Whispers of the Beast Realm

Human

The cave remained shrouded in darkness, preventing me from clearly seeing his face despite my squinting efforts. "Not very good vision, huh?" he mused, observing my struggle. Drawing closer, he revealed his lower half, and to my astonishment, a tail—long, thick, and white with shiny scales. The revelation struck terror in my heart; he was a snake beastman, the same creature that had caused me to faint earlier.

Instinctively, I recoiled in fear, losing my balance. Something hard caught my back, preventing a collision with the unforgiving ground—his tail. Wide-eyed, I realized that this surreal figure was the very snake I'd encountered before. The fear overwhelmed me; I'd never been this close to a snake, not even during school trips to wildlife sanctuaries. I had always been uneasy around creatures like house lizards, so being near this snake left me breathless.

"What? Afraid?" he inquired, retracting his tail upon witnessing my reaction. I nodded hesitantly, still trembling. Despite saving me, I couldn't shake the terror.

"Can you turn completely into your male form, please?" I pleaded, tears welling up. He chuckled but compiled, covering himself with a random cloth before sitting directly in front of me. "Female, I really feel bad for you," he said with amusement. "You seem like the kind who never took any walks in the wild when you were in your world, and now you're stuck in this wilderness. You sure are gonna cry a lot in the future if you get scared at every little thing."

His words resonated with an unsettling truth. I fell silent, contemplating his observation. Eventually, I mustered the courage to speak. "How did you know I was a human?"

"I've seen a few of your kind. Males usually become food for the wild, and the females tend to go along with the flow, having a good number of males to protect them for the rest of their lives here. How old are you anyway?" he inquired.

"21," I replied. His response reflected the harsh reality of this world—most transmigrated females were much younger, around 15-16 years old. "Did you see any humans before me return to my world?" I asked, already anticipating his answer.

"Nah, most didn't even try much," he replied, confirming my suspicions. I hung my head low, disheartened.

"But I don't think it's impossible," he added. This sparked a glimmer of hope. "Really!? Do you know how? Or have any clue?" I asked eagerly.

"I don't, but the apes sure will. Crafty beasts, those creatures," he remarked. A small clue emerged, providing a potential lead for my quest to return home.

"Now, enough talking, eat first," he said, offering me a cooked meat leg. "I'm herbivorous," I replied. He made a peculiar face. "Pretty sure it's called vegetarian by your kind, little one," he remarked with a sidelong glance.

I flushed. I was just trying to get used to the terminology used here. "Well, that's fine, even though I did go over the trouble of cooking it for you. One pampered lot you are, huh?" he teased. I mumbled an apology. I didn't want to inconvenience the person who saved me."Don't be. Wait here; I'll go get some fruits." He walked away, returning with a variety of wild, peculiar-looking fruits. "Thank you for saving me," I expressed my gratitude between bites.

"You should be. That fall definitely would have killed you. You were lucky I was nearby and caught you. Still, you've got some serious scratches," he replied nonchalantly. Grateful for surviving, I continued to eat in silence, contemplating the challenges of this unfamiliar world.