She taught me how to identify plants and their uses, as well as the effects of the herbs on the body depending on how they were processed. She was quite strict, so I tried my best to pay attention to all the important details she explained. When I was only 5 years old, I accidentally saw a few silkworms feeding on some herbs while gathering. It was autumn, and it was almost time for the silkworms to turn into cocoons. I hastily took all of the silkworms I saw without asking for the Elder Healer's permission and placed them in my basket, which was full of herbs I had picked prior. When we got back home, the Elder Healer screamed as she threw my basket unconsciously when she saw what was in it. I suddenly remembered the silkworms and hurriedly caught the basket. I checked the worms inside and felt guilty upon seeing that they had devoured almost all the herbs inside my basket. I felt guilty as I l
The next morning, he did not accompany the hunting group to join me and the Elder Healer in gathering herbs on the mountain. We found a huge field with low-growing grass and checked if the soil was suitable for planting vegetables. The soil was quite rocky in some parts, but we saw a spot where the soil was soft with fewer rocks. We plowed it using tree branches. It was extremely exhausting because we did not have the right equipment, so my father took over and finished plowing in just an hour. I was amazed and speechless at how efficiently he was doing the job alone. We also looked for vegetable seedlings that we could transplant in the lot we found, then we gathered and replanted cabbages, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, yams, and corn in other areas of the mountain. I taught my father how to take care of the plants, so he held a meeting with the others to delegate a team that would manage the planting in the vegetable garden we made on the mountain. He also built a fence around the lo
Recreating the habitats of the animals was tricky, but my father decided to simulate the original habitats of those animals in a small area, then placed a fence around it with a door for the tribespeople to enter when feeding the animals and collecting the eggs or cubs. My father also instructed the tribespeople to make separate housing for the new hatchlings and cubs of the small animals for domestication. They even created a smaller version of the incubation room of the tribe for the incubation of the animal eggs with controlled temperature management. The incubation room was a hut with a stone-made fireplace to heat the room, especially during autumn and winter. The fireplace was constantly checked by the elders to ensure the safety of the eggs while keeping them warm. Everything went smoothly after that, and so the livestock were slowly domesticated by the tribe. ***************************** Slowly, more and more livestock were domesticated by the tribe to keep up with the foo
After waiting for the silkworms to finish creating their cocoons during the autumn, I checked the ones that I had placed inside the cups, and I was so happy with the output. It was already wintertime, and they had become perfectly shaped cocoons. I decided to ask my father to make a small wooden reel similar to a fishing reel and a mini weaving tool. It would be hard to explain how to make these tools because paper and pencils were not yet invented. So, I could only use smooth wooden planks and carve the drawing with a knife to show my father the output I wanted to make. I waited for my father to return to the Elder Healer's treehouse from his daily routine during dinner to show him my drawings. He came home earlier than usual, but he seemed to be in a bad mood. He was covered with snow all over his hair, beard, coat, and feet. He looked like a young version of Santa Claus with a scar on his face. I welcomed him with a huge hug, using my small arms and wings spread widely, while my
I was lucky to still have my memories from my previous life, so I was able to survive a few years of my life in the tribe. It was springtime, and it was my seventh year since my rebirth. The night before I attended my first day of school, I dreamed of a beautiful lady with platinum-silver hair and golden eyes. She hugged me and smiled at me while saying, "Good job, my dear Ari; please remember that I love you." I woke up the next morning feeling nostalgic while trying to remember the rest of the dream, but all I could clearly remember were the words she uttered. I couldn't even remember her face. I stood up and prepared my things before my father knocked on the door and called me to eat my breakfast so he could bring me to the pavilion before he accompanied the hunting team. The elders started to gradually accept me despite my condition, especially after I helped solve the issues of food shortages during the winter and my creation of fabric. Female cubs like me were taught how to