I woke up without really waking up. A better way to put it would be that I suddenly had awareness. I was floating in an endless void that was somehow completely dark and filled with grey mist at the same time. I tried to look down at myself, but there was simply nothing there.

It was a strange experience, like the most lucid dream I ever experienced. They say you should be able to control your dreams once you become aware you are dreaming, so I willed the void to become something more recognizable, like my dorm room. I used my new awareness to enforce my will upon this strange dreamscape. Then, nothing happened.

Well, apparently, they are wrong. Whoever they are. Disappointing.

So, what is the last thing I remember? I think I was in my apartment. That’s not helpful. Alright, back to the basics. My name is…

My name… WHY CAN’T I REMEMBER MY NAME?

Okay, okay, don’t panic. It’s just a dream. What can I remember?

I think I just finished college. I live on my own. I like anime and video games. My parents… I can’t remember them either. Like I know I have parents, but I can’t recall their name, face, or anything about them.

So I can remember generic knowledge but not specifics about my life. This is a weird dream.

I wish I knew what was going on. The dream was weird, and I had no idea how to wake up. I don’t even know what I am supposed to be right now.

Just as I finished thinking that, a melodious voice came out of nowhere.

Name The Antmind Race Spectral entity Skills [Appreasal 1] Traits [Spectral Awareness][Lost Soul][One with the Hive]

All right, that was weird. I watched enough anime to recognize a system. There is a trope where the character thinks reincarnation is just a dream, while it turns out to be true.

So let’s just operate on the assumption I actually got reincarnated. Seems like I’m not an OP slime. Spectral entity hopefully means I haven’t been born yet.

The Antmind is a weird name. I mean, I like ants, I think I even had an ant farm back on… the previous place.

So let’s see if I can get more info, please.

Nothing happened. Maybe I need to be more specific. Can I get more info about my race?

The voice returned once again.

[Spectral Entity] A type of non-elemental spirit. Immune all physical effects and most damage. Vulnerable to Spirit Magic.

Okay, seems I am some kind of spirit then. Could probably be worse, but being a slime could have been cool.

Let’s see. What about skills?

[Appraisal 1] A skill that gives limited information about the holder and their environment through the Voice of God. Gives more accurate information on higher levels.

So, the voice in my head (the new one) is called the Voice of God. Makes sense.

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But that would also imply some sort of God at work, with a capital G. As in a single creator type of deal. It is also a mouthful, even if I don’t currently technically own a mouth. It doesn’t seem to have any personality or sapience and reminds me more of an automated answering system. I think I gonna refer to it as the VoG. Let’s hope I don’t get some sort of Taboo or Sacrilege skill for it.

Well, there is only one thing left to check. Show me the Features.

[Spectral Awareness] Spectrals have no sensory organs to observe the world with. Their perception of the world beyond themself is unique and often makes sense only to themselves. [Lost Soul] A soul, lost on its way to the afterlife. Bound once again to the world without undergoing purification, they get a second chance few can even dream of. Such existence may be a blessing or a curse. [One with the Hive] You are not just the center of the Hive. You are the hive.

All members of the Hive became a part of your body, and you will always exist as long as a single member survives. The Hive is no longer a collection of individuals but a single entity.

All <3553n#3> gathered by the Hive belongs to only you.

Well, there are so many weird things there it is hard to comment on just a single one.

The most immediate is the [Lost Soul]. It means I actually died and have been reincarnated. It is a common trope in anime. I wonder if I was hit by a truck or died in some even more embarrassing way. Seems like I got lost on my way to whatever afterlife I was going. That honestly sounds a little pathetic; it’s better just to deny having it if anyone asks. However, I have no idea how many people could just get this information from the VoG.

[One with the Hive] might be the most exciting thing on there, even if it has a strange corruption effect on it. What the hell is <3553n#3>? Existing as long as a single member survives sounds good, but it probably also means I might cease to exist if all members of my Hive die. I wonder what would happen to my lost soul then. There is no real proof either way, and VoG doesn’t seem to give any more clarification.

The real question is, do I even have a Hive? From the name “Antmind”, I am quite sure it’s an ant hive, but ants don’t live in hives, but colonies. I wonder if I get to choose my hive. I want something overpowered. My existence may depend on it.

Getting all <3553n#3> generated by the hive may be good or bad. It may just be that my human half doesn’t have a concept to match it, but corrupted text in status windows is usually bad news. Except if you are the hero of the story, which I’m probably not.

Even if there is no status window, only a voice, the same principles probably apply.

On the other hand, I want a refund on the [Spectral Awareness]. Sure, I don’t currently have any organs, but having my world consist of darkness and fog is both creepy and boring. There has to be a way to interact with the world. If I’m stuck in this limbo, living forever without stimuli would probably drive me insane, if I can even go insane anymore. No idea how spectral entities work, but I still feel pretty human.

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It was probably time to follow in the footsteps of every decent protagonist and start experimenting.

I tried to look for something in the fog. Looking may not exactly be the right word to use as I no longer have eyes, and I think this place has nothing to do with sight. It may be an effect of [Spectral Awareness] combined with [Lost Soul]. A human trying to make sense of things he was never built to experience.

Come to think of it, it is pretty strange, as the fog has a light gray color, yet I am sure it’s also completely dark, in which case everything should be black. Probably the result of being unable to actually process the information, saying that the world around me had both the quality of being dark and being foggy. Although I have a distinct feeling, the darkness has nothing to do with the lack of light.

I try to move around. , It seems to work, at least I think it is. With everything looking exactly the same and having no points of reference, it is tough to judge movement.

If I have a hive, I really wish I would find it already.

No sooner than I finished that thought, I felt a tug in my gut. Or whatever my current form had instead of that. Ectoplasm? No, that’s ghosts.

I followed the feeling for what felt like a long time, but once again, that was hard to judge without any outside stimuli. This is probably the reason people go mad in sensory deprivation chambers.

As I arrived at my destination, I could see it—a single dim star in the endless void.

An unknown instinct guided me to reach out and touch it.

As I made contact, the world suddenly exploded into a colors and feeling I didn’t know I missed so much.